Any tips from someone who is trying to quit smoking and failing miserably?

I was doing okay for a few days, and then I had a panic attack and completely just cracked and smoked a bunch, and now I'm back at phase one, headaches and staring at my cigarettes wanting one so badly.

I know cold turkey is the way to go, but I have a drag here and there from my bfs cigarettes to try and curb the nicotine headaches (nothing else helps, and it's slowly weening me off from NEEDING them).

But, I don't want to panic again and go back to square one.
Also, quitting is causing me to be hungry all the damn time, and I can't chew more gum, my jaw is starting to get stiff and painful from all the chewing.

Any tips, at all?

Well, the only good advice I can really give is to not surround yourself by them. Throw out (or give away) all the ones you have, and don't buy new ones. It's fine taking a drag from your friends, as long as you don't ask for a whole cigarette. It worked for me, but everyone is different.

Ohh, and if you smoked menthol, try eating candy canes instead. It kind of helps, and your jaw won't get sore from chewing (though your dentist won't be too happy either haha :P)

Best of luck!

Yeah my teeth are rotting away. (another reason I quit smoking, actually XP)

I need to see a dentist. I'm probably going to make an appointment next week. e.e

Can I ask how long you've smoked and how much per day?

I used to smoke too, but it was only 5 at most everyday, so not too bad compared to some of my friends.

Cold turkey isn't necessarily the best way to go (it shocks your system and that really isn't good). I had more success gradually tapering off so when it does come time to completely stop, the nicotine levels in your body will be lower and the withdrawl symptoms won't be as bad.

Try keeping hard candy and/or gum to satisfy the oral fixation of it. And try to break any associations you may have made with cigarettes. For me, I always used to smoke and drive so I had to get used to driving without smoking. Once I stopped associating smoking and driving, it made it easier to skip the cigarette.

I've also heard citric acid (like in orange juice) can help with the cravings.

Originally Posted by Suzhi Mix

Can I ask how long you've smoked and how much per day?

I used to smoke too, but it was only 5 at most everyday, so not too bad compared to some of my friends.

I wasn't really a heavy smoker, but I'd go out and smoke with friends, and my boyfriend smokes, so it's always in my nose. So it's being really tough to quit.

Hmmm... if your boyfriend wants to quit too maybe you can do it together? Make it a contest to stay clean if you like to compete?

Nicotine bandages seem to do it for a lot of people. Perhaps you should give it a try?

I think that knowing it wont take as much out of your body after ten days than it does now, might be a bit of a support. As far as I can remember, it takes about ten days for your brains to get used to their now no-income of daily nicotine. After that, it's a matter of fighting the habit.

Honestly, I don't smoke and never have; but all I can say is good luck. (:

The Wandering Poet has a good idea.
If the BF wants to quit, and you want to quit, then quit together. Be support for each other.

Good luck. :-)

I just threw away cigs and told people not to give me any no matter how much I wanted one. I started off with a pack a day and then went down to two or three a day then went down to a few a week. In place of smoking though, I started drinking a lot of caffeine because it seemed to help with the headaches. Withdraw is the toughest part. I still wan to smoke every now and then when I am under stress and I have not smoked for 5 years. I just do not give into temptation and stick with it. I also have found doing something else instead of smoking helps a lot.

Apparently those electronic cigarettes work pretty well for quitting. More of a substitute than anything and just gives you the nicotine. I'd look into it.

I forgot they have those electronic cigs now even though I recently had to do a review on them for work. They do give you the nicotine without the smoke but they still have the effects of the nicotine. They are "healthier" in the way that they do not have the smoke or tar that cigs have but they would still require you to wean yourself off them to quit.

@ Mystic - Not recommended... I talked to someone who used one... and it made him smoke twice as much because it was "cool"... >.>" his girlfriend even wanted to try it out... (though thankfully didn't very much) but he had to go back to cigs and is still struggling to quit... though if it's too hard to quit it would be a safer alternative

Originally Posted by The Wandering Poet

Hmmm... if your boyfriend wants to quit too maybe you can do it together? Make it a contest to stay clean if you like to compete?

He doesn't want to quit though. He's cutting back, however. But, that's only because he smokes a pack and a half a day if you let him. :gonk:

Mystic - If I had the money I'd grab up an electronic cigarette thing a while ago. :gonk: I just worry it won't have the same satisfaction I feel from smoking a regular cigarette, you know?

Poet - Eh. I smoke because I was to, not because it's "cool". I find it very stress relieving.

But, yeah. I caved and bought a pack of newports the other night. They're just so tasty. :( Plus the nicotine headaches were driving me mad.

Another vote for the electric dealie, save up for one with the money your saving from quitting?

My boyfriend's roommate at uni uses ones as a substitue because they aren't allowed to smoke in the halls of residence, and it's usually too cold, wet or windy to go outside. He says it's pretty much the same.

You can see if your doctor will perscribe you bupropion (I believe the brand name is Zyban or something like that). It's supposed to help with the cravings and it's usually cheaper than the patch.

Cheap without insurance? I only get a very minor discount on medications with my insurance, and I'm not sure they cover that.

Like someone said earlier, cold turkey isn't necessarily the best way to go. Most of the time it ends with what you're doing now, which is going without for a span of time, and then caving and smoking even more than you would've if you'd been going at your normal rate.

I was a pack and a half a day smoker, and what I did was keep my cigarettes around like normal, keep slowing down on the rate that I smoked them. I would go without until it got to the point of being past annoyance and somewhere close to miserable, then have one cigarette, which would help. Eventually, the time it took to get to miserable got longer and longer until I was smoking a pack a week, and then every two weeks, then I just quit completely.

The cravings are never going to go away entirely, so if you have that in your mind, definitely alter that thought process. I'm 4 years out and still have a craving every once in a while.

Originally Posted by monstahh`

Cheap without insurance? I only get a very minor discount on medications with my insurance, and I'm not sure they cover that.

You can probably get the generic version for $10/month though, if you look into it. Most drugstores/Target/Wal-Mart offer $10 generics, so it's totally doable. :yes:

My boyfriend quit smoking the first time thanks to bupropion. He said it makes cigarettes taste disgusting. However, he started smoking again. :( I wish it was easier to quit, but I know it's one of the hardest addictions to break.

Maybe, unfortunately the Walgreens I go to does not, unless I get a wellness card, but I'm pretty sure there's a fee I have to pay every month, and that's literally the only thing I get there.
I could start going to the walmat though near where my BF works. Walmart does that stuff.

Hmm.

Still, I'm not that heavy a smoker, I need to stop getting messed up and smoking half a pack because then for the next few days I'm all MMM cigarettes. >__>;

I'm on day two of none smoking... O_O But this is going to be the last, "I need to quit", cause I'm not doing it anymore. I have enough medical problems without smoking. Right now my motivation is my health and Christmas is right around the corner. I keep telling myself, "If you don't smoke you'll have extra Christmas money" I do have an e-cig and it's nice but I'm fed up with the whole thing all together so it won't do me any justice. I just finally decided that cigarettes weren't something I wanted in my life because that's what it is it's my life and if I make it so then that's how it is. No one else can make that change for me I just need to do it.

I quit smoking by cutting the ammount of cigs I had per day in half. I would smoke a pack a day. So, for day 1, I only smoked half a pack. Day 2 a quarter. Day three only 7 stokes. And then three (always take the lower number of the halves). and so on until you get to only smoking 1 a day and then only smoke 1 every two days until the space between smokes is long enough that you forget to smoke some more. It worked for me. I dunno bout you.

GOOD LUCK!!

Is there some number other than 20 cigarettes in a pack where you are? Otherwise, your math is kind of fail. :p

I managed to quit for a year and a half using nicotine lozenges. They were strange tasting and slimy, but I got used to them and they were very effective. I started taking them and everytime I had a cigarette I ended up feeling sick (probably from nicotine overload), so that made it easier to stop smoking. Unfortunately I started again after a year and half, but hopefully you'll have more willpower than me.
The electronic cigarettes were a complete waste of money when I tried them. Yes they worked, but they didn't last long. The atomiser on them clogged up constantly and no amount of cleaning would get them working properly. I'd have to buy a whole new one every fortnight which ended up costing more than smoking a pack a day cost me. I wouldn't have minded just buying the cartridges for them, but a whole new one every 2 weeks was just too expensive for me. I couldn't afford them after a while. Maybe a different brand of them would work better, but I advise not to go with the Gamucci ones as they were useless. The flavoured nicotine cartridges were so good though, I used to buy them from eBay. The apple ones were lovely.
Loads of luck! :)

@Kinmotsu, when I lived in Australia, I'd get packs of 30. So numbers can vary :)