[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Notyetgrey

+1

I had completely quit smoking in 2011 Jan after smoking for nearly 22 years. Was a huge achievement and am very proud of it. Unfortunately, fell off the wagon 10 days ago when I attended a party with friends. Smoked 5/6 during the party and was miserable at the end of the night. Haven't touched a cigarette after that and I hope I don't relapse after all this time.

Just pick yourself up and carry on --- not smoking.

This was just a relapse, but Mr Nicotine tries to say, "you've failed now, so just go on smoking."

No, you haven't failed, so just go on not smoking

(Of course, this does not mean that it is ok to have regular relapses )

[naveenroy]

29 days and counting. It has been a good run this time and I am confident. On the lookout as well! Happily, I have convinced that smoker friend of mine in office to also quit. He has stopped smoking today!

Originally Posted by shashi63

Naveen Stay Strong! Don't go back. It's not worth it! Trust me I smoked for 30 years and I know. It's a better life without the nicotine. Ask your loved one and she will tell you kissing a smoker is like kissing an ASHTRAY! Think of all the torture you give your loved one. If you are the only earning membera nd the stick kills you what will the family do? Stay Strong!

Thanks for your support Shashi!!

[noopster]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

29 days and counting. It has been a good run this time and I am confident. On the lookout as well!

Awesome. Good for you! Keep being strong- the first month is usually a roll and things may get a little difficult. But commit to it and all shall be well

Happily, I have convinced that smoker friend of mine in office to also quit. He has stopped smoking today!

While this is great in itself, you need to remember that you are doing this for yourself. It's quite possible that your friend may lapse (though I certainly hope he doesn't) so please be wary of that and focus on your own goals. Having a "quit buddy" is not that different from exercising with a "gym buddy"- as long as you both do it, it's a great way to stay motivated; but the moment one lapses, the other is in danger as well. Stay strong!

[bblost]

Originally Posted by bblost

Stop without any planning.

It was Ramzan.
I am accompanied by my father-in-law to the mosque for Taraweh prayers. These prayers in the late evening. I had been fasting the whole day.

That week I had been reading and seeing stuff about smoking.
A news article about how residual smoke is radioactive and can harm children.
A video on how smoking causes your arteries to harden.
A fatwa that if you smoke...you cannot read Namaz without a bath. As you are dirty.

I parked my car, dropped off my father-in-law at the mosque entrance. Took out a smoke. Had a long look at it and left it in the car.

I have not smoked since that night.

That was Ramzan of 2008.
I just crossed Ramzan 2014 without a cigarette in the interim.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Great stuff. The ranks of the non-smokers are getting bigger every day!

Congratulations are due to all of us on our successes, and best wishes for those who are still struggling.

[shashi63]

Here is something that has gone viral.. stay awake from smoking!

http://youtu.be/3_fEyCWcsIE

[naveenroy]

More than 3 months now. Feel good! Thanks for the support guys.

And like noopster warned, my friend has gone back to smoking. He's reduced greatly - from double digits to 4 a day but we keep pushing him to stop.

[lucifer1881]

I think I can safely post on this thread now .

The date was 10 July 2014. I was having lunch in the office cafeteria. The TVs there are always tuned to a news channel. The Budget was being presented. Holy smoke! Huge excise increase on cigarettes. Did a quick calculation. Each stick would cost about Rs. 12 once the hike came into effect. At 12 sticks a day, that comes to Rs. 144 per day or Rs. 4320 per month. That translates to 58 litre or a tankful of petrol or 580km of pure unadulterated driving pleasure in my Elantra.

Total no brainer. Had one stick on me. Smoked that. Never even felt like smoking since. Well, not true. Instead of tobacco, I smoke the tyres. So basically, I have replaced smoking with smoking. Total win-win.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Keep up the good work guys! Just remember that you must never drop your guard

[Mahesh Prasad]

118 hours!! That is the time since I haven't touched a cigarette . And boy, it is tough to quit. I agree with many that smoking is harder to quit than drinking. I only drink rarely and believe that I have it under control.

I have been a regular smoker for about 12 years. As all "good" habits, this one too started in college. Back then it used to be one stick shared by a couple of friends per day and none on holidays. But once I started working, the number gradually rose to about 10 - 15 sticks per day till around Jan 2011. In that time, not once did I think about quitting.

Then in Jan 2011, I visited my brother in Dubai and lived there for a month and didn't smoke once. I had actually smoked before entering the airport, but once I reached there, the urge to smoke was simply not there. Maybe because my entire routine changed and we lived in the 25th Floor and I was too lazy to go down to buy a smoke. Once I got back - Out of the airport - Factory reopens!!! But by then the numbers had reduced to 4-5. And in these 3 years I have made numerous attempts of quitting, and the current one is the longest I have achieved yet. I tried cutting down the numbers in my initial attempts, but someway or the other it just didn't work out.

This time, I went cold turkey. I smoked my last stick on 1st Oct before going home and haven't touched one since. The urge is still there, but I have just stopped going out on breaks. As a backup, I have a pack of Kwiknic - Nicotine gum sitting in my desk. I have just consumed 5 gums out of the pack of 6 in the past 5 days. Substituting this too with Mentos.

Really hope this time I have kicked this habit for good!!

[Ketan]

I had started after a good gap of 2+ years recently. I could see how I was liking those stupid reasons for smoking again (monsoon, long rides, good company and many more!) I had a couple of work trips to make and that including some good company made me smoke just like I used to 2 years back, lighting one after another, found I was in much hurry to finish off my stock more than ever again! Convinced myself that its going to be easy to quit since I did that earlier (that also means I started again!) and taking it lightly. back to cold turkey again for 2 days now, just for the record purpose, but I'm not going to track the time like I did 2 years back, counting all milestones with the app, going to take it much easier and focus on one simple thing, not to take that single puff again. Lets see how far I go before I take next or do not puff ever again All the luck to others on the same route, make sure you go cold turkey and don't try any other routes/options.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I had started after a good gap of 2+ years recently.

The danger always lurks. once a smoker, and you have to take care to keep off tobacco for the rest of your life.

make sure you go cold turkey and don't try any other routes/options.

Everyone should take the route that works for them, but if, for instance, it involves a nicotine substitute such as gum, plasters, etc, then the job is not finished until you don't use the substitute any longer. It's nicotine addiction we have to fight, and smoking it is just one way of getting it.

Nicotine patches really did help me, but the most important thing of all is the decision to quite. That has to be irrevocable. No messing. I gave myself 3 months to finish the "treatment," the deadline being my 40th birthday. There were a couple of one-cigarette "failures" in the first two weeks, but I did not give myself an option of failing the deadline, and I gave up the patches a couple of weeks before it.

Originally Posted by Manesh Prasad

118 hours!! That is the time since I haven't touched a cigarette . And boy, it is tough to quit. I agree with many that smoking is harder to quit than drinking. I only drink rarely and believe that I have it under control.

Most social drinkers are not actually addicted to alcohol. For actual alcoholics, the giving up is every bit as tough as giving up smoking, and the possibility of relapse, at any time in the future is very, very real. The symptoms of the cold-turkey route can also be far, far worse than us mere smokers ever experience!

As a backup, I have a pack of Kwiknic - Nicotine gum sitting in my desk. I have just consumed 5 gums out of the pack of 6 in the past 5 days. Substituting this too with Mentos.

Give yourself a deadline on that. Like my patches, you've really given up on the day that you stop using the gum for ever.

With the patches, one does a course, reducing the dose step-by-step. Maybe there is something similar for gum.

Keep up the good work!

[Mahesh Prasad]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Give yourself a deadline on that. Like my patches, you've really given up on the day that you stop using the gum for ever.

With the patches, one does a course, reducing the dose step-by-step. Maybe there is something similar for gum.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Thad for the support. Day 7 now and still going strong, although the urge is there. But I am trying to keep myself involved in work so that it does not get the better of me. I haven't yet given a deadline on the nicotine gums yet, but I am substituting that too with sugarfree gums now. I did not consume the nicotine gum yesterday .

There are guidelines for reducing the gum too, it comes with the pack. It says to gradually reduce the dosage week by week. Apparently each gum contains 2mg of nicotine polacrilex and one should not consume more than 24 gums in a day. My average consumption has been 1 gum per day and trying to reduce that too.

Thanks once again for the support.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Well done!

Sure, there are physical discomforts involved in giving up smoking, but a great deal of the difficulty is psychological. I smoked for over twenty years; many half-hearted, and a few more serious, attempts to quit didn't even last a full day before failure. The final (I hope!) giving up was very tough indeed --- but afterwards I found myself wondering what all the fuss was about!

"Final, I hope." Even today, 22 years on, I must take care to avoid any tobacco product. I admit that that is not difficult now, but still, if I smoked a cigarette, the next day I would probably smoke twenty. And the next, and so on.

[kumaranna]

[quote=Thad E Ginathom;3551607]Well done!

Sure, there are physical discomforts involved in giving up smoking, but a great deal of the difficulty is psychological. I smoked for over twenty years;

Spot on..I was a heavy smoker for over 10 years from 1990 to 2002. But one fine day on 2002 i decided to call it quits. I do not subscribe to gradual stopping theory. I tell my guys I'm a binary guy its either 0 or 1.

My two cents on quitting smoking often i give to my friends. It is more effective if you are a heavy smoker for a longer time.

First calculate the amount of money you have spent on cigis over your smoking periods. The longer the better. You will be astonished to see the value for which you could have bought a car, plot etc

Second look for the length of your cigarette and calculate the distance if you sequentially arranged the number of cigarettes you have smoked in your life. This figure also will surprise many.