How I quit smoking after 27 years

BadBoy, I can not tell you how much I appreciate this post. I have been trying, with patches, gum, lozenges, Chantix and anything else I could get my hands on. I too started at twelve. I am thirty two now, and have recently been diagnosed with a genetic blood clotting disorder. Suffice it to say smoking is a BAD idea for me. I have to ask, I have an overwhelming amount of stress in my life now. How did you cope with stress as you quit, and after you were a non smoker? I am going to be a non-smoker as of 01OCT11 come hell or high water. I could use any additional advise you or anyone else might have.

Mark I can see your determined to beat smoking after reading your post. I forgot to mention beyond what I have already posted that I was going to the gym Mon-Wed-Thurs evenings after work to workout knowing that when I quit smoking I might gain weight. So what I did was start working out 3 months before I quit and then after I quit I continued to go to the gm and it allowed me to rid myself of all the stress from days gone by. it also is a great way to get healthy and with all the endorphins running through my body from working out it also helped keep my mind of smoking. Mark its easy to quit you just have to put your to it and the firs 10 days are the hardest but once you make it past that its all down hill from their. I also forgot to mention since quitting I feel so much better and because of this feeling I know I will never start again. Best of luck to you Mark I am supporting your quitting efforts so if you need any advice or someone to talk to about it I as here and good luck to you. :)

Badboy,
Since you have quit, what are the best things that have come out of it? i guess what I am asking is, what do I have to look forward to once I am done. I CAN'T WAIT TO BE IN YOUR SHOES!

Well for starters you gonna get your sense of taste and smell back and food is gonna taste great,. However I must warn you about that because since food will taste great you may be tempted to eat more of it so watch that. One of the things I did was get a membership at one of the local gyms near me and start a workout campaign of my own and stuck to it. I basically worked out three nights a week after work because I knew when I quit smoking that it would slow down my metabolism because the nicotine is a stimulant that gives you a fake energy and since it was gonna be missing I needed to start training my metabolism to stay high so I would not gain weight. So I started this regimen a couple months before I actually started the patch and continued to work out when I officially quit smoking and started using the patch. The workouts actually calmed me cause it gave me an outlet to release my stress and it actually calmed me and helped me keep my mind of smoking. Also the first 30 to 60 days you may have a cough that is accompanied with a lot of flem that will have stuff in it you have not seen since last xmas. This will be your bodies way of releasing and clearing out your lungs and when this goes away you won't have that heavy feeling in your lungs that you have now. I also felt like I had this fog so to speak around my head that was lifted when I quit. In other words I felt like I was thinking much more clearly and my mind was much sharper. The best part is after you have quit say 3-4 months done the road you will know when you meet a smoker and the first thing that is gonna come to your mind is "I used to smell like that?!" like what you ask? Like a stale nasty ashtray which right now you may not smell very well because your sense of smell is almost non existent compared to where its gonna be after you quit and lets not forget about how much more energy your gonna have. Your gonna have some much more energy and your gonna feel more alive. Also if you are single and looking expect to get noticed more because you do not smell like a ashtray. Gotta eat some dinner now so I Iook forward to hearing your reply. :)

Badboy.
Thank you so much for that. I am going through bad withdraw now. Your words have calmed me down.

Andrew anytime it gets tough just think its gonna be when you get control back. The problem with the nicotine is it gets on our back and after a while makes us think its in control, however as each day pass's you are gonna have more and more control. And it helps to talk about it as well but you are on the right path so keep it going cause your gonna do it. :)

what a great accomplishment I hope to be where you are in awhile I know that it isn't going to be easy and that is scary.thank you for the motivation

Just FYI I hear taking a xanax 1 mg a day will help you quit smoking.

I have a quit date for 11/17 (great american smoke out). In the meantime, I'm trying to cut down but having a hard time...I'm so scared to do this again. I had quit about 5 years ago for almost a year and ended up going back after my brother died. Had that "oh I'll just have one" after his funeral and that was it...I was suddenly a smoker again. I've been smoking for close to 30 years (a life time) and I wanna quit so bad but am so addicted...it's so a part of my life. I remember how good I felt during that year I had quit...I felt so empowered...like I could do anything. I want that feeling back but dread going through the pain & grief of that first few weeks. Praying for strength.

Hello Kitten,

I am here if you need support and someone to talk with, I am here to be your support system if you want it.

Chris