# Former Smokers. What was your method?



## unleashedfury (Feb 12, 2014)

So if you read my nicotine testing thread,,, I'm sure you know I'm a smoker.. 

I'm trying to find a quit plan that works, So I ask the former smokers what worked for you? 

I've tried those electronic smoke things, Didn't work.

I think that the hardest part of it all is that its part of my "routine" 

Work we have the outside bench.. 

GF smokes that doese't make it easier.. 

Driving I smoke.. Its habit to drive and smoke. 

Class break go for a cigarette and social hour with the ladies Giggity Giggity... 



So what worked for you>


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## shfd739 (Feb 12, 2014)

First I'm not a smoker. 

However my wife was for 15 years. The vapor thing is what finally worked for her. She uses the refillable model with a flavor liquid that matched her preferred cig. Started off at 24mg nicotine(same as normal cig) and this week started filling with 0mg.

She's at just over 2 years of not smoking a real cig. Fwiw she tried chantix, patches, gum etc and this is what finally worked. Most of the people I know that quit for good did it with vaping. 

Also the medical community seems to consider vaping/ecigs as quit smoking due to not inhaling the smoke and other junk in real cigs.


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## PotatoMedic (Feb 13, 2014)

I have a few friends that quit or are trying to quit.  And the two big things they told me are:  1: Get your girlfriend to quit with you!  Or have her not smoke around you and ask her to not offer you a smoke.  But they said you probably wont be able to truly quit without her joining you on the journey.   the second they said is go to costco or something.  Buy a bag of tootsy pops and suck on those when you drive.  They told me it is not so much the smoking that you desire (though that is what you desire) but something to hold on to.  

I wish you the best!  And all the moral support that a non-smoker can provide.

On a side note you could call your bank and have them block all transactions at convience stores (7-11, AM/PM, pretty much gas stations (besides the pumps))


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## Pavehawk (Feb 13, 2014)

Chantix worked like a charm for me... been clean for 5 years now. I was a two pack a day smoker for 20 plus years.


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## TheLocalMedic (Feb 15, 2014)

I was a pack-a-day+ smoker for many years, and I finally quit using an odd combo…  I started with nicotine gum (the high-dose 4 mg pieces, two at a time) and when I popped it in I'd do the whole smoking routine.  I'd step outside and raise my smoking hand to my mouth and inhale, miming smoking for real.  After a few weeks I quit stepping outside and instead just chomped on a piece of gum.  Then I slowly backed off my dose of the gum.  Two high-dose pieces became one, and then that became one lower dose piece.  

I still used nicotine gum for years, but I had effectively quit the actual smoking…

One of the big things I realized though was that smoking provided a social outlet for me.  It gave me the ability to get away from people for a few minutes to take some time to myself and treat myself with a cigarette.  And that was something that I missed.  

To circumvent this I made sure to put aside a few breaks a day where I could just walk away from my partner/quarters/ambulance for a few minutes and take a breather.  It gives me peace of mind to be able to disconnect for a few minutes.  


Recently I started using an e-cig vaporizer.  I can control my dose of nicotine (try to keep it low) and it simulates smoking pretty well.  For those who say it hasn't worked well for them because it isn't quite like smoking, try THIS:  get a menthol or tobacco flavor blend (I like a peppermint-menthol blend) that is higher in propylene glycol.  E-cig fluid is composed of flavoring, nicotine, vegetable glycerin (which produces the clouds) and propylene glycol (gives you more of a burn).  Higher PG to VG ratio gives you a more realistic feeling of smoking.


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## mycrofft (Feb 15, 2014)

1. Enlist girlfriend.
2. Don't smoke.
3. Stay away from it.
4. Do something else, but nothing involving excessive carbs like eating an entire Sarah Lee frozen cheesecake.
5. Start a kittie where you put the money you would have spent on tobacco and have a goal amount, like a daytrip or a movie and dinner night out. And I mean a couple hundred, not McDonald's dollar menu.
6. Decide how important it is, then do whatever is needed. See who your friends are; when you say "I can't be around smoking for a while right now", see who supports you, and see who sneers and jeers.
7. Remember if you screw up, you can start again. Every day without tobacco is a good day, albeit spent coughing up the crap your lungs have accrued. (I knew a guy who saved that in a bottle, looked at it when he had the crave or relapsed…).


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## EMSComeLately (Feb 15, 2014)

Cold Turkey - I made the decision one day and did it.  No, just one more pack. No, just one more cigarette.  No, after the holidays.  Decide, commit, do.

Avoid The Haunts - I stayed away from my usual trigger places, i.e. bars, coffee shops, etc.  Especially if those places had a cigarette vending machine.  I paid for gas at the pump so I didn't have the option to purchase.

Change the routine - Instead of the after meal smoke, I took a walk instead.  Instead of hanging with co-workers during "breaks", I read a chapter in a book.

Your biggest hurdle will be the smoking girlfriend, but if you can get her to join you, it'd be much better.  If you can't, both of you need to recognize that the relationship is unlikely to weather you being successful at quitting.

Best wishes!


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## 9D4 (Feb 15, 2014)

shfd739 said:


> First I'm not a smoker.
> 
> However my wife was for 15 years. The vapor thing is what finally worked for her. She uses the refillable model with a flavor liquid that matched her preferred cig. Started off at 24mg nicotine(same as normal cig) and this week started filling with 0mg.
> 
> ...


Vaping is becoming a stand alone deal now. I know a handful of people that have never touched a cig, but vape constantly. 
like you said though, we dont seem to consider it bad, even though little is actually known from my knowledge.


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## TheLocalMedic (Feb 16, 2014)

9D4 said:


> Vaping is becoming a stand alone deal now. I know a handful of people that have never touched a cig, but vape constantly.
> like you said though, we dont seem to consider it bad, even though little is actually known from my knowledge.



No evidence of significant adverse effects is entirely different from "little is actually known", as is the case with e-cigs.  They've been around a little longer than most people realize, and there have been multiple studies about negative health effects that have generally shown that they're really not harmful, or at least hugely less harmful than smoking.  No evidence of harm is quite difference from no evidence about them at all, which seems to be confusing a few people.  

Yeah, some "studies" funding by the almighty anti-smoking league showed that some fluids may produce trace amounts of known carcinogens, but they gloss over the fact that these are present in such small amounts as to generally not be of any concern.  Nicotine itself hasn't been shown to be a carcinogen either, for the record.


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## unleashedfury (Feb 19, 2014)

Well I am marking the calendar now... I had a :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: of a time last time when I just went cold turkey. And people went out and bought me cigarettes wihout me asking just so they didn't have to deal with my miserable self. 

The I am working on substituting, I am/was about a pack a day smoker. I mark on my calendar how much I smoked each day and work to cut it down like lets say today I smoke 20 cigarettes, Tommorow I restrict to 19.. I'm a visual person so it's working.. When I get to the point where I am struggling to maintain my standard... Is where I start substituting lets say I smoke 5 a day. and I'm struggling to break to 4. I find something to substitute cig #5 

Things that are also helping..

I like to carry cash.. Cash is king in most places. So I limit how much cash I carry.. if I know I am going to breakfast with my partner I carry as much as I need to carry. I stop frequenting the convienence store I always went to since they know what I buy everyday which included cigarretres and I requested temporarily non smoking partners... 

I am a social smoker since its such a social outlet and a icebreaker. I talk to my social smoker friends before class *even that cute girl from Med Term* ... If I am at work and need that moment of escape. I just go outside or walk across the street to the strip mall for a few minutes.. 

I hope to break the habit before all the snow melts here... My regular partner and his wife are on board too.. They figured that if they quit by the end of the month and both of them saved the money at a pack a day x2 they should have their vacation to Ocean City MD paid for in cash by August.


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## MrJones (Feb 20, 2014)

Quitting is easy. It's staying quit that everyone finds so hard.

That said, there is no trick, no secret and no magic formula. The various and sundry aids may help you, and they may not. The bottom line is that when you truly want to quit, deep down inside, you will quit and you will stay quit. Took me 4 attempts, but when it finally clicked I just put 'em down (after an almost 40 year, pack a day habit. And no, I'm not _that_ old - I started in my early teens) and didn't look back. Didn't change my routines, didn't change where I went and who I spent time with, I just quit. I'm over 2 years in now, and haven't even had the urge to start up again.

Good luck.


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## NomadicMedic (Feb 20, 2014)

Actually, Wellbutrin got me over the edge. It's been over 10 years and now the idea of smoking makes me sick.


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## NaptownEMT (Feb 20, 2014)

I used Chantix, too.  It ruins the smoking experience.  There's no pleasure reward from the nicotine, so you're left with nothing but the inhalation of hot smoke.  And the smoke seemed to taste different to me.  Smoking became pointless.

Then I took up weightlifting as an outlet for my anger and nervous energy.  I'll be 2 years smoke-free in May.  And I can deadlift over 400#.


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## phideux (Feb 20, 2014)

I cold turkeyed it. The first couple days were rough, now I can't stand to be around a cigarette or a smoker, they stink.
Been going on 12yrs now.


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## alphamikefoxtrot (Feb 20, 2014)

First you have to want to quit.  If you don't WANT to quit, you won't.

There isn't likely to be a 'magic bullet' method, sadly, that fits every individual.  The best motivation I can think of to quit anything harmful is to realize what its doing to to others in your life, and to yourself, and to focus on why you want to STOP doing those things to yourself and others.  

It's part of the physiology of addiction for your body to crave whatever substance it has become acclimated to having - you can't trump that physically, you can only find methods of distraction, replacement (with healthy alternative), and motivation for removing that conditioned response to 'need' the substance to make a true nd meaningful / lasting separation from it.


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## mycrofft (Feb 20, 2014)

Now, how to quit sugar if you can't stand non-nutritive sweeteners? Costs less than tobacco, it's everywhere, and people get you more as a sign that they like you.


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## alphamikefoxtrot (Feb 20, 2014)

Same principle applies. I would like to think the consequences of poor diet / usage of harmful stimulants are all to evident to folks in EMS.


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## mycrofft (Feb 20, 2014)

*I absolutely get you….*

Weigh me a dozen dispatchers…..


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## UnkiEMT (Feb 20, 2014)

alphamikefoxtrot said:


> Same principle applies. I would like to think the consequences of poor diet / usage of harmful stimulants are all to evident to folks in EMS.



Of course I know how bad it is for me, I also know that riding a motorcycle increases my chances of mortality exponentially over being in my Jeep, but...

Ultimately, if I had a long term relationship with any of my patients, I'd kick their asses for living their life the way I live mine. "Do as I say, not as I do."


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## fortsmithman (Feb 24, 2014)

I smoked for 20 years before I quit.  It has been 12 years since i have been a non smoker.  What worked for me is that if I was ever caugght smoking I would have to pay whoever saw me 100.00.   I had dreams that were so real of me smoking.  one think I did do to see if i would go back to smoking is to go to the bar and have a few.  Because when most smokers  go out to the bar and have a few they also smoke.  I didn't want any cigarettes I just wanted more vodka.  The only thing that happened is me getting plastered but remaining smoke free.  I also haven't had any alcoholice beverages in about 12 yrs as well.  Just keep on trying to quit.  It took me about 5 tries before i was able to quit.


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## unleashedfury (Feb 26, 2014)

mycrofft said:


> Now, how to quit sugar if you can't stand non-nutritive sweeteners? Costs less than tobacco, it's everywhere, and people get you more as a sign that they like you.



I've been doing good about that.. I usually bring small snacks to make it through the day. I just went grocery shopping today, picked up healthy snacks. (apple chips, fruit, yogurts, etc.) I also drink my cup of coffee with no sugar never did... 

I also cut back on soda and teas.. I started taking bottled water with me. If I can cut back to one Soda a day I'm good..


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## alphamikefoxtrot (Feb 27, 2014)

It's the blood-sugar spike you're finding yourself craving.  A diet that is more rounded in complex carbs will prevent that blood glucose from dropping off precipitously. I train in the evenings and have to manage caloric intake throughout the day to make sure my energy level is constant and that I have enough 'gas' left in the tank to ride 40-60 miles on the bike when I get home from work.  Foods / combinations that work well for me throughout the day are (but are noft limited to);

Oatmeal (Whole / Steelcut Oats)
Quinoa
Hearty (Gluten Free) Bread spread w/
-hummus
-peanut butter
-thickly cut cheeses
Cottage Cheese w/ Fruit
Apples w/ Peanut Butter or Hummus
Greek Yogurt w/ fruit (also good instead of ice cream as a desert)
Rice w Black / Pinto beans, dash of Cilatntro & Hot Sauce

Stimulants aren't a bad thing, coffee (as most know) stimulates the lower-S colon which well all know is a healthy 'routine' to have, and manageable calories energy drinks (AVOID ASPARTAME) as long as they're in moderation and not ingested too close to when you're headed for a rest period.


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## unleashedfury (Feb 27, 2014)

alphamikefoxtrot said:


> It's the blood-sugar spike you're finding yourself craving.  A diet that is more rounded in complex carbs will prevent that blood glucose from dropping off precipitously. I train in the evenings and have to manage caloric intake throughout the day to make sure my energy level is constant and that I have enough 'gas' left in the tank to ride 40-60 miles on the bike when I get home from work.  Foods / combinations that work well for me throughout the day are (but are noft limited to);
> 
> Oatmeal (Whole / Steelcut Oats)
> Quinoa
> ...



Thanks for the tips... I'll get looked at like I have a 3rd eye when I say this.. But I can't stand hummus. the other foods Game on. 

And honestly if I consumed energy drinks before rest periods there would be no resting it would be like I just used bath salts laced with crack cocaine.


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## SSwain (Mar 4, 2014)

I met , who is now, my wife. I asked her out on what would be our first date.
I smoked, she didn't....so I quit.
We've been married for 17 years now.


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## Mainspring (Mar 7, 2014)

e-cig.

tried everything to quit over the years... nothing worked until ecig.

I guess it's not really "quitting" since I've replaced analogs(regular cigs) with digital(ecig), but I'm whole lot healthier.

pain thing about ecig is finding the right combo of mod, tank, and most importantly the liquid(right taste) that works for you. 

but once you figure it out, bliss.

no more coughing up a lung in the morning, smelling like cigs(bad for PTs), and you'll get your taste buds back!


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## 9D4 (Mar 7, 2014)

unleashedfury said:


> Thanks for the tips... I'll get looked at like I have a 3rd eye when I say this.. But I can't stand hummus. the other foods Game on.
> 
> And honestly if I consumed energy drinks before rest periods there would be no resting it would be like *I just used bath salts laced with crack cocaine.*


Wait... I'm the only one that starts my morning off with that combo? Coffee just wasn't cutting it, anymore, so....


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## SSwain (Mar 7, 2014)

You just ain't had enough coffee until you can thread the needle on a sewing machine......while it is running.


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## jeepdude911 (Mar 12, 2014)

Cold turkey, hold the excuses.


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