How long since you quit smoking?

[caty]

I had emergency surgery for a burst appendix on May 29th and haven't had a cigarette since. I'm surprised at how easy it has been, but I think all the pain meds have been a big help. I've gone this long without smoking and will stick with it. Any tips?

http://www.ucomics.com/dicklocher/


:woohoo:

[KitchenWitch]

1. I quit about 15 years ago

It may sound stupid, but just do not even take one smoke!

Congratulations.

[ET Awful]

2. It'll be 3 years next week I think :)

If I recall it was June 23 (or was it May?)

Either way, it was three years ago give or take a few weeks :)

[davepc]

3. Exact same thing happened to me...Jan 2002

Was in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy and never picked up another cigarette when I got out.

From pack a day for 5 years to zero.

Been cigarette free ever since. Though I do have a cigar every now and again (maybe 5-6 a year)

[Paradise]

4. it gets easier by the day, and

then you become incredulous as to why you ever did!

keep us posted, and :thumbsup:

[Catfight]

5. almost 2 weeks now without one. I feel better. nt

[WildClarySage]

6. December 28th.

I had pneumonia, couldn't breathe, and had to quit. I haven't regretted it once, esp. since I'm now pregnant and would have had to quit anyway. Actually, I might not have even gotten pregnant if I was still smoking since it interferes with fertility.

[katmondoo]

20. 5 1/2 years

Almost died of pneumonia, in the hospital for 3 weeks. I wish I had never started to smoke, even though I did enjoy it and at times I still miss it.

[TexasProgresive]

7. 13 weeks on Thursday

I woke up around 3:30am, on my way back to bed I "heard" a voice, "You know you don't have to keep doing that." Somehow I interpreted that to mean smoking although I wasn't smoking or thinking about it. When I got up in the morning the cigarettes sat next to me at the table with lighter and ashtray and have remained unused since.

[Twenty3]

8. How long?

2 months, 6 days, 4 hours & 7 minutes (but who's counting?) after ~35 yrs smoking.

"The urge will pass, whether I smoke or not" -- that's my favorite tip, or at least, it's been the most useful to me. I don't know how long this quit will last. I hope it's permanent, but that's too scary to think about right now. One day at a time, as they say.

Congratulations and keep up the good work! To you and everyone else who posted!

[Joe_VB]

9. October 15, 2004.....and I still want one.

[Bunny]

10. 6.5 years ago.

[Seabiscuit]

11. Almost 9 months - September 23, 2004.

[MissHoneychurch]

12. I never smoked

never ever. I never even wanted to try. My brother smoked. He quit when he turned 30. That was 3 years ago.

[unhappycamper]

13. 12.12.2004

Don't go back. Ever. Quitting is the best gift you can give yourself.

on edit: duh. 12.12.2005 hasn't happened yet. not enough coffee.

[DemExpat]

14. January 1981 - last cigarette smoked.

Being pregnant with my first child was "all" it took to motivate me to stop a 10 year, 1 pack a day habit.

so...24 1/2 years for me...

:bounce:


DemEx

[Liberal_Andy]

15. September 1, 1998

Used the gum, that made it easy. Then I had to ease off the nicorette gum onto juicy fruit, then to sugarless.

Best thing to do is never start, though.

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

16. March 6, 1982, after several attempts. Don't take that first puff.

Quitting smoking is the hardest thing I've ever done. After smoking three packs a day for 18 years.

If you get the urge, get up and take a short walk.

If you're at work, walk to the drinking fountain and get a drink of water.

With coffee in the morning, I used my free hand to lightly smack the coffee cup.

After dinner, get up and wash the dishes.

Stay away from alcohol, if it tempts you to smoke.

I carried a pack of cigarettes in my purse and in the glove compartment in the car, just in case I encountered an "emergency" and needed to smoke. The "emergency" never happened.

Most important of all, think of yourself as a non-smoker. The world smells better, food tastes better and you're less of an social outcast. You're not a slave to that addictive drug, nicotine.

I quit cold turkey and the first three days were horrible. I broke out in a sweat every 15 minutes and woke up at night every 15 minutes.

If you've made it this far, since May 29, you're 17 days nicotine free. Now, it's the psychological addiction you have to deal with. Hopefully, the above tips are of some help.

Don't worry about the dreams you'll probably have where you're smoking. I had them almost once a week for the first ten years.

Congratulations and think of all the money you'll save.:applause:

[KittyWampus]

17. Good Going. Doesn't The Smell Make You Retch? Don't The Clothes

that still have tobacco smoke in them reek?

I quit about 15 years ago.

Even when I did smoke, it was Drum freshly rolled and it smelled NICE.
The stink from packaged cigarettes always made me ill.

[Theres-a]

18. 2 months,2days

Don't light the first one.

[scarlet_owl]

19. Almost five years.

[peacebuzzard]

21. sorry internet link fu

[peacebuzzard]

22. link fu

[peacebuzzard]

23. About 21 years, (1984) Fell off the wagon when my dad was dying in ICU,

I smoked one I bummed outside of the hospital after I saw him in a horrible drugged up condition. The hospital conditions were squalid (this was in a terrible hospital in Brazil--long story). Anyways, the cigarette or the situation or both just made me sick. I haven't smoked one since

[peacebuzzard]

24. sorry link fell thru

oops...at least its free.

[NuttyFluffers]

25. 2 weeks ago. just started up last night.

mmm, death stick...

[Blue-Jay]

26. About 15 minutes.

In two more hours, I'll quit again.

[DemGa]

27. Nearly seven years ago

It's a much better lifestyle for me, and worth it in many ways.

[Butterflies]

28. My last cigarette was May 29th too, but it was in 1992

It was very very hard for me to quit, so that's why the date is burned into my brain. Congratulations to you!

[kwassa]

29. I quit my 2.5 packs of Marlboros a day in 1984

My tip: I would count how many cigarettes I ordinarily would have smoked that I didn't smoke. This was a positive motivator for me, as the numbers went up and up.

[MissMillie]

30. I quit smoking on March 9, 1998

So it's been 7 1/4 years, I guess.

[unsavedtrash]

31. I quit on Oct. 17, 2004 but I still want one. I even dream about smoking.

But I am not going through this quiting shit again so no camels for me. :applause:

[Mr. McD]

32. 11.5 years

[Mizmoon]

33. Eight long, lonely, sad months without my true love nicotine

Not that I miss it or anything :cry:

As for tips - find photos of people with mouth sores and lung cancefr and stuff. Imagine being that ill. That helped me a lot.