I quit almost 8 1/2 years ago. I went from about a pack of Marlboro lights a day to nothing. Yup cold turkey!

I do chew a lot of gum (much to my mom's dismay). The cravings pretty much are gone. The only time the urge comes back is when something stressful or traumatic happens and I say "dammit, I could use a smoke"

But I never give in to the urge...because I know I will start up again

My parents and sister still smoke...they haven't been able to quit.

I think this addiction and the addiction to heroin are the toughest to quit.

Man I really do want to quit (SMOKING -- don't do illegal drugs), its just so tough.

There was a time that I had stopped smoking for about week and you have seen the shaking and the "hunger cravings", one of the main reasons why I stop was due to lack of finances (I was broke) and I got my hands on some cash and bought a pack...I haven't stopped since, but I can go long periods of time without any cravings and such.

I know one way a person stopped smoking, the calculated how much of their income annually they spent on cigarettes and it was a large amount, being a broke college student, it didn't make any sense to continue the habit.

One day soon I will get the monkey off my back.

Have never even tried it. Seriously, never taken a drag. Have no desire to. Never have had a desire. I think its a nasty ass habit.

I also advocate 'the california solution' where public smoking is pretty much baned everywhere. I wish we had that ban here. Ours is a half ass ban in restauraunts.

It's gotten to the point where I'll take a shower as soon as I get home from a night out drinking to get the smell off of me.

I cant imagine what it would be like to suffer from an adiction like that. Has to suck.

I'm a smoker in CA, specifically LA, but I have to tell you I pretty much smoke anywhere in public that I want too. But I also try to avoid places where there are a lot of people around, why should they breathe in my smoke. Most of my friends don't smoke (who I also don't smoke around) and when I did start smoking it wasn't my friends who started me.

I've never liked smoking in restaurants, I don't get it, if I'm eating, get those things AWAY from me or I will kill you, I have always been this way.

I pretty much hate everything about smoking (yes, I know its a contridiction, go figure) and but I can tell the difference in taste between some brands and that is a recent thing for me. When people challenge me on my above statment, my answer is pretty much: I'm addicted.

There is a very definite difference in brand tastes. Before I quit, I was getting into the Camel specialty line. I also know the taste of stale old nasty cigarettes even though some of my people never noticed a difference.

I had been pretty much a social smoker, jsut when out w/ the girls drinking, or playing poker, until I spent an evening drinking/chain smoking and was so SICK I threw up for two days. And the worst part, please excuse the grossness, everytime I thew up, it had a cigarette 'taste' to it. That was a month ago, I have NO desire for a cig any more!!! Not that I recommend that to anyone, but it helped me.

yea when I go into "chain" smoker mode, I get sick as well....but not that extreme

I really thought my head might fall off. it was so very bad. :eek:

It's funny I came across this thread! I quit smoking in February of this year and have slipped up only twice since then. I smoked on and off from high school until my 2nd year of college, then regularly from then until now. That was about a 10-year span.

What did I do? Now, for some people, this may sound crazy, but I was praying one night after I returned from convocation in Seattle and I told Jesus that if He wanted me to stop smoking, then he was going to have to take the urge away because honestly, I liked it. I have tried to quit many times before, and I went right back to it.

February 2, 2005 was my rebirth. The 2 times I slipped, I was like EWWWWWW. I smell smoke now and I'm like EWWWWW. In the midst of the EWWWW's, I praise God.

It's possible. It's hard, but it's possible.

So here's a weird question.

I tried to smoke once and totally just threw up - I guess I have a weak stomach. My brother smokes, and when I told him that, he laughed -- says that happened to him, too, and the first few times he smoked during poker games, etc (chain smoked) it happened again. He said he had to TRAIN HIMSELF to like cigarettes - he thinks everyone does, because it's so gross the first few times.

Any thoughts on that? Is that just my weird family, or everyone?

I felt that way the first few times too. Geez, and I wonder why I kept doing it....oh well. the last puking quit for me!!

I smoked a cigarette for the first time in a long time this weekend & I actually feel guilty about it. I guess I had a little too much to drink & my best friend Kelli offered me one out of habit. And out of habit I took it, lit up, & only smoked half of it because I started to feel sick. Even after I got home I couldn't wait to wash my hair & my clothes because of how gross I felt. :(

I enjoyed it from the start!! Of course, I had already been smoking *other* substances for a few years before I started on cigarettes.

I have been smoking for about the last 3 years, I started when I got back from London studying abroad, and I returned to find out that one of my sorority sisters had been messing around with my ex. I was so upset and I was distraught the whole day, and for some reason, I grabbed a cig from my friend and thought that it was just a one time thing, then the addiction just got worse and worse
at my worst, which was last year, ( i was president, taking my senior classes, and had a bf) i was up to a pack and a half a day...
now i'm down to like a half pack a day... still not great
its the triggers that get me, getting into my car, after eating.... drinking w. friends... stressful situations... even at work... i have to take a break b/c i just can't sit here for that long... AND i waitress nights and weekends so thats just a whole other mess.....
anyway... i'm thinking about those commit lozenges... has anyone ever tried them or had any success??

It's been exactly 2 months today for me! The smell of smoke still calms my nerves. :p And I REALLY want one after a bad day at work!!!! However, it is kind of nice to be smoke-free.....