I just quit smoking!!
 

and I'm dying! I just stopped cold turkey, but if anyone has advice or suggestions for me, I'll gladly listen :D

Good for you!! I don't smoke so i don't have any advice, but my mom took that zyban and worked like a charm for her and she's been smoke free for 5 years.

When you feel like you want a smoke, chew on a piece of gum, or drink a glass of water or tea. And just think of ALL the things you can buy Chewy now that you don't spend $5 to $8 a pack... ;)

FE: $8.50 here in NYC. I'm going to start an envelope and will go on a monthly binge at Trixie and Peanut!

Wow! Good for you! That is excellent.

It's not easy, I know. I quit "cold turkey" as well back in December of 2003.

I promised my husband that it was a "stress" thing and that I would quit when I finished my Bachelor's degree. Well....I finished school to find myself still wanting to smoke. So it was REALLY hard for me to quit because I didn't want to. HE wanted me to....so I forced myself to not smoke. (I started when I was 16.)

It won't be easy, but it will be worth it. What worked for me was gum and candy. I kept a giant bowl of skittles in my house and ate those whenever I wanted a cigarette - and these days I really enjoy Jolly Ranchers and Smarties while at work. I think that's my replacement addiction: candy! LOL.

It took me about 8-9 months to not WANT a cigarette anymore. But after that, even when I gave in a time or two, it wasn't the same. I still fondly remember smoking sometimes....but I know if I ever had a cigarette it wouldn't be the same as it was b/c I'm not addicted anymore.

It has been a year and 7 months now (wow time flies) and I haven't wanted a cigarette in a long time! For a while, people smoking around me bothered me b/c I wanted one....then I was ok with people smoking around me....and the smoke didn't bother me. Now I'm at the point to where I don't even like the smell of it anymore, haha! It's great. I'm a new person, and so much healthier and happier.

Good luck! You can do it and if you ever need encouragement, I'm here to help!!!!

I'm not a lot of help because I was never a full blown smoker...about half a pack a day. I was habitual i would smoke when i drank, talked with friends, drove, and walked. I found hard candy was great (something that takes about the same about of time, suckers?). Also this may sound dumb but i pretend smoked for a long time. anytime i was in a situation where i wanted to smoke i would bum a cigarette, but not lite it, just pretend i was smoking it. it did help, but everyone thought i was weird.

GOOD FOR YOU!!!!! I don't have enough discipline to stop. Best of luck!

/me applauds!!! wooohoooo! good for you! My husband's a chain smoker and has a hard time going cold turkey. Hope he'll be able to have a stronger will power to stop :D we're all behind you!!!!

GREAT!! You keep going, then you let me know how you did it, 4.20 a pack here, and that is ridiculous,, I have to quit....soon,,,,,, Just not today...LOL..
No, thats great that you quit, Keep it up. :)

Thanks for the encouragement. You know, I always walked a pretty straight line, I only drink wine, never spirits and at the age of 34, I have never done any drugs, BUT I have smoked a lot for a loooooong time. About 20 years! This is it for me. I'm done. Not just for me but for my little boy. Plus I will save lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$ :D

I actually make stop smoking classes here.
Instead of writing everything in a post, I have tried to find some websites in english with good info and support - here you go:

http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/
http://www.ash.org.uk/html/factsheets/html/fact11.html
http://www.stopsmokingcenter.net/
http://www.drphil.com/show/show.jhtm...n=&subsection=

A few things I will emphasize is - do not use patches, gum or any other substitute when quitting - statistically you have a much better chance if you go cold turkey!

Don't believe your brain when it tries to convince you of taking a cig - it will lie to you and tell you that "one puff doesn't matter", "you derserve it after a hard day" etc etc.

The craving lasts 7minutes - go do something else for 7minutes, do the dishes, drink water, go for a walk with your dog :) If you make it through the first 7 days, your chances of quitting for ever has doubled!

I quit in 2001 and haven't smoken since. Cold turkey. I still get the need for a cig now and then - seeing a movie where they smoke, sitting in a warm summernight under the sky etc. But what I do is I say out loud "Man, I really would like to smoke right now" and that takes the need away.

Do NOT tell yourself "I mustn't smoke, I mustn't smoke" - it's will fill your brain with thoughts of cigarettes...

YOU GO GIRL!

That's great news! Keep up the will-power and don't give in. Quitting smoking must be like an alcoholic in a way, because if some people give in and smoke one then they are back to smoking again. Good luck! :D

non-smoking section, please
 

Good for you. At one time I was the only person among my friends who did not smoke. I endured the smoking sections of every restaurant, train, plane, in the car and my own home when people visited..you name it. Suddenly, every last one of them quit over a period of year...

Now when any of the recovered addicts smell smoke they freak out...one goes into spasms of gasping..it is funny...how soon she forgot the times I had to hang my head out of her car window to breathe..LOL

This was said with great love...and humor!

Seven minutes, huh. i can hold out and do something else. My husband told me he would send me up to Boston to see this guy everybody calls "The Russian" he is a Russian hypnotist that can make you quit in one session. From gossipy conversations I have heard that this is how Matt Damon and Christy Turlington quit smoking.

Been there done that - lasted for a year and a half. Problem was I wasn't really convinced I wanted to stop, so I used a hypnotist, but then when I had a crisis I couldn't resist because stopping wasn't really my decision.
Bad idea...

You quit and I started..haha...I'm actually just a social smoker, a couple a week. I've been this way for a couple of years now. I just have an extra one for stress and these days it high. But good for you for doing it.

GOOD FOR YOU!! Never been a smoker so don't have any advice to offer - but want to send words of encouragement your way. Just keep health, loved ones & $$$$ in mind when you feel the urge! Best of luck to you - YOU CAN DO IT!!!

I just was gonna make a post about this! I need suggestions. Good luck to you.

Also, I've been on Wellburtrin/Zyban (same thing) and they didn't work for me. Maybe you could give them a try because I've heard they work for some people.

Kristy, you quit too????????? My friend just told me about a pill that helps with stopping smoking and losing weight. I did see a write up about it in the paper but, i don't know. I'll look it up and let you know.

BTW: Admin, does this mean we won;t get suspended if we are mean :D Can we blame it on withdrawal, which can be classified as a psychological problem for which we are not to blame? :eyetearss

Yes, I am trying to quit, but won't do it cold turkey ever again. I turn into a raving maniac. (more so than i already am ;) ) wellbutrin xl did help me lose weight and get rid of my spats with anxiety, but didn't help me stop smoking at all. it claims to take away the craving and it doesn't. i am down to 5-7 a day. before i was at almost a pack. i'm only 21 (almost 22) and started smoking around my 18th birthday, so hopefully i haven't done toooooooo much damage yet.

Gerry- The pill is coming out in early 2006. Its going to be indicated for metabolic syndrome to help diabetics with peripheral fat, but during the FDA testing the clinical investigators found that a side effect is that it helps to deter against cravings... any cravinds...smoking, drugs, food and alcohol. The generic name is rimonobant and the branded name that it will be sold under is Accomplia. To date there are no side effects except for nausea. It works on the canibus receptor in the brain. The stock analysts are calling for it to be the biggest blockbuster drug for the pharmaceutical industry ever, knocking Lipitor out of the #1 spot.

WOW Tara: Thanks for the info, I gotta get me some! I totally forgot you had the inside track on all this stuff. I'm doing ok so far today but would love to get my hands on something to help. Can't wait for early 2006. :rolleyes:

Chewys mom,

First i want to say good for you. I am a smoker as well i had quit for a year and i joined a support group at a local church. Well what helped me was i wrote down a list of the times a craved a cig. Usually it was while on the pc or on the phone and especially with my coffee. Well I learned in this group that its also a hand habit, think about how many times you raise your hand to your mouth to take a drag of a cig. so you have to break that habit as well. I would keep a bowl of pistacciaos next to me and everytime i had an urge or was on the phone or by the pc i would start cracking open the shells. Believe me it helped me a lot. i also tried to avoid the things i associated with smoking and quit drinking coffee as well. it was very hard but it worked. I had quit for over a year but went back to it not long ago because i was going thru some really tough times with my personal life and there was my friends smikes and that was the end of for me. I do plan to quit again because i really felt sooooo much better when i quit. If i can help in any way let me know and ill give you more lil tips. I wish sooooo much good luck and Im sure you wont get suspended for becoming a raving luna tick that first couple of weeks. lol

As far as the Zyban/Wellbutrin ... different docs dose it differently and I think can have a bearing on the outcome of how well it works for different people. There are 150 and 300mg doses and I have heard a lot of docs will start you on the 150 for a week and you are still allowed to smoke bc it takes a week or so for it to build up in your system in order to help you with the cravings, but then the second week they titrate you up to the 300mg dose and then you quit. A lot of people are having greater success now bc the old Wellbutrin/Zyban was not an extended release formula so it just released all at once in your system, but by the end of the day, the effects would wear off. Now with the extended release, the active ingredient in the drug is slowly releasedinto your system which helps you with your cravings and mood swings throughout the day. The drug itself is in an antidepressant and is the only one that helps with smoking as far as the FDA is concerned. The biggest side effect that I have heard docs speak of is INCREASED libido. Not a bad side effect! Also I have heard that when you start taking it you can have difficulty sleeping. No weight gain is a plus too! My dad took it and he said that it actually made the cigarettes taste horrible and that when he inhaled he didnt get the Buzz so it was really wasy for him to quit using this method.

I was on 300mg of extended release and my libidio was non-existant (sorry if too much info :p ) I had a problem with sleeping too much and napping alll the time; it took care of that problem. I lost about 15lbs while taking it. Anyway, just my experience. My primary care physician prescribed it and suggested I exercise more than I usually do so it would help it work ??? I dont know if i see why that makes sense, but that's what she said.

Smoking
 

Good for you! Talk with your doctor or nurse practitioner about a medicine called "Wellbutrin". This is an antidepressant but is used off label for smoking as well. It cuts the cravings way down. Many patients I've spoken with like it and say it works. Good luck!

Smoking
 

:D Oops did not see this post before I posted.

$8.50 for a pack of smokes!!!!! Holy sh**!!!


$3.26 here.

Kristy- I know.. I didnt know how to word the libido part of my post.. I had to think about that one for a minute! I know docs always tell you to exercise more when you are trying to quit.. I think thats psychological. I don't know why it would affect the drug working better. As far as your experience... it sounds like it had the opposite effect on you in almost every aspect. Not all drugs work for everyone though. I was just posting the typical response... Luckily it works for a lot of people, but its usually when they HAVE to quit. My dad had a heartattack, so he had no choice! Most of the docs I call on are cardiologists and neurologists, so their patients are in pretty acute situations. But I know a lot of PC docs are use it too... hopefully the new drug will be a magic pill like they are saying it will be!