Stopping smoking? What helps you

Nurses Recovery

Published

Although I have never smoked I have helped many patient's in my role as a practice nurse (I worked in doctor's surgery) and these are a few things that they found helped them to stop

chewing gum

mints - no added sugar kind as worried to putting on weight

crossword puzzles

needlecraft

finding something that would distract themselves for the few minutes that the cravings broke through

Many found something to do with their hands as that was what they felt affected them the most.. ie hands doing nothing

So what helped you to stop even for a short while if not permanent?

Both myself and my DD gave up the ciggs new yrs day for me this is the 3rd time all the other trys were with patches but had nasty side effects so my DD says cold turkey this time and we did it were not out of the woods yet and never will be have in the past given up for 3 months then thought i could just have 1, well like any addiction you can not even have 1.

The reward is my DD and i treat ourselves every month last week we went out and bought each other a gift my DD bought me a beautiful swimming costume from M & S i bought her a bottle of versace perfume.

My motto never give up trying to give up.

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Specializes in Psychiatric, MICA.

For me, it was keeping the consequences in mind so that whenever I thought about smokes, I also thought about consequences. Writing them down helps.

There are reasons for quitting or we wouldn't quit. The trick is to think about them instead of the illusory benefits.

D

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Specializes in LTC;Medical.

Hi all,

I will post my story later, tomorrow I am starting another quit smoking journey! Wish me luck! I just wanted to quickly give you a link to a website www.whyquit.com it is based on the "cold turkey" approach but has tons of information that you can read through!

Hope it helps, I find it gives me a good "DOSE" of reality everytime I visit there!

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I quit smoking 12/29/07 after 35 years of Heavy Heavy Smoking, that's because on 12/29/07 I had a Heart Attack. The ER nurse told me if I thought I was going to smoke after having a heart attack I was dead wrong, that she wasn't going to let me and I believed her. I was then transferred to the hospital and floor where I work and was told by every nurse, secretary and Nurse's aide that if I tried to sneak off and smoke they would beat me and I was scared they would. The Doctor prescribed Xanax for me and that helped. When I was discharged I started taking Chantix. I took Xanax every 4-6 hours for the 1st 2 weeks since I wasn't allowed to work any way. The Cardiologist said all my coronary arteries were heavily calcified from smoking and that I got a stent this time but that if I continued to smoke Iwould need Open Heart Surgery within 1-2 years. So now it's been 44 days since I've had a cigarrette sometimes I really want one but that open heart crap helps me refrain. I never thought I could ever quit. I have to Thank the people who threatened to beat me, the Xanax and The Chantix.

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PS. Another thing that helped me in the beginng was to hold a lighter in one hand and a ball point pen in the other- I would take drags off the pen like it was a cigarette- it comforted me. Now I just chew gum or eat a piece of hard candy

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I quit 31 days ago. Quite honestly, it was one of the easier things I have done. I have tried many times in past, but always went back to it. Not this time. I prayed A LOT! Then, I decided there are 2 choices: quit and have a poor me attitude, or have a positive attitude and move forward. Nobody is forcing me to quit, but its the choice I decided to make. Lets face it, there is not one good thing that comes from it. A great site is www.quitnet.com. It sends you daily emails, stats like cig not smoked, etc. Good luck! Keep a positive attitude! My motto is once you make an excuse to have the 1st one, you'll make an excuse for every single one. One a way from a pack a day!

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Chantix..quit after 16 years this summer. I had no side effects and no withdrawal from nicotine. It was kind of strange after a couple of weeks I could take or leave smoking. Cigarettes just didn't matter to me anymore. My coworkers noticed I hadn't been struggling to quit and several went and got Chantix for themselves.

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i smoked from 15 to 35, quit twice in there each time we got pregnant and started again somehow several months post partum. I quit for good 2 years ago, before getting pregnant with my third. I used nicotine gum which tastes really, really good these days. the gum worked wonders for me because it gave me something to do with my mouth, other than eat. only problem was i got quite addicted to the gum, nice minty flavor-same warm nicotine rush. it also keeps your mouth occupied for a lot longer than a cigarette. a cigarettes lasts maybe 1o minutes but a peice of gum can last an hour. no smelling like cigarettes and no smoker-shame. i used it for much longer than they recomend, just couldn't stop but it was better than picking up cigarettes again. i finally quit when i found out i was prego, and had weaned myself down by then to a couple peices a day.

big fan of the gum. i joke with my husband that i won't ever take up smoking again, but i can't promise i won't get caught with what i affectionately called "magic gum". :p

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Chantix..quit after 16 years this summer. I had no side effects and no withdrawal from nicotine. It was kind of strange after a couple of weeks I could take or leave smoking. Cigarettes just didn't matter to me anymore. My coworkers noticed I hadn't been struggling to quit and several went and got Chantix for themselves.

i smoked from 15 to 35, quit twice in there each time we got pregnant and started again somehow several months post partum. I quit for good 2 years ago, before getting pregnant with my third. I used nicotine gum which tastes really, really good these days. the gum worked wonders for me because it gave me something to do with my mouth, other than eat. only problem was i got quite addicted to the gum, nice minty flavor-same warm nicotine rush. it also keeps your mouth occupied for a lot longer than a cigarette. a cigarettes lasts maybe 1o minutes but a peice of gum can last an hour. no smelling like cigarettes and no smoker-shame. i used it for much longer than they recomend, just couldn't stop but it was better than picking up cigarettes again. i finally quit when i found out i was prego, and had weaned myself down by then to a couple peices a day.

big fan of the gum. i joke with my husband that i won't ever take up smoking again, but i can't promise i won't get caught with what i affectionately called "magic gum". :p

Congratulations on stopping smoking

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Specializes in NICU, High-Risk L&D, IBCLC.
My motto is once you make an excuse to have the 1st one, you'll make an excuse for every single one. One a way from a pack a day!

I could not agree with you more. I just had my 8-year anniversary of being smoke free! I smoked a pack a day, and went cold turkey after having all four impacted wisdom teeth removed. I had wanted to quit smoking and thought after the surgery would be the perfect time, and it worked! :yeah:

What keeps me smoke-free is remembering this exact statement of yours. It was HARD HARD HARD to quit, and I never want to go through it again. And trust me, I still get the occasional craving about 3-4 times a year. I just think about how hard it was to quit and say "no way" because man did I love to smoke and man was it hard to give that up! That's the best advice I was given when I was quitting - a fellow ex-smoker told me that I will always have those cravings (albeit less and less over the years) and to ALWAYS have a plan for when they hit....whether that be tomorrow, a year from now, five years from now, etc.

Best wishes to all of you that are struggling with this habit out there. Quitting is the hardest thing you will do, but also one of the most rewarding.

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i will add my name to those who gained the strength to quit thru prayer

when i was tempted i would do deep breathes like you might when you have been in a smokeless all day and you settle in and grab for that cig

keep out of situations that you always had a cig, i don't drink a lot but when i had something alcoholic i would yearn for a smoke

i would always have a smoke after a meal, get up and brush your teeth take a walk or occupy yourself in something else until that time is passed

chandrix came out many years after i quit but i have family members who did well, they said it was a life saver

a mint, a sucker [anyone remember telly salavas]

make up your mind going in that this is past, don't think of yourself as a non-smoking smoker, this was an enjoyable time of your life but it is time to put it aside and walk on as an adult who makes difficult decisions and sticks to them

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One reason many people smoke is due to stress. I loved my "smoke breaks" from the screaming kids, talking on the phone, cleaning house, homework, etc. However, quitting actually relieved more stress than the 5-10 min. breaks. I felt guilty smoking because its unhealthy. I worried about cancer, etc. I was a closet smoker so I always had stress being around certain people. I'd stress thinking when I could smoke, always looking out so certain people wouldn't see or smell me. Once I quit I felt free. Huge stress relief!!!

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