I have some news to share...

[lowflyer]

I went through this decades ago. I told everyone around me that I was going to be a pain in the butt. Gradually I could drink a coffee without smoking. Gradually other activities that I associated with smoking no longer enticed me to smoke. It did take a while.

I knew I had made it when I discovered I couldn't stand the smell of cigarette smoke or being around smokers. Probably no one is more put off by smokers than a former smoker.

Tough road to follow, but SO worth it. Don't give up! You will be healthier and feel better about yourself when you have it conquered.

 

[UTscuba]

This is the 7th day that I'm free of cigarettes.

I've done it 6 years ago as well after a week being completely knocked out with painkillers (surgery on both feet, pins in toes etc etc...)
Unfortunately a rough divorce full of harassment drove me back to it.
Now that the ex-husband is completely out of the picture, peace is back in my life.

Running, diving, an anti-cigarette buddy and another anti-cigarette best friend (I've been hiding to both chaps I smoked and I felt so guilty and ashamed for that) and being tired of washing my hair each time one of them came to visit me, were the motivational triggers to go for it again.
Completely isolated, nobody around me to get on their nerves, nobody to irritate me. But also: nobody to support me when it gets difficult...
No patch, no e-cig, no help what so ever. Lots a fruit and vegetables (on a diet at the same time to keep those Corona kilos under control).

There... I'm entering week 2 now.

GOOD LUCK!!

I smoked for over 30 years (started when I was 11) finally quit 8 years ago

Quitting is a long road, and remember that falling off the wagon occasionally is nothing to be ashamed of, just make sure you never buy a pack again.

Feel free to DM me if you ever need to vent about how sh*tty it is quitting.

 

[michael-fisch]

Do yourself a favour, don't go shopping or walk into a gas station alone for the next 3-4 weeks - you will have the urge to buy a pack.
After a month, you'll be over the worst of it, but:
If somebody offers you a cigarette, refuse politely. The first cigarette tastes horrible, the next cigarette doesn't taste all that good either, but the 3rd cigarette will come from a pack that you bought yourself.

Michael

 

[Pearlman]

I quit completely more than 12 years back (yes I am a quitter!). One trick that worked for me is to postpone the urge just by a few minutes.. then again by a few mins half an hour later ... until many hours were gone and I kept the numbers to just one a day. Magically once that instant urge was taken care of I would forget for quiet a while. I would keep a ciggy in my shirt pocket when the urge became strong to convince myself I could smoke anytime I wanted .. a few minutes later ... and then forget about it. Eventually it came down to if I can do with just one I can do with zero on a given day and started skipping smoking days ...

The closest I came to mind-changing drugs to help me quit is moclobemide - an anti-depressant. Google for it and cessation of smoking. The odd days that I experimented with it - I actually found myself laughing at the idea of smoking. In the west prescription meds are strictly dished out on doc prescription but in my country I just walk over to a chemist and get the stuff.

Eventually I just quit on my own...

Good luck!

 

[drk5036]

Good job! I think you should keep in mind that you have to stick with this for your health. I’ve had an on an off dependence on nicotine, and even when it’s been months since my last, I still always want it. You just gotta balance the benefits from the negatives

 

[CaveSloth]

Congrats. 2 perspectives: 1. Once you really see yourself clearly as a smoker and really decide that isn't who you are anymore, you will never smoke again. 2. The addiction is still alive in your body and mind and will create all kinds of painful sensations which will seem to suggest you should smoke. You will have to learn how to stay calm and breathe and focus on functioning during these storms which will come and then go. They may get less intense over time as you cease reinforcing them.

 

[Ripley]

No words. Only this:

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Pic did not come through...

 

[Ripley]

Pic did not come through...

Oops... 't was a gif...
Ok, with words in that case:

Still holding ;-) Going into week 3.
I had some difficult moments, as was to be expected.
But the moment I feared the most - the grocery store checkout line with all the cigs ready to be picked up - went super well. I didn't even glance at them.

 

[txgoose]

I didn't even glance at them.

Lots of small victories keep adding up!