Any help for my hub to quit smoking?

[BusynMember]

It will kill him, but he can't stop. His mom died at 55 of a massive heart attack so we have this lovely genetic thing in his family.

I love him and cant' imagine life without him. He doesn't go to doctors either though.

He isn't allowed to smoke at home and usually doesn't (when he does, I can feel it in my lungs and call him; out on it). But at work, well, he's the mechanic for our cab company and everyone smokes, making it harder. He has quit five times and always goes back to it. He gets a lot of respiratory infections. I don't. Hmmmmmmmmm...yet I know it's very hard to quit. Anyone have tips I can pass along to him? He has tried the gum, the medication, and being hypnotized .

 

[Abbey]

Well, if you find the answer, pass it along to me. Smoking for me is a stress reliever. I don't smoke much, but when I feel that stress I smoke. It takes me a couple of days to go through a pack, but when it's not there....OH NO.

I've done patches, medications, classes, nearly everything you can name but it doesn't remove the underlying factor. I'm quite sure there is the addictive thing going on for most, but for me it's stress.

I wish I could give some tips.

Abbey

 

[trinityroyal]

I don't know that the tips I have would be of any help to your hub. If he's tried medications, patch, gum and all those other things, then my little remedy might not make a dent.

Anyway, FWIW, here it is...

When I was preparing to quit smoking many years ago, I did the following:

1) Picked a date. My New Year's Resolution that year was to quit smoking by my birthday. Since my birthday is in October, I had lots of time to plan, and commit myself to actually doing it.

2) I told no one. Not family, not friends. No one. I didn't need the added pressure of living up to other people's expectations as well as my own. (I had a friend who told everyone. She needed the pressure of her social group to prevent her from slipping. Your mileage may vary on this one).

3) I gradually cut down the amount I smoked each day. Started with the easiest ones first, the ones where I would usually let the cig burn down in the ashtray, rather than actually smoking it. Then gradually the harder ones, until I was down from about 1 pack per day to 5 or 6 cigs per day.

4) I took up lots of aerobic exercises. I started walking and riding my bike everywhere.

5) A month before quit day, I got rid of all ash trays etc. from my apartment, and got a big glass jar. All cigarette ends went into the jar. The jar looked horrible. Filthy and smelly, and nasty with all of those cig ends, bits of ash and general nastiness.

6) Just before quit day I took a week vacation from work. I did most of my smoking at work, and it was important for me to be away from all my usual haunts while I was re-tuning my body.

7) Filled up the "butt jar" about 1/3 full with water, over all of the cig ends. Whenever I felt a strong craving, I would open the jar and inhale deeply. The stench made me sick enough to put me off for a few hours. Managed to get down to 1 or 2 per day this way.

8) On quit day, I just stopped. Whenever I felt a craving, I would open and inhale the stench from the butt jar, and then go off and do something else to keep myself occupied.

9) Came up with a plan for what to do when co-workers wanted me to join them for a smoke break. Such as, going for tea break at a different time and in a different place than usual, going for a walk around the block while everyone else was smoking, and joining them afterward, etc.

I had tried to quit several times before I did the above, but for some reason that effort stuck. It's been 15 1/2 years since I quit, and I was a heavy smoker who LOVED smoking.

I wish your husband luck in his goal. It's a really hard thing to shake, but it's incredible what a difference it makes when you do.

Trinity

 

[witzend]

I stopped because of a pulminary embolism. I don't recommend that. My friend recently quit smoking with hypnosis. It's been several months now, and she says she's not had any real problems with cravings.

 

[Star*]

Google the AMerican Lung Association.

My Father died 2 years after he retired from smoking 2-3 packs of Pal-Mal cigarettes a day.

I quit when Dude asked me who would take care of him when I died from cancer and were my lungs as black as the tires in the car next to us on the highway. Then DF had back surgery and they told us all to quit for best/faster healing.

I did - and DF is trying for the 4th time to quit - Chantix helps but it did not keep him from being oh so pleasant the first weeks he stopped. I think a motel would be good for you MWM - honest - GET OUT while you can when he stops.

There are tons of pictures of damaged lungs - print them out - stick them everywhere. I did that to help my sister - and you can make him save all his cigarette butts in a jar with a little water - the jar represents your lung, and the water your villae (breathing tubes). After a week of putting out butts in there and taking a healty whiff - it's not much different than your lungs.

Stress or not - I've been quit for 7 years and occasionally i still think I could smoke - so I avoid those places.

Good luck

 

[Suz]

The truth is, he will only quit when he's ready to quit.

I smoked for 38 years....2 packs a day for the last 20. I knew all of the things that made it bad for me but I was completely addicted. I loved everything about smoking...fiddling with the cigs, inhaling, ah......I miss it to this day.

I quit August 11, 2002 after flunking out of every single kind of stop smoking program ever invented at least once...and many twice. I finally just had to do it- for my health, and also because I knew I'd be getting a divorce and would need to return to the work force and didn't want to have to deal with the hassle...or the expense.

When I finally quit I used the patch and all kinds of techniques I'd learned from the programs I'd flunked out of. I used the rubberband snap on the wrist from one program. I "smoked" straws when I needed the feeling of inhaling. I signed up for www.quitmeter.com and checked it every time I was craving a smoke- sometimes that was every 5 minutes!

I kept a pack of cigs in the closet for 6 months. It helped me to know they were there "in an emergency" and it was terrific to finally throw them away.

And, like Trinity, I told no one.

I hope your husband quits but there isn't a dang thing you can do. This is totally up to him.

Suz

 

[BusynMember]

Thanks.
He does want to quit, but hasn't gotten to that point yet where he's willing to be extremely uncomfortable. Where he works, he's in the car garage all day. Since they're outside, everyone smokes.
He knows what can happen. He's seen black lungs. He's in good shape, except for smoking (sort of like saying you're well except for a raging fever ). But I can't make him quit. I *have* made him quit in front of me and the kids. We don't choose to smoke--he does. His lungs, not ours.
Thanks!