I'm about three months smoke-free. I was able to do so via an electronic cigarette.
I want a real cigarette, real bad! I have noted some depression. I'm also really grouchy right now. Hole-in-the-drywall grouchy. That's withdrawal. E-cigs only deliver 1/3rd the nicotine even with the highest % solution.
But I can smell again, and olfactory acuteness has restored.
I'm pushing 40, smoked since I was 17. I figured it was time. Terrible habit and I'm glad to be getting rid of it. I wasn't a chimney, it took me a week to smoke a pack. However I had bad cravings, especially when drinking.
It's nice to be able to breathe and do my 5 milers without choking.
Hey, hang in there. I quit sixteen years ago... just before my son was born. Went cold turkey. I did it for him. Making sacrifices for someone whom you love is much easier than doing it for your own convenience. At least, that my story and I'm sticking to it.
btw, I had a lot of help and encouragement from my friends.
Another cold turkey guy here. Twice. This time I don't miss cigarettes at all.
I wonder if the electronic cigarettes might be the problem since you are still "smoking" except in a less satisfying way.
I've tried to quit smoking quite a few times. :P
This time, it's sticking.
A little over a year and a half smoke free. 8)
Yup, hang in there.
See the thing is that these electronic cigarettes.... they still do dispense a dose of nicotine. And whilst you have quit smoking traditional cigarettes, you have not yet shaken the addiction. Its the addiction thats demanding you smoke a real cigarette. Be strong, deny it the advantage.
I had numerous failed attempts at quitting and I'm another proponent of the cold turkey approach. Its not nice, but in the end if you want to be free of your nicotine addiction you have to stay away from anything that continues to fuel it. Patches, nicotine gum.... electronic substitutes... they all continue to drip feed the addiction. IMO this slow misery is worse than just cutting it out completely. Cold turkey is hard too, but in the end YOU are gonna have to be stronger than your addiction's hold over you.
The only way to conquer it is to never smoke again. So far I've managed about 20 years without a cigarette. No reason why you cant succeed too. Be strong, its a bastard.
Good luck [thumbsup]
I smoked on and off for about 7 years. I initially started to quit dipping... [roll]
I haven't had a smoke since December 23 of last year. quit cold turkey
I think the food and booze around holiday time helped ease the pain, but I really haven't wanted one in a while.
Good job Berg. Keep at it. I've quit multiple times myself. Done the patch, the pill, and cold turkey. I used to smoke 3/4 of a pack a day for about 25 years. I've just quit again cold turkey as of the 8th and been clean of nicotine for almost two weeks now. It can be a real pregnant dog some days but I understand it gets easier. I think the urges really started hitting me hard after that first week.
I smoked for a long time.
I stopped...again.
My wife stopped with me this time and it's easier.
I quit quitting... [roll]
Quote from: ManaloEA on June 18, 2011, 07:46:07 PM
Hey, hang in there. I quit sixteen years ago... just before my son was born. Went cold turkey. I did it for him. Making sacrifices for someone whom you love is much easier than doing it for your own convenience.
Exactly the same for me, and at the same time! My son is 15 now and I haven't smoked more than a hit off someone's cig since he was born. But before that I had quit hundreds of times for hours at a time.
I'm good as long as i'm at my office job. If I go out to see a live band or watch fights, I'm in trouble. And it's not that I miss the buzz or the taste, it's that I miss having something to occupy my hands... playing with my lighter, tapping ash, all that crap.
I'm a twitchy mess to begin with. Smoking gave me a (somewhat) socially acceptable 'hide' for my little compulsive tics. When I'm not smoking, I look like I'm signalling the runner to steal second base.
I am in the process. Nicotine lozenges and gum - I am about six weeks in, with a couple instances of cheating, but I am trying not to sweat the occasional transgression. Don't quit quitting is my approach.
About five years ago, I quit for three years, cold turkey. I didn't realize it at the time, but there were some pretty bleak depressive patches. I am still dosing myself with nicotine, but I find that being able to break free from one aspect of the addiction seems to help in keeping the black dog of depression at bay. The physical addiction part never was all that hard to overcome for me - it was the removal of the pleasure button I got to push at will that was the hard part. It is still hard, but dealing with one aspect at a time seems to be easier. Good luck, and if you try lozenges, go with the tic tac sized ones and not the horse-pill sized ones.
I have a good friend that is 2 months cigarette free on the e-cig. I've been off and on for years now but am a few days into the newest attempt. I'll shoot for a month and go from there. For me the "supplements" haven't helped much.
I quit cold turkey years ago. I think it was coincidence, but I took off on a four day 400 mile bicycle trip at the same time I quit. I think the 4 days of pedaling and drinking cubic yards of water did a lot to purge the nicotine out of my system.
It was outright fear that triggered the quitting. One day I felt terrible and I could feel cancer cells crawling around in my lungs! That was enough for me and I've never smoked another cigarette since. I'm superstitious about it and won't even take a single puff from a cigarette. I don't miss or even think about smoking anymore.
Bob
Im at 8 months now and feel the same way...wont touch one because I know I'll be right back at it full time. I still have the "last" one sitting in my car just in case. (but also as a trophy) Im sure its stale and crusty, but a trophy so to speak.
I used chantix btw. Wonder drug as far as Im concerned.
Cold turkey, 15 years ago.
Two years ago I stop smoking, switched to lozenges.
I back-slid however. I only smoke about 3 a day at work only. Still on the lozenges, however.
Try as I might, no nicotine = a stupid me.
When I quit I started to run hard enough so it would hurt and I would hack up chunky chow. So the fire in your lungs as you run and the realization of how bad of shape your lungs are and that theres not supposed to be gross stuff coming out of you when you cough really sealed the deal for me. I avoided drinking as much as possible the first few weeks until I had some will power built up.
Best of luck.