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Smokers successful quitting nicotine, how did you do it?

My mother smoked during all her pregnancies. Both parents smoked growing up, had my first age 11...tried the usual patch, gum, cold turkey. Chantix made me vomit and go crazy. If you quit and have been successful abstaining, how did you do it?

8 years ago by imokruok with 32 comments

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Conversation 11 comments by 5 users
  • drunkenninja
    +8

    I used to big on social smoking and realized that it was getting to a point where I would smoke half a pack when I went out. I was introduced to e-cigs by a friend and ended up using that for about a year or so. The turning point was when I tried smoking a cigarette after about 10 days of using the e-cig (24mg) and it just tasted way worse than the e-cig vapour, and so I stuck to vaping until I slowly went down to 8mg and then stopped all together.

    • imokruok
      +6

      Thanks for the reply. What brand e-cig did you use? Congratulations on quitting, that's awesome and a big deal.

      • drunkenninja
        +5

        I think it was Liberty Flights, and it was about 3 years ago. I'm sure the tech have improved greatly since then as well.

      • MePLUR (edited 8 years ago)
        +4

        In my experience, the ones that look like cigarettes aren't very effective in helping you quit (none of my friends that started with those have stuck with them and have gone back to cigarettes) and are much more expensive in the long run. They do make up for it in terms of convenience.

        If you're willing to do a little research and are happy to tinker around with gear, something like this (the vendor is in China, and shipping will take longer than usual, I'm sure you can use the site as a price guide and find a retailer near you) is a good place to start. It's not too expensive and comes with almost everything you need except for eliquid and batteries (stick to Samsung 25R or Sony VTC4 if you can find them, avoid everything else).

        • BlankWindow
          +2

          Fast tech has no bearing on what a price might be in the US, most of what they sell is low quality and extremely cheap. Plenty of batteries work just fine in mechs and especially in regulated mods. Would be silly to be limited to those if you can take 5 minutes to learn about the type of battery you are using.

          • MePLUR
            +3

            Correct me if I'm wrong, but to my knowledge, anything that's labeled 'authentic' on FastTech is genuine, and isn't lower in quality to gear you'd get anywhere else. The reason why I point people to them is because they are cheap. Many people I have recommended vaping to in the past have been put off by the cost of the initial investment in gear, and it's great that for $50, you can now get a decent starter kit. Also, for those that do not live in the US, it's the most convenient/affordable place to get gear (especially batteries) because most US vendors do not ship internationally or have a $40 shipping fee.

            Would be silly to be limited to those if you can take 5 minutes to learn about the type of battery you are using.

            Agree, but many people do not take the time to learn about battery safety (you still see people asking about using xfire batteries) and others may get overwhelmed when looking at something like this. I mentioned the 25R and VTC4 because they are two of the more common batteries that are suitable for vaping. The 'avoid everything else' line was included because there are vendors out there that push unknown rewrapped batteries, or brands like Efest (once regarded as decent, readily available batteries, which have been shown to be unreliable).

    • OldTallGuy
      +4

      I'm down to 6 mg and can't seem to get over that final hump. Congrats on getting it out of your life.

      • drunkenninja (edited 8 years ago)
        +5

        Thanks! Actually the final push for me was laziness believe it or not! I ended up using up my last burner and also ran out of juice. Ended up not wanting or reorder and so I just stopped vaping for a few days, and then a few more, and then I wanted to order it but decided to wait and see if I still even want it... a week turned into a month and then into six and I realized I was no longer addicted to the nicotine at all.

      • MePLUR
        +5

        What gear are you using? I started with 18mg, going down to 12mg when I was using a Reo, but couldn't drop go any lower for a while. With some of the newer vapes and sub ohm atomizers, I find that I can't go above 3mg. I'm currently vaping at 0.5Ω and 30W @ ~2mg.

        • OldTallGuy
          +2

          I've got an eGo-C and a Provari. I use 2.0 Ohm cartomizers on both. I haven't looked at new gear in quite a while, I'm sure there are better set ups but what I've got keeps me from inhaling burnt tobacco leaves so I'm good with it.

          • MePLUR
            +4

            What I've got keeps me from inhaling burnt tobacco leaves so I'm good with it

            Fair enough. The Reo was my go to vape for a few years before I decided to try something else.

            I did find that the newer vapes allowed me to drop the strength of my juice, to the point that I can, on occasion, vape at 0mg.

  • DrunkOldMan
    +7

    I just started back smoking, quit last year for 6 months but gained like 25 lbs, my dam diet didn't change (As I Keto) Lost all the weight and then some, (Working out, Yoga, bike riding) so I am gearing up to quit again in the next couple months. I bought those disposable BluCigs, kept one in the car, one at home and a couple at work, they help me quit pretty fast. I'm not giving up, just need to get my body stable so I don't balloon up again. I've been smoking on and off (mostly on) pretty much for 35 years (UGH!) It can be done and I'm gonna kick this!!

    • imokruok
      +5

      I'm exactly the same way, food becomes an obsession when the nicotine is out of my system. I'm a runner, and find I do better (time/distance) when I'm smoking, go figure.

      • DrunkOldMan
        +3

        It's a freakin hard habit and does so many shitty things to your body. My gums were bleeding pretty bad the last time I quit. I'm still gonna kick it's ass though!!

  • PocoBananas
    +6

    Hypnotism started it off but it was about an 8 year process after that to quit completely. After the initial quitting period (about 6 months) it became a problem only in drunken social/major life crises. After a few years I started exercising and specifically running, I found I didn't want them anymore at all.

    You don't really appreciate what it has been doing to your body until you haven't been smoking for a few months. You will get a crazy amount of energy and your mind will be absolutely racing. I personally found that I could all of a sudden drink an infinite amount of beers without passing out (not always a great ability). The trick is to do something with that energy. Move around more, get outside, start practicing handstands, ANYTHING. This will really help with the cravings.

    One major mindset that helped while I was still smoking socially but not constantly was accepting that I still wanted them occasionally and not beating myself up after caving in. It is going to happen. Making yourself feel like shit about it afterwards is not constructive. Accept that it happened, that it may happen again and start all over again. Allowing yourself that freedom does wonders.

    Good luck!

    • imokruok
      +2

      Refreshing honesty. THank you.

  • jenjen1352
    +6

    Nicotine gum for three months to break the hand to mouth cycle. Then the switch to ordinary gum. Three days of hell while I quit the nicotine addiction. Chewing gum use faded over time and now I don't smoke anymore. That was 14 years age after a 24 year 40 a day habit. I think I'm hard! :)

  • stitches
    +5

    cold turkey. tried so many times, so many ways. I think when you're ready you'll do it. did drive me nuts for the first month but after that plain sailing and keeping in mind that if I wanted to smoke that was exactly the reason I shouldn't do it, just don't give in to the cravings..!

    • imokruok
      +4

      I've only been able to last a couple days cold turkey but I think it's the best way to do it. I just need to go through those few days of withdrawal hell and maybe start biting my nails again. haha

  • imokruok
    +5

    Two hours with the patch. fml.

    • imokruok
      +3

      smoking clips out of the garbage. i'll try again tomorrow.

  • hiihii
    +5

    The best way to quit is to never start.

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  • MePLUR (edited 8 years ago)
    +4

    I never intended to quit smoking, I actually enjoy it. I got an ecig because I read an article about it and thought it was something to interesting play with. It took ~6 months before I was completely off cigarettes (pack a day smoker). This was six years ago, and the gear was nowhere near what it is now, but once I weaned myself off the real thing, the smell and taste of cigarettes was horrible; I couldn't finish smoking a stick.

    Now, I can switch between the two, and fall back on to cigarettes when I'm traveling to places that do not allow ecigs (e.g. Singapore).

  • Boudicca
    +4

    As a 30-40 a day smoker for many years I have tried a number of methods including but not limited to: Champix-went into psychosis Acupuncture Patches Gum Health farm Hypnosis Cutting down Cold turkey Allen Carr Zyban

    Then I tried vaping, and this has done the trick for me, I haven't smoked for nearly 2 years. I am still vaping and hope to eventually stop that as well. I did have a cigarette at some point in the last 2 years but it was horrible.

  • fred
    +3

    I just went cold turkey. Wore a rubber band for a week or so and when i wanted a cigarette i snapped it.

    I also kept a pen/pencil or toothpick in to help with the hand/mouth habit.

  • SmokinJoe23 (edited 8 years ago)
    +3

    I smoked for nearly twenty years and quit 2 years ago with a cheap e cig and some nicotine patches. That lasted a year with occasional cigarettes here and there when I was drinking beer. Then one night Ijust bought a pack and that was it. I recently quit with a Inferno. I also own a atmos.Now I vape almost like a hobby you can upgrade and mix and match and make your own custom.

  • Kausalitet (edited 8 years ago)
    +3

    Cold Turkey. But I did quit together with a friend, which probably helped.

    I have this theory, that every smoker has a friend (or friends), whom they smoke more with every time they meet. I certainly had it in my friend that I quit together with. Whenever we met we'd easily burn through a packet or two in a single afternoon. I did try quitting before him, but whenever we met I'd fall back in to the same old routine, smoking like a a god damn steam train on crack. So quitting together help tremendously.

    Haven't smoked in 15 years.