And how long have you been a non-smoker?
For me, at the time it was the realization that I cannot continue to smoke and continue to play the trumpet. My lung volume and strength really suffered. But instead of stopping to smoke, for many months I played less and less trumpet.
What put me through the phase of actually smoking the last cigarette and becoming a non-smoker again, was one of the books of Allen Carr, I don’t remember the exact title. Looking back, it was awfully written, and I had to will my way through believing the narrative, but it worked. That was 27 years ago, and I didn’t have one cigarette since, no cravings and no replacement either.
I vaguely remember Allen Carr, but what helped was a small book that i found in a second hand bookstore in Paris, which was called: Comment S’arreter De Fumer En Cinq Jours. A quick search learns that apparently it was written by Dr J. Wayne Mcfarland and Elman J. Folkenberg. It was in french, but that didn’t stop me, it was a small book and very helpful.
I was able to stop after trying to stop 7 times in two months. The 7th time worked. If i remember correctly i used breathing exercises and nicotine gum. I also avoided the couch where i would smoke after diner, instead doing something else.
The most important thing that helped was to change how i was thinking. Every attempt failed because i lit up a cigarette and then thinking; i failed, might as well continue smoking. However, the 7th time it dawned on me that smoking 1 cigarette does not mean you failed. You can put it out and just continue to not smoke. It was just the mind tricking me in continuing with my addiction. Thankfully, hardly anyone around me smoked and that was a great help. I stopped 22 years ago and i had been quite a heavy smoker, a packet of cigarettes a day.
Oh, you asked for my motivation; to be an example for my kids and because i was about to get my first dog and i knew how sensitive their sense of smell was.
I had a very similar experience. I heard a phrase that allowed me to understand, and that one phrase made me quit.
“The mind of an addict continually searches for an excuse to relapse.”
That’s really the key isn’t it! What the mind wants is so much more the struggle than what the body wants. Even though physical cravings can be awful, it’s the mind that steers the wheel. Thanks for sharing; i hope this sentence will help people abandon their addictions, whatever they may be.
The price! After yet another tax hike I was fed up, and it was my motivation to stop after smoking for over 10 years. I did the maths and realised how many other things I could be doing (and enjoying) and that was that. I never thought that being a tight ass would have been so powerful!
Oh yes. I totally forgot the cost. Back then I was living on what felt almost nothing, and from that about 20% or so went into smoking.
I started smoking cigarette when I was just turning 17. Initially it was because “the cool kids” do it. Then I would do it to find interesting conversations with people (which I did). This went on for about a year until I accepted that I smoke.
Later on in life, I also picked up weed; and even later on, coffee. Life was good, at least for a good while, before the accumulating anxiety creeped up on me. At this point, I was smoking between half to one pack a day.
Finally, I decided to just quit cigarette. It didn’t exactly take much effort to go against the craving (the weed helps, I guess). The hardest part was the lethargic feeling. Nothing I couldn’t handle, tho. Cocaine withdrawal was way worse. Still, I needed for cups of coffee accompanied by a fat joint for each cup just tp get thru each day.
After a week or two, I was able to taper down on the coffee and the weed. All was good then. Within the first few years, I would dream about smoking cigarettes every now and then, but I never have gotten some real craving or anything.
This past couple of years, I was able to smoke cigarette socially when I meet with old friends and then live without any with no craving at all. The last cigarette I smoked was earlier this year.
I smoked for about 4 years or so from the time I left high school and most of college. I only smoked a few cigarettes a day, but it was noticeably eating into my food budget. I was a poor student, so it was really noticeable. One day I bought some groceries and a pack of cigarettes and I realized half the cost was the cigarettes. And then I just stopped buying any.
It sucked, but that was maybe 6 years ago. For months I’d pass smokers on the street and it would smell like heaven, and I’d crave the stuff, but I simply didn’t buy any. I don’t buy cigarettes and don’t consider myself a smoker but if I’m at a party and there are smokers I usually bum cigarettes off of them. It’s harder to make the right choice when you’re drunk. It kind of sucks to think that I’m basically hooked on them forever to some degree.
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I got tired enough of coughing all the time that i quit cold turkey 1.5 years ago.
I smoked for about 9 years. I found myself bumming more than smoking at a certain point, but kept buying them because of the social aspect. I had to convince myself finally that I hated the taste, so I focused on every drag and tried to find the parts I really disliked. Sometimes I would smoke brands I knew I hated. Eventually that worked and every cigarette I had tasted awful.
Approximately how many men did you have to bum before you found the taste of cigarettes awful?
Find the brand that tastes the worst and hopefully you’ll smoke less
I smoked for about 9 years. Motivation was 2 fold—I was sick of having to choke down nicotine and no one in my social circle smoked anymore. What really helped me quit was, of all the stupid things, nibbling on tea tree oil toothpicks anytime the thought of smoking a cigarette crossed my mind. Probably also helped that I had managed to cut down to about two american spirit light cigs a day prior to stopping. With the exception of two or three cheap cigars I’ve been smoke free since 2016.
I quit smoking in 2017, but I quit nicotine all together in 2018. Since 2009 I swapped to vape cigs and more modern vape devices. Swapped back and forth back to smoking a couple times due to being fed up with bad quality with vape devices and constant maintenance. Eventually I said to help with it all in 2018 and put everything away and stopped using it, cold turkey. Had a few cigarettes a few months ago as a social smoker thing. Glad I quit and never gonna go back. It was a long journey, but hella worth it.
I wanted to quit but couldn’t. I read Allan carrs quit smoking book and how they described what the nicotine does did it for me.
It helped finally understanding how the addiction works, and how I was constantly just trying to get to a normal baseline of living that non smokers just lived at normally.
Ive tried vaping, gum, lozenges, cold Turkey, everything. Almost a year free from nicotine now, no regrets, not missing a damn thing.
I quit once using the Allan book, and everyone I know who read it has, but there is a catch: it will never work a second time.
I quite by accident using much vilified e-cigs. Yeah there is some serious bullshit going on with the super high nic disposables the kids get a hold of, and with disposables in general. But just enforce the damn laws you already have and don’t enshitify or even destroy the thing that probably saved my life 12 years ago!
Smoked for 8 years, a pack a day, sometimes more.
One day I was suffering really bad from depression, that’s when I suddenly decided that I’ve stopped smoking. The cravings were rough, but I powered through. A year and half later my life got much better, unfortunately at that time I picked it up again, for another year.
I knew I shouldn’t continue this habit, I actually hated it, but I became it’s slave once more, a pack a day again. This time however, I had an aim of improving my physical and mental health. I joined a gym and went for daily runs. I noticed that after a run I wouldn’t crave a cigarret for hours. After months of training, I increased my gym/running activity to 2 hrs and quit smoking at the same time. It was easier than before.
Unfortunately again, I started using nicotine pouches thinking I wouldn’t get addicted to it. For half a year I used it, before again starting gym and running and then quit nicotine altogether. Initially it was a bit rough as my mental health wasn’t too good at that time, but now after a month, I don’t even get the cravings either. Hopefully I won’t Crack this time
I smoked for 23 years technically. I was mostly vaping the last 9 years of that and used vaping to lower my nicotine gradually. When I got to the point I was vaping without nicotine it still took a while to finally quit, but I finally did at the beginning of 2020.
Now I hate the smell and don’t crave them at all. I wish I would’ve done it sooner.
Remember that you don’t actually want it. It’s just a chemical your body is addicted to.
I vaped for about 7 years after I quit cigarettes and gradually tapered down the nicotine too… About a year at the end I was vaping nothing but vegetable glycerin and flavoring… Finally quit completely because I finally physically lost my vape and realized it didn’t really matter anymore with as little as I’d been relying on it.
Smoked for 28 years. I quit on the day I moved into my new house in another state, and haven’t had another one in over 2 years. The complete environment change helped immensely and I’ve not had any issues at all with quitting.
I quit because it was ruining my health and I hated being out of breath all the time.
Did you go cold turkey? Any major side effects?
As for me, i went cold turkey and it was very hard, the cravings were excruciating. That’s all i remember for side effects, those awful cravings
Yes, cold turkey, after a mental preparation phase alongside reading the book. Does relief count as a side effect?
I was in a pretty bad state, health-wise, for a young adult. Think having cold constantly. After stopping, my health quickly became better.
I went cold turkey and it was pretty fucking hard. I remember forcing myself to do nothing while the bike I was riding just rolled by a kiosk or supermarket. I got into video games a lot more to keep myself distracted.
I smoked for 23 years- started when I was 11 and tried quitting several times. I legitimately thought I was never going to be able to quit and cigarettes were hitting $15 a pack and I was at a loss. I wasn’t ready to quit- I enjoy smoking- but I couldn’t keep up with the cost of living and the cost of smoking so I went on Champex (Chantix in the US).
I may not have been ready to quit, but it definitely made me ready. It started by making me nauseous and blocking my nicotine receptors before I even finished my first round of pills ( it is typically up to a year and it took 3 months for me) I was so done with cigarettes. I was super resistant to quitting too. That shit worked so well. 4 years later and I can’t even stand the smell of someone’s cigarette wafting across my nose.
