Old habits Die hard and some don't Die at all.

I kept a couple of packs on the boat for two years "just in case", so I wouldn't get that desperate feeling!

I still enjoy the smell of a freshly lit smoke, after that it stinks 🙂

I still carry a lighter in my purse............4 yrs after quiting!

how did you guys quit, its something i think about every day

Speedy.....it took me 3 times of quiting before I finally made it!!!
I used the patch........tossed my cowboy killers in the garbage & my husband was a great support system.........tho he did ask if I was auditioning for the staring role in the Exorcist.........hahahahaha!
For most, you really have to want it & have people respect your choice & support you. If you fail or fall from grace, keep trying!!!

speee1dy,
I failed more times than a puppy can wag a tail in a minute. At the time i was trying to quite, I had a staple put in my ear, hypnosis, gum, stuck a cigar in my mouth chewed on it, AA meetings for support, family members taking packs, exercise nothing worked. I went to the library checked out a medical book on diseased lungs with pictures from various autopsies which showed the difference of a good lung and a bad lung.Every time I wanted to smoke I would look at the pictures, that worked for me but it was months.

islantyme and lizard
thanks for your replies. i know i need to quit. i am the only one on the island i am friends with who smokes. i often feel like an outcast. at least i dont smoke in the house or car. my last car stunk so bad from all of the smoke. i have had this one for almost a year and still no smoking in it. i even hate the smell of smoke and hate the burn in my eye. maybe i need to check out that book from the library. i have tried the patch-broke out from it. i even tried the pill. i will keep on trying to find the method that works for me.
thanks again

That is one thing I don't care for in the islands. Here in AZ, it is forbidden to smoke in a public building. While I don't like the fact they are trampling on the rights of business owners, it is nice to be able to enjoy a nice dinner without the smell of smoke.

terry
i do agree with you about that. even though i am a smoker i dont smoke around anyone who is eating. and i actually do prefer to smoke outside. i guess that would be harder to do if i lived up north though.

Speedy, I *just* quit... this is day four, so if you take the plunge and need someone to talk to about how miserable you feel and how much your body hurts and how everyone in the world is annoying and irritating, please feel free to msg me!!!

thank you bethburnette70 and congratulations on your success. i think every day without a smoke is a success. funny thing, all the guys in the government parking lot tell me to quit smoking but to smoke pot instead. if i did that all i would do is eat and sleep. guess that will not work.

Way to go, Beth! Tell Tabra to just keep "ducking". You will eventually turn back into the pleasant person you are.:@) Are you working Mardi Croix? See you then!

Speey, I get that comment a lot too.. My response is that I am quitting to clear my lungs, smoking pot doesnt hlp that. Plus, since I used to smoke it A LOT, I know that gettin high just makes me want a cigarette more.

Juanita, we aren't on the North Shore anymore, btu I miss you guys!!! We have got to get together one of these days... do you ever come west?

Speee1dy: As a former smoker, I believe that the nicotine addiction (which is treated with pills and patches and such) is nothing compared to the sheer addicition to the habit.- the one with coffee first thing in the morning, the one after a meal, the one while talking on the phone, etc. So my recommendation is COLD TURKEY and change all of your habits for the first two weeks. Get up after a meal and walk a bit. Don't drink coffee in the morning. Sleep. Drink lots of water. Keep telling yourself what a marvelous individual you are now that you are not a slave to your coffin nails! Good luck.:-)

thank you all and good luck and congratulations to all of you who have quit

I never really smoked but chewed tobacco instead since I was a young teenager. Terrible addiction I still have to find something else to think about after dinner many years later.

Smartest thing you can do though, your odds are just so good of dying or getting really sick from it.

Speee1dy, when I decided to quit, I was the chef of a bar/restaurant and pretty stressed out. I just had enough. I bought the Commit lozenges to keep my nicotine buzz, but the main thing that helped me was a rubber band or two around my wrist. When the thought process clenched onto "choking a butt" as we called it, I would snap the rubber band on myself. It stings, and distracts from the initial thought of having a cigarette.

Everybody thought I was crazy, but they're still smoking. That was 3 years ago.

Good luck

Hey Beth,
Where are you working? We do go west ocassionally! Love the veggie/fish wrap at Sunset.

The best book you will ever read if you wanna quite:
This book saved my life:
EASYWAY by Carr, Penguin Press.
aprox 110 pages that will effortlessly set you free.
I know I thought the same thing. Im an X-smoker 20 years, two packs aday.
I read the book and never looked back.

mangi
i will look for that book

Lizard,

Ever hear of amputees that have feeling or pain in a limb that has been gone for years? The mind can be a very peculiar thing

not that I am comparing quiting to loosing a limb mind you, although for some................

also for anyone else that's looking to quit the hubby used Chantix and it worked well for him. He said it really took care of the cravings plus they have a system (or maybe it was through someone else, not sure) you can sign up for through which they call you daily to give you a running tally of how long you have been smoke free, how much money you are saving, and I imagine other inspirational things.

Hope it helps

Well, I went cold turkey and I am just about at the end of day six, made it through my first work day since the quit (I have a great boss who gave me the time I needed to get through the worst of it)

I smoked for 22 years and was up to two packs a day when I quit... for most of the first four days, I wandered around restlessly, searching for ANYTHING that could replace that desperate feeling of something being horribly wrong! lol. I'm much better now.... just don't get within throwing range. 🙂