I've seen so many people struggle to quit and can't begin to know what it must be like, but have any of you successfully quit, and if so, how?

I have two friends having a hard time of it, and wanted to hear what WORKED for you. As in quit, and never picked it up again.

friends of mine used this drug - think it's called Zyban -
that really works.  You lose the urge to smoke.  When you
do try to smoke due to habit, the cigarette tastes really
bad and you can't finish it.  If you try to finish a
cigarette it makes you ill.

It keeps you off cigarettes until the physical addiction
is gone.

fr

I have never smoked but I do know of two people who smoked 2 - 3 packs a day, and they both quit through hypnosis.  Neither one has touched a cig. since there hypnosis 12 years ago.  Many smokers will probably think it is BS, but I guess the success depends on how open people are to hypnosis.

There's an herbal product called "Smoke Away" available in most drug stores. (I've seen another called "E-Z Quit" that looks identical.)You see it advertised on late night TV too. It's a hella lotta pills, taken over 7 days and it really works.

Within 2 days of starting the program, all my desire to smoke was gone. I smoked for almost 10 years and quit in 3 days - just like the TV ads say. It's almost funny.

BTW, nicotine replacement strategies; gum, patches, etc., are useless because they only displace the addiction to another source, albeit a less damaging one. But they do nothing to actually break the habit.

As a child I had this swell idea of taking one of my mother's cig's as it was "in" at the time. My down fault.....she was home resting from a headache when I took one of hers and experimented. So I began, my first puff, so far so good. Second one....hey this is kinda good. When all of a sudden I hear ....."what the hell do you think your doing," said my mother.

I believe that was my first heartache!.......I'm still shaking!

I quickly dropped the cigarette. Wrong move as I later got a lecture on how I could have burned the house down. Long story short I had two choices.
1. I could smoke an entire pack of cigarettes in front of her or
2. I could eat one cigarette without the filter

I of course chose the later, as I couldn't smoke an entire pack in front of my "mothere"  the results..... I became violently ill. Therefore my dear if you or your friends are serious about quitting eat a cigarette. I assure you you'll quite and will never go back!!!!!!!

Smokeless kisses to you  ~CarleeofArizona

Last October, 2002... I know a lot of people who say they have "quit" but keep on sneaking a cigg once in a while. That is not QUIT. To QUIT you have to get it completely and utterly out of your system.

For me that meant the PATCH... which I used unabashedly for almost five months after I quit.  I could not have done it without the patch, because it left me free to deal with the mental aspect of quitting while it dealt with the physical side.  

I did not go to bars for a while. I changed my habits. I made myself NOT do, as much, my triggers... sitting at the computer, driving a lot, etc. I had a friend who is a nonsmoker come stay with me for the first three days to keep me busy. I used the spiciest cinnamon mints I could find... they burned my tongue a little bit and worked as my substitute ciggs for that "hand to mouth" thing.


Now that it is OUT of my system, I cannot STAND the smell of smoke. I really believe that a lot of people who quit, start again because it never really got out of their system... they kept sneaking, or they kept going to bars, or being around other people who smoke, they kept smelling it, they kept themselves USED to it in general.  Once you are really over it, I cannot imagine how you could start again... it's just that revolting to me now.  It sucks because I love strip clubs, and bars, and going out dancing, and swing clubs... they are all SUPER smoky and I wind up having to leave early now.  

Here's a great site... http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com

I think the biggest thing overall is making the committment to do it... in your mind and your soul. I had cravings and I had withdrawal and other things but I didn't really... WANT to start again... I really WANTED with every molecule of my being to quit and I was willing to figure out a way to make it work.

Now if only I could be that disciplined in the rest of my life...

Hugs*
Tamara

If I stop now, think of what it will do to the Cuban economy. Cohiba's baby, that's the way to go!

smoking (tobacco) cigarettes was simply to not buy any. After more than 25 years, I stopped smoking (buying) 11 years ago. I tried all other types of programs and methods which unfortunately could not rid me of the addiction. I found though if they are totally unavailable (not in the house or car), there is really not anything you can do. However, I must say that even after all these years, at least once or twice a day I still have this incredible urge, which after a short while, the desire fades away.

I fully support and vote for all smoking bans in public places. However, it is with some disdain that I look at all these ex-smokers who have now turned into crusaders for anti-smoking. In fact, I actually prefer to see commercial companions who smoke. Of all the ladies I have ever been with (both straight and paid)there have only been 3 or 4 that gave what I consider truly incredible head--someone who could seriously suck a mean cock. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but all these women were smokers, including my wife who is also now an ex-smoker. I don't mean to imply that all smokers give good head, hardly. I do tend to think though that those ladies who prefer oral sex over any other type of sex have a particular fixated need in this area, which may often include the need to smoke.

Stopping smoking takes a tremendous amount of will power and discipline. Should your friends not succeed this particular time please understand that tobacco is a very addictive drug. More times than not the drug will win out. It may take many attempts before they are able to kick the habit. Just continue to give them understanding and not lectures.

I wish your friends good luck.

"Quitting Smoking is easy.  I've done it a hundred times"

I quit. I found that the only way I was able to do it was to, more than anything, want to do it. If you`re quitting because someone else wants you to but your hearts not in it you will most likely fail. At least that had been my experience.
I was quite lucky. I smoked for over 30 years. At the end I was doing the better part of 2 1/2 packs a day. I prepared myself mentally for a couple of months before my attempt and also kept it to myself. I didn`t want to blow it and have to face everyone I had told about quitting. I was able to put them down and not go back. I didn`t go through the physical craving that I had felt in my other attempts. My addiction was mostly mental. By that I mean that I would have one the same time every day or after doing certain things like eating and to not light up as usual was hard, but managable. I reached for my empty pocket many times on my way to putting them out of my mind.
I can`t speak for anyone else but to me the use of nicotine patches, gum, or other tools just gives you an excuse when you fail and allows you to blame it on something other than yourself. As hard as it is to stay off of them, you have to believe that you are stronger than them and just do it....just don`t put a burning one in your mouth ever again and you will be done. It really is just that simple.

At the moment, I haven't had a smoke in about 48 hours (I've gone as long as a year, previously).
I've been on Wellbutrin anyhow, and a side effect is that it makes it easier to quit.
I've finally realized that, if I don't get off weeds, my days as
a hobbyist are numbered. (Emphysema, etc.)

taking his cigs into the head (bathroom, for you non-Naval types) and watching himself in the mirror as he smoked.  As he put it, it didn't take long for him to realize how stupid he looked while he was smoking, and since he felt he didn't have any room to look stupid on purpose, it was pretty simple to give them up.

Disflamer: That's HIS opinion, of course, so please don't think I'm saying that anybody who smokes looks stupid doing it.

Yoda

EOM

I used to smoke [which, incidentally, started when my marriage went to sh*t]. First, I had to get away from other smokers. Second, whenever I bought a pack, I'd flush the remaining cigs while smoking the first one [just had to have a taste], which got quite expensive after awhile. Ultimately, I had to decide whether the risk was worth it, and my decision was NO. I've known athletes who smoked, as well as 80-something year old relatives who've defied the odds. But the decision was soul-deep and only mine.

Truly awesome.  Way to go!

I quit cold turkey 8 years ago.
With what I used to smoke (3 packs a day) it would have come to smoke or play (and of course you know which I prefer)...

Some of my friends quit using various devices: the patch, nicotine gum and even shots! Different things worked for different people. But the most important attribute of successful "quitters" is an unswerving desire to succeed. And if you get off the bandwagon - just jump back on again. KEEP TRYING!!!

and swore I would never become an obnoxious ex-smoker.
Well, i can't help it, i became an obnoxious ex-smoker, and I am just fine with it.
For me, a 2-3 pack a day man for 31 years (Dunhill menthol), I found myself unable to walk across the street to my neighbors home without stopping for a breath in the middle. After smoking the last of my fourth pack that Friday, I decided right there I simply did not want to smoke anymore. I went from 350 to 400 pounds, but eventually, as my ability to walk and move improved, so did my overall health.
I guess in my case, I was ready to stop smoking.
I never quit. I just didn't want to smoke anymore.
I wiah I could bottle it, whatever it is.

have addictive personality by nature.  Quitting smoking, even if successful, only results in taking up something worse.  Run your own race.

I used the "patch" to thwart the nicotine cravings and kept a 5 pound bag of gummy-worms within reach at all times for the oral cravings . It was a royal bitch for a month and a half but I beat it.
The main thing to remember is.... you gotta want to quit!

  FR.

I've never smoked myself.  My sisters both were successful with the patch.  However, they were very motivated after seeing our parents' health crash due to years of smoking.

Nicotine replacement will work in preventing withdrawls and sudden cravings.  My younger sister said that it took the "guesswork" out of quitting.  However, it only replaces part of the thrill of actually smoking.  This is because it's a gradual absorbtion, whereas inhaling a cigarette delivers a series of sudden "jolts" of nicotine, uncut, directly to the brain.  I suspect that those who can't quit even with replacement are missing these jolts.  

There is one thing a person might try, and it's only a guess on my part, nothing proven.  Put a patch on above the left collarbone, go to a gym and do hard aerobic exercise.  The increased blood flow from the exercise will accelerate the nicotine absorbtion, and the placement of the patch is more likely to put the increased nicotine level into the brain.  

There may be other benefits to this.  First is that the calory expenditure when you use nicotine with exercise is tremendous.  Second, it might just change your addiction to exercise instead of smoking.

BTW, though I've never smoked, I do use a patch right now with my exercise, and the weight reduction has been remarkable, even though my doctor shook her head when I told her I was doing this.  ("You don't even smoke!") Nicotine has a bad rap, due mostly to it's delivery, but it is a useful drug.

/Zin

Frankly, I prefer cigars shaped like my penis,..short and stout, about a "50" ring size...Robustos!!

I quit smoking in January of 1987.  I used the nicotine gum for 5 days and then switched to chewing Trident sugarless gum.  Of course I had good motivation when I went to visit relatives over Christmas and saw my dad stuck with using oxygen.

From what my doctor friends tell me the physical addiction to almost any substance known to mankind can be cured in two weeks or less.  Of course the physchological dependency may take longer.

every now & then I like to use cigars for the "old in and out."

DUMP BUSH IN 2004!!