HOW TO QUIT SMOKING ~ Mega Thread

anyone sucessful quitting smoking from using the patch? or zyban? i want to quit , but its tough this time around. i have quit before, but not in about 2 years. i have only been smoking for 5 years. i have quit for 3 months at a time during these 5 years. this past two years its been hard though.
anyone have a tips on quitting smoking? thanx alot for your time.

The only way you're going to quit is if you actually TRULY WANT to.
I quit for 6 weeks on the Nicoderm CQ patch. I have smoked for 9 years, I am 22 years old, I started out on the highest dosage of nicotine and worked down. The first 4 days or so I smoked probably 6 or so cigarettes still. The patch does not give you as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes, so if you are a heavy smoker, you will still have the desire to smoke for the first few days. After that, as long as I had the patch on I was fine. Then came the step downs ... I did fine with the middle step, but once I was down to the lowest dosage, I began smoking again.
It takes most people an average of *7* times of trying to stop before being completely successful.
My tips would be these:
make sure you're completely ready and WANT to quit - if you're not, you'll fail and just get more discouraged.
If loved ones or people you live with smoke - they need to refrain from smoking around you for a LONG time, or quit with you (the latter being the best choice of the two obviously).
Make up your mind to do it, set a date, keep busy on that day, and stick to it!!!!!!!!!
Good luck!!!!!
Oh yes, I have taken Wellbutrin (exactly same thing as Zyban, just called by a different name if prescribed for depression) for depression and I can see how it would help you to stop smoking. I quit taking it before I really had the chance to try to quit again, but EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING tasted like shit on it!! I gagged on my cigarettes, drinks, food, etc. I guess that's why it's also a good weight loss drug. My doctor told me that what I had told him about everything tasting bad was what all of his patients had told him caused them to stop smoking. Just try it and see if it works for you.
[ 09 September 2002: Message edited by: ShAdEs0fGrAy ]

when my friend quit smoking he'd smoke a j or a bowl whenever he got the craving, it worked for him, but than again, we're just potheads...
start off slow, try to cut down on how many cigarettes you smoke, go from a pack a day to 3/4 a pack, to half a pack, to eventually nothing... good luck...

^^^interesting, when I smoke pot, I immediately want a cigarette! Hey, whatever works for you.

what ive heard is the best is NOT having that first smoke of the day, and just going cold turkey or just try the patch it works for me. or just smoke a lot of joints.

Just keep in mind that the patch's effectiveness has not been supported by clinical trials (it failed to significantly improve smoking cessation rates), whereas nicorette gum and the nicotrol inhaler have been shown to be efficacious. Whichever route you choose, follow the product's instructions. You need to start out using a LOT of the gum and continue using for MANY weeks before starting to taper off if you want to succeed. Or you can just quit cold turkey (the vast majority of people who successfully quit smoking do so without the aid of any nicotine products).

When I quit last time for 5 months (and would have stayed quit if it wasn't for a stupid bet, but that's another story) I did it cold turkey.
An illusion I had when I gave up was that I would have way more money - I started drinking like a fish and smoking joints like a chimney (and other metaphors...). Be careful of this - if you like going to the pub or joints: nothing tastes so sweet.
I'm trying to give up again at the moment (attempt No. 3). 2 days and counting...

Something else to keep in mind also, if you go to a bar/club, whatever - DO NOT tell yourself that you are allowed to smoke only while you're in the bar/club. One of my biggest mistakes was doing just that. I had been smoke free for about 3 weeks and thought, hell, I've done it for this long, I can treat myself for just tonight. Wrong! If you go out and are with friends, tell them before you leave - no matter how much you beg for one - to not give it to you.
Something that a friend told me to do - a bit cheesy - but it worked a few times for me - was to write a list of why you want to quit, all the reasons (i.e.- yellow teeth, stench, cancer ... etc.) and stick it in your purse, pocket, whatever and pull it out if you get the urge.
Good Luck again!

This obviously cant work for everybody, but if you have someone play the devil's advocate it helps a lot. My roomate bet me 50 bucks i couldnt go 5 months wihtout smoking, i quit that day to "PROVE" it to him, and havnt smoked since...
The down side, its really hard when you drink or in social/stressful settings, in which i resort to smoking schwag, it helps with the craving / oral fixation aspect....and since schwag is about the same price as cigarettes it evens out...eventually i got sick of cheap weed and now just smoke dank for fun =)

There are a bunch of different ways to quit smoking. But these will only work if you really want to quit.
I quit after 5 years of smoking by doing the following. Firstly, I left my first cig of the day for about 2 hours after waking to break that breakfast ciggie habit. Then I started smoking lower strength ciggies, never allowing myself more than 1 per hour. I actually quit on New Years Day - I went out on New Years Eve and smoked heaps and so the next day I didn't feel like smoking. I made sure I had no cigs left too. The rest was willpower.
The process of withdrawal is unpleasant, but tolerable. I got headaches, felt a bit jittery and irritable but nothing too bad. After a few weeks my breathing improved and my activity tolerance improved. You might like to check out this Australian link: Quit

You do have to REALLY want to quit but if you have set down all the ground work I feel that TYROSINE 1000mg supplements greatly diminished the cravings I got
Supposedly they are looking into it for other drug withdrawals too!
I still felt like I would enjoy a cigi but I no longer felt that I HAD to HAVE a smoke.
I took this supplement daily for a month...over two months have passed & I still havn't smoked.
I could smoke but I now don't feel that I'm going to die if I don't have one...well so to speak

- have a desire to quit
- cut down as much as possible (i went down to 3 cigs a day)
- go cold turkey
worked for me!

get a girlfriend or boyfriend that you really care for and one that wants you to quit...it'll make you think twice before lightin up...trust me...
it won't necessarily make you quit, but it'll sure help you motivate yourself to...
[ 11 September 2002: Message edited by: TypeRLotus ]

yea it definitely helps if youre not around people smoking
my apartment is smoke free, so that helped, but walking down the streets of ny where half the people were smoking made me crave hardcore

^^^a good way to get past that problem of seeing others smoke is to just look really good at them, and think about all of the negative aspects that they are getting, and you are not because you quit.
For example...
they smell all the time, and now you don't
their mouth tastes like kaka, and your's feels clean
their fingers smell, and yours don't
you can taste food better than they can
you don't have to worry about stopping for cigs anymore when you are in a hurry to get someplace.
May be silly ideas, but mind power works really well, if you think about the positives

Zyban gives a 80% chance.

cold turkey is the only way

From all of my friends who have quit, they said that reducing the number of cigs, until they where at 1 or 2 a day, didn't help that much. I think it is because you are still feeding the addiction. Cold Turkey has been the only way I've seen people quit, but then again i can't talk. I'm a 9 year smoker and am having a hard time "wanting" to quit 100%. Owell, good luck with quiting.

my new year's resolution was to quit smoking and I did. ive not touched a ciggie in 7 weeks. it was a long process though. me and my bf were heavy smokers and decided that we didn't really wanna go cold turkey and therefore we started cutting down on the nicotine level. From 12mg cigs to 1mg cigs. Therefore, it was less of a nicotine addiction. then start cutting down in the number of ciggies.
And then one day, i got out of bed and i just decided to stop and that is it. NO more smoking for me, EVER! The first 3 days were hard but after that I never turned back. I wouldn't really say it was cold turkey, just a long and steady process to help me quit smoking easier.
ive been out drinking and having fun with frens and never once think of lighting a ciggie.
just do it slowly but surely.

true, reducing the number of cigs is still feeding the habit, BUT when you cut off your intake completely, you wont have as much physical withdrawl.
its a lot harder going from a pack a day to nothing, than a couple a day to nothing
[ 23 September 2002: Message edited by: ~*JungleFaerie*~ ]