Starting Over
Dear Community,
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.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
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.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
smokers....
Has anyone quit smoking and been successful? If so how did you do it?
My BF and I have decided to take 2 months off of drinking, which has been successful. Neither of us have had a drink in 26 days. Problem is we don't smoke because we drink, we smoke either way. I was hoping this would help us not to smoke, but no such luck.
Any of you ladies have any tips? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I wouldn't change a thing...it's all led me to you.
Re: smokers....
My cousin found the idea of quitting smoking very daunting (he is my parent's age and had been smoking for like 40 years). So one day he said, "I am not going to smoke today." And he didn't. He never said he was quitting. He still has cigs in the house, I believe. But it is now 4 years since he smoked one of them. And every day he just says, "Today I don't feel like having a cigarette." He still doesn't say that he quit. He says he chooses what he is going to do day by day, and it just so happens that he chooses not to smoke everyday now.
For him, once he got past the withdrawls, it was a mental thing. The idea of quitting something he'd done for 2/3 of his life was too big for him. So he just makes an active choice each day -- that was more managable mentally for him.
This! Just remember, you don't have to quit smoking forever, you only need to get through today.
For me, it was more behavioral than chemical. My smoking was so ingrained with certain activities (drinking only being one of them). For instance, I would get home from work and go out in the backyard with the dogs and a cigarette. After I decided to quit, I would go outside with the dogs and a piece of gum. I'd stay out for the usual amount of time, then come back in and spit the gum out. Essentially, I replaced the cigarette with gum and only chewed it for the amount of time it would take me to smoke a cigarette. Eventually I weaned off the gum when I broke the mental connection between the activity and smoking.
I have been smoke-free for almost 5 years.
Way to go Bowies!!!
I am of no help, when I quit smoking I hadn't been smoking that long (off and on for four years) and it wasn't very much. I was moving back in with my parents and they never knew I smoked, I didn't want them to find out, so I just quit.
Cold turkey...twice.
The first time I quit was the day I got my BFP. I didn't smoke again until DS was 4 or 5 months old. The stress was too much and I started again. XH is a 2-pack a day smoker, so that didn't help either.
The second time I quit, it was 4 months after our separation. I had lost 20lbs, was working out and just feeling much healthier. I just quit cold turkey one day and haven't looked back since. Like a pp, a lot of it was behaviorial at that point -- the hardest part was not smoking in the car on my 40 minute commute (after I dropped DS at daycare. I NEVER smoked in the car with him. EVER).
That was just about a year ago an I haven't looked back since. I don't even have the urge anymore, and the smell of smoke is disgusting to me now.
I have also quit twice and also did it cold turkey. I truly believe it is the only way. H quit just a little over a year ago. He had tried 3 or 4 other times with chantrix and nicorrete etc unsuccessfully but this time he did it cold turkey. He got a lot of mini lollipops and sucked on those for the first three months or so.
Someone had suggested a book to him this last time and it really seemed to help him. It is discontinued but you can get it on Amazon. It is called "21 days to quit smoking" by the cancer society. It gives you the breakdown of what to expect physically in the first 21 days of quitting.
http://www.amazon.com/FreshStart-21-Days-Stop-Smoking/dp/067162086X
As others have said, it was the behaviors surrounding the smoking that make it so difficult to quit. H has not really stepped foot outside on the patio for over a year now. He quit coffee too. He has told me he still thinks about it but he seems to have let a lot of it go. I will say that the first three months was absolute hell. The second month, I had to hold my tongue every day because he was so unbearable. But after about three months he started to level off. I barely hear him mention smoking now which is completely different from even six months ago.
Good luck! You can do it!
Cold turkey!! I've tried everything, OTC to prescriptions and none of them worked for me. I've been an on again - off again smoker and the last time I quit, I didn't have anything for 4 years. I unfortuantely picked up the habit again when things started to go down hill with H. I smoke about 4 cigarettes a day, usually in the car. ugh. To me it's all about the will not to smoke and just do it. Also, I kept stock in big red gum - something about the cinnamon helped me with the urge to smoke. Good luck, you can do it!
All of this advice is VERY motivational ladies!
Bowie- I do the same thing. My BF and I will come home from work, take the dogs out and have a cigarette. The dogs go out about 3 times after I get home (7ish) so we have about 3 cigarettes.
Mags- Did you find the patch replaced the urge to have a cigarette? Wow, 3 weeks! That's awesome! I've heard the gum tastes awful....so I might try the patch instead.
PP, thank you for the suggestion about the book! We just might try that. I never thought I would be able to quit drinking for two months (doesn't that sound ridiculous?) but I haven't had a drop in 28 days, so hopefully this will motivate me to quit smoking too!
Thanks for the advice!!!!