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How do you quit smoking? My girl friend is dying from smoking and won't quit. Help! Anybody know?

michaelj 7 Feb 2
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1

it took me 2 heart attacks, a triple bypass, and dying. then I quit easily. I used chantrix and quit the second the mental urges were gone because chantrix makes you crazy. of course then I gained a bunch of weight. usetabe skinny but smokey. now I am fat and weedy.

Which do you prefer, now or then?

@michaelj now. by far. even fat.

0

I quit for 3 years once but had two deaths in the family close together and weakened. Had my husband not been such a selfish jerk, I may have weathered it but I didn't.

I quit again 11 years ago when I was forced to choose between smoking and transportation.

I had had cancer while going to college as an adult. Due to not working and having to pay half of my out of pocket in advance for treatment, I ended up behind on the student loan payments later on.

So my paycheck was garnished and it roughly came to the same amount as my truck payment.

So it was smoke or drive. Believe it or not, I spent a couple of days wondering if I could really bring myself to walk 3 miles to work at 3am before I realized I had no choice

I used expired patches and chantix. Had to stop taking chantix after a few weeks due to side effects but 11 years later I have saved over 43K by not smoking

I'm sorry to say that you cannot make her quit. All you can do is support her if she does but SHE has to decide for whatever reason that she is ready to do it.

I found out on a Saturday that my pay was garnished and had 7 packs left on a carton. That was my last carton.

2

I quit cold turkey, but I now vape because I missed how nicotine made me feel. But, to be clear, I quit and stayed nicotine free for over a year before deciding to start vaping. I am not recommending vaping as a quit smoking method, though it is safer than smoking (but I'm not sure how much safer, and there seems to be quite a debate about that).

There are cognitive issues with giving up nicotine that took forever to get better and I've considered vaping for the nicotine but I keep hearing about popcorn lung.

@Lucy_Fehr yeah, it is a concern to take seriously.

1

[committoquitct.com] quit cold turkey when I quit for good.

I had tried nicotine gum? And you just delay when you stop the nicotine.

I was really angry when I quit. I was done with being addicted.

I do think vaping is better for you and any drug store carries Blu ecigs or similar. She could taper to less nicotine that way - and the smell is gone.

1

i helped many of my students quit smoking. they asked for my help and i told them this:

  1. count how many cigs a day you smoke.
  2. divide that by 24.
  3. smoke that many cigs per hour, without fail. do not miss a smoke. if you're sleeping, wake up and smoke. if you're in class, excuse yourself and smoke. if you're making love to someone, stop and get up and smoke. do not miss a smoke.
  4. at the end of the week, or sooner if you can't take the sleep deprivation, the mockery and the inconvenience anymore, reduce that number by one. if it was one to begin with, cut the cig in half.
  5. at the end of a predetermined period of time, perhaps a week, certainly not longer, cut by one cig again, or adjust as in #4
  6. throw the cigs away. you will be so happy to be rid of them.

it works! it worked for my students. they were so happy, they came and told me!

g

2

Smoking is a terrible addiction and not an easy one to overcome. I am on day 10 of being smoke free. For me, I just can't justify $400+ a month of my discretionary income going up in smoke. It's not easy. Good luck xo

0

There are studies that suggest vaping is helpful in quitting.

Orbit Level 7 Feb 2, 2019
2

My mom smoked for more than 50 years. She quit cold turkey when she was diagnosed with emphysema. Then she died. From not being able to breath.

Like many have said here, your girlfriend needs to be personally motivated to quit. You can't do it for her.

She has emphysema

0

If it's killing her, like right now, then it's too late. If you're panicking because you think it might kill her eventually and wish her to stop, keep it to yourself you aren't her parent.

@goldenvalleyguy You can't make that kind of change for another person. And harping on about it just ensures they won't listen or they'll leave. It isn't a lack of compassion, it's like calling someone fat repeatedly, how exactly is that supposed to help? Best you can do is be there for them or walk away.

2

I'm sorry to tell you what has already been said here, but brother, there is nothing you can do. This one's out of your hands. Like any true addiction, the sufferer has to want to stop and do all the work to make it so.

Your role in their cessation if it happens is merely moral support. You just have to make peace with the fact that you love someone who is on a self destructive path that you can't change.

The only advice that I can offer you is to get a hold of some sort of 12 step/AA/NA program. They not only have the addict program, they also have programs for survivors and dependents in the addict's life.

Good luck!

Well said. It’s exactly how I feel about my alcoholic son.
Other family exhorted me: do an intervention, make him go to rehab.
I won’t. He’s an adult; I didn’t cause his drinking nor can I control it; rehab/recovery only works if the ADDICT wants it badly.
If they would stop from loved ones wanting it to happen, there’d be no addicts.

1

Quitting smoking can be done in one week. It's quitting the nicotine that's hard. I would recommend enrolling in a Stop Smoking class, and using the nicotine lozenges they give you. Start with the 4 mg, and then go to the 2 mg. I quit in 2014; and that's how I did it. Good luck!

@Biptu Yup. My mother quit 30 years ago and admits that she still wants one after a meal.

I have dreams occasionally that Im smoking. It is easier as time goes by but Ive noticed that lately, I want one more often than I would have expected

3

YOU can do nothing. She is hooked by the most extremely addictive substance known, nicotine. & it is legal. She has to do it & no one else. Do the research. It involves an entire change in the brain which is very uncomfortable. People who can not endure pain, or being uncomfortable generally succumb to the addiction without overcoming it. One has to be able to go thru the fire & few are willing or able. Me? I just put it down & that was it. But I can endure. Others can not.

1

The military throws Chantix at people and I've known a lot of people who have found that to be successful.

But, basically, she needs to WANT to stop.
PERSONAL responsibility. Either she takes control of her health and life or she just doesn't.

1

Have you tried taking CBD oil?

Researchers at the University College London published an article in the “Addictive Behaviors” journal which found that the non-psychoactive chemical in cannabis (by its scientific name “cannabidiol”, also known as CBD oil), could reduce the number of cigarettes consumed by smokers who wanted to quit.

I haven't read that study but my daughter started using the oil about a year ago and quit smoking cigarettes soon after

I had promised her kids a dog if she went 400 days without smoking because I was tired of them asking me for a dog and I'm an asshole so made it their mother's problem

Meet Lucy.

p.s. Her name is a coincidence as she was a shelter dog and already had that name but we found it amusing

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