I quit smoking 4 months ago

[Aerows]

I still want to throttle people that make it smell so good and enticing. When will I quit dreaming of smoking cigarettes? When will my psyche let up on me and accept that I am NOT going to smoke anymore?

[IrishEyes]

1. I know it is hard but you can do it.

It does get easier but it just takes a little longer.

[Aerows]

2. Maybe I'm purging part of them out of my system

But it sure smells like heaven, but I know it will end up hell.

Do NOT ever take up smoking. It's an Empire State building on your back to dislodge.

I threw out every single cigarette, including butts to make sure I didn't get tempted.

[LiberalElite]

3. smells like heaven???

to me it smells like hell. I fooled around with cigs in h.s. but stopped short of getting hooked - to me it really stinks. I get upwind of any smoker who passes me on the street. Fast. In time you will be doing the same. I suggest recalling all the chemical crap that makes up that smell. (hang in there)

[Aerows]

4. Thank you for the support

I'll pick up another cigarette as soon as I decide to jump off of a bridge. It's just tough. Why do I have to DREAM about them?

[LiberalElite]

5. It's just working its way out

of your system. This too shall pass. Think of the dreams as nightmares. (maybe you do already)

[Aerows]

6. I *DO*

I am sick of it.

[LiberalElite]

7. then (not to get

all 12-steppy but) keep doing what you're doing. If those dreams are nightmares it's a good thing.

[Aerows]

8. Thank you for listening

I was THIIIIISSSS close to going to buy a pack.

Not sure why it is hitting me this hard lately, but fuck cigarettes.

Fuck cigarettes, the horse they came in on, and the sick way they manipulate you to heed their siren song.

[LiberalElite]

10. Absoposilutely - I've heard it's easier to quit cocaine. eom

[Aerows]

14. I quit drinking coffee in anticipation

of quitting cigarettes, simply because I wanted the best chance of success.

This has been a building exercise for me - quitting smoking has absolutely been a gnarly, evil hyena in me.

I will NOT succumb.

[Wounded Bear]

17. Not necessarily a good thing to drop two habits at the same time...

Unless they are intrinsically linked somehow. Hey, nicotine is harder to kick than any drug, from alcohol to heroin.

The shock of quitting can kill, literally. I've known alcoholics who still smoke after 30 years sober. I've also known some who said if you haven't dropped cigs 5 years after you got sober, you're still hooked, or something like that.

Stick with friends that support you. It takes a different amount of time for every individual. I quit in the Carter administration. While it seems it was easier for me than for many I've known, it is well worth it. Hell, it was still under $1 a pack when I quit. Starting again now would financially ruin me.

We got your back. Stay strong.

[Aerows]

18. Thank you, WB

I will start smoking again as soon as I can start flying with the pigs in the sky.

It's just a nasty craving, though.

[Wounded Bear]

19. I hear you Aerows...

It actually took me 3 tries. Best of luck.

(BTW alcohol only took two tries. 8 years sober on that one, too. )

[CTyankee]

23. I wonder, tho. I decided that I didn't want to be a smoker back in 1980 and from then on

it was pretty easy, I must admit. I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms and I had been smoking since high school.

I changed because society changed and that helped me. I didn't want to be seen as one of those smokers. Smoking became this very unpopular habit...and when your closet full of clothes stinks with smoke odors, it becomes repulsive.

Smokers were castigated in those days, looked down on. While I think that is not good, it certainly helped me since I didn't want that kind of attention. Both my mother and my father also quit smoking...

[DawgHouse]

25. I didn't quit drinking coffee but I stopped allowing myself to have a cig while having a cuppa.

Several months before I actually quit, I separated the smoking habit from other habits.

That ritual is strong, coffee + cigarette! I also stopped smoking while driving, to help make the not smoking easier. I had to wait until I got home or pull over somewhere to smoke. By the time I gave up smoking, it was a bit easier because my brain didn't scream so loudly: "Coffee + cig = happy!"

[Aerows]

30. Completely, intrinsically linked.

I've sipped half a cup here and there, but it always does this sort of crap to me, and I refuse - REFUSE - to go back to smoking.

So, no, coffee is not an option for me. Thankfully, I've always loved unsweetened iced tea more, anyway.

[hay rick]

9. I was lucky, I never liked second hand smoke.

Even when I was smoking 2-3 packs a day. The only thing I found enticing about other people smoking was that I was used to smoking in social situations and other people smoking triggered that response. I was hanging out in bars a lot when I quit, so that didn't help. One of my early adjustments was- I was used to having a smoke with a drink and that turned into a drink with a drink. I figured that out after a couple of uncharacteristically sloppy evenings.

The dreams. I dreamed about having a cigarette for years after I quit- but the dreams were always unpleasant and I was really happy when I woke up and realized I hadn't had a cigarette.

[Aerows]

11. ^ THIS!!!! ^

I was happy to wake up and know it was a figment of my imagination.

[bigwillq]

16. I dislike the smell of the smoke

Unless I am smoking.

[roody]

12. Super congratulations. Breathe!

[Aerows]

13. Do you know what?

I'm up at fuck o'clock in the morning, but guess what I haven't done?

I don't know what triggered me, but I will not.

I WILL not, and haven't.

[Aerows]

15. Fuck cigarettes

I'm doing better now. I drank a glass of milk, and it helped.

I despise the fact that I got hooked on the things. It's like battling a Kraken when the urge hits.

[elias49]

20. Go get'm Aerows! Fuck cigs!

Keep busy. Carry a jar of peanuts or something. I think it helps with the part where your mouth wants to do something.
Sorry about the dreams! Never heard of that nasty little wrinkle!
I quit 2 years ago after 30+ years of 'stinky'. Sooooo glad!
You know you're gonna do it and feel proud!

[cwydro]

21. Oddly, I have never smoked, but I like the smell of cigarettes.

My smoking friends are always glad, but my non-smoking friends think something is wrong with me lol.

[DawgHouse]

22. I quit Feb 8 2014

Even visual cues can be difficult. True Detective 1 premiered on Jan 20 2014 and watching Rust smoke CONSTANTLY really made me miss it. Patches and lozenges helped me make it.

Hang in there!

[Auggie]

24. Think of it this way: it's you versus blood-sucking tobacco company execs ...

now, who should win?

Worked for me.

[Lil Missy]

26. Good for you!

IT's been almost 6 years for me and I still get an occasional craving for a smoke. It does get better though. I started going for a walk every day, any activity helps.

Hang in there!

[arcane1]

27. That's a savings of app. $840 :)

At the risk of sounding discouraging, the dreams decrease in frequency, but in the end you still might have them once every month or two. But as they decrease in frequency, they also decrease in intensity

[olddots]

28. I have been throat cancer free for a few years but still like the smell

of a freshly lit ciggarette out doors but its no big deal hopefully we will live to forget all our habits .

[rurallib]

29. Quit 40 years back

Had the dream for decades, but the frequency slowed way down over the years. Started at @ 1/month
When I first quit I would wake up in a cold sweat after I had that dream.

Last time I had the dream was maybe 3 years ago.

but damn I am so happy I quit

[Aerows]

31. My sister and her family came down

They are enough to make Job give in.

You know what, though?

In the face of that amount of stress - I DID NOT SMOKE.

That tells me that I am done.

I wanted to, but now that they are gone, not so much.

God help me, my sister could trigger anybody - she was trying to do it, too. I had to put my foot down.

She's an incredible asshole when she is trying to prove she is a better daughter than me.

Between her husband infecting my mother's computer, and her being strangle worthy, I fucking need therapy after she visits.

[raccoon]

32. Those dreams will become much less frequent, IME.

Kudos to you for quitting!

[DFW]

33. Some of my friends who quit said it took 18 months before they had no further cravings

That monkey will be on your back for a while.

When the smell of cigarette smoke makes you gag and feel sick, when you start to think of it as something that stinks rather than has a pleasant aroma, THEN you'll know you're free.

Like the bumper stickers used to say, "Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray." When you start to think like that, you've made it.