I smoked for 17-1/2 years before I quit. That was 18-1/2 years ago. Quit all at once, the first time I tried. Picked a day and said from midnight there would be no more smoking. I must have smoked almost a pack between 11:30pm and midnight, looking constantly at my watch, making me slightly ill and probably helping put me off.
I used the nicotine gum, and it worked for me, although some people say they’ve not had much luck with that. A little rough at first, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I can be around smokers now and not even crave a cigarette. I think the trick is you really have to want to quit. I mean WANT to. At the time, I had recently learned about “pack years.” A pack year is based on how many packs you smoke in a day per yer. For example, if you smoke one pack a day, in one year you’ve done a pack year; if you smoke two packs a day, then you’ve done two pack years in one calendar year. I read that statistics show truly irreversible damage seems to start occuring after 20 pack years, and looking back I figured I was about at that.
I have never regretted my decision to stop smoking. Food tasted the same really, it did not taste better like many people say. But it was good to be off of that. And no more expense!
Don’t do it. Don’t pick up that cigarette. And if you truly are ready to stop, you won’t. If it turns out you’re not truly ready yet, don’t kick yourself too much.
Absolutely. Absolutely! Be strong, keep your chin up, and know that we’re pulling for you too. Odds are you’ll be far healthier, live far longer, be far happier and save far more by not smoking. Not to mention all your friends and family who love you and don’t want to see you die in pain.
As one of my friends puts it–if you have a craving and smoke a cigarette, the craving will be gone in 10 minutes. However, if you DON’T smoke, the craving will still be gone in 10 minutes. Just hang in there for 11 minutes.
I’ve been going through that. I quit earlier this year because my husband and I decided to start trying for a family. But lately I’ve been really stressed out… and I’d love to light one up and kick back. But I can’t. No. But I want to soooooo bad.
I had my last (I hope) cigarette on October 3rd 2010, at 7:30. I’m doing it cold turkey this time. I haven’t had a single smoke since then.
I’ve quit for a while in the past, but always picked the habit up. The longest time I’d quit was when I was pregnant. Both times, the minute I suspected I was pregnant, I put down the cigarettes and didn’t light up until well after both kids were born. I didn’t really miss smoking at all then. I’d get back to work after maternity leave, get stressed, and pick the habit up again.:smack:
Over the course of the years, I’d quit for a few months, then go back to smoking.
I tried cold turkey, patches, gum. I’d be fine, then I’d have that “one” cigarette and two weeks later, I was back to my old habit.
This time, the motivating factor for me is cost. My husband quit the same time as me. We figure we’re saving around $500.00 a month. Cigarettes are over eight dollars a pack here. You figure a pack a day for each of us (not that I smoke them all, but I always had a pack), and that’s a lot of moolah that could be better put to use elsewhere.
I still have a craving, but the cigarettes I miss the most are the after work cigarette and the after dinner cigarette with my husband.
Hang in there everyone who is trying to quit. I’m right there with you! Congrats to all of you have managed to quit for good.
Sorry, my internet service died (again) for two days and I just saw this.
What got me to the point of quitting? I couldn’t breathe anymore after carrying the garbage can from the garage (near the back of the house) to the end of the driveway at the front of the house. Along with my Aunt’s boyfriend dying in April at age 49 from lung cancer - a single dad with three kids left behind (although now in her care and much loved). Adding up too was the death of my FIL from smoking related cancer 7 years ago, a friend of the family who was like family dying from lung cancer 2 years ago and my father having his 4th heart attack in May. Accumulation of things, really but the truly not being able to breathe was scary to me in a “oh, it could actually happen to ME!” way.
Actually quitting was a process for me. I kept track for a week on a piece of paper exactly how many cigarettes I was smoking. Then I put that number of cigarettes in a container and I could only smoke the ones out of there. Every week I cut down by one (at least). Until I got down to three.
Then I went to my doctor and asked him for anti-anxiety drugs because thinking about quitting would sadly have me in a full blown panic attack. And he suggested I try Zyban instead. Zyban was originally marketed as Wellbutrin, an anti-depressant but was found to have possible use in helping smokers with their cravings. They also make cigarettes taste like crappy, chemically, disgusting, makes you want to barf things. That helped.
I also used Nicorette lozenges for a bit. They helped big time. You can get gum too. Believe it or not, neither is terrible. Different tasting - it’s not exactly mint but it’s minty-ish and it’s not bad at all (I actually like the taste but that may be a mind thing - they do have nicotine in them after all).
The biggest piece of advice I can give is to change the routines you associated with smoking. If you got ready in the bathroom and smoked then go buy a mirror for the bedroom and get ready there. If you smoked while driving to/from work - find a new route or a few new routes, even if it takes you longer! Sit in a new chair to watch TV or even rearrange your furniture. Do all the dishes and clean the kitchn thouroughly if you are an “after eating” smoker (like me - my kitchen is so clean now!) Personally I only ever smoked outside so I made Mr Hermit and The Niece take the dog in and out and I only went in and out the front door (where I rarely had smoked) and just stayed right the hell out of the backyard for a month!
Stay with it and read this thread over and over. Lots of different things people have listed above. Everyone is different and different things work for different people so don’t give up. Just try something else and know you can do it!
I had a meeting with my lawyer this morning about a pressing matter in my life and it went well. I rewarded myself with a sushi lunch and a smoke. Sorry to let anyone down, but I felt like I earned it. I think I’m done until New Years at least, though. I’ll give away the rest of the pack I bought to my friends for past bums and future debits.