On Smokeout Day, What We Know About How to Quit

Reader Comments
Back to article

I, Like 1 in 20 Americans, have asthma. I am pretty much a recluse and entertain almost exclusively in my home. Cigarette smoke triggers my asthma and everywhere I go, I am inundated with it, even in places where it is not allowed. I cant go inside places where it is not allowed becasue there is a crowd of smoikers at the door standing under or leaning on the sign that says "This is not a smoking area." At the pool where I live, where there is a sign every 4 feet that says "No Smoking" but people smoke there anyway, and where I ask them politley not to smoke, I am attacked with angry yelling and personal insults, so I do not even get to enjoy my community's supposedly non-smoking pool, the pool that I pay a lot to maintain.
Our beaches are supposedly non-smoking but this weekend I took some out of town guests to the beach and now I can hardly breathe and have missed a day's work, costing me over $500 in the immediate sense and much more in the long run becasue people shose to ignore the law ansdthere were cigarettes and cigars being smoked all over the beach.
I live in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area and we have thousands of lovely restaurants with outdoor seating. What a lovely dining, option, right? However, since most people smoke even where it is not allowed, I have to eat indoors and do not get to enjoy the lovely outdoors due to other peoples' cigarette smoke.
If this areais in the top 10, we truly have along way to go. I cannot really go anywhere without encountering cigarette smoke, so I am becoming a recluse because other people choose to disobey the law and rules of places they go.
How is this fair?

Cou-cough-any of FL 1:50PM May 24, 2011

Deciding to really quit is one of the more difficult things one will ever come across. I had made many half-hearted attempts which were doomed to failure because I hadn't truly decided to deal directly with that monkey on my back called smoking. At that point it was Cold Turkey followed by some moderately severe withdrawal symptoms for the first week, but what kept me going was that I was finally mad enough at placing myself at the mercy of tobacco to begin with, and that helped sustain me until the physical addiction waned.
Many will say the have quit and it may only be weeks or months since they last smoked. They may be on the way, but I don't think you can even begin to feel comfortable that you actually have quit until after five years. I once went a couple of years only to "try" a cigarette at a party, and within a week I was back to over a pack a day.
I haven't touched a cigarette in over 30 years, yet every once in a while I still get a yearning for a "fix", which only helps to remind me of just how insidious an addiction it was for me. That part of the brain will always remember, but luckily I have the rest of my brain to resist.
I favor doing it Cold Turkey because it made me pay a price which was a reminder that what I had been doing for so long was really hurting me. Regardless, the bottom line is to never start if you haven't, or do whatever it takes to get off tobacco. In time you and everyone around you will be happy that you did, and think of all of the money you'll save in the process.
Once you have stopped smoking you need to be ever vigilant lest you slip back into that old habit, sort of like a reformed alcoholic who must work to abstain 100% or risk falling back into the trap.

Bill Harrington of MA 11:13PM July 21, 2010

you cannot quit smoking unless you realy want to quit.no gum no patches or other things will help you, only you can quit. I smoked for 44 years, untill I said to my self I realy need to quit and I did cold turkey It is the best way to go

wayne of CA 7:24PM July 21, 2010

Just do it go - cold turkey it's the most effective way and the most rewarding of all you can try patches, gum, therapy they may work short term. cold turkey is the only way it will make you proud, I did'nt say it's easy but nothing is easy when it comes to addiction. It's the hardest way to go but the best way. It's hardest because you have your billboards, store fronts, T.V , coupons, and people. and that makes it more challenging. But the rewards are great. Once you are finish nothing and know one can change your mind. They can blow smoke in your face, leave cigarettes laying around, act as if their really enjoying themselves but in all honesty they want to quit just like you, be a leader not the follower. Look in the mirror and say to yourself. I can do it, and repeat it over and over, and you will do it. It's not as hard as it seems,your breath will smell better, teeth will be brighter and prettier, skin will change and start to glow, atitude will change, blood pressure will get better, heart will function better. Non-smokers will love you even more especially family members. Your car will smell better, clothes will smell better, and just think about all the money you have spent on cigareets, all the lives lost because of tobacco you owe it to yourself, your beautiful and you do love you. COLD TURKEY now today and by the time Christmas gets here its just one extra gift.

Anthony of MI 5:32PM July 21, 2010

Wellbutrin, hypnosis, commercial programs, acupuncture, cold turkey... none of them worked for me. The best I ever did was 9 months without a cigarette after quitting cold turkey (out of over 30 years of smoking.)
A couple of months ago I read about personal vaporizers (aka electronic cigarettes.) I ordered one. (Fortunately did not buy one of the overpriced, low quality mall brands.) I tried it. I quit smoking.
Tomorrow is my 2-month anniversary. I have no cravings for a cigarette because all of the aspects of my addiction are being met - nicotine, the oral fixation and the habitual hand/mouth movement. But they are being met with no combustion (which means no smoke and, therefore, no second-hand smoke), no carbon monoxide, no tar and none of the thousands of other toxins that I have been inhaling for the past 3 decades.

Jane Ash of NY 2:31PM February 25, 2010

Pick a day and stop smoking. Throw your pack away, trow away all your ashtrays and lighters, wash all your clothes and throw open the windows. Yes, you'll have some side affects but nothing you can't handle. Just a headache and maybe some trouble sleeping because your body is suddenly getting more oxygen. When you're tempted to smoke 'just one', put it off until later and see how you feel. Distract yourself with something you like, or try brushing your teeth every time you want a cigarette. Buy yourself something increasingly fabulous after each milestone - a day, another day, a week, whatever works for you. Get a new haircut, a cashmere sweater, a new wii game to reward yourself. Ask your friends if they notice anything different after 2 weeks. They'll say you look brighter, or younger, or healthier, or happier, and you'll be all of those things. Quitting is your number one goal during the first few weeks, even a month or so. Get plenty of rest so you have the stamina to resist urges. Identify situations where you usually smoked - with coffee in the morning, after dinner, out drinking with friends - and develop a strategy for those occasions when you WILL want a cigarette. Keep saying to yourself, "There is no such thing as just one cigarette!"
You can do it!

lella of CA 7:16PM November 19, 2009

I quit smoking almost 3 years ago. I had tried patches and lozenges but they did not work. If you want to quit then you have to break the addiction. That means going cold turkey. No patch no pills, nothing.
Nicotine is an addictive substance and when your brain says you are not getting enough you will have cravings. When you stop using the substitute for the cigarettes you will go through the addiction anyway. This means that the best possible way to kick the habit is to just stop.
Here are some things that will help. After only 24 hours most of the nicotine is out of your system. After just 72 hours your cravings will drop by 75%. That's jut 3 days! In three days you can be smoke free. When to quit is another thing to look at. Quit in the morning when you wake up because you will have already gone through the worst of your withdrawal while you were sleeping.
Flip things around in your mind. When you have a craving, close your eyes and enjoy it. Yes, I said enjoy it. Let yourself feel the craving come over you and pass through you. Allow the craving to have its full force and relax through it with your eyes closed. Use the time that the craving hits to take a little mental break the same way you used to take a smoke break.
After you get through the very first craving remember it! Remember that you NEVER have to go through a craving that bad EVER AGAIN! No matter how they feel, each successive craving will actually be less. Remember that first horrible craving each time you think you want another cigarette and ask yourself if you want to go through that again? If you EVER pick up another cigarette you will have to do just that! This alone should keep most people from ever lighting another one up.
My wife still smokes and it does not bother me one bit. I have dropped a 2.5 pack a day habit and I will never pick it up again. Remember, it is an addiction and you must get rid of the addicting substance. You ARE strong enough to kick it.

ChrisS of OH 6:59PM November 19, 2009

Bona Fides:
1. Ph.D. in Psychology, 1974 Univ of Houston
2. Mensa Member (previously)
3. U.S. Marine Corps 4 years
5. Time in Grade; 66 years of life experience.
6. Retired and living in heaven (Mazatlan, Mexico)
7. Heavy smoker for 40 years. Quit last time 10 years ago.
I will give you, in a nutshell, the simple so-called "secret" to stopping smoking, overeating, or changing just about anything in your life. Not one person in 100 will apply the method because almost everyone prefers to maintain their age-old habits and to complain to anyone who will listen about how hard they've tried, but how helpless is the situation in which they find themselves.
I read the "secret" about 45 years ago, have applied it to my life ever since, and am continually amazed at how simple it is.
Here goes: "In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the mind, there are no limits." -John Lilly-
It's that simple. As long as you continue telling yourself (i.e. believing and reinforcing) how difficult it is, you will never be able to control whatever aspect of your life you're talking about. On the other hand, as soon as you adopt the belief that it's easy and actually a trivial problem, you'll be able to change. I'm already laughing at the criticisms.

Allen Fannin of TX 5:20PM November 19, 2009

How a writer can write an article w/o doing one's homework is disheartening. Perhaps they just recycled an article from several years ago? Chantrix is by far the most effective and Dr. prescribed method. After 45 years I have quit relatively easily.

Danny of WA 5:18PM November 19, 2009

I tried cold turkey and was successful for about 3 months. I am now smoke free again after over a month and a half with the help of a personal vaporizer (formerly known as electronic cigarettes). The FDA wanted to ban these great devices over their fear of the unknown and the tobacco industry's inability to capitalize on them. That ban has failed so far. Thousands of people have quit smoking using these things and I believe many others will be able to as well. The reality, however, is that whatever works best for an individual is what they should do.
And I have to congratulate the previous poster who quit smoking using marijuana. I quit drinking that way, without abusing it or becoming a "pothead."

Reality of CO 4:05PM November 19, 2009