What Happens to Your body if you stop smoking Right now?
by 
Wade Meredith on July 19th, 2006
I think one of the main reasons it’s so hard to quit smoking is because all the benefits of quitting and all the dangers of continuing seem very far away. Well, here’s a little timeline about some of the more immediate effects of quitting smoking and how that will affect your body RIGHT NOW.
- In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
- In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
- In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
- In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
- In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
- In three to nine months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
- In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
- In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
- In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
- In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
So, you have more immediate things to look forward to if you quit now besides just freaking out about not being able to smoke.
Update: 6/11/07
You can view a high-quality Graphic representation of this post right here.
Technorati Tags: smoking, cancer, quit smoking
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912 opinions for What Happens to Your body if you stop smoking Right now?
Jul 20, 2006 at 9:35 am
I quit smoking. it’s been about 20 hours. So far my only tips are: get a bunch of straws. You’ve gotta stimulate that oral fixation. Also, don’t quit smoking, because it’s tough.
Jul 20, 2006 at 11:56 am
I’ve also found sunflower seeds and an empty bottle for shells is a great oral fix.
Jul 20, 2006 at 1:17 pm
You guys are going to save so much money for booze!!
Oct 10, 2006 at 6:31 am
sunflower seeds, water…lot’s of water, blowing up a balloon, eating an apple, sucking on a licorice stick…
Oct 11, 2006 at 10:37 am
I quit over six months ago, after trying gum, lozenges, nicotine nasal spray (clinical trial), group therapy, and cold turkey. Finally, my doctor suggested hypnotherapy. I went to someone (a PhD) at the local University hospital - not some sideshow performer. After the first session, I was down to 2 cigarettes a day. After the second session, I quit completely. I had one more session for a follow-up. I haven’t had a cigarette since. I’ve been in bars. I’ve been in Vegas. I’ve been in a lot of smoking situations. I’ve never wanted one. Maybe my great success is the exception, but it’s worth a try. I smoked for over 25 years, folks. 25 years. And one more thing - the oral substitution thing? I have a night guard I use at night so I don’t grind my teeth. I used that as my substitute. No calories! When I wanted a cigarette during those first couple of weeks, I just popped the guard into my mouth and sucked on it.
Oct 11, 2006 at 10:41 am
That’s amazing! Good for you. I smoked a pack a day for fives years and just slowly weened myself off them over abuot 6 months, but I still find myself socially smoking, so it hasn’t been quite that effective.
Oct 11, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Thanks. It feels pretty good.
Oct 11, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Allright Wade, please the masses and do an article about what happens to your body when you quit drinking coka-cola! Or better yet, do an article about what happens to your body the minute you stop working out!
Oct 11, 2006 at 8:20 pm
In addition to regaining taste and smell senses, the cilia in your lungs begins to regenerate within a few days, sweeping the lungs of debris and protecting against mucus buildup. They are pretty resilient little fibers.
Oct 11, 2006 at 10:29 pm
I read an amazing book that was so helpful. I know at least 15 former smokers that found it insanely easy to quit after reading this short book. “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking” by Allen Carr. Pick it up today and give it a quick read and I bet you never smoke again, I haven’t in over a year and with no withdrawals or desire whatsoever. It’s short, amazing, written by a smoker, and can help you defeat the nicotine addiction as well. Good luck!!
Oct 12, 2006 at 12:48 am
I too swear by Allen Carr’s book, and I have personally recommended it to people who have successfully used it to stop smoking.
Oct 12, 2006 at 8:11 am
All are interesting suggestions, I love the one about the sunflower seeds. I was a 27 year smoker and was sort of at my wits end to quit. You know the most important thing is that you be ready!!! I found a treatment using lasers that I tried and has actually done the trick for me. I only needed one treatment and its been down hill all the away. I didn’t really know anything about it but it does work and it was painless.
Oct 12, 2006 at 8:37 am
I’m currently helping a friend to quit, and that’s the second time today I’ve heard someone recommend Allen Carr’s book - sounds great.
Oct 12, 2006 at 9:13 am
Nice suggestions. Tried Allen Carr - found the book quite frankly annoying. Hypnotism was the only course that seemed to have any effect. For about three days after the session I actually found smoking unpleasant. Broke the effect though and am back up to 20-30 a day. Guess the key is wanting to quit…
Oct 12, 2006 at 9:58 am
Wanting to quit truly is the key, but don’t confuse wanting to quit with believing you can quit. I didn’t believe I could quit, but I wanted to. Also, I can only speak from my experience, but I’m betting that you should invest in more than one hypnotherapy session. Where I went, they did 3 sessions, and gave a discount if you pay for all three up front. I’m a photographer, and I’ve bought all sorts of equipment with my “cigarette money” since then, so if the cost of hypnosis is a concern, think of all you’ll save in the long run. Good luck, everyone!
Oct 12, 2006 at 10:24 am
Greetings: Research I was proud to be assoicated with indicated that ?10 years after quiting smoking the top of the throat returned to normal sensation. So the effects of smoking seem to wane with time. Of course, this research was done decades ago.
Cheers
Oct 15, 2006 at 12:30 pm
I quit cold turkey for 6 months just because I really didn’t want to smoke anymore. Unfortunately I did go back to it, but I found that the key to my quitting was that I no longer desired cigarettes. Smoking really just didn’t appeal to me and that was what help me quit the most. When you no longer want a cigarette for any reason, even when offered, that’s when you know you’re ready to quit. And I’m not saying that other methods don’t work but it’s much harder when you have to force yourself to say no to smoking than it is to just no longer desire to smoke. I think that if you can psych yourself out of liking your cigarettes then you won’t want to smoke anymore.
Oct 16, 2006 at 11:01 pm
I quit 5 days ago, i did not get the book “the easy way to stop smoking” but researched it. What convinced me to do it was reading that nicotine, when you crave it, creates a small sense of insecurity in you, thus making you want to smoke, then making you again insecure, so it is a vicious cycle created by the smokes, not you, there is nothing wrong with you, it is the stupid nicotine that makes you insecure!!!!!
So now i feel revulsion for cigarettes, i do not want them or crave them, they just remind me how much i needed them, thinking something was wrong with me….
i had been smoking for 20 years, some of them of 3 packs a day, lately a pack and a half a day, and only because i have children and would not smoke in the house or in the car with them. I was losing so much time smoking my life away!!!!!!!!!
Stop smoking!!! I though i would never be able, but just knowing what i told you has done it for me. There is nothing wrong with you, the nicotine is creating the craving. Just stop it!!
Oct 31, 2006 at 4:19 am
I started smoking when I was 19, and stopped cold turkey when I became 27. For three years, I didnt even smoke a cigarette. I used gums for a couple of weeks but then I was getting depressed so a friend suggested running and I got hooked. lost something like 30 pounds, and even managed to run the marathon in 3:30 at the beginning of this year.
Unfortunatley, september last year, I had a reunion with my university friends, and all of them being smokers, i smoked a bit with them…then after that holiday, i stopped again, but like 4 or 5 months ago, I started smoking socially, like 1 or 2 cigarettes when I go out…and i was getting stressed lately as I am finishing my phd thesis and started smoking almost everyday…each day I buy a pack, I smoke a few (the first one feels very nice, but the rest really makes me sick in the stomach, but I still keep doing it!) and then I get so mad at myself, and throw the pack away…i did that for a couple of weeks, and last monday, I vowed not to flirt with smoking again and quit. So far so good, I have felt a bit sleepy the first few days, but now it is ok. There is one problem though. I am gonna take my holiday in a couple of weeks and I am gonna hang out with the same friends I mentioned before for a week or so, and I am a bit scared that I might not be resist the temptation. Wish me luck! If I pass this test, then I dont think i will fail another…
Nov 5, 2006 at 12:27 pm
i smoked for over 15 yrs, and then, while running up the steps to my apt last year, i felt that all was not good. i checked my pulse and found it to be over a 100 and i was gasping. i knew that a time had come to say goodbye to that wonderful white paper tube filled with tobacco that had kept me uneasy and unhealthy for so long. i also knew that there is no way that one can “cut down” on the #’s and leave it over a period of time. this was it - the ultimate test - leave or stay and suffer. that day, when i left the pack and the zippo lighter, i knew that i had done it. its been over a year now and there is no way that i’m going back to it. the one thing that i did learn from this is that the mind is an awesome instrument and capable of doing some extraordinary stuff (this includes giving the will power do and sustain what one wants to do). i feel better, do better and live better now, than i did then. give it up and u’ll see the difference in days not months.
Dec 11, 2006 at 4:47 am
I smoked for around 10-12 years, even though i can’t believe it. I never thought i was one of those addicted smokers who couldn’t go without; i had a totally unrealistic view of myself and thought i could give up any time. i told myself that the only thing stopping me was that i actually enjoyed smoking, and that i had plenty of time to give up. anyway, i gave up around 3 years ago simply because i began to hate feeling physically less than 100% all the time, i was tried of smelling of smoke, my things smelling of smoke… i started to feel like a chump and a weak person for needing this thing that i had slowly started hating so much, and a second class citizen every time i lit up in public. So it was easy enough at first to give up as i felt so motivated and good about myself - believe me, giving up smoking makes you feel physically great. But as the months passed i started putting on weight and this mental well-being started to wear off. Strangely, i started to view smokers a lot more sympathetically; by the time around 2 years had passed i didn’t associate myself with them anymore, and went back to this feeling that I was a non-smoker. i thought i was out of danger at that point. Needless to say, a couple of cigarettes in the pub later, and now I’m back to 10-15 a day. Even though i exercise much, much less now that i did when i had quit, i dropped all the weight i had put on. But recently I’ve started feeling very badly about myself again for my weakness, and reading this article and your posts has brought back the idea that i really am addicted to them. i feel like I’ve come full circle so I’ve decided to give up again. i know what made me return to smoking, and I’m hoping i can maintain this dislike for it permanently this time. I’m also going to research the physical facts a lot more carefully this time to ensure I keep the weight off and manage the addiction a lot better.
Dec 12, 2006 at 11:37 am
July 19 this year was last cigarette after smoking 54 years. Stopped for no other reason than it had become a pain in the neck; a large inconvenience.
I heard of a new technique utilizing a low level laser.
It worked well. I am known to be rather undisciplined and this system beat it.
No cravings (not lasting anyway).
I think it’s call StellarLaser center out of Houston.
Wonderful
Dec 12, 2006 at 7:00 pm
I was a 2 pack a day smoker for 20 years. I have now quit for 20 years. I found I had to “unlearn the habit” and I’ve been successful where friends of mine have failed. I stopped craving at the 3 month mark after I quit.
I unlearned the habit by becoming conscious of how it formed in the first place. You or I were not born from our mother’s womb smoking a cigarette. We all learned how to do this. Think back to your first smoking experiences and how you learned to do this and reverse the steps.
Also, smoking is an immediate gratification and the benefits when you stop smoking are not felt immediately or immediately apparent, but rather become so over the long term. That’s what makes it so difficult to succeed at. For any of you contemplating quitting smoking, just do it for one day at a time. If I had gone into it saying to myself I would never have another cigarette, I would not have made it. I said “just for today I will not smoke”. When one day had passed, I did the same thing the next day, and so on. Then at 5 days I said to myself “I’m one puff away from 2 packs a day” which got me over the temptation to just “try one”. When you succeed in being smoke-free for a few days, it is a shame to ruin your sobriety by trying just one puff.
Dec 18, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Just to add my 2¢….
I have recently quite (Last smoke was Dec 10 2006 7:30pm) and thought I’d add some things that MAY help others as it did for me.
I have been smoking for about 36 yrs. and in the last 2 to 3 yrs. smoking between 50 & 75 cigs a day.
I have tried several times to quit, using the “Patch” and “Gum”…both methods failed. Also tried cold turkey…this was a disaster (in my case).
This time though, I think (and hope) I found the right combination (though still too early to be sure, but the physical feeling this time IS different…calmer).
As Isabella mentioned, its the “habit” part that needs to be broken. I myself started by analyzing when I smoked because I wanted it and when I smoked just for the sake of it. What I did then was NOT smoke at the regular times (with the morning coffee, after supper, etc etc) and try to go small stretched without. Then I would smoke a few consecutively and then again go a few hours without. This I did for a few weeks until I was comfortably past the “Habitual” smoking.
I picked up nicotine gum and without actually choosing a date, just decided to try not to anymore. So far so good.
When I get the urge to light up, I either quickly find something to occupy my mind, or chew on the “gum”. (Small note..I always carry regular gum and noticed that at times, this seems to do the trick now and again also..but not always).
And whatever happens I WILL NOT LIGHT ONE UP….this would be the best way to end up starting all over again…no matter how bad the craving…it will pass in a few minutes.
YES…I think about it still (and from what I hear, always will), but more and more it is becoming easier to not think of.
YES..I still use the gum…but this too is being used less frequently.
YES..I am eating more…but this is a small inconvenience which can be corrected/fixed later.
I hope this isn’t too long winded and I wish those trying the best of luck.
oh…and find what works for YOU..don’t be discouraged if you need a couple of tries.
Dec 21, 2006 at 8:19 pm
did anyone start feeling crappy after they quit smoking? my grandma quit and got terrible canker sores and stomach aches- i’m assuming from nicotene withdrawl. i quit almost 2 weeks ago- cold turkey- and i’m so glad i did but i get a little woozy now and then. anyone else?
Dec 22, 2006 at 3:29 pm
In relation to your comment Krista,i’ve felt woozy the last few days too.Gave up smoking on monday and since last night ,I have started to feel the physical effects of the withdrawals.Hardly slept ,sweated immensely and today I’ve been experiencing sharp pains in my lungs and feeling dizzy.So if thats after 3 days ,can’t wait to see the extent of how my body’s going to punish me for abusing it for so long!
But in saying all of that , I am feeling a little happier each day I go without nicotine. Smoked for 10 years but not too heavily (10 a day,sometimes 5) but now that I’m 27 ,I’m having some serious reality checks .Not a teenager anymore so coolness factor’s gone. Have always looked younger than my age but lately starting to look a little haggard.I’m a student so more broke than the average thanks to fags and I live on the west coast of Ireland in Galway which is so cold,wet and windy most of the year that I get colds all the time from standing out in the weather whilst trying to fry my lungs.
All great reasons to give up and wading through countless websites like these to find some support from fellow ex smokers as most of my friends are “contented” smokers.Some good advice here and I’ll add my own bit .I read Alan Carr’s book and even though I found it to be helpful in some ways ,it’s quite contradictory and patronising (like most non-smokers tend to be towards smokers at times)which I found surprising considering he’s an ex 100- a- day smoker but still a helpful tool.
Dec 27, 2006 at 4:59 pm
I started to read all of these comments some of them made me feel good, some of them made me feel bad, I only gave up nearly 48 hours ago now… I had an opportunity to quickly view “An Easy Way To Give Up Smoking”
Now the dude sounds quite interesting at first, I am sure alot of people can sympathize with him, going on about the fear’s… of weight and all that jazz…
Personally I have tried Zyban, Patches, Nicotine Gum, Hypnotherapy (did not work, because apparently I am not of the type so easily hypnotized).
One thing has worked each time I have successfully given up (yes I have done this a few times). The Nicotine Gum did help me with some of the discomfort at first, but geez they tasted quite gross… and I will never use them again unless I was going out of my mind and was close by a chemist at the time.
COLD TURKEY… for me is what worked… however I strongly suggest you take a few things into consideration first before you do this. It’s a huge strain on the body to go cold turkey, you could get things such as… Sweats, Tiredness, Irritibility, Temper Tantrums, Hyper Tension and alot of Anxiety.
The key things here for doing cold turkey are as follows
:
Health - Health should be good at the time, if you have any current ailments or are quite elderly, you may want to reconsider this method.
Stimulants - When craving nicotine, your body may crave other stimulants as a replacement, make sure you moniter intake of caffeine, chocolate or other substances.
Excercise - If you are feeling bad, go run around the block as fast as you can or have a wrestle with a friend, play an intesive computer game… :-) This can immediately get your mind off of things(namely lighting up a smoke/fag)
Relaxation - Grab a hot bath and or get a friend to rub your body down, your muscles tend to get overworked during withdrawals, relaxing your body can help to relieve tension, less tension means less problems sleeping.
Holidays - Take note of opportune times for giving up smoking, such as… your birthday, christmas, new years resolutions and tell your friends all about it… Warn the people around you, that you are doing it and tell them it will require their help and understanding
FINALLY…. remember you will save approximately $2,000 a year, medical problems, lets not forget it’s getting less popular to smoke so socially it’s becoming quite un-cool….
Do not forget, you do not have to give up, if you want to smoke, just smoke…. Give up when your ready to do it… Give up because you want to… and don’t feel bad if you Mess Up, because I have given up a few times… and have failed….
However each time was different, I gave up for a year last time and have been smoking about a year since then…. and have been smoking on and off for about 10 years now….
I know that a smoke here and there or out of rebellion has got me going again, but I do know that people who keep trying to give up, and don’t feel bad if they never got it right the first time are more likely to kick the habit permanently.
I do feel though it is quite important to have the time for the first few days to be away from your normal circumstances… or environment if you can so that you can relax and get over the intial 72 hours of your body flipping out because it can’t get the toxic crap you been filling it with for so long :-)
So now I will have to find a replacement of rebellion when I am feeling stressed or angry at someone… maybe some kind of gym will help.. geez it’s cheaper to go to gym now than it is to smoke…
Anyhow I am laying back on my laptop right now… sweating, feeling tense…im angry at everyone…. but I know it’s just nicotine running out of my body crying for it’s last bit of help for me to go and buy some… and if I did… as I know from past experiences, it would taste grosse, give temporal relief and then I would feel grosse…
The truth about other things such as gum’s or patches is they work on one addiction at a time, firstly the phsycological addiction… so then you can work on the physical addiction… If you where elderly or had some other thing going on which affects your immune system I’d suggest that may be the best place to start.
Hope this helps a little for some people… Right now I would love to go and ask for a refund for the $20,000 plus I have wasted on tobacoo companies that have caused me nothing but anxiety, bad health and social embarrassment… Or maybe simply a blow up doll of each CEO of the cigarette companies so I can punch and kick them whilst I go through these crappy withdrawal symptoms… hehe
Goodluck to those of you who take that harder path, it will be rewarding eventually I hope… :-D
Jan 3, 2007 at 5:35 am
I’ve found that lollies help with the oral fixation thing. So what if you look like Kojak all the time. I found it most useful when I was driving as I always smoked when driving to and from work.
Jan 8, 2007 at 7:49 am
i quit smoking the 1st time around 10 years ago and managed to stay off them for two years until my sister in law came to stay, she smoked, and was staying for a couple of months, 1 days she offered me a smoke and i accepted, big mistake, i was hooked again, i quit for the second time in january 2006 so its round a year now and im happy to say this time there is no way i would accept again, friends of mine smoke but i would never be tempted to go back…..sure i gained a little weight but im gonna lose that over the next few months i hope, then again even if i cant its still preferably to smoking…..
the key i found to quiting is to convince yourself before you quit that
A> you no longer enjoy the taste
B>Accepting that its a habit that can be broken
C> going “Cold Turkey” no patches or gum
you have to convince yourself that this is what you want to do and do it without second thoughts or doubts.
1 year on i have no desire at all to smoke… :)
Jan 17, 2007 at 6:50 pm
I’ve quit smoking at least 10 times. I quit again today. Normally I use herbally remedies such as SmokeAway and find they really work. This time I opted for the patch, at least for a couple weeks, since I’ve got lots of stressful events going on right now, selling my house moving 2800 miles away, little stuff like that. I am finding it easier this time..after quitting so many times, I have realized I don’t have to be irritable without the things, so I’m just going with the flow and taking it one minute at a time.
What I really wanted to say, is to all of you ex-smokers who have quit, only to be offered a cigarette for some smoker, then you end up taking it and BAM!, just like that you are a smoker again. So sad! I know, I’ve done it. Now if someone, who knows, I have quit and knows I want to stay quit offers me a cigarette, I will say, “Yes, thank you” , then I will politely take it from their hand and crumple it up real good, throw it on the ground and say, “Thanks, I really needed that” :) That will stop this particular person from ever offering you a cigarette again. Hahahahaha! Smokers only do that to ex-smokers because they are jealous and they do not want to see you succeed at being smoke free.
Good luck to you all, and good luck to me too!
Millie
Jan 18, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Interesting chatter about how a person quits smoking.
I’ve tried it about 10 times if not more. Krista, I understand your Grandma there.
Everytime I quit, within about 2 weeks I get sores in the mouth. Not sure if it’s from stress. Or if it’s from chewing more gum and sucking on candy. I’ve never craved smoking first thing when getting up in the morning, but I do have certain times of day that I want one. I’ll be in the mood to quit again. Hopefully one of these times I’ll succeed!!
Diane
Jan 20, 2007 at 5:54 am
I quit smoking when I had what I thought was a sore throat but in fact had tonsilitis and went into hospital over christmas. I was in a lot of shock as had never been ill ever in my life and I stopped smoking just a few days after I could barely swallow assumming it was the sore throat!.
Being in hospital and surrounded by very ill and dying people was enough to make me want to give up and I could feel and taste the nicotine swirling around in my mouth even after just a few days of stopping. I felt ill and not just because of the tonsilitis but due to the fact that my body was now rejecting the poision I was sticking inside of it. I have smoked for 11 years since I was 22 and have now not smoked for three weeks and gave up cold-turkey.
I think that the body and not just the mind has to want to give up smoking and you will come to do it naturally once you become more aware of why you smoke too. It supresses appettite but also difficult emotions many people do not want to feel and deal with when they are so addictted to smoking as way of disconnecting them from things they would rather not face up to. You can only really and successfully quit once you begin to like yourself more and want to take control of aspects of yourself and life that so far you have spent so long punishing yourself with posionous cigarettes.
Patches and all that are great, but they do not deal with the underlying causes of why a smoker smokes.
Jan 21, 2007 at 5:15 am
so at what hour does the ‘i need to smoke a cigarette or I will kill myself’ thing start? and when does it end?
Honestly, if you can’t quit on your own will power, then don’t even try. So long as you rely on something else to take care of it for you, odds are you will start up again very soon afterward.
Jan 23, 2007 at 8:03 pm
There is finally a new Rx drug on the market called Chantix. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to try to quit smoking. I was a pack a day smoker for 35+ years until just recently when I started Chantix. Just prior to this I was prepared to anti-anxiety drugs, nicotine patches, gum or whatever it took. With Chantix none of these are needed as the pleasure in smoking is diminished within a week. The mental addiction, the habitual part of smoking, is then left for you to substitute other things besides smoking. This is much easier to deal with the affects of Chantix and you can keep focused on the goal of quitting smoking forever. Chantix also does not have the usual long list of side effectis either as some other drugs. My fiance, a two-pack-a-day smoker, chose to quit this year with me and ended up with this new drug Chantix one week before I was able to, and he is now smoke free and has been for three weeks. He has even cut his desire for coffee in half. Chantix also diminishes the appetite so it makes it easy to not be fighting eating as well as smoking. My only decision now will whether I will feel comfortable off of Chantix after the month supply, or would I rather have another month to reinforce my new smoke-free life. I will know in one more week. This is not a magic pill. Quitting smoking requires much effort and a committment to do so like anything else, but Chantix has definitely made it easier for me.
Jan 26, 2007 at 1:44 am
Hello all, i thought id share my input too, i have decided to give up smoking, i dont smoke as much as most on thsi site, but still, its a habbit id rather loose, unfortunately i have hit some problems, ive been quit for about 48 hours now, but i am seriously having trouble sleeping, really bad, i went to bed at 7pm, and kept waking up 15 mins after id finally gotten to sleep, also im starting to get serious sweatons, its as if ive run around the block for about 2 hours the amount im sweating, also i am haveing dizzy spells, quite bad, ikeep loosing my balance and im having problems hearing, i thought originally it could be a cold of some sort with working outside in this weather, but its definately not that, my blood pressure is all over the place, and my heartbeat is about 120/min, surely thats not good ?, i thought that your blood pressure was only high when you were smoking ?, but please someone give me some sort of advice, and someone please tell me there feeling this too, but on a good note, im not actually craving a cigarette at the moment, but well see how this one goes, thanks to all whom reply :)
Feb 7, 2007 at 9:35 pm
If you’re ready to quit, Alan Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking PLUS Chantix might work for you — it worked for me — after a half dozen serious attempts, using everything from nicotine replacement patches (I still smoked) to nicotine gum/mints (made me sick) to hypnosis (worked for about 20 minutes) to Zyban (it flattened out everything, couldn’t even enjoy a good bar of chocolate! who needs it??) …
I figured out the following, for me and how I work, at least –
Alan Carr is right — people make much too much of a big deal about the “sacrifice” and difficulty of giving up cigarettes. Nicotine withdrawal is relatively mild… it’s only the moping about it that makes you suffer, and unfortunately virtually every “smoking cessation” support program — including that offered alongside Chantix, by the way — reinforces this idea that it’s agony and suffering and sacrifice to stop smoking. IT IS NOT!! and Alan Carr’s book really helps you get over that crippling idea.
HOWEVER — Alan Carr does not acknowledge that in fact there IS a little “reward” buzz that comes along with smoking. He insists there is absolutely nothing to give up, and while he might be right in the ultimate sense, in the biological / chemical sense he is in denial about the little dopamine kick that comes along with a cigarette.
CHANTIX deals with that very nicely, “deprogramming” the connection between the cigarette and the actual, biochemical “reward” that comes with it.
I created my own program and it has worked spectacularly — and believe me, I am NOT an easy case.
1) Read Alan Carr. Ignore the Englishness and the over-the-top aspects of his language and approach and listen to the man… he is 95 percent right about it being ridiculously easy to quit smoking.
2) get a “starter” prescription for Chantix. Keep on smoking as long as you’re taking the pills. Even when you don’t feel like smoking anymore because you aren’t getting anything out of it, keep on smoking. Re-read the Alan Carr book while you’re at it.
3) Set your “quit date” to be the day when you run out of your month’s supply of Chantix.
Don’t mope about it, rejoice.
Feb 8, 2007 at 5:21 pm
This might be quite long but I want to share my story and I hope to help others out there. First of all you really have to want to quit. I unfortenetly had health reasons to make me quit, or else I would not have quit. I enjoyed it to much. I am 32 years old smoked a pack a day maybe more maybe less depending on the day for about 13 years. I loved my cigarettes and I loved smoking however in Aug. after a stressful time I started smoking alittle to much and became out of breath, I could not take deep breaths anymore. I ran to the DR. who told me I might have emphezyma. Ok I got scared but not enough to quit only to cut down. Ofcourse depending on the day I could not breath again. I kept smoking and now, I have ER inhalotors and I am on meds for ASTHMA. I have GERD too (which by the way smoking could be a cause) I am only 110LBS and I do not eat alot, and everytime I smoked with coffee, in the morning my GERD got so aggrivated and then the GERD would aggrivate the asthma. I did not stop, untill last week when I had a full blown asthma attack and got so scared not knowing why I could not breathe as I was officially diagnosed as “alittle asthmatic”.
I quit on Monday after cutting down and not smoking with my smoking triggers, which really helped. Meaning NO coffee and cig, not on the telephone and cig, not stressed and cig…I smoked when I wanted to and I controlled it because I was really so angry at what it had done to me and why I had chosen to let it.
I quit, and now for five days I have been in bed, because I can not breathe, because my asthma is bad and I have to let the meds hopefully get me better, I have no energy of what I went through and although the first three days were good, the fourth day (today) I had major anxiety. I hope tomorrow is better but u know what? I am not going back to smoking. Please quit, it is not good for u as much as I loved it, wow what a difference in food! and taste and smell! yes the symptoms of nicotine leaving me are not that great but I will soon forget them.
The book (carr’s) has helped me realize how dumb smoking is. I do not know if he helped me with the symptoms because I have them. There should be more information on what a body goes through when they quit, Like sore gums? coughing but my coughing is dry is that a good thing or bad? things like that, there is nothing out there.
Anyway TAKE control back, this is your life, not the cigarettes as far as I was a smoker I did not own my body.
Feb 17, 2007 at 9:57 am
Here it is, 24 hours, easy, but I can make it a week, no prob. I quit every day! Seriously, I don’t smoke all day, and then at night I buy a pack and relax on my balcony garden smoking. It’s a form of meditation and companionship. Then I fall asleep thinking, “okay, no more tomorrow. I WILL quit.” And I throw the pack in the trash in the morning. I feel a void if I don’t have this little ritual. If I’m busy with work or projects etc I completely forget I’m smoker. People are shocked when/if they find out I smoke! I practice yoga, swim, trek, etc. It seems no one understands that due to my gypsy life and being ’single” for so long (most of the time), smoking is really like a friend. The only time I quit long-term (4 years) was when I was married. I did it for min, not me. Does it mean I odn’t love myself? No. It means I’ve tolerate dmy own idiosyncracies. But, reality is, after 24 years of smoking, it’s catching up with me and the fear isn’t worth the ritual and companionship anymore. I look fine on the outside ( excessive wrinkly eyes, which I know will clear if I can stay quit), but I get odd pains here and there, and I hardly even notice the subtle morning cough or harsher cough when I ‘m overtired; it’s just part of my life. So, I’ve prepared myself this weekend with carrots and tortilla chips, and a big batch of homemade soup and good dvds and lots of art projects and I’m just not going out on my balcony. I agree that it’s stupid to smoke, but I really think I need to honor the value it had for me and find some other little ritual or way to replace the time I used to so enjoy out in my little garden, unraveling the day with the twirling smoke wisps. I’ve decided to try sitting on my cushions at my “altar” which is usually reserved for the morning. I’ll stare at the candle, burn incesne, do SOMETHING to fill that space until the clenching feeling subsists in my chest. Resist. The only symptoms I ever have when I quit (a hundred times probably) is extreme energy boost to the point that I need a container to put myself in, leadin gme to belive that smoking has also been a way to slef-medicate– to calm my excessive energy levels. And, of course, my coughing gets WORSE as the lungs clean themselves and all the old crap comes up. I hate that stage– that’s when I usually start up again– to keep the crap down. This time, I’ll get thru it. I really WANT to– that’s the difference from the hundred other times. Thi time it’s for ME, because I have a lot of stuff I still want to accomplish in life so it might be a good idea to prolong it as much as possible.
Feb 27, 2007 at 1:56 am
I have read all the above comments and realize I really do not care to be a smoker.
I have been smoking since age 17 (pack a day give or take a few cigs) which puts me at 33 years smoking not including between the age 13 to 16,quit a year.(go figure?)
My wife has stated interest in quiting and her doctor has prescribed her the meds (Chantix) to assist in this endevor.
I really appreciate all persons who have placed their comments here and I hope the desire to truely quit/stop smoking stays with me.
Thank You all!
Glen aka noprob
Feb 27, 2007 at 5:03 pm
When I stopped smoking I felt as if I could breathe again (I could run for a bus without having a heart attack)
Initially I struggled with the cigarettes that I smoked on the way to the train, bus, lunchtime etc
but truly now I don’t miss it and I wouldn’t smoke a cigarette if you paid me £1 million - honest
Mar 18, 2007 at 9:56 am
I’ve only been smoking for 3 1/2 years or so but last night I started coughing up blood and tar. I’m worried about my health and it seems as if I should stop smoking. I’m almost sure that physically this would not be a problem. I easily stop smoking for weeks at a time when at family functions, or am removed for any reason from my usual residence/situation. However, I don’t WANT to quit smoking. All I’ve read so far insists that if you don’t want to quit, you won’t be able to. Well, I’m one of those people who loves to smoke, and believes it improves the quality of my every day life. In a sense, I’m not ready to quit. Coughing up blood and tar, though, is frightening. I’m assuming that this is related to smoking, but I’m not positive. If anyone has any suggestions/ideas…
Mar 23, 2007 at 8:48 am
Dear LKD,
Yeah you are right, the coughing up blood and tar is not due to smoking….. its related to something else…….