What has been people's most effective way to quit smoking?

Cold turkey.Suprisingly enough,I didn’t land in jail ;)

Instead of buying cigarettes put the money aside until you have enough for something nice. I have a very nice watch on my wrist that reminds me why I quit whenever I check the time.

Champix is amazing, and staying away from alcohol and people who smoke!

I’m with @lucillelucillelucille. Cold turkey is the way to go!

Everyone I know that took Chantix has quit for good. Although it may make you crazzyyyyyyyy, I’d say it’s worth it.
I used a combo of hypnotism and patch. 3 months free so far. Cold turkey is HARD!!!

Read Allen Carr’s Easyway, quit cold turkey after reading the book.

Cold turkey. The only way you’ll be successful, though, is if you really want to quit. Without the right mindset (that you’re doing good for yourself, not that you’re making a sacrifice), it’s difficult to succeed.

A lot of ex-smmokers I know rave about and swear by this book (the one @aprilsimnel said) . I have a copy and I would like to recommend it, as well. It’s useful for putting your mind on the right track to quit. Personally, I’m still not ready and I need to read the book again.

I had to use the patch and take a class, but this was after several unsuccessful attempts on my own. The class helped a lot.

Almost died (as an indirect result of…) – then cold turkey.

I quit cold turkey 3 times (all 3 times were for long periods of time).

The first time, I had been smoking Kools, which are a very strong menthol brand. So what I did was, each time I bought a new pack, I stepped down on the taste chart until I couldn’t handle it anymore. From Kools to Kool Milds, Marlboro Menthols, Marlboro Menthol Lights, plain Marlboros, Marlboro Lights… by the time I got to ultra lights, I hated the taste of cigarettes and was done with it.

The only reason I started smoking again was because, over a year later, my sister and I smoked weed together, and she gave me a Kool afterwards because it supposedly makes your high better. Needless to say, I started smoking all over again. (Another reason not to do drugs – you make stupid decisions.)

Another time my fiance wanted to quit smoking, so I quit cold turkey for half a year. Then i found out that she was still smoking behind my back, and the only reason I had quit was for her, so I started smoking again.

Then, when I was about 4 months pregnant, I stopped smoking cold turkey until a couple of months after my baby was born.

I’ve never used the patch or any pills.

I’d like to point out, though, that in my opinion and personal experience, you will not be able to quit if you are living with or spending most of your time with a smoker.

Nicotine gum combined with the mantra “Inhaling smoke from Lighting leaves on fire is not going to make this problem go away..” I would say this to myself whenever I felt like lighting up due to stress of some sort. I’ve been smoke free for 5 years! YAY!

I have quit several times, unfortunately. Getting through the first 3–4 days has proven the most difficult for me. I can only speak from my own personal experience, and that has always involved doing it cold turkey.

Other than deciding to quit cold turkey, I would like to mention that the times when I quit involuntarily were the easiest as far as managing withdrawal symptoms. Basically, I was so sick that I did not want to smoke, and by the time I realized it, I had made it those first few days and decided to ride it out. Specifically when I’ve been sick with the flu, or a stomach virus.

The other time I remember quitting successfully (for nearly 8 years, natch!) was when I learned that I was pregnant, and was somehow able to stop immediately. I also had bronchitis and around-the-clock morning sickness at the time, which made smoking very unappealing.

I’m not suggesting this for anyone, but after the Oncologist called with the news that the biopsy came back malignant, I never gave cigarettes another thought.

@gailcalled Yup. That sort of thing can change your thinking on a load of different stuff.

I quit by just saying to myself I am not goin to smoke this anymore. And whenever I feel for a cigarrete I just dont buy it. I put the suggestion to myself that this is part of who I am ” whenever I say Im gonna stop something, I stop it..no turning back.” I made that part of my personality.

Just stop; don’t smoke. It doesn’t take a program, a clinic, drugs, or bondage. Just decide not to smoke, and don’t. Throw them away if it helps. I’ve read that for some people it’s best to keep a pack in a drawer; this gives the quitter a feeling of control rather than helpless desperation. He can feel that he’s “not smoking,” rather than being deprived by force.

@perspicacious Exactly!! Your mind is stronger than the cigarrette.

Grrrr, had a really long helpful informative answer written all about my experiences and by some freakishly bad mis typing I closed my Firefox, damn you [Ctrl + whateverkeyyouwere]

I’ll try again but it’s gonna be shorter.

I basically attended a 7 week program through the NHS, it was just a 45 minute meeting every Wednesday lunchtime so didn’t really interfere with my life but they prescribed two forms of Nicotine replacement concurrently, i.e. a slow release therapy like patches and a quick fix therapy like gum or inhalers.

It also really helped with things like the fact that when I gave up I couldn’t shit for a week but through the group I found out this was pretty normal, I also found out constantly shitting for a week was normal too so I felt blessed in my constipation.

Basically use patches and something else, and try and get together with other people that are going through the same thing and talk shit out.

My mates laughed at me for going to rehab for smoking but I’m now the one that isn’t a servant to the evil weed.

Cold Turkey. Every time I had the urge I would take 10 really deep and really slow full breaths (to avoid hyperventilating) worked like a charm.

as others have said, cold turkey!! if you can get your mind off of smoking for 5 minutes, you can avoid smoking a cigarette… this seems like it may be helpful!

A nagging husband coupled w/determination. Here’s what he’d do: I’d be on the phone on the deck and he’d BURST IN and yell, “I CAUGHT YOU!” and it would scare the daylights out of me!! But , then, I wasn’t that hooked. I don’t think. I’d been smoking a year and didn’t like to inhale deeply. I thought about them for a couple weeks, cried once out of nowhere then it was over.

@perspicacious It’s not always that easy. Nicotine is an addictive substance that tricks your brain into thinking you need it.

I’ve never smoked, so I can’t really tell if this works, but I heard someone say this method is a slam dunk: leave a cigarette in a glass of water all night, and drink it when you wake up. Supposedly, the taste is so disgusting that you never want to smoke again. Sounds possible.

@stemnyjones I didn’t say it was easy. However, each of us can choose to be strong and get it done, or be weak and whine about the nicotine; any excuse almost guarantees failure.

@perspicacious Honey, I don’t think you understand addiction. Yes, it’s possible to rise above it without help, just like any other addiction – but for those who can’t, it doesn’t mean their weak and whining about nicotine. It means that the nicotine has affected their brain in such a way that they feel they cannot beat it. Addiction is a very powerful enemy because your brain controls everything you do, and it tells your brain that you need it to survive. I know plenty of people who have struggled with addiction and needed drug rehab to get through it, including myself, and we aren’t weak people at all.

@gailcalled I guess I have the same one. :)
@stemnyjones I read your profile; I wish you success, especially for your little one.

@perspicacious Thank you. She is what keeps me clean, and she will continue to do so.

Cold turkey worked best for me – after many more creative attempts

I’m with the Just Stop Brigade… worked for me, first time trying, 29 years ago…I had a very strong motivation… I wanted to conceive a child but there was no way I was going to smoke through pregnancy.

@Adagio That’ll work too.. having a strong motivation. First time I quit, it was all because of this presentation I did in high school about the effects of smoking on your lungs. Then when I got pregnant I was still in rehab, and the only reason I was able to stop smoking despite the stress was the thought that my baby might not be healthy if I kept it up.

I cut down from about a pack a day by decreasing two a day, and then when I was down to five a day I went cold turkey. It worked well for me.