I'm quitting smoking

It's the stupidest thing I ever did. All I want is a cigarette. That's all it would take.

I'm a smoker, it's a big part of how I identify myself. I live in Utah, if that helps explain why it's an identity thing. If I pull this off, I'll still be a smoker, just a smoker-in-abeyance.

I'm 5 weeks in. Using patches, and vaping during rough spots. I've been short on work lately. I do freelance video production. The days and weeks have kind of been blending into each other, which seemed like an ideal time to try and kick an addiction.

What a load of shit.

To anyone considering quitting smoking, only do it if you're the type of broken asshole who finds the purest comfort in misery. Smoke yourself happy, if you're smart.

/vent

Shoulda never started.

Just don't buy any more, that way you can't smoke them.

Good luck, man, you're doing the right thing. Keep it up!

5 weeks in? Good job man. I quit last year and I barely ever want one anymore. But I still think fondly of it.

Stay strong dude, you'll come out of the other side better off.

Also, you'll have something way more powerful to identify yourself with if you can kick it. You'll be someone who had the strength and willpower to drop a very tough habit.

@beachthunder: Thanks.

Good luck, buddy. It can be done. :)

Whoa, thanks all. Seriously.

Edit: I think I just needed a place to pour out the poison for a moment. The moment's passed, but seriously, thank you guys for the encouragement.

Keep it up, man. Cigs are the fucking worst. (I say as I take a drag :/ )

@indieslaw: Keep strong brother. Know that if you come to your senses and realize smoking is the greatest pleasure a man can undertake by himself, no one will judge you. No one important, anyhow.

I can't quit myself. I love it too much. The way it fills my lungs on a deep inhale, the way a cool exhale feels abrasive against my nostrils; I love it too much. And the taste. Heavenly.

But keep it up, man. You're going to be a better person than me in no time!

@oldirtybearon: lol, jerk.

@indieslaw: Out of curiosity, how long were you a bitter asshole to everyone you knew? I've been contemplating quitting myself but one of the reasons I don't is that the last several times I tried, I nearly nuked all my relationships. Maybe that's just a "me" thing, but I can turn into a rough savage without my smokes.

I decided to quit smoking too, I'm only on my second day but it's going better than any other attempt, I think it's because this time I'm quitting for myself. There may be things I enjoy about smoking but there are more things I despise about it. I'm quitting cold turkey and I know I can do it.

If you find yourself continue to go through extreme "rough spots" you could consider changing your tactic. In my experience with friends quitting, those moments of desperation make it much easier to just say, "Fuck it." and go right back to smoking. And patches might be hard to just jump into, because for a lot of folks, you get just as addicted to (and therefore satisfied by) the routine of smoking as you are to the brain chemistry.

Maybe considering vaping more or regularly to start with? The great thing about that is that you still get the ritual and behavioral satisfaction that you might miss from cigs, but you can gradually lessen the amount of nicotine that you ingest. I smoked for maybe 7 years (not crazy long compared to some, I know), completely stopped and started vaping, and in almost a year now, I'm down from 18mgs of nicotine (about the equivalent of a marlboro red) to 6mgs, and it's just as satisfying.

That's just one tactic, so don't take my word for it. The point being, if you're struggling, consider if something else might help ease the transition.

I'd also recommend finding some quitting message boards. Having real (well, internet real) people to get support from, bounce ideas off of, and just relate to can make all the difference. And if there aren't any good quitting specific sites, most of the big vaping message boards have tons of quitting threads all the time.

You can do it!

@oldirtybearon: I was really shitty and short-tempered, reliably, for about a week. For me, it was a week I spent away from family, girlfriend, etc; for all our sakes. There are still semi-regular flare ups. One was a few minutes ago, when I made this post.
Making the post really helped, though. If were to start over again, I might make a quitting tumblr or twitter to vocalize my wrath and bullshit, rather than just abuse and glower at my loved ones.

Good luck. Never started myself, but I've had my share of vices. From my experience it comes down to not quitting cold turkey, but convincing yourself that when you do try it again that you remember quickly why you don't want to keep doing it. Helps deal with the shakes anyways, just not doing something at all ever again can be stressful as all hell.

It's so fucking worth it man. You're a cool person.

You're making the right decision duder! You should give sunflower seeds a try as a supplemental oral fixation, I recommend Dill Pickle flavored Spitz sunflower seeds.

This, times a million, this has the important thing. The e-cig has been super important to this process. Like I said, I do freelance video, and I'm used to breaking up work (esp during renders and whatever random downtime) with trips out to my patio to smoke.

Keeping this ritual has been clutch, because it's a powerful trigger, psychologically. So I still physically go out there, and replace the real cigarette with the fog machine nightmare e-cig. It's still not right, but it's enough to get through the moment. It's worked for other triggers as well, like waking up, and getting in the car to drive somewhere.

Getting in the car is a super ritualistic exercise, with seatbelt, keys, all these little things you do, and cigarettes are meshed right in there, and have been since I've been old enough to drive. So the eCigs have helped tremendously there too.

And, yeah, if the ultimate fate of this attempt is that I start vaping regularly, that's still way better than where I was. I'm making the attempt to drop it all out completely, but degrees of success are still success. Thank you for the encouragement, @joshwent

@pompouspizza I wish you all the luck. I know some people who have only been able to quit cold turkey, without extra aid, and I know how hard it was for them. I've tried it, but I'm having more success now, with patches and ecigs, than I ever had cold turkey. Everyone's different, and just making the attempt is a big deal. Congrats, and good for you. You'll get there.

@indieslaw: One day, you'll wake up and realize you didn't think about smoking at all the day before, and it will be MAGICAL. By the time you can go a week without thinking about it, you'll basically feel like a superhero.

Good luck to you. I am currently trying to endeavor the same thing.

I stopped smoking last year aswell. It was becoming a habit until I kept getting a weird taste. Chilling out in the breeze smoking newports cigarettes.

Good job! Keep it up!

Good for you and good luck duder!

I know quitting can be rough (I don't smoke but my dad has been trying to quit the past two years) but you can do it, dude. Perseverance!

I started smoking when I was 14. I quit on Novermber 10th 2013 I was 31. I stopped cold turkey, and I'm over the cough, but I still get long bouts where I don't think I can breathe. Shortness of breath kills me. I've started to do lung exercises to help expand my lung capacity, gta style, and it seems to help. All in all I feel 100% better that I quit, but I'm really scared about this summer when I go on vacation with all my smoker friends. Drinking and hanging out is going to be a major trigger for me.

Move out of Utah. That's how I quit.

Seriously, not feeling the pressure to identify yourself through smoking helps a ton. Also, Utah is fucking terrible, period. I'm glad I got out.

Then again, I'm pretty young, and I had only been smoking for three years (since I was 17) so your case is obviously very different.

I was a pack a day smoker. Started Vaping in November and have not had a cigarette since. I have had some cravings but now that im off smoking my senses have returned and the smell and taste are terrible. Vaping is the way to go. You can decrease your nicotine levels over time and quit all together.

After just losing my job I'm almost forced to quit smoking. I may buy one last pack and drag it out but until I can find a new job, which probably won't be in the city I live in, I may just try and quit.

I went from smoking a pack a day to 1-3 cigarettes a day, max, and only every other day. My advice is to start cutting down gradually, but you've already got a plan going.

Good luck and like someone else said, you're a cool dude for doing this, it feels amazing.

What's up with Utah and smoking? Is it encouraged there or something? Everywhere I've lived (which amounts to a whole two states), has always gone on about how horrible it is and you should never start.

If you can't "just stop" and you're addicted then yeah, quitting is probably the right move. You'd be amazed how much money you save as well.

I know you aren't asking for hints, but join a gym or start running. It gives you motivation to keep not smoking, makes you feel better about yourself, distracts you, and you'll probably look better too. That's what did it for me, anyway.

The lung capacity thing is a weird issue. I can tell that I have more lung capacity; if I do specific breathing exercises, I can already fill my lungs more than I've been able to in years. But I think I'm just not used to breathing that way, that deeply, and so for the most part, I just don't. My body needs to get used to having more breathing ability.

Running is probably a good idea. I haven't run (without cause or danger) in a very, very long time.

@royalewifcheese Thanks, and good luck to you, too!

@random45 Utah has a strange culture, and an even stranger counter-culture. Smoking isn't just typical bad behavior, it's also specifically called out and condemned by the Mormon church as a moral issue (to greater or lesser degrees, depending on who you speak to). All I can say is that as a kid out to make trouble, that can make starting smoking even more attractive than the regular peer pressure, if you're in a certain rebellious mindset.

Even in adult life, it can act as a kind of signifier for who you are. It's like a flag to send up to invite some people in, and also a smokescreen (heh) to keep other people out. It's a weird dynamic that seems to apply mostly to Utah, based on my experience.

Put another way, it's like wearing a Giant Bomb T-shirt at PAX, to seek out fellow duders and duderettes.

@scullinator Wow, good luck. Quitting's hard enough, being forced into it sounds really difficult. All the best (with the employment situation, too).

@sweep: Glad to hear the success story, it's really encouraging.

Congratulations :D!!!!!!!!!!! You should go get your self a root beer float and celebrate!

Quiter!

I quit cold turkey, but kept cheating every time I'd encounter any sort of stress. I needed to quit for my blood pressure & didn't want to get mess around with e-cigs or nicotine replacements like patches, lozenges, etc. So, this (+ nasal snuff) is how I quit smoking:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus

It hasn't been easy, but if I could quit after 30+ years, then anyone can. Good luck!

You can do it! I quit cold turkey 4 years ago. I was up to around 12 a day. It was crazy and draining my bank account. You just have to not give in if you're drinking or out at a bar. Its still hard for me to this day in those situations, but it definitely gets easier.

Vape vape vape all day. Put some pipe dope in it and give me a call from outer space.

I have two friends that were hypnotized to not want to smoke anymore, they were both life long smokers, one was an ex marine the other just some dude. Both haven't touched a cig since that day. Good luck, it can be done.

im like a year & some change in [after 7 years of smoking] and its worth it, just for the piece of mind.
we all know everytime we smoke its bad for us, you don't have to be told..
but you'll feel healthier and breathe easier in the long run.
also i replaced/started jogging, seemed to help get past the first few months.
you can do it!

I started "vaping" about 5 months ago and haven't touched a cigarette since. If you're having trouble and the patches aren't helping, consider that.

Great work so far though, man.

You should just listen to Stephen Dorff and stick with e-cigs. We're all adults here.

@indieslaw: 5 weeks without cigarettes is great man. if your primary concern is your health, substituting cigs with patches or e-cigs is great but obviously you're not addressing the underlining problem of addiction. Plus, idk about e-cigs but patches are more expensive than cigs. If you wanna beat addiction, I think you gotta give it up all together cold turkey.

I've been 3 month free and here is my advice: know that craving's only last 3-5 minutes. sure, you'll get cravings pretty frequency for the first week or 2 but you have to deal with it 1 craving at a time. whenever you have an urge to smoke, wait 5 minutes and most likely that desire will be gone. just keep doing this and if you make it for couple days, you'll gain a lot of motivation to keep going. also, look up all the benefits of quitting. every day, weeks, months, and years you've been free, there are serious benefits.

anyway, good luck.

Smoked for 10 years, haven't had one in 4 years.
My chest feels better, don't smell like shit and close to $19,000 better off (cigs are expensive in Canada).

It's tough to do but far from impossible. GL.

Good luck! Dont give that cigs what they want!

It's been a year since I quit and I can't imagine how much I saved. Most of my friends and co-workers have made the switch as well.

The Tesla mod kit is pretty cheap and looks slightly less sophisticated than a sonic screwdriver.

See here.This is my Facebook profile page. If you look you see an entry wich says "Tag 817." with a link to an Youtube video of Ghostbusters 2. Tag 817 is German and means day 817. Those is are the number of days that have gone by since I quit smoking. Since then I did a post every day counting the days. This is what smoking has done to me. Don't be like me ;)