Put the cigarettes DOWN

I'm trying to cut back. I have to. I cannot afford this anymore. I'm having problems. I have ZERO self control. I'm a slave to the cigarette!!

Anyone else trying to quit or cut back? How are my fellow nicotine slaves doing?

Since I got on hormone replacement I've cut my smoking in half and have gone from regular Marlboro to Lights. Yay! I don't have to use the Ventolin anymore. Yes I do still smoke but I'm doing better.

Heres a trick. Just smoke half a cig at a time.

That's a good idea, z! Thanks.

I'm in the same boat Raspberry....I can't afford this nonsense anymore. I plan to quit in a few weeks. I will keep trying until it sticks. My best friend quit for several months and just started back up so we'll probably be quitting together which will hopefully make things easier.

I used to smoke cigarettes among other things to cope but it just made everything worse. My anxiety skyrocketed. My mom helped me quit by taking away the cigs, etc and making sure I didn't buy them. It took awhile but it eventually worked! I haven't smoked in 3 years.

I've been trying for months. No use! Can't quit, and I don't want to blame it on my schizophrenia, but it really does help.

I do pretty well on weekends and evenings, but I smoke a TON in the mornings when I have to work. Just can't seem to shake it.

I need to...it's so hard, I'm smoking a little over a pack a day and smoking the cheapest I can find...they are so harsh

I'm trying again on after this weekend. I got a different e cig with higher nicotine so hopefully that helps with the anxiety and depression. I want to quit so bad but I don't want to feel like **** while doing it. But I guess I'll have to feel like **** for awhile. I just have to keep trying, eventually it will stick.

I want to quit eventually, but I'm just not ready yet. Was rolling my own with my rolling machine. But I've gone back to buying cartons.

I hate cigs when I'm sober because they make my anxiety ten times worse--each sober cig is like drinking 4 coffees at once. Yet as soon as I'm drunk, a switch goes off in my mind and I love them. I wish I could stop but that would also mean stopping alcohol. Could be worse I guess.

I did a good job yesterday. Six cigarettes. Maybe I'll be able to self control myself today and get down to four, which is what I need to get down to.

Question: Does your nicotine need go down when you cut back? Or am I perma going to be nicotine fitting now?

I am trying to quit but finding it hard

I just smoked my last cig from my pack. Attempting to quit beginning now. I normally would have three more before bed. I have the e cig so hopefully that will help. I respect you raspberry. I cannot cut back. If I have them, I smoke them. I have to cut myself off. I have to dump all my ashtrays too bc I WILL smoke the butts if I get desperate enough. I'm not too sure how this will go. But I'm going to try.

Best of luck. I vape some, but think I can cut that out without too much hassle if I want.

Best of luck, Raspberry, I know how brutal it is. A few months ago I switched to e-cigarettes and discovered that I actually really like them. That I know of, there isn't evidence out there that they're better for you than real cigarettes, but I've found that I no longer have any chest congestion or cough, yeaaaa.

That said, depending on how much you smoke, they're not cheap either.

Obviously, it's better to quit entirely. I think I might like the e-cigs too much, though, but that said, if you don't like them too much, it might be a good stepping stone towards quitting. Then you can go down to Nicorette, etc.

Best of luck to you, Raspberry, and all those who are quitting. I haven't had a cigarette in over a year and I still crave them every now and then.

Quit two years Feb, 2017. In response to, does nicotine craving go down when you smoke less? I went from quitting cigarettes to the lowest dosage of patches and gum for 3 months. So yes, I guess I got used to less nicotine but I hated both the patches and the gum. I had bad dreams even if I took the patch off at night, and the gum hurt my mouth. When I quit the nicotine products I went into extremely deep withdrawal, and had panic attacks, and a lot of other crap. I think eventually you lose the craving altogether. This happened to me at about 14 months. But each time I do something new that I have never done without smoking (such as recently moving) it seems really hard, and I feel sorry for myself, and wonder if I will ever mentally get over quitting smoking. I think it is different for everyone. Two years is a long quit for me and I am pretty happy about it, but my anxiety and depression seem permanent. Why else am I always on Psych Central? My physical health is so vastly improved it is a miracle. I'm training for a half-marathon...a far cry from the coughing gray-faced smoking zombie I used to be. Peeps, you can do it!

But don't you vape nic?

There's evidence that people who vape go back to cigarettes more frequently than those who quit nicotine altogether. Sad. But maybe true because everyone I know who vaped went back to cigarettes.

That really sucks, I really should read up more on this.

That said (not that it has to make much of a difference, clinically speaking), I'm not 'vaping' per se, it's something that looks and feels (though heavier) like an actual cigarette and there isn't much vapor (compared to vaping). This is, in part, why I like it so much, it really does feel like smoking, just without that ashy taste and chest congestion. It's a brand called Blu, don't know if anyone here knows it? Anyone had any experience with it?

Is it an ecig? I don't nothing anything about Blu or vaping. Does it have nicotine?

I enjoy the Blu e-cigs too. I've tried a few brands and it's my favorite. I prefer using my box vape though...it's by a brand called Kanger Tech I believe.

Yeah, an ecig. I think vaping has a different delivery system than ecigs (or at least the Blu ones) that isn't as much like a cigarette; this one is pretty similar to one. As I say, not as much actual vapor as 'vaping.' Yeah, it has nicotine. The lower part of the 'cigarette' is a 'tank' that you buy, which has the nicotine in it. You recharge the upper part in a charger (which kind of looks like a Star Trek-like cig case) and it can be recharged many many times. Then you screw it into the lower part (the tank). My charger has lasted months already. The nicotine 'tanks' don't last very long, or not for me, and they can get pretty expensive. They have different flavors but I always get the regular 'classic tobacco' ones. Sorry about advertising Blu, but I really like it. I can't imagine going back to regular cigarettes. Quitting these, though, is something else entirely. Ugh...