I watched my Dad go the same way, from fit to dead in 6 months, I am sincerely sorry you are going through it.

The perverse thing is, I started smoking after I witnessed it ... strange decisions we all make sometimes ...

We watched his Father die the same way and I took care of his mother who died from lung cancer.

so much to say about this! I pray it helps. First, set a quit date and get a coffee can with a lid. Second, put every cigerette you smoke between now and then into the can. (make sure you put an inch of water in the can first). Once the quit date comes, get into the habit of going to the can (I kept mine in the refrigerator) and smell it and think about what you have been doing to your lungs, heart and overall body appearance. Change your habits, I had coffee in the shower with one of those cups with a lid. (You can't smoke in the shower,lol) When I craved a cigerette I would suck on a sugarfree hard piece of cinnomon candy, Bad news is I gained 60 pounds, but with hard work and determination always struggling to keep it off YOU CAN DO THIS! The doctor said it's better to gain the weight then put the nicotine and other 2001 chemicals into your body. (these days there are more chemicals then ever added) Trust me..... you can do this! I am pulling for you. You're worth it and so is your family. You want to live to fight not fight to live. God's many Blessings. YOU GOT THIS!

That seems like it would work but you can get nicotine poisoning. When I started smoking I would have one right before bed, go throw up, then go to bed. Its a wonder I wanted to smoke at all, but it just latches on to you.

I stopped for a couple of years then as college started, I started back up. I'm trying to quit for my partner and have been telling myself 'this is my last pack of straights/tobacco' so many times... *sigh* I dunno ._. But I smoke like 1-4/day. And also, I do have a small nicotine tolerance...

Hi Ayirela - I recently quit smoking on 5/15/2012. I was about a pack a day smoker for about 7 years or so. I woke up one morning and decided to make some life changes. Quitting smoking was at the top of my list. My mother-in-law had mailed me several packs of the nicotine packages and they had been laying around for several months now. Without thinking about it, I woke up one morning and slapped a patch on. Knowing that I would get extremely sick if I smoked with the patch on kept me from grabbing a cig throughout the day. The first day was hard i'll admit but it got easier. The first thing I did every morning when I opened my eyes was put on a patch - again, I felt as though what really helped me get through it was knowing I would get sick if I smoked with the patch on which is why I would put it on soo early in the morning. After several days, I got the hang of not smoking - I liked the feeling of not smoking so that kept me going. One day after about 3 weeks, I forgot to wear the patch. I thought for sure I was going to have a rough day - I DIDNT. The cravings were gone and I stopped wearing the patch. It has now been 6 weeks and I am smoke free and patch free although I do recommend doing the entire patch program for the heavy smokers or for anybody really. I just felt I could do without the darn irritating patch and I did. Along with quitting smoking, I started hitting the gym daily the same week I quit. This gave me motivation that I could do anything and it kept me going. It also prevented me from gaining weight from quitting smoking. The 2 life changes I made on the week of 5/14/12 have made me a better stronger person. If you need any advice or words of encouragement, please feel free to message me. Good luck with quitting - YOU CAN DO IT.

It is incredible what we do to ourselves ... I mean, I understand why I thought I needed to do it at the time and I would defend my position like most smokers would but looking back it was madness ... I didn't even stop due to health concerns, I just hated being addicted to something, being a slave ...

(edit) I have just realised my avatar is smoking a pipe ... Ah the irony :)

An we could call this the "Tequila" cessation method??

The only thing that worked for me was deciding that this was ONE thing in my crazy mixed-up life over which I have control - one day, I just got REALLY annoyed that I was the pawn of this major company, and its product was keeping me a slave!

i started really thinking about "why do i want this cigarette? What will it add to this situation? Is there another option I can engage to get through this moment?"

And it full-on sucked out loud for about two weeks. In the end, though, it's a drug, and I was tired of being an addict. I was tired of structuring my social life around where I could smoke. When I think now about having a cigarette, I remember how hard and painful it was to quit and how patient my partner was - and I don't want to put him through that again - so I don't give in.

(I was a pack-and-a-half a day smoker for 23 years. I quite 14 Jan 2010 and haven't regretted it for a moment.)

LAST TIME I SMOKED CIGARETTES WERE 65 CENTS A PACK!!
ARE YOU READY?????????
First, spend a week watching people smoke, save a weeks worth of cigarette ashes in a jar, brush your teeth often, put the cigarettes in 1 place and the lighter in another to have to go two locations to have your cigarette. Make yourself as aware of your habit. THEN,
Go buy 1 pack of YOUR BRAND of cigarettes.
Buy 1 jar of any large capsule product you can re-open and refill. Like gelatin capsules for your nails.
Or explain what you are doing to a sympathetic pharmacist.
Empty capsules. If full.
Open your cigarettes on a tray break open the cigarettes so you can get to the tabacco. Carefully cram both ends of tabacco in each capsule till over flowing. Use the eraser end of a pencil to push the tabacco deeper into the capsule. (If you can't get a pencil eraser into the capsule, the capsule is too small). Now with both ends over-flowing with tobacco, carefully combine them to close the capsule. There are air pockets between the tobacco pieces and when you combine them hold 1 end still and slightly turn twist the other end like your rolling it between your fingers. The two over-flowing ends will combine because of air pockets between the tobacco. Trim off any loose pieces of tobacco after you combine them sticking out of the capsule.
Make up at least 20 capsules or use the entire tobacco out of the pack you bought. When I quit I got up a 7 needed a cigarette by 7:05 swollowed 1 capsule by 7:10. The craving was history. Now your not going to do this for more then a week. It took 4 days for me. I took 9 the 1rst day 5 the 2nd day & 4 the 3rd & 4th day. Use them ONLY when you are ready to light up. Push yourself until you can't stand it time wise between capsules.
This is a crutch to get you off the tobacco and wean it out of your system.
It was unbelievable how well this worked.
Bad for you? Yes if you do this more then 7 days. ( I wouldn't do it for anyone who has stomach problems like an ulcer). But unlike the patches, gums, and other products that the nicotine level is too high or not high enough, this is dead on because it comes from the level in your cigarettes. But the long term effects of smoking are far worse then doing this for 1 week.
This will get the nicotine out of your system. You then need to address the psychological addiction of having something between your fingers and your mental addiction tithe cigarettes.
Every time I thought of going back to smoking, I remembered doing this and didn't want to do it again so I NEVER PICKED THE CIGARETTS BACK UP!!!!
I quit in the 80's!!!
I know it sounds crazy but it seriously worked for me!
Best of Luck!!
Amy S.

Maybe you could Volunteer with a Respiratory therapists or at a hospital in that department. This would be a good visual turn off towards Cigarettes, My mom has COPD.. it is not pretty and quite frightening when she has her spells when she cannot breath.

I have been planning to quit smoking this friday (tomorrow) but this thread convinced me to get serious about it. I just went to CVS and picked up their lozenges so I am completely prepared for tomorrow. Thanks for all of the ideas. I am a pack a day smoker and have been smoking for over 11 years. I need to have the willpower to quit for good this time.

My life insurance coat me $100 more (the premium) a month. That was enough to make me quit. Just stop, you don't love it. You love yourself.

A pretty stunning infographic is on Yahoo today:

http://finance.yahoo.com/photos/health-and-economic-consequences-of-smoking-slideshow/-photo-1340891145.html

I did NOT know some of those stats. YOWZA.

It sucks but cold turkey is literally the best way to do it, period. I've quit a hundred times too. I am sticking to it this time because I hate the way it smells, tastes, feels, everything about it. Not to mention its so damned expensive.


The commercials on tv really scare me with the tips from former smokers. YUCK.

Never took a puff of anything, I'm no help here. Keep on keepin' on..........

I did it with Chantix but I stayed on the beginning dose. It was only when I upped the dose the 2nd week that the nightmares and mania started. So I just went back down (actually thinking I was going to stop) and stayed there with no problems. I also liked the Stay Quit program that came with the Chantix.

On the other side of 4 months now, I gained 20 lbs. Thus here I am.

If I had to do it differently, I would have used toothpicks instead of hard candy and banana chips.

I still have days when I say I would rather smoke than be this fat. (I have never been over 200 lbs before) But I think its just the habit trying to find its way into my head again.

Good Luck. Its been the hardest thing I have ever done. Including give birth 3 times and gone through a heart wrenching divorce.