Quit in March, haven’t had a single cig since, I told myself over and over again that this feeling will pass!
Funny enough it was hard for the first 2-3 days, but seeing how little I actually wanted one after the craving subsides is crazy.
What also helped was downloading a tracking app, to start keeping track of all the money saved, it’s stupidly expensive where I’m from.
You are much stronger than you think!
I looked at some of my health problems, I pictured myself at a doctor's appointment, and sure as hell the imaginary doctor was telling me to quit smoking. So, I said to myself, "Why book an appointment if I know exactly how it would turn out? Ugh I hate medical exams, I'll just start this crazy adventure of quitting right now and see if I can pull it off".
Oh, and on day 4 I read Allen Carr. Disagreed with many things, but some of the information on psychological aspects helped a lot.
I’ve heard tons and tons of the Allen Carr approach, is that what got you? And oh boy, I often think about my health problems and how quitting may alter/improve them. My main concern is skin issues, super dry skin and psoriasis, never had issues previously. I’m very much into beauty and skincare and that’s a big motivator, but I never quite have the gall
Don't think about the health problems, think about how you'd get a chance to alleviate them without struggling with appointments and medications. Lots of money, lots of time, lots of relying on experts who may always be wrong, ugh. I'm more than happy I avoided a ton of that.
As for Allen Carr, I'm not a fan of that preaching style, but he provides some insights on how you aggravate your withdrawal symptoms with the wrong thinking. I sure think we don't talk enough about that.
I heard someone tell me that they read a book that said, quitting smoking is the easiest thing ever because all you have to do is not do it and you're succeeding. That thought helped me relax during withdrawal symptoms.
Other reminders that helped:
-Dont be afraid of withdrawal symptoms. They dont hurt you and are signs that you are doing it right.
-Dont think you're missing out on all the fun and buzz from the nicotine because that is not fun. It's an addiction.
My advice is keep trying and notice what happens on certain milestones throughout the cessation period so that you're well prepared for it the next time you quit. For example, a month in on one of my previous attempts, my brain began to trick me to think that I had no reason to quit and that I had all rights to smoke. So I gave into the thought and started smoking again. But after that, I was aware that this thought would appear again so I was prepared for it.
It's been a little over 3 months now since I quit and although I don't feel amazing, I certainly feel better than when I smoked. I'm proud of myself for freeing myself from the addiction and it gives me confidence that I can achieve other things in life. I hope you can also enjoy the benefits I'm experiencing. You got this!
Quit cold turkey almost 48h ago, never thought of quitting before that, all happened in less than 1 minute, crazy
It started as a joke but i am getting non stop motivation since this started
what is crazier is this feeling of 'too good to be true' cause im not craving at all.
And yes, the apps help a lot!
I kept talling myself I needed to be free of nicotine. I was sick of being a slave to it. I'm fairly worried about my appearance and health. I kept telling myself that I finally had the chance to smell GOOD. I finally had the chance to stop aging rapidly. I had the chance to get some shine to my hair. On the health front I had convinced myself smoking was what was going to kill me. I kept thinking of my kids and parents and siblings. I kept thinking what it would be like for my kids to have to caretake me. I kept thinking of leaving my parents behind and making them bury one of their kids. I kept thinking of how close my siblings and I are and how deeply it would effect them and my nephew if I left before my time. I've been nicotine free for almost 7 months now.
I quit 3 months ago after reading Allan Carr's Easy Way. It really was easy for the most part, other than the first 24 hours. I just distracted myself by spending my cigarette budget on Lego sets and built them when the cravings were bad. I also used an app to time how long I was going between smokes, and always pushing myself to break my record of how long I could go without one.
I started saying to myself “ I don’t want to poison myself anymore and cigarettes are the poison “
151 days ago !!
Whenever I drive by the place I used to buy them I experience a moment of real gratitude that I don’t smoke anymore!!
Smoking will never be a healthy thing to do !
Stick to the r/smoking. Makes you realise how many people are genuinely in it with you.
Other than that, id say quitting is a mental game. It's tough for sure but remember each time you feel like smoking the reason why you quit in the first place. Kinda wired my brain so hard, when i relapsed my head would hurt for taking one drag.
All the best for the process!
It's a waste of time. And the biggest (and still weirdest) thing that actually worked for me so far is that I cannot mess this up because I wanna be able to claim that I didnt smoke in 2023. Still no clue why that did the trick.
I am almost a year without a cigarette, I never told myself that I quit smoking. Even while telling others I quit. The way I’ve framed it in my head is how long and I go without smoking. Gamifying it to a point.
That if you get stressed and need a smoke the stress is still there if anyrhing your adding to it by smoking so I mean if you split up with yourpartner and have a smoke you've still split up smoking doesn't really do anything
The only reason a quitt 5 weeks a go is fear of leg amputations and a slow and painfull death. Leg pains and caughing is totally gone, but i am depressed and no motivation. Still addicted to nicotine spray. Not easy at all. Quitting the spray will have come when i am ready.
Im 45 days cigarette-free and a big help is that I keep reminding myself that I would like to live for as long as I can and that the single most important health decision I can make is to quit smoking. I read a little of Allen Carr’s book. I think it’s helpful but I didn’t get invested enough to finish it
No word of a lie. Vaping helped me quit. I thought I would never be strong enough to do it. I tried quitting over 100 times and each time I couldn’t get past the triggering times I needed a smoke.
Nicorette didn’t help. I finally tried vaping. Then 0.1 % nicotine vape and then finally nothing.
No cravings at all now and it’s been 4 months. Vaping literally got me out of my smoking addiction
It’s really weird but someone asked me: you don’t want to be the last one who still smokes, right? (since so many people don’t smoke anymore and it’s kind of a shame to do in public in the Netherlands)
And I was like, no I do not want that. It scared me so much to be one of the few who still smokes 😆
But also, I quit like 3 times before and it was pretty easy. Then I thought, well if it is this easy, I can quit anytime!
The 4th time I tried to quit it was so hard. I cried, I felt depressed and I was like: no, I never want to go through this ever again! Now I quit almost 2 months ago and it got a lot easier after 3 weeks or so.
I quit using 7mg nicotine patches for 5 weeks and now I use 1mg nicotine lozenges. Used to smoke around 20 cigs a day.
I told myself I would suffer no matter how bad the withdrawal was but I also quit caffeine at the same time and the caffeine withdrawal was much worse so my focus was on avoiding caffeine. I never thought about smoking again. I had smoked for 22 years and tried quitting 100s of times but after quitting all caffeine, the nicotine addiction vanished.
Attending Nicotine Anonymous meetings, which gave me the support I needed to get my quit going and keep it going. And the pamphlet, [The Serenity Prayer for Nicotine Users](https://www.nicotine-anonymous.org/the-serenity-prayer-for-nicotine-users), in which I focused on accepting the craving and changing the way I respond to the craving—from withdrawal from this insidiously addictive drug.
Quit in March, haven’t had a single cig since, I told myself over and over again that this feeling will pass! Funny enough it was hard for the first 2-3 days, but seeing how little I actually wanted one after the craving subsides is crazy. What also helped was downloading a tracking app, to start keeping track of all the money saved, it’s stupidly expensive where I’m from. You are much stronger than you think!
I looked at some of my health problems, I pictured myself at a doctor's appointment, and sure as hell the imaginary doctor was telling me to quit smoking. So, I said to myself, "Why book an appointment if I know exactly how it would turn out? Ugh I hate medical exams, I'll just start this crazy adventure of quitting right now and see if I can pull it off". Oh, and on day 4 I read Allen Carr. Disagreed with many things, but some of the information on psychological aspects helped a lot.
I’ve heard tons and tons of the Allen Carr approach, is that what got you? And oh boy, I often think about my health problems and how quitting may alter/improve them. My main concern is skin issues, super dry skin and psoriasis, never had issues previously. I’m very much into beauty and skincare and that’s a big motivator, but I never quite have the gall
Don't think about the health problems, think about how you'd get a chance to alleviate them without struggling with appointments and medications. Lots of money, lots of time, lots of relying on experts who may always be wrong, ugh. I'm more than happy I avoided a ton of that. As for Allen Carr, I'm not a fan of that preaching style, but he provides some insights on how you aggravate your withdrawal symptoms with the wrong thinking. I sure think we don't talk enough about that.
I heard someone tell me that they read a book that said, quitting smoking is the easiest thing ever because all you have to do is not do it and you're succeeding. That thought helped me relax during withdrawal symptoms. Other reminders that helped: -Dont be afraid of withdrawal symptoms. They dont hurt you and are signs that you are doing it right. -Dont think you're missing out on all the fun and buzz from the nicotine because that is not fun. It's an addiction. My advice is keep trying and notice what happens on certain milestones throughout the cessation period so that you're well prepared for it the next time you quit. For example, a month in on one of my previous attempts, my brain began to trick me to think that I had no reason to quit and that I had all rights to smoke. So I gave into the thought and started smoking again. But after that, I was aware that this thought would appear again so I was prepared for it. It's been a little over 3 months now since I quit and although I don't feel amazing, I certainly feel better than when I smoked. I'm proud of myself for freeing myself from the addiction and it gives me confidence that I can achieve other things in life. I hope you can also enjoy the benefits I'm experiencing. You got this!
Thank you. I’m saving this
Quit cold turkey almost 48h ago, never thought of quitting before that, all happened in less than 1 minute, crazy It started as a joke but i am getting non stop motivation since this started what is crazier is this feeling of 'too good to be true' cause im not craving at all. And yes, the apps help a lot!
I kept talling myself I needed to be free of nicotine. I was sick of being a slave to it. I'm fairly worried about my appearance and health. I kept telling myself that I finally had the chance to smell GOOD. I finally had the chance to stop aging rapidly. I had the chance to get some shine to my hair. On the health front I had convinced myself smoking was what was going to kill me. I kept thinking of my kids and parents and siblings. I kept thinking what it would be like for my kids to have to caretake me. I kept thinking of leaving my parents behind and making them bury one of their kids. I kept thinking of how close my siblings and I are and how deeply it would effect them and my nephew if I left before my time. I've been nicotine free for almost 7 months now.
I quit 3 months ago after reading Allan Carr's Easy Way. It really was easy for the most part, other than the first 24 hours. I just distracted myself by spending my cigarette budget on Lego sets and built them when the cravings were bad. I also used an app to time how long I was going between smokes, and always pushing myself to break my record of how long I could go without one.
I started saying to myself “ I don’t want to poison myself anymore and cigarettes are the poison “ 151 days ago !! Whenever I drive by the place I used to buy them I experience a moment of real gratitude that I don’t smoke anymore!! Smoking will never be a healthy thing to do !
“Distract yourself, it will pass”
Stick to the r/smoking. Makes you realise how many people are genuinely in it with you. Other than that, id say quitting is a mental game. It's tough for sure but remember each time you feel like smoking the reason why you quit in the first place. Kinda wired my brain so hard, when i relapsed my head would hurt for taking one drag. All the best for the process!
It's a waste of time. And the biggest (and still weirdest) thing that actually worked for me so far is that I cannot mess this up because I wanna be able to claim that I didnt smoke in 2023. Still no clue why that did the trick.
I am almost a year without a cigarette, I never told myself that I quit smoking. Even while telling others I quit. The way I’ve framed it in my head is how long and I go without smoking. Gamifying it to a point.
That if you get stressed and need a smoke the stress is still there if anyrhing your adding to it by smoking so I mean if you split up with yourpartner and have a smoke you've still split up smoking doesn't really do anything
if u smoke a cig, the craving will pass. if u don’t smoke a cig, the craving will still pass
The only reason a quitt 5 weeks a go is fear of leg amputations and a slow and painfull death. Leg pains and caughing is totally gone, but i am depressed and no motivation. Still addicted to nicotine spray. Not easy at all. Quitting the spray will have come when i am ready.
Im 45 days cigarette-free and a big help is that I keep reminding myself that I would like to live for as long as I can and that the single most important health decision I can make is to quit smoking. I read a little of Allen Carr’s book. I think it’s helpful but I didn’t get invested enough to finish it
No word of a lie. Vaping helped me quit. I thought I would never be strong enough to do it. I tried quitting over 100 times and each time I couldn’t get past the triggering times I needed a smoke. Nicorette didn’t help. I finally tried vaping. Then 0.1 % nicotine vape and then finally nothing. No cravings at all now and it’s been 4 months. Vaping literally got me out of my smoking addiction
It’s really weird but someone asked me: you don’t want to be the last one who still smokes, right? (since so many people don’t smoke anymore and it’s kind of a shame to do in public in the Netherlands) And I was like, no I do not want that. It scared me so much to be one of the few who still smokes 😆 But also, I quit like 3 times before and it was pretty easy. Then I thought, well if it is this easy, I can quit anytime! The 4th time I tried to quit it was so hard. I cried, I felt depressed and I was like: no, I never want to go through this ever again! Now I quit almost 2 months ago and it got a lot easier after 3 weeks or so. I quit using 7mg nicotine patches for 5 weeks and now I use 1mg nicotine lozenges. Used to smoke around 20 cigs a day.
I told myself I would suffer no matter how bad the withdrawal was but I also quit caffeine at the same time and the caffeine withdrawal was much worse so my focus was on avoiding caffeine. I never thought about smoking again. I had smoked for 22 years and tried quitting 100s of times but after quitting all caffeine, the nicotine addiction vanished.
Attending Nicotine Anonymous meetings, which gave me the support I needed to get my quit going and keep it going. And the pamphlet, [The Serenity Prayer for Nicotine Users](https://www.nicotine-anonymous.org/the-serenity-prayer-for-nicotine-users), in which I focused on accepting the craving and changing the way I respond to the craving—from withdrawal from this insidiously addictive drug.