How long did you smoke and how long have you gone without now?
And how did you quit? What methods did you try before and what
finally worked for you?

Personally, I smoked for 8 years, from my 18th till my 26th
and smoked about 20-25 cigarettes a day on weekdays and a lot
more on weekends especially when I went out for some drinks.

I tried just about everything from nicotine gum to willpower
to Alan Car to the (very dangerous) Zyban pills.

Yet nothing worked.

However, it's been 70 days now since I last took a cigarette
and I think it's almost safe to say that I am a non smoker!!



The strange thing is, I didn't use any kind of method to stop
this time. Just put out the last one and haven't really had
a very hard time leaving it well enough alone.

There have been moments but not as bad as it used to be when
I'd quit. I never managed this long before, not even with the
added help of patches, pills or gum.

I do, however, eat a lot more. But I really needed to do that
anyway since I was steadily losing weights due to stress and
the fact that I smoked more and more as I got more stress and
as I smoked more I got stressed out more etc etc.

In the end I ate hardly anything at all anymore except for a
few large cups of coffee every day and some bread

So now I've been eating and eating and eating and eating and
it all tastes amazing. I have a new appetite for life LOL.
I've gone from a bone portruding 115 pounds to a nice fat
love handle 160

and I ain't stoppin yet

I've got much more energy now, despite the huge weight gain
over such a short period of time. I can easily walk 5 miles
with the dog without running out of breath.

my clothes finally smell nice again, and my car is slowly
but surely starting to smell like a car again instead of
like a cold wet ashtray.

Far as I can see it now, there are ONLY benefits to this!

But I'm still amazed that it's so easy this time. It almost
seems like something's waiting round the corner to hit me
over the head screaming "GOTCHA SUCKA" lol.

Last night I even had a dream about smoking again. It was
more like a nightmare because I was smoking some cigarettes
and I was soooo incredibly disappointed in myself and I felt
so utterly devastated at smoking again that I became deeply
depressed.

Boy, was I happy to wake up and realise I was still the water
drinking veggy freak I turned in to over the last 70 days.



There. More than enough about me .Tell me about your experiences.

yeah, i tried once, spent the holidays in the hospital and the doctor told me if i continued to smoke, i would die very soon.... that lasted for about a month and a half... i got better, and started wanting to smoke again so, i am a smoker again

i THINK i would like to quit, but, only because they are so damn expensive, and because of my kids.... the fact is, i ENJOY smoking, i like the taste, i look forward to it, and i would miss it terribly if i had to quit.....

but, i have faith that one day i too will grow tired of smoking and let it go, i sure wish i woulda listened to my mom when she warned me about smoking

btw, i have been smoking for 20 years now.. about a pack a day, more if im stressed (which is often ) or if im drinking (which isnt that often these days...)

congrats to you though on your success stay strong

I live to smoke. Everything else is a bonus.

BinaryJustin said:

Smoking is

quit Cold turkey and havent smoked in 6 years

TheRealFiness said:

now there's the spirit

IstenSzek said:

its easy.. u just have to understand that its mind over matter..u know?

nakedpianoplayer said:

simply reading some of the things in your post, I think you might want to
try reading the Allan Car [sp] book. it does give you a great insight in
what exactly is going on when you smoke and why you smoke etc.

eventhough I don't think it is THE solution to stop smoking, it did point
out some things to me that drastically changed the way I looked at my own
smoking habit.

TheRealFiness said:

i'm getting there. in fact, i think i may already be there lol
i sure wish i would have been able to do this 3 or 4 years ago
but hey better late than never

IstenSzek said:

never too late

.

I smoke a few socially at weekends which has helped make my voice sexy and emphasised my air of disaffected nonchalance, but I feel sick at the thought when I'm sober - because that's what I've trained my brain to believe.

Truly, you can quite easily re-programme the mind into believing smoking is vile - but only if the smoker has a degree of self-respect left in these testing days of Sodom.

Unfortunately, most people who smoke to excess are self-loathing, unimaginitive individuals who don't even believe they possess the willpower to stop, and ride the wave of psychological burdens which come with that mindset (cheap sex, fast 'food', excess drinking, smoking etc).

Yes, I am a pious bastard.

IstenSzek said:

Allen Carr's book was unsuccessful

Did you ask for your money back?

Well done anyhow with quiting. I admire you

See if you can get some exercise in, it'll probably make you feel even better

Number23 said:

Oh you pious bastard!

Number23 said:

senik said:

you just made me realise I could have asked for my money back.

but how would I have gone about that? It probably would cost

me more money to sent the book back than the refund would be.

Anywho, I've quit now so how would I prove that I quit on my

own and not through Allen's book?

Perhaps I should start smoking again and then ask for my

refund.

you quitters are inspiring me!

another inspiration is the "smokers hangover." I know for a FACT that half of the sitty day after feeling I have is due to the 2 packs I huff down at the bar on a fun nite. If I quit smoking I could drink just as much and feel half as bad!

Number23 said:

My lungs are so diseased!

I quit off and on for 2 years, 3 years....

It is hard, but like some one said it is mind over matter..

But I am a smoker now.

Anxiety said:

WTF does that mean?! I'm pretty dumb, dude.

Violett and I were talking about this a few weeks ago. Personally, I couldn't quit cold turkey, but I know that a lot of people have to do it that way. I smoked from about the time I was 18 until I was 26. When I quit, I was at more than a pack a day. I wanted to take control of my health, which wasn't the greatest at the time: I have bad allergies, and breathing wasn't coming easily. I would wake up in the middle of the night having coughing fits. That's when I knew it was time to quit.

I had to do it gradually. For a few months, I would only smoke at home. I didn't even bring them to work, because it was a social part of my day. After I'd gotten used to that, for a few months I'd only smoke on the weekends (of course, Friday counted as the weekend...had to drag it out somehow). Then it became "special occasions," like birthday, after Thanksgiving dinner, of after a long stressful phone conversation with my mom!

In March, it'll be 6 years since I "started quitting," and I've not had a cigarette in about 18 months. Mind you, before that time, I was just doing the special occasion thing a few times a year, and averaged four cigarettes a year for about 5 years. It's been very good for me. I breathe better, I don't have to worry about smelling like smoke, having my bf say "I can smell the cigarettes if I kiss you." Though he didn't mean it at all in a mean way (he's the nicest guy on earth), it was particularly shameful for me to hear stuff like that. And an added benefit is that I have more cashola to spend on records, movies, books, concerts, food and other fun things.

The least helpful thing that I've seen people do is the act of quitting for another person, i.e., "My husband wants me to quit." If you're quitting for anyone other than yourself, you are setting yourself up to fail. Quit when you're ready to do so, not when somebody else wants you to.
[Edited 12/16/04 9:01am]

I started chewing this year (yes, very gross)....I wanna quit.

ReturnOfDOOK said:

Don't ever look at pictures of people with cancer from chewing. Very sad, scary and disturbing.

RipHer2Shreds said:

I know - it's horrible....how long does that take to develop? If I quit now, I should be cool, right? I only started in March or something with softball...never chewed before.

Number23 said:

Hey now, cheap sex, fast food, drinking and smoking are all perfectly fine - in moderation

Number23 said:

ever hear of carrie nation?

IstenSzek said:[quote]How long did you smoke and how long have you gone without now?
And how did you quit? What methods did you try before and what
finally worked for you?

I smoked from the age of 14-39. I smoked about 18-20 cigarettes per day. I quite for the very first time 2 1/2 years ago - cold turkey. I have not had a cigarette since. When I first quit, it was very hard. I ate alot and gained 10-12 lbs. I even went to bed early so I didn't have to sit up and think about not smoking. I tried very hard to stay away from smokers, although this isn't easy to do.

I have to say that I will never smoke again. In fact, I'm one of those reformed smokers who hate the smell and even watching people do it. People who smoke stink to high heaven and their breath is awful. It also gives you ugly lines around your lips as you get older too. It also costs a small fortune. Here in Canada an average price for a 25 pack of cigarettes is $7.50 - $8.00 - WTF?? Who has that kind of money to spend? Now, I go on a vacation to the Caribbean each year and I love every minute of it and I don't get out of breath so easily anymore either I know quitting is a very hard thing to do, but you have to want to and you have to take the consequences seriously.

Thanks, Isten. I'm on the edge of quitting. The longest I've ever quit for is about 30 days. It's always great to hear success stories. MUCHAS GRACIAS!

Well well


Dont forget the times that a non smoker gived me a hard time .
Well i am amazed that istenzek do sucha great job with smoking.
And yes he is also better looking than befor .
dont get me wrong he was handsome before .
Well i hope that i can quite smoking also .

Congratulations!

I've quit off and on and really, really, really don't need to be smoking. Each time I've quit I've gone cold turkey, but somehow they've weasled their way back into my fingers and mouth. I've smoked for eighteen years... which makes me cringe when I think about it.

Anyway... went from a pack and a half a day to nothing to about a pack a day currently (there are days that I don't smoke at all). Am going to try and stop completely the 23rd.

The stupid thing is that, anymore, I don't really have the craving. I just pick one up out of boredom or habit, or if I think about my not smoking that I think I want one and go and buy a pack.

IstenSzek said:

Even though you don't fit them anymore. Still, they smell nice.