I'm addicted to cigarettes and I need help from DUers.

[Paradoxical]

I'm only 21. I've been smoking off and on for about 3 years. But over the past 6 months I've gone on smoking sprees. For almost all of last semester, I was smoking about a pack a day.

I managed to quite over winter break. But I've picked it back up again.

It almost seems like I'm addicted to the act of smoking and not necessarily the nicotine. But after a while, of course, the nicotine becomes a prominent issue.


Does anyone have any suggestions for how to quit when you're addicted to the act of smoking?

[ohiosmith]

1. The only thing that worked for me was cold turkey. It was tough but I haven't had a cigarette in

more than 35 years. Good luck!

[RebelOne]

2. Can't help you. I have been a nicotine addict for over

50 years. I am trying to find a way to quit without going into withdrawal. My sister tried the drug Chantix, and she stopped for a couple of months, but then started smoking again. I bought the Commit Nicotine Lozenges but have not tried them yet.

[old mark]

3. If you have a regular doctor, tell them. You can get nicotine gum, etc, but the

HABIT as opposd to the addiction is tough. Many people use snacks, or gum or candy to overcome the "business" of cigarettes. DO ANYTHING THAT HELPS YOU and AVOID EVERYTHING that makes you want to smoke.

Many people have trouble quiting, and there are many aids to do it-some people use hypnosis, some-like me-cut back to maybe 4 or 5 a day, then just stop completely. It is still hard-it is a real addiction, but many people do it.

I had a very hard time, but have not smoked in over 20 years, and I know many other people who have quit completely for decades.
You know how hard it can be to stop, because you have done it...Just convince yourself that the next time will be your last quit and DO IT.

It can be hard, but you only have to do it successfully once.

Good luck. Don't give up.

mark

[JonLP24]

4. I like e-cigs myself

[Maine-ah]

5. when you feel like having a smoke

do something else. Go for a walk, have a huge glass of water...or orange juice because cigs and orange juice taste nasty together...pick up an exercise routine.

I quit cold turkey when I found out I was preggers four years ago....of course, I've picked it back up, so maybe I'm not the best person to give advice on it, but I did quit for almost three years.

[Tikki]

6. Sounds like you want 'it' to end.....

That's damned good motivation in itself.

Best way is to change your routine as you change your mindset.

The addiction to nicotine leaves the body, now fight the habit by starting
new habits throughout the day to replace the fingers to the mouth
routine.

Rearrange the furnishings where you live, change times of coming and
going, up in the morning, to bed at night...whatever screws with the old
routine.
Wash all your clothes and bedding, drapes, walls...what you feel you can smell
the odor of smoke on.

Try to NOT hang around other smokers, if possible the fewest the best.

Treat yourself to little rewards as you progress through the days, weeks etc.

Put the money you would have spent in a clear jar...watch it grow exponentially.

Tons of people have quit...there is nothing more special about them than there is about you.


Tikki
6 years nonsmoker.

[Bake]

7. Just suck it up and DO IT.

I'll help ... you can send your ciggs to me, c/o DU! :rofl:

Good luck. You're waaaaay too young to get stuck on 'em like I have been -- and I've been smoking longer than you've been on the planet!

Bake

[Curmudgeoness]

8. Just do whatever it takes to quit now. Three years isn't as bad

as over 45 years. And it will not get easier as the years pass.

Want some motivation? Start paying attention to older people who are still smoking---the wrinkles (look especially around the mouth), the cough, the teeth. I wish someone would have kicked my ass when I would have been able to quit.

[Arugula Latte]

9. I have a question for you ...

Why did you start smoking? (It might help to devise a strategy for quitting if you know your reasons for starting.)

[Paradoxical]

10. Depression. Stress.

[Arugula Latte]

11. Have you found something to help with that other than cigs?

Medication, therapy, or whatever?

[Paradoxical]

12. I'm on quite a few meds.

Seroquel
Lexapro
Lorazapam
Vyvanse

And I have been seeing a therapist off and on for over a year.

[Arugula Latte]

18. Have you discussed quitting with your therapist?

Might be some good insights into strategies, there.

[rurallib]

13. take about 10 very, very deep breaths when you have an urge.

worked for me at the age of 25.
Desire mostly went away in about a week. Totally gone in a month.

heard it on a radio show. It was about my 5th or 6th attempt at quitting. - no patches back then.

Somebody else on here said they had success doing it also.

Good luck and firm resolve to you.

[applegrove]

14. For months before I quit I only smoked in the kitchen. I got up from my computer or from the deck

where I was and walked into the kitchen to smoke. Then I tried Champix/Chantix (which can have really bad psychological side effects so you have to be careful when you take it). I quit and for 5 months after my quit I smoked maybe a pack of herbal cigs a week (which are godawful). I finally couldn't stand the herbal smokes and stopped smoking alltogether. Now whenever I think about smoking I get that disgusting herbal cigarette sensation in my mouth and quickly stop the fantacy. I no longer want to smoke. Been quit 2 1/2 years. It is wonderful.

I also used the quitnet.com ..... a place to go to get ideas and support. It is free.

Good luck!

[underpants]

15. You have more options than anyone ever has

After 20+ years I quit for 3 years and I used the patch


I am going to quit again soon. We have lozenges that you take and have to hold for 10 minutes in your mouth.

You have to want to quit. I quit when my baby girl was born but you don't need anything like that to do it.

The first 3 days are the hardest. Your world is changed. The funny part is that you will realize that you used to have the wallet-phone-keys-smokes-lighter check before you left the house ....now you will laugh about not having to make the smokes stop and that there is no lighter in your life.


I think I am going to quit in a few weeks. It sucks for a while but then you are amazed at how it controlled your life...just like any other addiction does to people.

Quit smoking. Your lungs will be as if you never smoked in 7 years.

[cbdo2007]

16. that's a compulsion rather than an addiction

and can be just as difficult to stop, if you can get past physical aspects of the addiction part of it.

Unfortunately it's just one of those things you have to be tough and actually force yourself to not do it. Maybe reward yourself for not smoking, or give yourself something instead like "ok, if I don't have a cigarette then I get to have these 3 hershey kisses". Then there is a reward each time for not doing it.

Compulsion can be tough to break. Lord knows I've been trapped underneath compulsions during my life, but you just need to force yourself past them. Good luck to you.

[struggle4progress]

17. Smoker here. Have quit several times, for several years at a time. It's a hard habit to break.

(1) Set some reduction goals. For example: "Over the next month, I'm going to get down to five/day." If you smoking one an hour now and want to be down to one every three hours in a month, then you got to add an additional about four minutes between cigarettes every day for the next month. Today, don't allow yourself more than one cigarette every 60 minutes; tomorrow, don't allow yourself more than one cigarette every 64 minutes; the next day, don't allow yourself more than one cigarette every 68 minutes ... Get a little book and keep a record of how well you're doing. You can always wait another four minutes for a ciggie.
(2) Once your down to four or five cigs a day, set a stop date for yourself, say a week or so into the future.
(3) Plan your life after your stop day. A major permanent change of daily routines really will help you quit. I've also found nicotine patches effective; other drugs available by prescription can help too, but the nicotine patches work best for me; you might want to talk to a doctor.
(4) Strengthen your resolve for your stop day. Plan what you will do after your last cigarette: among other things, you will make sure smoking becomes harder -- you'll get rid of matchbooks and lighters and ashtrays, and you'll avoid hanging out in places where you smoke. For example, if you like to smoke on the back porch after dinner, you're gonna take a walk instead. If you like to smoke in front of the TV, you're gonna sit down elsewhere and read a book. It doesn't matter, as long as you break the routine. Maybe get some little chocolate pretzels so whenever you have that hourly urge to stick a ciggie in your mug you can nibble a pretzel instead
(5) The first day off is the worst. After the first week, you've pretty much got it made. BUT -- you're a cig addict. We cig addicts just love the shitty little coffin nails. Don't lie to yourself that you can handle just one: you probably can't -- if you indulge you may be back up to a pack a day almost immediately