Quitting smoking - side effects?

Try Allen Carr's easy way to quit smoking................ you won't believe how easy it really is... A MUST READ for ANYONE that wants to QUIT smoking.... You will be rushing to get to the last chapter " Your Final Cigarette" no scare tactics,, just honest discussions from a former 100 a day smoker - it really is the easiest way,,,, I never quit for longer than 4 hours cold turkey,,,, I am on my 12th day and really have had no problems....... he un-brainwashes you from the unconscious brainwashing you have had over all the years you have been smoking,,,,

I quit smoking, after 30 years, two months ago, no patch, gum, pills or whatever. I have zero will power when it comes to smoking and never could 'ween' myself off of it. I tried everything and finally just did it cold turkey. The physical effects of withdrawal aren't nearly as bad as a bout of flu, uncomfortable but not debilitating. What is unsettling is the emotional beating the addiction administers. I have to deal with life differently now, without a cigarette. Taking a deep breath or a short walk, rather than lighting up, doesn't come naturally and so the cravings persist. Just keep trying until you figure out what works for you and then hang in there.

I quit smoking while listening to Allen carrs Easy Way to Quit Smoking...I downloaded it off itunes for $20.00. I have been a Pack a day smoker and sometimes 2 pack depending on stress in my life or if having a drink. It has been 3 weeks now and the funny thing was i never really had intended to quit when i listened to it.. i was super stressed and just went and locked myself in the office to get away from the kids and my husband ,, thought i might as well put it on and by god i am glad i did ..the withdrawals were just about nothing ,.. usually i would be a blubbering mess after a day.. i breezed thru .. the kids and my husband were shocked ..i had more patience ..more time for them and myself ..it beats down the monster we are leaving with ..if you have quit and are struggling mentally download Allen Carr and listen A.S.A.P ..an hour into it i actually panicked.. but i kept going .. It is hard to explain but once you listen you will understand ..you will find your freedom.. After a week i joined a fitness group i have lost 3 kilos.. and am so switched on it is ridiculous. The only problem i have had which has bothered me heaps and has taken the edge off the whole thank goodness i am free, is waking in the night gasping for air, burning sensation in my chest and back, i have seen there are other posts that have experienced the same ..i am seeing a doctor in the morning..i hope this helps anyone out there..xxTam

I have been a light smoker, 5-6 a day, for years. I have tried to quit quite a few times, gum, lozenges, etc. This time I decided to indulge my cheap side and make it a matter of not spending the money for cigarettes. Here in Mass. they cost about $7.50 a pack. So now in my mind I just refuse to pay the money. I have always been a "frugal" person or your could say cheap but for some reason never felt that way about cigarettes. Now I do. I think the recession has helped too. In my mind I need to be careful with money because of the economic uncertainty. I know that kind of attitude feeds the recession but I am not worried about the tobacco companies. Another thing may have helped. After I decided not to spend the money on cigarettes, I was smoking the butts in the ashtray and when they all got too short I took the last bit of tobacco out and put in in a pipe and smoked it, as the saying goes. Well that stuff was harsh and rough on the throat. I think it gave me a sore throat which made me want to smoke less. When I had had enough of smoking from the pipe I tossed the rest in the ashtray and am about a week into quitting. Not too many symptoms so far as I can tell but honestly I think it might be better not to even focus too much on how you might be feeling. Just keep busy, go to work, do your stuff, maybe start some new kind of relaxing activity. Good luck to everyone trying to quit. There is nothing good about smoking that you can't get from things are not bad for your body.

Keep up the good work people. Quitting smoking is such a personal and difficult thing to do. No drug or doctor will do it for you. It is up to you and you can do it! I am a month into quitting and am loving it. The freedom is great. Try Allen Carrs book if anyone wants a great book to help you quit.

Hi

I stopped smoking, with the help of Zyban. Its been two weeks now. I can relate to the person who commented on the dry eyes, I dont wear contact lenses, yet I struggle during the day infront of the PC, my eyes are dry and its sometimes hard to focus.

I have a constant cough and my chest is sore, like someone with bronchitis.

Hi i am also a registered nurse. I have been a smoker for 40 years, started when i was 16, and a heavy smoker 2 to 3 packs a day. I am 18 days SMOKE FREE. I have tried everything. I am on Chantix and it is my magic pill. I have no side effects except for GOOD dreams, no other side effects and i have been on it 25 days. It has helped me tremendously through the cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Everyone has to do their own personal way of quitting but Chantix is for me.

wow!! congratulations to anyone on here who is quitting and sticking to it. i started reading this thread because i am expeerienncing chest pain and im 3 months smoke free with the use of chantix. but id like to say how assinign you sound when your talking to a person with an ADDICTION and telling them to have will power and mind over matter...DUH . Really?? its an addiction because the matter took over the mind. were humans, not superheroes. so how about a little compassion and understanding. you may be able to deal with your addiction one way, but you haven't walked in everyone's shoes. to each their own. good luck to all no matter what is helping you cope.

I'm just over 2 weeks stopped after 18 years of smoking.  OMFG!  More-or-less cold turkey, apart from an inhalator for the first few days, but just the single cartridge in it!  Don't use it anymore as I don't see the point of getting a nicotine buzz when I am trying to stop!

So after 17 days I am very very irritable.  Everything is annoying me.  I want to smoke but am so determined to get this monkey off my back for the sake of my kids.  My side effects have been strange.  With regards to being irritable, I was ok for the first week but then it hit me and I have become a total nightmare.  I also seemed to have got a cold almost immediately.  Very bunged up and headaches galore, mainly behind my eyes.  I went to the doctors as my ears were also ringing and hurting.  He looked and said my ears were fine.  I told him I'd stopped smoking 2 weeks ago and asked what possible side effects of stopping smoking were.  He replied..."You feel healthier and have more money".  Funny guy, but not what I needed to hear!

I thought I'd look up side effects and I stumbled across this site.  Guess I just gotta grin and bare it.

Good luck all!!

Pimpslider

I have smoked cigarettes and weed all my life. I came to the reality that the cigs are the problem. So I quit cold turkey. When i quit at 18 it was easy because I wasn't so addicted! But now its torture. Not giving up the cigs, that was easy because I am extremely strong minded... But the side effects are ridiculous!!! First it was a pain in my chest. Then it was a horrible soar throat, and now anxiety, ears ringing, crazy dreams, green spit, and flu like symptoms too.

Hi
I have the same pains and dizziness. Did u succeed to quit it?

Best,
Boris

I have cut back from 2.5 packs a day for 12 years to 6 a day for the last 10 days cold turkey. I have some questions every day my nose is clogged and a can barely breathe I have aches in my back I just feel wierd is this normal for cutting back and not quitting? I also cut back on coffee from 10 cups a day to 4or5

Ive just finished a one month course of champix and they gave me the start I needed,I had no craving or desire to smoke while taking them.i had no sides effects only weird dreams.its recommended to take another month but I found the effects wear off and the craving starts in the last week of taking them.im reading Alan carr permanent way to stop smoking now just to help me along and it is.this is my 3rd or 4th time to try quit now and after 20 years of the filth it will be the last.think if your healthy enough apart from smoking champix shouldn't be a problem.its better than them patches anyhow to get you through the first few weeks.after that it's just whether you really want to or not.

Sipping both green and black tea helped my quit smoking and kept me sane !!!!!!!!! Found a spot to relax and have a cup of tea instead of a cigarette. I was a long time smoker !

I quit smoking April 8, 2014. Up till that point I was a two pack a day smoker for 23 years. This time has been unlike many other attempts to quit. It was easier mentally, but not physically, at all. Put it this way, I went to Disney Land for 4 days after only being quit for 2 weeks and I didnt freak out!! The one thing I have noticed about this time is the severe body aches (even after 5 weeks of quitting) and sleepless nights. And I dont know if its me, but my farts even stink to the point that I cant stand it!! No kidding!!! I went and had a message yesterday to ease the tension on my body and my maseuse said my body was knotted up more than a fishing net, after the massage I felt like a million dollars, but within a few hours I felt the body aches come back. My secret to staying quit even after my body feels like I am getting the c**p beat out of it daily by Mike Tyson?? I said to myself during my last cigarette, "I am sick of smoking". And that was it. I told myself that every waking minute...........and here I am, six weeks clean. Do I still get urges, yup. But they come and go so fast its great!!

 

So for those that want to quit, do it when you are ready, not because a non-smoker told you to quit for yourself or your kids. You will fail if you quit for someone else. Just tell yourself every minute of every day that you "Are sick of smoking", and when you are ready, it will happen. And be prepared to have things happen to your body that you wouldnt wish on anyone...........but also think of all the positive things...........the money you will save, how you can breath easier, the thought of " I can go anywhere and ride with anyone I want because I dont have to worry about smoking or smelling like a cigarette". 

 

If you keep trying to quit but dont succeed, dont beat yourself down, just try again when you are ready. And if you do eventually quit, please, please, please dont ever have "just one" with a buddy or family member........I quit for 2 years and had "just one" at the bar with some buddies............back to being a regular smoker that easy.

 

Tell your kids, or any kid that see you smoking that "Anyone can start smoking, but not everyone can quit smoking."  I also tell my kids that I have spent enough money on cigarettes over my life span to buy a nice brand new BMW and pay cash for it. I could have went on a Disneyland vacation for almost a year straight. I could have put a heck of a down payment on a vacation house anywhere I wanted.

 

There are so many benefits to not smoking compared to smoking........its very easy to see which path one should eventually take. So go against everything your mother and father taught you and just this once " Be a Quitter!"