Kicking the habit - any suggestions?

[Paddy]

Another up for the 'cold turkey' apporach. You just need to be in the right frame of mind and say no more. As with anything in life.

Say's Paddy on his diet

[omegaRED]

Once a smoker, always a smoker, you are just abstaining.

I don`t know that. I had no withdrawal symptoms, i didn`t find it hard to go on without a cig, it was mostly a habit. And, if the past 6-8 months of my life haven`t been stressful, i don`t know what will. I finished college, broke up with my gf that i thought i`d marry, so i`m single, currently unemployed and damn near broke, my uncle died 3 months ago (brain tumor, we took care of him up until the end...), struggling to find my place in this machinery called life... I`ve had my share of stress, believe me. But i love and respect myself and my body too much... I`m not about to give all that power to the cigarettes again.

[Sasq]

I suspect you missunderstood my meaning.
it refers back to once an addict always an addict (booze, drugs whatever) Smokes are very adictive, there is always a small part of the brain going 'damn i wanna light up now'

It's something to keep in mind, if you have quit and ever think to yourself 'oh I'll just have one'

[Jessterw]

An addiction is an addiction is a... So as Sasq pointed out, just because you're not craving one doesn't mean you still don't have a chemical addiction to them. You can break the habit of feeding the addiction, but you can never entirely rid yourself of that base-level addiction.

Of course, people become addicted for differing reasons, not the least of which is simply an addictive personality.

[Whirl-Secret]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5017616.stm

That should help

[Jessterw]

The sight of one of my uncles without his tongue was enough for me to resist the peer pressure influence of smoking for the longest (though, non of my close friends ever did smoke to begin with). Too bad I'd long since vanquished that image from my mind when I did choose to start smoking.

I remember during my elementary school years, part of the D.A.R.E. program covered smoking and they showed images of a cancerous lung. Doubt many kids payed it much mind at the time besides making odd noises. Sadly, I don't think most adults pay attention either.

[Elie]

I quite cold turkey from 1.5 packs a day to nothing in one shot, no patches nothing!!!

That's partly due to the severe pain in my right lung everytime I move around or turn from one side to another during sleep, I decided to take the pack and throw it in the garbage, since then I never smoked another cigarette, no cravings at all, the pain is now gone and I feel so much better!

I smoke the odd Cigar here and there but I never inhale.


Regards,
Elie

[Jessterw]

I smoke the odd Cigar here and there but I never inhale.

While that may potentially save you from lung cancer, it's still enough to put you at risk for cancer of the mouth. Chewing tobacco users to use the "I'm not smoking" excuse as a reason for why it was okay, but they've since learned just how wrong they were.

Not that I don't enjoy a good cigar myself

[Fluff]

Break the arm you use for smoking. 8 days without a cigarette, normally pack a day.

[The PIT]

Find a chain smoker who just stopped and never went back and ask them how.

[Jessterw]

Hrm. Can't say I know any real chain smokers who have never faltered in their resolve to quit smoking. Every single one has partaken in a subsequent pull & puff at one time or another.

[The PIT]

I know of two both now dead though. Just stopped no trouble. I also know another who can go all day without one if need be wiothout any trouble.

[Jessterw]

I know lots of people who can stop without a problem or who can go all day without needing one, but I've never met anyone who hasn't, at some time after they quit, had, at the least, a cigarette or cigar. In that regard, quiting seems to be a relative thing which is rarely absolute.

But good on them if they never smoked again. Ever. It's rare to find someone who can both say so and do so.

[Jon P. Inghram]

How long did it take and what made you keep on smoking long enough (if it you didn't get instantly hooked) for you smokers and ex-smokers become addicted? I smoked roughly half a cigarette once just out of curiosity and couldn't figure out what the point was, even after getting used to the sensation of breathing something that common sense and just basic reflexes said to avoid. Didn't notice any effect from the nicotine either for that matter.

[Sasq]

my habbit started as a passive addiction, i was working with people who smoked heavily, I went through some stress in my life, and it just sorta happened.