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Favourite Quit Method

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 55

Yikes... I tried several methods ~ the patch, gum, hypnosis, cold turkey, medication.... none of it worked... until I finally said ENOUGH was ENOUGH.

With this quit I used the patch (again) and stepped down as planned, it was hard, but I told myself I was NOT going to smoke no matter what! And I didn't! After two weeks quit I found this site and it saved me! I found so many answers here regarding withdrawal, cravings & triggers. It was like an awakening to me and it helped me stay quit. Even to this day I give all credit to this site for my quit

All of the answers lie here if you are willing to search.......

Leslie

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 2/14/2002
Smoke-Free Days: 3087
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 123,480
Amount Saved: $18,522.00
Life Gained:
Days: 317 Hrs: 14 Mins: 26 Seconds: 18

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1904

Lol, Lolly! I understand that post very well.

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 5/1/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 451
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 12,628
Amount Saved: $5,366.90
Life Gained:
Days: 50 Hrs: 16 Mins: 51 Seconds: 37

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 916

My favorite quit method is: Prepare yourself for the quit!

I learned about my addiction and I prepared myself to do it.

I used three things:

The Allen Carr Seminar

Chantix

and this wonderful board.

I thought I could never quit and here I am!!!

Preparation is key!!!!!

Marivi

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 1/23/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 548
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 8,220
Amount Saved: $822.00
Life Gained:
Days: 64 Hrs: 9 Mins: 1 Seconds: 43

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 880

I quit by first using the patches. That did in fact help me over the initial fear of dealing with living sans cigarettes. But at the same time I began replacing the passive act of smoking with activity. Initially I ran, and ran and ran. I ran so so much that I began to feel like Forest Gump. But the activity gave me the confidence to know that I could make my body stronger and that knowledge made me want to see just how much stronger I could really become.

Running eventually gave way to riding my bike. I got to a point at which I realized that my knees where taking to much of a pounding. The bike on the other hand gave me the aerobic gain without the necessity of destroying other bits of my body. So to this day its all about riding.

I also found that mental imaging is a necessity, at least in my case. Every time I came upon a difficult situation, I would rewrite the scenario in my mind, so that I could "think myself" past the temptation of returning to the old ways. Funny now I think about it, I do separate my smoking days and my nonsmoking days into the new and the old way...Interesting, I had not thought of that before...

Anyway, we must always remember that nicotine is a truly addictive drug that has a direct effect on the way that the brain works. It literally does have the ability to mask itself as the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. That may not sound like much of a trick, but if you take a moment and read about how important acetylcholine is and how it functions in the brain, you will begin to understand just how powerful nicotine is. Once you know about this charade you should also know that the amount of acetylcholine in the brain is regulated by the body. However, nicotine is NOT regulated. That is one of the reasons that we need more and more nicotine to "achieve" the effect that our initial exposure to the substance created...Here is a little recap (How Things Work) of what nicotine does in the body...

Like acetylcholine, nicotine leads to a burst of receptor activity. However, unlike acetylcholine, nicotine is not regulated by your body. While neurons typically release small amounts of acetylcholine in a regulated manner, nicotine activates cholinergic neurons (which mainly use acetylcholine to communicate to other neurons) in many different regions throughout your brain simultaneously. This stimulation leads

Increased release of acetylcholine from the neurons, leading to heightened activity in cholinergic pathways throughout your brain. This cholinergic activity calls your body and brain to action, and this is the wake-up call that many smokers use to re-energize themselves throughout the day. Through these pathways, nicotine improves your reaction time and your ability to pay attention, making you feel like you can work better.
Stimulation of cholinergic neurons promotes the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the reward pathways of your brain. This neural circuitry is supposed to reinforce behaviors that are essential to your survival, like eating when you're hungry. Stimulating neurons in these areas of the brain brings on pleasant, happy feelings that encourage you to do these things again and again. When drugs like cocaine or nicotine activate the reward pathways, it reinforces your desire to use them again because you feel so at peace and happy afterwards.
Release of glutamate, a neurotransmitter involved in learning and memory - Glutamate enhances the connections between sets of neurons. These stronger connections may be the physical basis of what we know as memory. When you use nicotine, glutamate may create a memory loop of the good feelings you get and further drive the desire to use nicotine.

Nicotine also increases the level of other neurotransmitters and chemicals that modulate how your brain works. For example, your brain makes more endorphins in response to nicotine. Endorphins are small proteins that are often called the body's natural pain killer. It turns out that the chemical structure of endorphins is very similar to that of heavy-duty synthetic painkillers like morphine. Endorphins can lead to feelings of euphoria also. If you're familiar with the runner's high that kicks in during a rigorous race, you've experienced the "endorphin rush." This outpouring of chemicals gives you a mental edge to finish the race while temporarily masking the nagging pains you might otherwise feel.

So the bottom line is we have been addicted to a drug (otherwise used as an insectide) that has the ability to make us feel alright, righty, righty...No wonder people have a difficult time putting it down...But the fact of the matter is IT CAN BE DONE...Never forget that people who have never smoked manage to get through life without needing to supplement their acetylcholine with nicotine. The biological system works just fine, the problem is that the cigarette manufacturers figured out a long time ago that if they added nicotine to their witches brew, you as a smoker would not realize that the system you came into the world with was working just fine. And why would you? Not many people go around thinking about neurotransmitters and such on a regular basis.

Sorry to go on such a rant here, but this is my third point I want to make with regard to quitting. Never stop educating yourself about the addiction. The more you find out, the more you will want to seek cessation...You should never be a pawn in anyone's game...Its much better to be King in your own game...Or perhaps a Queen or then again I might actually enjoy being a Rook (if I really knew what that was), or maybe a Knight....yea yea dats da ticket...

stay well

nonic

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 12/25/2006
Smoke-Free Days: 1308
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 39,240
Amount Saved: $13,734.00
Life Gained:
Days: 256 Hrs: 0 Mins: 38 Seconds: 25

Quit Meter

$66,717.00

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 1376 Hours: 14

Minutes: 32 Seconds: 53

Life Gained
Quit Meter

6354

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

190,620

Cigarettes Not Smoked

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 618

Hi there,

Having smoked for 40 years, I had tried every method known to man over the years! When I finally decided that this was my make or break quit, I researched ways of quitting and read lots on SSC. I did the programme here on site and it was a great help. Most of the advice was to consult my doctor, which I did. He was fairly sanctimonious in his attitude, which, as an ex-smoker himself, I did not expect.

Anyway, I had formulated a plan for my quit and told him what I wanted to do, and he agreed that, as long as it was under medical supervision, I could go ahead. My plan was as follows:-

Wellbutrin\Chantix before I quit, and then, at the same time, I introduced the patches on the day I actually quit.

In the meantime, I used all my hypnosis tapes from previous quits.

As I smoked most when using the computer, I had Nicotine gum ready. I cut it up into 4 tiny pieces and allowed myself 2 per computer session. I was glued to the SSC at this time.

I had a basket of things ready for the cravings, ( iced water, sugar free candy, straws to suck on and 2 artificial cigarettes.) I also had a list of rewards for each milestone.

I saw my doc. once a week and he was surprised that my system was succeeding.

As you can see, I was really determined to succeed, and I now realise that I may have managed to succeed without all my crutches, but as I had fairly low self-esteem at the time, I clung on to my 'aids.' I was very disciplined with the patches and I used them as prescribed on the box. The steps down were no problem, and I had no guilt about continuing to use Nicotine until the end of the course.

The most important tool I had was this site...SSC. I owe them my quit and all the wonderful people who helped me through the hard bits.......I owe them all.

12 weeks later I had quit everything, and was on my own. My determination to succeed kept me going from then on. What an amazing feeling of freedom it was! I have never looked back.........5+ years later it's still wonderful!

As you can see, I'm still around now and again, trying to help others.

Do what you feel will work for you!

Lolly.

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 11/25/2004
Smoke-Free Days: 2068
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 72,380
Amount Saved: �18,095.00
Life Gained:
Days: 274 Hrs: 10 Mins: 56 Seconds: 32

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1209

Hi, My favorite method is... cold turkey, but I did have some 2mg Lozenges.. I used 3 to 4 a day for a few days.. sometimes i would just use it for a few minutes.. then take it out. I did carry them with me for about 10 days.. kind of a security blanket.

Bonnie

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 5/7/2010
Smoke-Free Days: 77
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 1,309
Amount Saved: $261.80
Life Gained:
Days: 10 Hrs: 5 Mins: 13 Seconds: 7

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 109

I'm doing cold turkey - all the other methods and numerous times I always used something- gum, patches (4 different times) used a little computer that changes your smoking pattern and supposedly weans you off, an injection that was $500 and was smoking 10 days later and Chantix (which I would never ever take again nor recommend to anyone). The quit in April for 85 days was the easiest and best quit I've had in 35 years!!!

I dropped my guard the 85th day and slipped/relapsed but started my last quit yesterday and cold turkey again.

People have to do what's best or what works for them - my experience and numerous quits indicate - COLD TURKEY is the way for me.

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 7/21/2010
Smoke-Free Days: 2
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 30
Amount Saved: $7.50
Life Gained:
Days: 0 Hrs: 9 Mins: 5 Seconds: 54

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 672

My fav quit method is impromptu Cold turkey. Why ? cos it worked for ME.

I've quizzed smokers / ex-smokers about this very thing including hypno.

There's a huge selection of 'quit aids' to choose from these day as drug companies cash in on a lucrative market. I can see how confusing this is be for anyone wishing to stop smoking.

But they all have one thing in common... there is no cheats way out in this journey. If your hearts not in it - it ain't happening.

No quick fix here, it's long term so dig deep people.

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 1/1/2005
Smoke-Free Days: 2029
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 71,015
Amount Saved: $18,463.90
Life Gained:
Days: 294 Hrs: 3 Mins: 34 Seconds: 30

Quit Meter

$12,553.80

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 628 Hours: 2

Minutes: 34 Seconds: 29

Life Gained
Quit Meter

3430

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

51,450

Cigarettes Not Smoked

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 984

My favourite quit method? Not smoking again!

x T

My Mileage:

My Quit Date: 1/1/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 1299
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 29,877
Amount Saved: �8,216.18
Life Gained:
Days: 115 Hrs: 21 Mins: 49 Seconds: 18

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11216

Members,

Keep sharing your quit members.

If you would more information on any of these quit methods check out the last two sections of Milestone 3. It is important to make an informed choice and find which quit method is right for you. The program and advice of members here can certainly help you make this important decision.

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

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