Dude, I'm on day 12 if you don't count last Thursday which I am not. It's horrible but damn it, I too am tired of smoking. So stay strong and all that shit and we can do this.

I just feel like cussing whether I'm typing or talking. goth, are you using patch or gum or anything? Cold turkey for me so far, I've tried the patch and I feel like it is give up nicotine now or in 3 - 4 months with the patch. I opt for now. I'm ready for another walk.

Cold turkey. I was beginning this lengthy process of smoking less each week that I had dreamed up, planning to quit for good in May but then I got sick and smoked hardly anything and then I got sicker and didn't smoke at all for 4 days so I thought, hey, I am not going to waste this head start - I'm just going to go for it. Quitnet, which I'm not wholeheartedly enthusiastic about but they do email you your stats, says that people who do nicotine replacement have a higher success rate. Seems like the nicotine should be out of my system by now though and I don't want to start putting it back in.

I don't feel like cussing so much but I did almost cry the other night for no apparent reason. The cravings are still just as damn strong too, of course. I've quit SO many times in the past but I really really want this time to be it, the one that takes.

I quit on the 15th. Waste of time, waste of money, filthy (speaking in green; what becomes of all the spun nylon cigarrette butts?), hassle of having a lighter, misc burn on nice fleece, stench of an ashtray on clothes and body, ... pure nuisance hobby/addiction with -0- redeeming value.
Ride the jones. Go for a walk, run, get jazzed on coffee, clean house with toothbrush, TYPE IN ALL CAPS, go yell at a filthy homeless camp, ...

Gum/patches have sent me into a 'gotta have to and do buy more cigs' loop before. fwiw.

I saw you a little grouchy in MeTa and was wondering. Good for you and yeah it gets a lot lot easier.

My oldest brother got help through alt.quit.smoking.support. He said it really helped to have a group to bitch/moan/whine to. I don't think he's still active with the group as it's been several years since he quit.

Good luck to the quitters!

Wow, way to go, all y'all. It's hard at first, but I promise you, it gets progressively easier and takes less of your attention with each passing day after the first, say, 3 weeks. Just white-knuckle through it as best you can.

I tried to quit 6 times before I made it. I used Freedom From Smoking. It really does help to have people to whine to - other people quitting at the same time as you take your whines a lot better than your RL companions, who get fed up after a while. I remember commenting a lot and having a little co-quitting posse that I checked in with. It's been six years now and I still check in on my anniversary of quitting to say thanks and hi.

I sometimes read WhyQuit because there are some seriously condemnatory articles and rants about how incredibly terrible smoking is for you, and about the science of addiction. It helped me occasionally when I faltered. However, I think they're assholes because at some point I tried to get a membership, and because I said I was using FFS they refused to let me use their message board. Why? Because FFS supports the use of nicotine supplements, and WhyQuit doesn't, and it's like a rigid thing with them. At least it was, I don't know if it still is. Anyway I thought it was fucking lousy to tell someone already three days clean with no nicotine in their system that because of some other message board I used, I didn't merit the chance to walk their hallowed halls. Fuck that - do you want to help, or don't you? Besides, the science isn't on their side there.

mgl, I think you're beyond the nicotine addiction already and you should probably not reintroduce it. The only reason it helps some people quit is that it helps them over the intense physical craving period, which is over after a week. Other people quit cold turkey and have success, too. It's not like you have to use them, they just help some people whose physical addiction is really strong.

Good luck everybody. Count me down as someone you can email if you want to rant...I remember well how it is. If it's any consolation, you won't be this crazy forever. Not even for much longer at all.

Uuuuhhh.

I still haven't smoked, thanks for the encouragement everyone. It was so dull at work this afternoon I thought I was not going to make it. Been to the store, got lots of goodies: sunflower seeds, jolly ranchers, etc. Plans tomorrow.

Feels good to breathe.

Today is okay. But on the other hand I'm not even trying to go out. I was supposed to and then I said, um, nope, better stay in. But I'm drinking a couple of beers - a friend said, drink now without smoking or the first time you drink the trigger will get you completely. So far so good. I can make it til tomorrow anyway. Tomorrow is another day.

Does it count as quitting if you have one every 3-4 months? i hope so.

the only thing that keeps me from heading straight out and buying a pack (after 1.25 years of the 3-4 month thing) is exercise. i remember what it felt like to "jog" when i was smoking and what it feels like now.

the biggest difference is the lack of searing chest pain just after starting ~anything~. yea, that does it.

and all those other things don't hurt - it sucks when you go to bed and get told "you're stinky, it makes me not want to kiss you goodnight".

but even now, when i get the craving, it's one foot in front of the other, not in the direction of the store.

You guys are awesome.

Does it count as quitting if you have one every 3-4 months?

Gosh, I wish I could do that. If I have one, within a day or two I'm right back to where I left off.

I must be feeling better, I said "gosh" instead of "fuck."

I saw your apology in MetaTalk, Marx. That was good of you.

Big respectful salutes to all y'all going through the quitting. For me it's been two and a half years now, and god DAMN am I glad I stuck with it. I have a co-worker who smokes quite a bit and when he sits next to me at meetings, the smell coming off him makes me recoil -- god, did I used to stink like that all the time??

What's really convinced me that I'll never go back again is the experience about a year ago of [WARNING DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME YOUR RESULTS MAY VARY] impulsively bumming a cigarette off a friend, lighting up, and discovering -- it tasted vile beyond the power of language to express. I was nauseated. Even thinking about it now makes me queasy. And I am someone who used to love, love, love cigarettes.

So there is indeed hope that you can not only quit, and stay quit, but find the thought of going back incomprehensible. Hang in there, and strength to your sword arms, Marxchivist, mygothlaundry, oreonax, and buzzman!

hmmmmm.... all you people quitting, huh? hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Maybe I can try this again.

I said maybe.

I started smoking when I was 13. Yeah, WTF. I gave up at 26, and was astounded at the time to think that I had been smoking for half my life. That was August 1998. About an hour after I smoked my last cig, I thought, "Fuck it, I'm not wasting any more money on those fucking things."

And that was it. Each hour I went without a smoke was an achievement. Then each day, each week, each month, etc. I made myself a calendar in Word, and each day I went without a smoke, I wrote in how much money I wasn't giving to the tobacco companies. Further inspiration came from Michael Moore, and his Voice Box Choir. I've searched briefly, and all I found this brief clip but the full segment is well worth watching if you can find it anywhere online. It's heartbreaking to watch the Choir relating some of their stories & being booted out of one tobacco giant's premises after another.

Good luck to all you people quitting - you're doing something that will improve your own life and environments, and also of those around you. You will be much more kissable, and you will find new appreciation of food, beverages and everything else aromatic. You'll have more money for other, better things, and you'll be depriving those tobacco company twunts of income in the process! WIN WIN WIN!

I officially quit in May, but have had a bit of a relapse lately. I am trying again, and this time to help me stick to it, I'm gonna start an exercise program at the same time.

Went out, did not smoke.

Went to smoking friends house, had dinner, watched them smoke, did not smoke.

Home now, not smoking.

All good but damn, it's the only thing I can think about, either. I'm sitting there with my friends and my mind is not on the conversation, it's going, smoke smoke smoke don't smoke smoke smoke can't smoke won't smoke smoke smoke smoke smoke.

eeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhh.

Next time, mgl, getting through it will be easier. My heart is 15% dead tissue and smoking was a contributing factor. Don't be me.

Still hanging in over here. You can do it mgl, no one liked smoking more than me and I'm doing OK. Found this quitomozilla plug-in. It tells you how long you've been quit and how much you would have spent on cigarettes. I've saved $19.24 in three days!

Does it count as quitting if you have one every 3-4 months?

For me, no. I made the mistake of thinking I could have 'just one' 6 times, and finally managed to really quit only when deciding I would commit to never smoking again. I was too addicted to nicotine to have just a little. I might find it disgusting if I tried it again now, but at the same time, I would be firing up all these neural pathways that I suspect would be super happy to get production rolling again.

mgl, I remember how boringly obsessive that stage is, but it's blessedly short. Just keep powering through. Eventually you can go 10 minutes without thinking about smoking, and then an hour, and then longer from there. Make sure you have plenty of low-attention distractions available. I loved magazines and flipped through a ton of them while quitting - like, 3 magazines a day. It was all I had the attention span for. I also did a lot of writing - journaling, list-making.

Congrats, all! I did it twice, cold turkey. The first time I was 17, so I don't think anyone noticed the surlyness. The second time I needed the patches.

The Ex is using Chantix right now. The doctor and pharmacy were surprised that he wanted the refill after the starter pack, because the insurance won't cover it (I'm looking at YOU, BC/BS!) So far he's gone two weeks, and that's the longest he's ever gone.

Just chiming in with a congratulations, and a you-can-do-it.

I feel for you, one of the hardest things I've had to do. For me, quitting sucks so much, I kept telling myself I never, ever wanted to put myself through it again (or my poor friends who suffered the crabbiest insane person while I was quitting).

So awesome you guys are doing it!

Almost slipped tonight, I just happened to be cleaning out my car at 10PM, very thoroughly. Didn't find any cigarettes though. Got my head together, ate some sunflower seeds and now I'm going to bed before I can get any other brilliant ideas like look through the pockets of every jacket in the house....

It's been five days now.

I blew it, y'all. I'm smoking again as much as ever. Just FYI. Sigh.

Aww ((mgl))

Um, I fell off the wagon a while back, too.