Is anyone here smoking and has trouble stopp it?

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Hey all

When I was 13 I was so stupid to start smoking.
Some of my classmates told me, that I would be much more popular and cool if I would smoke so I started it
Now I'm 21 one and tried many times to stop, but it didn't work.
Last week I stopped for 6 days and then smoked again.
The thing that keeps me smoking is the ritual. Its just so normal for me, to smoke when I get back from a walk or when I'm freaking out about something.

Has anyone else such big problems with stop smoking?
Or has anyone some good advise how I can finally stop it?

I don't smoke, however...

Have you tried nicotine patches?

yes and the nicotine gum too.. But the thing is, they don't replace the ritual of smoking.
I have trouble with changing rituals.
Its not so much the nicotine, its way more the ritual I miss when I try to stop it. It sound stupid I know, but its how I feel...oO

Smoking was a huge stim for me also, so I switched to electronic cigs and haven't had an analog butt in two years. I still miss playing with lighters and matches, though.

Yes I am a smoker. I have not been able to give up in 25 years. I understand what you mean about the ritual. It is the ritual that keeps me smoking too. I have tried herbal cigs but they are not satisfying so I am also addicted to the nicotine.

If I were you (and I did it at your age) I would start an exercise program if you don't have one already. This can help beat the craving for a cig. You need to replace the smoking rather than just stop.

I have a friend in your age who's a chain smoker and wants to stop. Or at least she's canstantly talking about wanting to stop.
So far she at least managed to cut down on the number of cigarettes she smokes per day - and I think this is the easiest approach.

My suggestion would be to not stop smoking at once, but decrease the number of cigarettes per day and eventually per week.
That would also allow you to replace the ritual of smoking with another ritual.
I think you should approach this slowly, though, in order to really replace the habit. Just find some ritual that you think could replace smoking, and then, when you crave a cigarette, do this ritual instead of smoking - but only once per day or perhaps every few days.
If you managed to do this really every day for some time, try to replace the cigarette twice a day with that different ritual. And so on...
Another approach would be to do this according to the different activities that are followed by smoking.
For example you could do some other ritual for smoking first after you went for a walk, and if you managed that for a period of time replace smoking with that ritual after freaking out, and so on...

I'm not sure since I don't smoke, but perhaps this could work for you.

Thanks a lot for your answers
Yes I think do it the slow way could help me.
I think I will buy those nicotine gums again and try to find something similar wich I can do instead of smoking, and then reduce the cigarettes. I also will try to wait everyday a little bit longer till I smoke the first cig.
I already have a exercise programm, and do lots of agility training every day. The sport is one of the main reasons why I want to stop, I would be so much better at it, without smoking.
I just need to think about what I do instead of smoking. I'm a total ritual freak. If something is new in my daily routine, its sometimes hard to get used to it.
And if something changes spontaneously, I completely freak out.
I hope it works this way..

I'd bet you don't see those old classmates anymore, but you still have the smoking habit. You got screwed over. I'm glad I never cared enough about what other students thought of me to consider starting.

I'm also going to recommend trying the electronic cigarette. If you are getting something positive out of the nicotine, then you don't have to quit, but you can avoid damaging your body and property so much. Try it and report back to us with your experience.

Exact opposite for me. I was a two-pack a day smoker from 14 until 17. Didn't have enough money on me to buy a carton one day, so I quit smoking. Never had another one.

True, sometimes I want one when I'm anxious. Here and there I tried smokeless tobacco and tobacco pipes for a few weeks or months. But I never took up smoking every day, much less a few every hour, again. I've found that I get really attached to certain habits, follow them religiously. Then one day, poof - the habit is boring. And I never need to do it again.

Of course I don't see them anymore. They bullied me and they didn't stoped with it, when I started smoking.
But I was stupid and just wanted to be accepted or at least left alone.
I alway had trouble at school.
I will try everything to stop smoking, its really anoying and its so bad for health.
The money isn't a problem, which makes it even more difficult to stop.
Its very expensive here ( I think its like 7 dollars) but this is not a reason enough..

I have a hard time trying to quit, and the price of smokes around here is nuts.

I want to give it up and I feel like cold turkey is the way for me, I can't cut back much from two packs and feel sane plus I just screw myself over in the end and go back to smoking more. I just want it all to end at once, I have wished I could check myself into someplace I could detox cigarettes, when I try cold turky I have the worst meltdowns I have ever had and people think I am just overreacting.

It doesn't help that right now I am dependant on my family and they chain smoke more then I do, it's also rather depressing.

I HATE when people tell me that smoking will kill me or that I should just give it up already or tell me I am disgusting, or similar things.

I have heard it a million times people, I want to quit I know it's bad I am watching my family kill themselves slowly in front of my face, I feel sick and unhealthy and that's depressing. I don't smoke because it's "cool" I smoke because I am f*****g addicted to it, mentally and bodily and I want to quit, it's none of your business how and when I do it.

I feel exactly this way.
I started it because I was stupid and wanted to please some a....les and now I'm addicted.
It is not cool, I feel very unhealthy, everytime I do my training, I cough a minute after finishing and thats so anoying.
I hate it to smoke, but I'm addicted to the ritual ( and the nicotine).
But I know we can do it. Perhaps not today, but I know so many people who stoped, so I have to try until it works.
One of the major problems is, if I have a meltdown and can't smoke it gets worse.
I hate it too when people tell me how unhealthy and bad it is. I know its unhealthy and it smells bad, I don't need someone to tell me this all the time.

For me that has been the biggest obstacle. They don't happen to me right away but after about two months of not smoking. Using nicotine lozenges (which I think are a lot better than the nicotine gum) is pretty effective at stopping cravings but it doesn't prevent the meltdowns.

Having said that, I have quit smoking in the past, once for 11 years. Cutting down doesn't work for me because if I have a pack I'll just smoke it (I'm the same way with cookies ). What I have found helpful is to practice quitting, rather than just up and saying, "This is last cigarette I'll smoke for the rest of my life." Quit for a day, quit for a week, then don't beat yourself up for starting again. Just keep trying, the practice makes it easier each time.