and stabbed him in the heart.

Last Friday I quit after 34 years of smoking. I've quit before but never this successfully. The trick for me was to get a room at hotel alone for a couple days and tell my loved ones "don't call me I'll call you." Fortunately they "got it" and I was able to sweat the first 36 hours out myself without added stressors.

Obviously I still have to be careful, but tomorrow is a week. It can only get easier. If you haven't had any luck quitting and haven't tried locking yourself in a hotel room I highly recommend it. Tell everyone to STFU and leave you alone for a couple days.

I think the monster will always be there but you can get a lot of satisfaction feeling him starve to death. Every craving is his death throw.

Also...get some support. I didn't really ask for any but got some none the less. One of the great folks here discovered I was going on this journey and they've been a great support. No they haven't bugged me with any Vince Lombardi impersonations. They've simply checked in every couple of days and asked how I'm doing. Thanks for that.


I'm taking the money I'd have spent on nicotine each day and putting it in a fun fund. It's sobering to realize that one year of not smoking should put me within range of a SCAR 17 at today's prices.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: thunderson,

BTDT, relapsed.

All I can say is stay strong and move on. I pray you can stick to it, it's hard. Go thunderson go!!!!

Keep up the fight, brutha!

This fight is not one that simply goes away. Don't expect that to happen. This fight is fought one day at a time.

Remember, a drunk who stops drinking, but still goes to the bar every day is not going to remain sober very long. This means more than just a lifestyle change, it means giving up on all influences that have shaped your addiction.

I, and the rest of us addiction survivors, will be here for you if you need us.

H&K-Guy

Hey congrats!

I hate to say anything at all that may be perceived as negative, but I absolutely feel compelled to tell you this: Quitting is easy. Staying quit is a stone-cold bitch.

I didn't smoke anywhere near as long as you did, but at my absolute worst, I was almost 3 packs a day, mostly averaging out to about a pack and a half or so for the bulk of my tenure. I quit several times. I got temped back to it too many times with friends, coworkers, housemates, etc who smoked and seemingly didn't hesitate to let me bum one after a long time on the wagon.

I moved across the country to uncharted lands in 2010, and the tobacco taxes doubled the price of what I was smoking at the time, and it was the perfect storm of pissed-off and not knowing any other smokers to tempt me that finally let me actually quit and not want to start again once the withdrawal was over. The dreams lasted several years. I wasn't tempted again until this last spring, working some evening shifts at a gas station and literally handling many, many packs of cigarettes every night. I started having the dreams again, and even thought about bumming a smoke off a regular one bad night and I put in my notice. I can't physically handle tobacco products, or even be around smokers, 8 years later. So I won't. Just not going down that road again, at all.

My Ma smoked for a good forty years or better, and she's been quit about as long as I have. My old man has smoked for over 50 years, quite heavily, and still smokes in the house around Mom. He's quit dozens of times, sometimes up to a year. He seems to love to relapse.

Stay away from smokers, don't stress too hard about the dreams, and whatever you do, stay mad enough to stay quit! I'll be prayin' for ya!

Go Thunderson!

My Dad quit after nearly 50 years, my paternal grandfather quit after 60 years, and my paternal grandmother quit after 75 years. Dad is 4 years smoke free and grandparents were smoke free the rest of their lives (18 years and 4 years respectively).

Over four years ago, vaping got me off pushing 2 packs/day, forty five years. Almost immediately I cut BP meds by half, not really sure I need them at all. There are so many other ways I'm feeling healthier.

I love nicotine, as bad habits go, it's pretty low on the bad-for-you list. Stepping off my soapbox now...

June 5th, 2012 was my quit day. Monkey had been on my back for almost 25 years. Each day gets better. I'm still free of the monster. I'll pray for you and I'm rooting for you. Congratulations and good luck!

I quit my can-a-day Copenhagen habit 130 days ago. I’ve never felt more free.

It turned my life upside down for over a month and it rocked every fiber of my being but ... man, so damn worth it! I posted about it here and journaled everything.

Stick with it. It will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. 130 days later I don’t even think about the shit.

Gotta stay vigilant though — ODAAT (one day at a time).

It's been almost 8 years for me now. It does get easier. The first few weeks were hard for me but after I got past those I knew I would never smoke again. I'm not saying that I have never thought about it. I still think about it a lot. But after a few weeks it became easier and easier to remember all the negatives and why I quit. I also cheated and vaped for a while after. I used vaping to slowly trickle down the amount of nicotine I was getting until I worked my way down to zero.

Put half of the money you would be spending on cigarettes into an envelope. At your one year anniversary buy yourself a new gun.

I offer my encouragement and compliments to all of you who have quit. I never took up the habit so can't offer any words of wisdom, but as a son whose parents both smoked, I at least know what you've been exposed to. I believe you will benefit in many ways from your choice, so please stay with it.

flashguy

I stopped the night before I married my bride of 43yrs. It was my wedding gift to her. I say stopped because, as you alluded, it's always out there. I can never say say I quit until the day I do die. Which will be later than had I not stopped. 1-2 days; 1-2 weeks; 1-2 months, 1-2 years. It will accumulate and you will be better for it. Good luck to you.

I just passed five years on June 25th.

Quit cold turkey in 2006. Congratulations and keep at it.

I smoked from high school into my 60’s, my wife had surgery to remove a non-malignant tumor on her spine, I figured that she needed me more than I needed nicotine. I did it cold turkey, it was a bitch, even after 7 years of not smoking I still get the craving for a hit of nicotine from time to time. Good luck hang in there it’s tough but only you can beat this beast.

Hang in there! Don't be afraid to seek your invisible up port group.

It does get easier, but will also be there mentally.

You'll be amazed at how bad it smells in a short time.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement and the success stories.

I've quit before but this time it's different. I can't explain how or why it just is. I haven't had the mind games that I've had in the past. I've been able to ignore all that stuff. Perhaps it's because I went cold turkey. Who knows. My hardest times are when I smell it from someone else and when I'm driving but the cravings are shorter in duration now.

Thanks again.

You may want to consider a support group. Can't hurt.

I did it 27 years ago and it was the hardest. thing I ever did.

Bob

Great job! At a week, you are just about done with the physical de-tox. Now the hard part, the psychological dependency.

I quit cold turkey in November 1984, that was thirty-four years ago, after having smoked a pack a day for thirty years. The physical addiction was over in maybe a week, week and a half. The habit took years to get rid of. Triggers like a cup of coffee, or a beer, a telephone call, after eating, all of these were habits that I needed to change.

A few years into my smoke-free life I found that the smell of tobacco smoke was very unpleasant. I did not want to be near smokers, they smelled like dirty ash trays.

That was before the trend for restaurants to become smoke-free. If they tried to seat me where I could smell smoke I would tell them that was not acceptable, and I would just walk out if I had to.

Here's a thought: If you don't go to a support group (is there such a thing as Smokers Anonymous?), use us as your support group. Check in frequently, daily, tell us how you're doing. Tell us about the urge to smoke, that you had today, and what you did about it. I guarantee that you will have an enthusiastic cheering section.

Good job. I quit 7 years ago after 24 years of smoking, vaping made it very easy. I slowly weaned the nicotine in the vape to zero and then stopped vaping too. This took about a year. Like Mr. V Tail, I can't stand the smell now.

Like many have said, quitting is the easy part, staying off is The challenge. Changing your lifestyle will help keep the monster away as will getting involved in a cardio driven exercise program at a gym. I got involved in competitive cycling when I stopped but know others who started jogging as a way to increase their cardiovascular function.

Stay the course brother; one day at a time.