My cig-battle progress.

Hai, gais, this is a post I make mainly for me, to have something to look back on if I should relapse, but you may find some advice that may help you fighting a cig-addiction too. Ok, so now, Im down to 4 cigs a day! Thats right, 4 (FOUR!!). This is major progress for me, and heres why: I used to steal cigs from my parents when I was a kid…I was just curious about it, and at 9, I stole around 1 cig a day. My parents busted my ass, but when I was 12, my alcoholic uncle came visiting, and he thought it would be fun to teach me how to smoke…I never managed to quit after that. Now Im 24, smoking every day for the last 12 years…at most Ive been smoking 20 a day, but rarely gone below 10. Recently I had a sparring session (boxing) with a friend, who I used to outlast in terms of stamina…not so much anymore…I was gassing out in third round. I figured something needs to be done, in a few years I will most likely struggle going up stairs. I usually buy my cigarettes over the border, cause its cheaper, but during the last trip over the border, I decided not to hoard cigs. I bought one pouch of pipe tobacco, one single pouch of rolling tobacco, and a lot of snus. So what Ive done to cut down is: I take one morning-cig. I take one lunch-cig, one dinner-cig, replace all cigs in between with snus and snuff, replace evening cig with a bowl, add some snuff, and if I feel any craving afterwards I load my nostrils with even more snuff. I always used to take a cigarette or 2…or 3 before bed, which Ive replaced with 1 bowl, 1 snus, and a lot of snuff. The good thing with this multi-tobacco method is that I rarely crave cigs now, its just a habit, not an addiction. Today I have hopes of only smoking 1 or 2. Ive noticed some drastic change in breathing since cutting down; in the mornings I cough up a lot of mucus, but my breath feels easier, I also dont run out of breath as fast. Im afraid I dont see me dropping that morning-cig any time soon, but any progress is good progress. Wish all of you in the same boat as me a lot of luck.

I have tried to replace cigarettes with other forms of tobacco but it is hard. Like you I get nicotine from these other sources so I am sure cigarettes are a habitual addiction for me.

I find snus helps me the most with cigarette replacement, when I use Oden’s Extra Stark (18mg) I don’t feel the need for a cigarette at all. Sometimes I will take a pinch of this or that snuff and then I want a cigarette. And these aren’t baby snuffs but 6 photo cheetah, etc etc.

I’m hoping to smoke my pipes more often when the weather gets a bit better. I’d like to ditch cigs completely and just use snus and the occasional pipe with a pinch of snuff here and there.

You are probably coughing up a lot of mucus because your lungs are cleaning themselves from all the gunk. When I smoked and drank a lot, when I would brush my teeth I would always choke and hack. That went away after I gave up smoking. Came back when I picked up the habit again. It’s a tough one to beat for sure- but it can be done.

 Good luck Rogue. The addiction/habit is harder to quit the longer you smoke.

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keep at it and good luck! i quit cigarettes last may i think with snus and snuff and never looked back. i found after quitting cigs, my dependence on nicotine when down all together. i used to practically run outside to smoke when i woke up and now i can go a good while without nicotine in the morning. 

stay strong friend and you wont regret it!

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Update: 4 cigs today too.

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5 cigs and under isn’t much to bother about. Great work!!!

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@Konrad_Von_Marburg I know, I feel much better already. :slight_smile:

time and persistence. Honestly I never intended to quite cigs myself. It just happened. At some point I stopped craving the bastards. Snus helps too. 

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@bob yeah, I’m getting to that point, I don’t enjoy cigs anymore.

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Ok guys, big update!

Since smoking very little cigs, sticking to pipe and snuff, I’ve noticed a difference in my resting pulse…

When smoking, I had 80 bpm resting…now I’m down to 60, and my lungs feel much better.

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Gotta set a quit date now. Good luck buddy. Sounds like you are on the right track.

I’m gonna have a delicious cigarette to celebrate.

@Konrad_von_Marburg a cig? Do a cigar instead, cigs dont even taste good anymore.

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@Rogue

Well done mate…1 week today I smoked tobacco for the last time. If I can give up 10g a day of Amber Leaf then anyone can! I’m finding a 50/50 mix of White Elephant and Rustica is doing the trick nicely.

Keep at it!

Amazing achievement. I myself am an ex-smoker, and now just have a pipe or two over the weekend. Mainly a snuff user now. Keep going @Rogue - you can successfully quit cigarettes. I did. 

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@dan11 nice, keep up the gold work. Im confident I can quit cigs. @newbiesnuffer I have a few bowls a day. Me and a friend just chainsmoked our pipes after a workout session to see if we got ill effects. With cigarettes, he gets a hard time breathing, and long time before his heartrate goes back to normal. I feel my heart beating heavier with cigs after workouts. With a pipe, none of us felt any ill effects, so we took another training session, which seemed to be easier this time. Makes you wonder what the hell is in those cigs!

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smoke contains carbon monoxide. That shit bonds to red blood cells more efficiently then oxygen. Inhaling large quantities of smoke gives you large amount of carbon monoxide. Your heart has to work harder to get the oxygen around the body. Hence the lower heart rate with less cigs. That might help give the final push to think about that any time you have one.

@bob yeah, thats part of the reason I quit.

Well heart rate increases due to nicotine. Nicotine is in all of these products.

@Konrad_von_Marburg I know, but for some reason snuff and pipe doesn’t seem to have that horribly bad effect on me OR my friend.

Update again: Small relapse, needed a few extra cigs to get me through yesterday.

@Rogue these things will happen. I’ve tried to cut down to only X or Y a day, but sometimes events occur that cause me to smoke more. The only real option is to get off the cigs and don’t buy them. It’s also harder if you live with, or have a large social group of, smokers.

At least you are trying and figuring out your triggers, etc. 

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