(Ex-Smokers[or current]) What made(or wants to make) you stop/how did(are) you?

[Ryme]

I can't really help you, I literally just woke up one day and decided I'd like to stop and just didn't smoke then. Cravings kicked in on day two, finished by day four.

[Deleted]

Exsmoker for nearly 3 years now, used to smoke 10-20 a day. Quit day: Sep 21st 2012 22:30 hours.

The reason I quit was quite simple, and a day that will live with for a very long time. I had a massive asthma attack brought on by smoking which landed me in hospital with the doctor saying that if the tube down my throat by the ambulance crew and nebuliser had not been able to relax my breathing then I would have had to have a tracheotomy performed. Apparently when they brought me in my lips where turning a slight shade of blue I was struggling for air that badly, after spending several hours in A&E on oxygen , having chest x-rays taken and most impotantly being able to sleep! I was given some steroidal inhalers and advised that I should quit smoking as it could be worse next time.

Since that day I have not smoked a thing, I feel better for it and my asthma is no longer complicated by smoking, I don't tell people that they should quit smoking, it is their decision to quit or not to quit. I can only tell them why I quit.

[Louisa Bannon]

I just don't willingly socialize with people that smoke.

I have very sensitive senses of smell and taste (I have reasonably solid evidence that I am a supertaster) and I just can't do it. The scent of a person that smokes is absolutely repellant to me. If I am eating or drinking, or hell even breathing, anywhere near someone that is smoking or was just smoking a few minutes before it diminishes my experience significantly. FWIW, its not just smoke or smoking, people that wear too much cologne or perfume make me crazy too. I can tell what a person is wearing from 20 yards away, esp if they overdo it.

My current partner used to smoke and I had to warn her early on that it was something I wasn't going to tolerate very well. In my relationship history I had dated smokers previously, and some were incredibly devoted to preparing themselves for the advent of my arrival for dates. But all the showering and tooth brushings and smoking outside and making sure the wind was blowing away from one cannot fully cover the overwhelming and grotesque smell of that odious habit. So anyway, my partner has not smoked in about 10 years and she knows I won't tolerate it. She has choices to make and so do I.

So while I maybe come across like a complete asshole with all of this, there is another side to this.

I love the way a clean woman smells. I don't mean a little, like a lot. To me the personal scent of a woman is wildly intoxicating. And it shows in the way I behave. I tell them that they smell delicious - the scent of their hair, their body, the taste of their lips, etc. Maybe my sweet girl has sacrificed a lot so that I don't have to smell smoke on her, but I am effusively grateful in the way I constantly remind her how much it means to me and how rewarding I find it to actually be able to smell her on her person instead of the stink of some disgusting product that was destroying her health. I could add more here but just use your imagination, the way a person smells matters more than modern people think it does.

Funny little detail to add here, my GF was x-rayed some years back and they found a spot on her lung that has since not grown. It is monitored but I know that she doesn't want to add gasoline to the fire. Losing my partner to something like this would devastate me, so I hope it never becomes a thing.

Do yourself a favor, just stop it now.

Seriously.

[CptEgo]

Quitting smoking is all about mentality, no kind of gum, pill or artificial cigarette will help you.

[Mayhem]

Quitting smoking is all about mentality, no kind of gum, pill or artificial cigarette will help you.

the name fits ^^

[CptEgo]

the name fits ^^

I don't get it..

[Deleted]

I just want to say this is the best thread title I've seen on here for years.

[Novie]

I was a very casual smoker for a few months when I was 18/19 - I was in the Air Force, during my technical school. A lot of my friends smoked, and our command decided that you could only be in the smoke pit if you were smoking. Since that's where my friends were during a good bit of our free time....I figured eh, why not. Dropped it once I graduated.

Started up again when I was 20. My brand new husband was deployed in Iraq and it was a way to deal with the stress. He started smoking himself while he was deployed.

We both tried to quit several times over the years, with varying degrees of short term success - longest periods would be while I was pregnant with our children, but we'd inevitably pick it back up.

Early last year my husband decided to give vaping a try. I had no interest in it for several months, but he finally talked me into buying some gear of my own. I thought initially that I'd give it a try while still having my cigarettes, but it didn't take. I knew if I was going to give it an honest effort, I had to not have any cigarettes around. Had my last cigarette on July 25th. I find cigarettes disgusting now. Every now and then I'll think I want one, but then I'll walk past someone smoking and the smell turns my stomach.

OP, it really is a lot about willpower. If I hadn't finally decided that yes, it was definitely time to quit, it wouldn't have worked for me. I'm sure most other ex smokers will tell you the same thing.

If you are addicted to E-cig you are still addicted to nicotine.
Some day you will start smoking for real again, 100%.

Read Allen Carr´s book and go to a hypnotist.

You do realize that you can get e-juice with no nicotine?

[ItachiZaku]

I'm allergic to cigarette smoke.
Smoker kisses taste bad.
Smokes smell bad (as in, you can smell it on them when they come back inside, and their jackets and hair always stink of it)

Prior to the big wave of no smoking inside places, i couldn't/wouldn't go to a lot of places, since I couldn't really stand it longer than 10-15 minutes. I don't know nor would I demand anyone quit smoking on my behalf, but i've known people who have claimed to have gotten their cancer from second hand smoke. Which.... sounds like bullshit, but whatever I guess. Just knowing someone who has cancer, has seemed to encourage a few people I know to quit. Kids of those with it, friends of etc

[Deleted]

Prior to quit smoking, I got rid of everything at house that was smoke related. Ashtrays, lighters, packs, etc. I tried vaps, patches, chewing gums. None of that stuff work for me. So I went cold turkey. For the first two days, it was hell to work and getting things done, was constantly having cravings, chest tightening pains, etc. After the 3rd day, it got easier. One month after, I had no physical or physiological addiction. It's been what... 2 years? No relapses, since then.

Oh, and the reasons to quit? Financial, as each pack of cigarettes costs 5.3 euros, and I would smoke one pack each two days, and of course health improvement.

[Ghostpanther]

I´m of no real help i guess, i was a smoker for 14 years and everyone of my friends stopped, so i thought "hu, might as well" and i simply stopped buying cigarettes. Done.

Good to hear. Congrats.

I started smoking when I was 15 and one day when I was 25 I looked at a cigarette and could not imagine life without one. I told myself " that is it, I should not be that attached to a item which is not even good for me." I did not quit cold turkey however, but rather slowly over a few months of cutting down. Then after smoking 3 or 4 a day for a few weeks, I quit.

Been over 30 years since then and to be honest, I am still tempted to start back up. I enjoyed it that much. But I won't. I am no longer physically addicted , but emotionally I may never get over it. I have told my wife when I get to be 80, I may start to smoke cigars because for cancer to have time to get me I will more than likely die from old age. She said, " Fine, but you are smoking them outside".

It is hypocritical of the government however to ban so many carcinogens , lead etc. but allow cigarettes to be sold. The amount of health costs and suffering from cigarettes is in the billions.

[Piglord]

I took the pill Chantix. Tried every method before, but kept going back. Pill worked for me. It programmed suck a negative stigma in my mind about cigarette smoke and nicotine I can't stand being around smokers now. That shit just reeks.

[Laila]

aye probably the same pills a quick google lead me to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varenicline it basically makes your mind dislike nicotine or smoking, so when you smoke you just go 'eww thats shit'. ie mind control pills.

I'd rather keep smoking than take that stuff it seems like it could end up causing more problems than it solves.

I could probably do the e-cigs, the last one i tried kinda worked but it didn't have that smoking lung punch so i ended up just getting headaches from the thing. not really easy to know when enough is enough with those things. a regular cig burns down so you know when you've had your fill. perhaps if someone made a custom ecig that turns off for 1hr after 6-8 drags that would be something.

You get used to it. It actually becomes even more convenient, because, you know, you can take a drag and put it down and it doesn't just burn away.

the studies that are starting to come out on those are not looking good.

There was one terribly executed study that showed if you straight up burn the shit instead of vaping it, it's pretty nasty. Anybody that's accidentally turned a good ecig (cheap ones won't even get that hot period) up too high could have told you that.

aaaand...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015...f-formaldehyde

yeap that's the one

If you are addicted to E-cig you are still addicted to nicotine.
Some day you will start smoking for real again, 100%.

Read Allen Carr´s book and go to a hypnotist.

This guy has it, search for "Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking" that is a brilliant book, His book/classes are the number 1 stop smoking aid out there, you don't end up still addicted to nicotine and looking like an idiot with e-cigs, Once you get over the mental addiction of nicotine you'll be surprised at how easy it is to stop entirely.

Nicotine is not the only problem, after decades of always having something to do with your hands and your mouth, it's a dramatic shift to suddenly have nothing. It's also something that becomes part of routines, and things feel odd without it. I.E. get in the car, light up a cig. Finish a meal, light up a cig. Sit down with a paper, light up a cig. Etc. etc. etc. Ecigs fill the act of smoking aspect of the addiction in ways nothing else even comes remotely close to.

I tried countless things to quit, from patches and gum, to certain anti-depressants that have worked for some people, to a pill system that was popular a while back, etc. etc. Gum was the only thing that I didn't give up on within hours, and that was only a couple days before I couldn't handle the fact that you have to spit constantly while chewing that shit cuz swallowing that concentrated nicotine is really really hard on your stomach.

I really don't care if I look like an idiot with my ecig, I'm measurably and effectually healthier than I had been in decades.

Will I go back to cigarettes? Uh, someday, maybe, but I certainly have no intentions to. And for the first year or 2 I was still smoking some but slowly fading off, and for the last couple of years it's been like 1 cigarette every 3-4 months, which I usually can't finish and promptly regret.


But yeah, I make absolutely no bones about the fact that I am absolutely, 100%, completely addicted to my ecig. No question.

But it's one hell of a lot better than still being addicted to actual cigarettes.

[Ghostpanther]

I don't get it..

He means your name implies what you suggested. That it is easy for you to stop something and you figure anyone should be able to. But not everyone is that strong willed and needs help. Not saying there is no truth in what you posted. For myself it was a matter of me being determined to stop smoking. And I am pretty strong willed enough it was all I needed. But sometimes others need help in their own way. Everyone has strong points and weak points. As Dirty Harry said, " Every man needs to know his limitations".

[Balgazarr]

Vaping will only work if it seems to replace your cigarettes, I tried it before with no luck. I bought itazte vv it allows different volts and amp settings which give more vape and throat hit. Also you need to find a flavor that you really like, I use vanilla pipe tobacco and coffee flavors myself. Also I don't deny myself a cigarette if I want one I smoke it, it's not the occasional one that's so bad it's the multiple packs a day, anything in moderation isn't so bad.

Good luck

[Zindai]

I started smoking with friends in weekends when I was 14, my best friend among them came from a smoker family and picked up smoking daily herself at that time. I didn't think much of it, and I doubt I was ever really addicted, but one New Year's Eve, my brother's girlfriend walked past me near my home where I was sitting and smoking with friends, and she told me that even though she smokes herself, I shouldn't start because it's stupid. :P She's an extremely pleasent person, so I guess it just got through to me. I still did it for a while after, but I started paying attention to my lack of breath and how dizzy it actually made me. The last time I tried to smoke was only 6 months after she said that to me, and I hadn't even smoked in a while. I had had a lot to drink and someone handed me their cigarette - my stomach didn't react in any nice way.

But then again, I'm a stubborn person, which gives me an immense willpower when I do get addicted to things (Ibuprofen..). I even untrained my own OCD when I was a kid.

Good luck!

[Deleted]

After broke my leg from 2 places i just said "fck it, i'll just throw all the bad things behind" stopped smoking, went to gym and haven't smoked anything anymore. I mean, sometimes i think that oh i should grab a smoke and chill a bit, think how and when i should do this and that but then again i re-think and forget the idea that i even thinked about doing one. Have to have lots of willpower, thats basically it, maby a damn good reason aswell why you should just stop at this very moment.

[Mayhem]

It is hypocritical of the government however to ban so many carcinogens , lead etc. but allow cigarettes to be sold. The amount of health costs and suffering from cigarettes is in the billions.

i wholeheartedly agree

[Deleted]

I smoke because i like it. Not that much anymore since i bought e cig but when i have a beer or two or go to friends place who smokes then yes, i smoke.

[Netherspark]

I smoked from the age of 12-27, and I quit because I could hardly breathe and was constantly coughing and wheezing... and to be honest, I had disliked smoking for several years before that anyway. I hated the ash, I hated the smell, I hated the hassle. It took a long time to realize that "I don't even like smoking".

In the end I just stopped cold turkey and never had any problems, although I had already made the change to rolling tobacco, which has less nicotine and had cut down to 5 smokes a day.