Quitting Smoking

I have been cigarette free for 9 yrs 8 month - I smoked for over 20 years and quite the day before my 36th birthday. I used Chantix for the first month, but then it was sheer willpower after that (my insurance didn't pay for Chantix back then). I regret the 20 years I smoked and have not looked back once. Once I got to the one month mark I just kept telling myself I have made it this long, I can keep going. I will say that for the first year I was a complete shut-in, I never went outside to just enjoy being outside. I never smoked in my house, so being outside for me was where I would go and smoke, and it was hard to be outside and not smoke once I quit. It took about a year for me to not equate the outdoors with smoking - but it was an obstacle. You will need to find a new normal, and stick with it. Best of luck to you - you can do this!

I'm about 14 months out from a cold turkey quit. Smoked for about 25 years before that. Willpower is all it is. If you don't want to quit, you won't quit. If you really want to quit, you won't need any aids.

The first week sucks, the second week is better. The third and fourth week suck worse than the first. By month 2 you'll start the road to recovery but won't really feel truly normal again until 3-5 months afterwards.

I still have times where I could go for a cigarette but they pass quickly and are pretty easy to manage.

Now that I haven't smoked in a long time, I'm amazed at the difference in my lungs. I'm still consistently amazed at how easy it is to breathe and how much oxygen I can get into my lungs with each breath. I would never go back. On reflection I can't believe how hard it was to breathe when I was a smoker and how wheezy I had become performing even simple tasks like climbing steps or speaking in front of large audiences.

I smoked for 22 years and quit in 2011 at 36, so not far off from you. I decided it was time to stop when I wanted to start exercising more and realized I couldn't handle it with my breathing, it'd gotten so bad. So I went and bought a ton of the gum and smoked my last cigarette sometime in the first week of April that year.

I ended up not needing the gum after the first week. I returned all but the one box I'd opened to the store and haven't had a cigarette since. It's really about getting through the first week or so of physical cravings, at least it was for me. I didn't use smoking as a crutch for anything else, I just really enjoyed it, so once I got past the physical need for it, it was smooth sailing.

For years I still loved the smell of cigarettes, though, but that finally passed after about year seven. I can't stand the smell now.

I smoked since 1994, stopped in 2014, i just got sick and tired of it, i had a pack of marlboro that had 18 sticks and i left it on my bedroom desk, it was just there for months until i just trashed it for good, i had no desire to take another puff.

Dont get me wrong though, i used to try to quit and couldnt as i felt addicted many times before over the 20 years that i smoked, it just so happened that i just got tired of smoking and that was that.

I was never a smoker but I dipped Copenhagen for 20 years. I agree that it's very mental. I used to complain about how hard it was to quit and always claimed I wanted to quit and/or was trying to quit. I can tell you the day that I stopped...

My mother was sick with cancer. I was visiting her in the hospital. It was one of those days when she was sleeping and I was just sitting in the room with her. A thought entered my mind. I thought, "I'm sitting here watching my mother die of cancer. I'm putting something in my mouth every day that may one day kill me. An intelligent person wouldn't do this."

I placed my snuff can in the trash at that moment. I haven't had another dip in now almost 20 years. The first week was terrible - after that it's about the habit. You just have to choose not to smoke (or dip). I won't lie - I still have an occasional craving. I'll catch myself patting my hip pocket to see if there is a can there. I find it funny - now.

You CAN quit. You just have to truly decide that's what you want.

I quit after using tobacco products from age 13 to around 38ish.

I just never wanted to fully quit.

One day my daughter told me she didn't like it. I made a deal with her I would never touch a cigar or cigarette again if she promised to never try any tobacco products ever. She promised and I quit. It was pretty easy with her support and promise.