How Did They Quit?

[Reciprocity]

So, how did people quit on their own before the digital age where we can now share our own individual experiences with each other and help each other along? I read time and time again about how the communication with people who are experiencing the same struggles as we are is a key component to their quit. I just wonder how people quit before the internet was around. And, is the quit success rate higher now than it was then?

[NADA]

According to WHO (World Health Organization) more than 7 million people quit smoking per year worldwide.  Unfortunately, they quit by dying as a direct result of smoking related diseases (6 million+) or from second hand smoke (nearly one million).  Knowing the consequences are deadly was probably motivation enough for countless people to quit even without online support groups.

It sure is helpful though to have instant support from your peers through groups like this. 

 

[Doreensfree]

Sad reading...

Without this group..I'm dam sure I would just be another number... This really was my last chance...It still gives me a cold chill...

 

[Boo]

54 minutes ago, reciprocity said:

So, how did people quit on their own before the digital age where we can now share our own individual experiences with each other and help each other along?

My dad quit back in 1969.  His method was to "stay busy."  If he was awake, he was working on something.

Not so much a willpower quit.  More of a "I don't have time to smoke, I've got stuff to do" methodology.

[PeaceTrain]

My husband quit 18 years ago when he hurt his back so badly he couldn't  walk. He crawled into an ER and they did emergency surgery. The doctor told him if he continued to smoke his back would never heal right and he'd eventfully be back, in excruciating  pain again. He carried around cigarettes in his front shirt pocket like he always had. When he'd go to reach for one, he'd say to himself, "I'll have one later."  He never smoked another one. 

That method would have never worked for me for a whole host of reasons but the motivation would probably have been enough  Even if there had been a forum 18 years ago, I'm quite sure he never would have joined.  Whatever works!

 

Edited November 9, 2017 by PeaceTrain

[PinkyPromise]

So far, I am the only person that I know of quitting with the support of peers online.  That said, it isn't like I know 5,000 people who have quit LOL

I have my husband, both sisters, brother in law, Mom, Dad & Step-Mom.

1 sister and my mom returned to smoking after over a year quit 

Dad recently quit, I think about 6 months now.

Step mom, other sister and brother in law all 3 used vape, tapered off, quit, and have been quit 3+ years for stepmom, 2+ years for sister and BIL

Let's see... my Aunt has been quit for over 20 years now and my Grandma quit in 1970 -- she told me how super easy it was.  She said she simply decided she didn't want to smoke and therefore she did not, never looked back, no biggie, no withdrawals.  I love her -- so, so much -- but I'm not sure she remembers accurately LOL 

My friends who have quit that I actually have talked to about it (maybe 4-5 of them total) have been quit anywhere from 1-15 years.  Couple of vape to quit, couple of cold turkeys, 1 suggested that book... Allan Carr?  I don't know if I spelled that right.  None of them that I know of either had access to or knew about any kind of online communities.  My Stepmom has RA and she's on an RA forum where they discuss quitting smoking, so she may be the only one.

 

 

[Stewie]

Despite all the info and help you might come across in various forms, i think in the end it comes down to decision and endurance. You have to really want to quit smoking, and thats the main thing. Messageboards wont do miracles you know. They´re fun though.  :´)

[Doreensfree]

I'm have two older brothers ..one never smoked..the other did ,quit in the early seventies...

Mum and Dad..bless them..died smokers....

My son and daughter have never smoked thankfully...

 

[MarylandQuitter]

Way back in the day, lol, they had face-to-face support groups.  Imagine that?

40 Years of Progress?

I am attaching an article below from the January 19, 2004 issue of TIME magazine. It talks about the decline in smoking rates in America since the original release of the U.S. Surgeon General's report in January of 1964. The author was apparently led to believe that a whole lot more quitters would be successful if they would just stop trying to go cold turkey and use the many quitting aids available that can "double a person's chance of success."

One thing I want to comment on is how the article points out that smoking declined from 42% to 23% in the past 40 years, but how the drop-off stalled in 1990. The dates are interesting.

The article is saying that there are a whole lot more effective ways to quit than by going cold turkey. It is basically talking about NRT products and Zyban. What is interesting is that almost all of these products came into widespread use in the 1990's--the years where the rapid decline in smoking cessation actually stopped.

Nicotine gum was first approved for use in America in 1984, by prescription only. In 1991 and 1992, four patches were approved for prescription use. In 1996 all controls broke loose--the gum and two of the four patches went over-the-counter and Zyban (bupropion) was just coming into the fray.

So now we have all of these miracle products available, many without prescription. If these products were so good at increasing success, and if they are being used by so many people, you would think that smoking rates would be plummeting now when compared to when people just had to rely on their own resolve to quit.

Again, read the following line from the article below:

"The drop-off in smoking stalled in 1990 and has hardly budged since then."

Lets hope not too many miracle products for smoking cessation get introduced in the future as it may result in skyrocketing smoking rates.

The real way to once again increase the long-term success rate of people trying to quit is to help them to understand that they are fighting an addiction to nicotine, and that to win that fight and to stay free forever is as simple as making and sticking to a commitment to Never Take Another Puff!

Joel

 

Y O U R T I M E / H E A L T H

Stub Out That Butt!

But don't try to go it alone.
Here are some tricks that make it easier to quit

By CHRISTINE GORMAN
Monday, Jan. 19, 2004

More than 42% of adult Americans smoked when the first Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health was published. Today, 40 years later, fewer than 23% do. That's good news, but it could be better; a lot better. The drop-off in smoking stalled in 1990 and has hardly budged since then. Surveys show that 70% of tobacco users want to quit, but kicking the nicotine habit isn't easy.

What a lot of smokers don't realize is that the most popular method of quitting; just stopping, a.k.a. going cold turkey; is the least effective. Studies show that getting intensive short-term counseling, taking drugs like Zyban (an antidepressant) or using one of the many nicotine aids (gum, patch, inhaler, nasal spray, lozenge) all double the chance of success. Preliminary results suggest that combining these methods will increase success rates even more.

The trick is to find out what works best for you. For counseling, you don't have to go into full-fledged psychoanalysis; you can pick up practical strategies from various quit-smoking telephone hotlines (for a list of numbers as well as tips, visit smokefree.gov). As for nicotine products, make sure you're using them the right way. You need to chew the gum slowly, for example, not swallowing the saliva until the nicotine can be absorbed through the cheek, says Dr. Elliot Wineburg, who has used everything from drugs to hypnosis at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City to help hard-core smokers quit. Many people try to make do with as little nicotine as possible, which is a mistake. "You don't want the brain to go into withdrawal," Wineburg says.

It's never too late to quit. As the years go by, an ex-smoker's risk of heart disease and stroke diminishes until it's essentially the same as that of a person who has never smoked, says Dr. Corinne Husten of the Centers for Disease Control's Office on Smoking and Health. Alas, the risk of lung cancer never quite gets down to what it would have been without smoking. "Even with cancer, people respond better to chemotherapy if they quit," Husten says. Best of all, of course, would be not to take up the habit in the first place.

[Reciprocity]

That's very interesting. This suggests to me that many more people stopped smoking on their own (cold turkey) after the medical community realized smoking was the cause of death, or at least a contributing factor, in many smokers. I believe this started happening around the same time frame you are referring to.

And since these "quit assist" products became available, the quit rate has not improved. So, does this mean that NRT products don't work as well as advertised or that people just don't believe they will help them quit? There are so many smokers who want to quit now days but they want to avoid the "withdrawal" they fear so much. I would think the NRT products are tailored specifically for that market so, why the stall in quit rates?

[Sirius]

I'd quit for about a year before I stumbled across this site.

My quit was to honor the memory of somebody who died as a result of smoking.

Worked out well for quite awhile as the sense of loss overlapped.

I was one angry cuss.  But as with all storms, it eventually passed.

I like hanging out on this site much better then raging at "there is no plod but entropy and chaos is his profit."

Oh yeah, and I used the patch until I got around to quitting cold turkey.

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2017 by Sirius

[Reciprocity]

I sincerely hope you have found satisfaction & peace in your journey Sirius. You have done all you possibly could to amend the choices you made in an earlier time. We are a community bonded by a common goal. We newbies look up to you and others who have gone before us as a guiding light.

Thank you!

[MarylandQuitter]

1 hour ago, reciprocity said:

That's very interesting. This suggests to me that many more people stopped smoking on their own (cold turkey) after the medical community realized smoking was the cause of death, or at least a contributing factor, in many smokers. I believe this started happening around the same time frame you are referring to.

And since these "quit assist" products became available, the quit rate has not improved. So, does this mean that NRT products don't work as well as advertised or that people just don't believe they will help them quit? There are so many smokers who want to quit now days but they want to avoid the "withdrawal" they fear so much. I would think the NRT products are tailored specifically for that market so, why the stall in quit rates?

 

 

[Reciprocity]

I look at this in a different light then when I was first quitting. I was using patches first 2 days then showered on the 3rd day and forgot to put on a new patch. Wasn't much different after a couple of hours so I decided to not put on another patch. I went CT from there on because it just made sense to me that I should just get it all done ASAP and it has worked out very well. It seems to me that a lot of people are looking for a short cut (myself included). Some magical pill or potion to avoid the early quit symptoms. I now see those early quit symptoms as as dues payable for all those years of abuse. Once paid .... freedom awaits

Edited November 10, 2017 by reciprocity

[bakon]

Window licking

[Dee]

I know some old timers that quit because of the price hitting a dollar LOL. Others I know quit after a cancer diagnosis. My sister quit cold turkey when she got pregnant. I quit when those around starting getting sick.

[Reciprocity]

A dollar ????? LOL. Apparently, in Australia a pack is in the area of $24.00 - $25.00 a pack. Can you even imagine that??

[JB 883]

Reciprocity - must say, the avatar is rather cute. Reminds me of an avatar i saw on an audiophile forum, this pig was wearing shoes...

ANYways... Long before the web, people had this great capability that enabled them to quit. It was called discipline. The "support" they may have had was their doctor telling them, "quit smoking or you will soon die". That is what they told my dad when he was in the hospital with oxygen tubes up his nose. 33 years later, he still hasn't touched one.

While it can be fun and supportive to have other quitters to chat and exchange ideas with, to quit smoking is really a one-man game.

 

[Abby]

Father .. 2 pack a day smoker .....  influences . His dr and emphysema diagnoses and determination .... quit with tooth picks , peppermints and nope .  Once he quit there was never another word about smoking in our home . Never a complaint how hard , how easy ,   He was just done . 

Brother quit long before online support as well ... same method  Toothpicks , peppermints and nope .

Neither slipped or relapsed . 

 

[Reciprocity]

^^^ I tend to agree! Absolute resolve to quit is the key. You are either committed to it or you aren't! It is nice to be able to communicate with a bunch of other people going through the same experience though Kind of keeps you pointed in the right direction. Another quit tool?

[Sirius]

I think most people quit after they experience some sort of illness that scares them witless.

Nothing quite like the incentive found in the icy breeze of death's scythe making a near miss.

 

[PeaceTrain]

17 hours ago, Sirius said:

I think most people quit after they experience some sort of illness that scares them witless.

Nothing quite like the incentive found in the icy breeze of death's scythe making a near miss.

 

So true, Sirius. I agree and it can also be when the truth of how dangerous smoking really is is fully comprehended- when they read or hear something really impactful or see a loved one become ill it sinks in. 

[Sirius]

You are so right Abby.  99% doesn't do it.  It has to be 100% or nothing.

[Jules1977]

So true, I quit (again) because I was feeling so bad. I was 3 packets a day sometimes a 4th would get opened. Waking up was horrendous days I felt awful, I would literally only start feeling ok in the evening after a few drinks and the cigs would be non stop. I decided to quit again a week ago and I have not felt better for many many months. Every night I think I may just have one ... but I don’t, and the first think I fell in the morning is happiness that I didn’t ruin my quit. The first time I quit in March this year I kidded myself that the odd one was ok. It’s not as one leads to another NOPE is the only way. I am now on day 5 so it’s early days but each day is progress 

[Doreensfree]

Wow jules 3 pkt, s..on to 4...

That would have cost me heaps..they must be cheaper for you....

Your lungs must be soo grateful...take as many good deep breaths of fresh air as you can right now...

All the nicotine has now gone from your body...that is something to be proud of....

Stick to NOPE ...!!!!!