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Scorpio64

So, Who Else is Quitting Tomorrow Night

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I really think I can do it this year.  It's bad enough it's costing me over $3,500.00 a year now, but it really galls me that over 50% of the cost of a pack goes to that fuckwit Beaverpuss in excise taxes.

They say it helps if you have a goal.  My goal is to save enough to buy a ridiculously expensive thermal scope, so I can finally go feral piggy popping after dark. Not in NJ, obviously.  There will be bacon, lots and lots of bacon.

 

 

 

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Good luck to Scorpio and all who do. I quit for good in 1989 and never regretted it.

IMO, if you really want to quit, you will. It is simply a matter of decision. No one can make you smoke. It's all you.

The problem is smoking doesn't present itself 'in the moment' as the same threat as, say, Russian roulette. So we can beg off if we're not really committed.

Funny story. I was in the fast checkout line at Walmart sometime this year and saw the cigarettes behind the counter priced at something like $8.85. I thought 'Wow, $8.85 a carton. That's expensive!"

Then realization hit. 45 cents a piece?????

If I hadn't quit, I'd have to now simply on principle of not handing over all that tax money voluntarily!

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19 minutes ago, Scorpio64 said:

I really think I can do it this year.  It's bad enough it's costing me over $3,500.00 a year now, but it really galls me that over 50% of the cost of a pack goes to that fuckwit Beaverpuss in excise taxes.

They say it helps if you have a goal.  My goal is to save enough to buy a ridiculously expensive thermal scope, so I can finally go feral piggy popping after dark. Not in NJ, obviously.  There will be bacon, lots and lots of bacon.

I'm no hunter. Don't know if I could do it if it weren't for survival. But popping predators on a farm that's going after someone's livestock? I'd be down for that.

Good luck. So many benefits of quitting smoking.

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Took me more than a few tries, but finally quit some time ago. My then young sons were my motivation. First month was the toughest but you can do it. As much as I love bacon with anything, not sure a steady diet of it is much better than smokes though.

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I quit last year, used a personal vape to step myself down. I was at 0 nicotine for 2 months before I started to actually forget my vape, which is a great sign of becoming independent. 

Goals can be helpful, but you really need to rethink what will be a "trigger"

 

Morning coffee, drive to work.. 

For me, it was being around all my smoker friends.

 

Gotta have a plan in place, otherwise those goals.. they are easy to "push back"

 

I dont go a single day without a craving tho... but each day passes and it's more and more an after thought than an impulse.

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Wife and I quit on 6-3-2006.

I used the smallest patch for a few months.

She did the entire program, big, medium, small patch.

Worked for us.   I can't imagine how much money I've saved between the two of us.  I suspect it's a 30k car at least.

 

 

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Hey, one more thing.

Based on my experience, I think I was a lot more habituated than addicted. So for me swizzle sticks were a big help. The ones you get to stir your coffee. I kept one in my mouth, took it out and twirled it in my fingers like a cigarette, and then back in the lips. In other words a lot of hand/mouth habits.

That may sound really stupid, but it satisfied more than half of my 'cravings'. Eventually I got rid of them too, but it took a while.

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34 minutes ago, Kevin125 said:

Good luck.  Are you going to use something to help? Like Chantix?  

I tried Chantix five years ago.  It messed with my head and caused me to have morbid thoughts.  Had to stop that after two weeks.  I'm a happy person who very much likes hearing his own heartbeat.  All the sudden I found myself thinking what it would be like to drive head on into a cement truck.  Not like actually wanting to do myself in, just freaking crazy thoughts.  That shit had to stop.

I've tried the patch, Nicorette, lollipops, chaw, hard candy, chewing gum, mints, Twizzlers,  and going for walks and all sorts of stuff.  I had the desire but did not have the resolve so always failed.  This year, I have resolve.   I've already cut back from about a pack and a half a day to less than a pack a day.

The one and only time I had a good shot at being quit forever was when I was in my mid 20's.  I had quit for almost five months and had absolutely no desire to smoke.  In fact, my nose deafness went away and I finally smelled what I used to smell like.  This was back when we could still smoke in bars.  Whelp, I met a gal, and she smoked.  I resisted but, well......  I kidded myself saying I was only a social smoker and started becoming a mooch.  Then I started feeling bad about being a mooch, and bought a pack.

Of all the methods, the only one that seemed to work was cold turkey, so I'm going to try that again.  If my resolve alone is not enough, I'll probably get the patch for a while.

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I quit 8 or 9 years ago now 2-3 packs of Newports a day! I used the patch and gum at the same time (accually recommended by my DR) one of the best things I ever did. I stopped once cold turkey and after a year started up again. The gum/patch was much easier than cold turkey. 

The one thing that helped me allot was someone told me that nicotine stays in your system for about 20 days. After 20 days the physical addiction is done and it's all mental. I kept telling myself that it was all in my head after day 20. It definitely kept me going. 

@Scorpio64 I'd say good luck but it's not luck. It's all up to you, life will suck for a little while but if you stick to it you will be so happy you did. 

On a side note I still love the smell of a burning cigarette but I now find people who smell like cigarettes repulsive 

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I quit maybe 7yrs ago? IDK. It's mind over matter. I had no desire to quit. My FIL had to quit for health issues, my wife got on me to quit. We were going on vacation in FL and I spent 7ish days without smoking. I had another 3-4 days of vacation when we got back home and had half a pack of cigarettes. I drank those last few days and smoke the last of the pack and said fuck it ever since then. Not one cig since then. I still have cravings to this day, so don't think you'll ever get over the feeling. Just  do it and don't look back. 

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2 hours ago, bennj said:

As much as I love bacon with anything, not sure a steady diet of it is much better than smokes though.

I'm not replacing smoking with bacon, you nut :sarcastic:.  Gonna be bringing it home from feral pig hunting.  But still, there will be a lot of bacon, and hopefully some guanciale too.

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Bro, no one is going to convince you to quit smoking, no substitute will do it either. You either want to quit or you don't. Something has to be the motivation and if you don't have it you won't quit. Mine was my wife asking me. I had 0 desire to quit, yet I did with no substitute. Just know, this shit is on you, not the New Year, not what I say or anything anyone else here says. 

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good luck to those who do try and quit.   I did it about 2 years ago, so glad I finally did it.  Its rough in the beginning, not going to lie .. but fight through the pain... it doesn't take long to start reaping the benefits of not smoking.  Just think of all of the extra coin you will have for ammo and pew pew accessories :) 

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11 hours ago, JackDaWack said:

quit last year, used a personal vape to step myself down

I know several people who’ve done the same, and now vape with nicotine-free juice.

Consider trying that, Ed?  Cheaper than patches and gives you a new gadget to fiddle with.

Wishing you success in quitting.  My whole family smoked when I was growing up, made for a lot of miserable holidays for me and a lot of untimely illnesses and death.

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10 hours ago, Scorpio64 said:

I tried Chantix five years ago.  It messed with my head and caused me to have morbid thoughts.  Had to stop that after two weeks.  I'm a happy person who very much likes hearing his own heartbeat.  All the sudden I found myself thinking what it would be like to drive head on into a cement truck.  Not like actually wanting to do myself in, just freaking crazy thoughts.  That shit had to stop.

My wife’s uncle had the same type of experience with Chantix.  That’s why I asked. That stuff is a literal nightmare.

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Best of luck!  A bunch of us have quit on the forums over the years.  Do what's most comfortable for you, but like a lot have said it's mind over matter...   I quit 3.5 years ago and am in a much better place.  

My best advice is to go cold-turkey..  it was the only way I was able to cut it out of my life after trying a lot of methods.

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I just quit a year or two ago. 2 pack a day Marlboro reds. Needed a new car and money was tight. Sittin in the dealership crunching numbers. Payment was gonna be $400 a month and I was smoking $525 a month. Quit right there. I do vape now but getting nic down. I don’t think vaping is healthy either but it’s a lot better and cheaper then cigs. Good luck man. You got this. 

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14 hours ago, Scorpio64 said:

I've tried the patch, Nicorette, lollipops, chaw, hard candy, chewing gum, mints, Twizzlers,  and going for walks and all sorts of stuff.  I had the desire but did not have the resolve so always failed.  This year, I have resolve.   I've already cut back from about a pack and a half a day to less than a pack a day.

It takes the average Joe around 6 tries to quit for good. The most durable effect is generally going cold turkey, but if using a crutch helps, by all means use one.

 

14 hours ago, Scorpio64 said:

Whelp, I met a gal...... 

Women are the root of all evil. Quit them and almost all your problems will go away.

Image result for adam eve apple"

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1 hour ago, ivan0000013 said:

I just quit a year or two ago. 2 pack a day Marlboro reds. Needed a new car and money was tight. Sittin in the dealership crunching numbers. Payment was gonna be $400 a month and I was smoking $525 a month. Quit right there. I do vape now but getting nic down. I don’t think vaping is healthy either but it’s a lot better and cheaper then cigs. Good luck man. You got this. 

And now you have an extra $125/month for ammo. Or your gun fund! Good job Ivan.

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3 minutes ago, Handyman said:

It takes the average Joe around 6 tries to quit for good. The most durable effect is generally going cold turkey, but if using a crutch helps, by all means use one.

Well I can testify to that. I'm one of them.

When my aunt died from lung cancer in 1978 my wife and I both quit. Then I started smoking again, but never in front of her. With her family history of cancer there was no way I was going to tempt her to go back. So I basically smoked at work or sometimes when out of the house (at a bar)  until 1989. I quit entirely several times in that interval and then started up again.

Here's the really weird part. Whenever I was home I had NO DESIRE to smoke.I never smoked at home even when home alone, even when she was away on business trips. And frankly I didn't feel the need. No sneaking outside or into the garage for a butt either. But, when I'd get in the car Monday morning, on the drive in I'd immediately start thinking about that first cigarette with a cup of coffee! So I'd butt up at work (maybe five or six total) during the day, and then be fine not smoking at all back at home. I finally concluded that for me this was nothing but a habit, and not an addiction.

So when I changed jobs in 1989 and found out if I was a smoker my health insurance was going to cost me an extra $600 a year I finally quit for good. And it stuck. And with the cost of cigarettes today that in and of itself would keep me from going back.

But frankly, once I quit the first time cigarettes never tasted that 'good' ever again.

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5 minutes ago, DirtyDigz said:

Healthier than not vaping?  Nope.

Healthier than cigarettes - Definitely. I believe it is a *much* less lung-damaging option to cigarette smoking.

 

I'm not 100% sure that is true - the jury is very much still out. Lungs evolved over millions of years to fill with mostly nitrogen and a little oxygen. You start putting anything else in there and the tissue will not like it long term.  The problem with vaping is that if it does cause a problem, the problem will most likely be pulmonary fibrosis and it will take 20-30 years to show up.

When it does start to show up, we are going to have a ton of pulmonary cripples in the country lugging around oxygen tanks and praying for a transplant that will never come. 

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2 hours ago, Handyman said:

we are going to have a ton of pulmonary cripples in the country lugging around oxygen tanks and praying for a transplant that will never come. 

I kinda thought by now there'd be a cure for cancer, little nano machines to repair damaged tissue and all that.  Well, here we are, on the eve of 2020 and I STILL don't have a flying fucking car!!!

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4 hours ago, Scorpio64 said:

I kinda thought by now there'd be a cure for cancer, little nano machines to repair damaged tissue and all that.  Well, here we are, on the eve of 2020 and I STILL don't have a flying fucking car!!!

There 100% is a cure for cancer, but treating it is much more profitable than curing it...

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