SMOKERS... LETS KICK the HABIT!!

[dixie]

It occurred to me today that 2 days ago marked my 2nd month of being smoke free. Time certainly seems to fly by these days. The cravings aren't bad at all anymore. I can handle it now.

[Glenn]

//////

[meridiantoo]

I just saw this thread bumped up and am working on quitting (not very successfully so far).

My question is, did any of you use vaping to quit?

[Elijah]

I have 17 days clean today...I still have cravings, but mercifully they are short lived.

Congratulations and good luck to all!

[Lady Pamela]

Sorry for my lack in showing up..life has been a little fast paced lately..smiles

Congrats to all who have kept smoke free.
And congrats to all those just starting.

As I have said before, I suggest you read the entire thread.
People here have been very helpful in ideas.

As of the 4th of this month I am smoke free 13 months...and still going!


Keep it up peeps...grin
It is worth it.

[meridiantoo]

Originally Posted by Lady Pamela

Sorry for my lack in showing up..life has been a little fast paced lately..smiles

Congrats to all who have kept smoke free.
And congrats to all those just starting.

As I have said before, I suggest you read the entire thread.
People here have been very helpful in ideas.

As of the 4th of this month I am smoke free 13 months...and still going!


Keep it up peeps...grin
It is worth it.

The *gulp* ENTIRE thread? Oh boy...*Makes a pot of coffee and settles in for the night....

Thank you for your good wishes!

[meridiantoo]

Okay, done! Thank you for telling me to read the entire thread, Lady. Wow, you guys are a heap of support for me. I will just keep reading the thread every day.

Congratulations to everyone who has successfully quit or unsuccessfully quit and still see themselves as "in the process of quitting", wherever you may be on that spectrum.

Originally Posted by meridiantoo

The *gulp* ENTIRE thread? Oh boy...*Makes a pot of coffee and settles in for the night....

Thank you for your good wishes!

Originally Posted by Lady Pamela

Sorry for my lack in showing up..life has been a little fast paced lately..smiles

Congrats to all who have kept smoke free.
And congrats to all those just starting.

As I have said before, I suggest you read the entire thread.
People here have been very helpful in ideas.

As of the 4th of this month I am smoke free 13 months...and still going!


Keep it up peeps...grin
It is worth it.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Lady Pamela

Sorry for my lack in showing up..life has been a little fast paced lately..smiles

Congrats to all who have kept smoke free.
And congrats to all those just starting.

As I have said before, I suggest you read the entire thread.
People here have been very helpful in ideas.

As of the 4th of this month I am smoke free 13 months...and still going!


Keep it up peeps...grin
It is worth it.

Hey, Lady Pamela!

So what happened with the testing? All clear?

[Lady Pamela]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Hey, Lady Pamela!

So what happened with the testing? All clear?

Not yet..more tests and scans...so no news yet......Thanks for asking though.....Just waiting and trying to be patient...smiles

My next ct is in three months so I will update when it happens.


.

Originally Posted by meridiantoo

I just saw this thread bumped up and am working on quitting (not very successfully so far).

My question is, did any of you use vaping to quit?

I should preface my post by telling y'all I do have a strong opinion about the vape/pretend cig things.

From my observations of many who are currently using the vape (pretend cig) I can only conclude that they tend not to give up because they're not actually quitting the visual and mental cues that make them smokers. The fact that vaping is legal indoors maintains their reliance on the ingestion and use of the emotional crutch they say they're hoping to break.

We're having a prolonged debate in the fellowship at the moment about these vape things. Those who believe they have a right to do what they want when they want with no regard for others think they should be able to smoke their vapes in meetings until folks point out to them, "aren't you meant to be giving up smoking, why can't you wait like the cig smokers have to?" Which leads them to vape outside, with the smokers, as usual. No change of habit or behaviour which seems to defeat the object really. Staying indoors away from the smokers to vape, still maintains the habits and the reliance on putting something in your lungs to make you feel better.

The only way to give up smoking is to break the habits, behaviours and emotional attachment to something that is bad for us. I don't see how the vape cigs actually do that. In my opinion they maintain the smoking status quo.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Daktari

The only way to give up smoking is to break the habits, behaviours and emotional attachment to something that is bad for us. I don't see how the vape cigs actually do that. In my opinion they maintain the smoking status quo.

Said perfectly.

I would be curious to hear from ex-smokers who used this method to quit. I am betting that there is not as high quit rate as there is for other methods.

I do believe that Strappy is/was using this method. Would like an update.

[Loren_Q]

Originally Posted by Daktari

The only way to give up smoking is to break the habits, behaviours and emotional attachment to something that is bad for us. I don't see how the vape cigs actually do that. In my opinion they maintain the smoking status quo.

I do use e-cigs and also have strong options on the use of them. For one, I do see them as a substitute for smoking and keep the same behaviors as I did when I smoked. I do not vape when I'm in a restaurant, meeting, in my cube at work. I do not vape in other peoples homes. My feelings are even though the vapor is "generally recognized as safe", I do not wish to impose on others.

My reasons for wanting to quit smoking is not so much the addiction, but the health concerns. Inhaling burning material, inhaling tar, etc. is known to be horrific for my body. My mother passed away from COPD, I keenly understand smoking to be deadly.

FTR, I'm 30 years clean, 19 years sober. Unlike my drinking and drugging, I didn't lie, cheat or steal to smoke, I didn't ignore responsibilities nor did my personality or values alter when I smoked. I didn't smoke to run away from my feelings, I did use it to take a mental time out so I could go back and work on those feelings.

I smoked off/on for over 30 years. I've gone cold turkey, used the patch, gum, Zyban, Chantix. I've had smoke-free periods ranging from 1month to 8years. In all of these attempts, the craving didn't leave me, I always felt that I was just holding on... barely. One thing that always happened was I was unkind to myself. I was unkind if I smoked and it often felt unkind to not smoke.

In some cases, the least upset could get a cancer-stick in my mouth in no time flat.

With e-cigs, I'm not ingesting toxic material known to cause cancer. Am I getting nicotine? Yes, when I'm using liquid that has nicotine, although much of what I vape has 0nicotine. Does nicotine make me lie, cheat or steal? No. Is nicotine itself bad for me? From all that I've read, not in the quantity I ingest.

Is all of this rationalization? Perhaps, but one thing I know for certain, I have not smoked during a very trying period of time. I know if I didn't have my trusty e-cig, I'd be back smoking.

This is my experience, your mileage may vary.

Loren

[meridiantoo]

Originally Posted by Loren_Q

I do use e-cigs and also have strong options on the use of them. For one, I do see them as a substitute for smoking and keep the same behaviors as I did when I smoked. I do not vape when I'm in a restaurant, meeting, in my cube at work. I do not vape in other peoples homes. My feelings are even though the vapor is "generally recognized as safe", I do not wish to impose on others.

Loren

I read the last 2 posts, this one being one of them, and this is my thought. As a smoker, I have noticed there are different types of smokers. Some are rude and do not care where they light up nor who is affected, and that has always bothered me. Then there are others who are respectful and understand the consequences of smoking and do not impose that risk on others. I imagine this is just an extension of behaviors developed over life and tied to your particular sense of respect/ethics/consideration/social responsibility. That does not mean I have never smoked somewhere it was best not to. I am human. But, I have always tried to keep it respectful, to the degree that you can considering what you are doing.

As a vaper, I will follow the same principles I follow with smoking cigarettes:

1) I will not smoke in anyone's home and I will not vape in anyone's home.

2) I will not vape in situations that are obviously inappropriate (children's birthday parties, hospital, inside a restaurant or store (even if it is allowed), etc.

3) For me, a sense of shame has always been attached to smoking. I will likely carry this same feeling into vaping. I don't fight that shame because I think there is a plausible reason my conscious is telling me to feel shame (just my opinion and I don't throw this on anyone else). As such, I will likely not vape in public often, if at all.

4) If I were in a vaping-accepting environment, then I likely would go ahead and do it. This would be rare occasions, I would think.

5) Do unto others as you would have done unto you - that is what I try to live by, though I'm not always successful. This just gives me a common sense template in making decisions that affect others. I will adhere to this in vaping until I am 100% nicotine free, at which point I will put vaping aside.

If I were in a public place and someone vaped, I'm not sure if I would think it was wrong or not. I can understand needing to do it. I think it would disturb me if someone vaped in a totally inappropriate environment, but I don't think most people would do that.

I'm so encouraged to see this thread here. It gives me a sense of support while making this transition using the e-cig.

I will come back to this but suffice to say, I gave a lung over to smoking so I do indeed have quite strong opinions about what I chose to do to myself.

I tell my story because I feel that pretty much the worst case scenario did happen to me entirely because I smoked. I wouldn't wish it on anyone and would love to think that others could, maybe, learn a lesson from someone else's experience.


That's all I gots for now, it's after midnight here and I'm a-visiting, on a busy weekend.

Originally Posted by Loren_Q

I do use e-cigs and also have strong options on the use of them. For one, I do see them as a substitute for smoking and keep the same behaviors as I did when I smoked.

*snip*
Loren

Keeping the same behaviours is what kept me smoking each time I tried to quit.

As you know, if you don't take the first puff of anything then you won't take the second.

I wish you all success in eventually quitting putting stuff in your lungs.

[meridiantoo]

I am finding that keeping a log of my smoking habits is helpful, though tedious and boring.

[meridiantoo]

Originally Posted by Daktari

I should preface my post by telling y'all I do have a strong opinion about the vape/pretend cig things.

From my observations of many who are currently using the vape (pretend cig) I can only conclude that they tend not to give up because they're not actually quitting the visual and mental cues that make them smokers. The fact that vaping is legal indoors maintains their reliance on the ingestion and use of the emotional crutch they say they're hoping to break.

We're having a prolonged debate in the fellowship at the moment about these vape things. Those who believe they have a right to do what they want when they want with no regard for others think they should be able to smoke their vapes in meetings until folks point out to them, "aren't you meant to be giving up smoking, why can't you wait like the cig smokers have to?" Which leads them to vape outside, with the smokers, as usual. No change of habit or behaviour which seems to defeat the object really. Staying indoors away from the smokers to vape, still maintains the habits and the reliance on putting something in your lungs to make you feel better.

The only way to give up smoking is to break the habits, behaviours and emotional attachment to something that is bad for us. I don't see how the vape cigs actually do that. In my opinion they maintain the smoking status quo.

Daktari,

I completely agree that it requires a lifestyle change to successfully quit all nicotine. I quit for 2 years in my 20's cold turkey. I am eager to quit now and not return to this awful habit. I plan to make adjustments in all things connected to my nicotine habit in order to officially quit.

I understand that simply substituting the e-cig for a real cig is not great, but it's also, at least from what I read, much better than smoking something burning/on fire and known to cause cancer among other diseases. All moral debates aside, if you need the crutch to wean off nicotine, at least in my eyes, that is okay, as long as you work toward the goal of being nicotine free. If you do not and maintain a habit of vaping nicotine liquid, then it's still better than smoking a lit cigarette.

Meri

[not2shygrrl]

Originally Posted by meridiantoo

Daktari,

I completely agree that it requires a lifestyle change to successfully quit all nicotine. I quit for 2 years in my 20's cold turkey. I am eager to quit now and not return to this awful habit. I plan to make adjustments in all things connected to my nicotine habit in order to officially quit.

I understand that simply substituting the e-cig for a real cig is not great, but it's also, at least from what I read, much better than smoking something burning/on fire and known to cause cancer among other diseases. All moral debates aside, if you need the crutch to wean off nicotine, at least in my eyes, that is okay, as long as you work toward the goal of being nicotine free. If you do not and maintain a habit of vaping nicotine liquid, then it's still better than smoking a lit cigarette.

Meri

I agree that how one quits is not the focus, it is the desire...the will and finding a way. We are all different....and our needs are equally as different in our approaches to 'whatever'. I applaud and support anyone who wants to quit, tries to quit and even if unsuccessful is not judged by me because they did not quit like i did. I would encourage and continue to support the desire. What is the right way for you may not make it right for me. I am/ nor you are any weaker....no less strong....and in fact we are very human in making bad judgements at times. But I get back on that horse.....and try try again.....and I love myself for this.... being human....I would have it no other way! It has been 3 1/2 years, who cares how I did it.....or how many times it took.....I choose to see the successes!