How did you quit? Why did you quit?

[DoeEyed]

Ok, any previous smokers or tobacco users on here? How long did it take you to quit and how did you do it? Did you start feeling better right away? Breathe easier? Less tired? How did you handle stress?

[msbadger]

I feel for you doeEyed......I smoked years ago ...but being poor then ( stared at 16 ) and cheep a pack of cigaretts lasted a week....but then again way back then I managed night clubs and bartended...second hand smoke alone may as well had been a pack a nite [:o]...anyways I decided to have a baby and that was it....in between the kids I had a few and 25yrs later I still get the " i want a smoke" feeling ...so I understand just how powerful a drug they are...Two things keep me from smoking ....Father got lip cancer from dangling a smoke from his mouth while working...so he went to Roswell cancer hospital for treatment....his room mate had throat cancer and they had grafted this...oohh..tube thing from under his chin to his chest...I cant describe what this poor man really looked or sounded like...any ways lunch came and next thing I know this man pulls his gown to the side and inserts a tube to a port in his side....well I just flew from there with nightmeres for weeks.....The worst was going to the nursing home  while carrying our daughter to visit my grandfather...they put him there because he was dying of lung cancer....To hear him crying because he was begging to die the pain was so bad ...holding my hand knowing he'd never see his great grand child...Afraid for his soul because he wanted to die and felt that was a sin...this was the man who taught me to fish and hunt...was there for me through thick and thin and worked damn hard all his life...reduced to a terrifed man in agony want to die....so doeEyed go to a Dr ...see your lung X-ray...get some meds and vist a cancer hospital...put a picture of some one you really love in a pack of smokes...think of the ppl you'll leave behind....God Bless and Good Luck...Badger 

[JOEL]

great post msb

[DoeEyed]

Thanks msbadger for the post. My aunt died of lung cancer. My Mom has COPD and is on oxygen 24/7. Never goes outside or goes anywhere for that matter. She gets winded walking across the room. That's no way to live.

[mag30079]

I smoked for 14 years started when I was a teenager. I was driving a old truck with close to 200K miles and thought this is stupid. If I quit smoking I could use the same money I spend on cigs for a new truck. It wasn't easy, the first 3 day were hell but it got easier and after a while I stopped thinking about smoking. I tryed some pills the Dr gave me but they made things worse for me. I ended up just stopping for 1 day then 2 and so on. That was 4 years ago, no more stinky clothes or truck. After a few months I started feeling better, but I did gain 20 pound. Then lost most of it.
 
Keeping busy with hobbies and whatever you can do. Also don't look at the clock, oh its 10am time for a smoke [:@]

[Sailfish]

25 years of Copenhagan a can a day.
 
I had a newborn coming, I thought I might want to be around to see her grow up, so I quit. I took the $5 a day and put in in an envelope, it added up FAST.
I really had no problems day to day. However, when drinking ...well you know the whole drinking and tobacco thing goes. So I stopped drinking (it was usually a Saturday only) and had no  serious urge.
Oh for about a year I would get an urge out of the blue, then after another year it was less.
Now 4 years past I have no urge.
 
Cold turkey, its the only way for me.
 
Good luck

[DoeEyed]

Thanks for the posts. Setting aside the money is a great idea. I'm sure I could think of some things to buy![:)]

[Jdbllung]

I've smoked since I was a teen, chewed while hunting so I wouldn't get busted.  I thought to myself, chewing is "sorta" safer than smoking and I can be on stand all day without a cig, so I'll just switch to strictly chewing.  Wrong!  My job is the hardest, I have to interact with customers and a pinch in while talking to people who aren't used to that seems to put them off.  So back to cigs, only problem is I started smoking even more.  I am currently weening myself off cigs and chew all together, no pills, no patch.  I tried cold turkey, didn't work.  So wish me luck,and I like the idea of putting the cash saved in an envelope, that is my next tool in my current battle.

[8uck5nort]

Started smoking when I was 17 and smoked throughout time in Navy. Got married while in service and first son came shortly after I got out. Wife smoked too. We had at least decided to not smoke in apartment and would go sit on the balcony to light up. My toddler son would come out (crawl/walk thing he did) and want to sit in my lap. I remember, quite vividly, his little smile and then his small hands reaching out to play in the smoke from my cigarette. I suddenly felt very sick to my stomach once I realized what I was teaching him. I was showing him a very bad habit that one day he would think would be "ok", cause Dad did it. I got up, walked in the kitchen and threw away almost a whole pack of Marlborough Lights that day and never went back to cigs. My wife decided to quit a little while aftwards. One of the hardest things I, my wife,  and our marriage have ever had to live through. That was 17 years ago.

I have a pipe, I smoke it maybe two to three times a year. So I still enoy "fine" tobacco when the occasion calls for it, but I will never go back to cigarettes.

[Xplorer]

Started smoking in college @ 18. At 45 & wanting to go on a "real" hunt made a deal with my wife & myself. If I could remain smoke free for 6 months I would use the money saved to treat myself to a hunt out west. Between that "carrot" out in front of me, patches, & chewing gum (the normal kind) I was able to quit for 5 years now. Good luck with it cause it's still calls out to me & still dream of smoking. Don't think about it nearly as much as I used to though.
 
Forgot to add, took a year for the weezing to stop when I would climb the steps to my 2nd floor to go to bed. After the 3rd year started running to the stands rather that riding a quad when hunting my buddy's property in NC. Flipped them out since they both smoke & wouldn't think of walking up & down the hills much less running-lol