How did you quit smoking?

[Anonymous]

Aid

Cold turkey

Results

A total of 8 votes were cast: 4 girls and 4 guys. See detailed results

[abc3643]

It took almost 6 months in January 2002. I turned 39 early that month and was a newlywed having been married for 5 months. My wife was not a smoker and I know that she wanted me to quit and I did too. I had been smoking for 10 years by then.

First, you have to genuinely want to quit. If you are not fully committed to it, you won't have the discipline necessary to quit and you definitely need that motivation and discipline because you are up against a double-headed monster...
1. Nicotine addiction
2. The habit of smoking

You have to eliminate both to quit smoking.

It's a long story, but, to do that, I had to eliminate my ability to get a cigarette whenever I wanted one. This breaks the habit which then makes my nicotine consumption irregular and I involuntarily go for longer and longer periods without having nicotine, so the nicotine gradually becomes less of an addiction.

The habit of smoking means smoking during certain times of day or after triggering events.

For instance, when I met my wife, while I usually sat on the pot giving birth in the morning, I'd smoke a cigarette as I was getting my mental and emotional shit together preparing for the day ahead. Also, at work, I'd smoke after a meeting or a big call or whenever it was a good time for a break like completing some task.

So, this is how I quit smoking. I won't say you can do the same thing, but if you can at least do something similar, you will succeed. I want to be clear: This is how I quit but there are other ways to successfully quit too.

As a New Year's resolution, I decided I wanted to quit. I was 39. My father was 38 when he quit. This was winter in Schenectady in upstate New York where winter is like 9 months out of the year. I was working at General Electric which has a large plant there. (It's a square mile in area.)

My wife and I carpooled in our 1 car. We lived just north of Schenectady, but she worked in Albany. So, she'd drop me off at work and then drive to her job.

You need to keep in mind that I had no car and GE was a big plant so walking to the gas station to buy cigarettes would take at least an hour and through the cold snow and dangerous traffic.

Now, prior to 2002, I might have had a pack of cigarettes with me at work and would smoke a few during the day. But, in January 2002, I made a decision to no longer stop at the gas station and buy cigarettes. And, I also made a decision to not smoke at home but just at work.

So, instead of buying a pack of cigarettes from the gas station, I would buy cigarettes, one at a time, from my smoker buddy at work for 25 cents per cigarette. (This is just before cigarettes became very expensive.)

This is important: I no longer controlled my access to cigarettes. He controlled my access and I couldn't go to the gas station to buy more.

Remember that habit I was discussing. I was still living that habit at work, but, if my buddy was unavailable and I couldn't buy a cigarette from him, then I wasn't smoking. This is the beginning of breaking the habit. And because this was now a longer time between nicotine fixes, more nicotine is metabolizing out of my system and this is gradually breaking the nicotine addiction.

This system worked and, by spring, I knew I was smoking less and had no problem not smoking at home.

Finally, in late April, we got a dog which had belonged to my wife before I met her but had been staying with her son in Missouri. That dog just gave me so much happiness at home and that was basically the last straw. I felt I now had something to live for.

At about 11 AM EDT on the morning of Monday 24 JUN 2002, I had my last cigarette.

[abc3643]

I did NOT use any patches or gums or anything else. I just prevented my access to cigarettes whenever I wanted (or my nicotine addiction was driving me to purchase).

I did quit once on S 16 SEP 1996 for 3 months. I did it cold turkey. But, 2.5 months later, I met a new girlfriend who was a smoker and that caused me to pick up the habit again. She died in February 2007 from lung cancer having just turned 53 2 months earlier.

[abc3643]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s25481qQp4

[DryGermanGuy]

I wanted to do more sports and simply stopped. I wasn’t a heavy smoker, anyway.

[Nikki1989]

Cold Turkey.

[ChicoFromThe305]

Cold turkey and then I switched to coffee

[FreyaRed]

I never started

[jahaims]

I was never stupid enough to smoke

[Iron_Man]

I don’t smoke

[idontkno1]

Just here for results.

[itss_lily]

i dont smoke