fortune_p_dawg: Imagine that every time you take a draw you're inhaling a fistful of coarse human hair, which will then remain inside of your lungs until the day you're ready to begin choking it all up. I did this when I had a nasty chest cold about five years ago, and it worked wonderfully for me. Just the thought of a cigarette made me gag.

reaver894: I did say it was a necro, Gerin hasnt posted in this topic for coming up 3 years.

akhliber: I quit smoking about 5 years ago (after smoking for almost 20) and the hardest part for me wasn't needing a nicotine fix, it was missing the act itself. It had become a form of fidgeting for me, something to do with my hands.

akhliber: Last bit of input: work out on paper just how much you smoke a day, and how much you spend daily/weekly on cigarettes. When you quit, keep the money you would have been spending on smokes in a jar, and let it collect. Set yourself a goal (a week, a month, whatever feels like a real challenge but not unattainable) and, if you make it as long as you set out to without a smoke, empty out the jar, count your winnings and either pay off a bill that's been hanging over your head or treat yourself to some video games or something nice. Actually seeing how much money is going out the door for a bad habit had a real impact on me. I could easily do the math in my head, and knew for years I was throwing a lot of money away, but finding ways to make that more concrete and real in my life really helped change my perspective as well.

akhliber: I quit smoking about 5 years ago (after smoking for almost 20) and the hardest part for me wasn't needing a nicotine fix, it was missing the act itself. It had become a form of fidgeting for me, something to do with my hands. Every time I'd try to quit, it would seem like I'd make it past the nicotine withdrawal, only to cave in a couple weeks or months later because I just missed smoking. I had a persistent cough, and I have heavy asthma myself, so I really had to quit. Oddly enough, the thing that ended up being the most effective for me was to cut straws to cigarette length and stuff a bit of cotton in one end. This gave it a bit of weight, and made it feel much like a cigarette when I'd go through the motions of "taking a drag." Whenever I had a cigarette craving, I'd make myself "pretend to smoke" with a cotton-stuffed straw for ten minutes first. It felt stupid as shit, but I came to realize it was the act I was needing, and my craving for a smoke would rarely survive long enough for me to cave in a real one afterwards.
This clearly won't work for everyone, and probably sounds completely ridiculous, but it really helped.

Another thing I'll say, my asthma was nasty most of my life, and had gotten really bad again before I quit. By the time I had made it a year (which isn't easy by any means) I started really feeling a dramatic improvement in my breathing. My persistent cough slowed much earlier than that, but by a year's time, I was honestly blown away.

Last bit of input: work out on paper just how much you smoke a day, and how much you spend daily/weekly on cigarettes. When you quit, keep the money you would have been spending on smokes in a jar, and let it collect. Set yourself a goal (a week, a month, whatever feels like a real challenge but not unattainable) and, if you make it as long as you set out to without a smoke, empty out the jar, count your winnings and either pay off a bill that's been hanging over your head or treat yourself to some video games or something nice. Actually seeing how much money is going out the door for a bad habit had a real impact on me. I could easily do the math in my head, and knew for years I was throwing a lot of money away, but finding ways to make that more concrete and real in my life really helped change my perspective as well.

Don't give up! :)

Momo1991: Quitting involves two separate processes; physical addiction to nicotine and psychological habits. You have to tackle both of them at once and that isnt easy!

It sounds like you're managing the physical addiction fairly well if you got through two weeks - GOOD FOR YOU!! ;-D

Now you need to tackle the psychological habit part - using a cigarette as a stress reliever. Biting your nails is a pretty good indicator that this is exactly where you're stumbling, so you need to replace the bad habit of smoking with something else.

Suggestions in this thread included;
~Make a list of all the horrible reasons why smoking is bad for you
~Make a list of all the good reasons why quitting is good for you - money, health, happier in general, people happier to be around you when you don't stink ;-p
~Replace the oral habit with something else - gum, lollipops, seeds, a straw with cotton on the end ;-)
~Walk off your stress - use the time you would have taken to smoke to climb a flight of stairs or walk around the block - get those endorphins pumping to replace the metabolic high smoking used to give you.
~ Buy and use those stress ball thingys
~Change any kind of interaction wherein people are smoking or things like drinking that lower your resistance/that you associate with smoking.
~Set up a reward system for each day you don't smoke - I dunno maybe buy a game with the money you saved each day. Plan a trip. Only you know will work to motivate you but write it down and post it where you can see it
~Call or meet with someone that supports your effort to quit - maybe even promise them that you will do it. Being accountable to someone else can really motivate some people.

We're ALL cheering for you and we know you can do it! ;-)

IAmSinistar: (2) avoid your smoking triggers.

reaver894: That might be difficult, I stop for a mug of tea i had a cig after, one in the car to and from work, one after dinner and usually 2-3 in the evening at the computer or telly.

KneeTheCap: Cough up some blood. That helped in my case, not even touched a cigarette since...

Gerin: Hi - a friend is trying to stop smoking and is allergic to Chantix and the gum and patches. Do you who have walked in her shoes have a suggestion I can pass on? Is she doomed to doing it the hard way? Thank you for any input.

reaver894: after 8pm on day 9, so far so good.

Coughing like mad but im told thats normal.