Thread: Anyone here quit smoking successfully?

As other said: the desire to be free is key. My father quit when my mother was due to give birth to me. He was watching tv, and they showed a documentary about the effects of smoking, and cut open the lungs of a lifelong smoker who'd died of lung cancer. The thought of me and the thought of dieing like that made him throw his tobacco in the fireplace there and then. Never relapsed.

I'd be very careful with meds, for the simple reason is that they mess with your brain chemistry in order to artificially make the cravings go away. But when it comes to brain chemistry, we are still more or less clueless and much medication seems to be the medical equivalent of a big hammer with which to beat something in order to make it stop buzzing.

I don't smoke and really never did. But for anyone wishing to quit, I wish you the very best of luck and all the strength of will anyone could hope for. Its a bastard of an addiction and the health benefits of quitting are many. I've known people to use Chantix with success. Whatever method you choose, best of luck to you!

I feel I need to give you my story as well... I started smoking about 16 years ago, at my worst I was smoking 2 packs of Camel Wides a day. I switched to a more expensive ciggy, American Spirits and my habit dropped to about a pack just by the brand switch. Last year my Mother, who has been smoking for 50 years calls me and tells me she quit! I was so very impressed I asked her how she did it.... Chantix was her answer. She listed all of the ways this method was able to work for her. now she has tried EVERYTHING in the past, I can personally recall 8+ times and methods she attempted it. Nothing worked. So as you can imagine I was a bit skeptical, but when I visited for thanksgiving this past year I asked her after the big meal how she was doing, and she had no idea that I meant as a trigger for her desire to smoke!! That alone let me know that she, a Smoker of 50 years has finally given up this thing that has been killing her for almost all of her life!! I decided about 4 months ago that I was going to quit... so I went to my doctor and got my script for Chantix... I liked that I was able to smoke for the first week on the drug, I liked the support program that I had set up with it. Its a pretty straight forward concept: Pick a day to quit, start the meds one week before that day, on that day you stop smoking. This seems easy enough (I thought). I will say several things about that drug, it was VERY helpful with the nic-fits, when I had a craving due to a common trigger of mine i.e. getting into my car, or just after a meal, or just before bed, all i had to do was tell myself out loud "I am No Longer a Smoker." then the desire was gone. I will also say I never had the urge to Buy a pack when I stopped for gas or a soda, I just knew not to buy any. I Didn't have any of the untoward Side effects that have been reported and neither did my mother or anyone else I know that has used Chantix. (you always hear the horror stories but never meet the people) The biggest Side effect I ever saw was that my Dreams were a touch more vivid and kinda strange. Not Nightmares or anything just stranger than usual. I did unfortunately make the mistake of Stopping my medication early... then after a week off the meds and not smoking another mistake in thinking that I would be ok tipping back a few with my friends one night and bummed a smoke off one of them... unfortunately this started my habit back up... I have a call into my doctor to get another RX for the meds again... And I WILL QUIT THIS TIME!!!! Best luck to ya!! I think if you have enough support and any Aids/Meds/ Kicks in the A** you need to get the quitting done you WILL do it!! PM me if you need someone to talk with about it. I'll help any way I can!

You have heard it here more than once; you will quit when you are really ready. You can do it and it will not be easy.

I smoked for 12 or 13 years and quit a thousand time like most of us. One day I made up my mind that smoking was going to kill me and that I no longer wanted to let a little roll of tobacco rule my life, so I quit cold turkey. No pipe, no cigars and no chew and no nocitine anything.

That was 1982 and I have never looked back. Don't get me wrong, I would still love to light up a camel from time to time, but the urge is weak and I don't do it.

You will be surprised how bad stale tobacco smoke smells once you have quit. Good luck and don't give up.

Will N.

Yes, Wellbutrin. I said adavan and I stand corrected. They are both made to help those with depression. My ex took those and about 3 others that didn't help her problem at all. (another story) I know people who have used them with great success. My doctor felt the same way I did about them. They didn't work for 1 thing so they are trying it on people for something else. The reason you can smoke while you first start using is because it take some time before it affects the chemistry in your brain. Read those words again.....affects the chemistry in your brain. The side effects are real and if you use alcohol at all I would advise against going this route. Read the label and watch yourself and listen to others observations of you. Everybody is wired differently and you may do fine on these pills you just have to be careful. Use what ever you have the most confidence in. Use them all if you have to. Use what ever aid you need to help you get where you WANT to be. I am thinking a good looking woman half my age could make me quit in about 10 seconds, although I am pretty sure ciggs are cheaper :<0) YMMV

Started smoking about 1968. Stopped in 2004, cold turkey. Was much easier than previous efforts using nicotine gum.

I allowed myself to put a cigarette in my mouth whenever I wanted; just didn't allow myself to do it with a lit one. Never really wanted one after about 3 or 4 weeks of that. Now the smell of burning tobacco is slightly nauseating.

Originally Posted by Phrank

I tried once using Zyban - you were supposed to take a pill a day, smoke normally, and then two weeks later stop. Drug was awesome, totally removed all cravings for a smoke.

After two weeks, realized I was having huge trouble sleeping, was going to bed at midnight and getting up at 6am and heading to the office for lack of anything to do. Slowly just descended into a zombie like state.

Finally checked out side-effects, and I was having them all, the being turned into a numb, brain dead zombie was the worst.

If you try one of the drugs, make sure you look into side-effects!

Good luck!

I had the same thing with Chantix, very strange and lucid dreams, and then alternate bouts of sleeplessness, felt like a zombie, I even had something akin to what I believe would be an LSD acid trip while driving one day. I had to pull over and for about 15 to 20 minutes I had to get my head together and plan every intersection and stop light on a well worn route home before I felt safe to drive again. The stuff should be illegal IMO.

A brilliant man once said "Quitting is the easiest thing I've ever done, I must've done it a thousand times" -Mark Twain.

I agree with that statement quitting is easy, it's staying quit that's the problem.

I switched to Copenhagen.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

I had the same thing with Chantix, very strange and lucid dreams, and then alternate bouts of sleeplessness, felt like a zombie, I even had something akin to what I believe would be an LSD acid trip while driving one day. I had to pull over and for about 15 to 20 minutes I had to get my head together and plan every intersection and stop light on a well worn route home before I felt safe to drive again. The stuff should be illegal IMO.

That sounds like a nightmare!! I have heard that from more than a few people... more importantly, so has the medical profession. Their take: "The benefits it provides for most, outweighs the harm it does to a few."

I wonder what pharmaceutical lobby group paid the moneys needed to have that message pounded into the professions head lol? I mean when did medicine start thinking in the aggregate? LOL - what a joke.