By jct

November 14, 2008 8:28 AM | Link to this

Quit 6 years ago cold turkey after 20 years of smoking. It was hard but worth it.

By lylone

November 14, 2008 8:32 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking about 4 years ago and are glad I did. I smoked all through college and afterward. was never a chain smoker, but more of a social smoker. A few months after I quit it seemed like I was sick all the time, but my health imporved and now I feel better than I ever did. The hardest thing was trying some other way to deal with stress. It has been hard and trying to now replace smoking with exercise.

By lylone

November 14, 2008 8:34 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking about 4 years ago and are glad I did. I smoked all through college and afterward. was never a chain smoker, but more of a social smoker. A few months after I quit it seemed like I was sick all the time, but my health imporved and now I feel better than I ever did. The hardest thing was trying some other way to deal with stress. It has been hard and trying to now replace smoking with exercise.

By lylone

November 14, 2008 8:36 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking about 4 years ago and are glad I did. I smoked all through college and afterward. was never a chain smoker, but more of a social smoker. A few months after I quit it seemed like I was sick all the time, but my health imporved and now I feel better than I ever did. The hardest thing was trying some other way to deal with stress. It has been hard and trying to now replace smoking with exercise.

By Stoppit

November 14, 2008 8:38 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking in June befoe a back surgery in July.Four days after the surgery I had a major heart attack.I still have not smoked since June, but I still have some cravings.One thing I feel good about is that several friends have also quit too.

By smoke free

November 14, 2008 8:39 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking 3 years ago after smoking for 20 years, pack+ a day for 18 of those 20 years. I knew it was bad, I knew all the health issues, and I had “smokers guilt”.

I tried to quit periodically, but it would only last a few days to up to a month. I was addicted, and as strange as it may sound to anyone who has never smoked, I LIKED smoking. Both my parents smoked their entire lives, and in their later years developed health issues related to their smoking. My mother died from a smoking related illness, and that was what made me physically and mentally WANT to quit smoking.

I quit cold turkey the day of her funeral. Every time before that I had tried to quit was horrible - the cravings, the mental obsession with not smoking, the constant self bargaining of “I’ll have just one more”, etc. It was hell. But when I quit for good, the day I threw away what was left of my last pack, I never had another thought of smoking again. No cravings, no thoughts….it was as though I had never smoked or been addicted. I was very lucky that my final quit was not difficult, because I know how hard it can be. I think I had reached a point physically/mentally/spiritually where I was ready, and I think I had some help from above. 3 years later, it is the best thing I ever did for myself.

There are many ways to quit, my method is not for everyone, but if you smoke, and you are ready to quit, never stop trying. You may fail many times, but you only need to succeed once. Keep looking for that one success. You won’t regret it.

By Trina

November 14, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this

I quit with the patches. I love not smoking. You have to be ready to do it though. Once you see there is life without a cigarette you love it. Good luck to all and YOU CAN DO IT!

By ATLQuiter

November 14, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this

Quitters never win

By CC

November 14, 2008 8:42 AM | Link to this

I quit almost three years ago cold turkey. I did have help from a website, whyquit.com. the website is free to all. There I found the education to quit cold turkey without prolonging my addiction to nicotine. I did it hour by hour. It was not easy. I am so thankful I found that website.

By clyde

November 14, 2008 8:46 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking eons ago.So long ago I couldn’t even estimate the time.

By onlycritter

November 14, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this

I quit after 20 years using the Chantix pill. The first two weeks were bad, the next two were better, and so on. I have been smoke free for 16 months, have started running 4-6 miles every other day. The only regret is the weight. I gained 15 pounds in a month and have not been able to get them back off.

By MisterChCk

November 14, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this

I “stopped” smoking last year. Can’t say that I quit since I’ll smoke a good Cuban if they’re being passed out. What helped me stop smoking cigarettes? Commit lozenges and their generic counterparts. Like most of y’all, I replaced smoking with exercise…swimming laps in the morning before work. Believe me, you’ll appreciate not smoking when you swim a mile every morning.

By MisterChCk

November 14, 2008 8:57 AM | Link to this

I “stopped” smoking last year. Can’t say that I quit since I’ll smoke a good Cuban if they’re being passed out. What helped me stop smoking cigarettes? Commit lozenges and their generic counterparts. Like most of y’all, I replaced smoking with exercise…swimming laps in the morning before work. Believe me, you’ll appreciate not smoking when you swim a mile every morning.

By Chris

November 14, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this

It’s been almost 6 months since I finished smoking. I had smoked for over 20 years at about 1.5 to 2 packs a day. I’ve tried many times before without longterm success. I feel positive I’ve kicked it this time with the help of Chantix. It really works. I’ve not had the urge for a smoke this time at least not near as bad as before. Despite the moodiness and severly upset stomach, Chantix really works and I highly recommend. You just have to stick with it.

By Wheezer

November 14, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this

I smoked from age 15 until I was 64. Knew I should quit but was realy hooked. Quit cold turkey after I had by-pass surgery. Feel much better for having done it but could be much better off health wise if I’d done it sooner and maybe could have avoided surgery.

By marlboro red

November 14, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this

I quit cold turkey in 1989, after 10 years. It was hard but worth it! I started at 17, when all my friends smoked. As I grew older and made new friends, fewer and fewer smoked and eventually became such a pain to smoke because everyone moaned and groaned so I finally quit. Every now and then, I crave a smoke but it passes.

By bonbon

November 14, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this

I have only stopped smoking a month now! i am on the patch. Next week I drop down to the 7mg. My husband thinks that I could do without them too but I’m scared of the nicotine withdrawals. (been there). I have broken the habit part of smoking but I still have the desire sometimes, like when I’m just sitting there in the living room watching t.v and would light up in the past. Now when I get the urge I just get up and do something to take my mind off of it! I’m glad I quit or stopped smoking! I am an asthmatic and a dummy for starting in the first place but it didn’t start bothering me until just recently when I started using my “puffer” up to three times a day. I would lay down to sleep at night and keep myself up weezing! I’m only 44 and I want to live a long time. I can do this and I will do this for me!! I feel so much better now that I can breath. haven’t used the puffer in weeks!
I shoot pool on a league in a bar once a week and had to skip it for two weeks because of the smoke there but went last week and did great! actually the smell of cigarette smoke is nausiating! Never thought i would say that! good luck to all and believe me, if I can do it, you can too! Lets put those tobacco companies out of business. They are killing us by keeping us addicted!!

By Smokehouse

November 14, 2008 9:15 AM | Link to this

I tried to quit about 50 times, but these cigarette companies keep doing all these ads showing people smoking, so I keep going back. Plus, all my friends smoke and when I get to the clubs late at night, everyone’s smoking—-so I probably will just keep on.

By Meredith

November 14, 2008 9:15 AM | Link to this

I quit 11 years ago and haven’t touched a cigarette since. Hypnosis did it for me as it completely takes away the desire. I didn’t gain a pound!

By Michele

November 14, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this

I quit five years ago (32yo) after many attempts. I recommend the book “The Lazy Person’s Guide to Quitting Smoking”.

I no longer crave cigarettes in the least, but I’ll be the first to admit that quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The great thing is how empowering it feels to have done it.

By CAP

November 14, 2008 9:23 AM | Link to this

I quite smoking 21 years ago after smoking since I was 15 or so for 20 years………..I actually could not envision a life without cigarettes! I started doing aerobics with some girls from work and decided I wanted to be healthy! So I quit cold turkey, not easy after all those years I can say! I went through withdrawal, couldn’t sleep, was hyper….but it was so worth it and I began to envision a life before cigarettes and knew I could live without them! I cannot emphasize how happy I am that I quit those nasty things….now I cannot stand to be around cigarette smoke! (they say reformed smokers are the worst) The bottom line is, and listen out there you people who are trying to quit, you have to TRULY WANT TO QUIT! You can do it if you really want to! You will be so happy you did!

By lylone

November 14, 2008 9:25 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking about 4 years ago and are glad I did. I smoked all through college and afterward. was never a chain smoker, but more of a social smoker. A few months after I quit it seemed like I was sick all the time, but my health imporved and now I feel better than I ever did. The hardest thing was trying some other way to deal with stress. It has been hard and trying to now replace smoking with exercise.

By Kitty

November 14, 2008 9:36 AM | Link to this

My Husdand I quit 14 months ago. WE made the decision after my father in law was diagnosed with Brain and Lung cancer. He was a smoker, too. He passed away in August. I’ll never smoke again. Oh, I did’nt gain any weight. I have lost 50 since quitting and my hubby has gained 40, LOL.

By Nixon

November 14, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this

I think smoking is THE nastiest thing. It just grosses me out to see someone with a stupid cigarett hanging out of their mouths. And the stench. GROSS.

I hate it when people are smoking right outside a store. You have to walk right through their smoke to get in. Rude.

Smoking is gross PERIOD. NO ONE looks cool smoking. You look like an idiot.

And it really bothers me when I see someone smoking inside a car with kids in the car. STUPID.

Ya’ll smell and your teeth are yellow.

By BROWNE

November 14, 2008 9:42 AM | Link to this

I quit a year ago and the hardest part was just deciding to do it. After about a month The cravings went away and I never thought about going back. Although it it really not the ideal situation, being around friends that smoke does not bother me either. I smoked for twenty years and hopefully I will not have any health problems later, I am also an avid runner. I think that it is generally easier for folks to quit now because smoking is seen as being uncool and people ridicule people who have to go outside in the middle of winter to “enjoy” their disgusting habit. I just wish it were that way twenty years ago.

By Mutter

November 14, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this

I took CHANTIX, and it worked WONDERS! I called it my mind control pill. My quit day was Feb. 14th, valentines day, for the heart. I haven’t had one since. Not only did CHANTIX help me stop smoking, but I think it helped motivate me to go to the gym regularly and eat healthier. I had smoked for 15 years and tried many times to quit cold turkey, and also tried the patch, and the gum.

Hey….today is my 9 month anniversary of no smoking!

By RealityKing

November 14, 2008 9:54 AM | Link to this

“About half of people who start smoking as teens, die early, often in middle age.”

What!? The first part of this sentence is completely unrelated to the second. Obviously statistics needs to be added to that journalism curriculum too..

By Joel

November 14, 2008 9:58 AM | Link to this

There is another zone within your brain that you will find using Chantix. BEWARE!!

By AtlQuitter

November 14, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this

Funny Mutter- I quit on Feb 20th with Chantix as well. I went a good 5 months or so without smoking and have had a handful if cigs since, mainly when I drank to much! But I have no desire to smoke anymore like I once did, I use to smoke from when I woke until I went to bed for 15 years. I am guessing after the first of the year I will never have one again, I think I have out of curiosity to remember what it was once like to smoke, but it is gross and made me puke one time.

By itpdude

November 14, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking 12.5 months ago. I still miss it sometimes because I truly enjoyed smoking. I enjoyed the first morning smoke, checking out the news and taking the dog for his walk. I could put up with the smoky clothes and having to brush my teeth a lot more and chewing gum all the time as masks. Smoking was that enjoyable to me. But the downside with the cancer and emphysema is enough to kill all that joy. I miss smoking but I don’t miss the health downsides.

By Marlboro Man

November 14, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this

I smoked from 14 to 49 and tried everything to help me quit, nicotine gum, patches and Wellbutrin. I tried Chantix last January and have been off the cancer sticks since then. It’s true Chantix isn’t for everybody. They used to say that about Camel filters too.

By 4yrs strong

November 14, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this

I didnt think I could do it, but after I found out I had high blood pressure, I knew it was time. It was hard,very hard, I knew I had to do it after 30 something odd years…and I DID IT, cold turkey. It’s a great feeling. And now when Im around people that do smoke, omg, the smell is the worst, and just to think, I use to smell like that.

By EagleEye

November 14, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking 20 years ago this coming January 11th. It was the best thing I ever did and I can thank prayer for that. I have not had a desire for a cigarette since then. It has been so long that I hardly remember smoking. Starting smoking in the first place was the dumbest thing I ever did. Death from cancer due to smoking is the most horrible experience one can have. QUIT & STAY QUIT!!!

By Lucky2Quit

November 14, 2008 10:36 AM | Link to this

I’ve been smoke-free for 1 year, 8 months. I half-heartedly tried Chantix after failing to quit numerous times using the patch, the gum, the cartridges, etc. Chantix worked like a miracle! All you have to do is remember to take the pills. Had minor nausea. Don’t recall being suicidal or depressed at all - experienced nervousness when going through the nicotine withdrawals, but being able to smoke while kicking nicotine was great! I didn’t beat myself up if i smoked while still taking the pills. There came a day I just realized that cigarettes were nasty and I didn’t get anymore pleasure. I kept taking the pills for another month in case I had a relapse, but didn’t. Good luck!

By Shane

November 14, 2008 10:47 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking just before my 30th birthday - I’m well into 31 now and the quality of my life has improved tremendously. I smoked for 15 years and had tried to quit a couple of times with little success. I used Chantix to quit, but only for the first month - my doctor recommended I stay on it for 6 months, but I can only imagine what might’ve happened to my brain if I had - that stuff’s not something you wanna mess with long-term but it helps get over the initial hump. I highly recommend it, but really, the best thing you can do to accomplish quitting is to REALLY want to improve your life and to recognize what horrendous harm you’re doing to your body and life in general.

Mad kudos to all on the blog here who have quit! It’s rough, but it really is amazing and totally worth it.

By LW in BG

November 14, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this

I quit 14 months ago after chain smoking for about 20 years and I’m so glad I did. I read Allen Carr’s book “The Easy Method to Quit Smoking” (HIGHLY recommend it) and I used Chantix for about 4 weeks and that combination totally did the trick for me. Even the thought now of putting one of those things in my mouth again makes me feel like puking.

It was absolutely worth the withdrawal symptoms (which were neglible, really, for me) and the weight gain (which I’m now diligently working on reversing) to be able to take long, deep breaths any time of the day or night without any weezing or rattling in my lungs. DANG that feels great! Quitting’s made me feel like I can accomplish I want to in my life. I highly recommend it.

(And my kids are sooooo thankful their mom doesn’t smell like an ashtray anymore!)

By LW in BG

November 14, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this

I quit 14 months ago after chain smoking for about 20 years and I’m so glad I did. I read Allen Carr’s book “The Easy Method to Quit Smoking” (HIGHLY recommend it) and I used Chantix for about 4 weeks and that combination totally did the trick for me. Even the thought now of putting one of those things in my mouth again makes me feel like puking.

It was absolutely worth the withdrawal symptoms (which were neglible, really, for me) and the weight gain (which I’m now diligently working on reversing) to be able to take long, deep breaths any time of the day or night without any weezing or rattling in my lungs. DANG that feels great! Quitting’s made me feel like I can accomplish I want to in my life. I highly recommend it.

(And my kids are sooooo thankful their mom doesn’t smell like an ashtray anymore!)

By RealityKing

November 14, 2008 11:24 AM | Link to this

I quit smoking because it was a pain in my wallet. Plain and simple. The health benefit is a hidden bonus at best. That’s statistically more dependent upon your life style, and genetics.

By quake

November 14, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this

I quit using Chantix as well, April will be two years. Some of the side effects were difficult to deal with, but it worked wonders…weaned myself off of it really slowly, just to make sure I wouldn’t start smoking again. I miss smoking sometimes, but never enough to pick up a cig again. And the smell of other people smoking is starting to annoy me, I hate coming home from a bar or club smelling like an ashtray….which I’d done for over 20 years.

By Shelley

November 14, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this

Nixon - ever heard of compassion? YOU are what’s wrong in our world today.

By MP

November 14, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

I am 54 and I have never had one. My mother died of lung cancer. My father smoked his whole life and tried to quit 100 times.

It’s disgusting to think about and I wish it would just go away. I haven’t met a smart person yet that smokes. They all stink inside and out!

By MWC

November 14, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this

A very dear friend or mine quit cold turkey after 40 years of heavy smoking. 2 years later he developed throat cancer,fought hard for a year, and died a miserable death. Just wanted to share.