What are the most effective/successful ways to quit smoking?
The patch works. They say to take it off at night because you can have crazy dreams, and on nights one and two, I did. After that though, they went away. I have found that keeping the patch on for the full 24 hours was the most successful way for me to quit. Good luck!!
i do think it's mostly in our heads. i knew from day #1 of smoking that i was not going to be a "career" smoker. of course i also developed asthma so that helped with quitting...i knew even more certainly i couldn't do it forever. so that was my mindset. once my son started noticing it (and waving his hands to ward of the smell) i knew i was done. i stopped smoking inside. then i stopped smoking in the car. then i stopped smoking at home (even outside). then last i quit smoking on breaks at work. along the way i switched from menthol, to lights, to ultra lights. i cut back to 1 pack, then 1/2 a pack a day...i forced myself to take baby steps and stayed focused. i always wanted to be a "social" smoker - able to turn it on and off as i chose. i'm not like that. i am either all the way or nothing....sooo i gave up that dream. i knew, a few months in, when i was really really craving one, and i gave in, bummed one at work, and it tasted TERRIBLE and NASTY - that i was done. i wish this for you!
I used the patch. Take them off before bed though, that'll help with the wild dreams.
Hi J., I will be your quitting buddy. I need to quit too. The patch and the gum, for me, work very well together. I put patch on in the morning so when nighttime rolls around the dreams are not there. I quit for a week a few weeks ago but got very angry and ran back to the store. UGH. Ill quit with you!! It helps to have a buddy. Also there are meeting on Paltalk. The Nicotine Anonymous meetings. They help too.
Nothing has worked for me so far. Most of it is all in our head unfortunately. I do have one of the e-cigs now tho, and it has helped a lot with cutting down on the real ones.
You MUST be totally committed to quitting. So no matter what you do will work. You can use any medication or patch or whatever, but if you are not all the way ready nothing will work.
There is a book on Amazon called The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr. I bought it for my husband but he refused to read it.
I used Chantix, but the side effects were terrible so I quit taking it after 6 wks. But by that time I was done.
It has been 4 yrs for me.
There is one thing I did that really helped, I chewed on Coffee Stir Sticks. I carried them with me everywhere. The car was the hardest for me! I would chew on them and it seemed to help.
Good luck!!!
D.
