I QUIT !!!

[SmokinAl]

Congrats to all of you!!

 

[lovinspoonful]

I started when I was 12 and smoked a pack a day plus or minus of Marlboros until I was 45, so that means I've been smoke free for 6 years now.

I had tried to quit so many times I can't count. I always had at the ready the smoker's joke "I can quit anytime I want...I've done it thousands of times."  I tried the patch, gum, etc. I would go maybe 5 days and be ready to chew my arm off. Or my wife, who had quit when she was 21, would say "If it means you being such an #$$%@# then maybe it's not worth it." and I would start up again.

Then one day I just stopped, cold turkey. Had a few rough days but after that first week I was OK. To this day I don't know what it was that made it possible. It was not the smell or the money or anything else. Something in me just flipped like a switch. I look back on it and am very grateful.

Even 6 years on I'm aware of the damage that smoking did to my body. My sense of smell seems rather impaired (but thankfully not my sense of taste!) and while I run now about 20 miles a week and bicycle another 20, clearly my lungs are not what they should be. But better late than never.

Saddest of all, my two daughters, 21 and 18 both smoke. I count the fact that they saw me smoke when they were growing up as being partly responsible. They both quipped "Oh we'll quit when we're 25, it's OK" and I nod a bit sadly, knowing that with each passing year it becomes that much harder for that to come to pass.

 

[sunman76]

WOW you guys got some great storys!

way to go for sure

congrats!

 

[rbranstner]

Congrats to you all. I'm glad I never started smoking but I have several family members who do and also have several family members who have quit and I have seen how hard it is for them but once they finally quit for good they are so much happier. Keep at it you can beat it.

 

[custom99]

I am now nine years since quitting cold turkey. Still have not been able to find that extra money from a pack and a half a day that I should be saving.

 

[flareside92]

I started smoking when I was 14 and am now 50. I have tried several times to quit but could never do it. 7 years ago my wife had a lung collapse and I stopped smoking cold turkey. (for 3 weeks).

Our friends and family knew we had quit smoking and agreed to smoke in the garage or outside. one day I found out my wife had been out smoking with everyone. Thinking I could use a little revers psychology I went and bought a pack and started up again.

We had both smoked for a long time but my wife seemed like she would get sick about every 2 or 3 weeks after she had her lung surgery and the Doctors all said 'you have to stop smoking'.

Now I honestly don't believe you can blame everything on smoking but on December 5th 2010 we decided we were finished.

She had been taking the chantix and I did it cold turkey.

I think about having a smoke every day but I have yet to give in.

Now I tell everyone yes I do smoke, but it's been awhile since I've had a cig.

 

[Bearcarver]

I think I should add a story to show a smoker can't be blamed entirely on their kids smoking:

I started smoking at 13. I went to Vietnam smoking less than a pack a day, and came home smoking close to 3 packs a day.

Then we had a Son in 1972. I went on to average 2 packs a day until 3 1/2 years ago (46 years of smoking!)

When my Son was about 4 years old, he started drawing stick people. He would always draw one for me, with stick legs & stick arms, and a round head & an oval body.

He would draw a heart in the chest area, and a big black scribble next to the heart.

He'd say, "Dad, this is you!"

I would point to the heart, and say "What is that?"

He'd say, "That's your heart".

I'd point to the big black scribble in the chest, and I'd say, "What is that thing?"

He'd reply, "That's your lungs, and they're Black, from smoking!  You better quit Dad!!!"

We all know Mrs Bear had a lot to do with that!

But---My Son is now 39 years old, and has never smoked, so you could say, with the help of Mrs Bear, my smoking actually had an adverse effect on his becoming a smoker.

Bear

 

[SmokinAl]

Good story Bear!

 

[nwdave]

I think about having a smoke every day but I have yet to give in.

Now I tell everyone yes I do smoke, but it's been awhile since I've had a cig.

I found when I was really quitting, I'd come across situations in daily life and the urge to smoke was very strong.  After reflection, I finally realized that the particular situation was one of the times when I usually smoked a cigarette or two.  Believe it or not, one of the strongest times was when I was out tilling the garden or pulling weeds or whatever maintenance needed doing.  Another was when driving to work (about 20 miles one way).  Once I started making the association to the urge, it then became easier to work through the urge.  However, the first year is the toughest, and as I remember, the urges still would pop up 5-8 years down the road.  As time goes by, it'll get better, but the truth is it's a bitch.  We know, we've been down that road.  Hang in there.  If the urge seems overwhelming, try to figure out why.  Is it because you've stopped by to have a brew with the guys and you always smoked then, before?  Look for the why of the urge.  It sure helped me.
 

 

[downhometarheel]

Did you hear about the preacher in Winston-Salem who preached his last sermon on the evils of tobacco?

 

[Bearcarver]

I forgot to mention:

There were actually only two times that I smoked-----

#1   When I was alone.

#2   When I was with someone.

And Dave is right---3 1/2 years, and I still get the urge:

When driving

After a big meal

After completing a frustrating job

While mowing yards (on tractor)

Snow blowing

Etc

Etc

Bear

 

[rbargoalie19]

In 1.5 months it will be my 2 year anniversary of being smoke free.  It took me several failed attempts before this last attempt was successful.  It always seemed like I would be able to quit anywhere from 2 - 6 months cold-turkey then something would happen that would cause me to start smoking again.  The last 2 times I used Chantix, the first attempt failed after 4 months and this last time appears to have worked for good.

I started smoking when I was 13 and was smoking anywhere from 1 to 2 packs a day.  Deducting all of the times that I tired quitting before, I would say that I smoked for roughly 29 years.  Every once in awhile I still get a craving to light one up and just ignore it and the urge disappears in about 1 minute.  This may seem kind of weird, but I still enjoy the smell of being around someone that is smoking.

Now if I could just get my wife to quit.  She attempted to quit at the same time I did the last 2 times, but has not been successful.  Maybe one day she to will see the light and quit.

 

[meateater]

I forgot to mention:

There were actually only two times that I smoked-----

#1   When I was alone.

#2   When I was with someone.

And Dave is right---3 1/2 years, and I still get the urge:

When driving

After a big meal

After completing a frustrating job

While mowing yards (on tractor)

Snow blowing

Etc

Etc

Bear

I would get the knee jerk reaction after I quit. I would reach for a pack that wasn't there. That lasted about the first year. 

 

[smokinstevo27]

HAHA. It aint like that here now brother. The city built on the back of tobacco is now majority anti tobacco. The irony is thicker than the smoke.

 

Did you hear about the preacher in Winston-Salem who preached his last sermon on the evils of tobacco?