59
submitted 7 hours ago by mistahbenny@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

any piece of advice is welcome, thank you :-3

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] TVA@thebrainbin.org 1 points 2 minutes ago

My grandma quit using a program that basically attempted to break your habits.

She did things like:

-if you normally have a smoke break at noon, wait til 12:30. Tomorrow do it at 11:30 instead

-If you normally use a lighter, switch to matches, tomorrow use a lighter.

-On Monday, Wednesday,Friday switch to a different brand of cigarettes ... next week go the opposite days.

-Smoke, but every other drag put a pen in your mouth instead.

-Only allow yourself to smoke half a cigarette and then chew a stick of gum for the rest of the time you would normally smoke

-Alternate smoke breaks between smoking and chewing nicotine gum or using the patch (I don't think she used the patch so I'm guessing on that one).

And just a lot of things like that that didn't specifically stop you from smoking, but attempted to stop it being a mindless thing that you just do on reflex without much thought and made it so before lighting up she'd have to think about what the current rules are ... at a certain point, the habit has been broken and you don't seek it... it worked great for her. Was a 6 month or so process and then she never went back once she finished her last pack.

There was a whole program around it with those types of rules and things you'd do and time restrictions on certain days and stuff ... sorry, she passed a few years back and I can't ask her the name of the program.

Good luck! Just remember that even if you lapse, any length of time that you're able to smoke less or stop smoking all improve your overall health! Even if you have a setback, any time that you stop is still a win!

[-] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago

If you haven't already tried it, "The easy way to quit smoking" by Allen Carr has helped many people. I haven't tried his other subjects, but I recall his take on smoking in the book to seem relatively revolutionary to me at the time.

[-] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

If I can offer you one piece of advice on quitting tobacco it's this: Understand that it may be possible that you don't succeed at quitting on your first attempt. That is okay. Most people don't succeed quitting on their first attempt. What is important is that you keep trying to quit.

There are many different strategies for quitting. Mine involved switching to vaping and mixing my vape juice so that I gradually weened myself off of the Nicotine two years later. Prior to that I tried using Rx Chantix which worked until my prescription ran its course. I also tried the gum with very little success, but that's not to say it won't work for you, it might. Explore your options.

[-] acid_falcon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Yo that is what I'm doing. I appreciate hearing that, it's heartening, I used to smoke a pack a day.

I've been cutting my juice with plain VG/PG so I'm at half of the nicotine of the average juice.

[-] BassTurd@lemmy.world 6 points 4 hours ago

I switched to a vape and progressively got lower nicotine amounts until I was at 0 and then stopping was easy.

[-] Fosheze@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

There is a med called Welbutrin which can be prescribed for quitting smoking and it works really well. It's also prescribed as an antidepressant so one of my smoker friends was on it for that reason and they almost completely quit smoking without even trying to. Of course, it is not without It's sideeffects but among antidepressants it is one of the usually best tolerated ones. I'm on it for my depression now and the only issue I have is that it can make me really anxious, but I'm also on nearly the maximum dose where for smoking cessation you wouldn't be taking anything close to that amount.

[-] jaypatelani@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago
[-] AnnaFrankfurter@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago

Nicotine patches. It gives your brain what it wants with little to no adverse effects

[-] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

The problem with patches is you don't satisfy the oral aspect of the habit so you may need to chew gum or sunflower seeds to replace the act of smoking.

Nicotine gum or pouches may seem like a simpler option, but you can up your dose frequency too much to be able to ween off effectively if you do not have the willpower to keep to a plan.

Gum and patch also means you can not use a patch after a while and mindfuck your reptile brain into thinking the gum is what it wanted and not the nicotine patch.

[-] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 46 points 7 hours ago

I'm going to tell you what worked for me. There's a very good chance you'll hate it and I will get flak.

Cold Turkey.

You physically stop yourself from purchasing cigarettes and not ask for them in social situations. You make a line in the sand and never cross that point again.

[-] mranachi@aussie.zone 13 points 5 hours ago

Cold turkey worked for me. Took me 4 attempts. I wasn't hard on myself for failure, I noted what happened (emotional trauma, stress, alcohol) and prepared myself for the next attempt.

I wanted to quit, so when I relapsed it's not because I wanted to smoke but because those little cancer stick bastards were trying hardest to kill me. But if they were going to be tough, I could be tougher. I found it easier when I could see the cigs as my enemy.

[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 8 points 5 hours ago

Honestly, this is it. You have to want it, and you just have to do it. You'll feel "sick" for a while but you just have to muscle that out.

I know it's easier said than done, but it really is that simple. Just stop.

[-] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 6 points 5 hours ago

I did the same and can confirm it worked. First two weeks will be the worst, then it'll be easier. Just be stuborn and aware that your will is stronger then a habit and that it doesn't have power over you. The urge to smoke will remain but at that point you need to be aware that even if you're convinced you want a smoke, it will taste really terrible when you actually do it and you will regret you broke your streak of non-smoking days.

[-] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

I do confirm that cigarettes taste awful now.

[-] Cthuwu@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago

This is also the only thing that worked for me

[-] Octothorpidiot@lemmy.world 1 points 57 minutes ago

This and a case of pneumonia for me. Grabbed my remaining cigs and vape accessories and threw them all away. Not one puff since.

[-] hand@lemmy.studio 31 points 7 hours ago

I quit by switching to vaping and then working the nicotine level down to nothing and then quitting that. Whatever you decide to do I wish you the best of luck (and stick with it!)

[-] revv@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 6 hours ago

Same here. Fuck the naysayers who say cold turkey or nothing. Do what works for you.

For OP: One caveat to the vape plan is you'll likely need to get a vape that's refillable so you can customize the nicotine level. Juul/vuse/disposables typically only come in one, or at best, 2 nicotine levels, which prevents effective tapering.

Also, don't fall into the trap of vaping places you wouldn't have smoked (e.g. in your house/car). That can increase your nicotine dependency.

Good luck!

[-] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 8 points 5 hours ago
[-] ITGuyLevi@programming.dev 5 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

I've been trying to quit for 18 years now. I've tried gum, patches, toothpicks, welbutron (or something like that), but this time it's going a bit better. We switched to cheap disposable vapes (Kadobar was what was near the house) which is totally not 'quitting' but when picking a flavor, Pick a bad one. I've found I don't like it, it's way too sweet and that keeps me from wanting to smoke it too much at a time, but when that need arises (bad meeting, car trouble, bad anxiety) it does deliver nicotine which keeps me from buying a pack.

As a side effect, I went from spending around $400-450/month on cigarettes, to around $~~160~~80/month (my wife went with one she likes, but she's quit before and I think she could do it anytime).

Edit: I'm bad a math

[-] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 26 points 7 hours ago

If you don't have the willpower or don't really want to, you will fail. It's nearly all willpower.

[-] Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 8 points 6 hours ago

*Crys in depression which fuels smoking more

[-] menemen@lemmy.ml 11 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

You have to want to stop. I smoked 13 years, stopped several times, but the final real stopping was not that hard.

What also worked quite well for me as a crutch were nicotine free cigarettes. I decided I'd smoke as many of those as I wanted. Started with 20 at the first day and it slowly reduced by itself over time, till at one point o completly stopped without even realizing it.

[-] Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 7 points 6 hours ago

Say what. I feel like I'm addicted to the feeling of smoke being inhaled. Vapes reck me and I can't stop coughing.

What are these things you speak of

[-] menemen@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Oh, apparently they are called herbal cigarettes. Consist off some non tobacco leafs. Here in Germany they are sold in pharmacies.

[-] j4k3@lemmy.world 9 points 7 hours ago

IRL social network is a major factor.

[-] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 hours ago

While I have no personal experience with tobacco addictions, there is an interesting literature review of CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and MBI (Mindfulness Based Interventions).

[-] Grimy@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago

I overpressure myself, as if I was constipated, each time I get cravings. I basically make my body as uncomfortable as I can so it learns that cravings=pain.

In the past, I've used hand rolled tobacco to ween myself off. It's a lot harder to just grab a smoke when driving for instance. But cold turkey is best. I usually wait until I get sick before starting stopping since it tends to skip the nasty craving in the first few days. After a week or two, it gets much easier.

Remember, having a smoke every now and then will work until it doesn't.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Get a quality vape device. Start with 18mg tobacco flavored vape. Try to always vape instead of smoke, but don't beat yourself up if you smoke. Just keep doing it. Eventually you'll notice that you're vaping more than smoking, and some time after that you'll realize that you haven't smoked in days. At that point you're basically free. Throw your smokes away and keep vaping for a month or two or three. Then reduce your nicotine concentration to 12mg and keep vaping. Then reduce it to 6, then 3, then 0 mixed with 3, then just 0. You'll naturally quit within a couple weeks after switching to 0. You might want to switch off a tobacco flavor at some point during the process.

I didn't think I'd ever be able to quit smoking. I wanted to, and needed to, but I couldn't. I tried all of the other cessation methods and none of them worked long term. I tried the above and it fucking worked! The best part is that it wasn't hard. It all happened pretty naturally.

It's important that you get a good vape device that gives good throat hit and feels like a cigarette. Don't get a massive cloud machine, and don't get a rinky dink disposable device. Try to get one with a round mouthpiece that is the same size as a cigarette.

You can totally do this! If I can do it, then anyone can do it!

[-] Whirlygirl9@kbin.melroy.org 2 points 6 hours ago

this also worked for me. all of this. i smoked for 35 years and the vape was my way out. when i finally quit, i didn't miss it at all.

[-] tiredofsametab@fedia.io 2 points 5 hours ago

I used chantix back in the day, but it also required me basically not leaving the house for a month to really get there. When and where I quit for the first time (I would later start dating a smoker and relapse, then quit again), smoking was still allowed indoors and I had a huge association with drinking and smoking. Same for certain other places and situations. I basically had to do everything I could to avoid those. It got easier with time.

[-] HikingVet@lemmy.ca 7 points 7 hours ago

Well, there are several methods:

*Cold turkey: just stop and ride it out. You can do things like chew gum to help deal with the cravings. *Medication: Talk to your doctor *The Patch: follow instructions on box. *Nicotine Gum: use as directed *Vape: not the best method, but works for people.

Not an exhaustive list

[-] blatantly6102@infosec.pub 4 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Here's my advice.

Rule #1: Avoid evironments that make you want to smoke (e.g. the bar, hanging out with smoker friends)

Rule #2: Get some drugs. Not the fun kind. Talk to your doctor and they'll likely prescribe you a low dose of Welbutrin or an alternative that you'll take for the first few months.

Rule #3: Don't be too hard on yourself. You're going to slip up. That's okay. You don't have to give up and start over.

Rule #4: Make it hurt (your wallet). If you buy a pack, have one cigarette, then snap the pack in half and throw it in the trash.

Rule #5: Replace your smoke breaks with another habit (e.g. going for a walk)

Rule #6: Learn to hate the smell. Wash your clothes, clean your car. Then, when you slip up after getting unused to the scent, you'll be fully aware of just how pungent that cigarette smell is.

God speed, comrade. It's a journey.

[-] morgan_423@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

Not a smoker myself, but I can tell you what worked for my brother when he quit in college.

AC went out in his dorm during an August heat wave, and it took forever for them to fix it. He decided that it would be a perfect time to go cold turkey, since he'd be so miserable from the heat that the few days of nicotine withdraw wouldn't really be comparably bad. And he said it was right, he didn't think about it during the worst part, and by the time they fixed the AC, he was 90% of the way through the process.

So if you live in one of the parts of the world moving to summer right now, it might be worth a shot.

[-] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 hours ago

You already have! Congratulations! That last one, was the last one. Throw away the rest, you're done.

[-] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 3 points 7 hours ago

I stopped a pack and a half a day habit of ~10 years cold turkey. It was either food or smokes.

As others have said, there is no effective short cut. Ultimately, it is all will power. At least it is easier now. When I quit, EVERYONE smoked.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

there is no effective short cut

As someone who quit by switching to vape pens, I strongly disagree. There are multiple studies that show a success rate of greater than 60% when using vaping as a smoking cessation device. The next closest method is 3%. 3 fucking percent! Guess who owns those methods? It's the tobacco companies.

[-] krolden@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 hours ago

Nicotine pouches

[-] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 2 points 6 hours ago

Alan Carr's stop smoking book is highly regarded, and encourages you to smoke as you read along, until by the end you won't want to.

Combine that with a NAC supplement (which doesn't do anything for withdrawals, but studies show it makes trying smoking again far more unpleasant for your brain which helps you stay off them.

[-] Maestro@fedia.io 2 points 5 hours ago

Yes, I recommend the book as well. Don't ask me why though. I tried quitting smoking many times using many different methods but always failed. On a whim I got the Alan Carr book and read it. I read it in bursts over a month or two. There was nothing interesting in there. Nothing I didn't already know. I finished it and quit smoking. The next day I relapsed and smoked again. I reread the last few chapters and quit again, this time using nicotine patches. I quit the patches within a day because they made me feel sick. I never smoked again. It's been 7-ish years and I haven't had any inclination to smoke again. It went from one of the hardest things to one of the easiest things to do. I don't care if people smoke around me, it doesn't bother me anymore. I still don't know why the book works, but it did for me.

[-] Xiisadaddy@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 5 hours ago

I think it depends what your goal is. If you want a less painful quit wheen yourself off it. If you want to be off them ASAP then cold turkey.

[-] I_Miss_Daniel@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago

Pretty old video now but it explains why you smoke and helps to stop.

Probably safer to use qbittorrent's built in search to find it.

[-] a4ng3l@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago

I quitted few years ago already. I bought a pack of those peppermint like pills that contain nicotine to help stopping. They tasted so horribly bad I just had like 2 of them and quit smoking cold. So maybe go get some of those disgusting pills.

[-] kamad@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

I had tried multiple times previously, but when I stopped using snus (tobacco in pouches you put under your lip) for good these are things that helped me succeed:

  1. I actually wanted to quit (this is the most important one. If you just feel like you should quit and don't actually want to. It's gonna be really rough).

  2. I set a deadline for myself. For me, that deadline was during a family vacation so I planned for myself to get through the last box of snus before the vacation was over. I had a single box of snus that was already opened and a week long vacation (a single box used to last me maybe 2 days normally). This made me ration it out so I had a natural decrease in amounts used before I quit.

  3. I distracted myself from things that would normally make me want to grab a snus. Some were harder to avoid like when having morning coffee or when I had just eaten a large meal, but those could be substituted with chewing gum, breath mints, etc. I had also just recently started dating again at the time, so my daily routine was almost always different from the norm, which made ignoring the cravings a lot simpler.

And honestly, from there it was just staying true to my goal and making sure to be proud of every milestone. Even now, 5 years later, I made sure to be proud of being 5 years clean.

And you will think about it every now and then. Especially in situations where you normally go for a smoke, your brain will occasionally go back to "ahh, shit, a smoke would be nice now". I still have those moments when I have stressful situations, have been out drinking, or just randomly from time to time.

If you really want to quit, you can do it! I believe in you!

[-] oxjox@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

From my experience, I would say it really depends on what kind of smoker you are.

I smoked on and off for over twenty years. I made strong associations with cigarettes in my college years. It was a way to get away, to be different, to meet new people, to relax, etc. Sometimes I smoked two packs a day, but more often a pack a week. I smoked the most while driving or after work or at the bar. My friends at the bar smoked, my girlfriends smoked, my coworkers smoked.

I read long ago that, for some people, nicotine fits like a puzzle piece into a receptor in their bodies. I believe I lack this receptor that causes biological addition and my smoking was due more to Pavlovian conditioning. I never had a morning craving. I never got "the shakes". I quit over a dozen times, sometimes for more than a year.

When I was finally ready, and I have to emphasize that you need to be ready, I actually went out of my way to not have a cigarette while doing the things I strongly associated with smoking. I knew I was ready and it was going to stick because I quit over the course of "Beer Week" (Beer Week is when all the bars in the city have beer specials and events and serve one-off or collaboration beers from around the world). It was the worst time to quit but also the best time to quit. It was a challenge. When my friends at the bar all went out for a smoke, I joined them - without a smoke. When I was done eating dinner, I'd go outside and just sit and think without the cigarette. I even went for a drive with a cigarette in my hand and pretended to smoke it without lighting it up.

Being ready to quit isn't about knowing it's bad for you. To be really honest with you, I quit because I was flirting with a super cute girl who happened to be a doctor (I still remember her name - Rose. Because Rose + Doctor Who). Everything was going great then I interrupted her so I could go outside for a cigarette. The disappointment felt by the both of us when I returned was the gut punch I needed. I still have that pack of cigarettes that I only had three smokes out of.

I've not had a single urge to smoke for nine and a half years now.

Or you could try hypnotherapy. Worked for my mom after smoking for over 45 years.

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 hours ago

Both my parents were longtime smokers, my dad quit cold Turkey after 25 years. My mum quit cold turkey after about 45. They both seemed fine with it, maybe some nicorette gum at first but they dropped that quickly. With my dad having 20 years smoke free ahead of my mom, his health is way better. He is active. My mom needed some heartwork done.

[-] Hegar@fedia.io 1 points 6 hours ago

First time I quit i was sick and cigarettes tasted awful for a week, so I figured if I had already gone a week without I might as well quit. Whenever I got a craving I thought about how disgusting they tasted with a cold, and imagined spongey lungs filling with black tar till I gave myself a shiver of disgust.

I started up again years later while traveling, then quit for good while visiting my parents for 2 months - I know I'm too embarrassed to smoke around my parents.

[-] kinkles@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

If you have children, remind yourself that you want to be around for as many of their achievements as possible.

[-] kbal@fedia.io 2 points 7 hours ago

Get yourself a good nicotine vape rig. The kind that has a big tank so it'll last all day and you can use whichever flavoured vape liquid you like best. Switch to that 100% of the time, right away, no exceptions. Don't worry about how to quit vaping until you've gone without smoking for at least a few months.

It'll be hard, but not nearly as bad as it is if you try to quit both smoking and nicotine at the same time.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2024
59 points (98.4% liked)

Asklemmy

43762 readers
1147 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS