Reply #81: I quit in Nov. 1989 after trying many times before.

[shimmergal]

What did it--I had a chest cold & congestion that just I just couldn't shake. Not even with antibiotics. So I went cold turkey. There weren't any really effective aids then except for the gum, which was very expensive and by prescription-only.

What I used when climbing the walls wasn't the straw trick, exactly. I'd actually take out a cigarette and put it in my mouth, unlit; meanwhile I had a second cigarette burning that I could inhale the smoke from second-hand-like. Maybe it wasn't the healthiest way to stop but it got me thru and eventually I didn't even need that.

However, just an alert for anybody who has recently stopped. Some people get scary side effects, a few months after. I did, and thought, "Omigod, it's too late; I have lung cancer." Eventually this went away too, and I was fine. But in the meantime it was really frightening, the more so as I had no health insurance then. If anyone wants details, PM me.