At c.11:15am 24th Jan 2002 I puffed my last cigarette outside of my then workplace in central London, just prior to the umpteenth smoking-related major coughing fit of that week. I went home at midday, cried a bit in the pit of despair (I honestly thought I was dying - this awful cough had gone on for many weeks) and suddenly something snapped and I found a steely resolve to never put one of those goddamned cancerous death sticks in my mouth ever again.
At 11am 24th Jan 2003 I am still completely resolved, and more than a little chuffed. And lets take a quick inventory :
Smokers cough : 0%. Completely gone. For 15 years I invariably got a major cough after having a cold or flu. When I had a cold this winter, just the teeniest tiniest cough that cleared up in 48 hours, ie the kind everybody gets.
Self-esteem : Up 300%. I did an entire YEAR! I’m tough!
Health : Up 1000%. As an adult I’ve never been so fit, and that’s the best feeling of all.
Wealth : Saved approx £1000!
And on the downside… er, nothing whatsoever. There is no downside!
Good work Reuben! Even though I’m still an ardent supporter of smoker’s rights, I have now been tobacco-free for two and a half weeks. Got tired of spending the money. Wish me luck!
I’m at four and a half months so far, and most days are easy.
I never had a single craving after the first three days…until about two weeks ago, and they have been rather intense. I’ve heard this is fairly common though. Still, very frustrating. I want this stuff to go away!
No matter how bad the craving, I will never smoke again. It’s not worth it. I’ve saved five hundred bucks already!
Congrats! I had my 8 month (no smoking) anniversary on January 15th. 2 packs a day for 20+ years. I’m actually shocked that I don’t miss it and I’ve made it this long. My Doctor said “You’re 60% on your way to a stroke, how much further do you want to challenge the odds?” That’s all it took and 3 weeks of Zyban. Keep up feeling good!!!
Hey, congratulations, you guys! IANASmoker, but my parents were (well, my dad still is, and he has emphysemia and still can’t manage to quit), and I watched my mom struggle to quit for years before she finally succeeded.
Congratulations! I don’t know you but can’t tell you how glad I am for you. My father is slowly dieing from a diseaser related to smoking and it is horrible to watch.
Excellent job, everyone! Make sure you didn’t do what I did, and gain a whole lot of weight when I quit – four years later, the excess avoirdupois is still there. Ah well.
One thing I like – I can laugh as hard as I want without it turning into a coughing fit.
Almost five months here and I really was a pretty serious smoker at 50 + a day for 20 years. Crazy thing is that once I divided up the habit (dealing with that first) from the nicotine addiction itself, it was simple and pang free – never once in the five months have I craved a ciggy. Really simple. It was using patches that worked for me – I didn’t care if I wore a nicotine patch for the rest of my life, as long as I didn’t feed the addiction orally with a ciggy I knew it was pretty healthy.
The habit thing passed incredibly quickly - most of the associations went within two-three days - and I think it took another 8-10 weeks to wean myself gently off the nicotine addiction, but there was no hurry or pressure.
I’m still surprised how easy it was and how I don’t even think about smoking – from 50+ a day to nothing in four-five months. Pretty remarkable, really !
4yrs on the 20th January for me, and I still feel proud of myself.
Like you London_Calling, I was heavy smoker for a looooong time, and I gave up by using nicotine patches
I did put on a lot of weight though, which I am only now losing…
Well done Reuben, I’ve done 5 years and I found it quite easy after the first month (I was on 30 a day). Alas I joined Rushgeekgirl and piled on a couple of kilos so now I’ve gotta exercise more - this health kick is killing me!
I quit as of today. Doing the nicotine lozenges. I have been cutting back slowly, and now the step off. I’ve smoked for 28 years, about 1 1/2 packs a day (sometimes more).
Good work everyone! Can you be my official inspiration???
