Glad I never started.

Don't give up, from watching people I know quit smoking it gets easier with time.

My brother is dieing from heart problems because of smoking, think about it if it helps.

You have Jen, your wife, and other family members......

And that child you're hoping to have, too...

You. Can. Do. It.

lasts for a few minutes so it will pass if you have a plan for something to do when it happens. Been quit 4 years and I love it. I like being quit much more than I like cigarettes. Once you admit that you are powerless and cannot just have one - you can do it!!!

now going on 4 years smoke free...well nicotine free. My father was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly before I quit...he died 3 years ago. Believe me, it is not a great way to die...

Sometimes an epiphany like that is the best first step - you've got a concrete reason for your decision now - just remember what you were thinking about your coworker every time you crave a cig.

I quit over 12 years ago, and I still occasionally have dreams where I'm at some social function or another, and I light up. I always feel awful about it, but then I'm so relieved when I wake up & realize it's a dream. I figure it's my subconscious's way of dealing with the addiction I had for 17 years. In other words, it's a tough one to beat.

Stick with it - it's totally worth it!

the dream that you fail and start smoking again.
MIne involves smoking in a car in winter with all the windows rolled down so no one can smell it.
Now I have it about once a year - 37 years after I quit.

that I'd started again. Then I woke up and realized that I hadn't. I was extremely relieved.

You do DU proud. Hang in there. Like you said, the worst part is behind you. Going forward will only get easier.

It's tough for the first 3 days. Then it's psychological. Have a plan to do something instead of.

I obsessed over my craves until I could be distracted. I had a hard time thinking of anything else. They get less and less and last for a shorter time.

I quit cold turkey in the 1980s. It's tough. My step-dad died from smoking a few years later. He had had part of one lung removed due to cancer. That scared the bejeesus out of me and I quit. But after his surgery, he was on oxygen and his heart enlarged trying to make up the difference - to pump more needed oxygen into his body. He died of congestive heart failure brought on by smoking.

He waited too long to quit. You're not making that mistake. Good for you! The sooner the better.

I guess with everything that you need to change...One day at a time.....

In my 20s, I smoked on and off, would give it up for a few months, then start up again, swearing the next time I quit would be my last. Finally, at 27 I woke up one morning, saw the disgusting ashtray, and had a harmonic convergence of my mind, heart, body and soul. No more!

And that promise stuck. I think we finally quit when our entire being reacts to an external circumstance...which was that guy's condition for you, Tobin. Something tells me you're done for good this time!

One more thing for anyone who might need more quitting fodder: my mother smoked all her life and finally gave it up at 60. Unfortunately it came back and bit her, she died 22 years later at 82 from cancer, heart disease and COPD. As for my dad, he was a heavy smoker as well, and his lungs are as clear as mine! But guess what? Smoking doesn't only affect your pulmonary system. He has macular degeneration in one eye and glaucoma in both. He can no longer read, something he loves.

So please, People, take care of your precious lungs, and your precious sight as well!

...I'll tell you that the first couple of years may be very tough. I will also tell you that life without an active addiction is very sweet, even in the crappieat of times.

Good luck to you!

PEACE!

OMG you are awesome!!!

...awesome, I'm not!

Just LOTS of 1 day at a time!

PEACE!

don't let anyone tell you you're not - especially you!

It ain't easy, but oh, so worth it!

I would NOT be hiking every morning at age 52 had I not done that. It's amazing how quickly your physical health and endurance will improve. You got through the worst part most subsequent cravings will be 20 minutes at a time. Careful with the 20 minutes, you dont want to do this part AGAIN, right? GOOD WORK!

Your courage is SO very admirable

you have a tough battle ahead,
stay the course
and
breathe...................

lots of GOOD wishes,
kpete
(been there...)

NOT ONE PUFF EVER

remember that!


http://www.whyquit.com/joel/

it EDUCATED me just how insidious that damn nicotine monkey could be. I certified SMOKE FREE because of that site.

Keep up the good work.

My story: I've never smoked (tobacco, weed...nothing), but my father smoked cigarettes the whole time I was growing up. As such, I am at a greater risk for lung cancer. He finally stopped after about fifty years of smoking. Wish he'd done it when my brothers and I were born. My youngest brother stopped smoking when he met his bride-to-be. They now have two kids, and he would never consider smoking in their presence (even if he hadn't kicked it).

I know it's tough, but you can do this!

when you absolutely HAVE to have one........ WAIT 10 minutes.

The craving will pass.

Build on that.

I still smoke, so I have all the respect in the world for people who can do it. The worst is over, just watch out for the cravings that will continue. Do not backslide or you have to start all over again. (Take it from me, I have quit just to start back up....and it is back to square one, which sucks.)

You can do it!


Now if I could just get my son to quit.....

you think you are way in the clear, something sets it off and it's like you never quit. That's what gets a lot of us. It happens when your gaurd is down.

after smoking for 20 years. Can do, brother, can do.

Lots of walks, drink lots of water, eat pretty healthy, and it's a new habit before you know it.

Pregnancy helps

"fighting" them does not work.
Noticing when you have one, and saying to yourself " I want a cigarette, but I don't have to have one right now"
actually does work, as does getting up and moving to a task.
it is "the don't think of elephants" trick..when you try to NOT think about cigs when having a craving, you make it stronger.
when you face a craving, and let it roll on past, you make it weaker. The frequency decreases over time.

been tobacco free since April 1998.
Phillip Morris' admission they had been adding more nictotine to cigs to make them more addictive that angered me enough to quit.

you can do it...one day at a time.

I ask them, "Does this mean you're good enough to eat?"

(A napkin under the chin and a knife and fork are good props)

Seriously.

I lost my grand-dad to them darn things and my dad nearly suffered the same fate.

So this stranger says "rock on" and please don't touch them cigarettes again. It will save you big time - in health and in $$$s.

But I had quit 3 or 4 times before...the first time was 30 years ago and it lasted for about 6 weeks then one day a guy passed me smoking a cig and the smell made me bum one from him...I told myself i would just smoke one to see how it was and convinced myself it would be just this one time...but that one time turned into 2 and then soon I was right back to a pack a day...and the funny thing is that I had it whipped after the first week...would only think about it once in a while

Don't let Nick O'Teen fuck with your head cause he can.
Now I don't even think of it anymore after the first year....and man do I have so much more money and my close don't smell..

and I quit 25 years ago. You will be absolutely amazed at the difference this will make in your life health-wise, economics-wise, and smell/taste-wise. Bravo!!!

a godsend.

I used a straw for a couple of days to deal with the "social" issue of what to do with my hands. Next month will be 5 years smoke free for me.

Watch out for the day 7 grumpies...stay out of any situation that provokes (i.e. a bar/alcohol scene), and keep an eye on that weird day 5 craving..it is a surprise

THE hardest thing, IMO, was adapting yourself to a new schedule...everything before revolved around smoking....

wake up - smoke
Have a cup of coffee - smoke
Drive to work - smoke in car
10:00 - smoke break
Lunch - smoke on the way to, during and AFTER
3:00 - smoke break
Smoke on way to home, at home, prepping meal, and to settle down before bed

That was the hardest - how to revelop my time, and to deal with my hands when in the car, etc

ALL smoking by me done outside, so I removed any convenience I had in the garage to accomodate (TV, Cable, etc that I used to sit and watch the news in the mroning with coffee at 5:00 am)

I stayed away from gum, etc, and prepared myself for the weight gain, which leveled off and I am still a bit pissed about of course....but a few pounds are far better than the poison of a fired cigarette.

My sister has had some success with moving to electronic cigarettes, but the cost of them keeps sending her back to the asy convenience of regualr cigarettes.

My thoughts of peace and calm to you during your trip to success!

When I quit 4 years ago, I too kept the grumpness to myself. When I pointed out to my husband my 3 month anniversary he stated "that wasn't so bad, was it?". I wanted to punch him. It is incredibly tough and he knows it, having quit himself. He just didn't realize how I was suffering.

Nobody likes professional advice on this stuff, except that I have to tell you that stories of heart break and being by the side of those who are "end stage" in their lung disease is enough to want to say, "Thanks for not smoking!"

But, there are plenty of health care practitioners who still smoke (RTs, RNs, critical care specialists) and, too boot, are way over-weight while doing it, generally NOT trying to be healthy. We should know first hand what it does to shorten a life and worse, make every breath so difficult. Of course, you always meet the person (like Christopher Reeves' wife) who never smoked a day in their life and die of lung cancer.

Hang in there.

I quit in 95.

As a smoker, I "celebrated" with a smoke, and it was hard not to celebrate quitting smoking by having a victory smoke. Especially since I felt so good, it was easy to lie to myself and say I deserved it. It took me many tries to finally give it up for good.

I finally quit for the last time in 2006, but eventually bought an electronic cigarette because I had continual dreams and cravings for nicotine. The e-cig saved me from starting back up again; it was inevitable I think. Now I puff on my e-cig when I get a craving, and have zero craving for a real cigarette. I even tried, in a weak moment, a Camel Ultra Light, and it was absolutely disgusting.

Your throat says thank you.

I think it's great, FWIW.

will tempt you many times down the path you have chosen. cravings will hit you from nowwhere even months or years from now. thing is those cravings go as suddenly as they come so just ride it out for a.minute or two.

My wife made me give up cigarettes after we got married, so I switched to little cigars - kind of cheating. But I got to the point that I couldn't stand sitting in the smoker's section on break - the reek of cheap tobacco started making me nauseous, even though I still smoked 4-5 little cigars a day.
I used an e-cig to quit and it was a godsend. It filled my cravings for nicotine while removing the tar. After about 3 months I lowered my nicotine amount in my e-juice and after about 6 months I wasn't using it at all. I still keep it around, with nic-free juice now, but only pull it out in situations where I'm around a lot of smokers (concerts) or in times when I'm stuck with nothing to do and need to keep myself occupied (a recent road trip).
I don't know if I'm the exception though - a lot of my coworkers switched to e-cigs over the past year, but most still keep cigs around for when they really need them.

Many years ago I quit (had only smoked for 3 years and it was torture, so I can only imagine what you're dealing with).

I could fully identify with Mark Twain's statement, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it thousands of times." The first few times I'd tell everybody I knew, make them promise to punch me in the gut if they saw me light up, etc. I wrote in a journal, spent a lot of time doing things that were impossible to do while smoking, and so on. Nothing worked -- I was always smoking again within days.

Finally when I quit for good, I didn't tell anybody. I just stopped. After a few days, one of my co-workers (I was working at a restaurant at the time) said, "Hey, I haven't seen you smoking lately. Did you quit or something?" I smiled sheepishly and said, "Yes, I guess I did."

***GROSS-OUT ALERT***

A couple of weeks after I'd quit I coughed up a ball of greenish-black phlegm that was more than 2 inches in diameter. I kid you not. That was enough to turn me off smoking forever.

***End Gross-Out Alert***

After that, the hardest thing for me was going to a bar without smoking. (This was in the days when every bar in the U.S. allowed smoking.) Once I'd done that a couple of times without even feeling the pull of Demon Tobacco, I knew I'd made it.

Congratulations to you for realizing the importance of this early in life and doing something about it. Keep the faith.

Your lungs are healing, your heart is resting, your liver and kidneys are now catching up with the chemicals those cigarettes pumped into them. Congratulations.

It was really weird for me. I quit in February or March (forget which) and I remember coming outside in April and thinking "WHAT the FUCK is that SMELL?!?!?!?" Then I realized it was something called "spring". I hadn't smelled one in a long time.

You are right. The first few days are the hardest. It does get easier over time.

I wrote this last night before bed time and thought I might get a few replies. Then I check after work today and I've got over 40 responses and over 50 recs. I read them all and I appreciate all of the encouragement and advice. Thank you, everyone!

Not spending $5 a day on smokes adds up to a nice chunk of change over time.

You could buy a good used car for $150 smackers a month.

I figured it up earlier today. It will cost me $270 a month if I continue to smoke at the rate I was. And the cost will only go up.

Good on you, driver.

Next, MMA Training!!!

when I wanted to quit.

It is obviously poison. The high isn't all that great (dizzy, light-headed, etc) but the desire to have one is unbearable. To me is among the worst kind of drugs because it causes you to continue use despite health problems, well-known side affects, affordability, etc. To live a healthy and smoke free life (that will undoubtedly save me thousands) is what I'm looking forward to since I don't have anyone else.

Quitting cigarettes was one of the hardest things I've done in my life, but it was SOOOO worth the effort. It's been 12 years now, and I feel great (well, other than being middle-aged and out of shape). At this point, I can't even stand to be around areas where other people have smoked recently. It's a tough habit to break, but keep at it. You'll definitely be happy you did.

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