I quit smoking on Tuesday and I'm having a really tough time with it today.

[Tobin S.]

Nicotine withdrawal kind of feels like having the flu. Your whole body just gets weak and achy. It seems like I should be getting to the end of that, but I still feel like shit. Knowing how easy and pleasurable it would be to be rid of that makes it all the tougher. I am quitting cold turkey.

Share with me your smoking cessation success stories.

[ZombieHorde]

1. I quit a few years ago.

I was waking up coughing almost every morning. I quit cold turkey as well. (Where did that phrase come from?)

It was really tough. I made some posts on DU, during the first few days, that I am not proud of.

I finally bought some marijuana to ease my pain, and it worked really well.

[Tobin S.]

3. No can do on the wacky tobacky

I'm subject to random drug tests at my job.

[ZombieHorde]

5. Perhaps relaxing drinks, like herbal tea, and some naps would help you.

Try to identify with the label, "non-smoker."

I had dreams where I smoked and felt really guilty about it after I quit.

[Mendocino]

16. Cold turkey alludes to

the goose bump-like skin that heroin addicts would get while withdrawing.

[ZombieHorde]

25. Aha! Thanks. nt

[MrYikes]

2. Just sucking in air through your mouth will help. nt

,

[lunatica]

9. If you suck air in like when you take a drag off a cigarette

it helps for a little while

[rurallib]

27. worked for me @ 35 years ago. still off the evil weed.

About 10 big, deep breaths when you have an urge.
+ think of the money you save at @ $5 a pack. That adds up in a hurry to a nice vacation or amething

[Auggie]

4. Working on 9+ years

What worked for me was to make the tobacco companies my enemy because they were trying to kill me. I got angry and set a goal to defeat them. That anger quelled withdraw symptoms. I did it cold turkey.

[siligut]

6. I used lobelia tea

It works, no need to go cold turkey. People eat carrot and celery sticks, take up knitting, use patchs, chew gum. There are websites to help you quit too. Here is a link to some resources and good luck to you Tobin. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/index.htm

I have been quit for 16 yrs, don't have any desire to smoke now at all.

[Tikki]

7. Cold Turkey yeah....over 7 years ago. First couple weeks it's like a haze...

It is a pervasive habit..You are tougher than it, though.

First...everybody quits smoking...you already know this.
It is a SUPER MYTH that it is nearly impossible to quit.

I rearranged the furniture in the house. Got up at a slightly different time.
Washed all my clothes, bedding, walls and curtains. Cleaned the carpet.

Picked new times to have dinner. Started a walk routine. Stayed away from
other smokers for a while.

Put money saved in a jar and hung a post-it on the back door end
of each month with amount of MONEY SAVED.

By the time I quit I hated smoking and everything it stood for.

YOU WILL FIND A WAY...this I know.

Tikki

[Faygo Kid]

14. Yep. Cold turkey 7 years ago for me, too. Keep your eyes on the prize.

After 37 years, finally said that's enough and never looked back. Couldn't imagine it anymore. Somebody bought a pack in front of me at a store the other day, and it was $7.75!! I had no idea. Good riddance.

[Iggo]

23. Good gawd! Serious?

I am soooo glad I quit. Because I'd pay it. No question.

[LaurenG]

18. Nice Tikki

I quit a few times and don't smoke now but I wanted to say that this is a really inspiring post, just thought you should know.

[Graybeard]

8. The most difficult thing I ever did in my life.

40+ years of two-packs a day. Here's what helped me.

The hardest time of day was mornings and that first cig. The patch instructions are to take it off when you go to bed. I did the opposite. I put on a patch when I went to sleep. In the mornings the craving was greatly reduced. I took off the patch before breakfast and did the lozenge routine through the day.

Good luck.

[unionworks]

10. 10 years ago I quit.

Get a gym membership. Start working out. You really feel the damage the cigs are doing when you push your body, and it gives great motivation to quit and stay off of them. Good luck!

[lunatica]

11. I was part of the first clinical test and study groups for Chantix

It works. It actually takes away the physical craving and you only have to deal with your brain's synapses telling you it's time to have a cigarette. It's what you've trained your brain to do when you smoked after a meal, or while you drink or after sex or whenever it was you would light up. I've been off cigarettes since 1995 and a day doesn't go by that I'm not grateful that I was able to quit. By the way, I quite hundreds of times before that, so don't feel bad about the quitting/not quitting part.

What happens with Chantix is you can very easily say no to your brain's reminder because you don't crave the cigarette anymore, and while taking Chantix it doesn't matter if you cheat because it tastes like shit and the substance that is replacing the nicotine in your system is non addictive. You actually start by taking Chantix for a week or two before you actually quit on a target date. You'll know it's taking effect within a few days when you can actually skip one or two of your normal cigarette breaks just by saying no to it.

Toby S., I promise you it's as safe as anything since the drug is actually the antidepressant Wellbutrin. What happen is that while they were testing the Wellbutrin years before 1995 when I was part of the test group a bunch of people taking it were able to quit smoking quite spontaneously, so they decided to do some tests and it works.

You need to go to a doctor, but it's worth it if you really want to quit. It's a hell of a lot easier than cold turkey. I was never able to do it cold turkey. I was smoking three packs a day after 30 years. I was definitely addicted. It's easy to quit when your body isn't craving it with every nerve.

There is no need to go through the horrible withdrawal. Like you said, it's the withdrawal that's so hard because you know you can make it go away if you smoke again. If you don't have that part to deal with it makes it much, much easier.

[MerryBlooms]

12. Almost a year ago for me

I didn't do well on the patches, but the lozenges and long hot bubble baths worked amazingly well for me.

That cruddy feeling subsided for me about month 4- hang in there, it's totally worth it!

Stick to your guns and don't let that nagging addicted side, win- keep telling yourself you're a FORMER SMOKER.

YOU CAN TOTALLY DO THIS!!! ((hugs))

[Turbineguy]

13. I have a theory about quitting.

Instead of quitting and all that entails, just don't smoke. Mentally there's a big difference between the two, but your lungs will never notice the difference. I haven't quit smoking, I just haven't smoked in many years. It's something I used to enjoy, but I look for other enjoyments now.

[benld74]

15. I got hypnotized 23 years ago,,,,,

still working.
The person has to WANT to quit.
Look at ALL the positives
MORE $$ for other things. When I quit, a carton was $20, now 3-4 packs are $20!

You dont smell like as ashtray.
I used to chew gun, because smoking dryed out my mouth. All the $$ saved from not buying gum

YOU can breath better.

Your basic cold, will NOT develop into bronchitis. My last bronchitis was 24 years ago. My last cold was 2 years ago.

[CBGLuthier]

17. I could never quit when I used to drive long distances

So good luck on that.

Only advice I have is to do something right after you eat to kill that right after you eat desire. Brush your teeth if convenient or dentyne if not but anything that clashes with tobacco should do the trick.

Cold Turkey is the best way. It will get better. Once you have quit never ever ever even think you can have even one. Trust me on that aspect.

I think it has been 3 years since I quit. Last year had cravings out of the blue but maintained.

[MiddleFingerMom]

19. Strength, my friend -- visualizing Jen and a longer life together might help in the crunches.

.
.
.
When I went cold turkey from a 3-pack-a-day habit in 1997, I didn't have a single problem. Not
one!!! BUT... it took me a solid two years of saying, "Imma gonna quit any day now" before I
actually did -- so I was READY!!!
.
.
.
If I had had problems, here's what I think I would have done. Carry cards with you with one of
the reasons for quitting written on each one. When the craving starts, take one of them out and
remind yourself of a very concrete REASON for quitting (not just the amorphous "it'll be good for
me&quot .
.
These can be health- or financial- or social- or self-esteem-, etc. -related.
.
I also might have catalogued on a second set of cards each of the little-to-enormous agonies
involved as I went along -- reminding me that I didn't want to put myself through those things
yet AGAIN.
.
Good luck, Tobin -- you have an enormous amount of perserverance and will-power. If I were
to bet on anyone being able to quit, I'd give you the best odds of anyone I know.
.
You are BIGGER than your butt, my friend -- bigger than your butt.
.
.
.

[beac]

20. I quit cold turkey almost seven years ago.

It sounds crazy, but I started wearing a thick rubber band on my wrist at all times. When the urge hit, I could fidget with the rubber band and it kept me from reaching for a cigarette.

I passed this tip on to a friend who quit a few months after me and it worked for him too.

My other advice is just to think about all the hours you've already not smoked and each hour that goes by you'd be losing more and more by having a cigarette. Soon, you can think in terms of days, then weeks, then months, etc.

Don't be surprised if you dream about smoking. Pretty soon, you'll wake up mad at yourself for smoking and then be so happy it was just a dream!

Not too far in the future, you will feel your lungs working better, even if you hadn't noticed they weren't working well before. Smoke will start to smell bad to you and food will taste better.

Good luck!

[Logical]

21. I am proud of you! n-t

[Iggo]

22. Eat right and exercise.

I quit cold turkey a few years after I quit alcohol and everything ELSE cold turkey. So I had that going for me because I knew it could be done. Anyway, I quit in the spring/summer, too. Good timing, sir. You want a cig? Walk a mile. You still want a cig? Walk another mile. Repeat as necessary. It worked for me. Three months later the worst of it was over. (Others have reported that the worst for them was over in as little as three WEEKS! You should be so lucky! LOL). Just remember: You're not quitting...You quit. It's over. That last cigarette was exactly that...your last cigarette. I have faith in you because I've read in these very pages how you've up and changed your life at least twice because that was what you needed to do. You'll do it again. You're cool like that.

[applegrove]

24. I quit. It was hard at first. I went for walks and bought a popsicle when I had a crave. I was on

Champix/Chantix. After a few months I went off the drug. When I craved really bad I would
buy herbal cigarettes. They are rank. I hated them. I smoked them intermittently for a few months.
I could not stand them so I stopped with the herbal. Now whenever I think of smoking I think of those
god awful herbal smokes. I don't crave. It is amazing. I rarely want a cigarette. I thought I would be longing
smokes forever. But no. I am free and clear and was 5 months into my quit. I love being quit.

Try the quitnet.com filled with a whole host of people who are quitting.

[alcibiades_mystery]

26. I smoked almost 23 years...the first three days of cold turkey were bad

After that, gravy. Seriously. I'm amazed by the accounts here saying that they felt like they had the flu, and that the cravings lasted three months (!) and similar stuff. My cravings lasted three days in a serious form, maybe fourteen days in a mild form. And then DONE. Consider a two week goal.

Stick it out for fourteen, twenty days, and you should be fine. Also agree with a post upthread: most people actually quit smoking. The idea that it is super difficult to quit is a myth. Most people do quit. Quitting is not hard.

[rurallib]

28. Keep us posted BTW - if you report to us every day you'd be ashamed to say

"I started smoking again!"

[struggle4progress]

29. (1) Wear a patch. It stops the physical craving.

(2) Any habit can be hard to break. Change your daily routine immediately so your habits aren't reinforced

[WCGreen]

30. You are almost there....

Keep at it. It gets easier and easier after about a week....

I smoked 2.5 pack of Salem 100's back in the early 80's.

I had quit drinking in March of 84 and I was bound and determined to stop th buts within a year just to piss off my sponsor who told me I should not make any drastic changes the first year of sobriety.

Been sober now for 29 years and smoking less for 28 years...

[Odin2005]

31. (((GOOD VIBES)))

[hay rick]

32. Quit 35 years ago and again, 30 years ago.

The second time worked.

The first time I quit and didn't have a cigarette for over a week. I had roommates at the time and one of them smoked 2 or 3 cigarettes a day. The little devil on my shoulder said "you could do that and it would be just as good as not smoking" so I bummed a cigarette and a week later I was back up to 2 packs a day.

5 years later I quit again- and I knew I couldn't smoke just a little bit...

Both times I found the first week was tough, but it wasn't so bad after that. After that I mostly missed smoking only in particular situations- when I had a cup of coffee or a beer. The craving took a little longer to go away in those situations...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

33. I quit cold turkey 2 days after my mom died in 2002.

At the time I smoked 2 packs a day. I don't remember my actual "last cigarette" (I did not smoke one and consciously say "this is my last one&quot .

At the time I said to myself "I am either going to start smoking three packs a day or I'm going to quit right now, which I think would be the smart thing to do, because I couldn't possibly be in more pain than I'm in right now."

So I quit, cold turkey, and yes...I went through the same withdrawl pain all ex-smokers go through. But the "monkey on my back" stuff was somewhat masked by the emotional pain I was in at the time. I hurt like hell for a while on every level, but it passed. Ten years later, I haven't had a cigarette, I don't crave them, and I'm not spending money I don't have on cigarettes (prices have REALLY gone up in the last decade).

The "easy and pleasurable" solution would only put your foot back in the bear trap. Ride it out. It won't last forever. In fact, it will be over before you know it. Then you can encourage other DUers when it's their rutn to quit.

[DFW]

34. You'll have a tough time a while longer, too

It will be rough. It's worth it. REALLY worth it.

We've buried friends who died of lung cancer and emphysema, one
aged 36 ("I'm too young for that to happen to me"--no she wasn't).

Be prepared for one surprise. When you're finally free (and figure 12
to 18 months to totally detox), when you pass smokers and smell
the stench on their clothes, breath and hair, you'll ask your friends,
"hey, I never smelled THAT bad, did I?" Yes, you did.

It's a longer tunnel than anyone will ever tell you, but the light
at the end of it is VERY bright indeed.

[BTennyson]

35. It's tough

I'm smoke free for 2 full months today. I had a PFT and the results were terrible. That shook me up. I was out of breath more times then I realized. I would wake out of a deep sleep needing my rescue inhaler.
The last month or so I am without the inhaler at night.
What a difference. Now I'm more determined then ever to stay smoke free.

[intaglio]

36. It's tough, you can do it

even I did, 7 years ago at age 52 after 30 years

It's hard but you can do it

[Rex]

37. I was sick for two week after I quit smoking cigs.

Keep with it after a while you will feel so different (good) you won't believe it! I could breath again for the first time in 9 years.

[crunch60]

38. This is a great thread! Need to keep it going.. very useful tips and suggestions from all

the ex smokers, they've been there. Congrats to all who kicked it...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

39. I hated the feeling that bugs were crawling on me

here's sorta the thought line that kept me going:

I have to quit. If not this time, then I'll have to go through all these feelings again next time. So tough it out.

Also, I've avoided smoking even one cigarette/cigar, for fear that one will lead to two, then I'll buy a pack and I'm smoking again.

Then, think of the money, what else can you put that savings to?

Anyway, cold turkey? Same here, and it's been about 15 years. It's getting easier to ignore the occasional urge.

The biggest downside? I gained about 30 pounds after I quit, and haven't yet been able to lose it.

The biggest upside? Too many to list.

Wishing you success.