How I Quit Smoking

Quitting Smoking is a very difficult thing to do but so very important, especially for those who have lung disease.  For those who are still trying, we hope these tips from those who have been able to quit will make their journey to a smoke-free life a little easier. 

The following  letters were contributed by EFFORTS members and are only suggestions.  Please talk to your doctor before quitting so that he might be able to help you choose the most appropriate way for you.  What may work for one person may not be the right way for another.
Good luck to you in your worthy endeavors!

Patch/Support 

I used the patch because I had tried to quit and never made it even 1 day. 
People say you are just substituting (which I did) but it worked for the physical withdrawals which left the mental which is the toughest. I talked to someone on a daily basis (family or friends) about how tough it was and that was my mental part. It was tough but it worked. 
Kathy/IA.

Combined Strategies 

It took me NINE YEARS to become a nonsmoker, and this was before dx with the big E. Went to Smoke Enders, Smoke Stoppers, private hypnosis, group hypnosis, psychotherapy, gum, patch. What kept me keeping on trying was someone - can't remember who - in authority saying Don't give up! 
Every time you try to quit and fail, you are still one step closer to making it. 

Combining the strategies of all things tried, combined with the patch, finally led to success. Little by little, I had quit smoking when on the phone; in the living room; in the car with my husband; in the bathroom; in the bedroom; etc. etc. By the time I DID quit, was only smoking when in the car alone (seldom) and in the garage! 

Good luck to everyone who is working on quitting. 
It's been seven years now for me. 
Jane Hartley 

Cold Turkey

28 years ago I quit cold turkey. I was working as a tele. operator on the 11pm to 7am shift.  on nights you could smoke while you worked, which wasn't allowed on the day shifts. 
They tell me I was a crank while doing this as others working with me smoked. But before I knew it I had conquered it. The reason I stopped was I was coughing and the doctor told me to stop smoking. He said if I didn't I would have a problem. Then 12 years later I was told I had COPD.
Irene 

Left Without Cigarettes

The thing that got me to cut down was when I had my daughter leave me my cig allowance in the morning when she left, she got home about 11pm. No matter if she left 3 or 10 I smoked them all as soon as I could (crazy).
 
But then I knew I didn't have to, worry about them the rest of the day, IT WAS ABOUT 3 MONTHS BEFORE I STARTED SNEAKING OUT TO BUY THE FILTHY THINGS. 
Then Dec 21 she left me 3 and I was terribly sick, wound up in hospital 
12 days then came home and back 27 days. Since then I have bummed 2 and stole 3. 
I WILL NOT SMOKE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
This was the best way I found as I have tried every way and product to quit, as when I had my mind set not to buy them it helped a lot. I will not figure I have quit until I have had NONE for 1 year!!! I do not trust myself so do not drive unless it is necessary because I am afraid I will buy a pack. I got to be crazy to be like this. 
Bev/ouija/il 

We Will All Quit Someday

I will tell all in exactly 2 months and 2 days.  That's when I will have been a non smoker for exactly 1 year.  I smoked for 50 years!  Until I tell all about how I did it, you may post that what really got my attention was the thought that everybody will quit smoking, eventually.  You either do it before you die or when you die.  The thought that I was sooner or later going to have to quit made it easier.  It became a matter of timing.  (You may post this message temporarily until I reveal all).
Bill Moser Grass Valley CA

Puff and Stub 

I quit 2 years ago on Feb 28, 1998. 
I worked really hard at it and knew that there was no way I could quit cold turkey. So I put a plan into effect in about November, knowing I was going to quit by 2/28 I started by keeping track of what I was smoking each day. I would keep a calling card in the pack and write down each cigarette to find out how much I was really smoking. Turned out, I was lighting a cigarette about every 30 minutes including smoking and lighting up another. So I figured it was taking about 15 minutes or so to smoke one then would light up another 15 minutes later. 
The object was to start cutting down from there. So each time I lit one, I would try to stretch the time between lighting the next. I should also mention that I got on Zyban and also the patches. Yet continued to smoke this way. 
I learned that by stretching between cigarettes, I could also satisfy myself by using what I call the Puff and Stub method :>). 
I would light a cigarette and take a couple of puffs off of it then stub it out. When I got another urge, I would do it again. I then found I could stretch the time between cigarettes to one hour, then to two and so on. 
Sometimes I lit one up early, but still stubbed it out to make it last again. 
My last cigarette was on Feb 28th at 3:30 AM on a riverboat gambling. I don't have a problem remembering as I still have the partial pack with the card still in the pack and the time shown on it. I keep it on "hallowed ground" with the lighter that has now dried out:>) but I know I will never smoke again.. BUT if I do, I will finish those 2 plus year old cigarettes first. They have to be pretty nasty. 
I keep a cigarette holder I bought in my pocket and when I get busy and feel the urge, I pop the cigarette holder in my mouth and gnaw on it till my jaws are sore, but that is just to concentrate with. I don't really want a cigarette when I do that, but it is cheaper and less fattening than all the stuff you are going to want to eat. :>) 

Hope this helps, and will try to do what I can to help you. This is very important to be able to maintain what lung function you have left.
Gary 

Change Normal Routine

--My husband quit with me, so there were no smokers in our house,
--I changed those routines that normally involved smoking -- no coffee before work, stood up and walked around when talking on the phone, etc., 
--I got rid of all the things that would remind me of smoking -- ash trays, matches, lighters, cigarettes, etc.,
--I used the patches that have 3 decreasing amounts of nicotine in them -- you have to wear them the whole 3 months and they might really irritate your skin, but they kept me from murdering anyone,
--I always had Brach's cinnamon hard candies with me -- they have a strong enough flavor that you can suck on them and inhale for that "feeling" you get from inhaling a cigarette,
--I avoided places where people were smoking, 
--I announced to everyone I knew that I was quitting -- this helped to keep me from back sliding because I didn't want to have to explain to everyone why I didn't make it, and
--unfortunately, I also replaced smoking with eating and gained 50 pounds.  But, I managed to take off 30 of them and am still working on losing the other 20. 

Cinnamon Sticks 

Next month will mark 3 years smoke free. It also marks 3 years since literally hundreds of attempts to quit. One of the best tricks I used when fighting the cravings was the use of cinnamon sticks. 

These are real cinnamon sticks, not candy. They are found in the spice area of your grocery. They usually are packaged in small bottles which may contain 4, 5, or 6 or so sticks. These sticks are really bark from a tree. 
They come rolled, as wood shavings. 

Choose a bottle that has sticks as tightly rolled as you can find. The ones that look most like cigarettes. 
The next part is great for "having something to do" with your hands. 
At the same time, if your hands are not steady, you might want to ask a friend. Anyway, choose a stick. With a pocketknife proceed to shave off the edge, lengthwise. Keep shaving til it's nice and smooth, like your old friend the cigarette. I would not use anything too sharp for this. 

Once you've smoothed the edges of all of the sticks, you are ready. 
One stick will last a number of hours. You can hold it in your hand and fidget with it the way we fidgetted with our cigarettes. You can place it between your lips, like your cigarette. You can bite down on it to relieve that strange sensation you've been having in your teeth since you quit smoking. You can feel like you have a cigarette in your hand. And, it smells like cinnamon (but not a strong aroma). 
Anyway, it helped me. And, I actually had a waiter at a restaurant ask me to put out my cigarette! I guess I must have looked so comfortable with my cinnamon stick that he thought I was smoking it! 
Tom (LA) 

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