i quit last friday, had one last night and it didnt taste the same or give me the same feeling

im definitely never buying any again

Good luck man! It's tough but remember that every day you don't smoke you save money and health. So even if you relapse, don't get down on yourself and don't give up.

Hi again,

Thanks for all the support. Iwent through day 2 and it wasnt as hard as yesterday. i still had cravings but it was easier to let go comparing to yesterday. Realy dont wanna make this my blog but i will post about my progress maybe at least through the first week.

Today i ran for about 10 minutes at a park very near by and played football with friends in the evening for an hour. Both were very tough. U realy feel pain in ur chest ( i know its not completely cigaretts fault if i didnt move my ass for all these years but i think its a major factor. ) as soon as u started to move.

Dont wanna bore u guys more so wish me luck! I believe i already quit. its realy over for me i am just chasing the occaisanol craving which will be over soon hopefuly in a week ( As i said before hardest was first day today was much easier so i hope it will be piece of cake tomorow - obv. wont happpen, lol - but i will be strong enough to go through it. )

Will let u know how it goes very soon. Till than best wishes!

Volkan

Just quit myself this week...last cigarette was Monday night. Didn't smoke all that much to begin with (maybe 2-3 packs/week) but feeling so much better already.

I smoked about a pack a day for 6 years, quit cold turkey for two, started again for 6 months, then quit cold turkey again and have been smoke free for about 3 months now. I never really had an addictive personality I just really, really, really love smoking and always pulled the "I can quit whenever I want" and when I started trying to get in better shape my wife called me on it and said "OK then do it".

So, I did. And it sucked. But I would definitely recommend throwing out the "smoke aids" if you can because while quitting always sucks no matter what, quitting cold turkey always sucks the most.

And when you find yourself wanting a smoke, you'll remember how ****ty it was to quit without help and you'll be much less likely to start again.

Good luck man, it's worth it. And that's coming from a guy that looooooooooves smoking.

grats op!

I haven't had a smoke in a week but I'm on the gum (not sure if that counts as quitting?) I'm nervous I won't be able to kick the gum but I figure it has to be better for me than my pack a day habbit

I used to think smoking is horrible by definition. Then I smelled someone smoke one of those probably really expensive cigarettes that actually smells good. Now I think smoking would probably be great if everyone smoked those kind of cigarettes. Go ahead and cut your life expectancy and make everyone feel like they should not care about your health problems. More room for everyone else. But damn, the regular ones stink so bad, it's not worth it.

Good luck. Cut out drinking during the first few weeks. Most of the time failure and alcohol work in tandem.

I had a very similar experience to op. I was a smoker for ~12 years, read the first couple chapters of Carr's book a few years back and quit smoking for a year. Then somehow got back into it. In January 2009 I sat down and read the entire book. Haven't had a cigarette since. Cravings come and go at times, but what helps me is thinking about that nauseating feeling you get when you take the first pull of a cigarette after a long break. Even the smell of cigarette smoke makes me sick now. Good luck, it gets easier with time

Good luck OP, basically the toughest part is quitting smoking, each day gets easier.

I smoked a pack a day for just over 6 years, then quit by taking zyban which has been mentioned ITT, and chewing a little gum here or there, but never really liked the gum. My secret was not going out for the first few days and I didn't drink at all for almost a full month, lots of apartment nights w the gf. Haven't even had a drunk smoke yet and dont plan on it, but have definately beem tempted.

Keep fighting the good fight.

did you have any side effects with the zyban

Hope it's still going strong, keep at it.

One of the hardest things with giving up smoking is the idea that you are missing out on something. That cigarette when out having a few beers, that lazy cigarette on a cool summer evening type thing. Just focus on what you are free of at those moments and remember that people who never smoked don't feel they are missing a damn thing at those moments. Eventually it all passes and you have zero danger of a relapse.

Good luck!

Yea I remember having a headache for a few days here and there and what seemed to be dry mouth and some slight nausea. But all in all it was really nothing serious that bothered me too significantly.

I would definately suggest it and do to any of my friends who want to quit. It really helps you get ready as you smoke while you take the zyban for the first week so by the time you quit smoking you are pretty ready and prepared.

I took quitting pretty seriously as I failed once and that made me miserable, so I'd say the key is being ready to quit. It took my almost 4 years after my failed attempt to quit again. (First time I quit I was on the patch which i personally think sucks compared to prescription medication)

GL if you are going to do it.

This is totally wrong imo.

I still really crave cigarettes when I am with friends who smoke, or have a lot to drink, or just have a stressful ****ty day.

eg. I'm in Macau now and everyone here I mean EVERYONE smokes and after a ****ty night of poker (a few bad beats here and there) I was very tempted to smoke. I'm pretty sure smoking is like being a alcoholic you are always a recovering smoker you will never actually be a non-smoker again. This is my opinon of course.

The thing that keeps me from smoking is it was so hard to quit and now I haven't smoked in so long that I would feel like a real idiot if i started again. The want and desire is still definately there tho you just have to fight it off obv.

The point here is that you are still a recovering ex-smoker, like your alcoholic analogy. The best place you can get to as an ex-smoker is one step on from that were you no longer miss it even when surrounded by smoking friends. Quite the opposite in fact.

I feel like nicotine tricks you into thinking that its relieving stress when in actuality it's obviously creating more by creating cravings. One main point when trying to quit is realizing this, and that no matter how ****ty your day was or how much you lost in poker is that smoking is only going to make it worse in the long run, and won't actually relieve any stress and will in fact create more.

I think it depends on the person. I haven't had a nicotine craving in years.

zero desire whatsoever to smoke, ever

I was in so much better shape when I was smoking and slim.

You are very lucky. The people that I know have quit all feel the same way as in old triggers, still tempt them. And at this point I'm pretty sure its not nicotine itself, more just mental/memory of addiction.

ex: drinking,stress ect.

No one likes a quitter.

I'm addicted to dip and it f sucks. Never understood how addictive it was until getting drunk and trying it then continueing to do it because at first the buzz was fun. Now I just do it becuase I'm addicted to it :/

It'll be one complete year on the 4th of July. I'm pretty pumped. I'm 26 and besides a few brief quitting stints I smoked for like 8 years or so. I've had one cigar in the last year and even that felt wrong. Now I cringe having to walk past a smoker during their exhale and catching a whiff or even when I'm back home visiting friends and family. I decided to quit July 4th while I was back home visiting for the holidays. I was at my buddies cottage on the lake and I had 2 beers and a few smokes and I felt sick and my throat was all ****ed up. I woke up in the morning and said **** this I'm done with it, flew home and never smoked since. Cut back on drinking a little the first few weeks but I kind of made myself face it anyways knowing that's the one area I always ****ed up on since I drink a lot. Playing cards for a living and drinking a lot.....quitting smoking was actually pretty dam easy once you tell yourself you really want to do it. Being able to breathe is pretty cool. Thinking about how I "had" to go smoke every x mins during like a poker tournament.....seems ridiculous looking back on it.

I wish I hated smoking. It would give me the motivation to quit. The problem is, I love smoking. How does someone go about quitting if they love what they are doing? Imagine just giving up sex (or masturbation) from this day forwards. It would be impossible. This is what smoking is for me. Btw I only smoke up to 10 cigarettes a day on average.

P.S. Health warnings are not enough to make me quit.

I thought this was a demand.

Yup. I started out smoking Marlboro Ultra Lights and Parliaments, would mostly just smoke them occasionally when drinking. Then I discovered higher quality cigarettes and found out how much more flavor they had, not to mention they're not laden with all kinds of toxic additives.

I think an American Spirit cig has something like 25% more tobacco which is why they burn longer than a Marlboro. FWIW I'd have to quit smoking if I had to give up rolling my own smokes or smoking organic Spirits, the mainstream cigarettes taste like utter filth to me now.