Success Happy

What are some of the most successful methods to quit smoking?

Successful experience of this method is preferred, not just what you've heard or read about.

Public Comments

1. Dying
2. For some of us I think the most successful metod is Death itself.
3. Cold turkey. You have to really want it, if you really want to quit it. All those like Nicorette ads about the gum and the patches just put nicotine into your bloodstream so that it stops the cravings, but in your mind, you haven't successfully quit, which leaves you prone to start smoking again in the future. Please try it. Slowly decrease the number of cigarettes you smoke each day by weeks or months, and it'll REALLY work as long as you put your mind to it. GOOD LUCK!
4. A combination of a smoking cessation medication along with behavioral counseling results in the highest quit rates. Chantix, a twice a day pill, has 45% quit rates at 12 weeks, Zyban has 30% and nicotine replacement systems around 20%. Your odds of quitting on your own, without a medication or behavioral counseling support, are 7% at one year. Good luck!
5. You say to your self I don't wanna smell that way any more, I don't want people to be disgusted by my habit, I don't wanna get sick from it, and I don't wanna be a fool any more. Than you throw the cigarettes, and you never smoke again. Than you say in a couple of weeks; I had no idea I was such a character!
6. A friend of mine got hypnotised... might sound kooky, but it worked!
7. I used Zyban. Nothing else worked. What a great product. But it made my friend go loopy.
8. Just quit. The craving will be strong for the first few days, then it lessens. Once in a while you might have a strong urge to smoke, yet if you can withstand the craving, that urge will go away after a few minutes. The longer you stop, the longer the intervals are between the cravings.
9. Before I quit I started eating healthy and I exercised everyday. I did this for two months and lost 10 pounds. I used the patch for two weeks. And it has been almost one year since I smoked. I still eat right and exercise everyday. I have not gained weight but if you do oh well just keep eating and exercising and you will do fine good luck.
10. I feel the most successful method to quit smoking would have to be.... marry a hard core non-smoker that constantly nags everytime you even mention a cigarette much less look at someone smoking in a suggestive manner! And soon you'll realize everytime u think about smoking, you'll remember you'd rather urinate on an electric fense rather than to risk upsetting your spouse who will nag you untill your ears BLEED!!!! But thats just speaking from my experience!
11. Quitting smoking is extremely difficult. Don't believe commercials or "stories" you heard of people doing it easily. Nicotine substitutes, like nicotine gum, nicotine patches, or nicotine inhalers, will put nicotine in your body as you quit cigarettes. It's a good healthy plan towards quitting. The positive thing about them is you can quit the cigarettes then quit the nicotine later. And the amount of nicotine you get goes lower and lower as you go along. The downside is when you're done it's still kind of depressing. Cold turkey works too. Just stop smoking and adapt. I like this because it doesn't cost money. The downside is that it's hard. I would quit cold turkey if I had a lot of free time on my hands, and not a lot of stress. Something to remember is that after 48 hours any nicotine in your system will be gone. You can kind of feel this happen on the 3rd day. I've quit a total of 3 times. Twice with patches and once cold turkey. (Tried the gum once, but it made my throat itchy and coughy.) I can say that if you do go with the patches (or any nicotine substitute) follow the directions and the schedule/plan. It might seem excessive since each box of patches costs a pretty penny. But doctors do research on that kind of stuff, and I can say the second time I did the patches (following the schedule) it worked much better than the first time, when I just used 3 boxes total, and stepped down once each week.
12. Quitting smoking is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves. Congratulate yourself on having the desire to stop - then you are over the worst, but still need to maintain your resolve. It's just so easy to start thinking that just one won't hurt, but it does. Just one achieves nothing except feeling the need for another. Whatever you do, don't have just one. Beware - alcohol will weaken your resolve. Here's a few home-brewed tips that might be useful. It's not just nicotine addiction - there are 50+ chemicals in cigarettes. Also the main problem is habit. We have been used to having body sensations which we translate as 'my body needs something', which we have attempted to satisfy by having a cigarette. When we try to stop smoking, we still get these 'my body needs something' sensations, and we still feel that we want a cigarette. We have to train our body to be more selective. When we feel we need something, we have to work out what it is that we actually need. A glass of water is an excellent substitute if nothing else comes to mind, as it helps with the clearance of the toxic substances in our body. Another good substitute is a bag of salted peanuts, used in combination with the water. Another thing to do is to find an activity which occupies the mind or body. Go swimming - nobody wants to smoke while they are swimming. Slowly, as our body adjusts and translates the 'want something' feelings into something other than cigarettes, then the feelings begin to go away. We know its not a cigarette that the body really needs, because as soon as we've had one we still have the feeling, and want another! We will have a few bouts of feeling or even being short tempered. We must try to bite our lip, and control; ourselves. Recognise the short temper as being the removal of toxins which are trying to find a way out. They went in through the mouth, and they try to get out that way to. We must learn to keep our mouth closed, and force the toxins out the other way. After we have stopped for a while we will begin to feel that just one wont to any harm. All that leads to is a desire for just another one. We must guard very strongly against the desire to have just one.