# Quitting smoking...



## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

just started using Chantix..

My GF had to get off of it because she was about to start killing people. (might be due to underlying psych issues)

anyone else have any experiece with Chantix?

this is day 2..

I dont want to end up finding myself naked in Walmart at 3:00AM with a bloody machete in my hands :-o

addition:

I ALSO dont want to walk around looking INSANE..like the people on the commercials for Chantix I see.
the older 50ish white lady and the 45+ looking hispanic lady for example...


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## Faisal Khan (Apr 16, 2009)

Best decision a smoker can make is to quit, wish you success. I used Chantix in the past, it dies kill the urge to smoke but you have to put up with the short fuse it gives to your temperament and the occasional weird dreams. Both wife and I did start back after 6 months off!

This time we are using a different approach, stopped smoking in the traditional sense in Dec and started e-cigarettes. So far so good, feel much better, there is no tar and the various carcinogens, smoke smell etc etc. Over time plan is to stop e-cigs also. Have cut nicotine down from 24 to 10mg/ml over time.

While stopping altogether is the best (way you are doing it). For us the e-cig approach worked as an interim solution to reduce the harm that comes from smoking.


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## Karen M Wood (Jun 23, 2012)

Haven't tried Chantix but when i did smoke (Casual party smoker of clove cigs) it was an upper respiratory that got me to quit cold turkey. Have never picked up another, never wanted to either. So if Chantix doesn't work try catching someone's URI and see if that cures you. Been nearly 10 years for me now.
K


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Joby Becker said:


> just started using Chantix..
> 
> My GF had to get off of it because she was about to start killing people. (might be due to underlying psych issues)
> 
> ...


Quitting is a fuking killer. I still miss it especially when I'm tanking up. No experience with Chantix. I stopped in the hospital after the chopped out my voice box.

I'm still not sure quitting at my age was worth it. I loved smoking. 

After a meal, with morning coffee, with booze and after getting laid, a cig just goes with all those other vices.

Hope that helps!!!#-o#-o#-o](*,)](*,)](*,)


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

i made and "attempt" before but fell short, used my GF continuing to smoke as an excuse..

I started smoking, ironically at age 31...also ironically after I basically quit smoking weed, which i did for 13 years...

I have an addictive personality i presume...


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> Quitting is a fuking killer. I still miss it especially when I'm tanking up. No experience with Chantix. I stopped in the hospital after the chopped out my voice box.
> 
> I'm still not sure quitting at my age was worth it. I loved smoking.
> 
> ...


at least I have to wake up and then drink some coffee and eat first...my GF wakes up and goes straight for the pack.....my mouth is still crappy at that point


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Joby Becker said:


> i made and "attempt" before but fell short, used my GF continuing to smoke as an excuse..
> 
> I started smoking, ironically at age 31...also ironically after I basically quit smoking weed, which i did for 13 years...
> 
> I have an addictive personality i presume...


Started smoking at 14, then grass in Vietnam. I used to ride gunner on convoys in Vietnam. If you tossed off one Salem cig they would toss one pre rolled grass cig back through the window. They grooved on American menthol cigs. A pack of cigs back then was 20 cents. Fair trade!!:grin:


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

It IS worth it Joby. You CAN do it.

I used my partener as an excuse too for a long time, but finally put my big girl panties on and just quit without him. It WAS hard when someone in your life is smoking all the time and there is cheating easily available to you, but in the end I hated being a slave to nicotine. Made me lazy. I am plenty lazy enough without it.

On the Chantix...if you believe it will be helpful, it will be. I went cold turkey because I am bad ass.  I missed it for years and had a couple of small blips in the first couple of years. After ten years of so of being quit it gets much easier#-o

The had part is coming to grips with the fact you can never smoke again. That weird feeling that you will never get a break again in your life (smoke break!) The feeling is that smoking is something you do to treat yourself...even though it is killing you. 

Delaying gratification for a while is one thing, permanence is another. Funny that your brain tries to convince you that to reward yourself for not smoking for a few days/months/years...you deserve a cigarette!#-o

Evil...nicotine is pure evil. Slay the dragon Joby. Just do it. Cheering you on.


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## Keith Jenkins (Jun 6, 2007)

I quit cold turkey almost 25 years ago after smoking for 15 plus. Of course there wasn't really anything except shear will power back then if you wanted to quit.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

thats the funny thing...I have been gripped by several different addictions and have quit those cold turkey...

I suppose I have looked at smoking as less damaging, its legal...and although has gone up in price, is still relatively cheap.

my buddy smoked for 25 yrs, and quit on chantix after about 2 weeks.

I think I could quit cold turkey obviously...I fear I will just get fatter then


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## Keith Jenkins (Jun 6, 2007)

Yep you will gain unless you are super aware of how much you tend to replace smokes with food. It is truly amazing, after about 2 weeks of no smoking food tastes so much different to you.


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## Cassandra Lane (Jul 2, 2010)

I watched my father go a 'little' loopy on this drug. I'm not trying to diminish your great start- but please do watch yourself!


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Cassandra Lane said:


> I watched my father go a 'little' loopy on this drug. I'm not trying to diminish your great start- but please do watch yourself!


I read the warnings.

I also have first hand account from my GF, who like I said had to get off of it for mental health reasons. loopy is ok I think, wanting to kill people or myself is not ok


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## Denise King (May 31, 2009)

Jobs, I quit smoking a year and a half ago! I used the patches and they worked GREAT!! What ever you wind up using stay with it it's so worth it!!


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Joby I know you only asked about Chantrix, but I wanted to let you know I think it's great you're quitting. I quit 7 years ago this September. I used the patch. I didn't give a shit about the instructions, so in the beginning I would put a couple of them on, and when I felt really pissed and agitated about not being able to stop thinking about smoking, I would rub on them (thinking maybe more nicotine was getting in my system if I rubbed hard enough). Anyway, it worked, I haven't smoked since. And I didn't get any side effects from not using the patches as directed.....well except for that 3rd boob that popped up right where I used to put that extra patch, but hey I'm not complaining...

Another thing I did was keep a bunch of those little cocktail stirrers and straws cut to the length of my brand of cig around me, I could fiddle with them, they helped take the place of the ciggie.

Also the cravings steadily went away as I got more time not smoking under my belt, and were pretty much gone after a year.

Good Luck!


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## jamie lind (Feb 19, 2009)

Quitting smoking was the easiest thing I've ever done. In fact it's so easy I've done it at least 30-40 times.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Started at 7. At a pack a day by 14. Quit cold turkey at 2-3 packs a day when I was 23. 
I quit dozens of times for everyone else's reasons but then I woke up one morning and realized I just didn't enjoy it anymore.


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## julie allen (Dec 24, 2010)

I took it for a month and quit for two years. Had crazy dreams. I have insomnia, and when I do sleep I have wild vivid dreams all the time, so made it even worse.
I started back, so I'm going to do the chantix again. I really don't think it causes much mental issues unless something is already going on in there lol.


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## Mario Fernandez (Jun 21, 2008)

Nobody likes quitters Joby......what kind of example are you setting????... next thing you know your eating health and not drinking

J/K...Best of luck. I need to quit myself. Starting to get old smelling like smoke all the time. My job I see the worse in people all the time..but that is still no excuse.

My uncle quit recently after 30 years of smoking. He did hypnosis and glad he did it. But then again he thinks his wife and kids slipped the Doc some extra coin as he finds himself doing things he never like to do before, like go to the mall shopping with the family and going to the opera and art museums..be careful...


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Mario Fernandez said:


> Nobody likes quitters Joby......what kind of example are you setting????... *next thing you know your eating health and not drinking*
> 
> J/K...Best of luck. I need to quit myself. Starting to get old smelling like smoke all the time. My job I see the worse in people all the time..but that is still no excuse.
> 
> My uncle quit recently after 30 years of smoking. He did hypnosis and glad he did it. But then again he thinks his wife and kids slipped the Doc some extra coin as he finds himself doing things he never like to do before, like go to the mall shopping with the family and going to the opera and art museums..be careful...


   thanks...

one thing at a time..I did try to do a major overhaul last year I think and failed on all points...tried to change too much at once.


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## Catherine Gervin (Mar 12, 2012)

susan tuck said:


> Joby I know you only asked about Chantrix, but I wanted to let you know I think it's great you're quitting. I quit 7 years ago this September. I used the patch. I didn't give a shit about the instructions, so in the beginning I would put a couple of them on, and when I felt really pissed and agitated about not being able to stop thinking about smoking, I would rub on them (thinking maybe more nicotine was getting in my system if I rubbed hard enough). Anyway, it worked, I haven't smoked since. And I didn't get any side effects from not using the patches as directed.....well except for that 3rd boob that popped up right where I used to put that extra patch, but hey I'm not complaining...
> 
> Another thing I did was keep a bunch of those little cocktail stirrers and straws cut to the length of my brand of cig around me, I could fiddle with them, they helped take the place of the ciggie.
> 
> ...


i totally concur with using more than one patch, as needed, and i found that i could keep an extra patch or two around for emergency times of susceptibility. when my husband came home from Afghanistan i had been free of both cigarettes and patches for about 4 months but it was hard to be around his pack-and-a-half-a-day at first. i just had to accept that i couldn't have one even if he could. he'd been in combat, what reason did i have? i stuck it out, and while he's down to half a pack a day one year later, i remain a non-smoker. i am absolutely not the kind of person who can ever have even one cigarette ever again--i'd be right back to a pack a day--but the patch made it possible to quit without chewing holes in the walls. i thought it'd be SOOOO much easier to run once quit smoking, but found that to be a fallacy. still, i no longer have to hear tedious lectures about my evil smoking, it saves a bunch of money that i can spend on dog stuff and kid stuff, and i can feel free to forbid my daughter to smoke once she reaches the age of vulnerability without feeling like a hypocrite, and that's nice. if all else fails, the patch RULES!!!


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Catherine Gervin said:


> ...... i stuck it out, and while he's down to half a pack a day one year later, i remain a non-smoker. i am absolutely not the kind of person who can ever have even one cigarette ever again--i'd be right back to a pack a day--but the patch made it possible to quit without chewing holes in the walls....


Me too. After about a year of not smoking, I had built it up in my head about how much I used to enjoy it, but at least I no longer had that mental craving for it. So I bummed a cigarette from someone, lit it up and had a couple puffs before I felt stupid enough to put it out. I found that even though it didn't taste near as good as I remembered, I was right back to craving cigs multiple times a day, which made me realize I could never even have one cigarette again, and I never have since that one. On the other hand, my father (who passed away in July at 96 years old), was the kind of person who used to enjoy smoking a cigarette on rare occasion (he liked to have a cig after Thanksgiving dinner), but was never addicted.


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

I used the E-cig. Thought it was really gay at the time but it works. Started at the highest nicotine level and went down to zero in about 6 months. If you go that route don't skimp on the product. Get a decent unit, not one that looks like a regular cig. It was nice to have the inhalation feeling while not ingesting all the garbage to go with it. My cardio and overal endurance skyrocketed. I needed that, especially since I'm on the old and crusty side of life.


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## Faisal Khan (Apr 16, 2009)

Howard Knauf said:


> I used the E-cig. Thought it was really gay at the time but it works. Started at the highest nicotine level and went down to zero in about 6 months. If you go that route don't skimp on the product. Get a decent unit, not one that looks like a regular cig. It was nice to have the inhalation feeling while not ingesting all the garbage to go with it. My cardio and overal endurance skyrocketed. I needed that, especially since I'm on the old and crusty side of life.


Very nice to hear, see it does work! I am down from 24 to 10mg nicotine. Have several units, here is my mechanical with an 18500 battery and a carto tank with 1.7Ohm coil


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## mike finn (Jan 5, 2011)

Chantix is the only thing that worked for my wife and she tied every thing. I quit the first time by going cold turky, and my entire family asked me to start smoking again. I did not think I was being that bad,except for a melt down I had at a gas station were I yelled at the attendant. 
The next time I quit I used Coppenhagen snuff, and then weened myself off that. It made it much easier.T^hat wqas ten years ago Good Luck you will feel so much better!


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

mike finn said:


> I did not think I was being that bad,except for a melt down I had at a gas station were I yelled at the attendant.


I have "conversations" with service industry employees often. They often do not like what I have to say, and I often do not like what they have to say. Often I end up having to leave and go somewhere else just on principle..

Have not actually yelled at any in a while though. Try to use humor and logic, to express my underlying anger.

I just went round and round with the cell phone guys cause my bill went up again. Granted it was only another $1.00 since the last time, but that is not the point, I signed up to pay a specific amount for my plan, and they arent changing thier signage to reflect the price increase either....How dare they.

Also am currently boycotting my local Culvers for not honoring a certificate I got for purchasing a $ 100.00 gift card from them. 

The certificate, which* IS* good for a free basket meal says in tiny print on the back side on the bottom verbatim:

"For Heaven's sakes, Please use this cerificate by June 26th, 2013."

NO BS.

I went there around July 4th.

When the cashier refused to take it, it went up the food chain and I actually talked to the store owner, and then the corporate district mananger, who were both in the store that day. 

I was told that it was expired. They did not agree with me in my thinking that their wording on the certificate was far from a stated hard expiration date. I asked the managers if they really wanted to lose business over this issue, they said that there is nothing that they could do...

I was there with a group of 4 other people, we all left. 3 of them got refunds on thier orders because they already paid.

Have not been back since, and we ate there at least a couple times a week on average. I didnt yell though I laughed, hopefully I can retain my good sense of humor...


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## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

I had someone in my office use that chantix stuff. I never smoked but watched some strong willed stubborn people who wanted to quit fail. Those cigarettes are some powerful things. The Chantix did completely stop the craving for the guy, it was kinda spooky. He did complain of some side effects. He was on it for a few weeks and didn’t have a cigarette at all and said he didn’t crave one at all. But he quit the Chantix early, said he felt he didn’t need it anymore. But he started right up after he quit. I actually think he still wanted a cigarette the whole time even though he didn’t chemically crave one he craved one for comfort or something? Would have liked to see him succeed after the effort but man those things own you, even for years after you stop. You are the cigarettes bitch. 
As far as you saying they are not expensive, you’re just telling yourself lies. I don’t care how much money you make even for a light smoker it adds up. Think we could all find something good to do with an extra grand or two or four? 
Hope to see you quit


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Faisal,

You don't do anything half assed, do you? That's a hell of a unit. I use the e-go v adjustable battery with digital readout and a Kanger T3 tank with the 2.4 ohm atomizer. It's a little more "petite" and concealable. It's nice to have a hit in a restaraunt or movies without offending anyone.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Howard Knauf said:


> Faisal,
> 
> You don't do anything half assed, do you? That's a hell of a unit. I use the e-go v adjustable battery with digital readout and a Kanger T3 tank with the 2.4 ohm atomizer. It's a little more "petite" and concealable. It's nice to have a hit in a restaraunt or movies without offending anyone.


I was thinking he made that himself 8)


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Howard Knauf said:


> Faisal,
> 
> You don't do anything half assed, do you? That's a hell of a unit. I use the e-go v adjustable battery with digital readout and a Kanger T3 tank with the 2.4 ohm atomizer. It's a little more "petite" and concealable. It's nice to have a hit in a restaraunt or movies without offending anyone.


Try getting on a airline with that bazooka. The might cart him off.:smile:


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## Faisal Khan (Apr 16, 2009)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> Try getting on a airline with that bazooka. The might cart him off.:smile:


I have been to Asia 3 times and Europe 1 time since starting e-cigarettes. These go with me in my carry-on, never had an issue.


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## Faisal Khan (Apr 16, 2009)

Howard Knauf said:


> Faisal,
> 
> You don't do anything half assed, do you? That's a hell of a unit. I use the e-go v adjustable battery with digital readout and a Kanger T3 tank with the 2.4 ohm atomizer. It's a little more "petite" and concealable. It's nice to have a hit in a restaraunt or movies without offending anyone.


Hey Howard, I do have the Ego-Twist and Kanger T3's along with the Pro-Tank and Evods for when out and about on the motorcycles. They work stellar but this thing and a few others I have are super heavy duty machines


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## Kevin Rowland (Jun 29, 2013)

You can do it! My dad smoked for 30 years and quit (I think he used some type of script). He actually still has a box of cigs in his garage refrigerator...been there for 10 years..lol


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Faisal Khan said:


> Hey Howard, I do have the Ego-Twist and Kanger T3's along with the Pro-Tank and Evods for when out and about on the motorcycles. They work stellar but this thing and a few others I have are super heavy duty machines


 I had a couple of the e-go twists but I kept accidentally changing the voltage. Nothing like getting an unexpecyed full power hit to make your hair stand on end. I think I might price your unit just to have one when I go to manly events like MMA or the cock fights.jk :-o

I do like the heavy duty look to it. Where can I get one of those? 

I've seen zip guns smaller than that thing.


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Howard Knauf said:


> I had a couple of the e-go twists but I kept accidentally changing the voltage. Nothing like getting an unexpecyed full power hit to make your hair stand on end. I think I might price your unit just to have one when I go to manly events like MMA or the cock fights.jk :-o
> 
> I do like the heavy duty look to it. Where can I get one of those?
> 
> I've seen zip guns smaller than that thing.


You know I know a bit about cock fights, Howard. E Cigs don't get it. Moonshine and rolled no filter cigs are the MO of the day.


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Kevin Rowland said:


> You can do it! My dad smoked for 30 years and quit (I think he used some type of script). He actually still has a box of cigs in his garage refrigerator...been there for 10 years..lol


I wonder who here smoked the longest and quit. I was right a 50 years smoking when a medical issues stopped me. It's kind of a wonder I have any lungs left. When I do that lung test (the one that's like blowing up a balloon) I can still almost pin the needle.


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## mike finn (Jan 5, 2011)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> I wonder who here smoked the longest and quit. I was right a 50 years smoking when a medical issues stopped me. It's kind of a wonder I have any lungs left. When I do that lung test (the one that's like blowing up a balloon) I can still almost pin the needle.


 I work with a 73 year old guy that just quit. He smoked over sixty years. He used chantix. He had to quit to get surgery. He said it was not that hard!


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

mike finn said:


> I work with a 73 year old guy that just quit. He smoked over sixty years. He used chantix. He had to quit to get surgery. He said it was not that hard!


He's my hero! I miss it everyday at certain times. I really have to work at it. I admire those dudes that just put it down a walk away. My motivation is death. I've suffered with cancer enough already.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> I wonder who here smoked the longest and quit. I was right a 50 years smoking when a medical issues stopped me. It's kind of a wonder I have any lungs left. When I do that lung test (the one that's like blowing up a balloon) I can still almost pin the needle.


You've sure got me beat. I smoked for about 30 years, started when I was around 20 and quit a few months before my 50th birthday. I quit because I was having surgery, and my doctor told me it would speed up my recovery if I quit smoking, but that he knew quitting would be way too difficult for me, so of course I had to prove him wrong...


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> He's my hero! I miss it everyday at certain times. I really have to work at it. I admire those dudes that just put it down a walk away. My motivation is death. I've suffered with cancer enough already.


 Quitting cigarettes isn't that hard. I've quit cold turkey a few times for over a year at a time. Quitting snuff, now THAT"S hard! Been doing it since I was 14. Been swallowing it since I was 15 (to hide the use when in school) Even when I'm outside I don't spit. Copenhagen is my weakness. Add a little Jack Daniels to it and it's heaven. When I started it was 39 cents a can. Now at over 5 bucks a can I use the cheaper stuff. Had a workout partner in Nashville back in the 80s who worked for U.S. Tobacco. Every week he's bring me a sleeve of Cope made that day. Really good friend:razz:


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

dunno if Chantix is the same as champix in the uk, I imagine it is but my birds old mans mate (lol) took this and had very weird side effects. He was a big cheese in a motorcycle gang, took that stuff, gave up smoking, drinking motobikes the lot, bought himself a caravan and joined the caravan club. This is a true story.
Dr gave it to me once but I didn't take it cos of the stories I had heard about it of people going nuts and killing themselves and stuff, it would be just my luck..
On a side note, other drugs which can help with giving up smoking include but are not limited too:
seroxat
Valium (diazepam)
Co-dydramol
Gabapentin 
and...............

Ganja (which is not technically a drug) just eat, swallow some oil or have 'clean' cones in a bong and put daytime tv on every day, seriously, you can't be arsed to smoke or you are too busy laughing.
Interestingly there are various respected studies showing that MJ actually decreases the chances of getting lung cancer, can clear up any early stage lung cancer and treats other cancers effectively. Even when smoked with tobacco!
In fact, this is also a true if unbelievable story, a gun dog belonging to one of my mates was given like 2-3 months with a massive cancerous growth, he gave it Ganja oil every day, increasing the amount as described on various websites and the dog not only beat the cancer but is still alive years later and this is not a young dog either.

Anyway, good on you for giving up! Wish I could


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## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

watch out for the gabapentin. That one also throws weird side effects. One friend started hallucinating and started imagining all sorts of weird stuff and got wildly aggressive and had to be restrained by her hubby.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Matt Vandart said:


> dunno if Chantix is the same as champix in the uk, I imagine it is but my birds old mans mate (lol) took this and had very weird side effects. He was a big cheese in a motorcycle gang, took that stuff, gave up smoking, drinking motobikes the lot, bought himself a caravan and joined the caravan club. This is a true story.
> Dr gave it to me once but I didn't take it cos of the stories I had heard about it of people going nuts and killing themselves and stuff, it would be just my luck..
> On a side note, other drugs which can help with giving up smoking include but are not limited too:
> seroxat
> ...


I started smoking cigarettes after I quit smoking MJ regularly...I was always 100% against cigarettes before that Ironically..I used to ask people why bother smoking cigarettes? what do they do for ya, except feed your nicotine cravings? :?


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> Started at 7. At a pack a day by 14. Quit cold turkey at 2-3 packs a day when I was 23.
> I quit dozens of times for everyone else's reasons but then I woke up one morning and realized I just didn't enjoy it anymore.


Thought I started early!

First cigarette at 11 but didn't really count.

I started smoking at 17 thinking it made me look older- I was a flat breasted skinny minnie. Stopped at 40 (3 attempts) as I was scared of looking like my aunt who had a face like Crewe Junction (Cheshire, England!).

We all agreed to stop at our dog club and I kept to it as if they had asked me if I had had a ciggy, I would not have lied.

Took me a bottle of red wine which put me to sleep and when I awoke I need something sweet. Made a batch of little sponge cakes (am no baker) and ate them all before they were cold.

I never want to go through that again :-D

The only way to stop smoking is to want to do it for a personal reason. Other addicts come to the fore afterwards, such as red wine, etc. but one is no longer a social outcast.


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## Lindsay Janes (Aug 9, 2007)

Well.. You got to try hypnosis. Need to teach your body how to relax again after being anxious. You can download apps on iphone. They do have hypnosis for craving food, smoking, or whatever.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

One of my sisters did the hypnosis thing to quit smoking. She was told they would taste terrible. They did but she kept trying it to see if the taste got better. It did but now none of us 7 sibs have smoked in quite a few yrs. 
One brother and one sister never started but that brother was into drugs, motorcycle gangs, who knows what and being a badass in general. He's a preacher now going on 10 yrs. Go figure!


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