After 18 years of smoking, I've decided to kick the habit.
The missus and I are expecting a baby in 6 months and I don't want to expose a new arrival to the stuff that is in cigarettes.
I've been off the fags for 3 days and it feels awful, I'm having cold flushes like you wouldn't believe.
I went cold turkey, I was not willing to waste money with patches and other things, most people that I've known that have tried these things have taken up smoking again.
If I'm giving up, I want to do this once and once only.
I want my kid to be in a smoke free environment, unlike me when I was growing up in the 1970's.

Good luck Mike.

I quit 4 years ago after 30 years of being a slave to them.

I went the Wellbutrin route. The hardest thing for me was breaking the routines of when I would normally light up i.e. getting in my truck in the morning, leaving a meeting, after eating, etc... but after about a week it started getting easier.

Good Luck Mike

Roger

I quit cold turkey 4 years ago, but I still find myself having a puff or two when I have a few cocktails. So I guess I still technically smoke, even if it's only a pack every two or three months.

Hey Mike,

I quit back in 01' cold turkey. That was only after trying other techniques like the patch, or 'cutting back' stair step methods. The patch will make your heart rate skyrocket also btw.

It was extremely difficult the first two months. Even up to this day I still crave a cigarette every now and then. I'm not sure if the addiction ever goes away. You just have to be strong and tell yourself NO, when the cravings start.

Oh, and I went through alot of sunflower seeds during the first year, and gum too. Prolong your life Mike, you can do it!

I quit in 2000 after about 30 years of setting fire to my hard earned money. I used the patches for about a week, then quit those too.

You're doing the right thing for some very good reasons which will help you in the long run.

Good luck & keep us posted, both about the quitting and when the baby arrives.

Tom

Good luck quitting Mike! I used to beg my little girl's mom not to smoke around her but would come home to see a layering effect of smoke above her. Definately not good for little lungs.

Recently, I've heard alot about "Laser Concepts", being an effective means to quitting. Has anyone here heard good or bad feedback on them? I would be willing to spring for it for my little girl's bio-folks if I thought it had half a chance of working.
Joe

My wife quit cigarettes about 8-10 years ago but she is still hooked on the gum. We buy it from New Zealand, 2500 pieces at a time.
I predict some day there will be a whole generation of gum addicts that never smoked. This used to be like ground up cigarette buts and silly putty but the new stuff is actually just nicotine laced peppermint gum. Can bubble gum be far behind? Maybe with baseball cards inside? Bear in mind the original cards came with cigarettes.

I too am an expectant father to be, (mid-August) and trying to quit, cutting down before I pull the plug. Getting below a pack a day has been hard enough, the next month is going to be interesting as I get to the last day. (8-01-07) At that point I may just hand-cuff myself in a room - seriously.

I had set up my target day for April 1, so at 9:30 PM on March 31 2003, I got up out of my chair on my porch (hadn't smoked in the house for years) and smashed the remaining cigarettes in my hand then threw them in the trash can.

After being a 1.5 to 2 pack a day smoker, I really didn't think I would make it, but 4 years later I haven't touched one.

You guys can do it.

Roger

My grandfather quit on a fishing trip because my father didn't have his brand.

Mike,
I quit back in January after getting the flu, a bronchial infection and an ear infection all in one blow... I never started again. and everytime I look at my daughter, I realize just why I quit I never smoked around her in the first place, but I imagine I stunk pretty bad still. I, just like Mike, grew up with parents and grandparents in the 70's and 80's that smoked. My mom caught me smoking when I was 15, and basically told me "Buy your own *^%(@% cigarettes!!" so no one ever really tried to get me to quit until I met my wife (Tammy). The hardest part is at work, as everyone else smokes. I know I can't even let myself give in for just one, that I know I could hide... Then It'd be all downhill and I'd just smoke more and more again.


One thing that helps is another foreman on our lease that HAD to quit as he was diagnosed with early stages of emphysema. We've kinda helped each other at rough times...

From From almost 2 packs Camel Wides/day to nada after 17 years.... It ain't easy, but you can do it!!

Best of luck to you and your growing family Mike!!

Randy

It's Monday afternoon here, I've been at work all day and I was like a cat on a hot tin roof all day.
Trouble started after lunch, when the shakes came on.
Roger,
I know what you mean about routines based around smoking, every morning after a shower I would make a coffee and sit outside and have a smoke and the coffee, everything seems out of whack at the moment.
Thanks guys for your votes of support, I'm going through hell at the moment, strange how getting off a certain drug can have such a profound effect on your body's behaviour.
This is not good at all.

Stick to it, Mike, It does get easier after the first week, and even easier after the first month. Maybe you should keep in mind that thousands of others have quit who smoked as much as the others, including me. I quit New Years Eve 2004 instead of New Years Day because why put off till tomorrow what u can do today. It can be done. The best part about not smoking anymore for me has been not having to cough like hell in the morning. The flem and junk takes years to clear your system though. 2 1/2 years later I feel great and can actually breathe.

Good luck to you.

Mike, I quit in March with a new medication called CHANTIX and it worked great. 1.5 to 2 pks a day for the last 30 years. I've quit before and this stuff made it a breeze. It was a little pricey at $115 /mnth with a least two mnths required but you figure in your smoke savings and you come out way ahead. No cravings, no mood swings and no weight gain. Good Luck.

is anyone here a chewing tobacco user? i chew tobacco and need to quit, i agree its hard and i go through some bad withdrawls, your mind play tricks on you lol, i quit once before and started again but really need to quit again for good!!!!! its a hard thing you are doing but stay with it and good luck to you, you will hit a point one day when you ask yourself why you ever smoked in the first place, i know i felt better when i quit once before.

Tony

Not making light of it, but I do quit every night - it's just that I start back up in the morning.

I am still very much a regular smoker, but my definition of "regular" is about a half-pack (packet) a day. I find myself with nothing better to do when sitting through hours of commuting time to my office. I have done a pretty good job of limiting my smoking time to my commute and a few breaks during the day. NOW, if I am out with my pals at a bar, anything can happen.

My wife enjoys "exotic" cigarettes when she goes out with the girls. These range from extra-long (120mm) ones to multi-colored or black cigarettes with gold filters. Since she's not a regular smoker anymore, she and her friends smoke them and occasionally latch onto a particular brand for a few weeks. The exotic ones are pretty expensive, but I must say that I have tried them and they are mighty tasty.

It's a hard habit to break and we should, but my wife enjoys those weekend jaunts with the girls and I never know what I will be trying the next day.

Like I said, she's not a regular smoker, but some of the smokes that she comes home with are hard to resist. Nat Sherman makes some of the best smokes I have ever tried. If we were committed to a full habit (along with deep pockets), I'd gladly be a full-time smoker again. Good stuff for sure.

Sorry to twist the original direction of this thread, but I like smoking within limits.

The "occasional" or "recreational" smoker jaunt is one of the biggest BS lines I've ever heard, and I've heard it from a lot of people. do you smoke everyday? then you're an addict, plain and simple, you can say whatever you like to make yourself feel better about it, but one day you'll have to come around and face facts.

I started smoking when I was 15, it started with me and my friends smoking "tasty" and "exotic" cigarettes, and it progressed into half a pack a day at 16 1/2, after only a year and a half, I realised what an idiotI was and quit, it wasn't easy, and I can only imagine how hard it must be for you guys who have been smoking for years. Then I crashed my car and broke up with my girlfriend of 1 1/2 years in the same night, the next day I bought 3 packs of cigarettes. Now, six months later I'm going through the same, miserable process again, I felt uncomfortable about posting this at first, as I'm only 17, but EV's post struck a nerve, the same self-delusional thing me and all my friends went through, only we were (well, are) idiot teenagers. Darnit, if all you guys who have been smoking for decades can kick the habit, I sure as heck don't have any excuses.

Good luck to everyone who's trying to quit, and congratulations to everyone who already has, you guys are an inspiration to me

-Will

oh yeah, besides the health complications for your kids, another reasoin to quit is that your kids will probably look up to you when they're a little older, and that won't make them smoke, but if your first memories are of dad sitting down and puffing on a cigarette...

I smoked 2 packs plus 10 cigars a day for over 40 years. One day, while in the midst of a cigar, I just said "Enough of this" and have never touched any smoke since (13 years). My doctor has had me speak at quit smoking seminars and we both know it takes a person with extremely strong willpower to quit cold turkey.
BTW, I quit hard liquor the same way about 30 years ago. My wife at the time would greet me with a Jack Daniel's and water when I got home. One day I just said "Coffee sounds better." I still like wine and beer in moderation.

Elvis, I am a recreational smoker. I smoke about 3 cigarettes a year and a few cigars. A box of Macanudos lasts me several years. If you smoke much more than that you are wasting the drug. You don't feel it. I can put on a little "buzz" with one cigarette but that will go away if you smoke every day.

First of all....CONGRATS on the baby!!!
I gave up smoking on the third try many, many years ago. I had urges to smoke months after I quit. I had to tell myself "I'll never smoke another one". It's a very addictive drug and will take a great effort to kick. God give you strength mate. Stick with it for yourself, your wife & NEW BABY!!!!!

Dave

I gave up smoking 6 months ago, cold turkey. The first month was hard, removing the habit from my daily routine and fighting the intense cravings. I still get cravings every once in a while.

i used to smoke a pack a day for 10 years and about five years ago i quit. i was diagnosed with oral cancer, so it was real easy to quit. and congradulation on the baby, my wife and i just found out we are going to have a baby.

mike ,congradulations on the little one and you giveing up smoking. even OZZY said that cigarrettes was the hardist drug that had to stop. good luck.

Mike here is how I quit, it sounds strange but worked for me. I kept a cig in my shirt pocket, and went through all the motions of smoking, I just never lit the thing.

I have been smoking for more than 30 years. I want to quit, I don't want to quit. In a couple of weeks I will be in the hospital for 3-4 days. This should be my opportunity since smoking is not allowed anywhere on hospital grounds. I wonder what will happen when I get out. This could be my chance. I hope I don't blow it!

A lot of people in England are going to be forced to cut back drastically.

From today -- July 1 -- it becomes illegal to smoke in any enclosed place which is a workplace or is otherwise open to the public, including shops, offices, restaurants, even work sheds and company vehicles.

In the usual nutty government fashion, the penalty for a business owner failing to display the mandatory "no smoking" signs is much higher than the penalty for breaking the smoking ban itself.

http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/

Here in Maryland it's been illegal to smoke in the workplace (including vehicles) and any enclosed building such as offices,stores,shops and such. Some cities and towns have passed laws making it illegal to smoke in any building including bars- even the private clubs like the moose .
I quit over 4 years ago. Just walked away from a pack to pack and half a day habit for 20 years! Haven't had a smoke since. It was tough at first but after the 2nd week it was a breeze. I still get the urge to have a Marlboro every now and then but it passes quickly. I do miss the occasional good cigar

Here's one fellow's take on smoking from 60 years ago!

Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette (MP4, 2.7MB)

There is a new quitting helper, a thing that looks like a cigarette, the tip lights up when you drag on it and it gives out water vapor to make it feel like smoking. Saw one guy using it and then stuff it into his pocket... looked so real I was worried about him setting his clothes on fire!

Trumpy, how are you doing with this quitting? Is it successful? I guess you and Randy really got something that is more important than the daily habit. Beside a kid, you have to quit all of your recent habits, like it or not, as I see it. :DDD