How many here have quit smoking? How did you quit?

[As-Ol-Joe]

Been doing real good for about a month now. I got a nice case of bronchitis a few weeks ago, now I have to have a CT scan done on my lungs. Might be to late.

[virginian]

I quit smoking and started drinking moonshine.

[Djurmz]

Just thought I'd pop into this thread to say I'm going on 96 hours without a smoke.

"I tried to quit smoking cold turkey, but them birds are just so smooth...."

[As-Ol-Joe]

Good luck Djurmz, I smoked for 37 years and quitting is not the easiest thing to do. But it does get easier as you go along.

Welcome to the forums.

[Hack]

I quit smoking six years ago. I had tried at least eight different times before that without success. I had to use the patch to ramp myself of of it. It helped dampen the "I want to kill everyone" feeling. I wore the patch for about a month, then forgot to put it on before work one day. I made it through that day without the nicotine and decided that putting the patch back on would be backwards progress. It's definately worth the struggle to get clear of it.

[vajravarahi]

I still have that "I want to kill everyone" feeling, but it probably don't come from cigarettes anymore.

I noticed the other day that a pack is $5.70 here upstate. I really don't know how anyone can afford it anymore. Good luck to all of you who are working on quitting. I know the results are going to be good.

[wineo]

Its my 3rd day without the patch.My cravings got stronger,and I got more moody,but I havent killed anybody yet.Hopefully no one will cross me in the next few days.Its been 67 days since Ive smoked one.

[kingearwig]

Its my 3rd day without the patch.My cravings got stronger,and I got more moody,but I havent killed anybody yet.Hopefully no one will cross me in the next few days.Its been 67 days since Ive smoked one.

How much did 64 days of the patch cost? Sorry to make you do math but I am very curious.

[le0n]

I quit cold turkey on Christmas eve 36 years ago at 30 years of age. 40 a day habit. Found the first 3 days were the worst followed by the next 2 years.

Was at a company party one night, half sloshed and tried a puff, well half a puff and felt bloody awful. That was about 10 years after I quit smoking.

My recipe for giving up smoking is first you have to really want to then avoid stress, smoking friends, long walks and drink plenty of water or fruit juices. Walking won't make you feel any better but it will give you something to do and take your mind off smoking.

Good luck.

[wineo]

I guess it cost about $120-130 for all that time.Much cheaper than a lung transplant.

[Usge]

Its my 3rd day without the patch.My cravings got stronger,and I got more moody,but I havent killed anybody yet.Hopefully no one will cross me in the next few days.Its been 67 days since Ive smoked one.

What you are withdrawing from is the patch. Don't worry about it. Just keep going...you've made it already. Congrats!!

[Uncle Jesse]

as-ol-joe, keep us updated on how things are going will ya?

wineo, great work man, glad to see you're still at it. I know you're going to make it because you've pushed it this far and I know it hasn't been easy!

[As-Ol-Joe]

Thanks for all your support, but I apparently quit smoking too late.

Went to a lung specialist Monday, lung function is down to ~50%.

Went to my regular doctor today and with lung function that low, he politely told me that "your screwed". He will start my disability paper work when I tell him. Looks like retirement is coming early.

I am not ready for this. Stress level just went thru the roof.

[kstinson]

Damn, thats pretty harsh news. Sorry to hear that. If you stopped would your lung functions ever improve or potentially stay the same? I am scared to death that smoking is going to get me after seeing my great grandma, great grandpa, grandma, grandpa, mom, and dad with some form or other of cancer.

[As-Ol-Joe]

From what I understand, the lungs do not regenerate like your skin does. So, what you have is what you have. After 6 months of not smoking you may see a small improvement, maybe 1-2%.

In my case I have ~50% lung capacity. After 20 years of not smoking, I will still have ~50%.

I can't feel too bad though, I did it to myself. Everyone here has known that smoking is bad for you and you have known it your whole life.

I thought that I was invincable and would never get old.

WELL SHIT, I'm getting older and I'm not invincable.

[trthskr4]

Damn Joe, I'm sorry to hear that, but you're right in that we've done it to ourselves. I try to keep myself active and exercise a good bit. My dad got sick a couple years ago and they gave him a tester thing to check his lung function. He's never smoked a day in his life and I could still outperform him on the tester thing. I've smoked for 19 years now a pack a day every day except for basic training. I have always been told it takes 10 years for your lungs to completely repair after smoking for any length of time, I've been holding out hope on that note and putting off quiting. Gonna have to rethink that approach I guess. I am no doctor but I'd say exercise man and get those lungs utilizing all the function they have. Good luck, and all the best.

TRTH

[As-Ol-Joe]

I have always been active. I'm an avid outdoors man and keeping up with the wife farm critters is about all the exercise that a man wants. But I do have a tread mill and stationary bike in my office and I use them as often as I can.

[dixiedrifter]

I just started Chantix today.

I must say 8 hours after my first dose my nicotine cravings have been reduced... in fact, it seems as though a half a light cig is all that I want at one time, and I can go at least an hour without getting cranky.

Also it seems that my hearing has increased and I am more aware of my surroundings, and my sense of smell has improved... I am wondering if this is some sort of side effect.

Oh and the dreams... laid down took me a nap cause I wasn't feeling too good and wow, its like going to the movies.

Will have to let ya'll know how it goes... if I can just get off these darn things I'm never gonna go back!

[Uncle Jesse]

Sorry to hear that Joe, hate to hear bad news about our users.

[blanikdog]

Quittin' tobacco is all about bein' stubborn and hard-headed.

If yer the sort of person that can fan a true anger into a blaze, and keep it stoked, you can quit smokin'.

I quit by takin' a good, close look at myself. I was furious with myself for payin' big money to support a habit that gave no pleasure, just relieved a need. I got out the last several years of my journal, and read over and over my annoyance of smokin'... how I didn't like the feelin' of bein' ostricised, how much money I wasted on tobacco, and I read and thought hard about and re-lived all my previous attempts to quit. I realised that all those failed attempts at quittin' were just self-torture... that's when I got really mad. I fed my anger, I coddled it and held it close, I made it bigger and stronger than my need to smoke.

It eventually got so that if I thought about smokin' I'd get so mad at myself that I'd get a stomache ache and a head ache. It worked a charm. I quit and haven't once back-slid.

Just beginning to recover from my change of season bout of bronchitis and have decided that even being over seventy is still young enough to become a non-smoker ......again, but this time a permanent non-smoker. Haven't had a smoke for four days and I reckon what Holy said above is going to keep me off the bastards!! Going to the doc tomorrow for the bronchitis and perhaps chantix. I'll see what he reckons.

So far, so good, but I have to admit that I'm having a lot of trouble, but I will win!!!!

bad tempered blanik.

[newerbrewer]

I quit 5.5 years ago after 10 years of smoking. Some people will tell you they found it easy, but I wasn't part of that group. It was hard, I was moody, irritable, ornery. I won't walk y'all through the family tree but just say there is enough cancer in our family that I should've never touched one in the first place. My wife's side of the family is no better. The wife never smoked in a day unless I was having one, in which case she'd join me 100 percent of the time. One day I got it in my head that she was smoking only because I was, and I was right. Ultimately she was just looking for one more thing we could do together, as weird as that sounds. I got thinking that if she got cancer, I will rest solely on my shoulders and knew I was right. Once that thought came in to my head, I just couldn't shake it... and that was good motivation. Thats why I quit. How'd I quit? Talking to a friend I got some advice some people understand, some people dont... "The only way to really quit smoking is to never touch one again. The second you put one in your hand, you start your journey again." As soon as I understood that statement... the level of commitment I needed and had some good motivation (above), I quit cold turkey. The first 3 weeks were the hardest physically, then it got easier slowly and I tried to live off the last day's success. It's been quite a while now but still want a smoke nearly at least once every week. Tough monkey to shake but as I said, have good motivation. There is no question in my mind I will succeed and never touch another. Good luck to you all.

Brew

[theholymackerel]

Good on ya, Blanik.

Get mad and stay mad! Kick, spit, and fight the whole way! I got faith in ya Brother... you'll kick tobacco's ass!!!

[cob]

theholymackerel, my dad quit cold turkey about 40 years ago, went to the store and bought a can of prince albert and a pack of cools and put them on the table next to his easy chair and left them there in easy reach for 2 years before he moved them to a different spot out of sight. i on the other hand went to the doctor one day about 13 years ago for something other than smoking and the doctor convinced me to take welbutrin because the insurance would pay for that but not the same drug labled for smoking sesation. i took welbutrin every day for about 2 years. at first i still smoked 2 packs a day like always but after a while i noticed i wasn't having that first one the second i opened my eyes in the morning, then the one with morning coffee went away. after more time my first smoke was around noon, then mid afternoon, then after dinner, one day i realised i was watching jay leno having not smoked that day. after about a year i was calling the doc to quit taking welbutrin, worried more about the drug than the smokes. he reassured me there were no addiction possabilities. after 2 years he said stop the welbutrin and there were no ill effects. during that entire time i would still smoke an occasional quality cigar 1 a month or less, i don't inhale cigars. that habit tapered off eventualy to the point of 1 or 2 a year, but haven't had a cigar in 2 years. blanik as long as you quit it makes no matter how. i smoked cigarettes 31 years and cigars longer than that and haven't had a cigarette in 11 years. it won't cure all that ails ya but it shure won't hurt. i didn't quit untill 3 years after a heart attack. best of luck. cob

[rubber duck]

I tried to quit several times and I tried it all. Cold turkey, weening, patch, gum, everything under the sun.

The thing that finally did it for me was hypnosis. I honestly thought it was going to be a bunch of hippie drum circle bull shit. I walked into that office a two pack a day smoker and one hour later I walked out a non smoker. I'm not the kinda guy to go jumping onto some bull shit but hypnosis was a absolute silver bullet for me.

It's been almost a year now and I'm amazed at how quitting has changed my life for the better. Don't you just hate being a slave to a stupid little thing like a cigarette? I mean you wouldn't go out of the house at 10pm when it's 0 deg for much of anything, but if your out of smokes nothing will stop you from getting to a store.

The way I have it figured is this, you have to quit sooner of latter. You can do it now or you can wait until your hooked up to a oxygen tank. Ether way it's going to be a bitch so you might as well get it over with and save your health in the process.

Give hypnosis a try, worst thing that can happen is that it doesn't work and your out a hundred bucks.

RD

[Tater]

I tried a hypnosis. It worked for me about a week till I got shitfaced at a party and woke up with a pack back in my pocket .Both people who tried it with me are still not smoking though

[rubber duck]

Well Tater it happens to the best of us. If it worked for a week you should go do it again.

The weird thing about hypnosis is that I still had all the withdrawal symptoms and the rage issues but I didn't have the urge to smoke. I was just a real pecker head for about 90 days.

[Tater]

I did quit about 10 years ago ziban helped me get through it

[blanikdog]

... I was just a real pecker head for about 90 days.

Great stuff. Do I now I have a ninety day excuse for being a real pecker head?

day5blanik

[rubber duck]

... I was just a real pecker head for about 90 days.

Great stuff. Do I now I have a ninety day excuse for being a real pecker head?

day5blanik

I suspect if I tried to drag that excuse out any longer it would have ended badly for me. Your mileage may vary.

[ammo man]

Three pack a day man for the last 20 or so years of my 40+ year career of smoking. I put 'em down cold turkey, and never looked back. Never cheated one time. I almost did not make it, but thank god I did. I have been off for about 15 years. It took about 5 years to lose all desire.

Bert