Shmoopie, You,r a better person than I; You went through most of the hardship and you were almost there, then you threw it all away, just to start all this all over again. Do you have a death wish?. Well, I was in quitting few hours only, when I found myself saying "Oooooh boy! I ain't going through this again". I think the fear of having to do this again, if I started smoking agin, is more intense than the stupid craving I am suffering. This keeps me going, the more time elapsed since stopping, the more I have to loose if I gave in. Shmoopie, Does your life mean anything to you? Do you think you could reclaim those days you lost? Do you think you'r gonna be able to quit first or some horrible disease will strike first? The only time phase you have control over is now, this moment. Do what will it be? Are you gonna open yourself up to all kind of possibilities, or you'r gonna take charge of what's coming next, since tomorrow is the result of our action today? Sorry about being franc, or should I? Good luck Because if it does not mean anything to you, and it sure does not mean anything to all others [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/26/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 3 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 101 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $13.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 58 [B]Seconds:[/B] 36

Hi Shmoopie, As I was reading your original post I was thinking, "Oh my God, this is ME !!" So yes, I know exactly where you're coming from. I've been a smoker for 34 years. During that time, I only quit once 20 years ago, for a month. Something snapped about 2 months ago, though from what I've been reading, I've been preparing for my quit date long before that. Anyway... I too have been having 10-11 non-smoking days and then all of the sudden I have an overwhelming urge to smoke again, and I give in to it. Then the intervals got shorter and it was more like 4-5 days. This go around, I've done a couple things differently. I am using the nicotine inhaler and I'm on Wellbutrin, whereas the previous quits I was on the patch. It's all so personal... these quitting aides, but I have to say I do like the inhaler so far. Another thought that has helped me, and someone in one of the replies to your post mentioned something similar is to wait 5 minutes before you run out to buy smokes. But, don't sit there looking at the clock for 5 mins lol. Go do something else, and I swear you'll forget all about that cig craving... at least until the next time. I loved the analogy of cravings to the crying child. That is sooo perfect, and hits home with me because I was the mom who almost never gave in. Perhaps if I view these cravings as a crying child, I'll be able to deal with them better :) Shmoopie, I know you're serious about quitting, just as I am. Quitting is probably the most challenging thing I have ever done. I will get this whole quitting thing right... I will not give up on quitting. Nicotine IS the devil lol. It makes us want to smoke cigarettes, and get all smelly, and slowly kill ourselves. It's insane that each time I smoke again after quitting for several days, the cigarette tastes stale to me, it makes me nauseous, and it gives me a headache YET I continue to smoke for days before I quit again !!! How nuts is that ?!? You are not alone :) Hang in there. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/22/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 4 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 172 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $20 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 11 [B]Mins:[/B] 20 [B]Seconds:[/B] 22

PS...yes my boyfriend is still quit. 26 days for him! What's doing it for him? The will to stick to it, I guess. He rocks!

I'm smoking again. Right now, I really suck at this. It's like one person said...gotta make the decision. I am at step 4 of the program here. It doesn't do much for me, though I will finish it, I just don't feel I get much from it. I see that step 5 is probably going to be the most helpful/informative...I'll get to it. I'll say one thing, though...reading this message board - and I mean every single post on every single thread - the whole thing just motivates the hell out of me! It tells me that I need to spend a lot of time here when I finally kick my own butt into gear, which will be soon. Thanks all for all the responses. Thanks for supporting each other! I just love to read all of it! Wannabequitter, I put you on my buddy list if ya don't mind. And thanks for your post. Thanks all!

I have a feeling this is going to be along post. I just need to vent and want to see if anyone knows what I'm going through here. My boyfriend and I quit smoking exactly 3 weeks ago. Day one was the worst hell I can imagine. After that, it was surprisingly easy. Anytime either of us started to have a craving, we'd just talk about it, or crack jokes, or otherwise distract each other and it worked out great. The third day, I bought a pack of cigarettes, finished it the next day, and got back to quitting. The first day was kind of rough again, but tolerable, and after that it was a breeze. We couldn't stop talking about how easy it was. About two weeks later, I started having serious cravings. All of my withdrawal symptoms had died down however. It was totally mental. I felt these overwhelming cravings for 3 days before I finally gave in and bought another pack of cigarettes. I finished it the next day, and got back to quitting. It lasted two days before the urges were so bad again that I bought yet another pack of cigarettes. I finished them early yesterday and spent the rest of the day feeling good about being "definitely back on track now", however I woke up today and decided to buy another pack, so now I'm smoking again. The trouble for me seems to be that I just can't seem to decide that I want to quit. In the beginning, when I'd think about smoking, I'd say to myself "I'm not going to smoke because I don't really WANT to smoke"...and I meant it. I knew I'd thinka bout smoking, but it was very, very easy for me to go forward without giving in because it was what I truly wanted. Now I'm feeling like it's not necessarily what I want anymore. I give in so easily because I don't feel such urgency to quit. I don't understand. For the two weeks or so that I didn't smoke at all, I felt really great - physically and mentally. I loved that my hair and fingers didn't smell like cigarettes. I loevd that I wasn't waking up with the typical mucus that I was waking up with as a smoker. I was able to run short distances and not be out of breath, where before, just walking too fast would make me feel out of breath. I loved it and was sure I wanted to continue in that direction. The problems that I was having was that I was still dealing wi

Thanks for the responses everyone. I never expected quitting to be easy, I was just very surprised that it was easy for any period of time at all...and it really was. I recently had a cancer scare and the results are still not in as to whether I'm clear or not. At this point, it's really not a matter of wanting to quit or not. It's a must. The reason the boyfriend and I quit in the first place is because I kept bothering him about it. Don't get me wrong, he obviously wanted to or else he wouldn't have done it, but my point is that I wanted it really badly and I was ready. I personally have overcome a lot of things in my life and it's very frustrating for me not to be able to get past this as I've faced things that have been far more difficult...other addictions included. For me, and many others I'm sure, it really seems that the nicotine is not the problem so much as the lifestyle aspect of it. The routine. Smoking really is the devil lol Anyway, thanks again for the replies. I guess one of the great things about life is that tomorrow is always another day. Stay strong all. I'll try to do the same.

3galeh, I said it WAS easy...and I said it changed. Not sure why the need for hanging onto one word. Thanks butterfly, I agree. I smoked my last cigarette last night, and wrote myself a very long letter full of things to think about when/if I start to think about smoking. It's been a good day, I've just been very spacey, which I guess is normal for me on day one. Things could definitely be worse. A long time ago, there was a motivational speaker...I think he was talking on TV. Maybe it was the radio. I can't remember. Either way, I remember him asking everyone what they would do if they had a horse that was worth a million dollars. He asked people to think about how they'd take care of the horse. He asked them (paraphrasing here), "would you let it drink beer and pop? Would you let it smoke cigarettes? Would you feed it hamburgers and french fries while it layed around on the couch watching television all day?" He pointed out that if we had a horse that was worth a million dollars, we would give it clean, pure water, organic vegetables, lots of exercise, etc. He asked people to consider why it is that we would go out of our way to take such good care of our money, or someone elses body, but not our ourselves. Can't argue with that. I've never forgotten it, and when I think about it today, it makes me feel a little bit stronger. Just thought I'd pass it on. Take care all. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/25/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 1 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 36 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $10 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 41 [B]Seconds:[/B] 57

Hi Schmoopie, I love the name-very Seinfeld. Some folks wonder if you have done the program on the left, I wonder too. If you haven't please do it right now. If you have, re-read your stuff in your glove compartment. Is your boyfriend still smoke-free? If so, what has helped him? One major reason you keep going back to cigarettes is because YOU'RE A NICOTINE ADDICT and you are allowing the evil monster to control you.Are you willing to be a slave to cigarettes or do you want to break free from it's smelly, dirty, deadly grip? Think about it, you need to make a choice here so, what will it be? I don't mean to be harsh. I hope you choose to get serious and stay smoke-free. Take care, Trudy [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/21/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 7 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 176 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $20.93 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 20 [B]Mins:[/B] 6 [B]Seconds:[/B] 55

If you think quitting will be easy, you will fail. After a few of those, you will realize it's actually very difficult. Then you will go into a quit that means something. I'm not trying to sound profound here...that's how addiction is. I hope next time for you is serious! Bob [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/18/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 34 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,395 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $306 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 17 [B]Mins:[/B] 33 [B]Seconds:[/B] 19

This has been very hard for me too. I have been smoking for 10 years and it�s hard as hell. Let me share something with you. A few weeks ago I was smoking cigarettes and marijuana every day. I was coughing a lot. A couple times, I inhaled so much smoke from the marijuana that i passed out and woke up not realizing what was going on. Lack of oxygen to the brain will do this. The stuff in cigarettes makes it hard for you to breath. Imagine getting hit by a car or getting in a wreck or something else that you don't expect to happen to you, but things happen. How do people survive? If your lungs are in good enough shape for every day breathing, but not in good enough shape to exercise, are you going to be able to breath after that or will you die? Secondly, the walls of your arteries get clogged; your heart rate goes up. I know nicotine does this, so I said screw the patch. I am working out now and I want a lower heart rate. Lance Armstrong has a resting heart beat of 32. His heart and body are in such great shape that his circulation keeps him alive with only one beat every two seconds or so. When he is racing, his heart rate is over 200. I quit for a year from 10/04 to 10/05, I thought, it�s my birthday on 10/17, I can smoke for one day. Nope. My problems with my marriage and everything made me keep smoking. I was ok until my body got the nicotine and suddenly said, if I don�t keep getting the nicotine, then I am going to freak out. Every time I cut my nicotine patch treatment short I give up, I say life is hard enough with my wife leaving me 2 months ago and blah blah blah. But when it comes down to it, eventually my arteries will unclog, my heart rate will drop and I will feel better. I am already seeing the benefits of losing five pounds in two weeks. I only smoked for 4 or 5 of those days. But I have been smoke free for two weeks. I went to a gym and got a personal trainer. He has me running at a 15% incline on the treadmill, when I am done my heart rate is 170 and I am coughing, its hard to breathe. However, an hour later or so I feel so good it amazes me. When you exercise hard it releases endorphins in your body, and that makes you feel really good about yourself. I am going to continue with the patch tr