quitting the cigs

I started smoking 5 and a half years ago when I was 17. I've been nicotine free for nearly 2 weeks now, a personal record. I was wondering if any of you out there were able to kick the habit. How long did you smoke before you quit? How were you finally able to do it? Cold turkey, patch, hypnosis, genital mutilation, etc... How long until your lungs begin to expunge the brown nastiness purposely put there? The real test for me will be the next time I'm drunk, because beer and cigarettes go together like....well...beer and cigarettes :).

Do you play bass? Playing bass is always a great way to get your mind of something. Seriously, pick up a bass and try your luck at sweeping or doing complex bends on it sometime. It'll keep you busy for a while, unless you already have strong hands. If you don't you'll have hands like Ahnuld Swarzenfrickenspellinger in no time :)

Since I quit smoking I chew everything, pens, picks, finger nails, random stuff I find stuck to my shoes.... you name it. I started smoking at 15 and haven't really smoked since I was in my early 20's. I just went cold turkey, the patch wasn't really common back then so you just forced yourself to stop. Drinking in bars was by far the hardest part for me, I just couldn't hang out in a bar without a smoke. It does get easier over time though.
Good luck.

man, i smoked for 5 years too, started at the fine age of 19. I quit in august and it was easy. All you have to do is get right stone broke. I just couldn't hack being a student and paying the huge tax on those fkrs. Went cold turkey.. 4 days after I quit I got drunk and borrowed one from the Mike's Milk corner store chick, threw up because of it and said never again. Helps to be in a regulated environment, like working retail or something like that. I found anyway. Takes your mind off it.

Quitting smoking is the easiest thing, I've done it for more than 30 times. I think this was a thought of Mark Twain.
I've been smoking since 14(now I'm 20), and I've tried to quit sveral times. Last time was for 2 months. I think the important thing when you are quitting is to remember that there is no such a thing as "only one cigarett", either you are quitting or you are not...because after the first "only one cigarett" there comes another "only one cigarett" and then another and...you see my point.

After smoking a half-pack a day or more a day for about 15 years, I was able to cut back to 5 or 6 cigarettes a day. But I wasn't able to quit completely. Then my girlfriend dumped me for a guy half my age, and I figured I was messed-up enough that I wouldn't notice the nicotine withdrawal. That got me through two years. But I always thought of myself as a smoker who had stopped. Then I met my ex and she told me she was marrying the guy she had dumped me for. I bummed a smoke off her, and by the end of the week I was back to a half-pack a day.

I didn't finally get free until about five years after that. I was invited to a friend's wedding reception, held in a small Legion hall. There were about 150 chain-smokers in a 20 by 50 foot room. I had 3 cigarettes that Saturday night, and my chest hurt until the following Tuesday. The addiction is strong enough that I finished the remaining 4 cigarattes in my pack, but they tasted terrible, and I never bought another pack.

The difference this time around is that I think of myself a s a non-smoker. And I can't believe how bad cigarettes smell! When I was a teenager, my parents used to make a fuss about how bad I stank when I cam home from hangin' with my buddies. I thought they were just putting me down. 'Fact is, smokers can't tell that they smell like a burning garbage dump. I'm in no hurry to get back into playing gigs until there's a smoking ban.

I quit...every five minutes...

I was a few weeks without one once,and this kid offerd me a whole pack of butts...free.Well I took the damn butts and smoked them obviously...I mean totally free!What a way to start the vicious cycle aga...hold on...'spark'

well I'm done...

Later! \m/

I've started smoking at 14 , and kept doing it frequently for about 4 years... I wasn't really an addict during that period , I could easily quit for few weeks then come back again later ... I have to say that hanging out with smoking buddies isn't good if you really wanna quit .

The main reason that made me really hate smoking was thinking healthwise ... In the weeks I smoked heavily , I could get tired from doing stuff I normally do like jogging , swimming , going upstairs , etc. and I wasn't even 20 !

From my little experience , if you're serious about quiting , you shouldn't try smoking less cigs per day , or every other miserable "gradually quiting" plans you hear from your buddies ... It's either done once and for all , or never.

Originally posted by SLY
The main reason that made me really hate smoking was thinking healthwise ... In the weeks I smoked heavily , I could get tired from doing stuff I normally do like jogging , swimming , going upstairs , etc. and I wasn't even 20 !

For real dude. I hate that whistling sound my throat sometimes makes when I simply breathe. I think I'm done with those damn things forever. I've been home from college on Christmas break for a couple of days now, and my Mom is stressing me out. I bet if I can make it through the rest of this time, I can make it for good.

I was in that exact predicament last year at christmas, home on break! I didn't make it. You won't either unless you do exactly what I say. Go out and buy a large bottle of CR (Crown Royal). Now, drink that. And when you're done it, go get another and maintain a stable line between a decent buzz and out of control until the break is over. Then go to rehab. Easy.

2 weeks of straight drink won't require rehab i'm sure.

I have a feeling if I took your advice, I'd end up smoking a pack in about 10 minutes. I can't just drink and not smoke. It's too hard for me :(

Originally posted by daveasdf
2 weeks of straight drink won't require rehab i'm sure.

Rehab's for quitters

Originally posted by Leedogg
... I can't just drink and not smoke. It's too hard for me :(

The only hard part of drinking and not smoking is going home smelling like a dirty ashtray. :)

I stayed out of bars for the first two weeks for the same reason, but once you get that initial period behind you, it's no biggie.

Well I did 20+ a day for 15 years and successfully quit 3 years ago.

I went cold turkey and it was hell. Three years later I haven’t looked back and haven’t had so much as a sly toke even after 20 pints !

I can get as pissed as a rat and still not be bothered. I can sit in bars stone cold sober and it just don’t bother me. I still think fondly of them from time to time then I remind my self that they will make me ill (both in the short term and the long term).

However, it wasn’t always like that !

I had 3 months of climbing the walls and I wish I could tell you that there is a secret but there isn’t .

Except...... The hardest part is the first two or three weeks. That hurts like hell. REMEMBER THAT IF YOU ARE TEMPTED TO HAVE A SLY TOKE AFTER THAT. You will have to do it all again and that sucks ! Remember to tell your self that you will never have another toke again ever. End of story.

You can do it, you just have to really want to.

I'm still going strong guys. I had a huuuuuuuuge steak dinner tonight with my Dad and Stepmom and afterwards felt like smoking a cig really bad, but I kept telling myself the craving would pass and sure enough it did. I hope I'm quickly becoming a reformed smoker, the kind that all smokers wanna strangle.

Hang in there, man! Just be cool enough to not tell some hot young poon that her cigarette-breath reminds you of standing behind an idling schoolbus. :rolleyes:

I had the pleasure of expressing those very feelings to an ex who had recently dumped me during an earlier failed attempt at stopping.

Felt great, she was a very pretty cow !

Lordathestrings:

"I'm in no hurry to get back into playing gigs until there's a smoking ban."

Guess you won't ever be playing anymore gigs then. :P

Smoking ban coming into effect all over where I'm at, northern ontario. I used to be so against it but now I'm neutral. There's an odd sense of accomplishment that's associated with quiting but I also feel if I had a decent permanent income I'd start up again only to fight against this brainwashing that the whole country's been swept under. I've got every right to die how I want to.

...obviously their huge tax scheme worked for this mindless blue collar worker.