I’ve been smoking since I was 12 now I’m a lot older than 12 actually closer to 40 yrs old.I want to stop way back in my early 20’s I tried the gum but that made me sick.Has anyone here stopped smoking and how did you do it ? I smoke mainly when its late at night like now and during the day when I’m stressed but I want to quit just not sure how to do it.How do the patches work if anyone’s had any luck tell me the brand and symptoms from them like were you tired ,jittery , sick ? I know I can’t just put them down I’ve thought about quitting but now its time and I’m tired of smoking but addicted.
I smoked for 15 years. I had tried quitting many times, but the withdrawl symptoms were so bad that I started back again. I truely believe the tobacco companys are putting more and more nicotene in cigarettes to make us more addicted.
If you really want to quit this is what works. First go to your doctor and have hime prescribe Wellbutrin. Wellbutrin is a anti-depressant but they have also found that it helps to quit smoking. If you do not have a drug card or cannot afford the medication either look up Walmarts website that list the medications that they offer for $4.00 or ask your doctor if he has samples or can get them for you. A lot of doctors have samples they can give to you. When you think about how much you pay for cigarettes the cost of the medication is nothing. I took the Wellbutrin for about 2 months before quiting smoking and less than a month afterwards. When you are feeling confident about quitting find a hypnotist. Either find one who others have recommended or check on the internet to see when a hypnotist is coming to your city and is going to do a group hypnosis for quitting smoking. The one I went to was at the Holiday Inn and they had about 100 people there. I was very unsure with that many people there that it would work for me, but it did!!!! You should actually start looking into finding a group hypnosis or a private one now so you can coodinate the Wellbutrin and hypnotist so you have your quit day in mind . The wellbutrin must be taken first.
I quit 5 years ago. I am completely shocked to this day that I have not had a cigarette, craved one, or thought about it.
The night I got hypnotized the hypnotist told us toward the end of the session to go outside and smoke our last cigarette and then throw our pack out. I was so happy to get one last one that i smoked two in like 5 minutes. I gave a lot away also because some people had already thrown theirs away before the meeting. After the session it was about 11:30 pm . I drove home feelin pretty good but unsure if my brain had obeyed the commands given to it. I went to sleep when I got hame. The next day I keep thinking’ where are my cigarettes?’ Then I would tell myself’ Oh yeah I quit. ‘ That was all that I felt or thought about on the first day. I did not crave one. The second day I did not even wonder where my cigs were. I swear this is the truth. I did not miss or want them at all. I had no withdrawl symptoms what so ever. It was a true miricle. It was even out of my mind. The only thing I felt or thought was WOW, this is so good that it’s crazy. I have talked to people who did hypnosis by itself that worked for a month or a year , but ended up unsuccessful {( I even did hypnosis many years before , but craved them every day , cried for a month and after a year of torture I stated back up while drinking a glass of wine while with a friend who was smoking. I can drink a glass or two of wine and still dont think about it, however I am truely a reformed smoker because the hypnotist told us that we would be physically sick if we are around smoke and my brain was definately listening. If I am in a car that has stale smoke smell my who body tenses up and I am in pain. I have an allergic reaction and my body physically hurts.
The combination of using the two together is a winner answer. I know you can do it!!!! If I could do it than anyone can.
Good luck . If you try this maybe you can go to my 360 page and leave me a comment on how it’s working for you. You can quit I know you can!!!! 🙂
Join the Army. You can’t smoke at basic training.
My fiance quit smoking using Zyban. He got a prescription for Zyban from his Doctor. He said when he took the Zyban he did not even crave smoking or miss it. It really worked for him anyways… Hope you get to quit. Good luck and all 🙂
Cigarette smoking, and even smoking cigars or a pipe, is one of the greatest risk factors for a heart attack as well as for stroke, lung cancer, and emphysema.
To stop smoking:
Set a quit date. Smoking cessation is most successful when it’s done "cold turkey," not slowly by reducing the number of cigarettes smoked daily.
Throw them out. Throw away all cigarettes and matches at home, in your car, and at work. Put away ash trays and lighters.
Share your goal. Tell your family and friends you’re quitting and ask for their support.
Avoid triggers. Avoid alcohol, coffee, and other triggers for smoking.
Set a no-smoking policy. Do not allow anyone to smoke in your home or car, and avoid other people when they are smoking.
Get tools. Take advantage of the available stop-smoking aids: nicotine replacements, drug therapy, and counseling. Less than 1 in 10 smokers can quit without some help. Nicotine gums, skin patches, and lozenges are available over the counter. Nicotine nasal sprays and inhalers require a prescription from your doctor. Don’t smoke when using these products.
Get a prescription. Bupropion (Zyban) and varenicline (Chantix) are two prescription-only medications that may help you quit. Start taking one of these drugs shortly before your quit date.
Join a support group. Find a source of individual or group counseling. Counseling alone can be helpful, but it is particularly useful in combination with nicotine replacements or smoking cessation drugs.
Call the Quit Line. Call the National Cancer Institute Smoking Quit Line if you need more help. Their toll-free number is 1-877-44U-QUIT.
Though these measures and help aids considerably boost the chances of quitting, there’s a more than 50 percent chance that a smoker who quits will start again. I hope this doesn’t happen to you, but if it does, don’t give up. Announce another quit date and start stopping again.
My husband quit with the patch in about a week! You’re supposed to go through the different stages over a length of 10 weeks or so, but it worked so well for him that he was done in a week. He’s been smoke-free for 4 years now.
The brand he used was Nicoderm. It works by wearing it on your skin, and when your body craves nicotine, the blood "sucks" it from the patch, through your skin, and into your blood system. You wear it for 24 hours, and then replace it with a new one each day, changing the location of where it was the day before. It’s good because it activates depending on when you need the nicotine. The reason they do it in stages is because you start off with the patch with the most nicotine, and then it gradually lessens until your body doesn’t need it any more.
It’s a good idea to try to quit. Good luck!
Yes, to quit is very hard and I hate when people ex-smokers say I made up my mind and quit cold turkey………I have never been one of those people……I know that if you go to a medical doctor he may be able to give you a pill (usually an anti-depressant) to help ease some of your cravings…..it worked for a manager of mine. She was able to quit without alot of withdrawals symptoms.
I have been smoking for 10yrs and I have stopped now for about 2 weeks. I used a combination of Zyban and the patch, Zyban is a Rx drug but it helps allot(you will have to see a doctor for it) and i use the 21mp patch. The brand doesn’t matter they all work the same it is all about you with this combination i have had only 1 craving a day and it will only last for 5min or less. Side effects i feel a little more tired at some parts of the day and i felt more irritable for the first week but now i feel find, my body has gotten used to not having the cigs. but it does takes motivation to want to quit. but so far it has been a lot easier than i had ever thought it would be. Also what helps too is keeping track of how much money you save a day, you’ll be surprised on how much money you save, and if your worried about how much it will cost to quit just add how much it will cost to smoke for the next 5 yrs and compare. so good luck
hi, I quit smoking 7 years ago. I think it is not a great deal but a effective planning coupled with will force which helped me to get rid of this dangerous habit. In 1999 I used to smoke at least 48 cigarettes a day, but one day I really felt very disgusted about this. So I took a piece of paper and made a plan, 7 am to 11 pm –All total consumed 48 cigarettes. so per hour I smoked 3 cigarettes. Then I did the next day’s planning. Every hour 2 cigarettes, and not 3. Then the next day–3 cigarettes every 2 hours. In that way I wrote down almost a month’s plan and effectively reducing smoking day by day. Then from the next day, I started to follow the plan religiously and I did not feel any great problem to gradually and routine wise reducing smoking. And truly after the month I did not feel the urge to smoke again.
I am sure if you follow this plan, you will also be able to quit smoking. Best of luck.
5 years +
I quit with the patch … go as long as you can with out smoking before putting a patch on, also drink lots of water. If the patch is to strong cut it in half… (you might feel Little light headed for the first week or so) keep it on for 24 hours if you can… don`t put the patch on in the same place this will make your skin red and irritated…. good luck!
Cancer will stop smoking! so dont let cancer stop it..save your health right now..choose not to smoke!!
Stop smoking and you will save money not only in not purchasing them, but in doctor bills and loss of income
This is a subject I feel very strongly about. I lost a daughter at an early age because she had Emphysema and smoked until the very end. Her mother suffered the same fate. So stop smoking.
I used to smoke, and I’m not a reformer, but smoking just doesn’t make sense. It’s a very expensive habit that contributes nothing to anyone except the manufacturers.
If you quit smoking you will feel better almost immediately and you’ll be less susceptible to colds and other respiratory ailments.
I also know that it’s very difficult to stop smoking, but it’s well worth the effort.
The number one reason to quit smoking is that it reduces your risks of dying. Death from smoking is preventable. As a smoker, you are at higher risk than a non-smoker of having heart problems and many types of cancers. This includes cancers of the lip, mouth, and pharynx; esophagus; pancreas; larynx; lung; cervix; bladder; and kidney. You are at a higher risk of getting respiratory tract infections (colds), and life-long breathing problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). You are at higher risk for developing ulcers, cataracts, and osteoporosis, as well as having medical problems or dying after surgery. Cigarettes are expensive, and smokers have higher medical costs over their lifetime than non-smokers.
Using the Patch to Quit Smoking
A nicotine patch will provide you with small measured doses of nicotine through your skin throughout the day. Switching to different patches over time gradually lowers the doses, until you are finally weaned from nicotine. Nicotine patches can be purchased without a prescription and there are several different strengths available.
The 16 hour patch is recommended for those who are light to medium smokers. This patch is less likely to cause side effects such as sleep problems, a racing heartbeat, headache, and skin irritation. This patch does not, however, deliver nicotine during the night. Therefore, it will not help you with withdrawal symptoms early in the morning.
The 24 hour patch also provides a steady dose of nicotine at all times, thereby helping with morning withdrawal symptoms. More side effects, however, are associated with the 24 hour patch, such as skin irritation and disrupted sleep patterns.
Most smokers start with the full-strength patch, which delivers 15 to 22 mg of nicotine, for four weeks. They then move to a weaker patch of 5 to 14 mg for another four weeks. The patch itself is applied in the morning to a dry, clean area on the body that does not contain much hair. The location should be below the neck, but above the waist. While the FDA has recommended using the patch for 3-5 months, some studies have shown 8 weeks to be just as effective.
Side effects of the patch are often caused by the brand of the patch, the dose of nicotine, skin sensitivity, how the patch is applied, and how long the patch is used. Common side effects associated with the nicotine patch include dizziness, skin irritation, racing heartbeat, headache, sleep problems, vomiting, nausea, muscle aches and stiffness. If any of these occur, you should try switching to a different brand, using a lower dose patch, or using a different form of nicotine replacement. If you are having problems sleeping, give it a few days to see if it improves. If not, switch to a lower dosage.
Using Hypnosis to Quit Smoking
Hypnosis is a form of therapy during which a trained hypnotherapist puts you into a trancelike state. While in this state, you are more open to suggestion. Sometimes, hypnosis is done in addition to other remedies you may be utilizing, but it can also be used alone. On occasion, this form of treatment can be effective in as little as one session.
There are no potential side effects of hypnosis. There is, however, very little research proving if it really works or why it works. Critics of this form of therapy say the hypnosis itself doesn’t work; rather it is the patient’s strong belief in the system that makes it effective. But, of course, it really doesn’t matter why it works if it does help you stop smoking.
so better to quit right now…wish you good health!
Consult Your doctor!
I used to be a smoker too, i still am but i only smoke cigars, which i dont care what anyone says, its safer to smoke a good cigar every couple of days than it is to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day.
anyhow i quit using what is probably a very much frowned upon, and at the least, controversial or laughed at manner… but realistically it works and science backs up my claim. what im talking about is dxm (dextromethorphan) which is the active ingredient in robotussin cough syrup. I used the robotussin pills in 105 mg doses, taking 2x a day and skipping a couple days in between to rejuvinate. in short, at such a dosage level, dxm helps very much by acting on anti nicotinic, serotonergic, nmda, and sigma receptors – this translates into helping you quit smoking with ease.
thats the only method that has worked for me, and ive tried everything else at least a couple times.