Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Smoking cessation

Finally decided..."it's enough". Tired of coughing my azz off in the morning...tired of the sinus issues..carrying the dang things...lighters...etc.

Any good tips from those who have been successful? Been a crutch for almost 40 years. I'm certain the damage has been done, but never too late,,,right? Otherwise, I'm in fairly decent shape for a 57 year old fart!

I quit on my 30th birthday while going through a divorce. If I can do it anyone can. I set a date ahead of time (my 30th BD) and took one of the Vitamin B to help ( B5 or B12 I can't remember which) IIRC it takes 3 days for the nicotine to leave your system or get over the addiction...then it is just the physical habit you have to get over. 26 years later I can't stand the smell of a cigarette.

You can do this!

Don't be a dipschit and start again!

I've been done for 8 years now and still get a craving now and then so I don't think it ever goes away completely but it sure does get better and ya feel a lot better too!

Biggest thing is don't make excuses to start again, make excuses to stay quit, you know what I mean by this statement.

Good luck and stand strong.

Quit after 45 years using Chantix. It don't work for some due to reactions, but it worked perfect for my wife and I. Neither of us has smoked for 11.5 years now...
The smell of a cigarette burning doesn't bother me at all, but an old ashtray with butts in it stinks like hell...

I quit about 12 years ago now. Well, I quit for the last time 12 years ago. Prior to that there were many "short interludes". I was 30 and had 3 kids under 4.

Once I really and truly decided it was time it wasn't too awful bad and once you get a few days under your belt it provides strong motivation to keep the clock ticking.

Back then, the anti-depressant Wellbutrin was commonly used (I did) over a 30 day period as it really helps with the withdrawal. (it functions as a stimulant that increases dopamine production).

Did it help ? maybe ? yes? did it hurt? no.

Nicotine replacement can help too (gum,patch,et al)

apparently Chantix works similarly to Wellbutrin in this regard. Maybe the former has supplanted the latter as the medical favorite.

i quit 16 yrs ago, 2-3 pack day habit. first week was tough after that it was just a matter of saying no.

be careful with Chantix, I got bad stomach issues from it. Odd pains that lasted well after I quit using it. I still smoke btw. The thing that helped me most was a book by Allen Carr, Easy Way to Quit Smoking on Amazon. Read the reviews. It works! My problem, I never finished the book because, well I guess in some way or another, im scared. Sounds weird, I know. But people at work used it and quit, no problems. I read half of it, and knocked my habit back to a pack a day where im at now. Good luck OP, I wish you the best!!

Yeah, I have some advice. You know how old timers would light up and say, this one's the nail in my coffin? Well, science has borne that out. At some point, after sucking enough tar into your lungs, a genetic "trigger" trips. Think of it like time delay on a bomb, except this "bomb" is lung cancer. The next one you light up just might be "the one".

I quit because my heart surgeon told me if I didn't it would kill me after I had open heart surgery in March of this year..I had tried for 50 years to quit and couldn't until he said that and I said enough is enough.I can't even be around someone smoking now it makes me nauseated.I'LL PRAY FOR YOU,I KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS FOR ME.Skeeter

I had to get off the Chantix after a month and a half. It has some weird side effects for some. For me, my taste buds were off a little, and my MGD started tasting like crap. Switching to Bush beer solved that issue, and I was GTG for a while.
The main thing with Chantix is that cigarettes don't do a damn thing for you anymore. That little head rush in the morning after a few good pulls on that Camel cigarette is GONE. I used to have a smoke right after taking my morning piss, but found myself standing on the porch wearing boxers thinking "What am I doing out here in this sub-zero weather?"
I found myself reaching for my smokes out of habit, but not wanting to smoke!
When you start to realize that you've actually not smoked for a few weeks, you start wanting to get off the Chantix, also.
Like I said, I quit after a 6 weeks, and haven't had a smoke, or the desire for one, in over 4 years.
Highly recommend it!

I quit 12 years ago, I had no choice, went to see a specialist about an illness, and she said she would not treat me if I continued to smoke. She was the only doctor out of too many to count that had figured out what was wrong with me, and wanted to help me, I quit cold turkey, that very day. I was so sick, that it didn't bother me to stop, I would have done ANYTHING to be well at the time.

The only thing I know is that YOU have to be ready, and no one else....

if a person really wants to quit, they will.

16 years for me,2 packs a day.after a night of drinking and smoking I had enough . I quit cold turkey.in time you will feel so much better. You can do this,a lot of us have!

I quit smoking, chewing, and drinking pop all at the same time, cold turkey......

Thanks for the advice folks. I've tried a few times and succumbed to cheap excuses for not quitting. I'm determined this time. Tried Chantix once before,,but never gave it an honest attempt. Gonna try the cold-turkey attempt..but not counting Chantix out in the event this doesn't pan out. I'm sick of the habit/addiction.

I was up to four and a half packs a day, just finished divorcing the wicked witch of the world, and giving up my kids. I got ALL the debt in the divorce and the monthly payments on her loans for drinking binges while I was at sea were more than I cleared a month then there were all he other debts. I walked away with a few cloths, one Ruger single six, a hundred dollar car and nothing else.

I decided one day I wanted to quit. Really wanting to quit and being bullheaded about it was the key. On the day I decided I gave away my engraved Zippo and a carton of cigarettes with eight packs left. November 2nd it will be 35 years since I tasted a cigarette.

You don't need and crutches. Just get determined to quit and do it. Don't set a deadline or a date, do it now. Get good and pissed at yourself because you have let cigarettes defeat you and quit.

I am just a normal guy, can't leap short doghouses in a single bound, about as fast as racing slug and can bend overcooked spaghetti if I have help. No super human anything but I just quit and if I can do it anybody can.

The end of this story is I declared bankruptcy and all the debt went back on the witch, I met and married a wonderful lady who has been the best wife any man could ask for, I stole my kids and raised them, and have had a great life.

I've never smoked ciggs so no advice, but I wish you well, it'll change your life...hang in there. Just wish I could get my best bud to quit, not likely though, he has not EVER even talked about quitting. Got done nagging him years ago.

I guess this says it all..and I will. Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

Yep. It's an addiction, plain and simple. Until you decide for yourself that enough is enough, you won't ever quit.

Just go cold turkey, preferably get out of your normal day-to-day routine. Perhaps coincide the cessation with a trip or vacation.

Good luck!