Former smokers

I started smoking at 15, quit cold turkey the day I found out I was pregnant with my first... I was 29.

As a matter of fact today is my 7yr anniversary of being smoke free.

I've quit a few times. I heard about a fix on the oprah show years ago and quit
for 7 years with that method. Then went thru a divorce and started smoking
again.

1/2 tsp cream of tartar (spice isle)
6 oz glass of cranberry juice or orange juice

Mix the two and drink just before bed, after emptying your bladder. Continue smoking. Within two
weeks your cravings will diminish and the taste will be horrendous (HORRIBLE). Need Willpower too !

When I quit for the last and final time- was Oct 2006 when I discovered I was pregnant.
(unless I"M HAMMERED drunk and then I have one or two for the night and never touch again)

Had a stroke at the age of 49. Was told smoking for 30 years definitely contributed and if I continued the next one could kill me. Quit right then. Just quit. (I was in the hospital for 4 days so that helped). That was 1 1/2 years ago.

Allen Carr, Easy Way ... Did it cold turkey, never looked back after 20 years puffing away.

Seriously, I owe my freedom from smokes to that man.

^^^^^This exactly...I love being a non smoker

Good for you, you can't crave what you don't want and the Easy Way deprogrammed me very well.

It doesn't preach, it doesn't scare, it just dismantles every reason you think you need to smoke.

I'm a techie, I like logic and reason and this approach worked well for me.

I swear I could not tell you when I gave up, it's like another world.

After thirty five years of smoking I quit two and a half years ago. I used patches for the nicotine withdrawal. But several other things really helped the process. The first was that I had been doing Kundalini yoga for six months or so before I quit. I believe that this was the actual reason I did quit. Kundalini yoga has an emphasis on breathing exercises. Being connected so strongly to the breath in a healthy way made smoking less and less appealing. The first few weeks I kept a bag of mixed pumpkin seeds (high levels of tryptophan),sunflower seeds, chocolate chips and raisins with me at all times. When brain fog set in I would grab a tablespoon or two of this and the brain fog would lift. This especially helped me get through my time at work. At home I kept my hands busy knitting. I also bought a tin whistle! It kept my hands, my mouth and my breath busy. I was certain that I would become a virturoso using it as a smoking substitute. I did not. It really helped though. There's a really good video on youtube called "Double Down Breath For Quitting Smoking" that's good for explaining the yoga breathing.

Had unsuccessful quits, like 7 over the course of 15 years. Never lasted more than 4 months. Tried patches, gum, Zyban, hypnosis, etc.

Each time I quit, I learned a little more about myself and my relationship with cigarettes. My addiction was physical, mental, and emotional. I had to approach it on ALL these terms to finally figure out how to quit for good. (People who said "just don't smoke anymore" tended to piss me off...it isn't that easy for everyone.)

There is some good advice in the American Lung Association books they send you when you call a quit line. It sounds cheesy to tell yourself in a mirror that you want to quit, or to sign a contract with a loved one, or to write lists of reasons to quit, reasons not to start back, etc. But do it. You never know which little mind-trick will actually be the one that presses the right button.

See, I'm rebellious. I HATE being told what to do. The health dept's, docs, and government HAVE NO RIGHT to tell me what I should and shouldn't do with my own body. I have a constitutional right to be an idiot, right? I still think they blame more on cigs than they are actually responsible for, BUT I know, and so do you, that they WILL take your health from you, and probably your life. My hard-headedness told me lies for a long time, but I finally had to admit the truth.

I watched my mother die of small cell lung cancer. She was diagnosed 10 years AFTER QUITTING!! I am ashamed to admit that I would leave her bedside to go for a smoke, and watch her and Dad's heart break. I tried. I did. But until I lost her, and pictured my own husband and children having to lose me the same way, it didn't really stick. For months, I asked myself every time I'd light up "Is THIS the one? Is THIS the bullet in a game of Russian roullette? The one that starts the chain-reaction that becomes my cancer in years to come?" )

March of last year, I made my plan, and stuck to it. I still want one sometimes. I probably always will in times of extreme stress, or other unforeseen triggers. (I have most of them mentally mapped, and know how to dodge them.) But I love that my house and car smell fresh and clean. I don't walk around smelling like a wet ashtray (I'm embarrassed that I did for so long, everytime a smoker gets close to me!) My teeth are whiter, my eyes are clear, my lungs let me do things I couldn't do when I smoked.

You have to find your reason, and your path. It is YOUR quit. Best of luck. And whatever happens, don't stop trying to quit.

Quit about 20 years ago - cold turkey (smoked a pack a day for about 20 years.....)

10 years ago now... quit cold turkey and still crave somedays! Good luck to you!!

Going on 5 years in August. I quit on a Thursday cold turkey and spent the entire weekend at home crying. I wouldn't go anywhere cuz I was sure I'd buy more... it was hell but I'm smoke free now. Occasional cravings but for the most part so happy I'm done with the nasty thigns

Quit for good with an e-cigarette! Have not smoked for 2 years now.
Those worked wonders for me, and I was only on it for about 3 weeks.
My father had lung cancer, had surgery where they removed half his lung, and I gave him the ecigarette's for a christmas gift. He used them for a few weeks/month and never went back either! He had been smoking for nearly 40 years!

But i agree, the one thing you need is the WANT to quit. My motivation to WANT to quit was my daughter. She didnt need to be around the second hand smoke,and as she got older I didnt want her to think that smoking was acceptable because her mother did it.

Good for you! Took me twice to finally give it up for good, so if you do slip up, just get right back on track much like watching what you eat. You CAN do this!

My father was fighting Colon Cancer at the time. He said that he wanted to see me smoke free before he died. I was on day 3 of the patch for about the 100th time. I looked at him and I said thats all ?? Consider it done!!! I took off the patch in 1998 and my Father lost his fight with Cancer in 2000. I never had another cigarette.

Chantix. Easiest way to quit ever.

March 18,2012 was last day I smoked. Cold turkey.
Have a made up mind. Be sick of it. Want to get healthy.
I joined this shortly after, never looked back.
First 3-5 days are hell.
Good luck!!!

Good for you Clif! Send your non smoking vibes to me please lol

tried an e-cig on 6/9/2009 and have not smoked a regular cigarette since. Being around other smokers does not bother me.

Deep breathing (which is just like smoking only without the smoke!) It really helped me. And lots of water. A nice big glass every hour or so. Once you quit, you quit. Don't think having just one is a possibility. It ain't. (if you REALLY wanna quit)

BREEEEEEATHE darlin' !

You can do it!

Having tried lots of different ways over the last 6 years from patches, gum , cold turkey , I gave it one last go with Champix tablets and I had sucess with them I did slip back into it but then did it again and I have now been smoke free for almost 2 years now and have started to tackle the weight I put on due to it.