I quit today. I gave my lighter and the 1/2 pack I had in my schoolbag to my friend. It probably won't last, but hey, I tried.

TheJourney4all7 said:

Go Nicole! Go Nicole! Go!

Quiting is easy. You just need to want it. If you want it you do not need silly books or pills or whatever.

It's a state of mind.

endorphin74 said:

They say to be successful quitting you need to stop drinking for 3 mos. I am not a big drinker or a big smoker, but 3 mos w/o alcohol...I am not sure can be done AND quit smoking.

I am in the middle of quittng..it is SO SO hard...I've been in the middle for a long time now. I have cut back ALOT to about 3 a day...sometimes a little more. Weekends are hard...but are getting more and more like the work weeks. I go to Florida next week. I plan on either not smoking when I am down there...or just bring a pack (to deal with my partners all smoking/southern family) for the entire time. I dunno.

I shoulda never started. I hated that my mom smoked...and I believe had she not, she'd still be around. And I started so late too. I am such a dumbass for doing so.

I've been trying to quit also, it's very hard. I quit last year for about 35 days? Then for some reason I went back. But I remember feeling better than EVER during that quit. I didn't feel like I was having panic attacks anymore, it was great. Whoever said it was mind over matter is right...I guess my mind is just weak LOL But I still very much want to quit. the Org should start a smokers club or something

I have prided myself on not being one of those "reformed smokers" that drive people into a smoking rage because of having to listen.., but I am going to say a few things that might be construed that way.

First, I have smoked for twenty years, no less than a pack a day, up to two at some times....

I quit just short of a year ago. I still like the smell of a cigarette, I still get that little message in my head every once in a while that says "you can have just one" when I am stressed or whatever. Its called addiction. Its called systematically manipulating smokers by putting more addictive materials in cigarettes, as well as poisons. Don't be fooled, this stuff is killing you.

I quit cold turkey, because I don't want to get cancer and piss all over myself and be some burden to my family, or watch my total independence and dignity wither away. We all have enough chances of that already..why up the chances by smoking?

It is not easy to quit. You will miss your patterns of your smoking--it was a definite soothing part of my every day life, so believe me, I know what you mean. I drank a great deal of water when I had urges, which helps. I think because of the dehydration, but who knows, whatever works, works.

You just have to make the decision to do it..don't let someone force you into it, because it won't work. You have to decide that smoking is not something that has to control your life--because believe it or not, it can. You all are stronger than that. The mind and spirit are stronger than the body--that is a fact. This is a drug. You are a drug addict. I was a drug addict--nicotine is highly addictive.

This was much longer than I thought, but if you have kids, quit. If you value your life, quit. You are so much more than a pack of smokes. Let that stand out, not the smell of cigarettes in your clothes, which, by the way, bothered me when I was a smoker as well as when I quit...

Plus, you still can use the cyber smoking emoticon, whether you smoke or not!

If I offended, I certainly didn't mean to...please know that I wish you all the best.

Though I quit smoking, and I'm so glad I did, there's nothing that makes me angrier than somebody waving their hands in front of their nose and mouth and feigning a cough when walking anywhere near somebody who's smoking. I wonder if those people mock injecting drugs when walking past heroin addicts?

i've become kind of a closet self-loathing secret smoker these days. i only smoke when a) i'm alone at my apartment and particularly stressed/bored; or b) when i'm out drankin'.

fortunately, i'm dating a non-smoking non-drinker and we spend tons of time together, and i don't like to smoke at work, so these days i probably go through a pack or two a month. i guess i can add to that list that i like to have one smoke when i get home from work, but often i go right over to my BF's after work, and i don't smoke at all at his place. and really, i don't think about smoking when i'm there, either.

Anxiety said:

Ma-ma

endorphin74 said:

very true. although I don't drink as much anymore now that I've quit
smoking. somehow the ciggy and the beer just went hand in hand and
one caused you to take more of the other etc etc.

but yes, as you say, the feeling the next day is far less shitty if
you stick to drink alone and don't puff a packet or two along with it.

onenitealone1970 said:

WTF?

I thought your computer broke down?

anywho, indeed, I did give onenitealone1970 a hard time
quite often since I quit smoking.

somehow, it made me much more talkative and I have on and
off days where the bitchin is just too much to bare



but it's cool now and I'm sure you can quit too Frits.
just wait for the right moment

GooeyTheHamster said:

they're getting a bit tight yes but I can still fit into them
so that just goes to show how damn skinny I used to be before if
I can gain 20 kilos and still fit into that same size M

I used to smoke from when I was 12, tried to stop at 14 because my dad had cardiovascular disease and needed to get surgery. It didn't work. I tried to stop several times but as number23 say I didn't like myself so I wasn't able to stop.
Only after I met Alfie (he didn't smoke)it became easier for me to quit.
By then (11 years ago) I'd only smoke at parties, but to actually stop all the way I first had to become pregnant.
So yes it's hard, but ones you really want to quit for your own sake, because you love yourself enough and you want to take care of yourself, it's easy

Oh and what also helped is my asthma, (I was obviously to late quiting)

My grandfather smoked all his life and lived to be 92 without ever seeing a doctor in his life, for any reason.
My mother smokes up to 2 packs a day, and says "I enjoy smoking, so that's what I'm doing" and she's healthy at 58, even though her coughs scare the shit out of me sometimes.
A stupid guy from work says researchers say that if you smoke until you're 40, it doesn't have any effect on you.

I never smoked, don't feel like smoking, never will smoke. I don't like the smell, and I think it's a nasty, expensive and addictive habbit. I allow people to smoke around me, because I know how much they 'need' it.

My dad has smoked all his life, and he tries to quit now and then, but I guess after 40+ years of smoking, it's pretty hard to get rid of that habbit.

GooeyTheHamster said:

Thanks. I bought a pack today, but haven't smoked any yet. I don't know if it's the right time to try, since I'm stressed out of my mind. But I'll try not to smoke as long as I can.

I quit smoking after I read this thread a few days ago. I'm doing well so far. I sooooo sooooo sooooo wanted to smoke last night after I finished working. But I didn't. I'm gonna keep going and make it a thing of the past.

THANKS FOR THE INSPIRATION!!!

I quit about 5 and a half yrs ago, smoked for 13 yrs, a pack and a half per day of Camel Lights. I had never even tried to quit until that time, I was too scared to even try because I could barely go 2 hrs without smoking, let alone try to think of going a whole DAY....

I used Zyban to quit. (why do you say it's a "dangerous" drug, btw, IstenSzek? It's buproprion, also used as a mild anti-depressant med and helps with compulsive behaviors. My only side effect was a dry mouth, although I felt "speeded up" the when it first kicked in) Anyway, I ate a lot of Lifesavers, sucked on those little clove things you put in hams and stayed away from coffee, Diet Coke and alcohol for awhile. One freaky thing about quitting and the psychological aspect of the addictiveness is that for the first several months, I had lots of dreams about smoking.

In the last 5 and a half years, I did smoke 1 cigarette at my brother's wedding reception when I was extremely drunk. I also took a hit off of a friend's cig last summer (again, I"d been drinking, lol) and coughed and hacked and hated it.

Smoking is so lame.

Drinking rules though!

I do not smoke, never have, never will. I wanna live a long time

luv4u said:

Goddamit, next thing u'll tell me u'r under 25, and i'll have to begin begging you for your picture

SpcMs said:

I am over 25 and if I give you my picture this will just encourage your stalking of me

luv4u said:

You're practically throwing yourself at me, whaddo you expect.

(euhm, and how much over 25 are we talking about exactly? )

SpcMs said:

And you?

luv4u said:

mmm...i'll say it in french so those silly americans cannot listen in: j'ai 24 ans. Et vous, ma p'tite moderatrice?

SpcMs said:

Oui,

luv4u said:

Goddamit, don't toy with me woman. If you turn out to be over 30 i'll have to explain it to my psychiatrist again
Please tell me you're not over 30

SpcMs said:

KUDOS to all those who have quit successfully!

I'm crossing my fingers for all of you. I have a friend who's been smoking forever - he's prematurely gray, can't smell anything, is always coughing & phlegmy (sp?) I want him to quit SO bad but he has to want it for himself. Anyway, CONGRATS all

I'm at 5 days today!

i smoked for 18 years. i tried to quit once about 8 years ago...and it lasted for 8 months. it wasnt for the right reasons, it was for a boyfreind who wanted me to quit. so i started back up. then about a year and 5 months ago....i quit smoking cigs cold turkey. and i have no plans on going back to it. i like myself much better, i feel much better, and im so proud of myself for doing it. i didnt use anything...because i know myself better. i knew that if i had a crutch of any kind....that i was would just start back up. i was very conscious of whether i would pick up any other habits as a result. i made sure that if i was going to pick up any other habits...that it was going to be a healthy one. i started walking 45 min a day. i started riding my bike to work every day. i started really paying attention to my food intake..content and portions. quiting smoking was the best thing i have done for myself in many years. i realize often, how much control it had over me and my life, and im sooo happy to be free of it

I haven't smoked in about 12 hours...so far so good. I'm not saying this is the day I'm going to quit, but....I'm gonna just see where this takes me.