So… I’ve been a “smoker” much of my adult life. I put the word in quotes because while some folks say ‘I can quit any time I want’, it really was true for me for the longest time. I could smoke a pack or two and then not touch another cigarette for months, or a year or two.
Recently, however, I took a job working in Seoul. Cigarettes are dirt cheap here, everybody I work with and hang out with smokes, most restaurants allow smoking in them and there’s a huge drinking culture here where everybody lights up once the soju starts flowing. I’ve gone from being someone who could quit whenever I wanted to someone who can go about 24 hours before absolutely craving a cig and breaking down to buy a pack (and there is a 24/7 convenience store right on the first floor of my apartment building). This fucking sucks. Smoking is filthy, disgusting, and suicidal and it’s about time I quit.
As of this post I have gone roughly 48 hours without a cig. I’ve even refused offers from my buddies at work. I have a pack (three cigs short) sitting on my nightstand, and I haven’t yet been able to throw it away, but I have managed not to smoke any for the last two days. I’m working up to being able to junk the pack. Hopefully concomitant with a feeling of grim determination and steely calm. There may be a victory dance.
So who’s up for making a ‘quitting smoking pact’ with me?
A few more years to our lives, a few more dollars in our pockets, and a hell of a feeling of success when we tell cigarettes to fuck right the fuck off.
Good luck! I just passed the 6-month mark, which is the longest I’ve gone without smoking since I was 16.
I found that having a few cigs in the house was actually easier than not having any. If I had some I knew that they were there if I needed them. If I had none, I felt like any minute I would freak out and go to the store and get a whole pack and then smoke them.
Good on you for trying cold turkey, too! Keep posting, I think it will help.
I quit (after 29yrs smoking) 9 weeks ago by using Chantix. I have weaned myself off the Chantix over the course of the past week and am continuing cold turkey. You should get rid of the pack on your night stand. Every little impediment you put between you and the cigarettes will give you another minute to reconsider any hasty decision to fall off the wagon. Good luck!
Glad to hear that you’ve managed to go more than two months without cigs, and yeah, I think tomorrow that I’m going to take my pack to work and shred each cig one by one into a garbage can. Otherwise it’s way, way too easy for Addict Logic to take over. “Gee, I have to smoke these cigarettes. After all, I’m trying to quit, and I already paid good money for these. What better way to get rid of them than to smoke them all?”
Eh… if you don’t succeed on the first go, by definition you have to fail first
Maybe give it a try, sounds like we may be able to get a few Dopers together for a Coalition of the Quitters.
A bit of group bonding never hurt. (Speaking of which, my dad was a lifelong smoker and quit when I was born. His method was to wear a rubberband around his wrist and to snap it every time he got a craving for a cig. If the positive reinforcement of other Dopers doesn’t help, maybe negative reinforcement will?")
Danke.
Awesome, and congrats!
And yeah, cold turkey is the only way I can do it now. For the last couple weeks I’ve tried to cut back and made a rule that, at least, I wouldn’t smoke at work since I was smoking between classes, after meals, during walks to and from the subway… But cutting back like that just ended up with me smoking three of four cigs in the morning before work and ten or twelve when I got home.
I need to just cut that shit out and take it a day at a time.
Had my last cigarette Monday night (I’m living in The Future here in Seoul, as it’s something like half a day ahead of the east coast). So figure Monday afternoon US time.
I suppose I’ll officially start my being-quit-status tomorrow when I walk to the nearest public garbage can and deliberately tear up the 17 cigarettes I have remaining, one by one. I admit, I’m a sucker for symbolism.
I quit with Champix (Chantix) in the US. Was meant to be on it three months, I was on it about half that time. I smoked for 24 years. It’s been just over two and a half years now.
You can do it!
I stopped smoking on Wed, 7 Jan 2009 08:59:00 UTC.
It has been 136 weeks, 0 days, 18 hours, 0 minutes and 51 seconds since I quit.
I have saved $ 14529.45 by choosing not to smoke 23818 cigarettes.
More importantly, I saved 25 weeks, 6 days 22 hours 46 minutes of my life!
17 cigarettes poorer, a good bit richer for not smoking. Make it roughly 3 days since I’ve lit up.
Congrats!
I wish I knew the exact time I quit, because that’s just cool. Very awesome that you’ve stayed quit so long. One thing I don’t grok, though, is how you calculated how much you extended your life span. Can you please elaborate? Or are you just saying that it would have taken you that long to smoke all those cigarettes?
I quit smoking three years, one month, one day, and three minutes ago.
The first two weeks or so are the roughest- once you make it through those, it’s not so bad. I won’t lie, those can be pretty bad weeks, but it’s worth it. I absolutely love being a non-smoker, and I’ve never felt like I’ve given up anything, only gained.
I don’t recommend smoking that occasional one here and there like some people do- it’s highly likely that doing that will get you back to smoking full time. But for me it actually helped, because when I tried to smoke one here and there, I’d get very nauseated and then after the last time I did it, I threw up violently. So that just reinforced my quit and I wouldn’t even consider smoking one now because of that. (But don’t do that. You might not get sick from it.)
Good for you and good luck!
ETA: According to that website, I’ve saved almost $10,000 from not smoking. That blows my mind.
I quit on July 9th. Eh, I took a week of holidays, but my husband didn’t, and so I was home alone. The weather was lousy. May as well use that time alone to quit smoking.
I went cold turkey. Sure, it was not fun, but being home was good. I could be gentle with myself, drink lots of water, go lie down for a nap whenever I wanted (and I was sleeping a lot the first week), and more importantly, cry or scream into my pillow, riding the rollercoaster of emotion.
So, it’s over a month now, and I’ve survived so far. Yes, I sure miss it, especially now that the weather is finally summer like. Every time I go outside, I’m reminded of smoking, 'cause, well, I smoked outside. (Who smokes inside any more?)
But. It will pass.
Next will be the diet and exercise program! Not very happy about the 16 pounds I’ve gained. No sir.
My stats are:
Quit: 1 month and 8 days
Saved: $288.00 Canadian
Not smoked: 512 cigarettes
Screaming hissyfits: 7.2
Hysterical sobbing episodes: 15.9
Weight gained: 16 lbs
Life saved? Not sure–this smartphone app doesn’t tell me.
I’ve seen some guys smoking tea leaves, and I know herbal cigarettes are sometimes marketed as a way to make quitting easier… does anybody have experience with these? I’m considering making the switch as a first step towards quitting.
I wouldn’t. You’re just substituting one thing for another, and still being made a slave and wasting your money. Just do it. I know it’s easier said than done, but it worked for me.
Awesome stories folks. May we all continue to kick tobacco right in its face.
PLL: my understanding is that burning and inhaling any sort of plant matter is still a bad thing, but I suppose that herbal cigs may replace the oral fixation, and at least they wouldn’t have nicotine which is a neurotoxin IIRC. I’ve heard good things from some people about E-Cigs. A friend recommended this forum to me and was thinking of buying this and this.
I’m not sure what the verdict is on E-Cigs. Evidently they can help some people get off smoking, but they’re not risk-free by any means. Maybe chantix is the way to go… not sure as IANADoctor and I’m not going to offer any sort of medical advice. Consult your personal physician. Void where prohibited. Must be this tall to ride the roller coaster.
Congrats, FinnAgain! I have found that lots of water, deep breaths during nicotine urges and taking long walks have been helpful tools to keep from sliding back. Also, going to the mall or movies (any places where you can’t smoke) will help when your resolve is flagging. Keep it up!
Congrats, Finn. I quit some six years ago - cold turkey, like you.
What the key as far as I was concerned was really making up my mind to quit, and no fooling. I’d tried before, but always half-assedly - keeping an “emergency pack”, that sort of thing.
The ultimate sign for me that I was not a smoker was getting rid of the smoking stuff I had - the favorite lighter, the ashtray on the porch, that sort of thing.
Different folks succeed in different ways, but I found cold turkey worked for me. Again the key was really wanting to quit - other times I tried, I didn’t really want to (what really caused the wanting for me was having a kid, and the fact I was already seeing bad health effects - bronchitis).
I quit in April, and I used some patches at first, along with the Nicorette lozenges. Both helped quite a bit.
I am much better off now than I was as a smoker. More wind, better sense of smell and taste, my clothes and car don’t reek, etc. You will notice these things after awhile for sure.
