callie, my computer screen now has little rainbow saliva spots from the raspberry(did I spell that damn word right?) I sent in your general direction. You’re in Augusta, right?
I’m doing better, for the moment. Guess the patch kicked in.
Okay, I shoulda listened to y’all and tossed that pack.
I’ve got one left. My husband is working. Won’t be back until the wee hours. Kids are asleep. So, once I finish the last one, I have none.
I told my husband before he left that I did NOT want him to buy me anymore. He’s fine with that. He’s also going to the doctor with me on Wednesday (the inhaler I have was given to me by a friend who decided not to quit–I’m going to get my own scrip on Wednesday, and my husband has pretty much decided to join me).
I’m gonna do this, dammit! GRAAAAAAAAAAARGH! I swear I will! I need to go look at those lung pictures again…
kicks Persephone [sub]in a friendly way[/sub]… come on woman! You can do this! Get rid of the temptation and sit tight - the horribleness will be over soon and then you’ll have the whole rest of your life to feel smug about what a great person you are for quitting. I’m rooting for you.
August West you sound like you’re doing fantastic. Nice one 
You really do sound like a person who’s well on their way to being quit for good.
Lsaura - massive congratulations a thousand times on quitting again and not listening to excuses. You’ve been here before and you know how hard it is, but at least this time you’re armed with knowledge and therefore more armour against the nicotine demon. Don’t listen to that eeeeeeeeeevil voice when the stress of work hits. You know a cigarette won’t make you feel better and it won’t help. Remember that you’ll just feel like a big poohead for caving. Write it down if it helps - stick a sign up on a wall asking yourself if you ever want to go through this again. Because you don’t do you?
Jack Batty - hang in there man. You’re doing fabulously well not to cave under the stress of cold turkey. Remember that these are all temporary conditions and that this will be over soon, you’ll have your concentration back, you will feel normal again soon. And you’ll be able to strut around saying “Yeah, i quit cold turkey. I’m a hard man.”. Suck on straws, chew pen caps, go out for a run or a walk, drink water, read the SDMB. And imagine the person of your choice doing fantastic cheerleader cheers for you because you’re fab.
Weirddave - you’re doing exactly all the right things and I’ve got confidence in you. Exercising and drinking water is going to help loads. I exercised too and that compensated for the fact that when you quit you regain your apetite quite a bit and while i maintained a steady weight for the first few weeks of quitting, i’m back to losing it again.
Continuing good luck to everone, i’m cheering for all of you.
Fran
Soooo tempted last night. Mrs. West was having a ciggie on the porch and the smell drifted in to the living room. I had to grab on to the couch to keep from running out, snatching that cig and sucking it down. I resisted, but damn it was tough.
Hey, does the patch make anyone else’s muscles sore? I stuck one on my bicep and it felt like someone had been slugging me in the arm.
Thanks Satan!
[sub]Smoke-free for
Three days, 14 hours, 12 minutes and 9 seconds.
71 cigarettes not smoked, saving $14.37.[/sub]
Formerly known as ChiefWahoo
Another one checking in.
6 Years, 4 months, 25 days, 2 hours and 57 minutes ago I had my very last smoke.
I STILL get cravings.
The only thing that stops me is thinking about how I don’t wake up hacking, all the money I have saved, the fact that I can run three miles or go 50 minutes of high impact aerobics without gasping for air, and how my chances of living have increased.
But DAMN, there are still times that I can’t think of anything else! I don’t think it ever really goes away, does it?
Ohhhhhh man, I know that feeling. Your whole body is just screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaming “SMOOOOOOKE! I WANT SMOOOOOOOOOOOOKE!” And you’ve got to lock yourself in the closet, with a death grip on the hanger rail, just to keep from grabbing the whole pack and lighting in on fire, ala Jimi Hendrix at Monterey. :eek:
LIAR! liarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliar!
I made it through work. Last time I didn’t tell the boys at work. Why? Because I figured they’d bug me about it. They’d become obnoxious and pains in the butt like they usually are about things.
You know what? They weren’t. I told the boys, but not the bitch. I don’t even want to talk to her, much less explain the addiction that pulls at me. I took deep breaths and got through the cravings. Drank some grapefruit juice, chewed some straws.
I was impressed with my coworkers today. One is a former smoker, so he knows what I’m dealing with. The other has never smoked in his life, but he let me be as much as possible.
Overall, I work with a couple of decent fellers. For Latin guys that is. 
I still want a damn smoke though. It’s better than it was-and I really think the patches are helping this time. Or maybe I’m just more committed to actually quitting for good. I dunno. But my lungs are healing quicker than they have in the past-at 2 1/2 days, I am not huffing and puffing my way up the hill to the train station anywhere near as bad.
I think I had a breakthrough. I was sitting with a co-worker that was smoking and thought “If I ask him for one, he’ll give it to me” when a second thought entered my head, saying “No, that’s a gross habit.” Shocked the shit out of me, but made my day. Still going strong at 5 days, 9 hours and 20 min.
I hope everyone else is doing well. Keep the faith.
Bumpity-bump-bump.
How’s everybody holding out?
I’m specifically curious about Crunchy Frog. We quit at the same time. Did you keep the pact? Still not smoking?
Here are my vital stats:
I’ve had moments of sheer torture jonesing for a butt, and long stretches of time where I forgot I ever smoked. I think I’m over the hump now, although I still get those weird habit pangs - like patting your pockets looking for a pack of smokes when you take off for lunch, only to remember that you quit two weeks ago.
Hell I even managed to sit through a poker game with no smokes, so I think I’m doing pretty good.
Who else feels like crowing? Or confessing as the case may be.
Nice one Mr Batty.
It will be two months smoke-free for me next week, and I have to say i’m pretty much over it now. I still get the occasional urge, especially when I’ve had a drink or two, but i’ve never given in. So… Jack and I rock. Anyone else?
Fran
Man do I wish I had a thread like this in January, 2000…
New Year’s Eve 1999-2000 I smoked my last, all it took was applying my “natural stubbornness” to the concept that it was a gross habit. That, and not giving myself access to cigs at those times I had habitually smoked (driving anywhere, especially going home from work, and DRINKING).
Not smoking when drinking is easier here in Northern Cal, where the bars for the most part follow the anti-smoking laws. Several months into that year I went to a tradeshow in Indianapolis, what a culture-shock to find people smoking everywhere (bars, clubs, Dennys, EVERYWHERE!).
It also helped that I was taking some really advanced singing lessons, which involved some EXTREME breathing exercises - never could have survived those with the dry throat.
My heart and lungs go out to all who are taking the step, just be stubborn and don’t allow the nicotine to tell you what to do!
Oh, and if you’re like me, just smoke more pot…
I quit on Monday, day after my birthday. I have been able to avoid the smokes during the week, but today is friday. I have decided to stay home all weekend to avoid temptation.
At least for this first smokefree weekend.
Jack
In another thread I quoted my experience of quitting last year. I used the technique from a book by Englishwoman Gillian Riley “How to stop smoking and stay stopped for good”. She claims a 90% success rate.
The technique seems strange - you don’t tell anyone you are quitting, you carry cigarettes around while quitting, if you don’t have cravings you encourage them, you don’t use aids like patches.
But the psychology behind this makes LOTS of sense when you read the book. Not only did I find quitting relatively painless the process is very empowering and in a perverse way kind of fun. I had spent over 2 decades smoking.
Google gave me this using the book title -
http://www.ivillage.co.uk/dietandfitness/experts/guestexp/articles/0,9544,264_169202,00.html
It’s available from Amazon UK but not US.
I don’t want to come across like I’m her agent, it’s just that her approach is SO different and seems to take away a lot of the shit that makes quitting so hard.
Good luck all.
One week, One day, 39 minutes. This is the fourth time I’ve quit, and I firmly intend to make it the last. I’m tired of being beholden to tobacco companies. I’m tired of spending 4.50 a pack. I’m tired of being short of breath when I walk up ONE lousy flight of stairs (I’m 24, fer fuck’s sake!).
In short, I’m tired of smoking.
But you know what? I want a cigarette.
Anyhow, this is the fourth time quitting, second cold turkey time. The first and third I tried acupuncture, the patch, the gum, sunflower seeds,carrot sticks, Altoids, mint toothpicks, chewing ice cubes, beef jerky, all the usual suspects.
The two times I’ve done cold turkey have actually been the best, if not the easiest. Yes, the cravings, shakes, and irritability were there, but it didn’t seem like I was transferring my addiction onto anything. O’ course, I’m still going through four 1.5 ltr bottles of water in a workday, so that helps.
Still going strong at:
Two weeks, one day, 9 hours, 3 minutes and 52 seconds.
307 cigarettes not smoked, saving $61.51.
Life saved: 1 day, 1 hour, 35 minutes.
I sat through 4 hours of tailgating at the Brewer game last Fri. with 3 smokers and didn’t cave.So far, so good.
I’m way late to this party, but here goes. I smoked my last cigarette on July 21, 1994, on my 20th birthday, after smoking every day for six years. Towards the end, I was up to a pack and a half daily. My secret was Charms blow pops. I went through a case of those a week.
I am bumping this thread one more time for two reasons…
1- to flaunt my superiority over you still smoking heathens.
and
2- to see if Crunchy Frog is still on the smoking wagon.
Crunchy was my Smoke-Out buddy, but then he just abandoned me and left me to my own devices (or vices as the case may be).
What up, Crunch. Still smokeless?
How’s everybody else doing?
My Smoke Meter:
Congrats Jack Batty!
I just had my four month smoke free anniversary yesterday!
Who else is still smoke free?
Tomorrow I will quietly celebrate 11 years of not smoking.