We can quit Yes we can

[Flyndaran]

My grandmother spent many decades smoking, then decided to quit. She says that she never even felt any desire to continue. It simply wasn't addictive to her.

[tropicsgoddess]

My grandfather went to the military doctor one day. The doctor told him he needed to quit because of his diabetes, never touched a cigaret again.

My grandmother was unable to quit even after she developed lung cancer.

My father tried many times to quit. Patch dint help, gum did not help. He could not quit cold turkey he was around way to many smokers at work. Eventually he tired the new drug whose name escapes me now. The one that stops the cravings by blocking the chemical response to the brain. That got him over the hump and was able to quit.

Was it Chantix? One of my old co-workers took that and it was smooth sailing for her quitting smoking. No cravings, nothing.

[HYHYBT]

They shouldn't be so dishonest in the ads, but if I remember rightly it isn't nicotine itself that does most of the damage, so if being able to separate the physical addiction to nicotine from the habits of smoking and quit them separately helps I'm all for it.

[joe hx]

My grandpa quit smoking years ago when he was in the hospital. He says he couldn't breathe for a moment, and thought to himself "God, if you let me breathe, I'll never smoke again." He never started back up because he says "I'm too scared too."

My brother quit smoking in an unusual way. He was trying the patch, and somehow overdosed. The shock to his system caused the next cigarette he smoked to make him really sick.

[crashhelmet]

I quit cold turkey. I got tired of the smell and the way I felt in the morning when I'd wake up. I had a couple relapses here and there when drunk (the physical habit is just as bad as the mental one) but otherwise haven't smoked in years.

My parents both smoked for 40-50 years. About ten years ago, my mom started getting sick. The doctor told her to quit smoking. My dad then quit cold turkey right then and there to be her support. My mom never quit and died a few years later from respiratory failure.

Anyone can quit cold turkey. They just have to have the discipline. For some it's the nicotine addiction, for others it's the simple habit of that first smoke in the morning, the first smoke after a meal, etc. The ones that smoke when they drink or gamble. The stress release crutch. The associations it has is what makes it tough to quit.

As for the patches? I used to work for a guy that would wear a patch and still smoke a pack a day.

CH

[Android Kaeli]

My mother smoked since she was young, has tried the patches and cold-turkey. None of it worked for her at all, she took up smoking not long after wards. She took Chantix because her doctor told her that she needed to stop smoking and now. She has yet to pick up smoking and it's been two years since her last smoke.

It all depends on the person, some can go cold-turkey, some can use the patch. Some can use Chantix and quit, others nothing will work.

[Boozy]

Chantix is not a nicotine-replacement therapy, so it's a bit different from what I was ranting about.

Although 3-4 weeks of just sucking it up and dealing with the cravings works as effectively. We all want a magic pill to make things easy. For me, the point of quitting smoking was to get off drugs completely. Cold turkey is the only way to do that.

[blas87]

Chantix is hit and miss. It can seriously mess you up so much that, truly, you are better off smoking and finding a better means of quitting.

Chantix gave me 24/7 nausea, made me into an extremely ill tempered, ready to pounce, losing it at the drop of a hat, psycho woman who didn't want to smoke.

Cold turkey only works if you stop believing the brainwashing that you're going to be missing out and giving something up. Too many smokers who go cold turkey don't prep or train themselves to think differently and that's why they start up again.

Just read The Easy Way to quit smoking by Allen Car. I promise it's different than any other method ever tried.

[Flyndaran]

Quitting smoking is too important to demand it be really hard.
If something helps someone to quit, then by all means use it.
Every bit helps. Not everyone can quit cold turkey, damn it.
"Your" way is not the only way.

[jackfaire]

"Your" way is not the only way.

I agree and when I started this post I wasn't trying to advocate it as the only way either it was more a reaction to ads and posters I have seen declaring it as a method that does not work.

[Boozy]

"Your" way is not the only way.

I don't think anyone is saying that "their" way is the only way, but I do think it's important to question the so-called "scientific studies" put out by nicotine-replacement product companies claiming that their products increase someone's chances of quitting.

These studies do not track quitters for the long run. A 2000 study by the CDC showed that over 90% of long-term ex-smokers had quit cold turkey. I can't find the link right now, but I'll see what I can do to dig one up.

[Peppergirl]

"Your" way is not the only way.

Maybe I missed it, but I really didn't see anyone saying their way was the only way.

In fact, I got some pretty good ideas and points of view for if/when I decide to quit.

[Flyndaran]

...
Although 3-4 weeks of just sucking it up and dealing with the cravings works as effectively. We all want a magic pill to make things easy. For me, the point of quitting smoking was to get off drugs completely. Cold turkey is the only way to do that.

Maybe I missed it, but I really didn't see anyone saying their way was the only way.

In fact, I got some pretty good ideas and points of view for if/when I decide to quit.

I certainly got the impression that most were advocating cold turkey as the only way.

[Boozy]

Then read my post again. I didn't say that quitting smoking cold turkey was the only way of quitting. I said that quitting cold turkey is the only way of getting off of drugs completely (which was a goal of mine). Replacing nicotine with Chantix is not getting off of drugs.

[blas87]

Chantix turns off your nicotine receptors, as if to take you back to a time before your brain used to say "Gimme gimme gimme nicotene".