What is the best and fastest way to quit smoking?

50 comments

1. J on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   I’ve managed to do it. After several attempts I must add. It’s hard but here’s what worked for me…

   Break your smoking habits. If you smoke when you drink, try not drinking for a while. If you smoke after meals eat some place where you can’t smoke. If you have a cigarette with your morning coffee, maybe you should stop the coffee for a while too.

   I know it sounds like giving up more than you have to but it will break the cycle and you can always use it as an incentive – I can start having a coffee again when I know I’m off the cigarettes.
   BTW – it might mean not hanging out with friends who are heavy smokers for a while too.

   I also tried to take up some new hobbies. Any physical activity is good because you burn off frustration and you need good lung capacity to do it.

   The other thing that got me through temptation was just thinking how stupid I was. First to spend money on cigarettes, then to spend even more money on stuff to make me stop smoking cigarettes.
   In fact, when ever a friend asks me for an incentive to stop I tell them to picture the fat cat tobacco industry executive making money from other people’s misery and then tell them that it’s your money they have. It’s true.

   The only other thing I will say is this – stop or don’t – "I’m cutting down before I stop, I’ll stop tomorrow, I’m on lights now" They all mean the same thing – I’m still smoking.

   Don’t feel bad if you do crack, just don’t plan to do it before you start.

   Hey, it’s hard but it can be done. Really it can. People stop all the time and you could be one of those people. Good luck.

2. jei on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   Locking yourself in a room for a week, but since that isn’t going to happen, just get some patches.

3. Dawn M on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   just throw them suckers away. thats how i did it.

4. Luckymumof2 on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   In the same boat right now, im using Champix.. But all u need is good old will power!!! Which i dont have. goodluck

5. Tracie on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   There is no best or fastest way to quiting smoking. Everyone is different. You have to choose what works for you the best and do that. It takes time to stop smoking since it is addictive. Patches are good but can cause an allergic reaction for some in the area you place them so make sure you get the right strength for what you smoke. The gum I have been told by many does not work for them at all. Most of my friends have told to quit smoking you just have to do it cold turkey. Put them down and don’t pick them back up. Replace a good habit with the bad habit you have. Stay busy, work out, visit friends, get involved in hobbies, and don’t leave yourself allot of free time to think about it. Try to get away from people who do smoke so your not tempted. You will have days where you fall to that temptation but just pick yourself back up and start again. One day at a time as it is a decision you have to make and do not that of drugs or patches.

6. RandomDorito on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   My Mum went to a Smoking Forum. They help a lot.

   And gum. Chew lots of gum.

7. Lauren on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   pray.

8. paul p on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   do it for yourself, not your girlfriend

9. john s on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

   why don’t you try the inhalator,

10. Didge on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Get your girlfriend to reward you for every week you stay smoke free. That would help.
    Also, try chewing gum. Your breath will smell nicer, rather than worse after a cigarette.
    If you still have cigarettes, take them all out of the packet, break them in half, and throw them in the bin happily, in front of others.
    Convince yourself that you’re not a smoker any more, and distance yourself mentally from those who are, and from the urges and lifestyle.
    You’re just 20 – the brain hasn’t finished forming quite yet. Far easier to break an addiction at your age than leave it even one or two years longer.
    Do yourself and your future kids and partner(s) a favour and quit.
    You want to be an ex-smoker, now become one. It’s the simplest thing in the world – just up to your will-power. Are you a man or a weakling who’s a drug addict? I know you want to be a man. Your girlfriend will respect you a lot when you give up. So share the above with her, and go do it!

11. peter m on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Keep smoking but go for a 1 mile run. Time yourself…just run around your neighbour hood.
    Stop smoking and use patches, they’re fab. Then go for another run 3 days after your last fag. Keep running each day and you will feel how much easier and faster you’re getting. This running means you can eat alot and keep off the weight.
    After a run the last thing you want is a fag.
    Good luck!

12. Daniel Sencier on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Look forward to the day when you kiss your girlfriend and she doesn’t have to taste your disgusting, stale breath anymore. Right now, whatever she tells you, kissing you must be torture for her! Is that not incentive enough my man????

13. FIONA D on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    the easy way is to throw the cigarettes and lighter away and save the money for something nice, hopes that helps

14. Stephen G on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I quit when I was told I had cancer…now in remission.

    If you want to quit quickly, take a visit to the cancer wards. See the faces of the small children.

15. jewybabe on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    alan carr cd ,fifteen pounds its the only way me, hubby,mam,and dad quit 3 years past easter do one cd per day for 5 days,never looked back,only regret i never did it 20 years ago, fantastic try and let me know its a winner

16. PaulK on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    You should try hypnotherapy, if you are serious it works!

17. Moby on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Hi, I’ve not had one since Sunday!
    I’m using ‘Alan Carrs Easy Way to Stop Smoking’ – good book!
    What I like about it is that it changes your mind set. We look at stopping smoking in a bad way I think…we think it’s going to be difficult… try the book and good luck, every time you stop is a learning experience.

    :-)

18. capricornians.dave on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    if you reely want to stop you will im 50 years old and i smoked since the age of 13 istoped cold turkey just go up the hospital and ask to c the people dying from smoking youl stop no prob all the best

19. martin r on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I started smoking when I was nine (I’m 68 now) and as an adult smoked cigarettes, cigars and a pipe. I once gave up for 2 years and later for 4, but always took it up again – usually, by just having one a day for a week or so before accelerating to where I was before. But, now I haven’t smoked at all for 26 years (sometimes I still want to!) Before finally stopping I smoked twice as much as normal until I really felt ill. Then I was pleased to give up. Despite quite a few stressful situations – work, divorce, health, moving house – I was determined not to smoke again and my stubborn willpower won!! Good luck, Martin

20. zd_sr1 on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    You must simply try to understand that you "will" suffer in the future and rise above those things you stick in your mouth and set fire to!! I cannot do this by the way, but I speak the truth none the less :)

21. Nightmare on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    A nicotine inhalator was what worked for me (30 a day for 30 years). Puffing on a nicotine inhalator is not as satisfying as a cigarette, but it does remove the craving for nicotine.

    It’s only the first week which is difficult and having a nicotine inhalator to turn to really does help.

    But you must want to give up more than you want another cigarette.

    Good luck.

22. joneseee on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    You’re half way there…if you are serious about quitting then just stop! Don’t make excuses, just do it.

    No need for patches or any of that other rubbish…it is all in mind – which is all down to you!

    Go do it!

23. John J on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Pick a day, then go cold turkey. Prepare yourself for what it is going to be like – you will have cravings, you will want to give in. You need a game plan, get alternatives ready so they are there when you need them. The first week or so will be the worst. I have found that cravings are temporary, they last 30 seconds or so, I tell myself, and say out loud, "I don’t WANT to smoke, I don’t NEED to smoke." Chewing gum helps, I have friends that have found inhalers useful. After a while of not smoking, you can then start to feel smug – "I don’t smoke anymore!" and feel good about your efforts. Giving in to cravings you have after that will undo all the good work you have done, and it will taste pretty awful, too. It will make you feel sick, and if you do it in front of friends/family, you will look a tw*t.

    I’ve quit a couple of times and been tempted back into the habit by Mary Jane, so don’t fool yourself you can do one and not the other.

    You’re only 20 years old, so you can’t have been smoking that long, it will be easier for you to do it now than in the future. Determination and willpower are your weapons.

    Good luck!

24. Jean J on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Tried it all, did everything. nothing worked except…… Alan Carr. It is still the best way, highest % success rate, leaves the NHS support system in the shade. Just buy the book. Alan Carr, The Easy Way.

    NHS should have adopted the system decades ago, would have saved hundreds of millions that they could have spent on operations and cancer treatments. Idiots. I went through the NHS system 3 times. They gave me all the lozenges, patches, support and just about everything else you can imagine. Alan Carr says the worst thing you can do is take nicotine substitutes. he is so right. I read the book and just quit, not prob, no putting on weight, no biting nails etc., nothing. I bet the only system in the answers that is constant will be Alan Carr, always is. Just do a search on questions about quitting and see how many answers say read Alan Carr’s book. It is the most regular answer you will see

    JUST READ THE BOOK. NO MATTER HOW BORING, HOW HARD. THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU CAN KEEP SMOKING WHILE YOU ARE READING THE BOOK, SO NO SWEAT, NO FEAR, NO WORRY. IT IS SO EASY

25. Jamie J on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I started smoking at 13 thought it was the cool thing to do (was the worst thing I ever did). 23 years later and have at long last stopped smoking for the last 6 months. I went to my Dr and as I have tried and failed with the patches and nicotine gum he said to try Champix pills. All I can say is that they are a miracle and would never go back to the cancer sticks. Have managed to save £1100 and am going on a nice holiday next month, try them and see. You wont regret it. Good luck.

26. Hu on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    make a date. Get patches and nicotine gum. Go to chinese acupuncturist and herbalist. Drink less alcohol. Walk more often. Give up patches and gum. Look at gunk coming from lungs. Persevere.

27. wey_te_go on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Hi man, I had been smoking many years until my friend bought me a book by allen carr, it is called the easy way to give up smoking, It worked for me, without the patches or pills, or nicotine replacements, it is an excellent book to read, it makes so much sense. Try and read the book, I am sure if you do, & you really want to quit, you will. good luck man.

28. Kelly S on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    After 8 years of smoking, I got myself all panicked and worked up because I could taste blood in my mouth. This scared me so much that I gave up smoking immediately! Complete cold turkey! Turns out it was just a problem with my gums, (god dammit!) which cleared up when I stopped! So my advice? scare yourself silly and you’ll give up no probs! Just sleep alot- helps with the cravings and you’ll find after 3-4 weeks your cravings should have gone! You’ll feel so much better, I promise!

    Yours 3 years quit

29. mon on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    i have smoked for 17 years 20/30 a day have now given up for 14 weeks just using willpower, its hard but it does get better time,just promise yourself not to smoke on that day, take one day at a time. i kept a diary of how i felt every day of not smoking and if you get a bad day look back,you will be amazed, good luck

30. mara on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Try Allen Carr’s Easy Way to stop smoking book it certainly worked for me he has a 90% rate of people giving up good luck

31. Wurzel on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I used http://www.whyquit.com.

    An excellent site promoting cold turkey nicotine cessation.

    Have a look for nothing it might just change your mind.

32. sherbetdrop on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Hi i start tomorrow (lol) GOOD LUCK
    to you hope this helps

    http://gosmokefree.nhs.uk/

33. jimmyjammyjamie on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Read Allan Carrs’s book Easy way to stop smoking. It’ll help you get your head right about quitting and you’ll find stoppin easy and enjoyable. It doesn’t work for everyone, but I know alot of people who’ve read it and then found quitting for good no problem.

    I used to smoke 20 a day, read the book, stopped straight away, it was sooo easy and I’ve never smoked in 3 years and I’m never tempted to

34. James B on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I was told by the Doctor no lecture he just said give up I was a 30+ a day smoker went outside lit a ciggy and thought he means that.Tried acupuncture of which I was cynical over 8 yrs ago and dont think I will ever smoke again I had 3 sessions but was fine after the first and have really yearned for one since

35. Tracey A on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Will power and good friends, once you actually spend a day, then 2 then 3 and so on……, not smoking then you realise it’s not as awful as you believed it would be! this doesn’t mean you will never fall off the wagon though. Be careful of believing you’ve cracked it too soon, it takes a long time.
    Patches really help with mood swings and i found taking ginsing kept my energy up (i found i got very woozy) Other smoking friends who may push cigarettes on you are not friends, stay away from them untill you’re strong (they will feel threatened by your will power)
    Lastly you will look fantastic within 8weeks of giving up, it makes such a difference in your skin, eyes, teeth, you’ll get a libido boost too.
    Bright blessings
    Filizoa

36. ? on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    You should go for sporting. Also, you should always remember that by smoking you are destroying your breathing system. Reading about smoking side effects and how that will affect your 40 year old age for instance can give you strong reason to appreciate the life and work very hard to protect yours.
    Swimming will help you to regain your concentration and will increase you will to protect that valued asset called "health".

37. ? on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I am 53 and have smoked since i was 10 years old.
    I stopped smoking 2 weeks today and don’tt use anything but, must admitt,it does torture you or (me)a few times every day.
    I am still coughing my guts up every morning for about 3 hours,but my breathing is getting better.
    Drinking beer does not bother me as much as th government helped in that department last year.

    Good luck!

    Duncan Mc.

38. CarolAdams1 on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I stopped smoking 3 years ago using Bioresonance therapy. I smoked 30 a day for 30 years and had NO cravings or withdrawal symptoms. It was easy. I have since started a stop smoking clinic in Spain and monthly clinics in UK. To date I have helped literally hundreds & hundreds. Email me if you would like more info. I cannot recommend this therapy highly enough. Good luck to you

39. John P on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I gave up 7 months ago. The only way that worked for me was to stop completely and not have any substitute, like patches or chewing gum. What I tried to do was to think in advance of all the reasons I would come up with why I could smoke again and prepare myself with all the answers. Each day I said to myself "tomorrow will be that little bit easier" and it was. Good luck in your efforts. If you really want to give up, you will.

40. craig n on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    why not try the new quit smoking Mirage electronic cigarette. its just like smoking a real cigarette in both looks and usage and it works out 80% cheaper, but theres no tobacco, no tar or toxins associated with a tobacco cig. it also comes in different strengths of nicotine and flavours. You just gradually use lower strength cartridges till you are on Zero nicotine, at the pace set by you. AND its LEGAL to use in PUBLIC PLACES. it also has a tip that glows GREEN so people don’t mistakenly think you are smoking a real banned cigarette. don’t waste time, start quitting now. Visit http://www.miragecigarettes.co.uk

41. JongeJonge on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I’ve done it cold turkey, but kept the habit. I was always outside at work smoking with others. what i do now is go out side and chat away but just don’t stop. Chewing gum (none of this Nicorette rubbish) is good for a distraction. plan ahead, know that at some point you will have another cigarette, but its a planned cigarette and that you won’t give up on giving up. Its a step by step stage, just believe you really can do it.

42. Paul on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Any addiction becomes bound up with rituals and routine.
    Like having a smoke after a meal, during breaks at work, after ‘significant’ ;) events etc..

    2/3 weeks before you give yourself a date to give up, break ALL of those routines.

    Have a smoke, when you don’t really want one.

    Have a smoke, when you would normally have planned to do something else.

    Buy a different brand, each time you need to top up supplies (and don’t let your addicted brain convince you to buy 400 duty free’s of your usual brand, to see you through to giving up day..) The foul taste of any brand, other than your usual – including menthols *%( will soon have you looking forward to that day. Believe me.

    DON’T have a smoke, when you would normally have one (after that ‘significant’ event, etc..)

    Buy lolly pops and have one of those instead (Telly Savalas made it his trade mark, unfortunately too late to prevent him from dying of lung cancer..so best do it now)

    On the appointed giving up day, search your house for ANY smoking-related stuff and throw it all away.

    Then repeat the mantra ‘I’m not an ex-smoker, I just don’t smoke’, any time you’re tempted.

    Hold your breath, when you walk past anyone having a fag.

    If you get to 6 months without a fag, you’ll believe that, when you smoked, your body was taken over by aliens.

43. Jamie M on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Half of smoking is being aware of your own breathe,
    so breathe next time you want one, three short in breathes and one long out breathe works for me (this breathe also used in kungfu, as a technique before engaging in combat) or one deep long in and out breathe, be aware of the air leaving the tip of your nose as you breathe out, (helps your brain to think about something else)

    when the breathe thing stops working (which it will as your brain is very clever and it will tell you ‘you still want the cigarette’, try and meditate as best you can in the circumstances your in, whether in a group of people or just with your girl, knowone will know what your thinking, just focus on something and let your five senses create it, you’ll have to read up on meditation as it’s a big subject (and widely used in western medicine)

    Eventually something in your mind will convince you to light up, whether it be within the minute you think about it or a year from when you stopped

    Allan Carr’s ‘easyway to stop smoking’ is useful to read,

    He doesn’t recommend taking any NRT drugs but I think you should try it and see if it helps, it will certainly supply you with nicotine which although is very addictive it’s also easy to give up with no long lasting withdrawal sympton effects, gum and patches have worked for a lot of people,

    most importantly don’t knock yourself if you light up, you haven’t failed, if they never existed you wouldn’t be in this position
    (thankyou government and media!) but do start this wonderful process of training your brain to be a friend to you dont let it work against what you want to achieve. youll get there my son =)

44. mal.macg on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I have been nicotine free for 3 weeks now. I am 48 and have been smoking for 30 years.

    I have not used patches or gum or anything other than Polo’s.

    I read a book by Alan Carr.

    The easyway to stop smoking. It cost me a fiver from Amazon.

45. mike on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    start counting your cigrates smoke and drop 1 everyday,that will make easy to quit.it’s really difficult to quit suddenly, dropping one everyday
    can make ur hunger less for nicotine.

46. richard d on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    try buying two nicotine patches and stick one over each eye.. that way you wont be able to find your fags.

47. K R on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I gave up 5 years ago after smoking for 10 years and my boyfriend hated it. I loved smoking but I promised to read the Allen Carr book – The easy way to stop smoking. I read it all in one day – you smoke while you read and by the end of the book it says you won’t really want the last cigarette it tells you to smoke. True enough I didn’t and I even went out that night to celebrate his 30th birthday and it was fine, I went out the next night and there were smokers in the group and it was still fine. I can’t believe how easy it was and since then my mam and dad have both read it and stopped. I can’t recommend it enough but I would suggest that you shut yourself in a room, tell people not to bother you and read it from cover to cover with a packet of fags. Good luck! I’ve never been tempted since I stopped.

48. phil c on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    read allen carr’s easy way to stop smoking, followed by only way to stop smoking – easily, painlessly without patches or other substitutes.

    i’ve done it and don’t miss the fags.

49. pinkgirl on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    try looking at someone who is forty plus and has been smoking for years….pay special attention to their teeth and the wrinkles on their skin yuck!…now think that is what i will look like in twenty years..its guaranteed that you will…keep an image of this person in your head and every time you feel like a cig think of this person…this worked for me so far I’m thirty and smoked thirty a day i’m now off them seven months!well good luck you can so do it .remember you have to do it for yourself at the end of the day

50. REG B on August 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Visit your local chest clinic and ask yourself "Do I want to be one of these patients?"

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