One year smoke-free as of today.

[asthmaticeog]

Any and all of y'all who still smoke, I strongly encourage you to really, really try to quit. I can't even begin to tell you how fuckin' good this feels.

[ghostsofgiants]

1. Good job, dude!

[asthmaticeog]

8. Thank you, good sir.

[Auggie]

2. Congrats

I'm almost to eight years

[asthmaticeog]

10. Wow!

Do the cravings subside, or do you still get them? I'm still having the occasional smoking dream, I HAAAATE those.

Congratulations on making it so long.

[Auggie]

35. I had cravings for about four years

[ThomCat]

3. That is wonderful!

:hug:

Congratulations! I hope you have many, many years to enjoy improved health and saved money now that you don't smoke. :)

[asthmaticeog]

6. Since you mentioned the money...

... holy cats, it's been like I got a huge raise! I knew it was costing me, but the difference I've felt in my discretionary money is way huger than I'd imagined!

Thanks very much for the well wishes, ThomCat! :D

[Zuiderelle]

4. Congratulations! That's a heck of a milestone

:toast:

[asthmaticeog]

7. I had a good support system.

And I had a book recommendation that helped me a lot more than I reckoned it would.

:toast:

[terrya]

5. Let me offer my heartfelt congratulations!

I know that couldn't have been easy to give it up...but, man, the benefits are so worth it.

:thumbsup:

[asthmaticeog]

12. Thank you, my friend! It wasn't as hard as it could have been.

It was hard, don't get me wrong, but my friends were helping out, I used Wellbutrin to help me maintain my ability to concentrate (and to spare my co-workers the awful temper flare-ups I got every other time I'd tried to quit) and the time was just right in general.

[Tikki]

9. Congratulations....

It's like FREEDOM coming at you from all sides....

Tikki and son 4 years nonsmokers...

[asthmaticeog]

15. Freedom is definitely the word that's been at the tip of my tongue.

Absolutely.

Congrats on 4 years!

[johnnie]

11. I always feel like such a hypocrite when I congratulate someone on this

But congratulations! I wish I could get to the point that I want to quit, but I haven't reached it yet.

BTW, we haven't gone out for a few beers in a while, maybe soon?

[asthmaticeog]

14. When you get there you'll get there.

I think we've had this conversation, but it was like a sort of self-loathing started to creep in every time I lit up, the time was just right for me, I think. It's different for everyone, though.

Beers sound reeeeeaaaaally good, man. We should try to find a gig or an outdoor festival of some sort to attach some kind of mini-gathering to, actually. Oh, and speaking of, I see that that sportsy place you played that show at last year is gone!

[johnnie]

18. Yeah, I noticed it was gone a few weeks ago

Actually, it was a country bar and that's one of the reasons they hated us. :P

They sold it to some biker people, that lasted about a month and it went back to the original owners and then it closed.

I'll keep my eyes open for some sort of something where we can all gather. What is there? About 4 of us Clevelanders left?

[asthmaticeog]

22. Yeah, just about 4.

Everyone hauled up and went west on us!

[BarenakedLady]

13. Congratulations!

That's awesome.

:yourock:

[asthmaticeog]

16. Thank you much!

[Rambis]

17. Well done

I quit two years ago May after smoking for 20+ years- I can't believe I ever started!:smoke:

[asthmaticeog]

23. Nice!

I was on almost 21 years, myself. I think I can safely say I have exactly two regrets in my life thus far, and one of them is taking up smoking.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. My dear asthmaticeog!

Oh, GOOD for you!

Not only is that a superb step for your life and health, but you're sticking it to those damn tobacco companies!

BIGGO CONGRATS, SWEETIE!

:toast:

[asthmaticeog]

24. Many, many thanks!

Loved the wedding pics, BTW!

[Phillycat]

20. Fucking awesome! I'm only at 2.5 months.

But I can already tell how much better my life is. I'll keep chasing you! :thumbsup:

[asthmaticeog]

25. Well done.

I think I remember some old posts from you about quitting before, no? Good luck, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

[Bake]

21. Excellent!

That leaves more for me!!

Congrats, seriesly.

Bake

[asthmaticeog]

26. What's your brand? I'll make extra sure to not smoke those.

:D

[Bake]

34. Whatever you do, don't smoke Marlboro Light Menthols!!

:rofl:

Bake

[applegrove]

27. Great Quit you got there. Me I'm on day 6 and feel fine (chantix). Congratulations!!

Don't forget to continue to keep your resolve high. Doctors don't consider you really quit until you have gone 3 years without a smoke. I'm sure you still have the occasional crave/yearning. KEEP THAT BEAUTIFUL QUIT!

[asthmaticeog]

29. Nice going!

6 days is nothing to sneeze at, I used to almost always break down on day 3. Is the Chantix all it's cracked up to be? That was going to be my backup if the Wellbutrin didn't take.

I'm pretty motivated to stay quit forfriggin'ever. Thanks for the encouragement. Best of luck to you too, stay strong!

[applegrove]

31. Chantix feels funny on your tummy for the first few minutes after you take it.

But it really works. The craves are really, really mild and few and far between. I think the hard part comes when you go off the Chantix. Same as wellbutrin in that regard I guess.

[asthmaticeog]

32. Actually the Wellbutrin didn't help my cravings for squat.

I guess it's different for everyone, I know people who took it and just lost all will to smoke. Me, unfortunately, not so much. It *did* help keep me focused and it kept my moods and my temper in check, but for the physical cravings I felt like I was kind of out on my own. :shrug: Whatevs, however it worked, it worked, right? ;)

[applegrove]

40. There is some theory out there that going through terrible pain when you stop

an addiction helps you stay clean in the future because you don't want to go through the pain again. Whatever works I say.

1 year is really a great quit. I hope you are proud every day because quitting nicoteen is a very hard addiction to beat.

[BurtWorm]

28. Far out.

:applause:

[asthmaticeog]

30. Thanks.

:thumbsup:

[HEyHEY]

33. Well done, sir!

[graywarrior]

36. That is fantastic!

Congratulations!

[underpants]

37. Good for you!!!

Three years for me on Aug.3

Way to go!!!

Think back to how the last thing you did before going anywhere or doing anything was the whole smoke/lighter check. Odd how it used to run your life.

[Starry Messenger]

38. I love these threads

I'm coming up on 2 months. Congrats on 1 year! I hear you on the self loathing thing. I think that's what it really takes to quit. When you stick one in your mouth and think gods *why* am I *doing* this?! And light up anyway. Shudder.

MPK

[TK421]

39. Congratulations on staying smoke-free for so long....I've tried many times

but somehow I always manage to fuck it up...so how did you do it? :shrug:

[Blue-Jay]

41. Damn. Has it been a year already?

[jonnyblitz]

42. i haven't smoked since 1999 ALTHOUGH when I was in

Amsterdam visiting my sister (when she lived there) sometimes they mixed the weed with tobacco when you bought pre-rolled joints in the coffee shops and I would inadvertently get tobacco by mistake that way. otherwise i have never cheated after that last time i quit. :D

congrats anyway. it's one of the hardest thing to do, quitting cigarettes. It is a big fucking deal. I loved my Marlboro Reds and I started smoking them at age 13 until in my 30's. I pretty much quit drinking alcohol at the same time, too. :hi:

[NewEnglandGirl]

43. That's a tremendous accomplishment

Congratulations !!!!

[bigwillq]

44. Good for you.

Congrats! :toast: