Originally Posted by Dianekkdi

I'm going to have to try that gum!

I quit smoking March 24, 1999. I love not smoking. It's terrific. I started at age 11. The idea of starting at age 7 is mind boggling. Wow.

You've got some great sensory flashbacks coming up once your sense of taste and smell start recovering. My first real scent of the ocean again was outstanding. It's like coming alive and falling in love again. Even the warm smell of parking lot asphalt in the summer heat brings back a Californian day memory from when I was a kid. I love those days. There's also the cool scent of a waning afternoon into evening just as the shadows are growing long across the grass. This scent is often so subtle that as a smoker it's just not discernable to you.

What helped me?

One, that urge--realize that after a while it's no different than having an urge for a piece of pie or a particular food of any sort. It passes.

Two, logic. Quitting smoking is logical. You know how people like to use that excuse, "you have to want to quit to be successful?" I used it for years. Nope, no way, and forget about it. You go to work most every day of every year, right? I know I do crap I don't want to do nearly every darned day. We do what we have to do. Bottom line: Wanting has nothing to do with anything. Logic helps.

Three, drink lots of water. Have a glass of water in your hand at all times. This helpful trick was passed on to me. It works. You get to have something in your hands. You are turning the urge from a drag to a sip of water. The water cleanses out the body faster. You'll also eat less and gain a little less weight.

Four, popcorn. air popped. Not the loaded calorie crap.

Five, remember that great ability to exhale frustration or just sigh with all that smoke and none the wiser? Fuck 'em. Exhale when you need to. Turn it into a yawn if need be, just get that building tension out of the body.

Exercise helps. One thing it most certainly does is let you know what an asshole you were for smoking all those years. My lungs have recovered nicely--but I know I did damage there. Yoga is great for getting rid of tension. Check out Rodney Yee, Power Yoga for Beginners. I like him.


Good luck! I kicked a thirty year habit of 3 to 3 1/2 packs a day. If I died tomorrow the effort it took was worth it. You can do it.

Originally Posted by Refuge51

Here's a banner: Nobody wants to kiss an ashtray!

Originally Posted by chrisbb

a former neighbor would go to a steam room. he stunk like tobacco after, but said he felt great

Originally Posted by Kanadesaga

GM, don't know if this will help, probably not but here is my story.
Started smoking at 11, at 29 or so I switched to "lights" and went from a pack a day to 3. I hated it, and every winter I got bronchitis, scary as hell not breathing. anywho, I wanted to quit, a friend told me how he did it and it worked for me too. In essence I brainwashed myself. I grew to hate cigs, I wanted to stop so bad. I gave up that last cig of the day, it is a ritual and breaking it was part of it. It was tough because sometimes that last cig of the day was the after sex cig. anyway, several months of that and one day cigs hit $2.00 a pack, that's $6 a day, $42 a week, you get the idea.

I went cold turkey. In fact, I went insane, decided that if I could quit while doing my other vices, which made me smoke more, 5 packs a day was not unusual, I could beat it. Three days later, $800 in cocaine, alcohol and marijuane, coupled with great sex with the mrs. and I was cured. I have never smoked a cigarette again.


Be prepare for the dream once you do quit.

Originally Posted by Chuckweirdstone

I quit after 35 yrs. I`v tried aversion theropy and every other way I could find. The patch worked for me and I haven`t smoked for 8 yrs. I faultered several times but kept at it. I did smoke a good deal more pot, but that was a plus. Don`t give up.

I went to a bar the other day asked the bar tender for a cig. Went outside and smoked it. It was as if I had never stopped. I got home and got sick for three days. It was terrible. If the patch is burning, you may be alergic. It burned me, but only for alittle while. When people asked me how it worked I would tell them you roll up the patch and smoke it. It taste so bad that it makes you want to quit. Quiting is the very best thing you could do for more reasons then I can count. Good luck.

I lost my 48 yr. old younger brother three years ago and my father two years ago. Both died of lung cancer.

Originally Posted by gorillamom

I just put on the nicotine patch, and got cinnomom sticks. I would really appreciate if anyone could bump this thread and encourage me when I'm on here. It's very hard. But I have to stick to it this time. The patch feels like fire on my arm, but beeter fire on the arm than cancer in the lungs. Thanks all.

Originally Posted by kblair7

You can do it GIRL!