
Ask HN:  How did you quit smoking? - dasht
I know this is a little off the topic of how to make a great start-up but I figure it's on-topic for mutual support and for an issue that prbly effects many of us stressed out types.  How did you quit smoking and is it a complete fantasy to imagine getting it down to like, 7 or fewer per week when starting from an accidental habit (roughly half-pack / day, in my case).
======
cycojesus
I read a famous quit-smoking book on the advice of my (still smoking) brother.
I was dubious of the thing, feeling all superior and thinking that I was too
smart to be changed by a small cheap book. I was wrong. i finished to book and
quit, just like that, went cold turkey. no craving, no withdrawal feeling,
nothing. I even did what you should never do which is to smoke just-the-one to
see, didn't fall back. It amazes me that I never ever think about smoking. I
just have these meta thoughts sometimes when I smell cigarettes about how I
should feel something about it but don't.

It's a truly amazing book that read in a few hours and simply states very
simple facts about smoking, the kind that you know but refuse to know. It
force you to reconsider your smoking. That cigarette in the morning feels
good? (no it doesn't) The one after lunch? (neither)... Step by step you
naturally come to realize that every justification for smoking, all the fear
of withdrawal, all the drama around smoking has no foundation.

You can just quit. Don't mess around with excuses, just quit. Next time you
want to smoke just think "Not worth it" and forget it. But read the book.

EDIT: Allen Carr <https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Allen_Carr>

~~~
pmjoyce
I can't recommend the Allen Carr strongly enough. It simply changed my mindset
on smoking and quitting in such a fundamental way that I couldn't help feeling
great about stubbing out my last smoke and actively looked forward to some
withdrawal pangs.

You don't use any nicotine replacement (gum, e-cigs, patches...) and it's not
stressful like the willpower method (I tried a plethora of different ways to
quit in the past) and the process is quite quick. I procrastinated on reading
the book (looking back I was afraid) but eventually decided to bite the bullet
and book myself in for a 5hour group clinic session.

The session took place in December 2008. I walked in at 9am afraid, skeptical
and wondering whether I was really in the right frame of mind to quit. I
extinguished my last cigarette at 2pm that day and have felt great about it
since. I know I sound like an evangelist but this is one product I'll shout
about. Colour me a fanboy.

Ping me if you would like more details.

------
NginUS
When I quit it was cold turkey, I'd keep saying to myself, 'You only _think_
you want a cigarette' to stay reminded that really I don't. Plus, a couple
years earlier I watched my father die of lung cancer, although he never
smoked- so as bad as that was, it helped to an extent. I assure you, it's NOT
how you want to go.

~~~
pstuart
I quit many times in many ways, each time because I wanted to stop smoking. It
was only when I didn't want to smoke that it actually stuck. Maybe that's too
zen-like, but that's my story.

Unless one is a chipper (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipper_(tobacco)>),
it's an all or nothing thing. Just let go.

------
RoyceFullerton
I have quit three times now for more than a year each time. I have a really
addictive personality so it is all or nothing with me. When I start back up I
am quickly back to a pack a day in no time. I have quit twice with patches and
most recently with a prescription drug called Champix or Chantix.
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varenicline>) They all work, the key is once I
have quit, I can't have just one cigarette, or else I am back (all or
nothing).

Just pick a method and don't let you talk yourself into having just one. After
I turned 22 I realized it was about time for longterm damage to start and it
wasn't socially cool anymore at that age.

Good luck!

------
klancaster
I was a 3+ pack/day smoker for many years. Quit cold-turkey 27 years ago. I
had tried Shick (electric shock aversion therapy), some sort of injection, you
name it. Just quitting finally worked. Many days of being non-functional, but
I've never gone back.

------
headstorm
I smoked for nearly 25 years, mostly at a pack a day or more. Several winters
ago, I ran out of money except for rent and food, and had no other reason to
leave the house besides cigarettes and exercise. Depression prevented the
latter, and I told myself that I wasn't up for talking to strangers for the
former.

As my supply dwindled, I rolled the butts into second generation cigarettes.
And then those into third generation. Finally I ended with a fourth generation
cigarette, the nastiest thing I've ever smoked - and it took me days to finish
it.

That cigarette, plus overwhelming amotivation to leave home, was my cold
turkey route to quitting successfully after hundreds of tries with other
methods.

------
japanesejay
I've been a smoker for 10+ years and quit cold turkey.

I actually tried chantix first and took it for a week and started getting
depressed which lead to suicidal thoughts. I should have looked up the side
effects first (duh! i know). Anyway after that crazy little mind f __*, i just
told myself that im going to quit cold turkey. Quitting cold turkey is rough,
it sucks, its not easy but you gotta go through it. There are no shortcuts, no
easy way out and no excuses. Just realize that once you truly commit, it gets
easier as time passes. Its hard to believe that it gets easier when you're
going through it but its true. For me (as well as other HNers), being stubborn
I think was a key factor in getting over it.

Things that helped me cope: \- Drink juice, real 100% not from concentrate
pineapple juice helped me "cleanse my palette". \- Stop over eating / eating
greasy foods. It was a HUGE trigger for my smoking craving. Find your triggers
and try to avoid them. One thing that really sucked was I had to stop
attending my daily starbux sessions. Change is sometimes good. =) \- Be in the
right mind set. It helps if there is someone to support you. There are support
groups and sites out there. Let your pride/ego go and ask for help. At least
you can be somewhat anonymous online. \- I hear running/ working out helps but
I'm not much of a workout guy. Yoga and breathing exercises do help. Look up
"breathing Yoga" to learn some techniques.

Again, there are a lot of resources out there to help. I hope that you got
some good insight in this thread. Good luck!

------
aklemm
After trying to quit several times, I never got to a point where the cravings
were manageable. It seemed I would have to learn to live with the cravings, so
two years ago I attempted cold-turkey and made it two months while wanting a
cigarette most of the time.

Then a great thing happened; I started to think about it less and less. After
4 months I almost never thought about it, and cravings were very rare. The two
or three cigarettes I've tried since quitting tasted just awful and made me
nauseated.

Good luck.

~~~
mxyzptlk
> After trying to quit several times

I think that's an important point. Even if you don't quit this time, you have
to keep trying.

I tried to quit at least six or seven times before finally succeeding eight
years ago. The last time, I used nicotine gum for about a week. Before that, I
had quit for up to a month, more than once, with help from either the patch or
gum. All my relapses came during social situations.

------
jeebusroxors
YMMV:

I was up to a pack a day when I quit. I begun by realizing my habits. About
once an hour I'd get up and go outside for a smoke.

When I decided to quit (the first time) all I did was delay to my next
"appointment". In other words - get to work at 7am, 8am comes around and you
want to go smoke. At this point I would squirm, fidget and think about the
smoke, but not actually do it until 9am. Continue this process through out the
day. I also kept my associative smokes (getting in the car, finishing a beer,
having a coffee etc) in tact at this point. These served as a familiar refuge
from the shock I was going through during the day.

I did this for a week or two (until it became easy), then applied the same
process (recursion!) to my current habits.

Somewhere along the line, when I felt comfortable I took out some of the
associatives (only have a smoke when I drive to work, not coming home).

I kept repeating this until I was down to 2 - 3 a day, then one day (without
prior planing) said I was going to make it the whole day. I don't think it
worked, but I kept trying every once in a while.

The first time I used this process I quit for a few months. The second (and
current time) has been about 8. I still want to smoke from time to time.

Once again - YMMV but I didn't really WANT to quit. I liked smoking, but my
unparalleled stubbornness helped me get through.

------
junkbit
I had an A5 piece of cardboard on my bookshelf in full view and every Monday
I'd put another mark on it with a felt tip in groups of 5 like |||| + \

The idea was to have four rows of 13 notches for the 52 weeks of the year.

After about 6-7months I didn't need it anymore, but I still keep it to this
day as a memento. It really helped to look up at it every time I had a craving
and think 'look how far you have come'

It will be four years in October since I stopped smoking. I smoked for half of
my life from 13-26

------
iacvlvs
Every time someone would tell me that they used to smoke or that they'd quit,
I'd ask them how they managed it. Over time some started smoking again, some
didn't, and a pattern emerged.

The critical factors I identified were a public commitment to stop smoking and
a definite future date to quit.

Having the date set in advance, a few months away, gives you time to mentally
prepare yourself, gets you used to the idea of becoming a non-smoker, and adds
a very helpful fallback of "I really want to smoke, but I'm not going to throw
away all those months of effort".

Making a public commitment (i.e. telling everyone who'll listen that you'll be
quitting on [date]) makes your quitting date a bit more important, meaningful
and harder to change your mind about as it approaches. It also increases the
cost of recidivism: you'd have to admit you failed.

My doctor was one of the people I told about my intention to quit. He offered
to prescribe a course of Zyban and I believe it made a huge difference. Just
make sure you find out how long you're supposed to take the Zyban before
quitting, and start taking it sufficiently in advance of quitting day.

Good luck!

------
kxs
It was cold turkey for me too. I didn't have any money left and no tobacco in
the house. So I just stopped. I used to smoke quite a lot; usually hand-rolled
cigarettes (non-filter) and about 35-40 a day. (Had been smoking for about 2
1/2 years up until then) It was rough the first couple of days, but it got
better pretty quick. I tried to distract myself, with some video games, worked
out pretty well, played for hours straight.

But I haven't had much problems quitting any habbits thus far. Overall I get
hooked quite fast, but if I try to ignore and overcome the need for e.g.
playing Quake Live( or something like that) I seem to don't care anymore after
2-3 days. (until I play again)

I still want to smoke from time to time, because I really liked it, but the
desire usually vanishes 10min later.

------
thecircusb0y
Buy gum instead, and chew. Seriously. I won't say I quit smoking completely,
because I have a cigar on holidays or during celebration, but I haven't bought
a pack of cigarettes in years. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, It
really made me think, so I went cold turkey and I chewed dentyne ice
peppermint gum whenever I wanted a cigarette. Eventually the store bought
cigarettes really became gross to me, and the only tobacco I have now is cured
tobacco from a smoke shop, sheisha, or a good cigar. Other then that, my daily
routine absolutely rarely includes smoking. You don't need a cigarette when
you drive. You don't need a cigarette when you drink. You don't need a
cigarette to walk to the car. You don't need a cigarette.

------
jasonrojas
I quit cold turkey last year. August 28th it will be one year exactly. I have
been smoking off and on since High school. All off times were accomplished
just by not smoking. Every time I have started back up It was not a big deal.
I guess this time it is different, I came to the conclusion that smoking does
nothing for you, it spends your money, that is all. I replace smoking with
cycling, nothing too major but definitely something positive. As for your goal
of getting to X perday, bad idea, you always fail, I always failed, every
smoker I know fails at that goal. If you are going to quit, then quit. Wht is
stopping you from quitting completely?

------
gexla
For me it's not so much a physical addiction as it is a habit. I'm a web
developer and I feel like I have to smoke to think through a problem or for an
excuse to step away from the keyboard for a few minutes. I need to find an
alternative.

------
3fiddyz
Been off cigarettes for a few years now, and never want to start up again,
specially with the super high prices we pay in Australia now, a pack of 20's
are almost $15 AUD.

I quit by using patches for 3-4 days to get over the worst of the withdrawals,
then went turkey, it's rough, but you just have to suck it up, try to exercise
a lot, tell all your friends your quiting so they will hassle you if you fall
off the wagon, think of the money your saving and try to stay positive, the
first week is brutal.

------
pavelludiq
i smoke about 1-2 cigarettes a day. Sometimes it rises to about half a pack if
im in a social setting. Since im a nerd, thats rare(maybe once a week). Every
time I've smoked more than a pack a day, heavy drinking was involved.

Maybe im one of the lucky ones, I'm not as addicted to smoking as i am to
caffeine, I can go for days or weeks and not bother to buy a pack(unless i
know that there will be heavy drinking tonight), but if i miss one daily cup,
well i believe most HN-ers know whats it like to have your whole sleeping
schedule messed up for days.

Smoking i actually enjoy, i enjoy good coffee too, but im more worried about
the withdraw, i was never worried about nicotine withdraw, so i don't conciser
it a real addiction, not like coffee at least. Im not in a rush to quit, but i
am careful, i don't want a second habit to turn into a hard addiction.

Or maybe it has and im just rationalizing my addiction. A tip if you really
want to quit: don't rationalize, there is no rational reason to smoke, i smoke
because i enjoy it, and the joy is just a chemical reaction in my brain. Don't
rationalize, there is no rational reason. Just quit and be done with it. Don't
think too much. Best way to kill an addiction is to starve it.

------
dasht
I'm really appreciating all the reports.

One of the folks in my dental office suggested (a) use mouthwash and, ideally,
dental floss after each lapse; (b) make a chart and track your progress - make
a game of it. That kind of jives with the patches, lozenges, etc. and adds
some twists.

Seems stupid, doesn't it? Don't want to smoke? Well, then don't! But... some
know... it's easy to make a long series of "Ok, just one more."

~~~
cycojesus
I don't agree with the "make a game of it" approach. It sets you for failure
as it keeps the smoking in your thoughts constantly. It also makes a lot of
drama about something that is really very easy, want to stop smoking? just
never light that next cigarette, never. Forget that next cigarette, forget
smoking, forget all the reasons that makes you think you have to smoke and
forget all the drama about quitting. What ever the situation the next
cigarette will make it worse. (see my other comment too)

------
jolan
I switched to an e-cigarette All the sensation of smoking without the
carcinogens and smell. More info here:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cigarette>

And here's where I order my gear from:

<http://www.puresmoker.com/>

------
starkfist
I smoked 1 pack a day for about 6 years. I used the Alan Carr book and just
quit one day. For me, the most important part of the book was being informed
that I didn't just have a bad habit, I was a drug addict. I don't like the
idea of being addicted to something.

------
technophiliac
i "accidentally" quit.. had no intention of quitting permanently but i was
working two jobs at the time.. i measured how much time i was losing to
smoking.. 5 min/stick.. that it'd be good if i was being paid for _that_ time
instead; like another hour or so a day.

i used nicotine gum to avoid the trip outside to smoke.. at least i could get
my nicotine fix while still in front of the PC.. was like this for months then
transitioned to ordinary gum.. that's the time when my will was really put to
the test.

worked for me.. never smoked another cigarette since i went down this road..
nicotine-independent now for two years.

btw.. i've been a heavy smoker (1.5-2 packs/day) for 22 years straight, before
this.

------
icey
I used nicotene lozenges with great success. However, it was a bitch to quit
the lozenges because I stayed on them for way too long.

In the end, I wished I had just gone cold turkey. Quitting was totally worth
it though (pack a day habit).

------
abalashov
I did a pack a day for about 2.5-3 years. It's kind of funny, actually; I
worked out and ran very strenuously during that same period of time, in stark
contradiction with my smoking. :)

I tried quitting cold turkey several times, and it just didn't work. But I am
not nearly as disciplined and goal-focused as I think many HNers are. So, I'll
describe what I see as a "realistic" path for quitting that incorporates the
common fallabilities of stimulant-prone, somewhat indolent nerds with plenty
of bad habits, rather than idealistic supermen full of improbable willpower
and an obsessive interest in veganism, yoga, body purification, etc.

To start with, meditate on the fact that 99% of the cigarettes you smoke are
really "maintenance" cigarettes; there is no buzz, there is no genuinely
pleasurable "high." You had that when you first started smoking, and that's
why you kept smoking, but that feeling long went away. The only time you're
going to get a buzz anymore - if you're lucky - is with your first cigarette
in the morning. The rest of the time, you only think you're getting "higher";
in fact, your nicotine levels have just dropped, and all you're doing is
replacing them back to "normal" level in order to avoid the irritability of
withdrawal. Focus intensely on the pointlessness of this for a while, and
decide you should quit if for no other reason than that alone.

I don't think I could've done it without the nicotine gum. The gum really
helped. The delivery format was key; I tried patches first, but they neither
provide that feeling that something is going on orally that smokers want, nor
deliver nicotine fast enough in sufficient volumes. When you chew gum, it hits
you 30 seconds in, so you satisfy the craving _now_, not in 45 minutes.

Like many technocratic novelty seekers, I tried the e-cigarettes, which were
neat but proved to be a basically useless gimmick that didn't solve the
problem to my satisfaction. They also broke too fast to function as a viable
replacement; these products are of very terrible quality. The other thing
about e-cigarettes is that there's nothing to stop you from puffing on them
all day inside, which is exactly what I did. That sort of misses the point,
and has plenty of unpleasant side effects. Besides, I'm sceptical that
breathing in whatever is in them, however allegedly carcinogen-free and
undeniably tar-free it is, is an asset to one's health.

I did continue chewing the (4 mg) gum for a lot longer than their 12-week
instruction book suggests (probably about 9 months), but eventually got off of
it too. I don't think it's because the gum is really particularly addictive;
I'm just very easily given to form new consumption habits. It's really is a
lot easier than quitting cigarettes because it doesn't have quite the same
cognitive feedback, even if it is nicotine, although you do need to have a
firm commitment to quitting it as well, and keep in the forefront of your mind
that it is a transition tool.

Also, 4 mg gum is designed for people who do 25+ cigarettes a day, while the 2
mg version is for people who do a pack or less. Because I did slightly less
than a pack a day, the 4 mg version was actually a pretty high - and sometimes
overwhelming - dose. It dehydrated me and irritated my bowels. This turned out
to actually be a good thing because it provides negative feedback that
incentivises quitting the gum.

As I said, the gum is not nearly as addictive as some say it is, at least, not
if you really hit it hard. It's too much of a "good" thing. Call it a little
nicotine aversion therapy. I suppose this is an unusual approach and may be
not for everyone, since the idea is to ween yourself off nicotine by cutting
back. I kind of did the opposite and lost my taste for nicotine by blasting
myself with it in this manner. I don't know that this is the best approach in
general, especially if you don't tolerate the side effects of gum overuse
well, but since your question is about how _I_ quit smoking, I tell you what
worked for me.

The strongest pressure for me turned out to be social; even with the gum, the
other thing that probably made the single biggest difference was going hermit
for about ~2 months and not really seeing most of my close friends, almost all
of whom smoke -- some only "socially", but nevertheless, the point is that
smoking is what we'd do when we hung out. Smoking with them was just force of
habit at that point, not really nicotine cravings per se. It has an intensely
psychological dynamic.

I won't say I haven't had a single cigarette during this intervening time. Of
course I've had some while out drinking with friends. But it's been more than
a year since I properly quit and find that I am now at the point where
cigarettes slightly disgust me (in a non-inebriated context) and under no
circumstances do I find myself wanting to continue smoking on my own after I
get back home. I don't even know why I do it once in a while with them; it's
stupid. It's definitely not because I any longer derive any sort of
perceptible satisfaction in breathing in smoke, especially since it irritates
your respiratory tract a lot more if you only do it very sporadically. It's
social inertia, I suppose - maybe a little bit of that feeling of solidarity
that all smokers commune in now that it's been relegated to the margins as a
seedy, non-mainstream habit. I'm not mentioning it to discourage you, but only
in keeping with my claim to provide a "realistic" assessment above. All other
things being equal, cultivating non-smoking friends makes things easier, but
one doesn't generally choose one's friends that way.

An important thing to remember is that the rituals, habits and experiences
associated with a smoke break should probably be preserved, just without the
smoking. If you give up those too, you will find yourself unnecessarily
miserable and feeling like you gave up far more than you have to. There is a
strong point of view out there that you should jettison habits associated with
smoking because they act as "triggers" and impede positive reinforcement, but
personally, this was not my experience. It's far more important to find new
ways and angles from which to enjoy the same stuff you used to do with a
cigarette without a cigarette (which, after all, is probably a huge range of
stuff) than to try to bend and contort your lifestyle and behaviour in
improbable, contrived ways!

So, if you liked to drink and smoke, keep drinking, just don't smoke. If you
liked to take a break with a cigarette and a cup of coffee several times a
day, keep taking a break with the coffee. If you like going downstairs on
smoke breaks with your coworkers because of the feeling of taking a break,
keep doing that, but without the smoking, though be weary of the danger of
putting yourself in situations where everyone else is smoking and you're not;
if you can find some other way to take a "break" from work, I would.

In general, the theme here is that you should basically continue the habits
you had in connection with smoking, whether they're good or "bad" habits,
because otherwise you'll crave those experiences too, and it'll make things
that much worse. It is likely to seriously jeopardise the sustainability of
your quitting project.

Invent new habits, and new rituals that you can do without smoking, too. While
I was on the gum, I invented a new way of taking a "break" and checking out of
the drudgery of the universe; instead of going out on the balcony and
surveying the world, cigarette in hand, I'd pop in a piece of gum and play
BZflag for a half hour. It seems kind of trivial, is certainly not productive,
and, well, nobody said the gum is really good for me either, but it was soon a
ritual I looked forward to in place of a smoke break. It's those kinds of
little reinforcement modifications that make all the difference. They new
kinds of rituals furnish new qualia to associate with them, and new junctures
in the passing of time to look forward to.

I still sit outside on my balcony and code, just with a cup of coffee or tea
more commonly in hand now, not with cigarettes. However, I got a new, much
improved outdoor table set, so in this tiny but nevertheless important way, I
feel like I've moved on to a newer, better era in my life; it's a little treat
for not smoking outside anymore. You need those treats.

Notably, nicotine impedes absorbtion of caffeine, meaning you need more
caffeine to get the same effect as a nonsmoker. Giving it up has made me
appreciate my coffee a lot more.

Also, periodically reading through <http://www.whyquit.com> and looking at all
those charts that tell you what happens 1, 2, 12, 24, 72 hours, X days, X
years, after you quit is also a great inspiration to keep at it.

One last thing worth mentioning, in which I will take a page from
whyquit.com's sanctimonious narrative, is that you should not, under any
circumstances, fall into the trap of believing that you're going to quit by
simply cutting down. For most people, including myself, attempts to quit by
going down to "only 3 a day" or some similarly inane idea will result in
complete futility. You're not doing yourself any favours at all with that
approach because by taking that route, you're saddling yourself with all the
misery of magnified withdrawal because you're smoking less, while not doing
anything that's going to make that withdrawal go away. In this suggestion -
however well-intentioned - lies madness and oblivion. Don't do it.

------
lsb
I saw three great-aunts and one grandfather die before I was over 18 from
cigarettes and related effects, so I never dreamed of starting.

------
dasht
Well, after carefully planning to "ramp down" over the next week or so, I woke
up this morning, thought "screw that", and quit cold.

------
lani
went overboard, was doing 3 packs in 2 days, quit cold turkey, and have been
reading reddit (and now hacker news) every day since.

------
coderdude
I smoked a pack a day for about 5 years. Tomorrow is my last day of using the
Nicoderm patch. I've been using it for 10 weeks and I used their 3-step
program. It was rough because the patch kicks your ass physically, but it's
been well worth it. My chest doesn't hurt anymore and I can breathe easy. I
suggest using the patch.

------
spooneybarger
Get really drunk and smoke something like 3 packs of cigs in one night. Even
the smell of a cigarette will make you want to vomit for most of the initial
withdrawal period.

