I need to stop smoking and tried on my own unsuccessful. Any recommendations on how to stop?

It's REALLY hard but REALLY worth it. I quit 5 years ago but gained a lot of weight from doing so. I just happened to have pneumonia and the flu so was so sick that I didn't even feel the nicotine withdrawal.

But, how? I wish I had better answers. The best thing to do (if it is possible) is to just put them down. You will want them, you will crave them, you won't know what to do with yourself. Kind of like doing the pre-op liquid only diet! You just have to do it. Some people have tried the e-cigs and I kind of wish I had but I have heard from a lot of people that the best way is cold turkey. You will be miserable to be around for several weeks and you won't even like yourself. But that is just part of the process. The big trick is--what to do instead. RIght? This is the best time to replace cigarettes with exercise. I know that sounds horrible but you will end up replacing something for the cigs and it might as well be exercise. This is what I should have done!! How long does it take to smoke a cig? several minutes? Go for a walk for several minutes. Do jumping jacks, do anything that gets you out of breath and takes up some time. A walk will help clear your head, too, which is what a cig used to do (though it was probably the walk outside to have the cig that may have done this! lol).

And, take it one day at a time. Let us know how you do or if you need support in some way. Oh, and know that the craving in some way will always be there but not so strong that you feel you are being deprived of something. Certainly not a nicotine craving, just a behavioral craving

This worked for a friend of mine, me not so much. http://www.auriculotherapy.com/

Also the book by Allen Carr, I used e-cigs and weened my self off.

I'm smoking post op as well, so thank you for this post. I wasn't sure what people on here would say, but it sounds so far they r being supportive. This is great because the last thing we need is judgement. I quit for 6 months before my surgery. My reasoning was so I could have the surgery. Maybe I should have thought through it more and I wouldn't be back to smoking. So far there are not complications, but only as far as I can see. I've read that it's highly dangerous to smoke post op. I mean we've done this for our health, so why still smoke? Right?

I'm not perfect, but I'm mad at myself for falling for my own thoughts. I quit last time by saying that I'm in control of the cigarette not the other way around. I'm definitely not giving up hope on quitting. You shouldn't either. The gum and vapor helped some for me. Also, keeping a journal of positive affirmations. Good luck

I bought a colouring book and crayons, it kept my hands busy and crayons kinda feel like cigarettes and I was smoking two packs a day when I quit, good luck to you.

Edited February 11, 201511 yr by carrie1968

@SimplySam2015--cut yourself some slack. It's totally irrational as to why we smoke(d). But, it is advisable to quit. My biggest reason for not picking it back up is because I don't want to have to go through the quitting and then the gaining all that weight again!!! But, it's really hard to quit. I remember nonsmokers telling me to "just quit" but when I also mentioned that I couldn't eat chocolate, their response was "OMG, I could not live without chocolate". But they never saw the connection!! You can do it.