need help from FORMER SMOKERS!

I smoked for 20 years and I knew I wanted to make changes with my life and quitting smoking was the first.
I quite cold turkey Aug 2010 and have never looked back.

For me I was never ready to quit just like I was never ready to lose weight.

Here I am 3.5 years later still smoke free and 70lbs lighter !

Cold turkey. When I was ready.

I quit December 24th- I was really sick at the time so I didn't want one at all. Once I got to feeling better, the cravings were still strong (mentally) during things that I've always had a cigarette in hand during like coffee, driving, drinking, etc. I got some of those mini-lozenges- they taste disgusting so I think twice before I pop one in my mouth. The cravings are getting less and less each day.

Also, I really want to start a family so the desire to quit is strong.

Feel free to add me for support. Good luck!

As with most of the other responders I did it cold turkey. Now towards the end I was only smoking about 5 cigarettes/day at the most so it wasn't as drastic of a stoppage. The cigarettes had started making me feel sick if I smoked too much the last few years I smoked. That being said I did feel some side effects when I stopped. You just have to sort of bare that for a while but your body will adjust. Just get rid of everything and tell your loved ones you are serious about stopping and you need thier support no matter how crazy you get. If it is really that horrible you may want to seek some professional help becuase there could be underlying mental health issues driving some of this.

I smoked at least a pack a day until I was 30. My grandma was on oxygen (from smoking) and went in to the hospital on July 2, 1998. When I got to the hospital, she was fighting for air. I threw my cigarettes in the trash there at the hospital. She passed the next day. I haven't smoked since. It was tough but I did it. This losing weight thing has been tougher though. It's still kicking my @$$.

The night I quit I bought a fresh pack of Marlboro Lights. I smoked one after another until I thought I was going to puke. Threw the remaining pack and lighters away. Went cold turkey. I was ready to quit. I was an *kitten* for a couple weeks after but it all leveled out. That was 123109. Good luck! It's a wicked habit to break.

This is what worked for me.

You know the cigarette that just tastes "bad" and makes you feel icky? (It usually happens in the middle of the pack). The one where your lungs feel heavy, and dirty, and your stomach lurches? And you think to yourself "ew, this is gross". When you have THAT SMOKE, dunk the rest of the pack in water to completely destroy them, and then throw them away. Count this as day zero on your calendar.

When you get your next urge for a cigarette - break your usual habit pattern and do something completely new and different. Get out of your old routine into a new routine. Isolate yourself from other smokers / your smoking buddies for the first little while to reduce the temptation.

Every day that you're smoke-free, count off the day on your calendar. Expect to have a few relapses and don't beat yourself up when they happen. Just restart the next day as day zero again. You could also set yourself a reward for XX days without a cigarette. Eventually, your day count will get big enough that your desire to keep your streak going is worth more to you than having a cigarette.

This method will also translate well to starting on MFP and logging daily calories. I was up to 300 consecutive days until an international trip kept me offline. I feel a great sense of accomplishment when my week's overview of calorie consumption is all "green". And the positive reinforcement from the scale certainly doesn't hurt!

The first time I quit was with an e-cIG, I would have been smoke free for 3 years this January but I got stressed and made a stupid mistake and started again. I am 3 days smoke free today using an e-cig is the only thing that gives me that oral fixation satisfaction.

Maybe you just need to try a different e-cig, do some research see which ones are safe and FDA approved. They work and I would recommend them to anyone trying to quit. Oh and the ones I use contain 0 nicotine.

Sorry to hear the e-cig didn't work. That's how I quit, even though it says right on there "this is not designed to help you quit smoking." Isolation also helped me. I work with another guy who was (is) smoking. I couldn't quit knowing he was right there in the truck, 4 ft. away, smoking it up. I was only able to quit when he went on vacation. Best of luck, and stay strong. I feel so much better for having quit. Smoke free since 9/13.

I went cold turkey about 16 months ago, after smoking for 25 years. My thought (and many disagree with me but so what?) is that if you're going to use an e-cigarette why bother quitting at all? But I digress...

When I quit, I totally went crazy. I couldn't sleep because my body was vibrating from all the energy I had. I cried for weeks. The only thing that saved me was working out hard. I didn't know where else to put that energy. Also "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" by Allen Carr helped me and about ten of my friends. Amazing book, available online everywhere.

You can do this. If I can do it, so can you. Be prepared to take your first real down-to-the-bottom-of-your-lungs deep breath since you started. Smokers can't do that. It's a life change but it sounds like you're ready.

I smoked for over 15 years, over a pack a day. I would cut down, only smoke when I drank, then start back up full time again.

When I finally quit, it was cold turkey. I read the book, "Easy Way" by Allen Carr and it just hit home. When you are finally ready to quit, you will.

I was a crazy person for about 2 weeks and eventually I got back to normal, well, my normal. I still crave them from time to time, but always come back to the fact that if I have just one, I'll end up a full time smoker once again.

Good luck to you!

E-Cigs didn't help me. In fact, they made me long for the regular cigarettes.

Reading Alan Carr's book, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" was the magic bullet for me.

Until then, I would feel like I was depriving myself of something every time I tried to quit or temporarily quit in the past. Ultimately, I'd allow myself to smoke again.

This time, after reading his book, (which is a super fast, easy, inexpensive read) I feel like I've gained everything by quitting and I have not had any moments of panic, wishing I could have a cigarette.

When my friends at our local go outside for one, I am 100% not tempted at all.

It could be worth trying if you're really committed to quit. It's helped millions of people.

p.s. I tried ecigs, nic gum, cold turkey, etc. and failed every single time.

**after I submitted, saw the poster right above me and what a similar story! I quit October 18, just about the same time as she did...coincidence!

I smoked for 25 years and can not count the number of times I quit, and started again. I tried everything on the market to, but nothing worked....until the Ecig. I was not planning on stopping smoking, just moving my habit to the ecig but one day after 6 months of having the thing, I realized I had not smoked in 2 months.

You may have had a higher dosage of nicotine than you needed, that is why you were having chest pains. One thing to keep in mind is that traditional cigarettes are filled with addictive additives other than nicotine, that is why we like are certain brands. So we withdraw not only from nicotine, but all the other crap they put in there as well.

I tried cold turkey, every week for the last 10 years, it just did not work for me.

I also recommend bee pollen when you do finally become cig free as it helped me with my insatiable appetite when I quit. I could not stop eating. I gained 8 lbs then when I discovered bee pollen, it changed my world in ways I can not explain. It is not a diet pill, so I ate, just reasonably. I also did not have allergies when spring rolled around. You can get it at GNC if interested.

I smoked my last cig on April 28th 2013. Spent a week with an eCig before I realize I was still doing basically the same thing. Used the patch for about 1 month before I realized In order for me to quit, I had to quit everything. I smoke from the age of 11 to 38 and I probably quit 1000 times. Sadly you will only quit when you are TRULY ready. No one can give you the answer as to when you will be ready. Obviously continue to try and when you are ready it will work however you decide to do it.