[motomaverick]

Well its official done, I have quit smoking from 30th May 2013. That morning I had the last cigg and its been 5 days without one. Yes, the urge is there and I feel like I have nothing to do in breaks in the office, but I am doing the following to keep busy:

1. Started working on my website, so in breaks apart from bringing coffee, I work on it.
2. Stayed away from smoking friends for the last 5 days

What is the motivation?
A young one coming soon into our lives.

Since there is one more colleague in the office who has quit, it helps. At the end of the day its how much control I have over my mind. Everything has a pattern and after sometime the mind will fall in a pattern that does not include smoking.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Good for you, motomaverick, congratulations!

Yes, you must establish new habits that do not include smoking, but addiction is not the same as habit, and you must be wary of the possible lure for years, even decades to come.

Reader of this thread will know what an avid born-again non-smoker I am. I gave up twenty-one years ago. Really, I would not dream of taking it up again, but even so, I found my brain gazing with some sort of interest at seeing Golden Virginia rolling tobacco on sale in one of my local shops!

[zteg]

I started smoking when I was in 12th Std and I smoked until August 23rd 2011. To quit smoking is not an easy task. It needs a lot of will power. But, If one is determined, anything is possible.
To quit smoking was always on every new year resolution list. I tried several times. There were times when I quit for a month and started yet again. One needs motivation to quit. One needs a reason to quit. A reason like ' I am quitting since it is not good for my health' is not good enough.
My wife ( who was also my girlfriend) wanted me to quit smoking ever since we met. I told her that I will quit once we get married. We dated for 6 years before we got married. I quit 2 months after wedding. All she had asked from me for 6 years was to quit smoking and I wanted to quit just for her. This reason was good enough for me.
I believe there comes a period in every smoker's life when he actually doesnt enjoy smoking. The feeling you get while you smoke is as if it was the 3rd cigarette back to back. Such a period came to my life and I was never able to finish a cigarette. This was when i decided to quit.

Things I did to quit,
1. The nearest shop from my office was 1 km away and I used to carry cigarettes to work everyday. I stopped this altogether. Most of us get the urge to smoke because either we have a cigarette with us or there is a shop nearby where you can buy one.
2. The first thing I did on the first day was to tell myself ' I will not smoke today' and I didnt smoke that day. The next morning I told myself 'Let me try this again. I will not smoke today either'. That worked too. Soon it was a week since I smoked. After a week, I wanted to complete a month before I told my wife. After a month, I wanted to complete a year and so on. Now I am looking forward to August 23 2013 when I complete 2 years.
3. I reduced alcohol intake for the first couple of months since alcohol increases the urge to smoke. So does tea.
4. I ran/walked on the threadmill for 20 mins everyday just to keep myself occupied after I got back home. Nobody would want to smoke when you are out of breath.
5. Stopped taking cigarettes home.
6. My best friend who was also my smoking partner at work also quit at the same time. That helped too.

These are just few things that helped me quit smoking and I feel lot better today.
A request to all those who smoke in the bathroom. Please do not smoke in the bathroom which is also used by your wife or your non-smoking friend. A non-smoker just cannot tolerate the smoke/smell inside. A smoker will never realise this until he quits. My brother smokes and I cannot breath when i use his bathroom. I feel sorry for my what my wife had to go through in the few months after wedding.

Sorry for the long post fellas.. Quit smoking. It is for your own good.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Smoking in toilets, near windows, in or just outside doorways... Indeed, smokers just do not realise that, even though they think that the wind is taking all the smoke away, a non-smoker will notice the smell that remains.

I believe there comes a period in every smoker's life when he actually doesnt enjoy smoking.

Indeed. Maybe a first cigarette in the day, or one after several hours of not being able to smoke, may actually feel relatively good. All the rest are a combination of habit and addiction, ie smoking to avoid the symptoms of not smoking.

Here is an addiction story. I paid several visits to a company, installing a computer system in their accounts department. As each day went on, I found it increasingly difficult to find the department manager. Asking one of her staff, I was told, "She'll be in the toilet, drinking." This was not an occasional visit for a nip, which would be bad enough, but hour after hour. I was astonished, saying that she never seemed drunk, indeed seemed quite normal. The answer was, "You should see her when she doesn't drink." So that's addiction: not doing something because it is pleasurable, but because one can't even be "normal" without it.

[manolin]

Tried quitting last week - managed just a day without cigarettes.

But I find it very easy to not smoke for 3 days when I know that I am gonna get back to smoking after that. The minute I decide that I want to quit, i get the urge to smoke.

I have realised that this is not habit, or a physical addiction - this is the mental part of the addiction - which I am guessing the nicotene talking, as I don't think the tar part of the cigarette is particularly smart.

So today I have started on e-cigs - so that there are no voices in my head as the nicotene content will be fulfilled. 6-7 hours on, so far so good, but too early to say anything other than 'am trying'.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Last May 29th I crossed five years of zero nicotine. I smoked for 29 years and when I quit I was smoking 40 sticks a day.

Everyone I guess goes through what you are going through manolin. I did two things - a. used a friend who had also quit to exchange our feelings and be a support to each other when we felt miserable (it is another matter that later it turned out he was lying all along about his quit :-) b. drink cold water when the cravings would hit or go for a long walk where there is no cigarette shop and just sweat it out

Also, at the end of the day it was my huge ego that saw me through. It was a fight between me and Mr Nicotine. I decided I will not let him dictate his terms to me. I will just get rid of him. And I did. It is the most difficult thing I have done in my life.

Another piece of advice - don't think too much about the quit. Just quit. Smokers find it difficult to imagine themselves without a cigarette. It is an emotional attachment. Just quit suddenly. Don't think.

Last piece of advice - it is different for different individuals. Find out your own route to a nicotine free life. All the best.

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by manolin

Tried quitting last week - managed just a day without cigarettes.

But I find it very easy to not smoke for 3 days when I know that I am gonna get back to smoking after that. The minute I decide that I want to quit, i get the urge to smoke.

I have realised that this is not habit, or a physical addiction - this is the mental part of the addiction - which I am guessing the nicotene talking, as I don't think the tar part of the cigarette is particularly smart.

So today I have started on e-cigs - so that there are no voices in my head as the nicotene content will be fulfilled. 6-7 hours on, so far so good, but too early to say anything other than 'am trying'.

This is a classic problem with any kind of deaddiction. The anxiety that "youre never going to smoke ,drink, eat excess sugar, drugs , etc ever again in life" makes you procratinate forever. That is why most psychiatrists prefer the "quitting cold turkey" approach in an insitution or rehab centre. Getting through this anxiety and the first withdrawl month is key.You could make.a written declaration to your loved ones and email everyone you know that youve quit smoking for good. You will be able to live upto this promise better if you know that everyone knows youve quit.

[desertfox]

I am also interested in totally quitting. I end up smoking almost 20 Cigrettes daily these days.

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Last May 29th I crossed five years of zero nicotine. I smoked for 29 years and when I quit I was smoking 40 sticks a day.

Let me congratulate on your achievement.

I am sure you will make it 10 years and totally wipe out any remaining risk to your health due to prolonged smoking.

Best of luck and keep inspiring others to quit..

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Dear Dr Singh
Thanks for your kind words. I am sure in ten years, as you say, the harmful effects would be gone. Personally I don't really care whether they are gone or not. Health was not the prime concern why I wanted to quit or stayed quit (the latter is more difficult). For me it was a battle won against nicotine. That's more important to me and more satisfying. I wanted to come out of the slavery of nicotine. People who have never been a smoker can't understand this slavery angle.
I am assuming you are a non-smoker because you are equating sugar addiction with nicotine :-) Being a diabetic I have also given up sweets in every form and I know how ridiculously incomparable the two are.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Hmmm... I know what you mean, and, according to my understanding, sugar is not a physically addictive drug like nicotine is. Having taken on nicotine, the fight goes on for ever. Staying quit is, as you say, the bigger challenge.

At the same time, yes, I gave up smoking (after many failed attempts) but ...I really fear ever being told by a doc that I must give up sugar! I probably could do without most forms of [refined] sugar without too much pain, but my several mugs of chai a day? Without those I would be a monster to live with!

Congratulations on your Fifth aniversary, commiserations on having to having given up sugar, but congratulations on having successfully taken that one on too.

Manolin, if you are still smoking, you didn't actually quit. You just didn't smoke for a few days. Those first days are actually no harder when you really quit than they are when you pretend to, so next time, don't waste the effort: really do it!

All the best with that. I can be done, I promise you. You have lots of good examples here of people that did it.

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Dear Dr Singh
Thanks for your kind words. I am sure in ten years, as you say, the harmful effects would be gone. Personally I don't really care whether they are gone or not. Health was not the prime concern why I wanted to quit or stayed quit (the latter is more difficult). For me it was a battle won against nicotine. That's more important to me and more satisfying. I wanted to come out of the slavery of nicotine. People who have never been a smoker can't understand this slavery angle.
I am assuming you are a non-smoker because you are equating sugar addiction with nicotine :-) Being a diabetic I have also given up sweets in every form and I know how ridiculously incomparable the two are.

I dont mean to equate the two. I referred to sugar addiction as in a,psychiatric eating disorder, some people are addicted to it as a release for stress or depression.not going into details,my point was to convey the importance of quitting cold turkey and then inform everyone you care about in writing.it is a powerful motivator to stay resolute.

About the 10 year thing, the increased risk to cardiac events or stroke due to the smoking are totally wiped out after 10 years of no smoking. You can google the topic for more details on the exact study.

[lancer&shogun]

Originally Posted by zteg

I believe there comes a period in every smoker's life when he actually doesnt enjoy smoking.

Very true and that's one of the reason for me to quit!

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

It was a fight between me and Mr Nicotine. I decided I will not let him dictate his terms to me. I will just get rid of him. And I did.

Exactly, i quit smoking from May'13 and it's been more than 40 days without a Cigarette.

Cheers!

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Thanks Thadeginathom.

Lancer & Shogun - keep at it. Stick to it. It's a lifelong battle for the rest of our lives. But it is very satisfying to know every day that yes I can do it.

And yes I also agree wholeheartedly that we stop enjoy smoking at a point of time and that is when we realise we are nothing but slaves to nicotine. We clear our throat with tea or liquor or ice cream or whatever and smoke. We cough incessantly and yet have to light up. This hurt my ego and I literally "kicked" the habit.

And DrSingh - I appreciate and understand what you mean. I can understand the psychiatric dependence thing that you mention. But that could happen with any food with some people. Sorry for the digression - we have a bulimia nervosa patient in our family. He just keeps gorging on non-veg food despite so many medical complications and a host of obesity related and life threatening diseases and conditions. Even after by-pass in the hospital bed he had managed to bribe a peon to get him mutton and fish preparations from outside. Seriously. It is a medical miracle that he is still alive :-)

[AbhishekB86]

Hey guys,

From my previous post to now I had relapsed about 7-8 months back and continue to smoke till date. I am not ashamed of admitting this because I'd rather be honest here.

I had quit last Wednesday and was happy with my quit, not miserable but enjoying my 5 day non smoking life. I could see immediate benefits and was loving my new found although very short lived freedom.

Unfortunately due to stress in my personal life, I got back to nicotine. I know smoking doesn't solve the problem but presents another. However at that point of time I was overwhelmed with emotions and my negativity chose tobbacco.

I will mix no words and admit it has been a failure on my part & it wasn't the nicotine talking but rather an addicted brain finding an excuse for another fix of this sick drug.

I have been smoking for 8 years now and averaging a pack a day. I no longer wish to be controlled by this drug. I am embarking on the journey of complete freedom again and this time I carry with myself a personal commitment, I will no longer use nicotine for anything. Life is going to be good/awesome/ugly at moments but no amount of happiness or sadness justifies relapse.

I also would like to thank a lot of active members on this thread for the motivation you guys provide and the example you've set.