Any ex-smokers in the house?
 

I'm on day 3, but find myself thinking about it every other five minutes.

How long does it take to be truly "free"?

heh...just finishing off today and plan to be an ex smoker as of tomorrow...

will be watching this thread!

I quit for the second time in my life back in feb of this year, and I quit cold turkey. The only tip I can give you is STAY BUSY! I probably got more work done during the first month I quit smoking then I did in the previous few months.


Now, the bad news is I still have cravings once in awile, but its not very often. Usually after I eat a nice big steak dinner, or while I am drinking, or while driving ( I used to smoke a LOT while driving).

Took me atleast a month to not crave on the regular...

By cold turkey, do you mean without the aid of nicotine patches, gum etc.?

yep. i went from like 15 cigarettes per day to 0 without gum, patches, or anything.

all i did was stay busy and tried to keep my mind off of it any way that i could

We quit 14 months ago, cold turkey. Eat more, stay busy. So what if you gain weight. It's much healthier in the long run.

The thoughts and cravings go away after a few weeks. Then you forget about it more and more often. It's hard for me to remember smoking now :1orglaugh Seems like a different lifetime. I still have dreams about it from time to time but I wake up feeling guilty.

I also remind myself that smoking not only causes lung cancer, one of the worst forms but it also put you at major risk for heart attack and stroke. Diabetes runs in my family and between smoking and all the family history, I wouldn't live past 50-55 if I didn't quit :Oh crap

Sadly not Marc - want a cigar to help you get thru the day? :winkwink:

Stopped cigarettes a couple of times (cold turkey) for.. 4 - 6 years, then started again, but could not stand cigarettes, so went on to cigars. Got little doubt they are less risk, but not at the rate I'm smoking em :(

lol, do you know if cigars/cigarellos have nicotine in them?

Yes, they do... but... if you avoid buying these "package cigars" (tobacco corp brand names), and find a good source of simple tobacco leaf and no added crap - this certainly helps.

You really based in the Canaries? Not sure of a source there - I used to get pure tobacco leaf cigars in the Caribbean and got good source here where they just roll them locally, - prob between a whores ass cheeks - but they are cheap as hell (think about 3 cents for a "medium" cigar and tolerable), but price is secondary to actually getting your hands on them - health is more important.

Example.. I used to cough and splutter with the "brand name" stuff, but dropped these and on to pure leaf and I quit coughing.

It's only my attempt to cheat death, but usually only smoke half the cigar and dump it - at 3 cents each, who cares?? Would actually recommend pure leaf if you can access a source - it could be a stepping stone to quitting.

im at the 3rd year i think since i quited smoking. its hard but its worth it

I'm an ex-smoker - about 3 or 4 times a year.

I stopped 3 years ago without any artificial aids. My location made it easy - I was in intensive care and oddly enough you weren't allowed to smoke LOL.

Now I can't stand the smell of smoke and don't know how people used to put up with me stinking of cigarettes

ex smoker for 3 months

YOU BASTARD :mad: :1orglaugh !

Hold for one week straight (yeah, the WHOLE 7 days) and you'll feel much better.

Ibogaine is a miracle.
 

One word for anyone who wants to be free .. really free of smoking, drugs, or compulsive behavior IBOGAINE. Not cheap and very illegal in the USA (of course) and Belgium. Legal everywhere else. Drug addicts can actually kick the habit without withdrawl. If you want the information a good place to get that is www.ibeginagain.com I know I am going to take the treatment as soon as I can save the cash. If anyone out there has done it let us here your stories.

I watched my father , the image of the first Marlboro Man, die a year ago October from lung cancer. It is one of the most horrible ways to die that I can fathom short of torture and there is no way I will go like that. I am crying like a baby thinking about it now. Good Luck to any one quitting. Praise God for those that have. Don't go back to the habit.

One month and you are ready for the long road to success

been of the chocks' since 1995... still would like to smoke, cause I miss them... love the smell of tobacco, not on people though... I don't have any jones for them... just would like to be able to smoke 2-3 cigs a day, which I know ain't never gonna happen... if I smoke one ciggy I'll need to go buy a few cartons and I'll be back to chain smoking...

stopped smoking about 3 years ago (or more), got fatter but it feels GOOD

It's not all that hard to quit if you just do it, absolutely no need for medication.

First, you have to be determined to stop and stop because you want to and not because someone else wants you to.

Everyday is easier after the first week.

The secret to quitting is to change you habits and find something to do with your oral cravings like playing with a pen and putting it in your month as you type or do your work.

Get up from the table after you finish eating instead of sitting there like you did when you smoked. Sit somewhere else when you drink your coffee. Take your breaks in a different way - such as going for a walk. Do lots of activities that you can't do when smoking such as sex, swimming, bike riding, surfing, taking pictures, etc. Eat foods that conflict with smoke, such as milk products, ice cream, soup. Never touch another cigerette or even hold it while your friend runs into a store real fast. The urge will be too strong and this will last for a while.

I quit cold turkey... after the first week, it was easier. But now, nearly seven years later, about once every six months I still look at a burning cigerette and wonder... but I will never smoke again.

After smoking a pack+ a day for 8 years, I haven't smoked a single cigarrette in 7 years.

The key, for me, was making up my mind (a more involved and comitted process than a lot of peeps who "quit" allow for it to be - I knew a full month before I quit what my "quit day" was), initially setting a hard date (as I assume you have done), and then taking it day by day. I still have cravings now and then, but they're _no where_ as strong or frequent as they used to be. And when they occur, I just look back, remembering what I had to go through to get here the first time, and any urge to pick the habit up again dissipates instantly.

Like anything else - You're an addict for life. You have to come to terms with the concept that you might never have those urges disappear completely, but they'll certainly hit a much more manageable level.

I'd say once you've not smoked for 1/4 of the total time that you smoked, you're probably what you'd consider "free," but the truth of the matter is, you're never really totally "free", you're just better tooled to manage the addiction.

I got it managed to the point that I'm totally comfortable with lighting up a Cuban now and then, or whatever.... in the order of no more than once a month.

The good news is, that you will go entire weeks and even months without thinking about lighting up... and at that point, you really do realize that you're capable of anything you put your mind to - and that concept can metriculate into other aspects of your life.

If you've made up your mind to quit - you're better than your addiction, bro.

Don't be afraid to use crutches like the patch or gum your first couple months... I did the entire "patch" program religiously myself (not saying I'd recommend it, though - hit me up if you wanna chat sometime about it) - engaged in tricks like sucking on altoids and "inhaling" the fumes when the mood struck me for the first year or so... whatever it takes to get you there, ya know.

You're never fully free; it just gets easier. I haven't smoked in years, yet whenever I see someone with a lit cigarette to their lips I feel nothing but envy.

Nevertheless, I know I feel better than they do. Cigarettes really do make you feel like shit. You just don't realize that until you've quit.

i stopped smoking last september. it took about 4 months to become totally indifferent to it.

Thanks D, got it. So like all addictions such as gambling and alcohol, it can never be cured, but can be arrested...

Talking of which, last time I really heavily chain-smoked was in Vegas in January whilst gambling and drinking (free) alcohol. The worst place on earth to keep demons at bay!

2 years in july for me.. best thing i ever did

I stopped 14 years ago. Just gave up one day and never lit another. I still have cravings for them once in a while, generally after a good meal or when I'm having a coffee reading the newspapers. I smoke in my dreams too, which I find amusing.

I use to smoke every day from morning till bed and I haven't smoked in years. And I quit cold turkey... But it was easy as I got sick/hospitalized and was HIGHLY medicated at the time.

I am coming up on my 6th year of non smoking. I had stopped before once for 2.5 years, and I really agree with the comments about you never really being free.

You just get a better handle on dealing with it.

quit cold turkey in sept last year, but i have a cigar say once ever 2 weeks or so.. and right after quitting, i had a cigar every 2 - 3 days..for the initial week.. i dont belive in the patch as they feed you the nicotine which will keep you craving.
the cigarette craving goes away after cirka 3 months.. but it gets better and easier every day...

LOL! I thought we were talking about weed....

i wish i can stop,tried zilion times without success:(

I have never smoked!!

lol well I am am actually trying to give up both - so DON'T FUCK WITH ME!

ahhh smoking is my absolute worst vice

I've quit numerous times and for 2 to 3 years at a time and always somehow find myself back on these things.

I think once you quit - just realise that you will ALWAYS be a smoker and NEVER ever talk yourself into thinking 'hey I can have just one while i'm drunk'.

Good luck and thanks for the inspiration - i'm about to finish off this deck and quit tomorrow.

I went three days but I wanted some single cigarettes and the man doesn't sell them anymore so I had to buy a pack..but after this pack is over, I'm through

damn... she's pretty... :321GFY

it's my second day here... hopefully i can quit it sooner...

http://whyquit.com

read the stories there

it makes it a WHOLE lot easier

I just quit about three years ago. I'd agree that you have to decide for yourself you want to give up, not for someone else. I know that I could quite easily go back to smoking again but I'm not going to.

dirt baggg

i dont have time to read the rest, anyway im without nicotine 6months and 1week, after 12years daily smoking, at the end from 50 to 0, no problems anytime, pubs, parties, people around are smoking, in my house too ... im feeling like i never smoked before ... ask me for my "know how" lol :thumbsup or get very ill for around 5days with 39-40degrees and meanwhile just forgot about it :winkwink:

"Bryan Curtis started smoking at 13, never thinking that 20 years later it would kill him and leave a wife and children alone."

Geez - a picture really does say more than 1000 words...

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/bed.jpg

chew lots of gum

I stopped for over 3 years now, best decision ever :)