I need help quitting smoking, can fluther help me?

Quitting smoking is about more than just not smoking.
You need to change your behavior. That’s the hard part.
I smoked for many years and quit cold turkey which was difficult. I needed something to do with my hands so I took up yo-yo’ing.
The most important thing to remember is that you can’t smoke anymore. Not even one.

Sure. Have a look at these lung cancer photos and let me know if you feel like lighting up.

NSFW
http://www.goldbamboo.com/pictures-t1509.html

Scare tactics are not an effective means of quitting smoking since they doesn’t address the addiction.

scary photos don’t really work , I think, because they can always use the excuse that “thats not going to be me”, that’s just pictures of other people’s lungs.

I started smoking to get breaks at work, I successfully quit 2 years ago.
What worked for me was to not want to smoke; I was so sick I could not smoke (horrible bronchitis). I waited until the end of the day and threw out my cigarettes so I would have an 8 hour head start on quitting after I woke up.
Try to stay away from other smokers, drinking, or any activities that you associate with smoking(driving and drinking were the hardest for me. not at the same time)
Best of luck.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies the pictures of lungs do nothing. We’ve seen before we were wee ones in school. I wish it would frighten me to quit & It is frightening though, but it’s an addiction that’s not easy to just be turned away from.

I’ve been trying to help my SO quit smoking too. Take it gently and gradually. I’d suggest trying to cut back on one cigarette a week. So, that last cigarette you smoke at the end of the day, after you eat or you have sex or whatever—cut that one out of your day. Then next week, once you’ve given yourself some time to adjust to this new baseline, try cutting another one out. And so forth.

As I’m sure you know, the hardest part about quitting cold turkey is ignoring the temptations that abound around you. For my SO, just seeing people outside smoking triggers the desire for a cigarette.

Pace yourself. If you don’t, it will be much harder to ignore your cravings and you’ll be back to where you started. speaking from experience

Good luck!!

when studies have been done with those who quit smoking and maintained it, it shows that combining two or more methods increased the likelihood of success.

An example would be using the transdermal patches AND some type of therapy to address behavioral habits at the same time.

@Buttonstc the patches don’t work for me. The lozenges do though & they got me through a month before I relapsed. I do need to change behavor habits though. Driving & boredom are going to be my worst enemy, oh & talking on the phone.

Not trying to offer a magic pill with the photos. No one thing can make you quit. Not even your willpower. If it were so then this question wouldn’t have been asked and we could all go to the doctor for a simple shot.

No, those photos won’t help if breezed over and brushed aside. But when studied and utilized with other things like medication, meditation, exercise, and a new hobby… it can all add to the greater affect.

Perhaps combining the lozenges along with group therapy might be helpful for you.

This way you can benefit from sharing experiences with others and learning how they coped with various situations. In many places there are self help quit groups which cost you nothing but time.

I only mentioned the patches as an example. Everybody has to find out what works for them. The key is in combining methods for greater effectiveness. If you can’t find a group, perhaps individual therapy with a focused behavorial approach can give you extra coping strategies.

Keep trying till you find a combination that works for you. It’s worth it for your long term health.

Just stick with it. Like anything quitting takes time. If the lozenges helped before, stick with em. Don’t beat yourself up if you break down and have a cigarette, I failed many times before I quit. It’s not an easy thing to do, but you can quit if you want to.

Try Allan Carr’s EasyWay book. Worked for me! As of today (according to the quit counter), I am 1 year, 1 month, 25 days, 6 hours, 54 minutes and 45 seconds smoke-free.

Yay!

Try to find other ways to occupy your time during breaks and times when you would be smoking. Do something that involves you mentally as well… whether it’s yo-yoing as someone else said, drawing, or maybe you could carry around a handheld videogame console with you and do that when you have a few extra minutes. A lot of people gain weight when they smoke, because they take up eating instead. Sometimes I eat carrots or celery instead of smoking. The crunchyness somehow makes it easier to consciously eat them instead of just shoveling food. (I’m not at the point where I want to quit smoking yet, but I do try to smoke in moderation, only a few cigarettes a week.) Don’t buy a pack, lighters, or matches. It is a lot easier to not smoke if you don’t have any of this stuff with you. For me at least this is true, because it’s easier to remember not to smoke if I have to bum a cigarette. The people who smoke who you hang out with- let them know that you’re quitting, and if you see them try to do it at times they are less likely to be smoking. (Don’t go to the bar/ party with them, for example.) Start eating healthier and working out more- if you make an investment into your health in other areas, it will give you more of an incentive to quit smoking. (Again, for me, eating right is more of an issue than smoking, but I always tend to pick up healthier behavior when I work out more. It’s easy to get into the habit of a healthy lifestyle, or an unhealthy one.)

Thanks to all that answered. I got some good idea’s that I’m gonna try putting in place if not today soon after.

I quit in April im 27 smoked since I was 13. Biggest thing for me especially at first was staying away from my buddies apartments that smoked, bars, pool halls. That and I had to have something stuck in my mouth. At first I bought about 10 lifesaver lollipops from the store before work. I work construction and could often smoke all I wanted. If not lollipops I had gum or a toothpick in my mouth. I probably rolled more joints in the evenings when I first quit but its leveled back out. The oral fixation was a big part of it for me. I have slipped up and enjoyed a cig a few times when drinking but I have bought no cigs since April and don’t even think about it much. I started biking again in April and being able to pedal up big hills without getting winded motivated me too.

Mayo Clinic has a good reputation for offering excellent treatment. Otherwise have a look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_cessation