Ex-smokers, please pop in for a second

In My Humble Opinion
21

I quit about two years ago. I used to be a two-pack a day man.

I used patches, and they helped a lot. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say the difficulty started at about 6 for the first week, and went down to 4 after that. Maybe down to 2 or 1 after another month or so, and few weeks after that it was almost as if I had never smoked.

Once in a while I get a craving, but it’s not a real gotta-have-a-smoke feeling, it’s more like a memory of what it used to feel like when I wanted a smoke. And it passes very quickly.

22

1.) Somebody nearer and dearer to me than I could * possibly* describe helped me realize (read that, “nagged me like crazy until I could no longer ignore the pleas”) that I should have been treating my body like the temple that it is. I’m not at all religious I might add, although I do believe in God and all that dorky stuff, but I began to think of my body as a temple. I * also* began to think of my new shopping center as a cool place to shop if I only had lotsa extra money! Well, if I quit smoking > 2 packs/day, I could buy TONS of cool stuff from my new shopping center, AND I could make my significant other feel so very proud of me.

Anyway, so that’s what I did. Zyban mighta helped, but I’m not sure. What I mean is that this was the only time that I’d ever tried to quit, and I smoked OVER TWO PACKS A DAY, mind you! I quit on October 6, 2000 at 6:03 PM EST. I now shop a LOT.

2.) I rate the difficulty of quitting as a nine. I can fathom few things that could possibly be more difficult. I smoked a LOT, remember! I rocked back and forth and shivered and shook and did all that nasty heroin withdrawal stuff when I quit. I’m not exaggerating.

3.) “Occasionally”??? I want a fresh Winston every moment of every waking day! These urges are stronger at some times – weaker at others – but I could so very easily smoke again at almost any given moment.

By the way, I LOVE the smell of cigarettes! I can’t imagine NOT loving that smell!!! I prefer to sit in the smoking areas in restaurants. I’m truly the worst kind of addict, but I’m determined not to have my ribs split apart and my arteries bypassed and such.

I’m also determined to live long enough to experience all the happiest things the world has awaiting for me. ::Sigh:: Gosh, I can be sappy!!!
P.S. I truly wish that nonsmokers would PLEASE stop making smokers feel like the scum of the earth… just thought I’d mention that – thanks for listening.

23

I quit smoking cold turkey 10 years ago when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I had been smoking about 1 pack a day for 12 years or so.

For me the physical withdrawal from cigarette smoking was pure hell. However, at this same time I also quit a 3 cup a day coffee habit and was in the throws of early pregnancy, so I really don’t know how much of my physical pain was due to just the quitting smoking part.

Since it was a total non-issue that I would smoke (being newly pregnant), I can honestly say that the psychological aspect of it for me was non-existent. I simply would not smoke while pregnant.

After my chid was born, I similarly felt that I didn’t want to subject my newborn to cigarette smoke, but I honestly had no desire either, so I just never started again. (I did resume coffee drinking though:}).

Over the years I have craved a cigarette maybe 2 or 3 times – all times when I was under a lot stress. I didn’t succumb, probably because there were no cigarettes immediately available. But those times lasted only a few minutes and, like I said, very sporadic.

Oh, and hubby never smoked, so I think that helped as well.

24

I’m starting to feel like a spammer – I think this is the third thread where I’ve had an opportunity to sing the praises of Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking (www.bn.com, hardcover, $6.98).

It’s just a book, only takes a couple of hours to read it, and if you approach it with an open mind and accept that you’re being reprogrammed, it works.

I’m 55, had smoked for 40 years, except for a period of about 9 years in my 40’s, after some really excellent hypnosis. Started up again and was at 1-2 packs a day. Couldn’t smoke at work, so I chain-smoked before and after.

On a difficulty scale of 1 to 10, it was a 1. Heck, maybe a Minus One. From the first moment, I was happy to be free of smoking. No cravings or withdrawal pangs whatsoever.

There was one brief time after about 3 weeks where I kind of missed it, but Carr’s book had said that would happen, and except for some mild uneasiness, it passed.

It was weird. I’d be driving home from work and thinking that I was going to want a cigarette later on, when I got home. When I got home, I’d think I was going to want one later, after supper, but that didn’t happen either. I was worried about a future craving that never materialized. Bizarre.

I don’t miss it. So many people at work are more stressed out than they need to be because they’re worried about their next cigarette. Will the meeting last through lunch? Will this training session go on past my break? Will I have to drive to the seminar with a non-smoker? Lunch meeting – smoking section or not?

And dreading winter, trying to smoke outside when it’s 20 below and the wind’s blowing.

Nope, those days are over for this little hacker.

25

I guess I should answer for myself, too !

I stopped by using Allen Carr’s book, too. Basically, it shows you how to get yourself in the frame of mind, so that the whole exercise is positive, not negative.

I’m great at quitting, I used to do it regularly. Every other time I tried to quit, I wanted a cig badly as soon as I’d stubbed out the “last” one. Because I was depriving myself of something I wanted, the craving’s were extremely magnified. Every other time I tried quitting, I would have to scale as a 9 or a 10. The last time, when I actually did quit, was honestly about a 1 at most…

I have been smoke free for about 9 months now, and except for one incident, have had absolutely no desire to have a cig. The smell disgusts me, however my SO is still a chain smoker. That one incident was watching the WTC footage over and over again. I reached for a cig, but as I lit it I almost vomited. I stubbed it out, knowing that it couldn’t possibly help me cope better with anything.

This is all my opinion, based on my experiences, but it seems as if a large majority of quitters who used willpower, are still craving. (as Allen Carr explains)
I told my SO, that if after three weeks of not smoking, I actually still craved a cig, that I was going to smoke. I did not want the rest of my life taken up with battling cravings, only to succumb in 30 years time. The way I saw it, I’d rather live 10 years less than spend my whole life wanting something I couldn’t have… Thank god it worked this time, because I also decided that this was the last attempt

Aaahhh, to be free breathing with no addiction dragging you down :slight_smile:

26

I smoked for only a couple of years, roughly a pack and half a day from roughly the summer after my senior year of high school until after my first year of college.
I quit cold turkey. I tried easing off first by smoking ultra lights. I got up to 2 and half packs a day of the things to make up for what I was missing and realized it wasn’t going to work. I finally just made a decision I was going to quit.
I’m not going to lie, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, but I’m living proof it can be done.
It’s been several years later and yes, I still occasionally want one. The folks that have said the psychological addiction is worse than the physical are right on. It was a social thing for me and a way of dealing with stress. Anytime I’m severely stressed out, I start craving one. I’d never do it though. First, I don’t want to feel like I did when I was smoking. I was out of breath all the time. Second, I don’t want to risk cancer. Third, Tiggamooo would kill me if I did. She’s much more important than the tobacco.

27

1) How did you stop
I just decided I would, it was about 15 years ago, my motivation was a combination of financial, health and (anti)social factors.

2) How difficult was quitting
Easy really, I told myself that if I could go without for a morning, then why not a day?, if a day, then why not two?, if two days, why not a week? and so on.

3) Do you honestly still want one occasionally
Yes, and I have succumbed to the desire on a few occasions, particularly if I’m out on a whole evening’s drinking with smokers present, although the last time I did have a cigarette (about four years ago), I felt very ill indeed, so I don’t think I’ll bother again.

28

I quit the last time the morning my girlfriend’s father died of lung cancer, last summer. Tossed a pack retaining nine Marlboros into a gas station garbage can and didn’t look back. Wanted them whenever I smell gasoline, 'cause it reminds me of the Mustang I drive (very inefficient, and more dangerous than cigarettes !)

I started again the morning of September 12.

I only smoke one or two a day now, and have to brush/scrub/Listerine to get rid of the smell on my hands and clothes and breath to hide it. The disapproval of the SO makes it likely I’ll quit entirely, and keeps me hiding a pack of Marlboros atop the bookcase (SO is also short).

The key to quitting for me was the moment of purchase. I don’t go to convenience stores when I can avoid it, and here in Washington they lock away most cigarettes at the grocery store so it’s easy to just NOT SAY “…and a pack of X”. That’s my control, my voice. If I can keep from just saying that phrase, I can keep from smoking. That’s where reason triumphs, at least every week.

29

I went to a Bible retreat for three days. To smoke I’d have had to trudge outside the gate in the cold, so I held off it for the duration. It’s pretty easy really. After three days you’re biologically free, the rest is psychology. That’s probablyw rong, actually, but tiw orked that way for me.

I forced myself to start again a little while later, though, because I had no good reason to want not to smoke. Later when I stopped again it stuck.

30

As of the end of this month will be fifteen years.

On the 1 to 10 scale, it was about a four. I quit once before, but it didn’t take. This time, the lovely and talented Mrs. Shodan and I quit the same time. No patches or nothing, just stop doing it and don’t start again. I almost never smoked at work, though, and we were getting ready to start having little Shodans, so I got the double whammy of a natural stretch of time where I didn’t smoke and a strong motivation. The LATMS tried starting again, but I objected and she never even opened the pack she bought.

I would be a stone liar if I said I never get the urge anymore. It is stress related, but I am sometimes surprised to be hit with the craving.

Always a good idea to try to quit. It can be done - by me, my wife, my sister, my brother, my sister-in-law, my dad, and so on.

Good luck.

Regards,
Shodan

31

A little history…

I’m 43, smoked since I was 14 or so. The first time I really tried to quit, about 20 years ago, was not successful. It lasted for about 4 hours, and my cow-orkers finally told me to “just go buy a pack, dammit!” At the time I suppose I tried to quit because I knew I should, rather than that I really didn’t want to smoke anymore.

The second time I really tried to quit, about 5 years ago, was successful for three years. At least until I snagged ‘just one’ from my wife, then another a day or so later, then I just started buying my own again. I was successful then because I actually wanted to not smoke anymore.

This time I think, will be successful and final. It’s difficult for the first few days, although I wasn’t begging anyone to tie me a chair. I suppose I’d put it at a 6. I’m using a patch for the physical addiction and working on the psycho-social addiction. That’s what helped me the only time I managed to stop.

At this point, if a cigarette materialized in my hand, I’d have to think about it. If a match came with it there would be no contest. The point then, is to keep busy with other things. I’m much more productive at work, which is very important right now due to budget cuts. [sub]That’s one to think about.[/sub]

I do have momentary cravings, but I keep my goal in mind and they pass. I do know that I will have cravings to some degree for the forseeable future, but I also know that I don’t have to let them control my behavior. I am also using the SilkQuit meter (but not on this computer). When the money saved figure hits my target, I get a digital camera. I’m giving myself a tangible reward, something I really want. It will take a few more months, but I know I can make it that long, and by then not smoking will be the habit.

32

I used the patch, negative imagery, herbal teas & supplements, and every other trick I’d ever heard about for detoxifying & fighting off cravings. I think I even chewed the gum a few times. I also got ready with all of this stuff long before I actually quit. I didn’t set a day, I just worked up to it until I knew it was the right moment. Event then, I told myself I would just not smoke until lunch, then at lunch I thought I could go another hour or two, then I figured I could make it until I got off work, then I thought well, I could probably go home first & then decide, and then I guessed I could probably just go to sleep & see how I felt in the morning… In other words, one day, hour, or minute at a time.

**

I started smoking when I was 12, and smoked an average of two packs a day for about 25 years. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’ve quit three times now. The first two times I quit for just over three years each. This time has been 4 years, 2 months, and some-odd days. It was also absolutely the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I’m grateful whenever I think of how truly free I am now.

**

I still want one, but only at times of great stress, or if I’m feeling extremely down on myself. A craving never lasts long enough for me to go buy a pack of cigarettes, though. I still do have lots of dreams (nightmares, really) about smoking. The smell of cigarette smoke has also become extremely unpleasant to me, and causes me sinus problems almost instantly.

If you’re a smoker & thinking of quitting, keep trying until you find whatever works for you. It can be done.

Sue D.

33

I quit in 1989, cold turkey. I don’t recall having a lot of difficulty - I’d just made up my mind to quit. I had part of a pack left and kept it in my desk drawer at work (you could still smoke in the office at that time) and I found it comforting – knowing they were there “just in case.” I was never tempted to take one and eventually tossed them. Started smoking again in 1995; quit March 2000 using nicotine gum, but after 4 days, I was depressed and felt like crap physically. The 5th day, however, felt better and knew I was going to make it. #2 - how hard? the second time was really hard - scale of 1- 10, I’d say 8 for days 1-4, then gradually easier. I’m still using the nic gum, however (but down to the 2 mg pieces). And #3, yes I still want one occasionally. The desire has gradually decreased; even with the gum I was craving a smoke for months after quitting,depending on the situation. Now, it’s mainly when I’m in a bar around others smoking - man, it smells so-o-o-o good still! Now if I could only lose the 20 pounds I’ve packed on since quitting…

34

bump…

just in case I’ve missed a few ex-smokers…

BTW, thanks all for the info !

35

I smoked for 30 years, about 30 a day.

Gave up last year, using no aids just a book by Gillian Riley How to Stop Smoking and Stay Stopped.

I expected it to be really hard but it was surprisingly easy using her method.

Once in a while I think about a cigarette but its just a thought not really a craving.

The most amusing bit of giving up, when I did have cravings, was how I was inclined to treat smoking like an activity. I would be waiting for something and think, “I should have a cigarette to fill in the time.”, as though smoking made the time pass faster.

36

  1. I tried everything. The patch, the filters, the gum, and nothing worked. Then I went to a hypnotherapist. It cost $375, and came with a lifetime gaurantee. I think it worked because Iquit. I was not relying on anything outside myself, the therapist just guided me in ways to not want to smoke.

  2. On a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a 9. Pretty damn hard, but well worth it.

  3. Still want one from time to time. Mostly for the social aspect. It will be four years on Nov 17. Interestingly, I smoked a clove last Saturday night, but did not inhale. It was fun and strange to do it after so long. It was oddly familiar, like seeing an old, albeit smelly, friend. Even so, I have not even thought about it again until I typed this.

If you are thinking of quitting, it’s a struggle you will never regret IMHO.

37

I started stealing my dad’s Camels in 1956. By 1967 I was smoking three packs a day. Then I was assigned to a military site where possession of matches was a court martial offense, first time, no kidding. Since I spent three days at a time at the site, and no one really gave a shit if I liked that or not, I quit smoking. It sucked, but the will power was someone else’s, not mine, so it didn’t matter.

In August of 71 I started again, at a party, and was back to two packs a day in a week. I stopped again in 1976, when I opened my fourth pack of the day, and realized I was buying cartons of cigarettes more than twice a week. I just quit. It was not all that hard, although it did take a while to get over really wanting them, say three months.

I started again (yes, really dumb, I know.) in 1979. I was a regular pack a day smoker instantly. I continued smoking until 1994. My son asked me to quit as a birthday present to him. I quit on his birthday, and have not smoked since. Much like the first time, it was fairly easy. (You can’t take back a birthday present, can you?) Not a single cigarette since.

Same symptoms of quitting every time.

Three days of misery, wanting one every second. Nervousness, irritability, constipation, and insomnia.

Three weeks of half absent minded preparations to smoke. Patting pockets, looking for cigarettes, going to the places where you can smoke, etc. Some mild desire for cigarettes, but much reduced from the original craving. Very strong desire when others were smoking in my presence.

Flavors and scents improve after a month, and continue to improve for another two or three months. Wind improves dramatically after the first month, and continues to improve for several months as well. Coughing disappears in several weeks.

Advice:

Don’t tell anyone you are quitting. Not your wife, husband, or twin. It’s a secret. Replace the behavior with a new one. (specifically something that you cannot do while actually smoking, like swimming, fueling jet engines, rolling fireworks, or painting tiny little toy soldiers, with flammable paints.) Get interested in it, and use it to deflect any inquiries about smoking. Change the subject. Deny that you have quit. “I have a bad sore throat, and had to cut down, this week.” Never admit that you are really trying to quit. For reasons passing belief people will sabotage the hell out of you, if they find out. “Uh, no, I left them in the car.” “Oh, no thanks, I really don’t like that brand. I’ll get some downstairs.” Then leave.

Quitting is not the hard part. The hard part is really deciding that you will quit. No cutting back, no “lites” no self-delusion. Do you want to quit, or not? If so, then do it. If not, don’t.

Tris

“The word aerobics comes from two Greek words: aero, meaning ‘ability to,’ and bics, meaning ‘withstand tremendous boredom.’” ~ Dave Barry ~

38

Smoked a pack a day for 15 years. Tried numerous things to quit. Patches didn’t work for me. Hypnotism worked for about 4 months, but then one night I got drunk and started smoking again.

Finally, cold turkey worked the best. I had to psyche myself out for about a month beforehand; constantly allowing myself to wretch with every puff, associated the smoke with discomfort and gagging. That worked.

Difficulty level: 6.5

I still get slight cravings. Oddly enough, I crave a good cigar more than anything, even though throughout my entire life I’ve smoked a total of about 8 cigars.

Good luck to you, and if you fail, keep trying. It’s a worthwhile endeavor.

39

Smoked around 2 packas a day when I quit, had smoked for years.

Just quit, finished the open pack and said that’s it.

IT WAS AWFUL! An 8 at least. I have kicked many habits, but smoking seemed harder than coke (yes, I said coke) because at least I could smoke cigs and do other things instead. By the time I got around to quitting smoking, I had no other vices left to ease the pain.

I would smoke in a heartbeat, and it’s been almost 10 years since I quit. I sometimes have smoking dreams, which are funny.

40

1) How did you stop
Cold turkey. The only method that really works.

2) How difficult was quitting ?
First three days… 11.
Next three weeks… 7.
After that… 2

3) Do you honestly still want one occasionally
No. Don’t even think about ciggies.