Ex-Smokers: Post how you were able to quit.

[Le Taz Hot]

It seems there are a lot of smoking threads lately on DU and a lot of smokers are saying things like "I wish I could quit." Well, ex-smokers, now might be a good time to post what finally worked for you. No preachies as we all know that doesn't work. I'll start:

I smoked for 35 years and after trying to quit probably 20 or more times, what finally worked for me was illness combined with the patch. I had a horrible upper respiratory infection after going outside to smoke in inclimate weather for 3 days and was still trying to smoke (coughing violently after every drag). Anyway, I ran out of cigarettes and instead of buying more, I just bought the patch (I couldn't smoke anyway, so what the hell). I bought the band-aid-colored ones which seemed to work for me. I cut a straw the size of a cigarette and "smoked" the straw whenever I got the hand-to-mouth urge. Six months down the road I started having horrible cravings and my doctor prescribed Wellbutrin which worked like a charm.

Next.

[Le Taz Hot]

1. 1st of 2

self-kicks before this sinks into obscurity.

[hashibabba]

2. I smoked for 15 years. There were a combination of things

that made me finally realize I needed to quit, but one of them was chronic bronchitis. I'd gotten down to about 5 cigs a day, then decided to quit altogether.

I hate to suggest anyone do this, but I followed people around and smelled their smoke for a few weeks after I quit. It really helped me through the toughest times. I still love the smell of menthol when people smoke, but I try to stay away from it instead of trying to inhale it!

[kysrsoze]

138. LASER TREATMENT! It absolutely worked for EVERYONE I know who did it

My wife and I both successfully quit after laser treatment. It was about $325 each, or 8 cartons of cigs if we bought them outside Cook County. I'm hogging this thread b/c it's the only treatment I know of, where 100% of the people I know who attempted were successful in quitting. In addition to us, there are 3 others we know (2 are best friends of ours) who were successful. I was afraid to try various gums, pills and patches due to the low success numbers. This was my third attempt to stop after over a decade of heavy smoking. I had stopped after about 3 years for a month, a few years later for only a week. The second time was extremely difficult. Both times, I had attempted to quit, based on sheer willpower. The last attempt I made didn't even result in taking a day off smoking. Even after reading "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking," I still didn't feel I could go a day without cigarettes. I was pretty freaked out after that, and figured I'd eventually die prematurely via a heart attack or lung cancer. Since the laser treatment, it has been about 6 months without a single slip-up for either of us. It's been over a year for our friends, with no slip-ups.

The treatment was painless, non-invasive, and ultimately very relaxing. You sit back while a nice, calming nurse-like technician stimulates various areas of your face, ears and hands with a low-level, cosmetic laster. When we left the office, we felt the same "semi-drunk, ultra-relaxed" feelings we had felt only after experiencing a full-body massage. We went out the following weekend with friends to a bar where we were laughing becauase almost everyone was smoking. It was ridiculously easy to get through the night and most days.

Granted, this isn't all 100% positive. My wife and my friend's fiancee both experienced at least a small amount of weight gain (though I still consider them beautiful women). We also tend to have a few cravings here and there, usually at odd times like the middle of the afternoon, as opposed to a Saturday night at a bar. Normally after a little bit of thought, the idea thought of smoking just doesn't seem to make sense in our minds and seems kind of lame/gross.

Although we're very happy overall about our success, we still possess some empathy for current smokers and haven't become rabid, asshole-ish ex-smokers. We still like the smell of someone else smoking, but it doesn't result in a compulsive need to have one ourselves. The smell of cigarette smoke (the ultimate test, really) doesn't really bother us at all, and we are able to have a great time without feeling like we're missing anything. I guess you could compare it to smelling incense burning - pleasant, but not at all compelling. It's just plain awesome to feel this way during times at which I would think I'd be at my weakest.

I would not have bothered posting all these words if I didn't truly believe in how well this works. I want to see as many people as I can stop smoking. My motivation to quit was because I was very worried about my physical health. Now I feel like I have the ability to live a LONG life.

PS - If ANYONE has done this treatment and still not been able to stop, PLEASE speak up. I honestly know no one who has tried it and not been successful, although all of us would have been considered heavy/chain smokers before we stopped.

Good luck, EVERYONE, with it.

[lonestarnot]

146. Damn, never heard of such.

:smoke: I will check it out.

[Lorien]

3. My father used Wellbutrin and nicotine gum

he's been smoke free for about eight years now.

[Papillon]

4. I hope you get a lot of stories.

I have smoked for many years and have gotten a perscription for Chantix. My start date is Nov 6 and my quit day is Nov 13. Any advice people can give will be great.

[Le Taz Hot]

20. Sometimes you not only have to take it one day at a time

you literally have to take it one minute at a time. I don't know that much about Chantix but if you do end up having cravings, remember they come in waves and all you have to do is ride them out. A good way is to get your heart pumping via exercise as this simulates increasing the heart rate from cigarettes. The first three days are the hardest. If you can, stay home from work so you can get pissed off as hell while avoiding pissing off anyone in the process. If not, explain to your co-workers that you are trying to quit smoking and ask for their patience.

Anyway, good luck. And if you don't make it this time (perish the thought), just keep trying -- it will eventually "take."

[Yael]

38. Good for you!!!

4 of us at our office have used this very successfully.

What you can expect:
1. First week, one pill a day, second week 2 pills a day

2. You will get VERY nauseous of you don't drink a lot of water with the pill. Forget 8oz -- go for 12 or 16.

3. If you feel a wave of nausea, drink more water. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but it works

4. VIVID dreams. Not scary, nightmare dreams, just the kind that you wake up and aren't sure if you dreampt it or if it was real. (One morning, I woke up looking for the kitten that my cat "just had". My cat is 18 and has been fixed for 17.5 years. No matter -- the dream was so real that I actually woke up looking for the little guy. LOL!)

Here is the weird part. Starting in about week 2 or 3, you will 'forget' that you smoke. No lie. You will be through the day and think, "I want a cig" and then the phone will ring and you will even forget about that. It is the most bizarre feeliing for a life-long smoker.

Lastly, they started last fall with the recommendation that you stay on the drug for 30-60 days. Now, they are changing that recommendation as the best quit stats are coming from those who remain on for 6 months. Something to do with the non-smoking thing cementing in the mind and all that.

Should also note that I am NOT a fan od pharmaceuticals. I prefer homeopathic and organic. It was a huge argument for me to try this (as I had done the SmokeOut herbs in the past with limited success) but I am glad I did.

Good luck and don't hesitate to PM me if you want to talk, have questions, etc... You CAN do this!!

[me b zola]

75. I don't know if this will be helpful in quitting...

I have found that the addiction to smoking has two elements: the physical and the psychological. I recently did something that could ease the physical symptoms when I am ready to quit altogether.

I have smoked for almost 30 years, I still smoke. When Mr Zola found out how many chemicals they now add to cigarettes he suggested that I switch to a natural cigarette. Wow. When I first began the transition the withdrawals from the chemicals were kicking my butt so I then chose to ween myself off by smoking a couple of the chemical laden cigarettes a day for a few days until I no longer craved them.

Perhaps you could ease your physical symptoms when you quit by first ridding your body of all of the chemicals that are added to cigarettes that are designed to keep you addicted. It seems as though your start date would give enough time to try.

I don't have any advice for the psychological aspect of the addiction, but it might be easier to combat when you don't feel homicidal from the physical symptoms. :)

[Mojorabbit]

102. I tried the Chantix two months ago

It really cuts the cravings. A warning though, I started feeling more and more blue then started having suicidal idealation. My doctor took me off it. I looked it up and it is one of those infrequent side effects. I am normally a real upbeat person and I knew feeling so sad was not normal for me.I know it has helped a lot of people but I just wanted you to know in case you find yourself feeling really depressed you will know what is happening. Also a lot of people are finding they have some major joint pain with it. Just things to look out for.

[dflprincess]

116. I'm still on Chantix and haven't smoked for 6 weeks

I took it for just over a month before I quit (my doctor had said 7-10 days) and, by the time I quit I was down to less than 1/2 pack a day - and most of those were the major habit smokes.

The only problems I had with it were some nausea which isn't a problem if I take it right after I eat and problems getting to sleep. Last week I cut back to one pill a day and the sleep problems have improved already. I notice on the commericals that several side effects mentioned are pretty much the same as what you can have going cold turkey off nicotine.

I didn't notice much in the way of mood changes, maybe some mild blues, but that can also be a normal side effect of withdrawal and there's been some turmoil in my personal life so it's hard to tell what may have caused them (and, I'll stress, it wasn't any where as severe as what you went through).

[Mojorabbit]

123. That is wonderful

It works so well. I was bummed I had to go off of it because I was almost there. I am going to try cold turkey again and I know that will be miserable. Congratulations of doing so well.

[DaveJ]

163. I'm planning on trying Chantix

Thanks for the info. I heard my doctor swears by it. This posts actually reminds me I need to make an appointment.

The moods swings kind of scare me, since I've been prone to severe depression in the past. But I'll take my chances.

With Zyban I had problem with it causing anxiety and teeth grinding. Do you know if Chantix has any chance of causing that?

[alfredo]

5. Caught a cold, used that opportunity to go cold turkey. I was already

miserable, so why not do a twofer.

It worked. That was back in 1972. I haven't smoked since.

[Sparkly]

6. Cold turkey

I didn't like the idea of replacing nicotine -- I just wanted to get it all out of my body quickly.

My method, fwiw: Figure you're going to feel like absolute crap for two days. Plan the days, and have nothing else on your schedule. During those days, act as though you have the flu -- lie on the couch, watch movies, sleep off and on (you'll feel tired - cigarettes are a big stimulant!), drink herb tea, and generally moan, complain, and feel terribly sorry for yourself.

Then on the third day -- get up and get OUT and stay very very busy. Breathe deep, drink a lot of water, and feel proud of yourself!

That's my method.

[FourScore]

122. That's how I did it, too.

One other tip: People are habit prone -- like having a cigarette after meals or with coffee or some other "ritual" moment. AVOID THOSE MOMENTS!!! If you find yourself in one of those moments, just know those cravings are out of habit. Pavlov said it takes 28 days to break a habit. I counted those days and it really did seem to disappear after about a month. Just stay with it. It gets easier and easier each day. Soon, you never think about it anymore.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. Cold turkey. 5 years without a cigarette as of June 1st, 2007.

It was the only method recommended by my doctor, even though he offered to support me with anything that would get me to quit.

One of the things that convinced me, other than the fact that I smelled like a walking ashtray and it costs a lot of money to support the habit (even though I bought them at the local "cigarette discount" store) was the fact that colds and flu hung on forever. An average lifespan for a cold, for me, was a month to a month and a half. Since I've quit, if I get a cold it's gone in a week to ten days. When I smoked, no matter how bad the cold or flu was, I'd keep smoking right through its duration.

In the first few days after quitting, when I'd really feel the monkey on my back, I'd get up, walk out my front door, and take a walk around the apartment complex I lived in at the time. Sometimes it would be one lap, sometimes two, but I'd blow out the nervous energy by doing so. It wasn't so much the craving (although it was certainly present) as it was a sudden burst of feeling very wired, like one too many cups of coffee.

That was another tough one...for me, a cup of hot black coffee and a cigarette went together like Marilyn Monroe and JFK. I had to learn how to enjoy coffee "solo," but as you might anticipate, it did taste better and I enjoyed it more.

My advice to anyone who wants to quit is to make an appointment with your doctor and ask them what they think about cold turkey and what you can do to make it through successfully. Personally, I had no "secret" other than willpower, but willpower got me through and I'm four months into my sixth year without a cigarette.

Good luck.

:toast:

[11 Bravo]

8. In July, 1997, I was diagnosed with a particularly virulent form of tonsillar cancer.

This provided a remarkably strong incentive to quit smoking. The good news is that after surgery and a 6 week course of radiation therapy, it has now been 10 years and I am considered completely cured.

[Annces]

9. I started smoking as a teenager

And continued as a light smoker until my 20s. I knew it was bad for me and so quit a lot. There are many ways to quit. I used the mantra of "I was not born smoking".

Eventually during a period when I was having some cigarettes, it started affecting my throat and so I stopped playing around with it. I still have a few at family gatherings and sometimes it takes me a week or so to stop again.

[hobbit709]

10. Same way I quit all the other things I did.

I decided who's in charge-me or the substance. I quit smoking 35 years ago and I admit that when I'm really stressed that I still want a cigarette but I know better than to start. I quit cocaine-both powder and freebase- the same way about 20 years ago. Since I'm a diabetic I don't drink much at all now-maybe 2 or 3 drinks a year on special occasions. Maybe I have more willpower than others-I've seen various friends fail at quitting various combinations of the above.

[distantearlywarning]

11. I smoked for 10 years and quit in August of 2000.

One day I realized that I was getting past the age where I had always thought it was "ok" to be a smoker, and I started worrying about health issues.

So I basically quit cold turkey. I relapsed a couple of times in the months following (guiltily smoked a few cigarettes and then stopped again), but eventually became totally smoke-free by the beginning of 2001.

Now I don't like to experience cigarette smoke in bars or restaurants, and I wonder how I ever tolerated it as long as I did. Being around heavy smoke makes me feel sick and aggravates my allergies (smoking did too, but I ignored the problems).

However, despite being a reformed addict, I am not an anti-smoking Nazi. I recognize that there are greater dangers in the world to me than second-hand smoke (such as gobbling down fast-food at Sonic, for instance). I also recognize that I have the right to move away from a smoker who is smoking outside, and that I also have the right to not patronize or work at establishments that allow people to smoke inside their buildings. There are lots of non-smoking sidewalks and restaurants out there, and I don't need to get myself all worked up over the issue. The stress that getting agitated about it would cause would likely be much worse for my health than the small whiff of smoke I might catch while walking past a smoker.

[KittyWampus]

12. Simply stopped wanting to and quit. However, I recommend drinking cups of hot tea

It gives you something to hold in your hand that's warm and you lift to your mouth.

There are so many kinds of tea now.

You can make a ritual out of tea drinking... putting up water, choosing flavors for various times of day or mood.

BTW, I smoke Drum handrolled tobacco. It was fresh, tasted great and smelled good. People who objected to regular cigarettes often commented on the nice smell of Drum cigs.

I think it was easier for me to quit cause I didn't have the chemicals and ultra-nicotine of RJReynolds to deal with .

[karmaqueen]

13. cold turkey after 38 years.

My quit started by lying to my niece on the phone. I told her I quit to help her because she was trying so hard and needed a quit partner. After a few days I felt so guilty about the lie I marked my calender, wrote the time, & "Last Cigarette" and quit. I do believe switching to all natural cigarettes a while ago helped with the quit. You can get the cigs with no chemicals from the Indian reservations on line. Then when you quit you are already over the chemicals,also the cigarettes are very good tasting. I am feeling fine and amazed that I am doing so well with not smoking because I NEVER thought I could do it. When I told my niece that I lied at first she thanked me because she felt if I could do it so could she so we are both smoke free, hopefully for good,

[Twenty3]

14. Smoker for almost 40 years

I smoked almost 40 years and I quit in 2005. I used a combination of patch & gum (you aren't supposed to use them together, but oh well) which I saved a ton of $ by buying on eBay!* This took care of the physical addiction, which was easy compared to the mental addiction... my cigs were my best friend, we'd been together through good times and bad most of my life! It was heartbreaking.

What got me through the worst, was the mantra "The urge will pass whether I smoke or not!" (which is so true!) But what really sealed it was an acquaintance of mine, we'd both tried to quit a few years earlier, and we both fell off the wagon. Around the time I was struggling hardest with the psychological addiction, I learned he had just died of lung cancer! And that did it for me - every time I felt like lighting up, I thought of him. Also Peter Jennings.

It's been a couple years now and I don't have the urge any more. But if I walk past someone who is smoking, I have to kind of slow down and get a nice good whiff. I know other ex-smokers can't stand the smell of smoke, but not true for me! Cigarettes are still my boyfriend. Just my ex-boyfriend. We are still in love, we just can't be together. LOL. Hope that makes sense.

GOOD LUCK!


*If you do that, make sure the auction mentions the expiration date, so you don't wind up with an expired product.

[L. Coyote]

15. I decided not to light another cigarette. It is that simple. n/t

It is really easy to quit. I did it 18 times. :rofl:

[Libby2]

90. That's the same plan I'm using.

[warrior1]

16. It was because of bush

When he had been knocked out by a pretzel and the talk was, your heart beat slowed down from coughing, that did it for me. My mother died of this. Silly as it sounds.

I cough a lot because of smoking and well it was just easy to make the decision to just stop. I haven't had the urge or want to smoke since then.

02/13/2002.

[Cetacea]

17. I quit my addiction to meat. After that, quiting smoking was easy.

Both have properties that stimulate the brain and both can give you cancer,high blood pressure, and a wrinkled face(nitrates). But meat eating has a much more profound affect upon the planet, so that was my first addiction to cure.

[Cetacea]

54. And I meant no offence to meat-eaters.

I have since resumed smoking and plan on quiting again. Good thread. Thanks.

[pink-o]

82. I too became a vegetarian while I was still smoking.

..Veggie at 22 in 1977. (30 year anniversary for that one!) But I didn't quit smoking till 1981 when I was 26. I'd played around in high school, then took it up seriously when I went to go live in Europe at 18. I spent 5 years in London, where back then everyone passed around their packs to others, like buying a round of drinks. You wouldn't even think of refusing as we all sat around in the pub and solved the world's problems as all good young people do.

Prior to my permanent quit day, I'd given up smoking numerous times, staying away for as long as a year before "testing myself" and having one--that led to another that led to 2 packs a day. I finally said "Enough!" one day when my heart, mind, body and soul hit a harmonic convergence, and I just knew I would never smoke again. And I haven't.

Back then, there was no gum, no patch, just "willpower" which so easily could set you up for failure. But looking back, I'm so happy that I had my epiphany, I see other people in their early 50s who still smoke and are really suffering for it. My own mother quit at 60 and did pretty well, but when she died this January it was from an enlarged mass in one lung and a huge tumor in the other--smoking related, even though she'd stopped 22 years before.

So this is a worthy goal. The longer you wait to quit, the more the quality of your life will be compromised later. You want to avoid prescription drugs and oxygen tanks when you're retired and should be enjoying years of great life. How can you travel and take up new hobbies when you can't breathe? Remember: slowly and insidiously, smoking harms the very essence of what you need to live.

In a moment of rage, I once told my cheating ex-husband that he was the second stupidest mistake I'd made in my life--the first being ever putting a poison-filled tube between my lips and lighting a match. He knew the marriage was over then!

[Cetacea]

94. "My heart, mind, body and soul hit a harmonic convergence"

I like the way you worded your epiphany. It was a bit like that when I quit the last time (oddly enough right after my father passed away) where I just simply stopped smoking. The other times were more short-lived and involved the various aids,like hum and patches. So I think the best way is simply stopping. (I have heard similar success stories like our own).
I am sorry about your mom and I thank you for your thoughts and concern.

[pink-o]

159. Thanx for your kind words re: my mom

...She did live a really good life, in spite of smoking for so long. The quality of her life wasn't compromised until the last 2 years of it, but then she had the oxygen and the inhalers and could no longer fly (and I work for the airlines: she and my dad went everywhere for 20 years).

The problem with smoking is that it's like playing Russian Roulette--everyone knows the one person who smokes and lives to be 100, never acquiring a single cigarette-related illness. But far more often, it's gonna come back to bite you.

Whatever it takes, folks, please quit if you smoke. Even though I've been free of cigs for almost 27 years, I still remember how hard it was to give them up--and I also remember the incredible sense of relief and freedom once I did. I've since run half-marathons, walked 20 miles around European cities, and biked for miles and miles. All which would be impossible if I were still filling my lungs with poison.

[JuniperLea]

161. That's interesting...

When I cut out meat, my hair began falling out, which caused great stress and MORE smoking:)

I didn't do the veg thing on my own either... I went to a nutritionist recommended by my vegitarian doctor, and it wasn't all that strict... I went lacto-ovo vegitarian. Some people just can't do the veg thing... the nutritionist said I was in a 10% group who could not entirely give up meat. It has something to do with enzymes and amino acids. I now eat fish and foul and my hair is thick and healthy.

[EFerrari]

18. I relapsed after a year but one thing that helped me get that year

was cleaning up that oilly stuff off of every surface in my house, on my clothes and in my car. That way, I wasn't constantly being triggered by everything around me.

Re-arranging the furniture in the living room and getting rid of the easy chair where I'd sit and smoke at night.

Walking no matter the weather. I actually LOST weight that year because of getting more exercise even though I kept stuff on hand that I could eat without worrying about it -- carrots and stuff like that.

[sam sarrha]

19. Meditation... after i got into that i got 4 patches i cut 3 in half..never had an urge after that i

listened to pema chodrobns 'when things fall apart'... and others, her latest..'Hooked'..is wonderful, cheap used at amazon. a month later i quit drinking /27 years hard alcoholism,.. no cravings, i did go to 3 meetings a week for about 5 yrs at the Chenrezig Tibetan Center, at UTEP, best rehab ever

[Obamarama]

21. I met the guy I was destined to spend the rest of my life with and he couldn't abide smoking.

I'm relieved he didn't see me smoking earlier on the evening we met at a social engagement. We hit it off immediately that night, but a comment he made about some other smokers present that night telegraphed loud and clear he loathed smoking.

Over the next month or so as we dated I made sure never to smoke around him and would consume probably an unhealthy quantity of wintergreen Certs before going out with him.

When it became apparent to me that he was "the one", I quit cold turkey. It was hell, but it was worth it - we will be celebrating 19 years together in February!

[AnotherMother4Peace]

31. Cute story - thanks for the smile it gave me. n/t

[bigwillq]

91. Great story!

Good for you. Much happiness. :hi:

[likesmountains 52]

22. I went camping in a remote area with friends for the first few days..

no access to cigarettes...in the days after that I did use the nicotine gum, and took lots of baths b/c you can't smoke when you're all wet. That might have helped get the nicotine out of my body too. However you do it...good luck to ya. It's been 21 years for me.

[roody]

114. I did too. I went to a cabin 15 miles from a store and stayed

for a week. It was the tenth time I had quit and the last. Over 25 years ago.

[Tikki]

23. Both my son and I quit...

three years ago this January.....

I quit cold turkey and my son used the patch with the steps.

We had really strong motivation..
We had a baby in the house (he's a bigger boy now) and we made up our minds we were
not going to let the little guy grow up watching us smoke or just as bad
watching us run out the back door slamming the door in his face so we could sneak a cigarette.

Tikki

[xiamiam]

24. i quit four times...but im smoking again now

#1..smoked pot instead...didnt have a job so that was ok..didnt get much else done either..but i quit for 11 years
#2...stop smoking program at a local hospital..3 years
#3...ate trail mix...so much trail mix that my appendix burst..so i was in the hospital..made the second week of quitting easier..3 years
#4..cold turkey..kind of...but i ate biscottis by the case...about 20 a day and gained 40 pounds..3 years

number 5 coming up..although i dont know when...i smoke like a fiend when im smoking and have learned given my track record to not be judgemental of others who are in the grips of this very nasty addiction

[dave29]

25. I binged on meth (smoking) on and off for almost three years

no patch for that. Meditation, rehab, therapy, and then more meditation.

Clean now for quite some time.

[porphyrian]

26. I didn't quit, I just decided to see how long I could go without a cigarrette.

I gave myself a year of mental preparation to begin, went cold turkey and haven't smoked a cigarette in over ten years. I've given myself permission to smoke again whenever I want, but I stopped getting the urge after about a month. And this doesn't apply to smoking anything other than tobacco, should I get the urge or the opportunity. I'm not sure this would work for anyone else, but it was the most effective thing for me.

[FourScore]

172. That's how I lost weight -- no more diets

I decided I could eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and I lost weight and kept it off!

[elfin]

27. Cherry Commit Lozenges FINALLY got me clean.

Never tried Wellbutrin, but the patches made me have scary dreams and I don't like to chew gum.

So happy to be free of a 30 year habit.

Now off the Commit and using hard peppermint candies instead when I need the occasional oral fix.

[stimbox]

28. Wellbutrin and nicotine patches.

I've been smoke free for almost 2 years after smoking for almost 20 years.
I also suck on cinnamon or teatrea toothpicks now.
I used the patch first but I was such of an asshole that my GF begged me to go to the doctor and get Wellbutrin.
Welbutrin ceased all cravings and made me a more mellow quitter.

[NEDem]

29. I used something called smoke away,

it helped. But I think its more of a placebo effect, made you think you were taking something to help, when in reality you reallly were going it cold turkey. But he product did help. Been 2 1/2 years. It was actually easier than I thought it would be, but the first month or 2 were insane.

[rucky]

45. Smoke Away was my most successful attempt.

I think I'm going to bite the bullet and try that new drug next. Chantrix or something, I think it's called.

[ljm2002]

30. I quit twice in my life...

...and have been cigarette-smoke-free for 6 years now.

The first time I took up smoking when I was 19 years old, smoked for a year, got up to 1/2 pack a day, then one day decided to quit, quit cold turkey, no muss no fuss. Must have been my youth, but I don't remember it even being hard to do.

So I didn't smoke for another 23 years or so, then took it up again because of a boyfriend who smoked. This time it really got me, and although I still maxed out at 1/2 pack a day, I just could not shake the habit. Finally, though, after 5 years more or less**, I realized I had to stop smoking because I had to set an example to my teenage kids and their friends, some of who had taken up smoking. I had to show them that you could quit. So I again went cold turkey, and it took a couple of tries this time: the first try worked, I was smoke free for 6 weeks, then I though I would "just have one cigarette". Big mistake: I was hooked for another whole year!

So then I got serious about it, decided I would quit no matter what. I first quit other habits that I associated with smoking, changed my routines completely. Also I used the mantra "this too will pass" when I had the urge. But the other important thing I did was say to myself the following, each day: after the first day of quitting, I had suffered quite a bit. So I said to myself, this is an investment, and the pain is what you are paying. If you relapse, you will have to go through this day of pain all over again. On the second day, I had invested 2 days of pain, and if I relapsed, then I would have to go through the same 2 days of pain all over again. After 1 week, the investment was even bigger: and since I was determined to quit, it made sense that a relapse was merely a way to ensure another week of suffering all over again.

After 2 weeks it gets easier. One of the problems that occurs at first is that your throat feels worse, not better, for at least 10 days and up to 3 weeks. That is because the nerve endings that are kind of numbed from smoking, start to revive themselves, so they are raw and everything irritates them more.

I am also one of those who does not mind the smell of smoke. But even when I did smoke, I never allowed me or anyone to smoke inside the house or inside my car. I really don't like the smell of stale smoke at all. But when someone lights up in public, out on the street or somewhere, I find it not at all unpleasant. Strangely it does not make me want to light up. I guess that means I am well and truly over it, knock on wood.

Even more happily, none of my children smoke now either. Woo hoo!

=====

**Time periods mentioned are approximate; my memory ain't what it used to be. :-)

[Bluebear]

32. Commit lozenges.

Now, getting off the lozenges was another study, but I finally did that too!

[tridim]

35. How did you get off the lozenges?

I'm VERY addicted to them, probably more-so than I was to cigarettes. That said, I haven't smoked a cigarette in 4 years which is a good personal achievement.

I've tried replacing them with Altoids, but it's the nicotine that I still crave.

[sandnsea]

66. Prozac

That's how I got off them. Although I still suck on an occasional mint for stress, which makes no sense whatsoever. But it works.

[Bluebear]

125. Just had to do a taper and then stop.

I was going broke using them!

[Thickasabrick]

33. Great thread. Finally a "positive" smoking thread. I just got a

script filled for Chantix but I'm waiting to start it until I'm mentally "ready". I'm a little scared to start taking it as one of the side effects is drowsiness, which I can't handle right now.

Keep the stories coming!!!!

[Yael]

46. Myself and 3 other coworkers are on this -- none uf us have the drowsy effect

Just noting as YMMV. As this is a ramp-up plan (not starting with a full dose), that may help.

[msedano]

34. i'd just opened a carton of marlboros...

that i'd paid $1.50 for in the tiny px at bravo battery, had pulled the cellophane from a box. walked up to the chow hall, looked at the hard pack in my hands with its row of cigarettes cradled in tinfoil and asked myself, "self, why are you smoking?" i had no good answer so i dumped that crap in the barrel and never looked back. July or August 1969.

http://www.readraza.com/hawk/index.htm

otoh, weed grew wildly abundant if one knew where to look and i knew where to look. when i got back to the states i stopped the dope and didn't resume cigs.

mvs

[Hun Joro]

36. Nicotine gum and exercise

I started exercising whenever I felt a strong urge for a cigarette, and that temporarily took my mind off the craving. I subsequently became very addicted to the nicotine gum, which I eventually weaned myself off with regular sugarless gum. Someone recommended chewing licorice sticks - the real woody twigs that are available in some health food stores - to satisfy the need to handle something and put something in my mouth. I was told that cigarettes would taste awful after this, but I didn't test that.

[Klukie]

37. I started smoking at 13....

And I quit for good at 28. It took three separate rounds of the patch before I was done (and the threat from my hubby that we would never have kids!). I smoked a pack a day. It was a twisted relationship. At times I really enjoyed it and other times it repulsed me. I am so much better off for quitting and not just for health reasons. Smoking controlled me. I would always feel a sense of restlessness that was only quieted by smoking. I was constantly thinking about when I could have my next puff. My mind did all kinds of acrobatics when I was trapped in a situation that I couldn't smoke. It really sucked. I don't ever want something as ridiculous at a cigarette to have that much control over my thoughts. It wasn't until I realized this that I was able to truly commit to quitting. I tried twice on the patch, but I stopped before completing the step downs. I figured that a couple more weeks on 7mg wouldn't make any difference (Plus I was too cheap to spend the money to continue). That was a big mistake. I proceeded to start right back up. The third time was the charm and I completed the program. I will never smoke another cigarette ever!

Thanks for a great thread! :hi:

[RushIsRot]

39. Acupressure helped me. I have now been smoke-free for

almost 22 years.

[Yael]

40. Chantix -- the wonder drug

I avoid pharmaceuticals like the plague, but was talked into trying this. Was a smoker for 25 odd years and had been the routes of cold turkey, patches, gum, hypnosis, aversion therapy, SmokeOut, organics, etc...

I didn't fare very well on the nicotine replacement items (patch/gum) as it seems easier for me to break the nicotine cycle than to step down on it. YMMV. This method worked in a way that I can't describe (although in another response, I gave it a shot).

I highly recommend Chantix to anyone who is looking to quit. It is worth your health to try it.

Good luck to anyone trying to quit and if you decide to use Chantix and want to post about it, please PM me a link to your thread where I can check in on you and support your efforts.

[hisownpetard]

60. Chantix did it for me! I needed to have surgery and the doctor said he wouldn't operate unless

I had been smoke-free for at least 3 months. So I had no choice but to give up smoking.

Chantix is different from other meds. It has no nicotine in it. What it does is block the receptors
in the brain that make you think you want/need nicotine. You take the pills for a week before
your quitting date, and you can continue to smoke during that week. The medication has a chance
to build up in your system during that time.

I only took half the recommended dosage, and I quit completely, which I think is a miracle. Next week
will make one year since I've had a cigarette. (I hate to admit this, but I still wish I had a cigarette
about 10 times a day. What a strong addiction it is, even after a year without it! Damn those
tobacco companies.)

If anyone's interested and has questions, please feel free to contact me.

Good luck!

[Raejeanowl]

41. Cold Turkey With a Death Scare Chaser

Tried everything, multiple quit attempts over a decade or more including frequent, half-hearted cold turkeys. Always felt that the alternative nicotine-delivery methods (patch, gum) were totally wrong for me because they just kept feeding the addiction.

I nearly had the big one with bronchitis four years ago and received a diagnosis of early-stage COPD. Left the hospital knowing I had to be determined to do it or maybe die the next time. At about six weeks, my doctor offered me Wellbutrin because I was still living on nerves, but it made little difference and my insurance company refused to pay for it anyway ("lifestyle improvement," my ass), so I stopped it again.

Just had to grit my teeth and remember what was important and resign myself to gaining 15 pounds, which I did. I regret that it had to come to that, but having a 911 experience of gasping for air was the only way I got motivated in the end.

I still experience the physical craving from time to time, so I'd quite cheerfully tear out the lungs of anyone who dared to suggest it's not an addiction.

[Bennyboy]

42. Individual hypnosis.....

I have quit three times now. And everytime, I used individual hypnosis to do it. The fact that I have gone back to smoking has nothing to do with it's effectiveness, I have been cig fre for over seven years every time.

I smoke now, sadly, and am saving to go back to the guy. This time I started smoking the day my girlfriend died. been at t over year (almost two) and hate myself everytime I light up.

[Yael]

43. Forgot to add some tricks:

When you feel a craving, remember the 4 Ds:

• Drink Water
  
• Do Something (get up and walk around)
  
• Delay (give it 5 minutes to pass)
  
• Deep Breaths
  

Someone else noted the half-straw. This was my life saver when a craving would hit. 20 Deep breaths of fresh air through the straw and it will kill a craving faster than you can imagine. Just get yerself a big 'ole box, cut 'em all in half and have them with you at all times.

Again, good luck to those who are quitting. You CAN do this!

[rucky]

44. Thank you for this thread! n/t

[Gidney N Cloyd]

47. Cold Turkey BUT I had gum and patches ready if I needed them.

Never used them but it helped knowing they were there.

Smoked for about 20 years and have been clean for 5.

The other part of my plan, and the biggest change from failed attempts, was that I didn't take time off. I'd always figured the stress at work would make it toughter so what always happened in earlier attempts was I would quit on a Friday, make it through the weekend and fall off the wagon on Monday morning because I anticipated I couldn't make it through the work week without the nicotine. The time I was successful I set a Tuesday as a quit day, dove head first into the stress (I warned my boss and coworkers) and after 4 days of cleaning the nicotine out of my system the weekend was easy and I didn't dread the following Monday.

[madokie]

48. aug 14 '77 8:05 am is the last cig I smoked

I woke that morning and told myself that I was going to quit smoking that day and after a moment or two later having lit a cigarette and taking a few puffs I remembered what I had thought about earlier so I put the cig out and never smoked another one. the next time I wanted a cig I told myself that I'd not smoke one this urge but maybe the next time I would. well after about a couple days of that I was going four or five hours of not getting the urge so I knew at that moment I would never smoke another cigarette and I haven't. I was a bar hound back then and I still went to the bars around the smokers but never gave in, actually the second hand smoke was taking care of some of the cravings somewhat but I didn't realize it then. When I got married my Wife was a smoker but only when she would drink a beer and that didn't bother me except for smelling the house up. She quit on her on shortly after we got married because one day she realized the cigarettes was what made her feel so bad after an evening of entertaining and downing a few beers. anyway we have no smokers in our home going on over a dozen years or so.
its easy anyone can do it. just tell yourself that you will smoke one maybe the next urge and then tell yourself the same thing then, you will be surprised at how fast you forgets about wanting a cigarette right now too. I challenge anyone to try what I'm saying and come back here in a few days and tell me, Madokie you're full of shit. mind you I've heard that all my life anyway so it won't be a life changing moment when someone does. ;-)

[ThomWV]

49. 40 Years, 2 Packs of Camels a day, quitting was easy and I got paid $500 for doing it.

No shit.

To be honest I did not smoke Camels for 40 years, I started with Raleigh's.

It was time to quit, that was clear. My heart raced when I climbed stairs, I was out of breath far to easily too. Morning coughs were getting worse and any dam fool knew the reason. I had to quit.

There is a teaching hospital (West Virginia University) about 20 miles from here and they have a "Cancer Center" so I stopped by one day and asked if they had or were aware of any smoking cessation programs that I could sign on to. They had one going on that was sponsored by a drug company (great surprise there) that I could sign up for. I do not recall all the details now but as it worked out I was to take a pill every day and then take a short survey every evening. The survey was done on a Palm Pilot that they provided and sent to them via the phone line. I think the whole thing was to last 6 months, maybe it was less. Every week I had to report in and they took a cotton swab saliva test and gave me the next week's bottle of pills - it took about 15 minutes. The pill, it was explained, was one that was already on the market and being proscribed for something or another and they were testing it to see if it could be marketed to people trying to quit. I was paid for participating in the program and the total ($500) was dependent on staying in the program for the full time. If you dropped out you got paid for the time you were in it. Strangely enough they didn't seem to care if you started smoking again, only that you took the pill and reported in every night.

They gave me a short physical first and then gave me a date on which I would quit. It was about 3 weeks in the future. They said don't bother to try to taper off or quit before hand, just go ahead and smoke to my heart's content until my date came. On that morning I was to have no cigarettes or lighters available. I think I had to start taking the pills a couple of days earlier.

Anyway I never got to the end. I quit without any great difficulty. I wanted a cigarette badly at first and then it got easier as time went by. It didn't take long before most of the urge was gone, surprisingly little time, maybe 5 or 6 days. After about 2 months I went in for my weekly report-in and they told me the program had been canceled. They gave no reason. I didn't care much because I had, by that time, successfully quit. I hadn't give any thought to the money and promptly forgot it altogether. Then about 2 months later I got a check in the mail for the full amount as if the program has gone on to its end, as well as a thank you note.

That was about it other than that I suspect I got the placebo. I only say that because I never felt any effect from taking the pills. Even an aspirin does something noticeable, if not to me then at least some different behavior that my wife would be quick to spot - and mention - but I saw no effect. So from my point of view if you are serious about quitting you might want to check with local hospitals, particularly one that was associated with a med school, and see if they have anything to help. I suspect many do - if not paid pharmaceutical tests like I did at least you should be able to find good information on aids in quitting. Nice folks too. The final payoff of course is that you quit. It is so much better not to smoke. I can not immagine why I ever started.

[OnionPatch]

50. Hypnosis

At least it was called hypnosis, but it was really just a tape that I listened to daily. It's just repeating affirmations about how good your lungs feel as they're healing, how nasty cigarette smoke smells, how you really don't need or want a cigarette and calling yourself a non-smoker. I really believe it starts to register in your brain when you repeat it often enough, even if it feels like a lie at first.

I also tapered down for a month before my target date. (New Year's Day 2006). On that day I threw my remaining cigarettes in the garbage. I was a heavy smoker, too. I substituted tea breaks for cigarette breaks and drank mugs of fancy teas while relaxing in a pleasant, comfortable spot. I also took a lot more walks and hikes and that seemed to help me get through it all.

It took a good six months before I was really through the whole addiction and could smell smoke without a fleeting urge, but I'm at the point now where the smell of nicotine smoke is truly nauseating.

Good luck to anyone who attempts to quit.

[lpbk2713]

51. Cough Drops

Whenever I wanted a smoke I popped a cough drop. I tried several other methods to no avail but this is the only one that lasted. You've also got to convince yourself that smoking is just a slow form of suicide and that it is an expensive indulgence that you just don't need.

[lynnertic]

52. I quit cigarettes because I developed an allergy or something.

The first time I quit smoking it was because I was about to move to California and I had this odd idea that Californians would shun me for such a filthy habit. So every time I lit a cigarette out of that last pack I bought, I became disgusted and put it out. I gave away all my Marlboro miles because I didn't even want to let on that I was an ex-smoker. It was very funny to see how wrong I was once I got here.

I picked up cigarettes again when I met my husband, a year or so later, but don't remember smoking unless we were out together.

Then I realized that I was allergic to cats, and in avoiding exposure to cats my sinuses cleared for the first time in years.

Then cigarettes stank to high heaven, once I could smell them I guess.
Then, the smell made me violently ill.

So it was very easy for me to quit because my body vetoed my every attempt to take the deadly poison. It wanted to live!

It was more difficult for my husband, who tried all kinds of tricks and games and crutches, but who ended up quitting because he decided to. He fought through the withdrawals with sheer determination, which in hindsight is admirable but at the time, it was not a pleasant experience for either of us.

Withdrawal has to happen. It's an unavoidable healing crisis and you might as well get it over with. Every cigarette smoker (who wants to live) will quit one day, for some reason or another.

[Cass]

53. The patches and coffee nips (a type of candy).

I smoked for about 25 years. Next week will be my 1 year anniversary cigarette-free. I am still pleasantly surprised and very proud of myself that I actually managed to quit. It was hard to do, but it ended up being easier than I thought it would be.

The patches were a godsend, don't know if I could have done it without them. I wore the patches about 3 weeks total. The first week was hardest so I just took it one hour at a time. Whenever I had an urge for a cigarette I ate a coffee nip instead. The urges passed pretty quick. After about a week I psyched myself up by telling myself it would really suck to have come this far only to throw all my hard work away by lighting up. Every day got a little easier until one day I realized I wasn't thinking about them anymore.

Good luck to anyone about to quit! You can do it!!

[Malikshah]

157. Have the patch on right now and a coffee nip in my pocket.

They work wonders...

Just started this weekend-- was a pack a day and now am trying realllly hard.

On edge and jittery, but surviving.

[helderheid]

55. I got pregnant and kept telling myself that even though I wanted to smoke, the baby didn't.

Even if you can't get pregnant or aren't pregnant, this same thought works - just replace "baby" with anyone who loves you.

I wish my husband would quit. x(

[catmandu57]

56. It's been a while

I'll try to remember just how it went. I had tried a few times before unsuccessfully and it had been on my mind just how to do it and do it right this time. What I did is bought a carton like usual, but I started tapering down, I would only smoke one an hour with the first pack, the second pack I would go for an hour and fifteen minutes, the third pack was one every hour and a half and so on. Every pack I went a little longer than the last, I bought bags and bags of hard candy and suckers, when the craving got really strong I would do a meditation and deep relaxation.

By the time I got down to the last two packs I didn't want to smoke and gave the last two away, it wasn't easy I was edgy and ready to take the head off of anyone who looked at me wrong, but I did it and I haven't smoked in over fourteen years now.

That's how I did it, good luck.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

57. Took seven tries. Cold turkey. Decided I didn't want to die of lung cancer

in the next year.

[bpeale]

58. i smoked for 30 years

and was unsuccessful many, many times. my two biggest reasons for failure were stress and feeling like i was being deprived of something i really, really wanted. my success in quitting came in 2000 when i used zyban. that deprivation i always felt was totally taken away by using zyban. without the deprivation the stress was not allowed to get to me. i have been smoke free for 7.5 years now & have not once WANTED it ... and that's a big thing. most people say they never get past WANTING it. i have.

[Veek]

59. Wellbutrin and exercise and pregnancy

Wellbutrin magically eliminated the urge. Exercise
made continued smoking painful. Conscience prevailed
during pregnancy.

[tandot]

61. I started smoking at age 13 and quit at age 30

I quit many times before but never successfully. People around me at work smoked and people smoked in restaurants and bars I frequented.

When I turned 30, I had a little one-on-one session with myself pondering about my future, health, and just about live in general. My biological father had just died at age 63 and we have a family history of heart disease.

My ex-husband was an non-smoker and he was one of the reasons I quit. Also, most of my family and friends are also non-smokers which helped a lot. I changed jobs and all of my new co-workers were non-smokers. My doctor also reminded me of the dangers and asked me to quit ever time I saw him.

I decided to quit and did it cold turkey. It was tough the first couple of weeks but I stayed away from smoking environments and friends who smoked for a while. After a while, whenever we visited friends who smoked, I was shocked by the way their house smelled and my clothes after just a couple of hours with them. I virtually got light-headed and nauseous. As a smoker, I never paid attention to that. The difference between opening the door to our non-smoking home and a door opening to a smoking home was a big part in keeping me a non-smoker.

I had one relapse a year after I quit. Thank God I got extremely nauseous from the first couple of drags and from then on, I didn't even have a craving anymore.

We divorced a couple of years later, and, when I started dating again, I was actively looking for a non-smoker. I got married to hubby #2 in September and he is a non-smoker. He actually never smoked. We are carefully to eat a healthy diet (he calls me a food-label nazi) and to live a healthy life in general.

My step-dad smoked and I still remember the sound of hacking and coughing in the morning. He quit 20 years ago cold-turkey.

[EstimatedProphet]

62. The patch did help

But I think I was able to quit mostly because I was ready.

[Gregorian]

63. Temporary postponement, and substitution.

I still miss rolling my own Drums.

I was about 23 years old. I had been smoking for about five years. (Actually I had been smoking since I was about ten, but only very seldomly.) I began working in cardiology. When I saw men smoking through tracheotomies with long tubes that went to an ashtray on the side of the bed, I began thinking about whether that was how I wanted to end up. I tried quitting many times. I'm sure everyone here knows what it's like to rummage through garbage cans for butts.

First, when I wanted a cigarette, I would turn my desire to a different direction just temporarily. Instead of looking into that garbage can and thinking how nice it would be to get ripped for the first time of the day, I would say to myself that I would wait for an hour. And often two hours went by. This is the critical step. The mind is craving nicotine, but it can be redirected to think of something else. And that craving switch gets turned off temporarily.

Second, I substituted food. When I had a craving, I would grab a handful of something to eat. That helped with the postponement.

Third, cannabis. I went from smoking nicotine to smoking cannabis. And it was great.

(I might add that after thirty years, I just quit cannabis. And it was without the slightest degree of difficulty. I never thought I'd stop. I didn't want to stop. And now that I've stopped, sadly, I don't want to take it up again. Which is weird. I miss it. I quit while trying to diagnose a physical problem I was having.)


Edit- I just remembered that it took several tries over several years. But it eventually became permanent. Oh, and another thing. It took a couple of years after quitting before the desire was gone.

[Blue_In_AK]

64. It was easy for me.

Although I smoked off and on from age 19 to about 55, I never smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day, and sometimes I'd go months or even years without even picking one up. It was something I did when I was stressed, or just as a social thing. Since I'm no longer with my stress-inducing, smoking ex-husband, I feel no need to smoke, so I don't.

I still enjoy the cannabis, though. :hippie:

[reggie the dog]

71. you live

in the only US state where my method of quitting tobacco is legal. (see post below).:)

[Blue_In_AK]

73. Reggie, it's one of the many reasons I love living here.

:) I'm glad the method worked for you, and it does sound like you had a good time doing it.

[sandnsea]

65. Lozenges & Prozac

When I couldn't quite kick the stupid lozenges, I did prozac for about 10 days. Smoke free for almost 3 years. The prozac, for short term use, is very effective in just taking the edge off with absolutely NO woozy side affects. At least not for me.

[Fierce]

67. Cold turkey after 10 years.

Lots of coffee helped. Still miss it, though.

[Cairycat]

68. Cold turkey, basically

Had the stomach flu and hadn't smoked in a day and a half, so decided to keep going. I bought a huge bag of gumdrops and had one of those when I wanted a cigarette. I was over the physical addiction in about a week, ten days.

I had smoked for 13 years and was creeping up over a pack a day at that point. Haven't touched 'em in 21 years.

[Coexist]

69. I got pregnant - dh used the patch - and he was a mean bear for 3 months

he's better now.

[reggie the dog]

70. this is an honest account

I smoked tobacco cigarettes for 4 years roughly a pack a day. What I did to quit is unconventional, illegal in 49 states, and is only for people that already smoke grass.

I got myself, through undisclosed methods, 4 ounces of mid strength outdoor grown cannabis. I then got rid of my tobacco. Every time I wanted a cigarette I rolled a cannabis smoke instead of a tobacco smoke (I was still in high school at the time and did not work full time). For a week I was stoned a lot but only noticed the physical withdrawl from the tobacco while I was at work and not smoking cannabis. By week 2 I was down to 2 or three after meal joints a day and had basically no physical withdrawl symptoms from the tobacco anymore. By week three I was smoking roughly as much grass as before I had started the whole process but no longer smoked tobacco.

I quit tobacco but I did not quit smoking.

To this day I still associate having a nice smoke with eating a nice quality meal (Thanksgiving dinner etc.) but I roll a pure weed American style joint instead of smoking tobacco.

If you already smoke grass perhaps this method will work for you but I cannot see this as being too much fun because you will have too many "side effects" (the high) from the grass.

My wife just chewed nicotine gum for nearly 2 years and that worked for her.

[librechik]

131. I knew I couldn't be the only one

:smoke:

gotta love decriminalized jurisdictions, like mine!

helps with the arthritis, too!

[reggie the dog]

174. doh

I lived in Illinois, not decrim. France is de facto decrim though......

[southern_belle]

72. Interesting this topic came up today...

3-4 days ago, I had 2 packs of cigarettes and said when I finished smoking those 2 packs I wouldn't smoke anymore. Well, today, I was getting down to my last few cigarettes and thinking about maybe getting another pack - and what do you know - I get on DU and see this topic!!! Sounds like a message is trying to be delivered to me.

That was 3 hours ago. I smoked my last cigarette about 1 1/2 hours ago, and haven't smoked in 1 1/2 hours. I am a non-smoker. I am a non-smoker. I am a non-smoker (one minute at a time). :grouphug:

[Evoman]

152. Good luck, I'm rooting for you.

[Maine-ah]

74. cold turkey. no choice, was pregnant.

to me that's a no brainer. I've been smoke free since feb. 2006.

[sellitman]

76. The future Mrs "sellitman" told me "its cigarettes or me"

and 20 years later she is still by my side.

:loveya:

[glitch]

99. Good for her, and good for you for doing it. :) nt

[DemGa]

77. Several months on chewing tobacco

I saw it as a cheaper nicotine replacement. But I was of course, only putting off the withdrawal. It worked, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I stopped smoking 9 1/2 yrs. ago. Never touch the chewing stuff either.

It took a full seven days for the withdrawal to break on that chewing tobacco; definitely a foolhardy approach!

[B Calm]

78. I used little pinches of Copenhagen Snuff to control the urge to light

up. After controlling the urge to smoke, I gave up the snuff with ease.

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

79. I quit about 22 years ago...

cold turkey. But it was about the 5th time I had tried. My (ex-) husband and I were trying to get pregnant so obviously I had to quit. So this is what I did:

I decided around Thanksgiving that I was going to quit on New Year's Day. And until then, the only thing I allowed myself to do while smoking was ... smoking. No cigs with coffee, no cigs with beer, no cigs while talking on the phone. And every cig I smoked I had to smoke down to the filter. Everytime I wanted a cigarette I had to stop what I was doing and take 10 minutes to do nothing else. By the time it came around to Christmas I just wanted to stop right then because I was sick of just sitting around every time I wanted a cigarette. But I made myself continue smoking until new years. And I realized that I could not quit at the stroke of 12 because I would be buzzed, so I waited until I was going to bed before I tossed the pack down the trash chute.

Never smoked again, but I STILL have dreams about being a smoking addict again!

Good luck! You will not believe how much better you are going to feel!

[Cleita]

80. Cold turkey actually.

When I quit, there wasn't much to help except nicotine gum and I felt it was too expensive. Also, it helped that my office had gone non-smoking. That had been a bugaboo every other time I quit because I had to watch everyone else smoking and it was just too easy to bum a cigarette and fall off the wagon.

I have to admit I quit many times before for even as much as six months. The little mind trick I did play on myself was to tell myself I could smoke on Sundays, only on Sundays. When Sunday came I really tried hard to not think of smoking until Sunday passed and then I was in non-smoking mode again until it was time for Sunday again. Then again I would try to hold out for all day Sunday again. I did give in several times, but just like when you eat a chocolate bar while on a diet, you just make yourself get back on that diet anyway.

I did this until I no longer craved smoking and could get through Sunday easily. I also knew I could never have just one. Once you do that the frequency of just one gets more and more until you are back to smoking on a daily basis. I haven't had a smoke now in fifteen years.

[cordelia]

81. Cold turkey.

My doctor told me that my lung capacity was 25% below what it should be for a 43 year old. Then he said "You have no choice - quit or die."

I had some oral surgery coming up in a few weeks, and used the doctor's warning as my mantra to help me mentally prepare. I knew one of the instructions following surgery would be to not smoke, so I set that as my quit date.

For me, it was as much mental (if not more) than physical. But we're all wired differently.

I wish anyone make the try in stopping the very best of luck. I quit March 26, 2001.

Funny, though, I still smoke in my dreams.

[Fading Captain]

83. Quit in January after about 18 years

Using the patch.
But used an accelerated program ...
The method they suggest is just too damn drawn out.

I start at the medium patch for two weeks.
Then I did it again, cutting 1/3 of it off, for two weeks.
Then I used the small patch for two weeks, not using it all on weekends.
By the end of the second week on the small patch, I had stopped using it altogether.

I felt a little out of it for a couple weeks.
But overall, it went pretty easy.

In fact, it has all three times I've quit.

I think the key is being mentally convinced that you're controlling your dose. That's why I use the patch and not the gum. It's would be harder to regulate that. You could have a bad day and eat a few peaces of gum and it might set you back.

But you can really control the patch, using scissors. And drop the amount of nicotine each day.

[LiberalEsto]

84. Coughing up a lot of brown mucus

made me decide to quit. I was 22 and it scared me. I was smoking 3 to 4 packs a day of unfiltered Camels, and I thought I was getting lung cancer.

I stopped cold turkey and kept telling myself over and over that it gave me splitting headaches. I imagined the headaches starting, until I actually developed headaches every time I wanted a cigarette or was around one. I also told myself I would end up spitting up more brown junk, and visualized this happening. This intense self-talk and visualization worked.

The most difficult times were when I was having a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, times when I usually enjoyed a cigarette. I had to do heavy self-talk, telling myself that it would make me sick, give me headaches, etc.

I'm now 55 and haven't smoked cigarettes since.

[emdee]

85. I started smoking at age 15...

and quit at age 32. I had "tried" to quit many times - well, not "many" - several times, always because other people asked or told me to. My then-boyfriend, now-husband, even offered me $100 if I quit (I quit after we married and have yet to see that $100 officially but, as most women here know - I spent it!! LOL)

When I finally decided ON MY OWN that I would quit - I had just run out, which I NEVER allowed to happen. I always purchased a new carton before opening the last pack. When I ran out, I asked my husband to purchase ONE PACK and then I would quit. I didn't tell anyone else - this was a key factor for me. No one except my husband knew. It's just like a diet - when people know, they shove food in your face and/or want to discuss it all of the time creating the biggest hunger for a whole cake. So, I smoked that one last pack in just a few hours and that was that.

For me, it was simply a mental choice that I had to make on my own terms and I did it because I decided it was time.

Good luck to all of those who wish to quit. I am NOT one of those people who say "I did it so anyone can!" I would start back in a New York instant if it were cheap and accepted and wasn't so unhealthy. Even now, I walk very slowly and breathe deeply through smoking areas! Don't expect to never want one again - I quit 15 years ago and still remember loving it! They were 50 cents a pack when I started and had gotten over $15 per carton when I quit. I could never (never say never) pay what they cost today.

Two years ago, my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was so upset, I really thought about starting smoking again. I went into a tobacco store and lingered and smelled and browsed until I think the lady thought I was a robber! LOL She finally asked me if she could help me and I told her the truth. She came around the counter and hugged me and then she refused to sell me anything! And, she made me promise not to stop at another tobacco store! So, even though cigarettes were the reason (probably) that my dad had been diagnosed with lung cancer, that's what I wanted to turn to in troubled times. So, don't expect to never want one again.

My brother carried the same pack with him for several months. He said that having them and not taking one was key to him. I couldn't have them in my possession at all. Some people keep toothpicks in their mouths. One thing you shouldn't do, in my opinion, is to use candies. Sugared candies will add weight - sugarless candies in big doses make you run to the bathroom.

Again, good luck to all who attempt it. I really DO feel better - I had begun to have a cough that wouldn't go away and my throat had a tickled feeling a lot of the time. That stopped when I stopped smoking. My sense of smell is better and also my sense of taste. There was one particular factory that I never smelled while other people continually complained about it - after I stopped smoking, I could smell what they were smelling.

Hope this thread helps people stop.

emdee

[alfredo]

106. I started at ten. I was up to three packs a day. I was twenty seven

and I would get winded going up a flight of stairs. I went cold turkey at 27 years, never looked back. I'm hitting the big sixty three in a few months.

Yes, smells became more intense after I quit.

[emdee]

110. I was up to two packs a day when I quit....

and could tell that I was soon going to want more. Going over that 2-pack a day semi-limit was something that I didn't want to do.

Ten? Sounds like my dad. I wish he had quit when he was 27 as you did!!

Everytime I was caught smoking as a teen, my dad was in as much trouble as I was! "If you didn't smoke, she wouldn't either!" my mom would say.

Times were different then - not an excuse, it's just the way it was. I remember when grocery stores were smoke-filled and doctor's offices had ash trays.

emdee

[alfredo]

128. It's a tough drug to kick.

s.

[degreesofgray]

86. I tried 15 times

I tried cold turkey, cutting back, the gum, and the patch. Every time I quit and then started again the smokes made me feel worse and worse (I started at 18 and smoked for 18 years, usually a pack or more per day). I was completely addicted and had a terrible time quitting, but finally convinced myself to put up with the withdrawals no matter how agonizing they got because 1) I really wanted to quit, and 2) I was so tired of feeling like crap from smoking cigarettes. It's now been three and a half years since I weaned myself off tobacco for good.

Good luck to any of you who are currently trying to rid yourself of your addiction, or who are contemplating trying to quit for the first time or the hundredth.

[Miss Chybil]

87. www.silkquit.org

I smoked for 25 years. One day, I looked at the cigarette in my hand and threw it in the toilet. I ended up smoking four butts over the next few days, but that was it. I went to silkquit.org and downloaded a tracker for my computer. You put in when you quit, how much you smoked a day and how much your cigarettes cost per pack. It tells you how many cigarettes you haven't smoked, how much money you've saved and how many days you've added to your life. That tracker was a life-saver.

Here are some tips:

Always brush your teeth after you eat. This stops the craving for an after-meal smoke.

Drink a lot of water. Especially, in the first 7 days. Nicotine only stays in your system for 7 days. Water helps to wash it out. Any cravings after 7 days without nicotine are psychological, not physical. Remind yourself of that.

Throw out your ashtrays. Have your car cleaned and deodorized.

Clean your house. Fe-breeze it, if you smoked inside.

Smell your sweet, clean hands whenever you want to smoke. Have they ever smelled so good before?

Smell everything! Did you know life smelled so good?

Taste everything! Did you know life tasted so good? (This one is tricky. It's hard not to eat more. Take a walk, if you're overdoing the tasting.)

Stay away from the places you normally would smoke. At least, until you've been nicotine-free for a long enough time that when you go around an ashtray it makes you sick.

Smell the smoker in front of you in the grocery line. Imagine, you used to smell like that and your skin used to be gray like hers.

Drink water.

Search the Internet for more ideas... the www.silkquit.org site has a lot of ideas.

Take it one day at a time.

Good luck!

On edit: I'm seven years smoke-free.

[Jeroen]

93. Thank you! n/t

[Miss Chybil]

139. You're welcome. My mom used that site to quit. So did my sister.

It really helped me to visualize my progress. Good luck to you! You'll be amazed at your statistics - just wait and see...

[JanMichael]

88. I was a so-called "light smoker" that means I smoked but it was...

...predicated on drinking and light smoking the rest of the day. That means a pack when out boozing and maybe a half pack regularly.

How did I quit? I contracted too many upper respiratory tract infections over a short period of time and eventually just stopped smoking out of illness attrition.

That stated it' not anything to get a prize for. Why?

Because I don't believe for a moment that I was nearly as addicted as my wife because while the first few weeks were sort of tough I didn't have sweaty palms and the other signs of withdrawal.

I have had maybe one "craving in a year and that passed quickly.

[silverweb]

89. I got mad.

After smoking for 20 years, I was up late one evening counting out laundry quarters so I could run to the corner store before it closed to make sure I wouldn't run out of smokes before my morning coffee.

It suddenly hit me hard: "What the fuck am I doing and why?"

I was frantically scraping together laundry change for something I knew was bad for me, hating myself for doing it, and all the while the purveyors of poison were flying around in their Lear jets and laughing all the way to the bank at idiots like me.

So I put a cup on my desk and dropped a quarter in it, smoked the last cigarette in my last pack, and resolved that every time I wanted a cigarette badly I'd put another quarter in the cup... for some special treat for my daughter and me.

In the morning, I told my 10-year-old daughter, "Mommy's going to be a bitch for about a week because I'm quitting cigarettes, so I'll need you to bear with me for a while." She gave me a big grin and threw her arms around me and said, "I'll help you, Mommy!"

And that was that.

I went through a box of toothpicks and about 10 packs of gum in that first week and haven't looked back since -- except to ask myself why I didn't do it sooner.

[karlrschneider]

92. I stopped on August 21, 2007. After smoking for 48 years.

I woke up in the middle of the night coughing and said to myself "this is bullshit, I don't need it" and so I just quit.
The reflex action to 'reach' for a smoke is still there but I never had (so far) any uncontrollable urges - knock on wood-
and I realize it's only a couple of months but one day at a time seems to work for me.

[Cetacea]

103. Congrats.

It seems like that is the best way to quit. I had a similar experience but eventually went back. I was surprised though how easy it was when I just felt like I had had enough.

[abelenkpe]

95. replacement

I just decided to have a sunflower seed if I ever felt like smoking. Ate a bunch for a while but eventually had too many and grew to dislike sunflower seeds. That was the same year as the northridge earthquake. I sometimes have this nightmare that I'm smoking and wake up petrified that I have to quit again. It keeps me from even thinking about having one. Addiction sucks.

[BornagainDUer]

96. It was very simple. I went into hypnosis...

therapy and evertime I lit a cigarette I was hynotized to punch myself in the face, then do the same after every puff. Eventually Pavlovian conditioning won and everytime I started to light the cigarette I got so fucking scared that I dropped it and ran out of the room.


But seriously. Actually I quit by cutting back steadily to get rid of the physical addiction then just fought the urges as hard as I could. It was hard as hell to quit, but eventually I lost interest (about 5 months). Also I got into a serious exercise routine and treated myself to hikes, etc. as a reward.

[glitch]

97. Here's how I stopped: patch for two years, nic gum initially whenever the patch wasn't enough

chocolate chips on demand, 3 cigarettes a day even while on the patch. No more than 3, otherwise you get used to the additional addiction.
Eventually as the behavior addiction passed and the nose and taste senses returned, the three cigarettes weren't worth getting stinky over. Then I cut the patches down gradually, first half, then a quarter and so on. The important part was getting rid of the behavioral addiction and the patch helped me do that, all the chocolate, nic gum, and occasional cigarettes where crutches I used to while the patch did the heavy lifting.
My doctor said stay on the patch until the behavioral addiction is gone, however long it takes, or you will probably be back on the cigs (I'd quite a few times before). No matter what, the patch is less harmful than actually smoking, so stay on it as long you need. For me it was two years, but the second year I was on half-patches and quarter-patches and eighth-patches, and patch slivers.
Oh year, I babied myself. But it's been 9 years so far and I am still not tempted.

Also, and important thing to consider and is actually true: each nicotine craving will go away with the same rush of relief, whether you smoke to relieve it or not. Once you realize that you don't need to smoke to relieve the craving. Very useful.

[proud patriot]

2 and a half years of nicotine gum

I'm finally free of the nicotine but it took years
of weaning myself off of it .

I used pot to stop smoking ciggs with nicotine gum .

With pot I had the sensation of stuff filling my lungs
and was able to change how I received my nicotine .

quiting the gum was just as tough as the ciggs .

Finally I chew trident now .

P.S. getting really mad at the tobacco co's helped a great deal .
I posted their political contributions plus my yearly spending

[Stinky The Clown]

98. Mental cartoons after being nuts after a heart attack.

I had a heart attack in February. I was VERY lucky, was treated with stents and had no heart damage. My doc gave me a clean bill of health but said ALL WARRANTIES ARE VOID IF YOU SMOKE.

I got home from the hospital in two days. In an hour I was out for a walk and I smoked.

I tried to cut down. No good. Didn't work.

My daughter in law is a cardiac ICU nurse. I asked her if smoking was a long term problem or if it cause immediate effects, too. She said it did both; that it causes your blood vessels to constrict.

I battled a cartoon in my head after my stents. I imagined every time I walked or was jarred and (gawd forbid) jumped, my stents were going to fall down to my feet and I would die.

I immediately got the same sort of cartoonish mental image about smoking. I saw myself taking a drag and seeing all my arteris slam shut and me dying.

I'm smart enough to know that neither cartoon is even possible. But the images were powerful to my clownish mind and HONEST ...... that worked ...... after more than 50 years and many attempts to stop.

[rndmprsn]

100. Cold Turkey...

i had the flu, a bad case was out for three days...on the fourth day i lit up a cig, coughed put it out and never had another one.

i smoked for 9 years an i quit 10 years ago.

[leftchick]

101. weaning and gum

I weaned myself from a pack a day down to one cigarette a day for the longest time. I finally quit altogether when I got married.

[H2O Man]

104. I quit.

I decided to quit. I did it "cold turkey." My wife said that if I ever started smoking again, that I need not worry about cancer -- I had been so unpleasant to be around when I quit, that she would kill me rather than listen to my crap again.

It really bugs me that they can't invent a tobacco that is good for you.

[Vickers]

105. I had an epiphany (for lack of a better word).

I smoked 2+ packs a day for 19 years, and one day a "scene" popped into my head of my daughter telling me she was going to have a baby, "You're going to be a grandpa!."

I was hooked up to machines in a hospital.

I went right back to my car and crushed 3 packs of Marlboros (I'D JUST BOUGHT THEM ON A 3-PACK SPECIAL!!!).

FTR, I am not a religious person, so maybe epiphany is not the correct word.

I had quit on many occasions before (when I turned 25, when I got out of the military, when I got married, when my first kid was born, when I turned 30, etc. etc.) but I always started again.

Never again...this was a little over 9 years ago, and I haven't even thought about it since then.

Weird, huh?

[philly_bob]

107. Wait until you have a winter cold.

A nasty flu will stop you smoking for 2-5 days anyway, right?

Since three days is the peak for the agony of withdrawal, by the time your cold is over,
you've already done most of the heavy lifting.

So then you just have to fight against that first post-cold smoke. And you already feel good, having
beaten the cold.

I did it, without drugs, about 15 years ago, after 25 years of smoking.

P.S. I'd love to hear if anyone has figured out how to smoke just one to three cigarettes a day.
I miss the taste and mental buzz. But unfortunately, I know if I have one cigarette, I'll soon be
up to 25 a day -- which is medically very dangerous.

P.P.S. My significant other (a non-smoker) mentioned once or twice that she thought it would be better if I quite smoking -- but that's all. She did not nag. My quitting was not a negotiation or bargaining in our relationship. It was my own decision. She played it very smart.

[Hamlette]

108. gum, but I had to give up drinking for a couple of years too

because every time I had a drink I smoked.

Now I can drink. But I don't very much.

And I've chewed the gum off and on for 20 years.

(It costs about 1/3 as much on ebay...Nicotrol is exactly like Nicorette, Habitrol is nasty!)

[etherealtruth]

109. Wellbutrin/Zyban

[Tafiti]

111. Smoked for about 8 years.

I've never had a physical problem with smoking - it's always been very easy for me to quit. I just really like to smoke. I hate that I had to quit. Most people say, "Damn, I hate it, I wish I could quit." Not me, I didn't want to at all.

So a couple months ago, I moved away for law school, and had decided beforehand that I would quit the day I got there (long trip, had to smoke on the way). So I did.

Haven't smoked in over 2 months. Like I said, physically it's easy. I never get cravings, or get anxious, or aggravated, or irritable. Just cold turkey, no problem. I think most smokers have a different experience than I do, though.

[Swamp Rat]

112. I just stopped

On special occasions I'll smoke a cigar, maybe once or twice a year, but it has to be Cuban. However, I do not inhale. :D

[tishaLA]

113. It was easy

Slightly over four years ago, I went to the hospital. I had been sick for about six months and the doctors had misdiagnosed me with, among other things, the flu, allergies, and asthma. Ooops! It was congestive heart failure and, it appeared, I needed a heart transplant. At the age of 27.

They gave me Wellbutrin in the hospital. I never wanted to have another cigarette. I stayed on Wellbutrin for about 6 months, but I am still smoke free. And my heart more or less recovered.

So there.

[focusfan]

115. I had to quit smoking because

when I would lite up I would literally throw up because I had
smoke inhalation in my lungs. from where my house burnt from a
kersoene heater.me and hubby and stepson barely got out with
our lives we were jumping out of the window and the ceiling
was collasping.:thumbsdown: 

[Maraya1969]

117. I really think what helped me is changing my attitude about stopping smoking

The cigarette manufacturers want you to believe that quitting is sooooo hard because they want you to continue to consume their product. I spent months telling myself, "it's not that big of a deal, it's like giving up spaghetti". Then someone told me that he realized that there was no danger in a craving, it was just a feeling and it truly is the "oh my God" that causes the most pain.

But I also used the patch and the gum together. I still chew the gum....that is a hard one to break, (oops I shouldn't have said "hard")

Using my hands to do intricate work helped a lot too. Like gluing beads onto sneakers.

BIG thing is staying away from smokers, at least in the beginning. I would always go around smokers and think, "what the Hell I can just stop again". The easiness of stopping also made it kind of easy to start again. Now I have a boyfriend that doesn't smoke and won't tolerate a smoker because he is allergic to it. That to me is great.

Best of luck to everyone!

[many a good man]

118. I quit the easy way on September 1st

I smoked over 30 years and like everyone else the hardest part is the psychological. I highly recommend Allen Carr's book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking because it teaches you to change the way you think about smoking. It has strengthened my resolve to stay quit. I now find it extremely easy now NOT to smoke.

I quit cold turkey, no nicotine substitutes. The first day was unbearably miserable, and the next two were tolerably miserable. The first three weeks I felt antsy but now I'm fine.

When you get the craving you're tempted to smoke thinking that will satisfy it. That's wrong thinking. Smoking is what creates the craving. The stronger the craving the stronger should be your determination NOT to smoke.

Nicotine addiction is like a tapeworm. The only way to kill it is to starve it to death. After three weeks it's dead.

My wife still smokes and I have no problem being around other smokers. I am a happy non-smoker. She is going to quit soon and this the advice I am giving her and anyone else based on my experience:

1) Make the decision that you are going to be a non-smoker.

2) Pick a quit date. It should preferably be the start of a three day weekend or a vacation. Pick a time when you won't have lots of responsibilities or people around.

3) Start taking Zyban (Wellbutrin) about a week before your quit date. It may give you insomnia or make you feel weird for the first few days. If possible start tapering down your nicotine intake as it will make the withdrawal period a little easier.

4) Quit.

To be a happy non-smoker, you have to realize that you're not sacrificing anything. You're not giving up a damn thing. There's not a single god damn thing about smoking that is any good. You just brainwashed yourself into thinking there is. Addiction is slavery. Enjoy your freedom.



Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our minds.

[femrap]

119. I started at the beginning of summer by telling

myself that I was going to quit at the end of summer. Every time I lit up or inhaled or stubbed one out in the ashtray, I said to myself I won't be doing this in 3 months...then 2 months, then 3 weeks, etc. I really prepared myself mentally to quit. Then I got the patch....which is just wonderful. I was high on it.

I had smoked for 28 years...at least 2 packs/day. I've not smoked for over 11 years now. I can't stand the smell of cigarettes now...it makes me physically nauseated and my eyes water.

Don't start this filthy habit. Please. It's not worth it....and now it is so expensive!!!

[w8liftinglady]

120. I have had several patients who used a new medication called Chantix

They all said it worked great-no cravings
http://www.chantix.com/content/Chantix_Branded_Homepage.jsp?setShowOn=../content/Chantix_Branded_Homepage.jsp&setShowHighlightOn=../content/Chantix_Branded_Homepage.jsp

[RandomKoolzip]

121. I started having panic attacks.

This was in 1999. Any kind of stimulation/intoxication would bring them on - I quit ALL drugs, alcohol, cigs, caffiene, in basically one week characterized by extreme anxiety and psychic pain. I suggest others utilize more sensible methods.

[girl gone mad]

124. Cold Turkey.

I thought I might be pregnant, so I smoked half as many each day until I was down to one, then I stopped. I found out a week later I was pregnant and I was so glad I made the decision to quit. I think it would be harder to do if you have a spouse or roommate who smokes.

[Seedersandleechers]

126. I added up the cost of cigarettes for a month and saw that

it was as much as a car payment. I went with the car...

[Stop Cornyn]

127. I have never been a smoker, but my parents both were pack-a-day smokers and quit cold turkey when

the doctors at MD Anderson told them that my nasopharyngeal cancer was due to exposure to second-hand smoke.

I promise you this is an effective means of quitting, but it is not a method I'd wish on anyone. I urge anyone to chose another method of quitting before this method choses you.

Good luck.

[datadiva]

129. Thank you for this post

I just had a stent put in an artery in my abdomen. I have PVD. I got a blister on my little toe and had no circulation in my foot. Then I got gangrene in the toe and had to have it amputated. I am still having a lot of pain in the foot. Damage has been done unfortunately but my foot is now warm for the first time in 2 years. Have smoked for almost 50 years. I have my prescription of Wellbutrin but have been putting off starting. This post has so many great suggestions. I am bookmarking it to read whenever I need some help with the cravings. Starting my prescription tonight thanks to this thread and you Le Taz Hot.

[javadu]

130. Two Things

1 Gum and patches when needed. i never followed the plans in the literature that you get when you buy the packets. i just used them when needed.

2. Try and try and try and try and try and so on. I quit over 50 times before it finally took. In fact, i am not quite sure it has took, even after 4 years.

Please quit. You need to live.

[Cleita]

132. I agree. You never know if it takes.

I have been through a few smoking inducing incidents in my life (like the death of my husband) and still didn't light the torch (hard), but you never know. I guess you have to be aware of it and just keep trying your damndest.

[kcass1954]

133. After smoking most of the better part of the last 33 years, I quit cold turkey in February.

We never smoked in the house, and smoked in the cars only if the kids weren't with us (although I got a new car last year and it's still a "virgin").

In February, I got the flu and was absolutely miserable. I missed a week of work (and I'm almost never out). The second day, I went out into the garage to light up, took a puff, and hacked away. Put the cig out and went back to bed. Got up a couple of hours later, and did the same thing. It took me all day to smoke that damn cigarette. I was so sick for so long that I got over the physical stuff from quitting before I had a chance to think about it. By the time I felt good enough to smoke again, I didn't want to. My doctor said to call her if I felt like I wanted to smoke - she'd give me a prescription for something if I needed, but I didn't.

The day before I got sick, I opened up the first pack of a new carton. When I went back to work, I took the other 9 packs and gave them to someone who smoked the same brand. She tried to pay me for them 3 times, but I told her I wasn't in the business of selling cigarettes - I just wanted them gone.

One of my customers who I've become friendly with - he's a recovering alcoholic (20 years dry) - he's been my biggest cheerleader.

The money I used to spend on cigs - now I spend it all at the quilt shop!

[Lindsey]

136. I can't recommend Chantix enough!!!!!!!! It eliminated my cravings

completely. IMHO to whoever's out there that wants to quit, this is the best way. My side effects are what some others here have mentioned, like nausea. The thing that stands out the most as far as side effects go were the REALLY vivid dreams.

[phylny]

134. Cold turkey - found out I was pregnant, quit immediately, and even

though I miscarried that pregnancy, I never smoked again. That was 23 years ago.

Now if I could only lose weight as easily....

[argyl]

135. I quit cold turkey in 1984. There was no nicotine patch then and "tapering off"

isn't effective.About everyone I knew who tried that would go back to their established smoking patterns sooner or later.

If the patch had been available then I'd have probably used it.I've known a lot of people who've used them and quit successfully.

[Tracyjo]

137. Chantix

I used a straw for the first few weeks also. It's been almost four months since I've had a cigarette.

[windbreeze]

140. I smoked for 27 years...tried to quit numerous times....but it took

admitting to myself that I had an addiction...and that it was ok for me to want a cigarette...as long as I didn't light up....I used a patch one day...and then told myself I didn't need any crutches to do this...next month will be 2 years, since my last cigarette...and YES...I have had a couple bad spells...at which time, I warned my family...I may end up smoking again...so if I do..I don't want any of you to say a thing...I am having a bad time right now, and I don't know if I will manage to get through it this time....so far I have...oh, and that's with everyone else around me continuing to smoke...and with me even making cigarettes for them, at times...uh huh...OH...and at the same time I quit smoking, I quit drinking coffee....which to me is strange, because I drank coffee long before I started smoking...so it's been almost two years since I had coffee every day, all day...also....wb

[Skittles]

142. do what I do

when I feel terribly stressed and get the urge to light up I go get some patches or gum - I have found that those urges, they really don't last very long if you'll just ride them out - yes

[NashVegas]

154. "and that it was ok for me to want a cigarette"

That was important for me, too. I'd even think of creative ways to express the desire for one and how good it would be, until eventual distraction.

[windbreeze]

176. It worked...when nothing else did...

denying you want a cigarette is unrealalistic after you have smoked for 27 years...but on the other hand, the act of accepting smoking as an addiction...and allowing myself to want a cigarette..worked for me, seemed to take some of the stress off quitting...and apparently it worked for you also...great and congratulations...wb

[WCGreen]

141. I was a heavy smoker from about 15-24...

One day I just decided to quit...

It's the same with drinking...

You have to really want to quit in order to do it...

Besides all of that, the physical addiction is gone within 4-7 days...

After that, well, it's all behavioral..

What I think makes it easier to quit today is that you really have to want to smoke...

There are so many barriers to smoking that you almost have to go out of your way to grab a cigarette..

[Islander Expat]

143. I bought myself a can of Copenhagen

Now I jes put a pinch tween my cheek and gum, yeee haw!

[a kennedy]

144. Here are my quitting stats: from a website that got me through quitting......

My Quit Date: 5/2/2005
Smoke-Free Days: 896
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 17,925
Amount Saved: $4480
Life Gained:
Days: 123 Hrs: 6 Mins: 54 Seconds: 10

http://v5.stopsmokingcenter.net/ This is the place....it got me through the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I miss smoking, but I know that if I have even one puff I'll start back, so it's never again for me.

[stillrockin]

145. Cold turkey

was the way I went. I quit in 1984 as a wedding gift to my husband. I hate to admit it, but I didn't have the willpower to quit for myself.

For the first 3 days or so, I popped extra strength Tylenol for the tension headaches. Once that was done, it was purely psychological. I used visualization. When cravings occurred, I imagined raising a dirty empty mayonnaise jar with cigarette butts covered with water to my lips. This was enough to make the strongest urges pass.

That said, the cravings never totally disappear. Initially, I avoided alcohol, which I'm sure many of you know can cause cravings. Wanting a cigarette after a meal was also an issue, but diminished with time.

Anyway, I consider my victory over nicotine to be one of my biggest accomplishments. My hacking cough disappeared almost immediately. I could taste food. I avoided smoker's wrinkles and on and on. It's incredibly, unbelievably hard, but worth every miserable moment.

[bpeale]

147. this is nice

i really hated being browbeaten by people over smoking. that does not work & only makes one dig in their heels. if you really want to HELP someone quit, be kind, be patient, be supportive (even when they slip & fall back). yelling and being mean & hateful helps no one.

[Samurai_Writer]

148. I smoked for 9 years

I quit when I had my first asthma attack. That was almost 28 years ago. I resisted the temptation of lighting up again by reminding myself of the huge emergency room bill I had for that first attack, when I was very poor and a single parent. That money was better spent on my child than doctor bills or cigarettes.

[madmunchie]

149. After years of upper respiratory sicknesses, I got yet another sore throat

and when I would take a drag off of a cigarette it would actually kind of hurt my throat....no different than other numerous sore throats with the same effect when I smoked over the years, but something this time just snapped. I asked myself why I wanted to inhale a cigarette when it actually caused me discomfort - illness. I decided to quit smoking and just not tell anybody in case I couldn't do it. So I did. I smashed the pack of cigarettes that I had and left them in a place where I could see them to remind me of my resolve. I went cold turkey with no patch or anything else to help me, I was just ready to do it. I firmly believe anybody could do it IF they are ready to quit and really want to.
And not matter how hard you try, you won't succeed unless you really are committed to not smoking. Find the reason and hold onto it for dear life.

[Mr. Ected]

150. Started Wearing the Patch...AND Took Up Smoking Weed

A few restless nights, a few uncomfortable days...but 15 years later, I'm totally smoke-free.

Totally.

[madmom]

151. I learned to crochet and made the world's biggest afghan, my SO used

the little puffer thing, I don't remember what it was called, it looked like one of those plastic cigar filters. Oh and btw, the kids loved the afghan they fought over it.

[NashVegas]

153. Simply, I Was Ready to Give Up My Self-Destructive "Crutch"

It was something I had been thinking of for the past few years, only, instead of waiting for outside motivation to give a good reason, I decided that it would be even more fun to call anti-smoking control freaks out for what they were - if I weren't a smoker.

With the tax & ban situations, smokers are forced to pay both a financial and a societal price for their habit. The state doesn't want smokers to quit, really, because then they'd have to find another convenient outcast group to tax more heavily than the beautiful people.

Anyway, I waited until mid-summer vacation, when I would be off my daily routines, and bought a pack of Nicorette gum. The instructions that come with it would have had me doubling my daily intake to 2x the amount I'd get from smoking; I threw out the instructions and went with 1/2 or less for the first week or two and from there went to maybe 1/2 a piece a day. As of now, I haven't had gum for a couple of weeks.

[Rambis]

155. 20 years

I went on a trip to Ireland and bummed one outside a pub and that was my last one. I kept the butt-
I remember the trip and I left the smokes behind. I also left my diet coke habit there as well. With Guinness available who needs diet coke anyway:):toast: :beer:

[Vinca]

156. Cold turkey - my husband quit at the same time and that helped. nt

[JuniperLea]

158. The Patch!!!

The addiction is two-fold: Nicotine and habit. The patch allows you to work on one part of the addiction at a time.

Having a buddy to quit with is also very helpful. My live-in b/f (howardx @ DU) and I quit together. It was great having his support!

The patch instructions say you have to use them for six weeks. Howard and I used them for two or three weeks, tops, and felt strong enough to go it alone. It's been almost a year and a half, and we are both still smoke free and loving every minute of it!!!

We have saved over $5000 so far and we no longer support big tobacco (that's a biggie alone), we smell good, our home smells good... our car smells good... I'm losing the smoker's lip wrinkles... we don't have to leave our friends and go outside for a smoke when we're out on the town... the list of benefits has grown so much!

I still get mighty pissed when I see smokers being picked on here. All you anti-smoker fucktards can kiss my lily white ass! All your bullshite only serves to make people smoke more! Seriously! Your creepy condescension is counter-productive, and your holier-than-though crap shows how truly insignificant you are because you feel the need to tear another human being down in order to make yourself feel bigger and better. You disgust me far more than any smoker ever could.

[Dorian Gray]

160. I smoked for 14 years....

my husband got strep throat, so I quit when he was sick. Cold Turkey. We did it together, and we supported each other. It doesn't hurt that we are also REALLY competitive, so that keeps us going even when the urge hits us! :)

[insane_cratic_gal]

162. Having to go outside in the Dead of Winter in Chicago

to smoke. Nothing like 15 degrees below with the wind factor in the dead of winter in IL to bring to light now nasty one's addiction is! I was visiting my in laws, when I had one of those WTH are doing moments. I went home and made a new years resolution (corney I know) but I have a 9 year old, I wanted to be around for her, so I had lots of motivation there.

I used the patch initially to stop smoking but only for the first few days. I found by using the patch I was prolonging my nicotine addiction and just generally made even more pissy because I couldn't control the amount of nicotine I was getting. So I got coffee stirrers to chew and straws cut them up to cig size and stuck them between my fingers when ever I was in craving one just for the emotional attachment. for me the first 72 hrs is physical addiction, once I got past that I had to battle the emotional "what the hell do I do with myself while I'm on the pc or drinking a cup of coffee" moments.

After 4 days of trying the patch, I just went cold turkey, first two weeks were the hardest. It's now been 3 years, there are times I forget I ever smoked.

Its getting through those agitated moments, focusing your mind on something else other then your emotional habits.

[gorekerrydreamticket]

164. Patch PLUS Gum PLUS Deciding I didn't want to smoke anymore...

I believe the mental part is the hardest part of quitting. The physical part is largely over within a couple of weeks. You have to be at a place mentally where you just don't want to be a smoker anymore. Can't explain it any better than that. If you get to that mindset, it won't be as hard as you think.

[Dora]

165. Wellbutrin and crochet. nt

[deminks]

166. Wellbutrin. Nothing else worked.

Haven't smoked for several years. Haven't even wanted to. :thumbsup:

[Stardust]

167. Take a deeeeeep breath when the urge to smoke hits. n/t

[debbierlus]

168. I quit by smoking hard & letting myself feel how sick it made me

I was never a heavy smoker because I just couldn't smoke more then about 1/2 pack a day without feeling really ill. So, I decided to quit by smoking to the point of feeling ill. Then, I would really focus on all the negative things about it, the smell, the yellowish nails & teeth, & connect it with my headache, nausea, & lung pain. I would smoke a drag or two, in the midst of it, to add to the unpleasantness.

Then, I quit. Everytime I would get a craving, I would bring myself back to remembering the physical sickness I had when I smoked.

Worked like a charm.

Aversion therapy. This method I believe works best for those who don't tolerate cigarette smoke well to begin with....My fiancee' tried it & it didn't work for him. But, he has a much higher tolerance then I do. If you are a light weight, this is a very effective method.

[nolabels]

169. The word quit should not be used in defining peoples actions

The idea of of absolutes does not work well with humans who are built out of habits. It took me many tries to quit (think many hundred). The habit of quiting over took the habit of smoking eventually. Then it took a while for the continual quiting to be supplanted with other little habits to take that place of the continual quiting. Think of it as journey and a change rather than an absolute. Supplanting the idea of being a smoker with something else is what it eventually comes down to.

Yea, some people can quit cold turkey but others are not wired that way. Understanding oneself and the process is where to start.

[aintitfunny]

170. Quit Successfully 2 years ago - 30 year smoker

using the Nicotrol Inhaler and Wellbutrin. Did not renew the Nicotrol Inhaler prescription - the inhaler works great for the 'hand to mouth' thing and was really handy when I went out for a beer, which had been my downfall on previous attempts. I had a bad reaction to the patch - made me a little crazy and the dreams were horrible.

[ThePowerofWill]

171. Cold Turkey coupled with lots of exercise.

Quit around 20yrs ago, just dropped them. When i got a craving i got busy on the weight pile, or did some jogging.If at night i did push ups or sit ups.

I'm one of the few who lost weight when i quit.

[onethatcares]

173. I went cold turkey, it's only been

since midnight jan.1,2007. but I haven't had a cigarette since then. I stoked myself for a year by picturing how manly it looked to have smoke coming our of my nostrils, how great it looked to be able to inhale something that causes people to die in house fires. I just got to the point I thought it sucked big time, and it was 40 yrs I'd been smoking. I've saved a bunch of money so far, I'm not stopping to get a pack and then buying some other thing in the store. I was a 2-3 pack a dayer.

[timtom]

175. After getting a DWI in 1981

I swore off alcohol. On New Year's Eve, going into 1982, I threw my half-empty (half-full?) pack of Winstons away and never smoked again.

The tool that I used was reefer, up until 1985. Then I quit that, too.

Never had a craving for tobacco since 1982.