Started the big Q today

[tom4bren]

I've used Copenhagen for more years than I care to admit. Went on the patch today. Wish me luck. For me the habit is as bad as the addiction. I'm so used to having it in my mouth that I've been eating like a pig all day.

It helps to have a light at the end of the tunnel. Have any of you tried to quit smoking or chewing? How successful were you?

Wifey is trying to quit smoking at the same time so needless to say ... steer clear of Fredericksburg for a few weeks.

[nfpgasmask]

I smoked in highschool, heavily through college, and then was a social smoker (smoke a pack or so while I was drinking) until I was 26. We threw a big Halloween party (you know, the kind where you are already smashed by 4pm and then you keep going well into the next morning) and I had like a 3 day hangover from all the smoking and drinking. That was the last time I touched a cig. So it has been 6+ years quit for me.

I find I can get drunk now and have only a little headache the next day, unlike the relentless jackhammer of a headache I would get had I been smoking while drinking as well.

Chewing and dipping have always disgusted me, so I can't relate there!

Now, all that said, I have struggled and still struggle to quit biting my finger nails since I was like 12. I don't understand nail biting. I catch myself biting unconsciously sometimes. I've tried everything, short of wearing gloves. The only thing that keeps me from chewing is dirty hands (working on the VX, cleaning fish tanks, etc). I'm a grown azs man with a child's nervous habit. ARGGGG!

Bart

[tomdietrying]

Tom,
I wish you success with your habit. The key is to make your habit a non-habit. Change your routine around.
Peace.
Tom
012009

[Ldub]

Oh absolutely...I've quit hundreds of times.

The last time being this winter when I had the flu. That made the first two weeks a piece of cake...it was after that, that I finally realized, I'm no quitter.

I hope you're better at it than I am...best of luck, & eternal perseverance to you.

[JGeorge264]

Two plus months smoke free here.. I'm using Welbutrin to help and it really does work. My Maintenance Supervisor used the new stuff out called Chantex and it worked really well for him. (you need a script for both, most insurances won't cover it, but if you can get your doc to prescribe it for depression instead of to quit smoking then most will.) Of course this is not the first time I've quit but hopefully it will be the last! Hang in there, it gets better.

[etlsport]

tom, thats awesome! congrats to you and brenda for the effort alone, im sure you can do it.. my smoking hasnt exceeded more than 3-4 during a night out at the bar.. so stopping hasnt been a big deal for me, i just started to chew gum instead to save my lungs for celebratory cigars.. buddy of mine started up with sunflower seeds when he stopped chewing though

anyway im behind ya both!

[WormGod]

My job wont allow me to quit. I get irritated very easily and eventually my boss buys me a pack of smokes and tells me to either start again or get the hell out, heh (true story).

I want to quit but at the same time, I strangely enjoy it. Guess I just need to find some alternative to the oral fixation.

Good luck Tom. Kiss that $6 a day addiction goodbye!!

[VehiGAZ]

Welbutrin (aka Zyban) worked like a champ for me. I have a real hard-core nicotine addiction with strong and obvious physiological withdrawal symptoms, but Welbutrin blocked all of them like they weren't there. The patch & gum did next to nothing for me. Of course, I'm back on the coffin nails (less than ever, FWIW) but know I need to quit.

But Zeus's advice is the most important - never have that first post-quitting smoke!!! You will want it, you will make all sorts of excuses why it's ok to have it, but they are all lies you tell to yourself. Don't believe the liar! He's evil!

Think like the recovering alcoholics do - don't try to not smoke for the rest of your life, because you will never think it's possible. Just try to go another day without smoking - that's a lot easier to accomplish! Then do it again.

Good luck!

[tom4bren]

"Two plus months smoke free here.. I'm using Welbutrin to help and it really does work. My Maintenance Supervisor used the new stuff out called Chantex and it worked really well for him."

Wifey's on Chantex. She doesn't like it because of the mood shift but she's sticking with it. She's already scaled down from Reds to Lights so that's a help. She has a job with stress from 1134 so that's not helping.

I'd shifted from snuff to pouches so that's a step in the right direction too. I know I have absolutely no will power so have already experienced the excuse routine in the past. Right now I'm on the patch while at work but the 2 hour commute home is the killer.

"I want to quit but at the same time, I strangely enjoy it."

I can relate to that. I know it's a disgusting habit - maybe I just enjoy being disgusting.

[don moore]

New Years 1999...thats when I gave the smokes up.....at 1.50 a Pack I said no way ...now I spend the cig money on food.......lol

[Rooster]

Going on 7 years here. I smoked for about 18 and was a pack to a pack and a half a day guy. I quit cold turkey and have never looked back. No urges or "just this once" excuses. Actually smoking repulses me. I guess I'm the stereotypical EX-smoker now.

When it's your time to quit, you'll know it.