Now, I'm not starting just yet, but I am attempting to slowwwwww down in preparation of stopping. Does anyone have any real good ideas to help? I know I am going to lose my damn mind during this. I have never actually WANTED to stop smoking--I enjoy the heck out of it. But this breathing thing kinda takes precedence over that enjoyment I guess.

Give me anything to try. I've heard about lots of gum, cutting straws in half, the patch(which I really don't think will work for me, cuz I'm all about the hand thing), crochet.......just give me some ideas PLEASE!

Also wondering if anyone has either TRIED or knows someone who has used that nicotrol inhaler thing. Thats one option I am considering.

When i go without smoking i chew pixie sticks...lol i chew the straws till there is no candy left.. then stick another pixie stick in and chew... untill the urge to smoke passes.

I smoked and dipped for 13 years. I quit smoking because of the breathing thing, and went completely to dipping. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM Copenhagen. I miss you copenhagen. oh, yeah, I quit dipping by doing the gum. it was actually really good, kind of miss the gum, but I really miss my sweet mistress Copenhagen. Now you probably dont want to start smokeless tobacco, but the gum really worked for me. I dont even crave cigarettes at all, might crave a dip now and again ( and this might actually be one of those times), but have no desire to smoke at all.Good luck, I really wish you the best.

Q

Just don't buy em. Send the kids to a grandparent for a week so you don't wanna kill em anymore than you already do, have Gary go away, get lots of stuff to chew on and "fiddle" around with in your hands, and quit.

Or, cut down to lights, then ultra lights, then cut down on amount smoked. Something that worked wonders for my uncle was take a pin of some sort (he kept a safety pin attached to his pack for six months) and poke a couple holes through the filter, right above the tobacco. It really cuts down on all the "bad" stuff you'd normally get. Time yourself. Start off with three an hour. Put em across the room so you have to make the effort to go get em, that cuts me back a lot, cos I'm just too damned lazy to walk across the room to get em.

I have not smoked since Dec 17 2004. The first week is the worse if you can get through that you can make it. It really is a matter of just making up your mind to quit. Take it one day at a time. I told my self "today I am not going to smoke. I will worry about tomorrow then but today I am not going to smoke"for me it was easier to just get through the day. One day turned into a week and that into almost 8 months. If I can quit anyone can. I smoked 2 packs a day for 15 yrs. Good Luck

Well, quitting smoking is super easy! I used to do it all the time! LMAO. Seriously, after numerous attempts to quit, what finally helped me was cinnamon sticks! Yep, cinnamon sticks-the kind in the spice section at the grocery. They are almost the size of a cigarette, taste good and won't hurt you, nor make you gain weight. They fulfill both the desire to hold something in your hand as well as the oral fixation cigarette smokers usually have. I would either use them alone or in conjunction with the nicotine gum or patch.

OOOH! Neat idea! When I decide to stop feeding my cancer cells I'll have to try that.

Yeah, I like that idea--cuz thats one of the big probs with me--I like that hand thing. My mother suggested cutting straws in half, but all I could think of was sucking air, so that just didn't appeal--lol

I HAD tried buying menthol (cuz I ABHOR those) and was hoping I"d get like really sick or something, but it didn't work. Just honked me off that I'd wasted good cigarette money! Smoking half a cig at a time or making two last me an hour helps me out a little. I think I might try one an hour and add the cinnamon sticks.

The first time I quit, I used a product called Smoke Away...yepper right of the tv ad and amazingly enough, it worked. Quit in three days....then my grandmother passed and I grabbed my brother's pack at the funeral and back to smoking I went. I have to quit again and by September....so...gonna look up some Smoke Away again. Hope this helps, I know how difficult it can be.

Just wondering how you're doing, yummyvixen.... Have you tried quitting yet??

I've tried several times....... My boss says that if I EVER come to work again when I'm trying to quit smoking, am on a diet and it's 'that time of the month' all in the same day......he'll either fire me or he quits, lol

Well, I'm definitely not doing so well on the whole not smoking thing. I know that just the fact I know I HAVE to quit just makes me want to smoke MORE! God what a cycle! My crazy doc is supposedly putting me on a nerve medicene at the first of the month, so I'm going to make another run at it. I really gotta get those cinnamon sticks though..........



ps--I've tried the whole "I don't really have the money to pay for cigs, so I won't buy them thing". Just makes me really bitchy and mental--and causes my children to go cig searching throughout the neighborhood for thier crazy mother! LOL

Hmmmm...I don't know if I have any suggestions. I quit smoking cold turkey 7-21-05...I know it has only been a month but, I haven't really wanted a cig. I did have strep throat, and I figured if I can go one day with out a cig then I can quit. So that is how I did it

I quit three years ago with the patch, but I must have eaten about 100 pounds of peppermint lifesavers, had them all over the place. Gary can help ya out with the oral part of it, lol. But if that doesn't help, cinnamon sticks rock. Great to keep your mouth busy, and you can play with them just like a cigarette.
Good luck !!!

Cindy! It's about time you got your butt in here with us!

I highly recommend the Nicotrol Inhaler. As some of you know, my mother was recently diagnosed with respiratory failure. She has been a chain smoker since she was a teenager. She went to see her pulmonologist a couple of weeks ago and he told her that if she didn't stop smoking, she had less than a year to live. She started using the Nicotrol Inhaler 10 days ago and she hasn't had a cigarette since!

Guys, my mom is smoking like a friggin freight train again. She has less than a year to live, so I'm done arguing with her. She's dying from the effects of cigarette smoking and she can't stop. It hurts to watch her killing herself.

I am down to about 4 to 6 cigarettes a day. I make myself go outside to smoke. Also, I don't smoke at all when I'm at work. It's helping.

If she's on any type of antidepressant ask her doc if he can switch her to Wellbutrin. It has the side effect of making people not want to smoke. It may help some.

Thanks, Tiffi. (((BIGHUGS))) My sister and I will talk to her doctor at her next appointment.