Thread: Anyone here quit smoking successfully?

Originally Posted by Lynn

It's funny because even with the cigars, I feel so much healthier. A stick now and then is a nice Monte #2 in the morning for me. It showed up on a blood test for our insurance carrier too and I am having to pay increased premiums for it, but what the heck. I figure something will kill me eventually in any case.

So, I said screw it and traded in my 98 Roadking on a new 2013 Roadking. Go figure........

What next?? No more Vodka?? No way Jose!!

Now about that razor addiction.........

Gots ta has some fun, ya know!!

You got robbed lol.

Originally Posted by Lynn

I quit a thousand times successfully, but the last successful time was using Chantix also. Now, what to do about the cigars is another story.....

I had my first (and several more) cigar that I've had in at least 5 years while on vacation last week. I thought it would plunge me back into the habit, but so far the urge is not there.

Another cold turkey quitter here, I had my last cig 6 years ago, I have a cigar every now and again, like once a month. You can do it

I really wish you the best of luck, and more importantly, success in your quitting attempt. I quit in November of 1999 after smoking for almost 20 years. I honestly believe it was the best thing I ever did for myself.

I used the patch to help with the cravings, and I threw away the cigarettes the day I started using the patch. I tried to convince myself that I'd die of nicotine poisoning if I smoked while using those patches. All I had to do then was deal with the automatic, grab a cig moments and use the patches in the method they recommend; gradually stepping down. The process wasn't too bad. It helps if you really get angry at the habit, too. I'm not kidding when I say this. I was paying a little over $3 a pack when I quit. At a pack and a half a day, that was a lot of money going down the drain. My fingers and teeth were stained, and I know I reeked like a used ashtray. It is the most useless habit you'd ever want to have, and it doesn't do you, or anyone else, any good. I don't hate smokers; I'd just like to see them, all of them, quit that junk.

Now and then, I'll have a dream where I'm having a cigarette. I wake up, and I actually feel guilty or like I failed in some sort of way, but then I realize it's just a dream... I'm now a non-smoker.

I hope you'll be able to have those dreams, too!

Don

Great tread,...lots of success stories, so much so that I asked my better half to read these posts. She is a cigarette smoker, not heavy but oviously over the years it can take a toll. I really think reading this will give her more confidence to make the right decision.
I quit "cold turkey" about 15 years ago when I finally got pissed off at the grip cigarettes had on my life.
I decided that instead of trying to quit I had turned the page and as of that minute I had become a non cigarette smoker. (I have to admit that I do appreciate two or three cigars per week)
I used to have those dreams/nightmares that I lit up a cigarette and wake up in a sweat thinking that i had failed myself. whew!
So now when somebody proudly proclaims they are quitting, instead of wishing them luck I congratulate him or her on their decision and the fact that in my eyes they are now non smokers.

In 1989, after 31 years of smoking, I was 100000000% sure that I would never be able to quit smoking. Then the Mrs. and I went and got hypnotized.

It worked because the more intelligent a person is, the easier it is to hypnotize them successfully. And naturally, I ain't no dummy. I have no idea how the ex-Mrs. made it through the ordeal.

Any way you look at the smoking problem, it is an absolute pleasure to wake up everyday and know that I do not need a cigarette.

Good luck to you...................

Not really related to quitting, but a colleague of mine (although different department) has given his notice and is in the process of moving to Switzerland because he got a lucrative job with Phillip Morris. Like I said to another colleague: I bet they're paying him in pieces of silver, as seems to be customary when dealing with the devil.

Honestly, in this day and age, knowing what we know: I think that working for big tobacco is like selling your soul to the devil. I know we can argue about cigars etc, but when it comes to cigarettes, they're basically trying as hard as they can to get and keep as many people addicted as they possibly can, to something that they know is extremely unhealthy and will likely kill them.

I stopped over a year and a half ago. I say stopped, cause, well I never say never. I believe if you have a good enough reason to stop, you will. I stopped once for several years, cause my gf daughter, who was 5, asked me why I smoked. Could not come up with a good reason. This time is because I turned 50 and I wanted to get in shape. Easier to do if you can breathe.
Just like before we all started shaving we had trepidations about our ability to not slice ourselves to bits, once we believed we could do it, we did it.
My 2 cents.

Addiction is truly fascinating. I would argue it's one of the most fascinating areas in human psychology and physiology. In combing through some of the responses and in my own experience with addiction to cigarettes, for example (I quit cold turkey approx 15 years ago after 10+ years of smoking), I found wanting to quit and making an end all be all decision, an "I'm done" are two different things. I found wanting to quit was as useless for me as anything. I had bought a carton of smokes earlier in the week. I was getting ready for work and it was just like it clicked "I'm done smoking, period." It was like I had to make a profound and unbreakable promise to myself. I think a person needs to be able to make profound and unbreakable promises to themselves. The key is to make very very few of them so they actually mean what they should. For me, it was smokin and committing to myself first that I will make my marriage work no matter what.

All the best to those who are committed to quitting. You can do it.

I always tell my kids and have since they were little: "NEVER make a promise you can't keep".

Promise yourself you can quit, promise yourself you'll stick to your promise, then....stick to your promise.

Chris L

I agree with that idea, though I suspect the detail will vary from person to person. Clearly to you a promise carries a weight of importance. For me it was more about finally realising the benefit of quitting outweighed the cost of continuing. For others I have known it has been about their kids or grandkids, health scare, etc.

But the bottom line is finding something that resonates with you - truly resonates. A thought that makes you go "oh!". If you can find one of those, the rest is a lot easier because you only have to fight the addiction and not yourself as well.

James.