Quitting!

[Paper Maker]

I quit a pack a day unfiltered pall Mall habit in 1973.  I think that as long as you say this is the last pack and then keep on buying another one...you will never quit.  Lay down the full pack and never pick it up again.  It's tough but so is dying of cancer.  I think we all have "will-power"...we just have to use it!

       When I read your post I remember what my dad said when he quit. "If a man smokes his last cigarette, his just out. If man lays a pack down he quit." I remember when he quit, his last pack was worn out from carrying it in his front pocket.

[LeeB]

I was smoking little cigars when I quit. Tried to quit in 1985 by smoking a cigar now and then. That turned into a full blown cigar habit. I carried my last box for a couple of weeks before I dumped them over the side of the rig. Quit dipping two months later after having carried a can unopened for over a month. Never did dip at home, only at work. The urge for a dip is still quite strong at certain times when I go to the rig floor to relieve the drillers for thier meals and coffee breaks. I just keep on keeping on. No way do I want that monkey back.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Good luck to you JohnG28.  June 1976 for me.  Went a week fishing vacation with my extended family where my smoking was simply not an option, thank God.  I was sick of it anyway and used that occasion to get started. 

[isawlogs]

I had a pack of Export"A" in my pocket unsealed and ready to be lit for all of two and a half months, then I gave it away. To a friend that needed to quit , after lighting one of those dried out smokes he put that pack into his shirt pocket and quit too. I asked him to pass it forward.  ;D :D

[petefrom bearswamp]

Way to go.
I quit in 1961 when my wife and i both smoked but she got sick every time she had a cig when pregnant with my now 51 yr old son.
I did regress smoked a pipe for a while and had an occasional cigar some yrs ago.
It is possible to quit and is a goood thing to do hang in there .
Pete

[caveman]

I dipped Copenhagen snuff for about 20 years and quit for two years, three months and four days. Then one stressful evening I started again but on another brand that did not taste as good to me, thinking that quitting would be easier.  The Red Seal snuff that I eventually used tasted as good as Copenhagen, came in a bigger can and was cheaper.  I dipped that for about ten years and last year after a fellow named Rick Bender came to talk to a group of kids at our high school (it was supposed to be a major assembly with hundreds of kids, but due to tornadoes in the area we were stuck in a small classroom with only a handful of folks).  I decided to try to quit again.  So far it has been a bit over nine months.  The smell still causes cravings--most of my friends still dip.  Every week or so I still dream that I use snuff and after meals I still reach for it and find a pack of gum.  Good luck with quitting.  A veterinarian friend of mine has been quoted as saying, "all bleeding will eventually stop".  I guess all smokers will eventually stop.
Caveman

[tractormanNwv]

Good Luck with your decision....I smoked for 27 yrs before I said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, I too carried a pack around for a long time, my wife said I got mean for a while at one point...I don't remember that part but I was on edge a lot. When I quit I was 192 lbs, now I'm 237 lbs...but thats my fault I guess. Good thing is I have more money now to buy more tractors etc....

Jim

[DoubleD]

Good luck John

I did quit 3 years and 4 months ago  8) 8) 8) after smoking for 12 years :-[ , sometimes I still crave for a cigarette, all my friends still smoke but I can count only on myself to not fall in the habit again. I should add that seeing my dad and mom quitting too helped a little.

Throwing the pack could help or not, in my case I had a pack at hand because the first thing that a smoker without cigs do it's to buy another pack :

Resist mate you are stronger than your habit  ;)

[JohnG28]

I am on the first day without smokes now.  I don't think the idea of having a pack would help me, at least not at this point.  I know myself,  I would just open them and light up.  My wife has been a much less frequent smoker and has been waiting for me to kick it anyway.  She had a few in our only stash spot and I took them out last night and made her get rid of them.  Yesterday was a long rough day at work, today probably will be too but I'm ready to go it without them.  Told people at work I was done, although I've said it before.  Just have to stay at it now, no cheating like I have with past "quits."  I too will have to go a while without a beer,  but I guess that's not all bad either.  If I can make a couple weeks here then maybe a couple are on order but for now it's on hold.  I'll keep you posted.

[Magicman]

I have heard many folks remark about getting their sense of smell back.  They never realized how good, good stuff smells and how bad tobacco smoke smells.  Plus, a smoker's breath will knock you back.   :-\

[Raider Bill]

I don't seem to have recovered my smell or taste any except I do not like the smell of smoke. Had to "dump" a Lady friend because she smelled like cigarettes all the time though. Other that that I'd have probably kept her around.

[Paul_H]

I smoked 12 years then quit for 3 and started again another 10 years. 2+ packs a day and always smoked the whole thing,never let them sit in an ashtray and smoulder.
Finally quit for good June 08 2005 and never plan to start again.Cravings still sneak up,especially in a high stress condition.3 years ago I was on a loader 10 hours a day,no stopping and the thought crossed my mind that things would be better if I had a smoke.
It's those lies that can trip you up.I asked myself how in the cathair would a but in my mouth with smoke pouring straight up into my nose and eyes in a enclosed cab make it better? That helped with the craving and it passed quickly.
Good luck and remember that the cravings can come out of no where but pass quickly too,if you can use reason.

[zopi]

Yeah, I have quit several times....hopefully I will never be in a situation so stressful that I feel compelled to go back to it....or at least that I cannot walk away from.

[CHARLIE]

I surely hope you do quit. After reading all the posts, I didn't read a single one where someone wasn't glad they quit smoking. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers for you to have the strength to endure this new challange.     

[AvT]

I quit back in May I believe and have behaved fairly well ever since.  I just calculated how much I saved by not smoking and it is in the $2500.00 neighborhood. I did break down a few times but managed to not go back to it full time.  Man, the first few days were tough.  I think I looked at it like a big challenge like climbing a  mountain which almost made it fun.  I started a topic in "health and safety" when I quit, if you care to look.

[Ernie]

I have quit smoking many times in the last 55 years since I started never with any great degree of success.  The best I could do was about three months.

I then decided about 10 months ago that quitting is a very hard and negative action and instead, I chose a positive path.  I became a non-smoker.  One day I made the decision to become a non-smoker and haven't had a cigarette since, no withdrawls, no fingernail scratchings up the walls, no biting the head off mum and the kids actually no problems at all.  I feel great, have lost weight, enjoy the taste of some terrific food and have a much more acute sense of smell.

[Brucer]

I'm very fortunate that I never took up smoking.

My Dad was a 2-pack a day smoker (plus cigars & a pipe) and quit 10 times before he finally licked it.

My wife quit twice and so did my daughter -- both permanently the second time.

I have a friend who has quit several times in the last few years, but always starts up again when she gets stressed out. Her husband is a smoker and that makes it extra hard to quit.

I read a research report a few years ago that explained why nicotine was the "perfect addictive" substance. Some of this research was done in the 60's by the tobacco industry but was suppressed. We only know about it today thanks to a US court ruling.

From what my smoking (and former smoking) friends have told me, Ernie's approach is one of the best; but there is no one-size-fits-all approach to quitting.

I have the greatest respect for those who manage to beat it, and also for those who keep on trying.

[thecfarm]

Hi John, just checking in on you. Sounds good!!!!!! Keep at it. Look at the money you will be saving. Not just on them nasty things,but healthwise too.

[jwillett2009]

I've got seven years in in August. I quit several times before I actually got free of it.

All I can offer in the way of encouragement is that it just keeps getting better after the first few weeks. The cravings will be around for a long, long time but they weaken as time goes on. You will start to feel better after a month or so and then it will just roll from there. Good luck buddy.

Jamie

[ibseeker]

Smoking that is.  I have gone back and forth a lot of times here, quitting for a short time and then going back.  I think I've had enough now.  I said when they went to $10 a pack here that was it, but still I went on for another two years.   Well now I think it's time.  Bought what I hope is my last pack today.   Any words of wisdom from others who quit would be appreciated. Wish me luck!

Have you considered laser therapy? I don't know if it's available in your area but if it's reasonably close, I'd check it out. I quit last January and it was very easy. I will still get the desire to have a smoke but no cravings. The desire doesn't last long and a simple distraction takes it off my mind. When I researched it what I kept reading was that it was a hoax. I decided to do it anyway on the recommendation of my neighbor who smoked for 60 years. I was very skeptical about how a laser would stop the cravings so I can certainly understand how some of you might think this is a load of bs. I just know that it worked for me and a couple of others.

Good luck with quitting, I've heard it can really be difficult.

[JohnG28]

Made it through day two.  It was a little easier today, ate at different times and was busy all day pretty much. Thanks for the tip about laser, wasn't something I even thought of.  I have tomorrow off so have planned to get a bunch of things done around the house.  Thanks for checking in cfarm. I'll keep posted,  this here has been a big help to me too!

[beenthere]

ibseeker

I was very skeptical about how a laser would stop the cravings so I can certainly understand how some of you might think this is a load of bs. I just know that it worked for me and a couple of others.

Can you explain to us how the laser treatment worked and what it did to stop your smoking? Sounds interesting, but am interested in learning more about it.

[thecfarm]

Hi John,a pat on the back if I lived closer to you. We are all here for you. Sounds like you are well on your way to get rid of that nasty habit. I was so glad when finally I had it beat. I still miss it and I know I could start up that dump habit in a heart beat. One of the things that helps me out,you will notice this in the near future,stand in line somewheres and you can smell them things.Them things STINK. I've even went to a different line just to get away from it.

[Peter Drouin]

I was smoking for 25 + years. tryed all kinds of nicotine things did not work for me. then one day  in my prayers I ask God to take away the craving. all saw gone the next day . and that was 12 years ago. that work for me,  good luck to you

[MapleNut]

My brother quit the day he had a heart attack...14 years ago, after smoking for 25 years. He said that it was easy, after the scare he got...he was lucky to live thru it.