Previous Smokers .... I just quit and I'm miserable - any SUCCESS Stories ?

Went cold turkey 38 years ago, after a bad dose of the flu, cigarettes tasted fowl so I didn't smoke for 4 days and then thought I'm over the worst part of stopping so I'll try to give it up again, haven't smoked since, Good Luck

i quit and made a healthy lifestyle was smoking almost a pack a day for years, an when I quit and started running i could run for less then 60 seconds , took out my urge to smoke on running, then about 1 1/2 months ago I started getting into depression and started smoking the same amount and instead of going to gym 6=7 days a week id go once a week and gained 10 lbs, now about 4 weeks ago i quit an am running 40 minutes straight and can breath so much better, I fined when I quit smoking i need to sleep for a while, usually takes 4 days cold Turkey to kick the habit, its really is a gross habit, and expensive, coughing up nasty stuff and being addicted to some thing so unhealthy is really just not worth it, my dad is a huge smoker he smokes at least 2 1/2 packs aday since he was 11 he just quit last Saturday hes 58, im so proud of him, he had hard time breathing when he got a simple cold I think it really scared him, he started an inhaler thing, seems to be working, he also has emphysema and sleep apnea from smoking, you can do it!! fined a healthy habit

Congratulations on your decision to quit!! The good part is that you've passed through physical withdrawl, the battle now is to break the psychological habit, not so easy, but you've done it!!

After more far too many years of smoking (I stupidly started when I was 13), and far too many attempts at quitting, I've now been smoke free for just over 14 years. I was ready and I quit cold turkey. I felt like hell for the first week, and then it started to get better. I started knitting. A lot. Family and friends ended up with sweaters, scarves, hats, comforters, you name it. Puzzles worked as well. Just small things that keep your hands busy and your mind occupied.

After a month, I started to feel better. The morning cough was gone. My hair and clothing didn't stink, and in the long run, not only did I do something great for my health, I saved a huge amount of money!

Sorry about the breakdown, the 401 sucks at the best of times, never mind being stuck on the side waiting for CAA in the freezing temps we've had as of late. You can do it!

I stopped smoking at the end of November its been hard definitely but I feel so much better now!

It does get easier I only get occasional urges now and they pass quickly.

at first it is hard, but it gets easier, think of it this way, every cigarette that you do not smoke? that is money towards that fancy new handbag

joking aside, it gets easier, chew gun, mint, do stuff to take your mind away from smoking, keep your hands/fingers occupied

when me and my brother in law quit, we started looking after gold fish

get a box, everyday that you do not smoke, put in a £5

I quit 3 different times before I gave it up for good on my 4th try. It'll be 2 years at the end of this month since my last cigarette and honestly there are some days that I forget that I was a smoker for so long! It SUCKED in the beginning, especially when I was around other smokers, but now I don't even have cravings for them like I used to. I do still have dreams though, at least 1-2 times a month, that I've started again and each time I wake up SO mad at myself until I remember LOL. Things that helped me were Tic Tacs, the patch, candy crush on my phone (each time I wanted to go smoke I would play a game or two) and avoiding other smokers for a few weeks as best I could.

You're already 5 days in! You can do this! Keep strong. I'm pretty sure the irritability is normal, I turned into some psycho lunatic when I quit in 2012. It'll pass. It only gets easier from here on in.

saraonly9913 wrote: »

Chantix helped me. Smoke free since 2011.

Mom and Dad tried that, and it just gave him a bad case of PTSD (made him relive his hardest days of serving our country, vivid flashbacks of ‘Nam).

Try to avoid situations where you would usually smoke. I was a pack a day smoker and I quit right before a vacation. I was so busy on vacation and so taken out of my daily routine that it really wasn't too bad. Ok, maybe the wife and I got into an argument or 2 on that vacation because I was cranky, but it's been 21 years and I can't see myself going back.

WARNING: Long Post! I love talking about this!

Cold turkey is the hardest way to go, but whatever way gets you to quit is the BEST way to go.

I am 40. I started smoking at about 12, filching cigarettes from my grandmother's case during summer vacations. In middle school, I'd pay older kids to buy cigarettes for me (they were the "trashy" kids who had ways of getting stuff like that). When I got to high school, I stopped for a while, but by my senior year, I was smoking a pack a day.

In college, I was smoking until I found out I was pregnant. I quit cold turkey (the hardest way) the entire time I was pregnant. However, at my first hard test the semester after I gave birth, a guy offered me a smoke, and I was back on that wagon, for 4 or 5 more years.

I quit again after I graduated, this time choosing to wean myself - I'd have 10 smokes today, then 9 the next day, or 8 the following day... all this did was drag out the quitting process and it was actually the WORST way to do this! But, I was successful, and I was smoke-free for a few more years.

Then, in 2004, I had some family issues and all I could think about was smoking. I got a box of the cheapest, nastiest smokes I could find, thinking that (because they were so nasty) I'd have a few and be done.

Nope. Addiction doesn't work that way. I was hooked again within a week.

In 2006, we went on a family vacation to Chimney Rock, NC, and we hiked to the bottom of a waterfall. The trail was a decline, but I had to stop to rest halfway down because of smoker's lungs. I couldn't hike DOWN a trail. God help me, getting back UP the trail was hell. I decided it was time to quit. And time to quit for good.

I did a lot of research this time, and learned that quitting HEROIN is easier than quitting nicotine. I learned tips and tricks on how to handle quitting. I saw my doctor at the end of 2006 and she gave me a prescription for Zyban (or whatever it was called). It's an antidepressant that also helps people quit smoking. I was told to take it for a week before quitting, so I could build some up in my system. I planned out my quit so that it would happen on a Friday. I'm not a social creature, so the weekend would give me time to detox alone at home before going back to work. I flicked my cigarette out the window on the drive home from work (yeah, don't judge...) and never looked back. That was February 2, 2007. The weekend was hard. I desperately wanted a cigarette. I yearned for a smoke. But, because of the meds and my preparation, I was okay.

It's been almost 11 years since that weekend. I've never had the urge to put a stick back in my mouth. Sure, sometimes when I walk by someone who is smoking, it smells really (really!) good and I take a good deep breath, but I remind myself the hell I've put myself through, how much healthier I am for it now, and to begin smoking again is to negate the past 5 years of running (including 11 half-marathons and countless 10ks and 5ks).

I'm not a "non-smoker." I am a recovering addict. If I treat smoking the same way I would treat other drug addictions or alcoholism, I know that I can never "just have one" again. And I don't want one.

Okay, so some tips and tricks?
Have something to distract you - I was a Car Smoker. Automatic light up as soon as I got in the car. So, I put some Dum-Dum Pops in the place I used to carry my smokes. I would unwrap one as soon as I got in the car, and my eye would catch the little white stick hanging out of my mouth... like a cigarette. Sounds silly, but it worked.

Use treatments to your advantage - I read a weird tip that if you mixed cream of tartar with orange juice, it would help detox you faster. I don't' know if it really did or not, or if it was just placebo effect, but I did it for 3 or 4 days, and I felt like it did help.

Chart your progress - I don't remember where I found it (it's been 11 years), but I found a website that shows what is happening to your body 1 minute / 1 hour / 1 day / 1 week / 1 month / 1 year - all the way up to TEN YEARS - after you stop smoking. It was fun to put little check marks by the milestones.

Reward yourself - For the first 2 months, I did something every week: I bought myself flowers. Back then, you could get a dozen roses from the Fresh Market (like Whole Foods) for $8. It was nice to come home to fresh flowers all the time. After the first 2 months, I did it every month. I remember about 4-5 months into this process, I came home and SMELLED THEM when I walked by! You don't realize what smoking does to you until the effects change. I had not been smelling these the whole time until I got my sense of smell back! After 6 months of doing this, I changed to every year, then did that for maybe 2 more years. Soon, it became a day to go out for dinner and celebrate. Last year (my 10th), I bought roses again (dude, they were $14!) and ran my 10th half marathon.

Please know that you (or anyone else on here who has/will quit and needs a quit buddy) can DM me at ANY TIME. I'm not that sanctimonious person who tells you what to do; I'll be the person who you can *kitten* to about how hard it is and help you through the cravings.

Whew! That was longer than I expected...

I went from a pack a day smoker to quitting cold turkey... it was the same day I was diagnosed with cancer. No one ever thinks it will happen to them until it does.