Great posts.. My dad quit for 3 years ... and started again. (This was many years ago). My dad died of a heartattack at 56 yrs old.. Like Everyone has said Be on Guard.. NOT ONE PUFF... We are one puff a way from... a pack or more a day. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]2/10/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 17 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 289 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $45.52 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 10 [B]Seconds:[/B] 53

Marcus, that's as clear and precise a description of the wiliness of the nicotine drug as I've heard here yet... [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/18/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 40 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,000 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $450.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 7 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 16 [B]Seconds:[/B] 50

Regardless of the circumstances, the length of the quit, or the trigger, every slip starts the same way: with one puff. That's why it's o important to commit 347% to NOPE. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]5/14/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 289 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 5,780 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $3,179.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 29 [B]Hrs:[/B] 19 [B]Mins:[/B] 6 [B]Seconds:[/B] 28

For newbies and oldies I could not say it better . great post [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]2/7/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 20 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 400 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $20.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 8 [B]Mins:[/B] 55 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

Animal, Welcome to the SSC and congratulations on your 41 days! Different things can cause relapse for different people as other members have pointed out below. Behaviour modification is a big part for most people during their quit process. Sometimes maintaining this new style of life just doesn't work and people return to smoking. Triggers are also a big part of relapse. It may be seeing an old group of friends that all smoke or having a really bad day at work and not having the proper coping skills ready to handle it. Stress is often a big reason for going back to smoking. Other people have negative effects when they quit smoking or face other underlying issues which they may go back to smoking to avoid. Many people experience depression when they quit and will return to smoking to help regulate their mood. For others its weight gain or anxiety. We hope that you take the time to read through the site and see what what others have said about their slips and relapses. Brenna, Bilingual Health Educator

Hi, Animal. [quote]I've got a question for those that have successfully quit in the past and gone back to smoking. How does this happen? [/quote] I'd like to answer this for three reasons; the first of them is to try to help you with your quit, after all, that's what SSC's for - we all help each other, and it works very well. The other two are purely selfish, however - I'd like a written record of my last failure to remind me not to be so *$�*��* stupid next time round, and also I'm having a b**ch of a time at work, and focusing on not smoking is quite therapeutic. I quit nine years ago. Went cold turkey for about a day, but then suffered what I can only describe as the polar opposite of an out-of-body experience: I found myself trapped inside the body of a raving nicotine addict, and it was unbearable. I bought a pack of nicotine gum in sheer desperation, and that helped (psychologically, I suspect) to get me through the next couple of days. [hang on - I'm getting to the point, honestly - I just got sidetracked for a paragraph...] The weird thing is that I know I really wasn't that committed to my quit; not mentally, anyhow. I was going through the motions, but, out of sheer stubbonness I hung on to it, telling myself that if I was going to do it at all, I may as well do it properly. So time passed, and I stayed quit. After three months I had some friends over for dinner, drank masses of very good wine, and then shared the rest of my cigar collection between the smokers, explaining that I wasn't going to smoke anymore. I just didn't see myself as a smoker - I WASN'T a smoker. Three years later, I had the bright idea, at the tender age of 43, to go back to Uni and do a Masters. I remember that, during breaks between lectures, the smokers congregated outside, and we non-smokers drank coffee in the kitchen. Never occurred to me to join the "outside" crew - it was no longer part of my universe. [This is where we get to the point, if you haven't already given up ...] After I and my classmates graduated, proud owners of our brand-new degrees, we arranged to meet in a restaurant nearby to celebrate. On the way to the restaurant, stone-cold sober, and smoke-free for three and a bit years, I stopped off in a cigar shop, and bought myself a Cohiba Lanceros (the ones Fidel Castro used to smoke, before he packed 'em in). It was my treat to myself. I deserved it, I told myself, after my three years of no-smoking, and a brand new degree. It didn't take long at all. I can't remember the exact chronology, but I reckon it was a cigar the next week, three the week after, one a day the following week, and within perhaps less than a month I'd given up the cigar lie, and taken up cigarettes again. I put a packet a day on my quit meter, but it was often more than that. Even at 20 a day, I managed to smoke at least 43800 cigarettes between that fateful, stupid havana and finally coming to my senses two months ago. When I quit, on 1st Jan this year, I actually told myself (or, more accurately, the junkie inside me told me) that, after a while, I'd be able to have the occasional puff. Now I'm not so sure. What do you reckon, Animal? Can I?? [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/1/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 57 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,140 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �302.10 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 9 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 50 [B]Seconds:[/B] 55

Hi, Animal. I've read quite often around here that you need to get through a year. I think one would come across most of the things that are triggers. I think I am one of those people as I began smoking at the tender age of 13. As for what allows relapse? We allowed relapses. Don't get me wrong. There have been huge motivators... accidents, fires, deaths, loss of a job, marital problems...all powerfully painful things to happen and push one over the edge back to the smoke. On the other hand, it could just be a lousy day at work, someone cut you off in traffic or just being tired of the fight. Ultimately, though, for whatever the reason, we allowed the relapse because we lit up again. And I say we because I think many of us have multiple quit attempts under our collective belts. Everyone is different. It sounds like you are on a good start. Congratulations! Troll.

Animal, Quitting smoking for good is a multi-faceted process. There is the physical addiction bit, which is over relatively quickly, but there are other aspects, such as: 1) experiencing lots of triggers without smoking - getting them out of your system 2) re-education - understanding that you can never have one puff ever again, or you will reignite the addiction and be back to a pack a day by the time you pass the next gas station 3) coming to terms with the "loss" of your crutch - for some people, this can raise other issues eg. anger, feelings of loss You will learn a lot about the different problems that people go through by reading around the site. Some people breeze through without any problems, most people find at least one bit hard, a few people have a real struggle. You can't predict which will apply to you. ;) Attitude makes a huge difference. Lizzie :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]4/23/2003 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 1771 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 26,565 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �6,641.25 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 182 [B]Hrs:[/B] 5 [B]Mins:[/B] 13 [B]Seconds:[/B] 58

I quit once for several months. It was the easiest quit... I put them down.. and that was it. Then I went back.. to irritate someone, and because It was so easy.. I figured I could just put them down again... I was young, naieve and stupid. I am using Chantix this time. I am doing pretty well. In my 3rd week. I am using this program, the diary, tool box and come daily to read and post. I am aware of the biggest "triggers" and that there is NO such thing as just ONE puff. I am lucky in the respect I am Not among smokers.. just the opposite, I am almost the only one smoking.. You just have to admit.. You are and addict.. a Nicotine adict and like any other type of addict... you can't have ANY. It's no great loss... LOOK at all you have gained. breathing better, smelling better, sense of smell and taste... etc. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]2/10/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 17 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 289 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $45.52 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 7 [B]Seconds:[/B] 53

Good for you, Animal! Just keep your eye on the prize and don't let your vigilance drop nomatter how few and far between your cravings are... [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/18/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 40 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,000 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $450.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 7 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 16 [B]Seconds:[/B] 20