2 days 12 hours 48 minutes.
Thank god for Zyban and Nicorettes.
Three years. Well, almost. February 5, 2001.
It’s been about 3 years or so for me. I don’t recall when I stopped exactly but it was sometime in 2000. It seems to me people who don’t remember when they quit have a better chance of stopping entirely. The one’s that count the days and minutes since their last cigarette inevitably pick up the habit again. IMHO of course. Perhaps it’s time to move on with your lives people. 
cletus, dear, if you asked me any time other than when I’m sitting at my computer, the best I could tell you would be the date I quit – it’s pretty hard to forget – July 4, 2002 (Independence Day in more ways than one). I don’t even keep the stop smoking meter running anymore, I had to activate it to get the data to post here (as I’m fairly confident everyone else who was that specific had to do, too). Thanks for the advice, though. I’ll definitely keep it in mind while I count my savings with pennies spread out on the floor. 
Thanks large for the encouragement.
Maybe you should get a counter in your sig like Satan used to have.
Tough to quit? Hell yes. Wasn’t sure I was gonna make it.
For everyone just starting down this path, have faith. You can do it. Be prepared to find out what you are made of. And be prepared to give it time. After several months the cravings become a bit less frequent and shorter in duration. They can still be pretty intense, however. This can go on for some time, but the good news is that eventually you realize that you can handle them, and the worst of it is behind you.
All that is required is determination, will-power, and the belief that you may well be saving your life. Think the process through, including the stinky, disgusting mess of putting out a finished smoke. Don’t just think about how good they smell when you first light up.
Thanks all for the encouragement. I haven’t smoked since 20 July 2003. I am still chewing the gum, but I am down from the 4 mg to the 2 mg mint/roadkill flavor. keep it up squeegee, I’m told it gets easier.
I am thinking of changing my username to CrankyAsSomeoneTryingToQuitSmoking
2D 16h 6m 40s
Smoke free since April 8, 1997.
I had tried to quit numerous times before. I don’t know what was different that time, I suppose it was that I just got so MAD at nicotene. Anyhow, I just threw my pack away one day and I didn’t have even the slightest craving until about 3 months later. I knew it was different that time because on previous attempts to quit, smelling the smoke after someone lit up would send me into fits of craving. The last time I quit, smelling smoke was somewhat repulsive to me. I knew right away that I was never going to smoke again.
The same thing happened to me with alchohol early this year. I just woke up one morning and realized that I no longer liked it. It was really wierd for awhile to catch myself walking right past the beer isle without even giving it a second thought. Didn’t really mean to give it up, it just sort of happened.
Congratulations!
10 minutes
I didn’t intend for my last post to sound so blunt but let me apologize now if I angered anyone. :smack:
I’m happy for you squeegee. Quitting can be a difficult and trying time. I remember yelling at people for no reason other then because I was cranky and immediately felt bad about it afterwards. I’m glad I was able to quit for good, after trying many times. I was mainly happy I would never have to go through that again. Just wait until you experience that feeling of looking at a cigeratte and having no desire what so ever. To a ex-smoker, that’s one of the best feelings in the world.
Shayna, I use to have a big jar of change labeled “cigerattes”. I kept it after I quit to remind me of how much I was saving. Keep saving those pennies!
Just passed my one-year milestone so it’s now 53 weeks at (you won’t believe this . . ) .£85 / $125 a week - used to smoke 50 a day, often more.
Still got 20lbs of lard to shift but that okay.
Congratulations everyone, ain’t we great !
Good luck squeegee
It was 14 years in May. Hang in there, squeegee. I’ve seen the end result of not quitting, and it ain’t pretty. You wouldn’t look good attached to a rebreather.
And on the upshot, food tastes better, everything (you especially) smells better, allergies disappear, and your s.o. will tell you how much for fun you are to kiss. Keep it up. You can do it.
how much MORE fun you are to kiss…(dammit!)
I smoke because I’m weak.
No, I quit for four years once, then came the custody battle. I got my boy, but five years later, I still smoke. Hey, It only took three years to pay off the lawyer. Damn. I should be a better example for my son. Okay, you got me thinkin’. I did it once…
Seven years, and counting…
I kept reminding myself that I wasn’t just breaking the addiction (after all, nicotine only stays in your system for a few days), but I was also breaking a habit.
Good luck, squeegee!
3D, 12h, 9m.
I must be starting to hallucinate because of my withdrawal – I’m starting to feel some strange connection with David Blaine.
Please don’t hold up humorous signs as I sit in my smoke-free box. Thank you.
Hey, Nickel, I quit for a year – twice – and went back on the damned things when I got stressed out. Then about eleven years ago I quit, cold turkey, for good. Now I can’t believe I ever did it – smoking when I had a brutal cold, searching the trash for half-smoked butts when I was out and the stores were closed, etc., etc.
Hang in there, quitters – YOU CAN DO IT!!!
My Uncle, whom I had been close to when growing up, died week before last from lung cancer. It wasn’t pretty (although he did amazingly well spiritually/emotionally from diagnosis through the end).
That event didn’t specifically motivate my quitting; I was already started on Zyban and down to a few cigs a day when my Uncle passed away, but had made the decision to try before he was diagnosed.
My spouse had quit in February. My sister and Father and my doctor had been after me for quite some time to take the leap. It seemed like it was time to really make a good attempt – I’d tried to quit before but not in the last 5 or so years, and now I could use Zyban and Nicorotte. If it didn’t work, well, I’d tried, and could try again. If it did, fantastic.
To my surprise, the Zyban has done an amazing job of turning around my need to a smoke, and the Nicorette fills in the gaps. Not that it’s easy by any means , even with the new, modern crutches, – Since starting Zyban, I’d been ‘on the edge’ of quitting for almost 5 weeks, smoking 4-10 cigs a day, not really liking smoking any more, but not ready to commit.
On 9/11, I ran out of cigs @ 8am. “Fuck it”, quoth me, the hopeful-former-smoker. “Let’s just not buy any more.” And now I’m on day 3.5.
It’s pretty bad at times, just annoying at others. I understand it gets better, but I can’t see that far ahead yet. Maybe in a few days I can start to see glimpses of my non-smoker future.