You will never be a true ex-smoker.
Even if you haven't had one for twenty years.
The Govt. should ban them outright but I would be amongst the first to take up arms in rebellion,if they did.
Good luck.
I indulge my ``hook'' by having a couple every time I go fishing.Still don't get the donut-they don't have nearly the call.

I don't know what Pete means when he says you'll never be a true ex-smoker. I do know that since I quit I could never have a cigarette once in a while. Fortunately, I have zero desire to smoke. But it took me a long time to get to that point.

I started smoking at 14 and got hooked immediately. When I was 28 my husband quit smoking and insisted that I do the same. I didn't want to. I was smoking a lot, and I enjoyed every one. I had tried and failed to quit in the past. But I agreed to do it.

What we didand I recommend this if it's at all possibleÂis to go away for a week, leaving my cigarettes behind. This took me away from my smoking places, smoking friends, and smoking triggers. I think that helps a lot. Even so, it was extremely hard, and my disposition was vile. I'm sure it was no fun for my husband, who had to remain in my company.

At the end of the week I knew I'd never smoke again because I never wanted to go through that week again. This is not to say I didn't crave cigarettes. I did. I don't remember how long the cravings lasted, but I do recall that I dreamed about smoking for 17 years! The dreams were all pretty much the same: I carried a pack around with me, and could have one now and then whenever I felt like it. Ha! As they say, "in my dreams." But I think those dreams demonstrate the absolutely wicked hold that nicotine has on us, and the power of addiction.

I quit over 30 years ago. I've gone through a lot of stressful situations in that time, and major tragedy. Never have I had the slightest desire to smoke. I have a strong aversion to it. Plus I've become quite reactive to secondhand smoke, and if I'm exposed to it in a jazz club or whatever I'll find myself coughing on the way home and the next morning.

I wish you a wonderfully successful quitting experience, Meredith!

Susan

Meredith, I gave you a couple of suggestions already. I quit in 1970 after having smoked for 10 years. I wrote to the Heart Association, and received a pamphlet that helped me. I was under the catergory of an addictive smoker, adn was smoking 2 - 2 1/2 packs a day.

I gave up the most important cigarettes first. When my target day came, I kept a pack of cigarettes out on the counter so that I knew I could have one if I needed to. I would often carry it, look at it, pick up the pack. I would go through periods where I would shake and tremble and cry. I knew it would pass, but would return.

By the end of the 2 weeks it was easier, but also difficult. The craving wasn't so bad, but I was weakening. I had made it to 2 weeks about 3 times, and was determined to continue. From 2 weeks to 2 months, it was difficult. I would walk out of a room if people were smoking. I have never again played bridge. (I dropped out of a couple of bridge clubs.) Bowling was also difficult, and I avoided a bowling alley for about 3 years.

I did not drink and did not go anywhere that liquor was served during those 2 months. I walked a lot, and breathed deeply. Whenever I would shake and cry, I knew that it would pass, and it did. In time I started coughing at night, and needed to take cough medicine when I would lie down. The doctor told me that my lungs were cleaning themselves out, and also it was withdrawl. This helped me stop, to know that the cigarettes had such control over me.

I did stop, and am an ex-smoker. To this day I have never had another cigarette. There is no question but what cigarettes are "dirtying up" your blood, heart, and lungs. I felt there were no choices, and became proud as time went on. I think the coughing may have lasted about a year, but 2 months was my milestone. At that time I found my cravings tolerable. I still kept a pack of cigarettes on the counter for the remainder of the year. They were there, and were a reminder that I was quitting as a result of my will, and not because they had been removed from me.

Good luck.

Sammy

I am deeply thankful that I have never been a smoker. I have watched people die of diseases caused by smoking. I have watched people quit. You all have my utmost respect.

Pete, I've known ex-smokers who get a whiff of my smoke occassionally and have a 'nostalgia' moment. I can see it. Did you quit cold turkey? Not that I could, I swear. Maybe in 'rehab' or similar but not in normal life.

Susan, thank you so much for your post! I am trying to get on the medication and have a huge stash of nicotine-less cigarettes for my trip to England in a few weeks to do a version of what you say. Unfortunately, I need to be in top shape on that trip so I can't consider fully cold-turkey but my secret hope is that I can go without nicotine cigarettes by the end of that trip. That's the biggest hurdle, I'm sure.

I smoke when I don't want to to get the nicotine. I enjoy cigarettes, too... just not nearly all of them.

Sammy, thank you for your story and tips as well! I couldn't have a pack around, I really don't think. I can do that with the nicotine-free cigarettes later, I bet. The strength of y'all is amazing... in the past I just couldn't bear knowing how easy it is to have one, and eventually I did.

I do wonder whether it'd be 'easier' to just get the withdrawal over with as quickly as possible, but for now the plan is to taper down the amount of nicotine my body is used to. First, anyway.

I am using the QT watch when it comes in - a gadget that helps plan tapering, gives messages good and bad, tells you to only smoke half a cigarette here and there, etc. Actually, I ordered the clip version.

A search will find it easily for anyone interested in using it for quitting. It sounds like a helpful tool for me... we'll see!

Hi Mere,

One of my friends used acupuncture to help her quit and she said it really helped her. That might be another tool for your toolbox.

Cheers,
Michelle

What I meant is you can never afford to think of yourself as an ex-smoker.Much like a reformed alcoholic can't afford to think of himself as an ex-one who could now handle a social drink or two,or three.Your still young-quit and find an escape.-biking or something else that requires energy.

DH was a heavy smoker, smoked 2 to 3 packs a day. He tried every prescription meds out there that his cardiologist prescribed for him. He also tried going cold turkey, nothing worked. He was an impossible person to be around, he went crazy.

There's a new drug out there that he's been on for the last 7 months, it's called Chantix. DH has not touch a single ciggie in 6 months. Ask your Dr. about it, I am actually very surprised that it worked for my husband.

Made it thru the teen years without smoking- not counting when twelve and taking one, going behind the garage, lighting up and refunding my lunch ( should've been permanent lesson ) started while in the Army, at age twenty,pack every 3-4 days, quit for a while, then when I started going out with my wife- she and her family were heavy smokers, hanging out with her I slowly got up to pack a day. I tried several times then determined that that i would quit for my fortieth birthday, took two more months but i did it,Used a very mild patch for a week then starting forgeting to put it on, just didn't want to smoke. Each night there was my wife's cigarretes were there, could have cheated anytime, but didn't - that's how I knew I had it licked. The smell is enough to make not want to start again- unfortunately my wife's breathe isn't always very nice. At least she doesn't smoke in our new house. I guess I never noticed the smell when I was younger since both of my parents smoked.
Now, I wonder why I ever smoked?

I meant to add that a friend of mine quit at age 56 following his heart bypass surgery. This was after more than 40 years of smoking! He's a diabetic, and needed to lose a lot of weight, too. But his doctor said, "If you do only one thing, give up the cigarettes." So he did, going cold turkey. He's been off them four years now. Unfortunately, he took his doctor literally and did just one thing. But it's a big one.

I think it helps HUGELY if you can adjust your thinking to view cigarette smoke as a true poisonsomething that actively damages you . . . each drag on the cigarette promoting cancer cells, whatever. I wasn't aware of this technique when I gave up smoking, but it's what enabled me to give up sugar (another addiction) many years later. Once I fully acknowledged what sugar was doing to my body and my mood, I stopped craving it. Kind of an aversion therapy, I guess.

Hey, what are you gonna do with all that money you save??

Susan

I have quit twice. Once for a year and I celebrated with one cigarette. That is all she wrote folks. Don't even think about that first cigarette. Just like booze and I am a pro on that also. I quit again two years later (keep trying until you make it) and have been cool for over 20 years or more. I lost count. DW still smokes like a fish. I make her smoke outside, unless it is below 20 degrees F and she can smoke in the basement.

My brother introduced me to cigars a few years ago. I am addicted to cigars now. At least, I buy cigars I can not afford.

Foghorn

Smoke like a fish? Sounds funny

I started smoking at age 12, and by 18 I was a 2 to 3 pack a day smoker. I "quit" at age 28, when I was pregnant with my daughter, and started again as soon as I went back to work, although I never again smoked in the house or car. When my daughter was in 1st grade, she came home after Red Ribbon Week at school and started asking me if I understood how bad cigarettes are, and how they are really a drug, and why did I want to do drugs if I didn't want her to do drugs. A lecture by my 6 year old was all the impetus I needed! I quit cold turkey that very day. I knew I could never, ever have a cigarette again; their hold over me was too strong. I avoided the places I usually smoked and changed all my routines, like a walk after dinner instead of a smoke on the back deck. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but also the best gift I could have ever given myself and my family. That was almost 13 years ago and I have never regretted it. You too can do this, if you really have the desire. It will never be easy, and you have to do it in whatever way works best for you. If you think medicine, gums or no-nicotine smokes are the answer for you, by all means USE THEM. Do whatever it takes. This is one of those things that you will never, ever regret doing (although you may not believe that the first year or so).
Congratulations on this wise decision. I'm proud of you, but not nearly as proud as you will be of yourself.

:-)April

Hi, Meredith. I think the difficulty in quitting smoking is determined by whether you've got the "addiction" gene for it. For me, I was never more than an occasional smoker, and stopping was really easy. But my dh was a true addict. He'd stopped a couple of times, once for more than a year, but started again. I'd encouraged him, but felt he had to really want to stop.

Eventually he wanted suggestions on how to do it best. I'd read somewhere that there are certain "rituals" that people associate with smoking, such as a cigarette after dinner, or when you drink, or in certain social situations. So the key to quitting is to stop under circumstances that are completely out of your usual routine. This way, there's less stress caused by the change in routine.

So what my dh did was stop when we went on a family road trip. He'd never smoked around the kids, or in the car. So that would have made NOT smoking perfectly fine. We were gone for a week, and went to different places and stayed in various hotels, etc.

Obviously, he noticed the absence of smoking, and it wasn't easy. But he told me that quitting under those circumstances was far less stressful than the other times. By the time we got home he was able to continue the "withdrawal" process relatively easily. He's never touched a cigarette since, and that was 5 years ago.

35 years ago my dad, a 4 pack a day smoker, quit cold turkey right when we went on a family camping trip. Camping was a big tradition in our family, and my dad loved it, so he was having a great time. After about a week he stood up one morning and complained that no one had noticed he'd quit smoking 2 weeks earlier (my mom was a non-smoker). He never smoked again, either. So he did it just like my dh: totally cold turkey, and during a brief vacation so his routine was changed.

By the way: go cold turkey. "Cutting down" is good, of course, but no way can you "quit" smoking by constantly torturing yourself with cigarettes. Just do it and get it over with at one time.

My dad struggled to quit but he never could. Finally the lung cancer did it for him: he became so weak a cigarette was too heavy for him to lift. RIP, dear Papa.

Wow... thank you all for your posts! I'm mulling over what I've heard and how things feel right now. It is scary. I'll be back :) Thank you.

These days I am yet again fighting to over come my nicotine addiction. It is very hard. I have tried quitting many times ... but I have always relapsed (Even After years of quitting).
3 years ago I quit and used NRT (nicorette product) especially the commit lozenges. I became every bit as addicted to these and I spent more money on those than I would on cigarettes. But It is way better to be addicted to those than cigarettes.
Only problem is that it is much easier to relapse...

I smoked for 6 month again and quit 3 weeks ago and went back on the Commits lozenges again for a week. Now I am on the medium strength patches for 3 more days and will use the lowest strength patches for 2 weeks. Then the nicotine will leave my body and I hope I will never get addicted to nicotine again.

And wow...........the roses smell so much better when you are not smoking. I will keep fighting this addiction. And FH is right ... one cigaret and the fight and the insanity will start all over again.

I have had huge mood swings the last weeks and it has been difficult. But it is worth it ... I look better and fell more healthy already. My skin looks better, my teeth are whiter, my eyes are whiter and clear, my home smells nicer, and I have begun to swim and bicycle in order not to gain weight and replace the bad habit with good habits. I make carrot sticks and eat more fruit and drink more water when cravings for something...occurs. And I have fewer cravings every day now. I sincerely think all tobacco products should be forbidden ... imagine that we are actually voluntarily poisoning ourselves and paying for it???

I hope all those of you who are fighting the battle to overcome nicotine addiction will succeed!

Good luck to you also. Many of us did not quit permanently on the first or even second try. I think you could justify accepting the weight gain (at least 10 pounds) without feeling bad, and know that you will lose it later. Your metabolism changes, and you need to give your body a chance to level off.

Sammy

My dad struggled to quit but he never could. Finally the lung cancer did it for him: he became so weak a cigarette was too heavy for him to lift. RIP, dear Papa.

I always thought my dad would go like that too, or have a heart attack at the gas station; dying doing something he loved. He smoked 3 packs a day, some would burn out others wouldn't. When he was diagnosed with diabetes, he cut the smokes in 1/2 smoked any where from a pack to 1 1/2. Heck, I was proud of that!

When he was diagnosed with Leukemia I was in shock. Been in shock since that horrible day; I still think it's a bad nightmare & I'll wake up. I'm thankful he didn't have lung cancer. I watched my friends husband die from it. Unfortunately, by the time they found it, it was too late. He'd quit 20 year before, apparently the damage was already done, quitting I guess prolonged his life some.

After being in the hospital for 5 weeks, 1st thing he did was ask for a smoke on the hour drive home. I didn't give in, but once he got home, hit up his stash. I was upset he started back again, but understood why he needed them. He knew he only had a 14% chance of living.

He was admitted a few times after that, he always had "dreams" of smoking when he was hospitalized. Since he was in "better" shape the other times then the 1st 5 weeks, they allowed me to wheel chair him to the parking garage to smoke. The doctors didn't care because it lifted his spirits.

The doctors told me his smoking really didn't matter as long as he wasn't "smoking up a storm" and he didn't. I did question them, I guess he was too far gone for it to matter. Some day's if he had 10 smokes that was a lot. He smoked up until a day before he died & was cremated with a pack of Newport light 100's in his pocket.

I'm sure he had the addiction gene, and I don't doubt I do too.

Sorry to ramble, it would be dad's 71st birthday tomorrow.

happy birthday dad.

Good Luck! Quitting smoking is easy! I have done it a thousand times. I am on Chantix as well,almost done with my first weeks supply. My "quit" day is to be tomorrow,7/6. I am not sure if I can do it,maybe one more day. I need to psych myself up for it. I have smoked since I was 16, and am now 44. I have used the patches,they do work! (but I have severe skin reaction to them). The gum gives you an instant "hit". Chantix is said to be twice as effective as Zyban. I do find that now when I light up,all I need is one drag. I feel it is now just habit. Wish me luck,wish you luck and all of us trying to kick this deadly habit. For those non-smokers,you will never begin to understand how hard it is to quit these once you are hooked. Julie

On smoking... ready to go there again today. Man, the body wants to just smoke offhand and by nature and avoid trying not to something fierce. Day before yesterday it just went out of my mind for hours but that will not be so. There are NO meaningless ciggys.

Michelle, I'm so glad you know someone who tried acupuncture with success. I had wondered about that. I think I will go after my trip, maybe before! I had a great acupuncturist that helped by back a lot but not enough to justify the unfortunate cost. Short-term issues I'd definitely try with him!

Pete, you are 100% right, I know from my dad's experience with AA, and from how darned addicted I am. I don't think I can EVER handle one after I stop. Nicotineless, OK. OK for a long while anyway, I appease my addict brain.

Msjam, Happy Happy Chantrix Dance! Oh, I'm hearing such good things about that drug; it is great to hear from an observer of a bad addict. Yes, my appointment with my doc is soon, and I'm definitely trying that. Thanks!

vjcamp, Congratulations!!! It slipped up on me, too... hanging out with my club and punk friends and I guess we thought it was cool but not consciously. Eventually I couldn't NOT smoke in my parents house fighting with my BF on the phone. I was a goner after that. Senior year and now half my life!!!

Susan, congratulations!! Hey, roses baby, always roses or decor. Right now it's more expensive to quit and there's something very wrong with that equation! I'm trying to be conscious of every cigarette, definitely, and remember all the bad.

Foghorn, congrats on two counts!! Yeah, no 'just try one' for me... hey I thought when I started that I'd never get hooked!!

April, 12...man! Congratulations!! I hadn't even thought of the fact that I will be so proud, but I will. Good motivator there. Thank you!

Debra, so good to see you!! My Ex quit pretty easily, but he did not have nic fits like I get. Unfortunately, it's not just the gnawing craving but I literally get sleepy, confused, etc. I am trying to take the UK trip as the big step RE quitting. I don't know that I can go all the way, but I swear I will stop all but the most 'crucial' of cigarettes. I'm afraid to try more with all the work I have to do there :( Hopefully the Chantrix and change of locale will allow me to go farther... we'll have to see!

Hoov and Sue, I am so sorry about your fathers. When my mother was in the hospital she asked me to quit smoking [she was dying of cancer but never smoked] and it pains me that I could not stop for her then. It is indescribable how strong a hold cigarettes can have, and I am so sorry that y'all had to be hurt so by that. It is a very sad thing, and infuriating that we smokers don't 'get' that when we smoke the first one.

Cupshaped, Strength to you!!! If it helps, you can imagine a day, a YEAR [!!] without a cigarette, so you will succeed! Remember the bad, the hurting of folks and yourself... you are RIGHT THERE. Do they have Chantrix in Denmark? Worth a try! However you do it, keep it up and the best of luck!!

Julie, good luck!!!!! What I have read about Chantrix, 'you ain't seen nothin' yet'. I hope so! One drag is excellent going in to it! Keep up the good work! Remember there are nicotine-free cigs out there, non-nicotine inhalers to drag on.... let me know if you need me to send you a couple; I'm stocking up!!

Hopefully my QT watch comes today, the doc appt is soon, and I'm thinking of my UK trip as an exciting venture in many ways :)

Whomever said, "you will never completely be an x smoker," is smoking something right now. Not true! I am an x smoker and have been for twenty or more years and don't regret one minute of it. I, now, can not stand to be around a smoker, much less a cigarette.
I was one that would say, I can not give this up, it's too good. If I were to wake in the middle of the night, I'd light up. Get on the phone, light up. After eating, sex, drinking, no matter what, I'd light up.
I quit cold turkey, none of this slow down type of nonsense. Just do it! And do it now, why wait til Jan. 1, 2008?

Taureau, oh thank you and congrats!! It REALLY helps hearing from people who couldn't imagine not smoking either.

Hopefully it won't be that long but I need that plan to ramp up hating them and their hold, to see which ones I'll miss so much and get a plan on those, to decrease the nictotine I'm used to because I need so much I can't think during nic fits.

If Chantrix makes me think I can take the plunge sooner, that's my real plan. If I didn't have to THINK so much during my trip it'd be then. Maybe right after!! But I'm letting my brain think January for now [while being ATTENTIVE to each one I smoke...]

I switched to a brand with half the nicotine of my old and am struggling to not smoke any more than usual. It's going fine. Less and less and less and less..... it is working :) :)

There never is a good time to quit ... quit as soon as you can ... when the motivation is there and it to me it sounds like it is there Meredith. Yes we do have Chantrix or chambrix or whatever the name is here ... it is supposed to block the satisfaction smokers get from nicotine. So it is worth a try ...
Tomorrow I will buy the last package of patches the lowest strength and wear them for 2 weeks. So I am almost free ... 3 weeks now without cigarettes. Had I not been a man I suspect there has been a few times during these weeks some people would have suspected me to have PMS... LOL.

This time I will not fool myself and smoke ever again. I will win this battle and so will all even if they have to try many times ... it just gives experience each time one fails, to avoid the pits next time!

Wow my home smell so nice after I have cleaned it for 2 weeks... and I can smell roses SOOOOO much better now. Also I have used the frustration and nervous energy to exercise more and I am beginning to feel the effect ... I think I can get addicted to that. I suppose it is better to be a fitness junkie than being a nicotine addict?

I pray for strength when I experience a bad craving ... and it helps!

I gave up smoking 2 years ago. I really had been smoking for only 4 years but I got tired of the expense, besides the health risk warnings I saw on the side of the carton every time I bought a new pack.

I also got tired of all the dirty looks the cashiers & folks around me in line would give me every time I'd pick up a pack.
Especially when I had my kids w/ me.

I also got tired of my kids asking me if I wasn't concerned about them picking up "second hand smoke" in my van when we were going somewhere.

All these things helped me to quit. It took a very long time, 1 1/2 years, that is when I realized for the first time that I truly was hooked! I tapered them down slowly but it worked for me.

Occasionally I will reminisce, especially if we are in a rowdy bar somewhere having a few beers. That smoke will make it's way over to me & I'll be fleetingly tempted, but so far, I have not given in.

I told DH that if I got really tempted he had to go buy me a cigar instead, I don't quite wanna smoke a cigar, unladylike and all that so I eventually give up my idea of having a cig.

Good luck, I know it is a struggle.

Betty

Just keep away from that first coffin nail. If you have been clean 10 days, the craving will go away in 5 minutes. You can do it!

I have been there and done that. You name it I have tried it; acupuncture, hypnotism, the "Patch," group support classes held by a local hospital, and cold turkey.

That movie that one of the main characters was using sex to quit smoking came out too late to do me any good.

It is tough thing to do. One of the things that helped was to look at the fingers of smokers all stained and yucky.

As I have stated before, I have quit smoking over 20 yrs now and probably closer to 26 or 27 years. I have found that the worse were the first 3-4 days, you get lots of urges. After the first 3-4 days, you get fewer urges that last shorter. Like someone said, the more time go by the less urges you get and the urges last less and less. I don't have ANY urges at all and have not had any since about 2 or 3 months after quiting. Don't give up! You can do it. If I can, you can. PLease believe me, you can do it.

A good point. The cravings come in waves - time them. Sit on a chair and time them, and you will see that the wave will go and come and go. At night - take a Benadryl so you won't lie there and worry. It will put you to sleep fast if you are like me, and if the doctor has no problem with it.

Sammy

Still a non - smoker!!!! Wooo -hoo!

I have given up tobacco, alcohol, and women - but still have crawings :-))

Everyone know that smoking is not good for health but still they do this. The effect of smoking on body is not so good. I think it is a very good effort to avoid it for good health and long live.