Cigaretts

The thing with staying off cigarettes is that you have to use immediate incentives for immediate goals, at least for me. I tried convincing myself all the problems that will happen in the long run (lung cancer, yellow nails/teeth, lip wrinkles, etc.) The only thing that worked for me was exercise and having fitness goals. Once I was able to combat smoking with immediate effects like it interfering with my running that day, or decreasing my mile time, it helped me fight off that present craving. Its like fighting fire with fire: you want that cigarette right now so you have to put into a frame where it will contribute to problems right now, not down the road. Since I've started running, I became less dependent on cigarettes for stress relief and mood elevation and replaced that with exercise. Everyone is different though but I hope this helps!

I used the patches combined with willpower, and its been 10 months!

Willpower.
I quit last october, went from smoking roughly 40 cigs a day to 0. One day to the other, havent touched one ever since.

I tried 100 times over 30 years, to stop. Nothing worked. I tried cold turkey, patches, gum, even hypnosis. Then about 4 years ago, I started having a really hard time breathing, I was sure I had emphysema. Did I stop then? No! I finally sought medical help. It turned out it was Asthma and I had been making it worse over the course of many years. The doctor prescribed Chantix when I told him there was no way I could quit. I smoked for the next week, while taking Chantix. That was the last time I smoked, it has been over 3 years now. I won't say that I never had another urge to smoke, I did, but it passed. Best thing I ever did, for myself and my family.

I used Chantix that was prescribed by my doctor and it worked wonders, I was a pack a day smoker, this June will be 3 years smoke free, it takes a lot of willpower but the long lasting effects are so worth it.

You can so do it! I've been smoke free for almost two months now. I smoked for about 9 years at 2 packs per day. I would have never thought I could have quit (especially while losing almost 40 pounds) at the same time. I used nicotine gum.

I smoked for 30 years. during that time I ranged from 1/2 pack to 3 packs a day. I quit while I was preg. I sometimes quit for a few months or even one time a few years.I have quit on Zyban (Wellbutrin) and patches, patches alone, never did well on the gum, and chantix. Some people have problems with chantix and some don't. If you don't have major side effects it does work well. Last year I quit as a New Year's resolution using chantix. Did fine until about the 8th month and had a disaster hit me and I started smoking (mind you, hubby has never really quit so I have easy access). After a couple months of that I quit cold turkey and have been doing well. This is the last time I quit.

Part of my problem has been that I get dumb and think I can have just one. You can't do that. I am a nicotine addict and like any drug addict I am never cured, just reformed. If I take one drag, it is like a heroin addict just shooting up a little. I will fall off the wagon and I will fail. And I'll be darned if I suffered through nic fits and psych nic fits to have to do it all over again.

Tell yourself you only have to make it a month. After a month you will find that the worst of it is over (really after a few days the physical stuff is much better). Then you just keep going. If you find that drugs, patches, gum, or whatever helps you then go for it. You'll only be using it for a short period of time but you will get off cigs forever!