North Dakota Nesties
Lisa7
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
If you have quit smoking...
How did you do it? I know quiting cold turkey is not gonna happen for me. I am slowly cutting back but feel like I'm not going any further now. I know it's horrible for me and I really need to quit. Any recomendations? Thanks ladies
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Re: If you have quit smoking...
I don't know if I'm much of a help because I was always more of a social smoker. I'd buy packs of cigarettes, but only smoked when I drank, which happened to be a lot, but I would never smoke other than when I was drinking. Anyway, I used the gum to quit over 3 years ago. I would just chew that when I wanted a cigarette until I was over it. I did however make smoking exceptions whenever we were on vacation, but that never made me go back. Now I can't imagine ever smoking another cigarette again for the rest of my life.
DH also quite smoking with the gum about 5 years ago (before we met) and he STILL chews the gum. So he technically never quit because he just substituted the gum for the cigarettes. I'm fairly certain that this is not the intention of the product!
Oh Lisa! GL to you!! I completely understand how hard it is to quit!
I started smoking when I was 14 and finally quit a couple years ago (it will be 3 yrs in July). I was up to a pack a day at one point and would smoke to packs in a night if I was out drinking!
I did the same thing, I cut back during the day and then eventually cut back entirely except for when I was drinking. Only smoking when I drank went on for a couple years. Finally one day I drank and just never picked up a cigarette. Never touched one since! I guess I was just ready....
It's all about breaking the habits though. I started by not allowing myself to smoke at home at night after work. Then I moved on to not having any in the car on the way home. Then I stopped taking breaks at work.
The drinking thing was hard too though. but eventually I hated the way I felt the next day b/c of the smoking. (obviously the regular drinking hangover didn't help, but I knew the smoking was making it worse)
My mom used the patch and hasn't smoked in 5yrs. She swears by it!
GL!! I'm here if you need support!!!
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I've never smoked (not even a puff) a cigarette in my life. Both my grandmother's had lung cancer from smoking, one died from it. That was reason enough for me to never pick one up.
Good luck, Lisa, I know you can do it!! We're all here to support you
I hope the first part didn't sound snarky or like I'm on high horse, I totally didn't mean for it to sound that way
Cold Turkey's how I managed.
My ex-boyfriend's dad was a 2 pack/day smoker....he looked at me & said, "you're gonna end up like me." That was enough & it's been 7+ years ago. I will admit, shortly after I quit, I had one at a bar & the horrible taste I woke up w/ the next day was the absolute worst & I've never picked one up again.
GL
Ok, so I've quit twice.
The second time was not enjoyable, but easy - I got pregnant. I remember my last cigarette before I told Peter I took a test and it was positive and I damn near cried over it, but I knew I had to do it, so I had no choice.
The first time I quit was probably the best experience ever. I heard about a chiropractor who helped people stop smoking and his motto was "Quit without trying." I liked that. I didn't want to "try" to quit, I just wanted to quit, period.
So, I looked him up and talked to his office on the phone - the girls described his treatment as giving you a "buzz in the ear." This guy has over a 96% success rate, so I said, WTH, I'll give it a shot.
So, I booked my appointment and sat in a room with about 12 other people. The chiropractor comes in and gets started and explains the whole process. In this time period, he ABSOLUTELY uses hypnosis to get your brain in the "I am quitting right now, forever." mode. This part took about an hour. During this time he explains the process he's going to use on you (it's called auriculotherapy). He explains that the buzz in the ear is basically a very low voltage shock at a pressure point that immediately breaks the bond between the nicotine and the acytel colace in your bloodstream making you INSTANTLY not addicted anymore.
Then, he takes each person, indiviually into his exam room and does this procedure. It was a fast, 30 second painless buzz into each ear and during this time he did a short personal hypnosis with you too.
I honestly left that office with a smile on my face and not needing a cigarette... ever again.
This was after 13 years of smoking... never a pack a day, though. I was a 1/2 pack a day girl and had my cigs scheduled. I would NEVER go off my schedule unless I was drinking. For example, I would have one when I got into the car for work, one at lunch, one after work in the car, one after I got home, one before dinner and so on.
How did I go back to smoking? I was a moron and even though I didn't NEED a cigarette, I WANTED a cigarette when I was out drinking one night. I never fully went back though - I only smoked 1 or 2 when I was drinking (like twice a month) and then Peter and I BOTH smoked our entire wedding last year. After we came home, he started buying packs and I was bumming his cigs - on a schedule again.
If I were you, I'd give it a try. I tried the patch and had weird dreams and still CRAVED a cigarette. I tried the gum (GAG), I tried going cold turkey and cutting down and gave up on everything very quickly.
If you need anything, let me know.
And just for reading this, you can have a cigarette... and take a drag for me
My DH has quit with the gum and the patch previously. Each time he went back to smoking by letting himself do it while he was drinking. For some people (DH being one of them) it's like being an alcoholic - you can't ever have one again. He smokes a lot and I really wish he would quit. I smoke socially and LOVE to have a cigarette with my beer so I will quit too when he makes the decision.
A few of my friends have used Chantix and it hasn't worked for any of them. I've heard of people having success but I don't know any of them.
Oh and Allison, you are soooo right. It makes the hangover that much worse!
I have no personal experience with this, but I want to wish you the best of luck! It's a good sign that you even want to try, IMHO.
I will say that my BIL quit using the gum and sheer will power. Honestly, he used the gum for a couple of weeks, then switched to just chewing regular gum, and never went back. I think it's been about 2 years now. He chews gum like a fiend, but whatever... better than smoking, and his breath is probably always minty fresh - lol.
I do know someone, a friend of my moms, she is in her 60's and had smoked since she was a teenager. She went to the doctor and he told her she has emphysema and she had to quit. He told her about this book that helps you, she read it and was like "Oh, whatever." Until she got to the end, and whatever it says in the end made everything come together for her and she quit THAT DAY. It was amazing, seriously. She hasn't touched one since. Of course I have no idea how much motivation the prospect of worsening her emphysema motivated her, I'm sure it helped kick her in the butt. If you would like I can find out the name of that book.
Seriously - Good Luck! You can take my stories with a grain of salt since they aren't my personal experiences, but I hope they help you in some way.
I think one of the key things in all of this is you absolutely 100% want to quit.
I really & truly wanted to quit. I felt so horrible all the time with the headaches and the hangovers....my mouth always tasted gross and I didn't realize how much it made my hair & clothes stink until now when I smell it on someone else.
I will never ever ever smoke another cigarette and quitting was one of the biggest accomplishments & best things I have ever done!
You can do it Lisa!! Just give it that 100%!
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Every time I've quit it's been cold turkey. I'll quit for a few years and then along will come THAT night out...then BAM I'm a smoker again. I had quit for 4 years before I met DH but he smokes my brand (no one ever smoked Camel Lights, just me).
It's been over a year since I decided that I stunk and was ready to quit (again). I am pretty certain it's for good this time too!
DH continues to smoke (the first thing he does in the AM and the last thing he does in the PM!). He's thought about Chantix, but after a few relatives and a few friends had horrible experiences with it, he just continues to smoke and waits for that miracle drug to come along to make him quit.
*GOOD LUCK, LISA!* Because it does suck!
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Good Luck Lisa!!
My mum smoked all her life until about 10 years ago when she used Zyban (might not be spelled right), and she quit and has never gone back.
I quit 3 years ago and I took Chantix. I'm not sure if they offer it anymore though.
It had some interesting side effects, mainly strange dreams that apparently made some people suicidal, so that probably isn't good. THe one biggest thing for me was the oral fixation. Something to do with my hands and my mouth. I bought a Fake cigarette made of plastic from betterquit.com and it worked wonders!! You can actually adjust how hard you have to inhale to make it more realistic for you. I found eventually that it really was mostly the deep breathing involved with smoking that I found relaxing. 
I probably looked like an idiot some days driving around with the fake cigarette in my hand while driving pretending so smoke, but it totally helped me! Another big thing is hard candy, gum, etc. to keep your mouth occupied.
It is still hard for me sometimes because a part of me really loved smoking, so I will occasionally steal a drag or two from a smoker friend while out drinking, but trust me the way you feel the next day is more than motivation enough to quit! Good Luck!! If you need anything else feel free to ask!
My Mom recently joined a stop smoking support group. Yhey meet once a week for six weeks at a time I think. It was free and provided either the lozenge, patch, or gum after the third week to help with the cravings. From what she told me, they discussed different techniques they could use to quit and reported back each week or what worked, what didn't, and what they were going to try to do to meet their goal.
My mom has been smoking since she was a teenager and is now 57. She began going to meetings in the fall. She has DRAMATICALLY cut down on her smoking. She was smoking around 17 a day I think -- just under a pack. Now she can go a few days without smoking any at all. She isn't completely cigarette free yet, but she has made a huge strides. WE ARE EXTREMELY PROUD OF HER just for making this commitment to trying and making a reduction.
Good luck Lisa. Its hard, but I always told my mom, you are stronger than the craving is, you just have to believe it.
Also, the program she is using is free one sponsored by either the city or state, so maybe google/ check your local website to see if there is something in your area.
This!!! I completely agree with Alison! Smoked for 10 years and I got a new job so it was a good change from having friends who constantly went on breaks. Cold turkey for me - with a new job.
Either way - you have to want to quit. I can smell smoke on people miles away now and I'm constantly like "I smell someone smoking". I had no idea how much you can actually smell on others. I'm ultra sensitive to it now with allergies. I can't stay in my MIL house for more than 1 hour or I'm wheezing and coughing. Makes me feel like a hypocryte - but I will never pick up a cigarette again. You just have to be ready and make the choice.
You can totally do it!