[Mike S]

I quit smoking Nov. 29th. Haven't had any since. When the hell does it get easier. The last few days where as hard as the first 2 days. The longing to smoke is so overwhelming. This is the longest i made it in the 30 years I have been smoking. I keep telling myself if I smoke one, I just suffered for nothing and will end up smoking again.
I did gain 10lbs so far.

Thanks
Mike

[Old Blue 66]

I cant say since I have never smoked. BUT....I did make a life change for the better and drastically changed my eating habbits (and lost weight). While not as intense a giving up smoking, its still a habit and tough to break. I dont think you ever stop getting the urge but learn to live with it somehow. Take it day by day.

Congrats on the change. You'll be better off in the long run.

My friend at work quit a while ago and sucks up small candies like crazy. He may have saved himself from lung cancer but not from rotted teeth lol!

[Mr Twister]

Its different for everyone. Change your routine a little. I still get the urge once in a while, but refuse to even touch a pack. It does get better, just don't do it. I WAS a long time smoker too. It will pass.

[ERIC AULL]

Trying to get my wife to quit.......I don't smoke, but I am trying to quit overeating. HANG IN THERE the physical dependance is almost over with!!!!!!!! Best of Luck, and good health ! Eric

[PunchT37]

It will pass. It`ll take a while though. I quit 10 or so years ago. Cold turkey. I have to say though, for me, I had to stay out of smoke filled bars. I couldn`t be around people smoking and leaving packs of cigs. on the bar for me to drool over. Second thing for me is alcohol. When I get the urge to smoke is after a few drinks. If I don`t drink, the urge isn`t there. It took a long time not to want to smoke while drinking. Third, is eating. The urge after a meal. You have to fight that as well. I got over the eating urge well before the drinking urge. That for me was the rough one. Now, Iv`e got it well licked. I can go in a bar, after eating, AND drink and NOT smoke. Iv`e got it beat. BUT, it wasn`t easy.

Kool super longs.
Then Marlboro red.
Then Marlboro Lights for a long time.
Then Merrit regular.
Then a short stint with Winston regular.
Then back to Marlboro Red.
Then QUIT.
The coughing has slowly faded away. HTH.

[BVR421]

I quit nearly a yeaR ago and still stand as close as I can to anyone who is smoking. LOL
quitting smoking was the 2nd dumbest thing Ive done right behind quitting beer!!!

I knew I would need some help to quit my 50 year non-filter Camels habit and on a friends recommendation I got a prescription for that new drug http://www.chantix.com/ $$$. Its one of those psycho drugs like prozac so if you dont react well to those, you dont want this stuff either! You smoke the first 2 weeks while on the drug, tapering off the 3rd week to quit.. By the end of the first week the Camels tasted like crap and by the 2nd week I was NOT getting nicotine! No reason to pay $7.50 a pack for something that no longer tastes good to me and no longer has a drug effect so I just quit altogether a week early. Quit the Camels and quit the drug helper with 10 days of pills left. I recommend following instructions, Im just saying how I did it.

I have not had one cig since then. I dont say 'I have quit', I dont say 'I dont smoke', I just say 'Im not going to buy any cigarettes today.' So far it works for me to the tune of over $200 a month staying in my pocket instead of up in smoke.
For the first maybe 6 weeks I wanted to kill something. Im not making a joke! I wanted a smoke or I wanted to cause some serious @#$%^&* damage! Thats not socially responsible so I kept going to the fridge everytime I wanted a smoke. Nope, no Camels in here, might as well have some food as long as I am 1/2 way into the fridge anyway. Stupid. I have gained back the 35lbs that I spent 1200 bucks with a personal trainer to get rid of just before I quit smoking..

If I think about cigs at all anymore its just to tell myself I can buy them anytime I want, I just choose not to buy any today.

No, it doesnt get any better, you just get used to being pissed off like a little baby who lost his binky. You will try to cram food in your face to replace the cigs.
In the end its having that whiny, childish, selfish aspect of my own addictive personality revealed so sharply that really annoys me.

[moneypit]

I stopped smoking 09/02/10 after 30+ yrs. Used the Chantix, followed the directions and even got one refill. So far so good, but I still think about lighting up. The strongest urge I get is when someone leaves a open pack laying around. I don't want to smoke anymore. Good luck!!!

[Simple Man]

A friend smoked for about 59 years, mostly Pall Mall non filters. It took a trip to the hospital on Christmas to get him to quit.

[Mr Twister]

I also used Chantix. I think it caused me to be a real unstable non smoker, until I stopped using it. I think the side effects are well worth it.

[72pontiac]

one day you wont remember how long it took to get over it. you will just be glad you did. 12 yrs and counting for me.

[66Post]

Originally Posted by Mike S

I quit smoking Nov. 29th. Haven't had any since. When the hell does it get easier. The last few days where as hard as the first 2 days. The longing to smoke is so overwhelming. This is the longest i made it in the 30 years I have been smoking. I keep telling myself if I smoke one, I just suffered for nothing and will end up smoking again.
I did gain 10lbs so far.

Thanks
Mike

Mike, There's strength in numbers, I quit twice, the first time for 7 years, like a dumbass I started up again, the fact that my wife still smoked didn't help. The second and last time was 1985. I felt like crap for about 6 weeks, felt like I was coming down with a cold. That passed, but I really missed a smoke when I had a cup of coffee after a meal or a few beers. You just have to think about the positive things like better health, clothes that don't stink of cigarette smoke, the effect on your kids (if applicable) of second hand smoke and the cost of those cancer sticks. I quit when they where 80 Cents a pack. Hang in there and know that a bunch of people have done it before you and been down that rocky road for a month or a few months until we beat it.

[codyyy]

I never got into smoking that much, but enough to where I felt that I should quit. I think they say 72 hours is the amount of time you have to withdrawl from it, after that it is all in your head. You need to want to quit though.

The positive effects are much better. I noticed I was breathing better, less sinus attacks, clothes and house smelled much better, and I noticed my sense of smell was much better (like smelling in high definition).

The first time I really quit I started smoking the worst cigarettes I could think of, and smoked them like I regularly smoked. It was bad, but worked. I sort of started up for a brief period, just having a small cigar here and there, but decided I wanted to quit that too. Nowadays I'll have a cigar or cigarette every once in a great while, but since it usually makes me feel sick after, it keeps me in check.

[kate`s67gto]

First congratulations on giving yourself the greatest gift of quit smoking. It is has been 4 weeks now the tough part is over. It will start to go more time between thoughts on smoking, like anything else baby steps before running. Try to think of all the benefits of not smoking like having control of your life back not having a cigarette control your life. We ex smokers are only 1 cigarette away from that addiction. The urge to lite up lasts seconds not minuets or hours. Hang in there the urge and thoughts diminish with time.

[RAJ7395]

Wish you the best of luck!!

My wife smoked when we got married and our pre-marital deal was that she had to quit when she found out she was pregnant. A year later she showed me the positive test strip, threw her smokes in the trash, and that was it. She still craves one now and then but says just the smell now makes her sick.

A friend of mine is using the e-cig as a substitute. He says it tastes like sucking air from a donkeys a$$.

Another friend quit smoking but she's now hopelessly addicted to the nicotine gum. She chomps piece after piece all day long and it costs more than the cigs!

[goatmanmitch]

I know several people who have used Chantix, and after decades of smoking I got the same response from all of them- they just didn't want to after Chantix. Worked very well for these people, at least three that I know of that took it are still smoke free two-three years later.

[vanmor]

When I quit ten years ago, I was almost smoking two packs a day. It was getting where I spent a lot of time in the smoking area at work.

The thing to remember is that smoking is a two part addiction. The physical part is the nicotine. The second part is the oral. The urge to put things in you mouth is a hard habit to break. Ask anyone who has had a nail biting habit. It's the first thing you learn as a baby. That's why people eat when they quit.

I tried tapering off but going cold turkey worked best for me. I still want a smoke sometimes. I too liked to smoke when I drank. It was hard to go to a Casino too. Folks in there smoke like freight trains. Plus the free drinks. Sheesh.

I have a friend who has emphysema and he won't quit. He will eventually get to a point where he will be suffocating from his own dystroyed lungs. It's a hard thing to watch.

Like many of us, your a busy person. You do many things during the day. Just remember that it's just one thing that you don't have to do. Think about it, just one thing. Thats how I looked at it and it helped me.

This may sound silly, but I would go out in the garage and just yell that I want a cigarette. That was in the first six weeks or so. It really help me. I was out there pacing and saying, "dammit I want a cigarette !"

I still want to smoke but it gets easier with time. Just never start back when you feel that way. I tried to quit several times over the years. When I did the above mentioned things, it worked for me. Don't let a material thing rule your life. It's bad enought to be addicted to Pontiacs !

[Cliff R]

I just noticed yesterday while filling up the truck at the gas station that they sell for close to $6 per pack.....YIKES! If you are up near 2 packs a day, like a lot of folks I know are, that's $360 a month.

One couple we know both smoke about 2 packs a day each, $720 a month.

I woln't touch them, never even tried one. I can't imagine anything enjoyable from something that stinks that bad. Smokes have also killed quite a few of my relatives before they made it to 60. Just lost my brother in law about a year ago. He was an airline pilot, made big bucks, saved and saved his entire life, and never got to enjoy any of it. He retired, and a couple of months later went in to have a small tumor removed from behind his knee cap. They discovered he was riddled with Cancer. He made it about 2 months from diagnosis to death.

We all knew he was sick, as he had a constant cough for the last two years of his life, every time he'd enhale his cigarette, he'd cough once or twice. No big surprise when we got the news about his condition......Cliff

[stevep]

Some are over 8 bucks a pack around here!

[Cliff R]

Deb and I went up to NY to the Fingerlakes last summer, right at $10 per pack at Walmart, and folks were buying them like they were going to run out tomorrow!.....Cliff

[cnc]

I quit cold turkey and did almost 2 packs a day, my current wife said she wouldn't date anyone who smoked so I quit to date her we've been married goin on 13 years coming Oct 5th 2011