I quit cold turkey 10 years ago. Was smoking almost 2 packs a day and dropped them cold once my Mom quit. I promised her I would quit if she did and once she did I had to hold up to my promise. The first two weeks are rough then after that it gets easier.

Don't be like Rich Vos. (I think you'll get the reference)

Geoff, remember Paul and how he died. I know that smoking contributed to his death, and just think of what he, and we, were robbed of!

I quit for awhile a good year and been smoking the past couple of week regularly. I let stress get the best of me ...oh well

The way i quit cigarettes, and everyone pay attention because its 100% proven to work 50% of the time...ok so what i did was everytime i felt the need to smoke a cig, i would just take a bong rip.

Its been six months since ive had a cigarette(and about 45 seconds since my last bong rip lol) so geoff toke up now and thank me later!!

Don't think I haven't thought of that, it's just so rare that I even think of it lol



Week #3! ...but still with (generic) Nicorette.

Honestly, I don't recall *exactly* what Plaw's final ailment was -- I just know it had something to do with back pain, and that's something I've been worried about for years now! So yeah, a little worried about it...

When I wake up on Sunday, it'll be 4 weeks ... still with the gum, but, it seems I'm chewing a little less. There are still 2 more weeks of "Step 1" before I cut down on the gum, so I think all's good. I'm not saying I don't miss it -- cuz under certain circumstances, I do, cuz I was used to always smoking during those situations -- but they are fleeting feelings at this point (the gum DOES work!!).

I briefly thought about e-cigs, but I thought it'd be a step backwards. Last thing I need, I think, is to stick a fake cig in my mouth, after almost 4 weeks of just the gum (and that awful half-cig I tried a couple weeks ago). I actually think I could relapse if I did! But, we'll see. So far I've avoided them, too.

Keep up the good work Geoff. I know exactly what you mean by those fleeting urges to smoke. I had cigarets handy to just hold one and simulate smoking. It was tempting but eventually it does pass.


TIS

Congrats!

I used to be what's called a "social smoker" with cigars and cigs, and I quit more than a decade ago. I do not miss it. I have slipped up and puffed on a cigar when a friend had one when we were drinking but I did not buy any cigarettes or cigars.

My father who was into smoking daily decades ago once told me how if you smoke socially the way a lot of young people do or some people just smoke when they drink how that's easier to quit than if you smoke daily. Is there any truth to this?

Geoff, so proud of you! I know how hard it is!!

I used candy cigarettes in the car to pretend to be smoking, and that helped a great deal. Don't know if that would be better or worse for you, but thought I would throw it out there.

Of course. The more you smoke per day, the harder it is to quit -- when you have years/decades "invested" in it, especially.



Thank you, dear, and I'm proud of you, too! I'm just hours away from 1 month!

I don't want to "pretend" to smoke (hence the reluctance to try e-cigs at this point (that would have been my first choice, but I skipped that step)), thinking it might cause a relapse.

The gum is still working, and according to the calendar, I'm 2 weeks away from Step 2 (1 piece every 2-4 hrs). So, I think -- which they don't even mention -- is that I'll switch from 4mg to 2mg in about a week, to accustom myself to less nicotine before that.

Do I want to smoke? NO. Well, yes, but no. Do I have the urge to sometimes? YES. ...but I think I got this!

Thanks for all your support!

Good job JG.

2 more weeks down... Sunday will be 6 weeks, which is only halfway thru the Nicorette program. I've (mostly) switched from the 4mg to the 2mg dosage (which isn't part of the program, but I thought it'd help to quit the gum) ... It's still a bit tough after meals and while drinking -- when I was most used to enjoying a smoke or 5 -- but, I've been holding strong! Again, I don't plan to go back. But it hasn't been all that difficult (tho, I won't say I haven't wanted to smoke; of course I have!). But so far so good.

...tho still wondering why I haven't been hacking the shit out of my lungs yet...could it possibly be (after 30 years) that there isn't much there?? Doubt it, but I don't know. I was always able to walk 4-7 miles w/o hacking, so I don't know. Once the weather stabilizes, I'm gonna try to do that again....

I would encourage anyone still smoking to give it a shot -- try the gum! (I never tried the patch, and maybe that'd help; but, I think keeping your mouth busy is better).

One day at a time...

Well done Geoff, keep up the good work..

Keep it up Jeff. Show those cigarettes who is the boss - YOU
It keeps getting easier buddy

Real happy for you Geoff!! I never really went thru a "hacking" period when I quit. I smoked about a pack a day, if that makes a difference.

Anyway, keep it up. You WON'T be sorry. It was one of the few smartest decisions (and challenge) I ever made.


TIS

A real boss doesn't wear shorts.

Joking aside, I applaud you, Geoff, for stopping. Have you noticed yet any difference in how you taste food?

Not yet, but I also have some sinus issues which really effects that as well.

Quit when ya can son before you get too old an it' too late...I quit 22 years ago

I remember people who quit smoking saying their sense of smell just came alive after they quit smoking. Honestly, for me, I never noticed any change. My sense of smell (especially for food LOL) has always been good.


TIS

Cigarettes are a terrible addiction as many of us know. I took my wife to Roswell Park cancer institute and we saw people in the lobby and out on the sidewalk who had apparently had throat cancer and had the breathing hole in their necks and were smoking by sticking the cigarette in the hole and inhaling the smoke. How fukkin ignorant is that.

^Okay, that's just very -- as you say, ignorant -- cuz as hard as it is, it's really not THAT hard! o.O

I'm amazed at my MIL. She had double pneumonia and a collapsed lung, and still went back to smoking. A few years after that, she had a triple bypass. She quit smoking for a while, but went back again. Now they told her that she has a 60% occluded carotid artery, but she's still puffing away.

Geoff, I'm so very proud of you. TIS, I never noticed much of a difference in taste or smell either. However, I did notice two things - I slept better and longer, because I didn't wake up and have the urge after a while. The other is that I noticed that tightness in my chest first thing in the morning disappeared pretty quickly.

6 weeks and a day

SB, it seems some peoples' genetics can handle it, and others can't. We've all seen those heavy smokers in their 80's still going -- and at the same time, we've all seen those in their 40's-60's who've left us too soon.

Your MIL might outlive all of us!

...but I decided to increase my odds a little about 6 weeks ago. But I still have insomnia (and apnea), so I can still be up at 5AM (like right now), or still be asleep at 2PM, on any given day. (I know! I need CPAP; just can't get around to getting something I know I'll HATE!!!)

Tightness in your chest, though... what were you smoking, filterless Camels??

Maybe tightness was the wrong word - a heaviness?? I could tell the difference very, very quickly.

My aunt is 91 and was still smoking until recently. She smoked several packs a day, too. However, her forgetfulness has slid into full-blown dementia now and, even though she's allowed to smoke in her nursing home (the nurses dispense the cigarettes), she's actually forgotten that she smokes!

I can relate to the tightness you speak of SB. Tho it wasn't constant for me. More so, however, I noticed soon after quitting that I didn't get short of breath as I once did. That is a great feeling.



TIS

That happened with my mother. The funny thing about it...when she was sliding into dementia, she would put the cigarette in her mouth, but she didn't know what to do from there.

Both of those shock me -- how do you "forget" your addiction?? To me, that means something else is going on. That it's not as physical as we thought, but more mental. Is there a "cure" to be gained from that knowledge eventually? I'd think so!

I wonder if the same is true for alcoholism, major drug addiction, etc...... hmmmmm!

It's not so much forgetting that she was a smoker. She has to go to the nurse's station to get a cigarette and go to the lounge to smoke. That's the part she forgets.

JG. The crazy thing about my mother's smoking was that she had to have a peppermint lifesaver in her mouth while she smoked her menthol Kools. And one lifesaver was good for two cigs. After one cig she would put the half melted lifesaver between the cellophane and cig pack to use during the next cig.

My sister and I joked that science should have looked into that. She didn't have lung or heart problems, just dementia at age 80. She smoked since she was 16.