How to Quit Smoking [Archive] - Freethought Forum

viscousmemories

08-29-2004, 12:07 AM

Okay, I've talked about this a couple other times on other forums, but I think it's really important to let as many people see it as possible so I'll tell the story again for you folks. Lucky you!! :D

I started smoking cigarettes when I was very young. Like 6 years old. I wasn't a heavy smoker, of course, and wasn't actually smoking two packs a day until I was 12. By 20 I was smoking around 3 packs a day. In 1989 my girlfriend and I quit cold turkey together, and that lasted for about six months. I caved first, she followed immediately.

By the time I was 30ish, I had officially quit quitting and resigned myself to a life of smoking. I hated being a smoker, really. I loved smoking of course, but I hated the cost, inconvenience, burns, ashes all over, etc. Nevertheless as I saw it I was practically born with a cigarette in my hand, and I would die with one. As I saw it, it was a deep and personal affection. Every time I ripped a pack open it was Christmas morning. Every time I felt alone in the world I had my friend the cigarettes. And so on.

Then one day a friend of mine - who happens to be a very intelligent, skeptical guy - told me he quit smoking after reading a book called Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking (http://www.allencarrseasyway.com). I was amused, of course. The idea that a cheesy little book could make me want to quit after nearly 25 years of smoking was absurd. The only reason I knew it wasn't just a typical self-help book or horror stories is that I knew my friend wouldn't be any more into that kind of crap than I am.

So I got the book. Or, more accurately, I paid to read the book online at the website I linked to above. And it worked. I read that virtual book and when I was done, I didn't want to smoke anymore. So I just stopped. I swear it was really that easy. I just stopped, and haven't had any serious desire to be a smoker ever since. Don't get me wrong, I've had the occasional thoughts about and urges to smoke, but overwhelmingly I just didn't (and don't) want to be a smoker anymore.

I did end up buying the book for a friend, and another copy for my brother. They both quit. According to a report that just came in from one of my friends last night she and two others (her ex-husband and a mutual friend) have quit also. I've bought it for other people who have also quit. I think some have relapsed, not sure about others. But overall the success rate has been phenomenal. Some of these people smoked as much and for as long as me, and quit like it was nothing. Like me.

So anyway that's my story. I hope this helps someone else. :)

Btw I'm not sure exactly how long it's been for me. I don't really keep track, but it's somewhere around three years. I say even if you don't think you want the book or to quit, just go to the website and take the free intro. Just click on "Stop Smoking" then "Free Intro" on the main page. :)

SharonDee

08-29-2004, 01:26 AM

freemonkey

08-29-2004, 03:02 AM

I remember the first time I followed one of your links to that site, vm. This was when I was still smoking, and only thinking "maybe I should think about quitting". I liked what I read at the site and had every intention of buying the book.

Shortly afterward, I found out I needed surgery and used the time in the hospital as an opportunity to quit. Its been about 18 months for me, and sure, I get urges now & then, but nothing I can't handle.

I've thought about buying the book for my husband, as he "claims" he wants to quit, and says he will "after this......", "after that........" .

viscousmemories

08-29-2004, 03:41 AM

:bow:
I'm glad you found something that worked, vm. For me, the last effort at quitting was reinforced by a bit of half-remembered self hypnosis. It got me through a rough spot, anyway, and it will be six years at the end of December.
Thanks, and congratulations! :)

I considered hypnosis once upon a time, but I've always been a skeptic (my Mom thinks it's 'cause she named me after the doubter :D) so I never got around to it.

I remember the first time I followed one of your links to that site, vm. This was when I was still smoking, and only thinking "maybe I should think about quitting". I liked what I read at the site and had every intention of buying the book.

Shortly afterward, I found out I needed surgery and used the time in the hospital as an opportunity to quit. Its been about 18 months for me, and sure, I get urges now & then, but nothing I can't handle.
Hey whatever works. That's great. :)

I've thought about buying the book for my husband, as he "claims" he wants to quit, and says he will "after this......", "after that........" .
You really should. Not just for him but for you too. It could help strengthen your resolve in case you're ever tempted. Same to you, SharonDee! :)

Nil Desperandum

08-30-2004, 08:15 AM

How to quit smoking?

Stop fucking buying cigarettes.

Dominion

08-30-2004, 11:13 AM

SharonDee

08-30-2004, 02:15 PM

How to quit smoking?

Stop fucking buying cigarettes.
That worked for you, did it?

solidsquid

08-30-2004, 10:09 PM

I quit smoking by saying, "This is my last one." and never smoking another.

viscousmemories

08-30-2004, 11:20 PM

I am cornfused.

Above you say that all you have to do is read this book and you will quit smoking. Yet Alan Carr runs clinics. According to him, this is the "core" of his organization, clinic visits lasting four hours. Yet apparently it works just as well if you simply read a 20 dollar book (I have no idea how much the clinic costs, but could it be less than 20 bucks?).
Ahh… skepticism is gooood. :D

As I understand it there is only one underlying method to Allen Carr's approach, but three routes you can go to learn it. You can read the book, do the course online, or go to a clinic. I can speak only to the online course from personal experience, but I believe the material is nearly identical to that in the book, and I expect the same material is covered at the clinics.

It seems reasonable to assume that he offers the method in a variety of media to appeal to a broader customer base, and that the price difference reflects the related R&D and/or overhead for each. At any rate it's the online course that's now $20 US (it was $9.95 when I took it several years ago), the book is available at Amazon UK for around 4 pounds. I don't know what the charge is for the clinics, but I agree that it is likely somewhat higher because of the increased overhead.

In any case, I have no idea how to evaluate Mr. Carr's course, without paying 20 dollars. Since I quit smoking a year ago (using my own unique method described below) I don't see the need to spend 20 dollars to help me do what I have already done.
Well as I said above, you can get the book for around 4 pounds if you're interested in evaluating the course. But true, it would be pointless for you to spend money to learn a method of accomplishing something you've already accomplished. I would add, though, that in my experience Allen Carr's method goes above and beyond merely helping a person stop smoking, into the arena of helping a person no longer desire it. Which is why I still recommend it to people who have already quit. As I said in my OP I've quit for six months before and then given in to a craving. But I really don't have those powerful cravings since stopping with this method, so I encourage anyone who does to buy the book and read it anyway.

Now MY method is cheap (Free in fact) easy, and not guaranteed at all. Doing some research on ETS (no need to explain why) I spent the afternoon reading over the medical research produced by our favorite tobacco companies. (http://www.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/)

And although cheap is attractive and a money-back guarantee ultimately unnecessary, I would still recommend a method that has worked for me and at least five of my friends over one that has worked for some guy on the Internet. But then nobody has to take my word that Carr's method is effective either, since he does offer a money-back guarantee. :D

Also, Carr's method actually goes a little beyond imparting information that can be easily acquired through research. When describing it he refers to "mental trickery" or "mild hypnotherapy". It seems the point is to erode (through logic and repetition) the smoker's belief – in my case firmly entrenched - that smoking is in any way beneficial or truly pleasurable except as the satisfaction of an unnatural craving. However he does make it clear that he personally found hypnosis wanting and that this is not hypnosis. I've never tried hypnosis and know nothing about it, so I can't speak to that.

People when they started outlawing drugs they definitely went after the wrong people (and yes, I am aware that illegalization of marijuana had more to do with the commercial applications of hemp than teenagers smoking the shit). After reading about just what I was putting into my lungs, I bought the patch and never looked back. 'Course I still smoke an occasional cigar, but at least I don't inhale those suckers! I have not smoked a cig in over a year and I have no desire to!
I have often thought that if any drugs were to be outlawed, alcohol and nicotine should be first. But then I don't (currently) believe drugs should be outlawed. Though I could be convinced otherwise by persuasive argument.

Bottom line is "whatever gets you through the night". Different techniques will work for different people and if it stops you from smoking, then I am all for it. Unless your a tobacco company exec. Then I think you should be forced to smoke a carton a day.
Hear, hear! I absolutely agree that stopping smoking is more important than why or how you stop smoking. Allen Carr's method worked for me and several people I know, and so I endorse it as often and as loudly as I can. As far as I can tell the most you have to lose is some hours of your time.

I really appreciate your skepticism on this, Dominion. I didn't think I had anything like a sacred cow until I read your post this morning and my knee-jerk reaction was something to the effect of, "How dare he?! This is for the good of man, it should not be questioned lest people be led to doubt!" :eek:

Dingfod

08-31-2004, 06:01 PM

Thanks for the tip, vm, I'm going to order the book for my daughter and two, no make that three, nieces who smoke.

reprise

08-31-2004, 09:29 PM

I own the book and despite having read it many times since I first purchased it over 10 years ago have yet to succeed at quitting smoking. :(

Dominion

09-01-2004, 05:05 PM

Perhaps someone (not to mention any names here...*koff...*koff vicious) would care to share, in a very general way, just what Carr offers that makes it so effective for his friends but not so effective for reprise.

I try to approach everything with a healthy dose of skepticism. Everything, even my own political beliefs. Someone asked me if I ever go after liberal positions since I am such an outspoken liberal..and the answer is yes. I debunked the idea that Nick Berg was killed by the US Government, and the idea that explosive charges (set by the CIA no doubt) was responsible for the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Just recently I had a fellow send me email asking me to link to his "stop smoking hypnosis" course for 150 bucks. After reading the site and coming to the conclusion that the guy is a nutberg, I decided it would be better for me to debunk him rather than support him (just a hint, he did not believe that nicotine was addictive). An article on that is in the making...

Sure I agree that methods to stop smoking are for the good of our fellow man, and as a liberal I am all for helping my fellow man. But if it is not effective, then it is not helping anyone but the person who charges for the course.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that it helped you and again anything that works is okay in my book. Of course, it is hard to determine how effective a course is when you simply have someone telling you it is effective. Personally I prefer a set of independent, double blind studies. They are so much more convincing...at least to me. :yup:

viscousmemories

09-01-2004, 05:46 PM

Perhaps someone (not to mention any names here...*koff...*koff vicious) would care to share, in a very general way, just what Carr offers that makes it so effective for his friends but not so effective for reprise.
I couldn't tell ya, but I'll do some navel-gazing further down...

Oh, and I'm more sticky than vicious. It's a common mistake. :)

I try to approach everything with a healthy dose of skepticism. Everything, even my own political beliefs. Someone asked me if I ever go after liberal positions since I am such an outspoken liberal..and the answer is yes. I debunked the idea that Nick Berg was killed by the US Government, and the idea that explosive charges (set by the CIA no doubt) was responsible for the collapse of the Twin Towers.
I'm very skeptical myself. I don't have any beliefs that I'm unwilling to reconsider.

Just recently I had a fellow send me email asking me to link to his "stop smoking hypnosis" course for 150 bucks. After reading the site and coming to the conclusion that the guy is a nutberg, I decided it would be better for me to debunk him rather than support him (just a hint, he did not believe that nicotine was addictive). An article on that is in the making...
I look forward to reading the article.

Sure I agree that methods to stop smoking are for the good of our fellow man, and as a liberal I am all for helping my fellow man. But if it is not effective, then it is not helping anyone but the person who charges for the course.
Except of course in this case, there is a money-back guarantee. If you compare your suggested method (i.e. researching the effects of second-hand smoke) with mine (Allen Carr's method) both require time, and (with consideration of the money-back offer) neither cost any money. The only difference, then, is that one guy I just met on the Internet has told me the former method was effective for him, and about 5 personal acquaintences have told me the latter method was effective for them. Of course this anecdotal evidence should prove nothing to a third party here, but it's the reason that I personally choose to endorse one method and not the other.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that it helped you and again anything that works is okay in my book. Of course, it is hard to determine how effective a course is when you simply have someone telling you it is effective. Personally I prefer a set of independent, double blind studies. They are so much more convincing...at least to me. :yup:
I hear what you're saying, but I guess I just don't see the point of skepticism for its own sake. If a person stands nothing to lose but a few hours of their time and stands to gain a life free from addiction to smoking, and I know from personal experience that the method helped me and several of my friends to accomplish the latter, then I just don't see the point in discouraging anyone from giving it a try.

Hey, maybe Allen Carr's method is a placebo, and I was only able to overcome my addiction to smoking because my friend was so convinced it was the book that gave him the power that his conviction got passed on to me. And maybe my other friends (and their friends) have only been able to quit because I succeeded in passing on that conviction, and so on. I suspect that would be hard to prove in a lab, but not impossible. In any case, is it wrong of me to promote a quit smoking method despite the fact that I can't prove or explain its effectiveness?

Put another way, if I knew of two methods for overcoming the addiction to smoking, one of which had scientific support and one which didn't, I would of course enthusiastically promote the former over the latter despite my experience, in recognition of the fact that my evidence is purely anecdotal. But the fact is I don't know of any such method. To my knowledge the jury is still out on a scientifically proven method to overcome addiction to smoking, and the most compelling data I've seen is my own experience.

ceptimus

09-03-2004, 12:02 AM

My granddad smoked 60-a-day for 40 years. Unfiltered Woodbines. He fell in a canal one day (while drunk). While trying to get back out of the canal, he had difficulty breathing, and he blamed this on the cigarettes.

That night, he threw his remaining cigarettes on the fire, and never smoked another. He lived another thirty years after giving them up.

LadyShea

09-03-2004, 01:27 AM

I read Carr's book, I am still smoking. I think the difference is the desire to quit. I don't want to quit, it's as simple as that. I live in Las Vegas, so have no societal pressure to quit, I haven't had any smoking related health problems, and all of my relatives who have smoked lived/are living into ripe old age which, IME is contrary to the experience of those who desire to quit or successfully quit (though there are exceptions of course, I am sure). I bought the book becase VM pretty much convinced me that I would quite anyway, without wanting to ;)

Now, that being said, if I had an actual desire to quit smoking, I think the book would have been quite helpful. I saw several elements of subliminal suggestion/self hypnosis, such as repeating certain phrases or words too many times to chalk up to poor writing, which I think would bolster or support the existing desire to quit. The book does a good job debunking the usual justifications smokers use.

In my opinion, the book won't make you quit smoking, but it can help you quit if you already have the desire to do so.

Farren

09-03-2004, 01:45 AM

I quit for a few months and just started again. Somehow the path back to smoking always starts with that old Tennessee sour mash for me.

Notwithstanding my weakness for cigs after a bit of drink, the method I used to quit was dead easy and I intend giving it another shot the same way: Zyban.

I don't know if its marketed under the same name over there but its a Glaxo Welcome (sp?) drug and it rawks. It doesn't remove the desire to smoke as in the feeling that a smoke would be really nice right now (like you might feel about a chocolate milkshake), but it gets rid of the desperate craving to smoke, the feeling that you're going to rip your head off and reverse your car over it if you don't get your fix.

So it basically makes giving up cigarettes like giving up chocolate milkshake, which is substantially easier.

I also have several friends who've used the book and recommend it highly, although one mentioned that, as Brandi said, you really have to want to give up. With Zyban, you don't have to be awfully committed. I lasted months after finishing the course. Only problem is its quite pricey (over here, at least).

LadyShea

09-03-2004, 02:10 AM

Zyban (aka Wellbutrin) didn't work for me either. I went on it at my doctor's insistence (again, not of my own desire to quit, just wanting to shut up the Docs harping on me). All it did what curb my appetite a bit.

SharonDee

09-03-2004, 02:30 AM

Yep. You have to want to quit smoking or no method will work. I used to wish I could find something that would make me want to quit (short of a death sentence). I'm still not sure what made me want it but I'm glad something did.

Now if I could find something to make me want to lose weight badly enough to do it. Hey, LadyShea... do you still have some Zyban I could borrow? :)

viscousmemories

09-03-2004, 03:08 AM

In my opinion, the book won't make you quit smoking, but it can help you quit if you already have the desire to do so.
I hear ya, but at the risk of sounding pedantic I don't think it's as much a desire to quit one needs as a desire to be a non-smoker. No smoker wants to quit, because typically every time we've tried it has been a miserable experience that culminated in failure. But yeah I do agree that you probably have to (on some level anyway) want to be a non-smoker. I wanted to be a non-smoker for years - mostly because of the cost - but had given up trying to quit. So I think the book, for me, just helped me figure out how to get what I wanted, as well as nudging me along a bit.

LadyShea

09-03-2004, 03:15 AM

I hear ya, but at the risk of sounding pedantic I don't think it's as much a desire to quit one needs as a desire to be a non-smoker. No smoker wants to quit, because typically every time we've tried it has been a miserable experience that culminated in failure. But yeah I do agree that you probably have to (on some level anyway) want to be a non-smoker. I wanted to be a non-smoker for years - mostly because of the cost - but had given up trying to quit. So I think the book, for me, just helped me figure out how to get what I wanted, as well as nudging me along a bit.

Thats an important clarification actually. Wanting to be a non-smoker rather than wanting to quit.

I still don't have that desire, but I think it's helpful to be precise in the discussion. Thank you

viscousmemories

09-03-2004, 03:19 AM

Thats an important clarification actually. Wanting to be a non-smoker rather than wanting to quit.

I still don't have that desire, but I think it's helpful to be precise in the discussion. Thank you
No, thank you. :)

LianaLi

09-19-2004, 04:56 AM

Amusing tid-bit from a many-times quitter:

It's been found that smoking will reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. I had a hard as hell time in class not laughing my ass off at that one. Something about how the nicotine increases the receptors that acetylcholine uses, and that the neurons producing acetylcholine are the ones involved in Alzhiemer's. Whee! So there is a benefit to smoking. I'll give y'all more details about it when I study for the exam in class this coming tuesday.

In the meantime, I've resigned myself to smoking 3-4 cigarettes max. Anything more than that, and my body rebels. I do not enjoy the sore throat or the resulting smoker's hack if I do wind up smoking more. One of these days, I'm going to buckle down and attack the habits I've developed that encourage my smoking. But not today.

-Li

pescifish

09-19-2004, 06:43 AM

It's been found that smoking will reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
<facetiousness>
Well, yeah, if one dies of lung cancer or smoking induced heart disease at an earlier age than one normally would, that would mean it reduces one's chances of getting any number of late life onset diseases...
</facetiousness>

Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if there were results like that from long term smoking.

godfry n. glad

09-20-2004, 12:26 AM

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that it helped you and again anything that works is okay in my book. Of course, it is hard to determine how effective a course is when you simply have someone telling you it is effective. Personally I prefer a set of independent, double blind studies. They are so much more convincing...at least to me. :yup:
I hear what you're saying, but I guess I just don't see the point of skepticism for its own sake. If a person stands nothing to lose but a few hours of their time and stands to gain a life free from addiction to smoking, and I know from personal experience that the method helped me and several of my friends to accomplish the latter, then I just don't see the point in discouraging anyone from giving it a try.

Hey, maybe Allen Carr's method is a placebo, and I was only able to overcome my addiction to smoking because my friend was so convinced it was the book that gave him the power that his conviction got passed on to me. And maybe my other friends (and their friends) have only been able to quit because I succeeded in passing on that conviction, and so on. I suspect that would be hard to prove in a lab, but not impossible. In any case, is it wrong of me to promote a quit smoking method despite the fact that I can't prove or explain its effectiveness?

Put another way, if I knew of two methods for overcoming the addiction to smoking, one of which had scientific support and one which didn't, I would of course enthusiastically promote the former over the latter despite my experience, in recognition of the fact that my evidence is purely anecdotal. But the fact is I don't know of any such method. To my knowledge the jury is still out on a scientifically proven method to overcome addiction to smoking, and the most compelling data I've seen is my own experience.

Hey, if it worked, it worked. I wouldn't give a damn whether it was placebo or not.

I was a 25-year veteran two-pack-a-day smoker when I finally quit. I'd been through two cold turkey sessions and tried hypnotism. My wife had tried acupuncture. She watched her smoker mother die of lung cancer and kicked nick cold turkey right then. I faltered a year into cold turkey and restarted with the three-step patch two years after that. I had my last cigarette on Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. It's now been seven years. I work in a health care environment....I know very few tobacco smokers.

Anybody who can kick the nick deserves commendation, and every method that worked should be spread around. What works for some, doesn't for others. Keep trying 'til you find one that works. For me, it didn't hurt that I had chronic cough and spit up plenty of phlegm, thanks to nick sticks. Horking 'til my next fix kinda thing. That made it clear why I should quit.

Now, smoking stinks....literally. I can smell it. Most every other non-smoker can smell it, too. Smokers smell bad. Like dirty ashtrays.

If you wanna quit, do it. If you don't, thanks for supporting the schools!

I'll sit over here, thanks.

godfry

beyelzu

09-20-2004, 05:35 AM

How to quit smoking?

Stop fucking buying cigarettes.
I was going to say no one likes a quitter. but no one likes a shithead even moreso.

beyelzu

09-20-2004, 05:43 AM

on a general not smoking note.

I happen to like smoking myself. I enjoy it and really have no desire to quit, although I do occassionally regret how much it costs. I suppose if smoking gets even more expensive I could reach my threshold pretty soon.

seebs

09-20-2004, 05:47 AM

My wife quit for a fair while with wellbutrin and a combination of nicotine gum and herbal cigarettes, which separated the nicotine addiction from the playing-with-fire habit.

Ronin

09-20-2004, 05:52 AM

I quit using Nil Desperandum's method after a nine year smokathon.

Cost was the main factor.

I can drink five times as much now.

:fly2:

beyelzu

09-21-2004, 02:41 AM

I quit using Nil Desperandum's method after a nine year smokathon.

Cost was the main factor.

I can drink five times as much now.

:fly2:
you know ronin, you should be a motivational speaker. even now, although I dont want to quit, the thought of all the extra skyy* I could buy makes me tempted.

and grey goose and capn morgan silver and 99 bannanas and chivas and many more.

Ronin

09-21-2004, 04:24 AM

and grey goose and capn morgan silver and 99 bannanas and chivas and many more.

Oh Jeez, I'd have to give up my blazing fast cablemodem access as well for that stuff!

:pigfly:

viscousmemories

09-21-2004, 04:27 AM

on a general not smoking note.

I happen to like smoking myself.
If I could do that I'd never leave the house.

godfry n. glad

09-21-2004, 06:06 AM

on a general not smoking note.

I happen to like smoking myself.
If I could do that I'd never leave the house.

Clogs the pipe pretty fast.

beyelzu

03-12-2006, 02:12 AM

anyway, so yeah the intro to the book that vm touts got me to thinking, and lots of things going on in my life. so here i am, on day13, its good times.

:tmgrin:

Plant Woman

03-12-2006, 02:51 AM

WAY TO GO! I am so happy for you!!!! The worst is over and it should be smoother sailing from now on.

viscousmemories

09-29-2006, 05:18 PM

Every once in awhile something reminds me how fortunate I am to have been liberated from smoking, so I thought I'd raise this thread from the dead in the hopes that it helps someone else.

Crumb

09-29-2006, 06:24 PM

How long have you been off 'em, vm?

viscousmemories

09-29-2006, 06:32 PM

Pretty close to six years now, I think. I almost never even think about it anymore, and with only a couple of very minor exceptional instances it's been years since I had any desire to smoke. Oh, and it looks like Ashton Kutcher is stalking me again (http://www.tmz.com/2006/09/29/nics-tattoo-fix/#continuedcontents).

Crumb

09-29-2006, 06:52 PM

Congrats, vm! Great job! (On the not smoking not the Ashton stalking.)

viscousmemories

09-29-2006, 07:15 PM

Thanks, but I really don't deserve kudos. The book just helped me see that I was caught in a web of myths and rationalizations that perpetuated a costly and ultimately unsatisfying addiction. Quitting was easy after that. :)

SharonDee

09-29-2006, 07:28 PM

Gee, maybe I should read this miracle book now that I've picked cigarettes up again. (After seven years without.)

quiet bear

09-29-2006, 07:38 PM

I enjoy cigars every now and then.

Shelli

09-29-2006, 08:03 PM

Today is my 110th cigg free day and my 84th nicotine free day. :ovation:

I used Commit 2mg. nicotine lozenges for the first 26 days after quitting a pack to a pack and a half a day habit and I've been nicotine free since then.

It wasn't all that bad this time either because as VM said earlier in this thread, I wanted to be smoke free, not just to quit smoking. That's the whole trick to successfully quitting and staying smoke free. You have to really want it. The other times that I've quit smoking, even the times I was successful for up to a year at a time, I never really wanted to quit. I made myself quit and looked at quitting as punishment. I fought it every step of the way because I thought of it as something I had to do rather than something I wanted to do.

I've quit cold turkey a couple of times. I've quit using the patch a few times. I've been hypnotized to quit twice. I tried Wellbutrin to help quit smoking and had a severe allergic reaction to the drug :eek: . I've quit using Commit nicotine lozenges twice before this.

Quitting is just the first step and in the end all, not really the hardest part IMO. It's remaining smoke free.

Kudos to all those who have quit and remain smoke free :10: and my fervent wish that you never stop trying to those that have quit and have started again or who want to quit that you find a way that works for you and are able to change your frame of mind so that you embrace rather than recoil from the thought of a smoke free life. And remember, as long as you keep trying, you haven't failed. :cheer:

Shake

10-02-2006, 10:35 PM

Never smoked anything ... cigarettes, cigars ... nothing. I've already lost a set of grandparents to it (though separated by over 25 years, i.e. gramps in '78, g-ma in 2005), and thus have never had even the slightest desire to start. There have been a new set of ads on TV aimed at showing people what they're doing to themselves, some more graphic than others. I wish I could bring myself to believe that they worked, though. Even logic and gruesome displays have their work cut out for them against such an addiction.

Nonetheless, I will post this link of benefits to quitting (http://www.quit-smoking-stop.com/quit-smoking-benefits.html) in the vain attempt that just maybe someone might be slightly swayed by it.

Oh, I just hope none of you are the really rude, inconsiderate smokers who just throw the used butts out anywhere. I really hate those fuckers.

Assuming nothing has changed, I'll say congrats to Shelli for day #112/#86! You can do it!

And also congrats to vm for also having kicked the habit! May you stay smoke free! :yay:

Shelli

10-03-2006, 02:50 AM

Assuming nothing has changed, I'll say congrats to Shelli for day #112/#86! You can do it!
Thanks :thankee: , and nope, nothing's changed. I thought about it tonight but killed the thought dead in it's tracks. :zombieflomp:

Shelli

04-17-2007, 07:39 PM

Quitting is just the first step and in the end all, not really the hardest part IMO. It's remaining smoke free. Ain't that the truth. Today is day one again for me. :nosmoking

Qingdai

04-17-2007, 10:20 PM

I quit in 1997, it took cutting down, changing my life style (no more bars) and acupuncture, which mainly helped keep the physical effects (head ache and cravings for me) down. I did maybe three sessions of ear needles a week for two weeks.
Haven't smoked since and I smoked for about twenty years before hand.

Sock Puppet

04-17-2007, 10:42 PM

Quitting is just the first step and in the end all, not really the hardest part IMO. It's remaining smoke free. Ain't that the truth. Today is day one again for me. :nosmoking:glare:

BDS

04-17-2007, 10:47 PM

"Quitting smoking is easy -- I've done it a thousand times." -- Mark Twain

Shelli

04-17-2007, 10:52 PM

Quitting is just the first step and in the end all, not really the hardest part IMO. It's remaining smoke free. Ain't that the truth. Today is day one again for me. :nosmoking:glare::runaway:

Still holding strong on day 1 though. :yup:

Shelli

04-17-2007, 10:53 PM

"Quitting smoking is easy -- I've done it a thousand times." -- Mark TwainHeh, and how true that is.

Watser?

04-17-2007, 10:55 PM

I must be really bad at it

Only done it once :duh:

Stormlight

04-17-2007, 11:13 PM

I must be really bad at it

Only done it once :duh:

Amateur.

Shelli

04-17-2007, 11:24 PM

I must be really bad at it

Only done it once :duh:

Amateur.:yup:

Kyuss Apollo

04-18-2007, 01:20 AM

Gave up the American cancer sticks a whole bunch of times lol. One time I went 7 years... I started up again though. Why? Because one night I smoked one.

The key way to quit smoking is to not smoke. Not even one. The last Marlboro Light was in 1996.

But then I started flirting again with my tobacco love affair. Once in while, I would smoke a Backwoods Cigar...then I started buying pouches of them :cigar:

From those, I started smoking clove cigarettes regularly, oh about 7 or 8 years ago...Gudang Garam's, imported straight from Indonesia by the carton, were my favorite

http://www.cigarindo.com/images/GG_Professional.jpg

:qsigh:
:smitten:

I really enjoyed smoking, and if it were even slightly possible for me to still smoke I would. But it came down to a simple choice, breathing, or smoking.

I picked breathing almost three years ago, in June 2004.

Shelli

04-18-2007, 12:33 PM

Yay, Kyuss! :victory:

Day #2. Had a brief battle with myself when I woke up. I had forgotten that I had quit when I first woke up and had to debate with myself whether or not to have one anyway. I gritted my teeth and did not have one. Battle one of the day is over. :phew:

Watser?

04-18-2007, 12:39 PM

Kreteks! Yeah, I smoke them once in a while.

:cheer: Go Shelli! :cheer:

viscousmemories

04-19-2007, 01:30 PM

I gritted my teeth and did not have one. Battle one of the day is over. :phew:
This thread used to be about Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking :glare:. That book helped me realize that smoking wasn't really providing the benefits I believed it was, so I stopped. There was no teeth-gritting daily battles as with my many previous (failed) attempts to quit, because I truly didn't feel like I was giving anything up. I think I'm in my seventh year of not smoking, so needless to say I still highly recommend the book.

Shelli

04-19-2007, 02:10 PM

I gritted my teeth and did not have one. Battle one of the day is over. :phew:
This thread used to be about Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking :glare:.:tiptoe:

Kyuss Apollo

04-21-2007, 07:16 AM

Here's another tip I think someone already mentioned, but it bears repeating so...

Whenever a craving fit comes on, take long, slow deep breaths for two minutes. Someone (who had quit successfully) told me a nicotine fit only lasts for less than 2 minutes, so by doing that you flush your circulatory system with lots of fresh oxygen and the craving goes away.

So, how you doing? Hang in there Shell!

Shelli

04-21-2007, 04:21 PM

Doing well on day 5, Kyuss, thanks. So that I don't derail vm's thread any further though, I've started a new thread. Sorry, vm. :smile:

Quit Smoking Thread (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=371659#post371659)

viscousmemories

04-21-2007, 04:35 PM

Hey no worries, Shelli. It's just that I smoked heavily for 25 years and tried to quit many times using many methods (cold turkey, patch, etc.) and the only thing that worked for me was Allen Carr's book - in which he explicitly denounces the usually unsuccessful nail-biting 'willpower' approach that you're taking.

I'm sorry I can't be more supportive of your efforts, but I can't in good conscience endorse a method that in my experience is doomed to failure.

Anyway, erm, good luck! :shiftier: