I guess if I could ask people who have successfully quit cigarettes a few questions, they would be these:
1. How many years were you a smoker?
2. How many did you smoke per day?
3. Approximately how many times did you try to quit previously?
4. Which different methods did you try?
5. What finally worked?
6. How long has it been since you quit?
7. Do you think you will ever smoke again?
I would also very much love to hear from people about what they have experienced in the way of physical withdrawal symptoms.
3 Comments
Ive been smoking since 1989 As of 1 month ago I was smoking 2 packs a day. It was costing me a $250 a month not to mention health. Ive tried to quit so many times, cold turkey, the patch, etc… But I did love smoking, which made it hard to quit. As dorky as people look using those Vape devices, I decided to give it a try after doing much research on them. 3 people at work were using them & I was so tired of wasting money, health etc. I went to buy 1. The guy at the store made me crush my pack of cigarettes for a discount and said I wouldn’t need them anymore. I did. Bought one, took it home & haven’t looked back. Im already “smoking” less & only spending $10 per month instead of $250. I don’t miss the cigs at all. This time I can say with confidence, Im never going back!!! Some might say you could become addicted to the vape device. Possible, but you can decrease the level of nicotine & more easily wean yourself off. Ive already cut down so much I don’t see it as a problem. Goodbye cigarettes forever… and good riddance
Thanks Casey – As I’m in the middle of this weening process, I’m realizing I have some time to do research toward figuring out the best ways to have it really end once and for all. Having failed so many times before, at this point it’s still hard to imagine, even though my smoking is already almost half of what it was. I’m really feeling a compulsion to seek out examples of how people actually do it, so congratulations for having done it, and I really thank you for taking the time to respond.
I started smoking when I was 16, after a stressful break up, and fight with my father. I spent a lot of time alone, and one day, I decided to try some beer out of the fridge, and after rifling through my brothers clothes, found a few forgotten cigarettes. I gagged my way through until I could inhale. I thought it was cool, and quickly taught about 3 of my friends how to inhale, since they were fake inhaling. I smoked a few per day, through high school and quit in college because my boyfriend hated it. I would sneak a few on a weekend, if I was at a bar or drinking beer away from him. After we broke up I started smoking a lot, ten a day, for a few years, then up to almost 20 a day, through my twenties. My best friends all smoked and we liked to talk and smoke for hours on a patio. It made it hard to quit because we enjoyed that time so much. I always wanted to quit though. I tried the nicotine gum and it made me naseaus. I was too afraid to try medication, in my twenties.
When I was 29, my boyfriend, helped me quit. I told him I wanted to quit. He had me pick a day to quit at midnight. At midnight, he brought me a bag, with all sorts of candy, all my favorites. He said, that whenever I wanted one, to eat candy instead. So I tried that, eventhough, I gained twenty pounds eating a pound of peanut m&m’s the first month. I easily quit the candy after a month. Everytime I would jones out hard for a cigarette, my bf, would rub my fingers. For some reason, that totally helped. I never smoked for ten years, and had a daughter. My husband, who was the bf who helped me quit, passed away and the stress around that time, left me trembling. I slowly started smoking with my girlfriends again. I eventually was up to a pack a day again. I was embarrased and humiliated, telling my daughter I had started smoking, and promised it was temporary. I didnt want her to associate the smell of smoke with a mother’s love. I associated the smell of smoke to my grandfathers, stepfather, brother, and my best friends, as if it were a comfort. I didn’t know how I could quit, and I was afraid of losing my temper, which I felt was worse than smoking.
I found out about vape pens with on line research, and found a store. They taught me how to use it. So I picked the day to quit, and switched to Vaping. I went from 24mg of nicotine, to 0 in 8-9 months. I had no physical symptoms, but, whenever I was craving smoking, I just vaped. At the end of the 8-9 months, I started getting severe headaches from the vaping, so I just quit. My word to my daughter, squashes any thought of picking it up again. I have been smoke-free for over two years, last Christmas. Having that as an anniversary, reminds me of my daughter, and my promise. That means more to me than those evil little sticks. At one point, I remember holding that piece of crap in my hand, staring closely, when I told myself, “I am stronger than this!”