How Did You Quit Cigarettes?

[rondyr]

Since it's New Year's Eve and folks are planning for the resolutions that they will

certainly break, I am curious to hear from folks who managed to quit

smoking cigarettes and still smoke pipes. How were you able to drop the sticks and still smoke pipe tobacco?

I ask because I need to quit the sticks, badly, yet I do not

wish to quit smoking a pipe.
Happy New Year!
Stupid iPhone and its stupid line breaks. >.

 

[irishsmoker]

Well for me it was my kids. I have a major affinity to smoke but the day my toddler acted like a white on was a cigarette I quit. Now to me a pipe carries distinction, dignity. Nails say I'm an addict.

 

[wallace]

It's probably different for everybody. I quit cigs about 9 years ago after about 10 years on them. Just did pick up pipe smoking about 4-5 months ago.
I believe, for me anyways, if I was smoking a pipe while trying to quit cigarettes I would have ended up just inhaling the pipe.
The sticks are a tough one to quit. I've always had a love for tobacco, even while not smoking anything. The pipe has given me a chance to enjoy the tobacco flavor and a bit of Vitamin N while not letting its' hooks into me as deep as the Camels did. Good luck man. Not an easy thing.

 

[crk69]

First time I gave them up for smokless tobacco (ie snuff).. Second time, I used a product that we don't mention here and picked up cigar and pipe smoking shortly thereafter... Haven't smoked a nail since... Usually smoke more cigars than the pipe, but lately have been smoking my pipes predominantly..

 

[baronsamedi]

I used Zyban to quit the nails, but I didn't smoke anything for 10 years after that.

 

[zanthal]

I realized how lousy my respiratory health was. So I stopped buying and smoking them one day. It was actually pretty easy.

 

[foggymountain]

It's much easier for a pipesmoker because you still get some nicotine. I just cut down the amount by a few cigs a day until zero.

 

[madmurdoc]

I used raw willpower. Takes a couple tries in a stressful environment but it works for me.

 

[rondyr]

Thanks for the info, guys! I look forward to hearing from the rest of you too. I've got a touch of the old heart disease, so I NEED to quit. Doctor said that if I didn't change my ways, I wouldn't live to see 40; I'll be 35 in April. It's tough though because I have always loved smoking cigarettes; I started when I was 11. I know I need to quit the damn things, but man, just the idea of quitting makes me kinda nervous! I've tried to quit in the past and have failed. I'm hoping that 2013 is the year I am

able to save my life. If not for my sake, then for my daughter. You just mention me biting the big one to her and she gets upset. She's a Daddy's girl for sure, even at almost 13.

 

[prettyinpink648]

Good luck to you. You can do it!!!!!

 

[joeahearn]

I did it in stages. First I quit smoking factory-made cigarettes, replacing them with roll-ups made with the cleanest, least chemically-infused tobacco I could find. I firmly believe the cigarette companies put stuff in cigarettes to keep you hooked, over and above nicotine. The reason I think this is because I had withdrawal symptoms coming off factory-mades, even though I was smoking a ton of roll-ups.
Anyway, stage 1. Completely eliminate factory cigarettes. Even if this is as far as you get, it's real progress.

Stage 2. I began to use oral snuff, cigars, and pipes to lengthen the time between roll-ups. My deal with myself was that if I really needed or wanted to inhale, I smoked a roll-up. I never allowed myself to inhale pipe or cigar smoke, and I did not choose pipe tobacco for easy inhaling. I still don't inhale pipe tobacco.

Stage 3. I gradually got off the roll-ups and smoked only cigars and pipes, also using snuff sometimes.
Best of luck. I will tell you the truth--if I can quit smoking cigarettes, as hooked as I was, you can, too. Just think: why should you pay some fat-cat corporation to gibe you heart disease, cancer, or emphysema?

 

[pstlpkr]

I did the January 2nd resolution thing.

I smoked through New Years, and quit smoking cold turkey for a month, then picked up my pipes again.

The trick that did it for me was going smoke free for a month.

I had planned on smoking my pipe on February 2nd.

That was my reward for putting away the coughin' nails.

Been nicotine delivery system free ever since...

That'll be four years tomorrow.

 

[fnord]

Rondyr:
Mrs. Fnord and I put the nails down five years ago on my 50th birthday and started Chantix. Between the two of us we ran the table on just about every known side effect of that drug: sweats, nightmares and the most godawful flatulence you've ever heard this side of a horse barn. But, it worked for me.
When my doc gave me the Chantix script he also wrote out another script for an anti-depressant. I asked him why and his response was fairly profound, "You've been smoking for 35 years and you're getting ready to put aside one of your best friends. These will just help ease the transition."
I never got that script filled but I still have the slip tucked away in my desk. And I also kept my last half pack of smokes in the freezer for almost four years. It was part of my "F*ck you" exit strategy and, fortunately, I never had to use it.
Long story short - you can do it. It might take you twenty tries but you do have the motive, friend, and you will get it done.
Good luck, mate.
Fnord

 

[cajundad]

I Quit cold Turkey , and as mention before, it was easier thanks to my pipes .

 

[mustanggt]

I smoked from when I was 16-22. When I started to have breathing issues I decided enough was enough. I took a new unopend pack to work that day to prove to myself I could do it. I had our shift engineer try to bum a smoke off me and kept harassing me for one. I told him to GFY I'm trying to quit and this is my strategy to do just that. Never had a problem for 5 years. Then one night on graveyard I needed to smoke real bad. I had been having dreams about smoking. So I stopped on my way to work and got a pack of Pall Malls and smoked almost all of them in that one 8 hour shift. That was that. I got it out of my system. You can quit if you truly want to. It's all about making the right choice. It's the part in your mind that needs to change more than the physical addiction you have.

 

[05venturer]

here is what I did( am doing) I purchased a pouch of Drum tobacco and when I really feel the need for a cig I have a bowl full of Drum and inhale it for my fix and then I am good. I do keep a separate cob just for my Drum. I am down to maybe 4-5 bowls of this per week. I am 44 and have pretty much been smoking nails since the age of 13 and I know it is time to quit them. The longer I am away from the nails the more I enjoy my pipe tobacco.

Good luck to ya.

:lol:

 

[kris]

I was on 80 a day and hated spending all that money!
So I bought a pipe & some baccy to see if I could make the switch and haven't looked back since. Now I spend in a week what I used to spend in a day. And actually ENJOY it instead of just NEEDING it.
Today is my 9 month anniversary.

 

[jah76]

I went from chaw to dipping. Then dipping to smoking cowboy killers.
Quit cold turkey about 14 years ago. From then on I've only had a cig once a year at a local buddies yearly cookout. Kind of a ritual.
About 10 years ago I started smoking cigars infrequently then 7 months ago to pipes.
I figure I'll always be smoking something. It's just something I enjoy.
Good luck my man.

 

[austinxpipe]

Everytime I wanted to have a cigarette, I didn't. If I had a craving, I would do everything to distract myself. Work-out, have a piece of jerky, talk to a coworker about how bad I was craving! Anything! Just get your mind somewhere else and the body will follow.

 

[jbbaldwin]

I agreed to stop smoking cigarettes in the house, and I got tired of "punching the clock" in terms of regularly going outside to smoke. The idea that cigarettes are more of a job than an enjoyment started to really grate on me.
At the same time I tried some VA flake, and that did the trick. I had been trying to like cased aromatics for years and didn't know there was an alternative - this forum helped me a great deal.
I bought a pouch of Drum and would roll one of those every couple of days, but when the pouch ran out, I didn't buy another. So far, so good (it's been nine months).
My wife doesn't mind me smoking a pipe in the house, and I know that helped the transition, too. (That's not to say I'm completely lazy!)
Good luck to you.