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So I have been a smoker for the better part of a decade now and I have recently decided to quit. This is not only for health benefit but also because I have decided to "upgrade" my appearance so I have started a diet andf work out plan as well. I was wondering if anyone here has quit cold turkey and if they had any advice.

I have already determined that the only times that I feel the urge to smoke are after a meal, while waiting for something to happen, or after an acomplishment. I think that the biggest problem is that all of my friends smoke so it is not something I will be able to get away from. I will have to simply sit through it because I am not so selfish as to ask them to not smoke around me just because of my choices.

HELP!!

@Icon,

http://www.paydenspharmacy.co.uk/assets/product_images/main/5012882006648.jpg

Wear one of these, they're awesome. 10 mg each. Whenever you feel like smoking press on the applied patch. 12 days did it for me. Good luck.

@Icon,

If your insurance will cover it or if you can afford it, you might ask your doctor about Chantix. I've had really good results getting patients to quit with it.

@Icon,

I guess my biggest question is, is there a way to do it without chemicals. I don't even take asprin when I have a headache. I refuse to be given pain killers after surgery and I hate pills.

@Icon,

Quote:

I refuse to be given pain killers after surgery

Wow, you're one tough mofo, Icon. Laughing

Quitting cold turkey will be a major challenge, but heck, you've got the willpower to handle post-surgery pain so I'm confident in your ability to kick the butt. Good luck with it friend!

@Icon,

Well, you could always replace cigarettes with another crippling addiction.

I'm a smoker of six years and quitting, while appealing, is beyond my imagination. Good luck to you - we've a nasty habit.

I quit cold turkey for four months once. Only advice I can give is to do your absolute best about paying attention to the way you react to people. You will get cranky.

Again, good luck Icon. I'm pullin' for you.

@Didymos Thomas,

Solace wrote:

Wow, you're one tough mofo, Icon.

Quitting cold turkey will be a major challenge, but heck, you've got the willpower to handle post-surgery pain so I'm confident in your ability to kick the butt. Good luck with it friend!

I'm not that tough. It is just about gettin your head around the pain. Once you get your head around the pain, just keep it under control. Yeah, it hurts but it isn't crippling provided you take care of your self.

Didymos Thomas wrote:

Well, you could always replace cigarettes with another crippling addiction.

I'm a smoker of six years and quitting, while appealing, is beyond my imagination. Good luck to you - we've a nasty habit.

I quit cold turkey for four months once. Only advice I can give is to do your absolute best about paying attention to the way you react to people. You will get cranky.

Again, good luck Icon. I'm pullin' for you.

I appreciate it. I am on day three right now and I have been trying to keep my sunny disposition. It has not been easy. It seems that every little thing annoys me.

@Icon,

Icon wrote:

I guess my biggest question is, is there a way to do it without chemicals.

You're already getting nicotine from the cigarettes, along with a lot of other crap, so using nicotine patches isn't really taking chemicals. They will still feed your addiction while you get time to give up the smoking gestures and reflexes. I used 8 full patches the first week then moved to half patches (use scissors, don't buy 5mg ones Razz

) for another 5 days.

Pie.

@Icon,

I know the feeling, Icon. It's tough, but that will pass.

One thing that might help - a big part of the smoking addiction is that smoking gives you something to do, something to do with your hands, and fulfills an oral fixation. You might start popping mints and carrying a stress ball or something to help alleviate those impulses.

@Didymos Thomas,

Didymos Thomas wrote:

carrying a stress ball or something to help alleviate those impulses

QFT

I did that too. Don't use pens or pencils. And regarding the patches, the downside is the first and maybe second one will irritate your skin.

@Icon,

I quit cold turkey after 13 years of smoking a couple of years ago. While I do admit the first few months seemed impossible, and I suffered from wild mood swings, I don't think I would have been able to quit in any other way. I broke the chemical addiction and the physical addiction at the same time. After about two weeks it becomes much easier as time rolls on. If you think about it, if you quit cold turkey from smoking, you can do anything if you set your mind to it.

@Icon,

Again, I know I am getting nicotine from the cigs which is part of the reason that I quit. In reality, the reason I don't like meds is simply that I would rather deal with it naturally. Call me stupid, I don't care. It has worked for me thus far and has helped turn me into the man that I am today. I simply think that switching from one nicotine intake to another is not quitting. It is cheating. Only my complete determination to quit is going to get me through.

@Theaetetus,

Try smoking the patches...i packed up for ten years then the wacky stuff got me hooked on the nico and now ive been clean for another twelve years...The craving for a ciggy lasts thirty seconds...so say no for thirty two seconds..saying goodbye to and old friend even if he is a barsteward is always hard...YOU CAN DO IT...

@Icon,

Icon wrote:

I guess my biggest question is, is there a way to do it without chemicals. I don't even take asprin when I have a headache. I refuse to be given pain killers after surgery and I hate pills.

Smoking is doing its own chemical magic to you. If it takes a bit of a different chemical to bridge the gap until you're smoke free, better that than being disheartened if cold turkey doesn't work for you. Drugs have plusses and minuses, but if something is safe and it's known to work then why suffer?

@Aedes,

Aedes wrote:

Smoking is doing its own chemical magic to you. If it takes a bit of a different chemical to bridge the gap until you're smoke free, better that than being disheartened if cold turkey doesn't work for you. Drugs have plusses and minuses, but if something is safe and it's known to work then why suffer?

In some ways I thought the suffering was a necessary experience I needed to go through. Knowing what I went through gives me concrete, vivid memories of why I never want to smoke again. In order to quit again, I would have to go through the same experiences.

@Theaetetus,

Hey, whatever works for you. It really is a mind over matter experience for people. I just don't you to get discouraged if it doesn't work, because people try many many times before they finally get there.

@Aedes,

Aedes wrote:

Hey, whatever works for you. It really is a mind over matter experience for people. I just don't you to get discouraged if it doesn't work, because people try many many times before they finally get there.

I don't get discouraged if I fail. I find out where I went wrong and do it again with a few tweaks. I do that until I get it right.

@Icon,

Icon wrote:

I don't get discouraged if I fail. I find out where I went wrong and do it again with a few tweaks. I do that until I get it right.

Wrong attitude..give yourself a dead line and stick to it..dont be a tart..

@Icon,

Hahaha. My mother said it best.

"If problems were like brick walls, some people would go over it; some people would go under it; some people would go around it, but not you. No... You buck up, shoulder down and slam into that wall until you make it straight through leaving a door for the next person to follow."

I am more stubborn than Russian father talking to his daughters boyfriend without vodka. Trust me, I know that one from experience.

@Icon,

I stopped smoking from 1992 until 2006. I got severe allergy attacks in 2006 so I had to start again, but only about 3 hand-rolled smokes a day.

I became a fitness fanatic when I stopped back in '92. I speant much time with creative cooking as well, its all about channeling the nervous energy into other pursuits. I took up guitar, swimming in the sea everyday, soccer 3 times a week, squash, running with the dog; all sorts of things to keep the mind occupied. The first two months are the toughest, after that its quite easy.

And I kept away from buddies who smoked. Thats a big must. Keep away from pubs, and any other habits that you associate with smoking, like drinking coffee. Training your mind, is like training a dog. Step by step, patience, and remember that if you have a smoke you are undoing all the suffering you have been through to quit as far as you have quit. Keep that thought close to mind.

Hmmm. I think my cigarette is calling me.

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