If you smoked tobacco and quit, how did you do it? Was it

[Road Scholar]

difficult?
It took me a couple of years of failing, but I finally conquered it.I'm not proud to say it but I had built up to 4 packs a day. It got a little scary.
I think this is to give encouragement for the ones who would like to quit.

[qnr]

1. It depended, for me. I actually quit more than once.

My sister got me started at 5, and I really got going at 9. I quit cold turkey the first time. I think I was about 19 or 20. Just decided that a particular cigarette was going to be my last, and it was. I was smoking about 1-1/2 to 2 packs a day then, menthols.

I started back up about 7 years later. I tried to do the cold turkey bit again, but it didn't work as well. I would temporarily slow down a bit, but never quit. Up until about 3 years ago when I was 45, Mrs. qnr and I both smoked a lot (I'd do 3 packs of Kools a day). We decided to get the patch and encourage each other, and also do it to keep the smoke out of the lungs of the dogs. Haven't had one since, and have no desire for ont.

[LynneSin]

24. Five years old???

Yikes!!!

I mean I knew kids at my school who started smoking by junior high school but age five? I'm so glad to hear both you and the wife have quit - your lungs must be improving greatly!

[qnr]

29. I'm sure they are. Though I did cough more after I quit than I did before

I quit. As far as five, it was actually ridiculously easy. Our aunt her boyfriend were heavy smokers, and local stored let us pick cigarettes up for them, no questions asked. This was back in the sixties.

[LynneSin]

38. That's not unexpected

When you quit your lungs start hacking up all the gunk left in there - eventually it goes away.

I had a bad smoker's cough for the longest time; although, I have never smoked. I spent about 3 years working in a restaurant mainly in the cocktail/bar area, which was always filled with smokers. My mother swore I smoked even though I had no desire to do so (my father died of lung cancer). It took about 2-3 years after I quit working at that restaurant that the cough started to go away.

[qnr]

42. Oh, I know. It just seemed weird that it took 11-14 months before it

started.

[turner52]

2. smoking

I quit smoking 18 years ago after that long smoking about a pack and a half a day. I quit cold turkey after my wife told me that i could continue smoking or could kiss her...but i wasn't going to be allowed to do both.....so i made my choice.....good luck....

[qnr]

3. Welcome to DU turner52 :) n/t

[mark414]

11. that's how my mom quit

my dad said she could keep smoking or keep kissing...but not both

and they just celebrated 30 years last week...

[Road Scholar]

15. Welcome to Du tuurner 52. Sounds like your wife was trying

to motovate you to quit.

[Drum]

4. I still smoke, but...

I had an eight month break after one session of hypnotherapy.
Not one cigarette, not one borrowed puff.
No cheating.
No kidding.

I blew it later, but it wasn't the treatment's fault, 'twas mine. If I'd done proper follow-up (a couple more sessions,) I wouldn't have given in, I'm sure.

I must tell you I am a highly skeptical person, and only agreed to try hypnosis in desperation and because a trusted friend referred me to the therapist because said friend had dropped her cig habit cold.

There are many methods of quitting, and they vary depending on you. Most people don't succeed the first time, and many have luck by combining methods. Most importantly, you should consciously buttress your efforts by getting healthier otherwise: hydration, sleep, better diet, stress control. Don't freak about the temporary weight-gain...it's the stupidest rationalization to avoid quitting. Like any addiction, just know that the beginning stages of cessation are gonna be toughest, and have faith you can and should do it.

Good Luck! :)

[skygazer]

5. Cold turkey

I'd smoked for about 10 years when I first quit which I did cold turkey. Not many problems. I didn't smoke then for about 12 years, then I took a bus trip from California to Vermont and about halfway across the country, I couldn't take it anymore and bummed a cig from someone. Which started me up again.

I smoked that time for a couple of years and quit cold turkey again. A little rough at first but not bad. That was six years ago. I don't think I'll ever smoke again - I find that it grosses me out just to see someone smoking on tv or in a photo let alone in real life. The first time I quit, I didn't really have any cravings for them but it didn't disgust me either.

[Road Scholar]

16. That's how I finally quit. It took me several years to get the

turkey "cold" enough to quit. LOL

[MissMillie]

6. 8.5 years smoke free

I used Zyban (Wellbutrin), which didn't really take away the cravings, but it took the edge off the withdrawal symptoms. Yes, it was still difficult. Recovery from addiction always is.

You'll get a lot of help at www.quitnet.com, not to mention that it's a community where you can post and get replies and LOTS of support.

Good luck!

[Skittles]

7. used patches for a while

haven't smoked in some time but find I need to chew some nicotine gum in times of crises

[Road Scholar]

17. I tried Nico Ban and Nicorette and they didn't even phase me.

[wildhorses]

8. godsmacked the desire right outta me...with a little help from

pneumonia, pleurisy and a dr. threatening to put me in the hospital...

[kwassa]

9. I quit smoking 22 years ago

never touched a cigarette since, and have no desire to. I also never had cravings after I quit.

Nobody follows my method, but I'll tell you anyways. People usually don't believe me, and I never met another person who tried it. It was very effective for me, though.

I smoked 2.5 packs of Marlboros a day for about 14 years, and had made previous unsuccessful attempts to quit. Cold turkey didn't work for me, because of the problems with nicotine cravings I couldn't control.

So, rather than attempting to quit, I decided to see how far I could cut back and not go crazy for nicotine. I gave myself permission, at all times in this process, to smoke a cigarette whenever I really wanted to. This relieved all stress in the process for me. I also kept cigarettes in proximity, though I had to do a little work to get to them. The other rule is that when I smoked, I couldn't do anything BUT smoke, and concentrate on the experience of smoking.

I was shocked to discover I could cut back to about 8 cigarettes a day, from approximately 50, and be quite comfortable. This showed to me that most of my smoking was merely habit, rather than nicotine craving.

I also made this into a positive affirmation by looking at it as 42 cigarettes a day that I DIDN'T smoke that I would have smoked. I kept track of that number for awhile. It is a great positive reinforcement.

Over a couple of months, the number lessened even further. I eventually got down to 1 cigarette a day, in the evening after dinner. I stayed at this point for a couple of months. Finally, I realized that I needed to stop at some point altogether, but I still gave myself permission to smoke if I really wanted to, and kept a full, unopened pack of cigarettes in the drawer.

I never wanted to again. I kept those cigarettes in the drawer for about a year. After a couple of weeks, it was like I never been a smoker. I had no cravings at all, due to the gradual reduction of nicotine in my system. I washed out my collection of ashtrays, and threw them out about a month later.

So, that's my story. No patches, no products of any kind. Best thing I have ever done for myself. I also think that the gradual reduction of nicotine in my system was key to the success to, as I never had a craving again.

[ganeshji]

10. cold turkey

I "quit" five years ago but I do occasionally bum a smoke from time to time. It usually reminds me why I quit pretty quickly.

[_testify_]

12. I took Zyban for about a month.

It was remarkably easy to quit. I have not had a cigarette in over a year.

[toadzilla]

13. i just stopped.

then started again, then stoped again, then started again.

then i stopped for good, i still bum one once in awhile at a bar or something. it helped me to have a non smoking boyfriend who i didnt want to be dissapointed in me.

[qnr]

14. Congratulations, and welcome to DU :) n/t

[acmavm]

18. Had a stroke. Doctor took my cigarettes I had in my jacket pocket.

The end.

[Road Scholar]

19. Enough said. I began to think that was the only way I could

quit. I hope you've recovered ok.

[acmavm]

20. My blood pressure was 138/87 last time at the doctors. It was sooo

high the day of the 'events' that they are happy when it's down to this.

Some days I sure want a cigarette, especially since I have a 14-year old son who's as irresponsible as the day is long.

[Road Scholar]

22. Ok here's how I quit. Maybe this is something for you.

Every time I tried to quit, I would immediatly begin to torture myself by wishing I had a cigarrete. Recipe for failure for me. Finally I realized this, and the only I could quit was to block it from my thoughts.It was hard at first, but after three days or so, It got easier every day. When I started to think about how much I wanted a ciggarette, I forced myself to think about something else. Anything else. That's how I quit.That was in 1985 and I have always been gratefull that I was able to quit. I think sometimes that I'm on borrowed time, but I'm still here.:toast:

[acmavm]

28. Oh. I quit two years ago this coming January. My problem is I am

related to and know a bunch of smokers.

[barb162]

59. How many years did you smoke

[Sgent]

21. Quit 3 months ago

and used a combo of patches / gum.

The newest patches (Nicoderm CQ) recommend that you wear the highest strength for 6 weeks, the 2 weeks each of the lower amounts. I wound up wearing the highest patch for about 3 months -- as I'd be doing great, then smoke, and I'd start the cycle over.

I've been completely smoke free since beginning of July, and quit all nicotine since early Sept.

[Road Scholar]

23. Good for you! How does it feel to wake up in the morning and

not look for a cigarette and actually smell the coffee? Cool, huh?:toast:

[Presidentcokedupfratboy]

25. Cold turkey

That was the only way I could do it. Once I started coghing up phlegm, I decided I had had enough.

[Blue_In_AK]

26. I used to smoke

but never more than a half pack a day. Sometimes I'd quit for several months, then smoke again. Most of the times when I smoked I was in a stressful life situation. It was never hard for me to quit. I just stopped. I guess I don't have the addiction gene because I never got addicted to any of the other stuff I used to do either, when people all around me were crashing. :shrug:

[Road Scholar]

27. Lucky you. I think I had the correct genes for that. I had a devil

of a time.

[femmocrat]

30. Cold turkey and pregancy.

It wasn't difficult, but I still had to breathe in second-hand smoke in the teachers' lounge, which really irritated me.

[Road Scholar]

31. My wife taught and never smoked but almost everyday at

school, one of the other teachers would pull out their cigs and puffed away all over the others. She hated that.

[wain]

32. Cardiac arrest did it for me

Getting a second chance at life was motivation enough. For me it was psychological not physical. The smoking lamp just switched off. Zero withdrawal, zero desire. Never even think about it. In fact, I cannot stand the smell of cigarette smoke.

I do not recommend my stop-smoking method; there are better ways!

:)

[OnionPatch]

33. I did it after smoking two packs a day

for almost twenty years. I decided to do it on New Year's day a month ahead and started tapering off. I listened to stop-smoking subliminal suggestion tapes almost every day, too and I really believe that helped. It made me start thinking like a non-smoker and I think it really helped me get in the right state of mind to quit. At bedtime on NY Eve, I crumpled up the pack I had and threw it in the trash. It was hard at first but it's been eleven years now. Oh, and I had several unsuccessful attempts before that one.
Edited to add: I also used nicorette gum.

[Nicole]

34. Cold turkey

It was rough for a few days but definitely worth it.

[begin_within]

35. My sister used the patches and was successful. Both my parents quit cold

turkey, as far as I know. I'm just glad I never started.

[graywarrior]

36. I smoked 3-1/2 packs of Marlboro's a day.

Watched mother die of cancer, then dad died the following year. Decided to quit smoking in 77, so I went on a smoke binge and puffed away (probably 4 to 4-1/2 packs a day) til I got so sick of it, I quit and never smoked again. 30 years come 2007. Missed it maybe 5 times since then.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

37. ive been cigarette free for 2 years.

started at age 19ish, ended at 27ish. i did the gum, then the lozenges, then done. i was on the lozenges way longer than any other human-being ever. it was a long weaning process for me.

i liked cigarettes way too much, I'm an impulsive person. i knew i'd kill myself with them unless i quit - and i guit by avoiding cigs at all costs. anytime im remotely tempted to smoke (it never goes away), i think of how much better i feel now, and think of the difficulties i've withstood getting to this point. . . and its not difficult relatively.

you have no idea how much better you feel when you don't smoke. in particular, when I wake up I feel rested. i feel like i have oxygen coursing thru my system. and i hate to sound like a douchebag "ex-smoker", i don't begrudge people who smoke at all. it's a curse. if you see it as a challenge, a test - then its all the more confrontable. i encourage my smoking sistren and brethren to quit.

[Robeson]

39. Before we got married, and I was dating my wife....

...I used to smoke. She had smoked since she was 13, and quit a couple of years before I met her. She had been a 2 to 3 pack a day smoker. She was 35 at the time I met her, so it must have been hard for her to quit at the time. Anyways, I was a smoker, and one day I went over to her house, and she had a pack of cigs on the table. I asked her what they were for, and she said that since I was smoking, it was giving her the urge to smoke again, so she thought she would...

I picked up her pack, and grabbed mine, and threw them both in the trash-can. I knew they weren't good for me, and definitely wasn't going to be responsible for someone else's bad habit. I haven't missed them since.

[Road Scholar]

45. Good decision. I'm sure you both never regretted it.

:toast:

[gkdmaths]

40. I smoked until I was 26.

I starter when I was 16. Ten years was long enough so that at the end, when I would go out and roll some Drum and smoke it, my chest would ache with a pain that made me so scared I would cry in fear. I just had to quit. Its been five years and I still occasionally have pains.

My partner's father died of cancer the year before I met her, and she really was the impetus for me to quit. I tried for about a year - I dont consider any of the attempts of that year as failures, but parts of the process.

Finally, I decided to buy a nice touring bicycle and some panniers and started riding. A month later, I mentally committed to having my dad drive a cycling friend and I to the Canada/Washington border and leave us with the understanding that in 6 days he'd meet us at the Washington/Oregon border. The trip was both hell and magic at the same time, a real metamorphosis physically and mentally.

I quit smoking by literally forcing the carbon out of my lungs by sheer effort and resolve. I rode nearly 650 miles in 6 days (I hadn't ridden a bike since I started smoking!) and at the end I was a changed person. I began swimming a mile every morning, running, cycling, mountaineering, etc.

I have smoked since, but I can count the cigarettes on both hands: once when the baby died and the other after Christmas shopping, 1999.

Also, I bought pounds and pounds of nuts to eat everytime I had that frikin urge, which helped.

I've been smoke-free for more than half a decade now.

Congrats on quitting, but be vigilant! Today and yesterday I've had the urge to smoke and it remains a daily battle. Its just too easy to start again. Good luck!

[Road Scholar]

46. I started smoking when I was about 15. I thought I was very clever

back then. I was sure it made me look like I was 17. We all were very cool back then. When I was 17 or 18, I thought it made me look like I was 25 or so.How cool is that. Very, or so I thought. When I was 30 , I looked like I was about 40.I thought, "wait a fucking minute!" This ain't working for me anymore. Too late, I was hooked. I started to think about quitting, but that's about all I could do, think about it.:shrug:

[Generic Brad]

41. You're either a smoker or you're not

The day I had to bring my wife to the emergency room and they diagnosed the her in the early stages of emphysema I was done. It took her a few more months to finally quit.

Two years have passed and she no longer has any symptoms of any lung diseases. Quit now and your body just may forgive you.

[Shine]

43. I have many vices, but smoking tobacco has never been one of them

:evilgrin: Good for you, though, in conquering that nasty addiction. :applause: Your body thanks you for it! Wow, four packs a day....whew!

Good to see you, friend! :hug: :hi: Hope all's well on your end.

[Road Scholar]

47. Good for you. I usually have a good reason for doing something

but looking back, I can't think of a single good reason for ever starting except for peer pressure as a kid. When we were raising the kids, I tried to make sure that they knew that just because everybody else was doing something was no evidence that it was right, in fact, there was a helluva good chance it was wrong.
I'm doing very well, thank you. Good to see you too.:hug: :pals: :hi:

[Broken_Hero]

44. cold turkey

and lots of slamming my head against the wall, everytime the urge came upon me...I have been going in huge cycles of quitting/starting back up again the past 3 yrs...now, I'm about 9 weeks smoke free in this stint...and 2 1/2 months smoke free from Jan-mid march of this year...last year, I went from june, through Xmas being smoke free, and it carried over into part of this year....in 04, I went smoke free from mid sept through jan of 05...in 03 I went from mid july through jan of 04...

Its an ongoing cycle...I wish I could just stop forever, but I think I'm fooling myself in that regard...I just have to keep my smoking down greatly...

[Road Scholar]

50. LOL you sound like me. I just couldn't get my frickin' turkey cold

enough. I had some long talks with myself about that before I conquered it. Congratulations to you!:toast:

[bobbieinok]

48. how my mother (1913-2005) stopped smoking

She started smoking in the 1930s, I guess, when smoking (especially for women) was very in and sophisticated. Both she and my dad smoked all the years we three kids were growing up (none of us ever even wanted to smoke).

She was fascinated by space travel and loved to read science fiction stories. When the 'space race' started, she followed everything and bought all the books about it, posters from the government, etc.

My son, her first grand-child, was born in June 1969; the first man on the moon/walk on the moon was in July 1969. As she watched, she knitted a blanket for my son. And then....

As she told me, she decided that if those astronauts could be so dedicated and disciplined, she could too. She decided right then to stop smoking.....and she did.

(I suspect the birth of her first grand-child also had something to do with her decision.)

My dad never stopped, although he did begin to just smoke on the porch. In the last years of his life, he had walking pneumonia every fall; his weakened lungs postponed serious surgery and possibly contributed to his later death (although he was 86 when he died in his second stay in the hospital).

[Road Scholar]

49. Your parents were obviously very special. What a great

legacy of dedication to leave to her firstborn grandchild. Thank you for sharing that.
I would be willing to bet my hat that they left a positive legacy for bobbieinok as well. :toast:

[billyskank]

51. Cold turkey.

Wasn't as hard as I feared, actually. :hi:

[Road Scholar]

52. When I finally got my mind right, I quit. No withdrawal symptoms

except for a slight headache.No other problems except guarding myself from thinking about smoking. :banghead:

[billyskank]

53. When you do, just live in the present.

Concentrate only on not having a smoke RIGHT NOW. Banish all thoughts of "no more cigarettes...ever..." - that shit doesn't help you one bit.

[EFerrari]

54. I quit for six months once.

I had my whole house cleaned of the slime on every surface. Had my car and all my clothes cleaned -- by the time the tobacco slime triggers you, it's too late.

I got a dog and started taking long walks twice a day.

I went to a spa and got all the cr@P! out of my system.

It worked really very well -- until I remarried, but that's another story.

Do your best to clean up your stuff AND rearrange the furniture (i.e., move your "smoking" chair)

Your chances of success will multiply if you do these simple things.

Good luck.

:)

[Road Scholar]

55. LOL. A long time ago, before I quit, my boss told me

"Why don'tcha just go ahead and quit. It's easy, why hell, I've quit 7 or 8 times already".

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[EFerrari]

56. LOL!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[LostinVA]

57. Cold turkey, I quit on my first try, 11.5 years ago

The first week was Hell. The first month sucked big, furry cat tails. The first three months were unpleasant. The next three had their occasional moments.

For me, I didn't see tapering or the patch working -- I smoked 2+ packs a day, and knew I needed to just get rid of the drug, period and ASAP.

It is possible, and takes resolve, supportive friends and/or family and/or coworkers, and knowledge that you can't "just have one cigarette."

on edit: Haven't had a craving since about the first year or so -- EXCEPT when I closed on my house 19 months ago! Tres strange -- the first craving in almost ten years. It only lasted about 15 minutes, and I certainly had no desire to go smoke one -- *gag*.

[flvegan]

58. My mom got acupuncture in her ear, I believe.

She smoked a lot and for a long time. She, and a few other teachers, went as a group to this acupuncturist. It worked for 80% of those that went. She never picked them up again.

Thankfully, I've never smoked/been a smoker.

[Road Scholar]

60. Wow! I wondered if that really worked for quitting smoking.

:toast:

[phylny]

61. Cold turkey.

I found out I was pregnant, and threw the cigarettes out, never smoked again.

That pregnancy ended in miscarriage, but my next pregnancy was fine and she'll be 21 in November :)