Thrusday I am going to attempt to quit smoking for about the third time. I picked this day because I can stay away from most people for about four days. That should be long enough for the physical cravings to go away I think.

Anyone have any advice?

No advice, but good luck with that.

no advise, I have quit a gazillon times.
Good Luck

how long did you quit for the first two times ?

I also must of quit a 1/2 dozen times,..over the past 6 yrs,.

at the moment I`m at 2 months,..

I found if I could get just 1 day under my belt,.that made a huge difference,.

and I chew gum,..lots & lots of gum (nicorettes),..

and NO BEER. ( that`s what always gets me started )

When I quit I chewed tooth picks for as wierd as it may sound but it took three months for me to fully get to a point where I could say no. I had a falling down but I immediately forced myself back on the program.

you have to find a way to divert your craving and that is not easy. For me it was mint flavored tooth picks.

G'luck mate! as they would say in Australia!

I've tried quitting. Not an easy thing to do. I use to drink a lot of water and chew straws and gum. didnt help me out much. For me, I have to start cutting back before quitting otherwise I can't handle the side affects of going cold turkey. I quit once when I was 17 .. had the shakes for two weeks and my stomach was constantly upset. Not easy and not fun.

smoking is definately hard to quit, especially if you dont really want to. After trying for many years, but not overly wanting to, I started to hate smoking. I didnt like getting up in the morning to hack a lung up, then light one up. I finally came to the point I actually wanted to quit. Like Andy said, you need something to keep yourself busy with.. chewing on toothpicks are great, as well as holding a pencil helps with the mental need to have the cig in hand/mouth. After your physical cravings go away, its just looking at each waking day as a clean slate for your health. Feb 1 will be my 2 year anniversary of the day I quit smoking. I can breath better, food tastes better, I hardly ever cough. I never thought I would be able to call myself a non smoker.. but if I can do it, anyone can. I went from 2 packs a day to none. Good luck and dont give in to the demons that will be haunting you the first few weeks.. your mind will make everything seem like a tragedy and make you feel you need to smoke.. dont let it get to you, fight them thoughts, and you will make it.

I have been smoking for about 30 years. When I've tried to quit in the past I'd make it about about two days before people were pushing cigs at me. It seems I can get pretty intense. Not angry exactly, but short tempered for sure.

think of it as goin on a journey you`ve never been before,..inward,..addictions block uncomfortable thoughts,..just feel them,..don`t react,.. and let them pass,..you`re NOT your emotions,...(ego) don`t let them contol you,.take charge ! you have to be a tough parent,..

there is a whole nother layer to you that smoking has been choking out,..take the journey,..

Lots of water helped me!

Gum
Lollipops

It's hard!

Good luck!

I'm at day 10 after 25 yrs of smoking. I found that 5 rolls of duct tape and a good sturdy chair works best. Start from the feet, extra around the hands, and a good two or three strips over the mouth. It'll take you a few days to get free. Hopefully that'll take care of the major cravings, the ones where you'd just about kill Mother Teresa for a cigarette.

Okay, so I'm being a little goofy. It's the lack of nicotine although I'm not going cold turkey, I love my son too much. I'm using the patch but even with that, it's a real struggle. Finding something to do with your hands is the biggest problem for me. Feels funny to sit and watch TV for instance and not move at all. Do your hands just sit there in your lap? I have been writing a ton to keep my fingers moving as much as possible (as evidenced by this long post...sorry folks).

The major hurdles are the "normal smoking" times...driving, after meals, first thing in the morning, after sex (though that last one isn't really a problem for me unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your outlook) I still reach for my smokes all the time without even realizing it. It's harder than hell but a battle I'm determined to win this time. I'm sick of shelling out nearly ten bucks a pack for something that's killing me slowly. I wasn't lucky enough to be hacking up a lung every morning so I don't have any negative side effects spurring me to quit. I made a list of reasons I wanted to quit and keep it close by, look at it when I really want one.

Another thing I do which may sound weird is to keep one cigarette on hand...named him Sigmund, Siggie for short, drew a little face on him and everything. He's my emergency smoke, just in case my world falls all apart and I HAVE to have one. But it's also a way for me to know this is a conscious decision. I can smoke Siggie if I want, or I can choose to NOT smoke. Today, I choose to not smoke. It's that simple, but oh man is it hard!!!!

I totally feel for you guy. I wish you all the best in the world with this battle. Those who have never smoked can't understand how pervasive smoking becomes in your life and how hard it is to give up that old friend. Don't strangle them when they say "it can't be that hard, just don't buy them." Easier said than done lady!

Staying busy is the key, and straying from your routine if you have one may also help. Other people mentioned chewing gum, drinking water, gnawing on toothpicks, basically anything that keeps your mouth busy. To me it's not the oral fixation I need to overcome, it's the manual one, so those didn't really help me. But try them, try anything, to see what works for you. If ya need to vent, feel free to email me, I'll completely understand! Good luck guy!!

Thanks for all the input. I'm greatful.

My plan is to learn a new style of giutar finger picking. When ever I want to smoke, I'll grab the guitar and practice until I forget. This helped last time. But, I learnd the new style too quickly. LOL that won't happen this time though. I've got something way harder in mind this time around.

I used the patch when I quit. It helps but it's not perfect. I still had cravings but they weren't as long or as intense compared to when I tried to quit cold turkey. Find something to keep your mind occupied. I took a week off from work when I quit and basically locked myself in my apartment. The benefits are well worth it. Good luck.

I looked into the patch, but that costs more than smoking and the main reason I want to quit is the cost.

eat fruits--its good for the health-i dont smoke much --about a pack in a week--exercise some--

Tea

Fresh foods helped too

And I'm tellin ya. For whatever reason

Lots of water helped the cravings for me!

for me, smoking was more a habit than anything else, so i switched up my routine.

instead of taking the car to work, for example, where i enjoyed 1 or 2 cigarettes during the drive, take the bus or ride your bike.

if you like to have a cigarette after dinner, take a nap almost immediately after so you don't have time to think of a craving.

coffee was switched for tea so that i didn't have the cigarette craving normally associated with my coffee.


good luck with it!

cannot give advice before knowing why you started smoking.

excellent point

I`ll have to think about that,..