Any EX Smokers here?

Hi, new to the site and just found this thread and have to comment.

My name is Tracy and I am 28. Started smoking when I was 17, not because of peer pressure but because of a need for the nicotine. I know it sounds crazy but I was craving it before I even started. I would be around a smoker and attempting to inhale their smoke! It's weird but that's the way it was. I got up to at least a pack a day with no intentions of quitting. Then I met this really wonderful guy and BAM, quit cold turkey. Dated him for about a year and things went south. Back to smoking again. Fast forward years and meet another non-smoker. Quit again cold turkey. Dumps me, back to smoking.

Fast forward to 22 and dating a smoker. Find out a baby is on the way and BAM, cigarettes make me throw up. Figure this time is it because I don't ever want to smoke around my child. But boyfriend can't/doesn't quit and I pick it back up, smoking outside or away from baby.

Fast forward to three weeks ago. Boyfriend is now my husband and I have been begging him to quit so I can. There is just no way I can say no and sit there and watch him smoke and be okay with it. He has no desire to quit. Then he feels a lump in his throat and freaks. (a guy he works with has throat cancer and that's how it started for him) He tells me this is finally it and he is ready to give it up. YAHOOO! I just quit right then and there, throw away my pack and I am done. He is doing the more gradual thing and is down to 5 a day from 2 packs. I do get an urge now and then but I have picked up another kind of smoking...

I smoke candy cigarettes!!! :eek :P Picked up a case at the local flea market and go thru a couple packs a day. Gotta say I feel better and am very proud of myself.

So to all those out there getting ready to quit or just thinking about it - GOOD LUCK!!! I hope you make it!

momnkid! Congrats! Very cool little story there. Really hard to quit with S.O being a smoker. I'm semi-single right now and my ex-boyfriend smoked and it was terrible when I would quit and he smoked. In a good way though sometimes too because it stunk.
I maybe should have gone cold turkey. I don't know. Time will tell. I had to leave work today because my heart was/is still racing like crazy and I felt over all ill and my head was killing me. Called my doc, she said it's withdrawal plus the patch. And I had crazy dreams nightmares with little sleep and i guess I need to take it off at night. She told me to stick it out for a week though so, I will. My advice to myself obviously hasn't worked for long so, I'm taking others.
I'll read this thread every chance I get because I remember how I felt when I wrote that post with that cigarette sitting in front of me.

I want to control my life. (trying to think negative regarding the cigs and positive in quitting)

Anyway, congrats . Keep it up!

To people who wrote about smoking once in a while. I don't get it! I could never do that. Some of my family used to and it baffled me. Hardly anyone smokes in my family now and (thank god) not one friend I have smokes right now. Either never did, or have quit.
2 people I'm very close to that smoke I will have to not see for awhile. I feel bad about it but, I am sure (I hope) they understand.

This patch is itchy too and i want to tear it off. But, I have quit cold turkey and really went crazy and don't know about trying that.

Okay I'm done.

Gonna go do some yard work and anything that doesn't require my brains for the rest of the day.

p.s love the candy cigs idea. (picturing how funny it might look) :teeth

I smoked for 30 years, 3 packs a day for over ten years. Just got tired of it, started cutting back to when I really wanted a smoke, not just cause... went to cheaper cigs for nasty taste to help slow down. Then I got smokeaway too. Worked great! but you also have to want to quit. It's been three years this June, I still get an urge every now and then (stress situations) but they do pass fast. Good luck, it took me five tries to do it, even going a year cold turkey.

I started as a social smoker, and more and more the social went away and I became a smoker. The day I went outside to smoke a cigarette by myself I knew it was time to kick the habit for good. It was no longer being social and me being on birth control that put me over the edge. Birth control and smoking don't mix you increase your risk of a heart attack and/or stroke. Cold turkey is what I did, and gum really helped me. For a while after I had quit I would be around people and just be trying to get second hand smoke to help me. Now I can't even stand the smell of cigarettes, and I can't stand being around it. My boyfriend is a pack and a half a day smoker, and that adds up. I think of all the vacations I could go on for what we spend on his cigarettes. Start a vacation fund either with money you did NOT use to buy a pack, or even give yourself a dollar everytime you think to have a cigarette and you don't smoke. This may even seem harsh, but I tell my boyfriend,"you love your kids right? well if you do you better stop smoking or else you will be dead before you even get to see them graduate"Reward your strength. It is a tough road and I wish you al the luck Jami, but when you cross this bump (and all it is is a bump, not a mountain when you look back) you will be so proud of yourself. And that is a lot more satisfying then a cigarette.

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Originally Posted by guillermoluvsme

Reward your strength. It is a tough road and I wish you al the luck Jami, but when you cross this bump (and all it is is a bump, not a mountain when you look back) you will be so proud of yourself. And that is a lot more satisfying then a cigarette.

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I love how you phrased that. So true.

I am still a smoker who has been thinking (again) it is time to stop. I have used the patch. No good for me. I couldn't sleep, even with it off and the adhesive made my skin break out. I have had luck with Zyban, but both times I have used it and actually quit... I want to try being just a social smoker and of course that doesn't work for me. I am considering trying smokeaway. I can buy it here at our local Walgreens and our insurance reimburses all money spent on stop smoking products. Anyone who has used smokeaway did you have to use anything else with it? I like Zyban, it is really an anti depressant medication and I feel so less stressed taking it. Guess that would be why I can quit with it, I don't stress about not having a cigarette. My usual smoking habits are about a half pack a day. I don't smoke in my home, so playing on the computer is one way to really keep me from smoking. So, if ya'll notice Melitta on the Fort 24/7 you know I am trying to quit! I already have my "reward" picked out. When I quit and if I can make it to the 3 month mark, my reward is the biggest gift basket they make of my favorite perfume, Beautiful, which I no longer buy since I couldn't stand the smell of Beautiful mixed with cigarette smoke. Well, good luck JamiLee!!

Originally Posted by guillermoluvsme
Reward your strength. It is a tough road and I wish you al the luck Jami, but when you cross this bump (and all it is is a bump, not a mountain when you look back) you will be so proud of yourself. And that is a lot more satisfying then a cigarette

(ADKlove) this stuck out too to me. I think I'll put it in my little arsenal of weapons. You guys! This gets harder and harder huh? This is about my 5th time quitting (something like that) and I'm on day 3 (thought it was day 4 but, I can't count right)
Melitta,
I was thinking that we could have an email support thing on here together. All of us that are trying. Lets wait until about Friday and see if anymore people are interested and we can PM our emails to eachother. As my shows end (I like 4 reality shows right now) and the weather gets nicer the less I'm around and less I'll be on here except for popping in once in a while and emails. So, we'll see. Just an idea.
Anyway, I have to say that the smokeaway thing doesn't appeal to me. I'm not sure why. Probably because I've used the patch and it helped immensely.
When I quit cold turkey I was just a wreck for about a straight month. Crutches are okay when it comes to quitting smoking IMO.
I think when you, me or anyone else wants to really quit -something will work right (hope that makes sense because I know I'm not making sense much lately) I haven't had much sleep (I'm also finishing up school and work is sucking lately) but, the patch is (and was) awful for me at one time and I found out that a lot of people have bad nightmares and lucid dreams (to the point where you don't know if your dreaming or not) really freaky (to me anyway) So, last time I quit I would take the patch off about 2 hours before I thought I'd go to sleep. I took it off last night about midnight and ended up having awful nightmares crazy dreams anyway. Tonight I'll take it off a little earlier. For friends of mine that have had this problem - they used the nicorette gum (or just cold turkey) One of my best friends quit with the patch 6 years ago and she had an allergy to it. She liked the way it helped so she cut the tape off around it (dr. told her to) and she used a tape you can get at a drug store that is good for sensitive skin.
Smoke away sounds good too but, I know me and I need this nicotine right now. The mental part is so hard and knowing it's all mental (or mostly) makes it a bit easier.
Also, I got: Stress ball for the car. I have straws and toothpicks right here by my puter. Sugarless candy and gum where I kept my cigs and lighters.
a little prayer book thing that sits here with a message for each day about being positive. I bought about 10 oranges yesterday. Good to eat and the peeling is something to do with your hands if you get a bad craving. I have a list that I will add one thing to each day of why I'm so glad to be a non-smoker. (I could add a lot more to that than why it's good/okay to smoke)
I got thin pretzels (I hold them like a cigarette) If I'm home and I really feel like throwing in the towel and saying " oh I'll do this in the fall " (I think about that a lot because no going outside freezing to smoke) I brush my teeth because a cig tastes nasty after brushing.
ADKlove mentioned popsicles so, yesterday I bought crystal light and these popsicle maker things and made them (more healthy than regular pops)
Well, thats all I can think of now.
My daughter is thrilled I quit but, I cannot do it for her or anyone else. It still makes me feel better to think when she comes home for the summer I'll be a non-smoker. Just to say I'm a non-smoker feels good.
I'm dating someone that smokes. If he is going to smoke around me I seriously won't see him anymore. And 2 cousins that are like my sisters I will not see until I feel more confident.
And rewards!! I'm givng myself one every day. I bought new sneakers for walking/working out yesterday. Walked 3 miles yesterday and felt good!! Today I'm buying something cheap but, something that I want. And me and my girlfriend are going for a manicure/pedicure tomorrow night. I can't do the save the $ thing because I'm spending it now!
So funny you mentioned that perfume because my past 2 b-days and X-mass
my daughter bought that for me. I'll look forward to actually being able to really smell it. Just one more thing!! I'd quit for a month and a half another time and was laying in bed reading magazines. I pulled out one of those perfume things and rubbed it on -didn't smell it- woke up and had forgotten I'd put it on. I was like what the heck is that great smell. Then I realized it was the perfume. I grabbed the magazine with the intentions of running out and buying it and it was some insane price (like over 100 bucks a half ounce or something) If I'd stayed quit, I would have givin that to myself as a reward after say 6 months of not smoking. This time I'll hopefully make it. Fortunately for my wallet I forget the name of it. I'll have no problem thinking up something to buy though for a big, big reward.
I looked for candy cigs (no luck) and cinnimon (sp) sticks. Couldn't find them.
Anyway, long enough post!! Good luck to you and anyone else and write back about the email thing.
later!
p.s I counted 9 people smoking as I was out yesterday. Talk about obsession!! I reminded myself how disgusting they look and how bad it is for them and how bad they smell (LOL) whatever works!!!!

p.p.s excuse the spelling errors. I typed that fast an don't have time for spell check!!

I quit smoking on October 1, 2004. My darling boyfriend, whom I live with, smokes, but has stopped smoking in the living area of our home. He's relegated himself to the basement & has been absolutely wonderful.

I started smoking when I was 16 after experimenting with it off and on for about 3 years prior to that. I'm turning 30 in two weeks, so that's 13 1/2 years of smoking 3/4 of a pack to a pack a day. I'm a singer, and it got to the point where I could barely finish a phrase without having to clear my throat and I realized just what I was doing to myself. I came home from work on the Friday evening, threw out my cigarettes, drove to the pharmacy and picked up a box of patches. I used the patch for six weeks, crocheted two afghans the first weekend, and ate a whackload of Tootsie Pops, but I've done it. I haven't had the slightest urge for a cigarette since my second week being smoke free.

I reward myself each month with something. The first two weeks, my boyfriend bought me CSI: Season 4 DVD collection as my reward. The first month, we went out for dinner... I've bought myself new clothes, a gym membership & my boyfriend bought me personal training sessions for my six month reward.

DO NOT concern yourself with weight gain for at least the first eight weeks. YOu'll know when you're ready to tackle that - concentrate on making it through one more day smoke free, that's more important at this stage of the game. Once you're comfortable living smoke free, you'll be ready to turn your attention to any weight you might have gained during that time.

Good luck to all of you, essentially, if you want to do it, it will definitely happen!

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Originally Posted by Melitta

I am considering trying smokeaway. I can buy it here at our local Walgreens and our insurance reimburses all money spent on stop smoking products. Anyone who has used smokeaway did you have to use anything else with it? !!

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nope, the herbs in smokeaway really worked by themselves....but like ilikai said "you got to really want to quit" thats what i did, set a date, one bweek of vacation so i wasn't around work where i smoked like a fiend and then did it.

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Originally Posted by Lotuslander

I tried everything including, nicorette, the patch, acupucture and hypnosis, but it was Zyban that worked for me. The drug did somehow kill my cravings for nicotine, but made me temporarily insane and also increased my sex drive tenfold. Works if you don't mind being a manic slut for a few months. It's been 5 years now.

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It's been 5 years since you quit, or it's been 5 years of you being a manic slut? :lol

I never had a real urge to quit until I got pregnant. I never smoked during either pregnancy - I did from time to time in between kids, though - and since I had my 2nd, I've smoked a cigarette and a half. I love to smoke, but the smell and taste turns me off big time now. I admit I do still miss it, though.