I want a cig

[salinen]

I quit almost 2 years ago and I'm still jonesing for a butt. Damn, I thought I'd get over the urge at some point. I really can't smoke again, it could kill me quick. Any wise old du ex-smokers have any advice on how to kick the urge to smoke? Thanks, Salinen

[Skittles]

1. look at it like a challenge

that urge is always gonna be there - mostly suppressed but every so often it tests you by speaking up and trying to tell you what to do - don't let it tell you what to do!!!

[salinen]

5. You mean the urge

will never go away?

[ASUliberal]

8. An addiction is permanent...

Once someone is a drug addict they are always a drug addict.

The same thing goes for nicotine. Most likely you will feel urges from time to time for the rest of your life. But the farther away you get from actually smoking, the easier it will be to overcome urges.

[MH1]

15. For me, it did go away..

But I only smoked for a bit over a year, and the last three months of that was trying to quit. (But I peaked at over a pack a day, and yes I was addicted - quitting was extremely difficult.) And it's been many, many, many years since then. But now I detest cigarettes and it's like I never smoked at all.

[Skittles]

9. well, for me it has not

:(

but I've also found that the urges - while they can be tremendously strong, they really do not last that long if you can ride them out

[ASUliberal]

14. I'm very fortunate...

I smoked cigs off and on for about a year. Then during finals last semester I smoked like 8 packs in a two week period. And those were just my own smokes. It's not much, but I was definitely hooked.

Fortunately I stopped smoking and don't really have "urges" per say. I sometimes find the idea of smoking another cig appealing, but I shrug it off pretty easily

[salinen]

24. It's a hell of a ride.

[Mira]

In my experience, it does and it did. I think at this point I have the urge to smoke

about once a year.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

18. NoNoNoNo-- The urge is not always going to be there! (just to clarify)

Just once in a while and at this point always for a short time.

Like Skittles says you're going to get tested once in a while but the longer you go without, the shorter and lest frequent the tests. I quit seven years and four days ago. I got some serious urges last winter when my dad died but they never lasted long.

[salinen]

25. that's good

I don't think I could take this forever.

[Sparkly]

2. Imagine how awful you'd feel about yourself if you actually took a drag.

You'd be kicking yourself. Not worth it.

Do something mind-occupying and unstressful, and the urge will pass.

[salinen]

6. O.K.

Thanks

[tabasco]

20. That's great advice!

Well done!

[OswegoAtheist]

45. The worst...

I smoked for about 12 years, pack a day. I quit two 1/2 years ago (so that a co-ed at my university would make out with me - great incentive!). About every 6 months or so, I have a dream that I'm smoking incidentally; say, lighting up as an afterthought. When I wake up, for just a few minutes of delerium, I'm so pissed at myself for having gone back to smoking! That's the worst "craving" that happens to me nowadays.

Oswego "and George W. Bush must be tried for war crimes" Atheist

[BlooInBloo]

66. I'm a smoker, and that's the first suggestion that doesn't sound completely stupid.

[Wilms]

3. Take a few breaths.

Bring up fond memories of hacking up awful-looking things. The smell of the ashtray. The dried out cigs on a hot day.

Good times.

[salinen]

4. I'm so ashamed

I miss the smell of the ashtray

[Skittles]

11. ooh yes

deep breaths do help :D

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Keep your mind occupied at all times and tell yourself going back to Start

would mean two years wasted.

It's tough but DON'T turn back now.

[salinen]

28. I wont

[MH1]

You don't want anythiing to control your life.

If you give in to smoking it owns you.

Also, be careful with alcohol, and stay out of bars or other places where lots of people smoke. I used to crave cigarettes much worse if I went out to a bar.

The real trick, if you can do it, is smoke "something else" instead of tobacco. Of course that was easy for me when I quit, I was in college. :smoke:

Oh and that was some years back, but now I don't ever even want to smoke... I detest the smell of cigarettes. Like I never smoked at all. So it can eventually happen.

[salinen]

30. My partner smokes

and that makes it especially hard.

[stillcool]

10. think about what it was like to quit....

and the price of a pack of cigarettes.

[salinen]

31. quitting was so dope

I don't want to ever try quitting again.

[stillcool]

34. I'm trying...sort of..to quit..

I think the best way to do it is to sign myself into a locked facility, with good meds.

[salinen]

44. I hope you succeed

I feel so much better.

[Mojorabbit]

60. I think that is the only way

I will be able to quit. Two packs a day for the past 38 years. I have been able to lick everything else in my life but not this.

[scarletwoman]

12. I should probably just not say anything. It took me about 7 years before I stopped thinking about

wanting to have a cig. Finally, sometime after 7 years had passed, I noticed I wasn't thinking about smoking anymore. Until then, it was 7 years of telling myself "No!" day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

The bright spot: telling yourself "No!" becomes a habit, too.

sw

[salinen]

I have 5 years to go

thanks

[scarletwoman]

49. Yeah, well -- the beauty is, once it's over you're done. It really does get easier as time goes on.

Wishing you the best!

sw

[sandnsea]

13. It's been four years for me

I still have times when I'd love to have a cigarette. But the time I don't even think about them grows every month. Watch people who still smoke. You'll see half their live is involved in the act of smoking, from getting the money for the smokes, to getting them, finding places to smoke them, allocating time at meetings, choosing who to visit and how long, and on and on. Hang on to that to get you through the cravings.

[salinen]

33. for sure

I hid the fact that I smoked from many people.

[adiabatic]

16. I smoked 3 packs a day for 45 years. In August 2007 I said to myself "you are a damn idiot" and I

I quit right then and there. Took 5 cartons that I had bought from an internet seller and threw them in the lake. It was easier than I thought it would be, and I really believe if I could do it anyone can. I didn't use gum or hypnotism or anything, just told myself don't smoke any more. Now I will tell you something counterproductive...I don't feel generally any better than when I smoked however my friends say I do smell better. :D

[Mira]

27. You're alive. n/t

[adiabatic]

39. So it seems, I read the obits in the paper every day to make sure!

:D

[Mira]

52. I'm at an age where all around me the smoking is catching up with the smoker's

lives and health. I lost 2 brothers to cigarettes in the last 3 years, and my Ex husband has now been diagnosed with lung cancer and it's in his brain as well.
I was coming from personal gratitude to be alive and well thanks to putting them down 11 years ago, after smoking more than 30 years. 2 packs a day.
Oh, I also lost a friend to them, recently.
It's the only product when used as directed and intended is likely to kill you.
I used to think I could never quit, and am very grateful I did. I don't think I would be bike riding, swimming, walking, and living a normal life had I continued to smoke.

[salinen]

35. Good for you!

I needed patches. I was at the 35 year mark.

[MrMickeysMom]

58. Welcome to DU, adiabatic

Good, cause that's quite a pack year history.

Perhaps you need some kind of day to day mini work out? Hey, you'd feel better after it was done, eh? And, you'd still smell good! :-)

[eShirl]

17. Mexican food hotter than you think you can stand, a brand of extreme mint chewing gum

try not to let yourself buy any more cigarettes

[salinen]

36. Alright

the gum idea sounds intriguing.

[Blecht]

19. What works for me is the opposite of most of this advice

I don't deny how much I loved smoking -- and how much I miss it. Whenever I get the urge I think about how the single simple thing I enjoyed most in life was sitting in a bar and smoking and drinking. It's the truth. By the time I'm done reminiscing, the urge has passed.

It helps that my state just passed anti-smoking laws so that even if I did break down and light up, I couldn't do it in a bar, so why bother?

I've been completely smoke free for almost 6 years now, and I can tell you the strong urges get more and more infrequent as time goes by.

Hang in there, and good luck!

[salinen]

38. thanks

I even miss rolling up the smoke.

[Mira]

21. Deep breathing. Talk to the monkey on your shoulder and tell it you won't go

back to the misery of smoking. You are not in the least addicted. You can get this behind you with sheer logic.
Get some drinking straws. Cut them to the size of cigarettes. Lock yourself into a bathroom and smoke the damn thing til you hyperventilate.

In the words of Yul Brynner:
Now that I'm dying I only have one word of advice to people. Whatever you do in life, just don't smoke.

I smoked for over 30 years. Smoke free 11.
I would not go back there for anything, and one cigarette could do it.

My son quit for 10 years, then, in the grip of a temporary urge bought a pack. Now 3 years later he is grappling with quitting again.

I lost 2 brothers to lung and brain cancer from cigarettes in the last 3 years, and my Ex husband has just been diagnosed with both lung and brain cancer.

Can I quit now?
Sorry. You hit a button, as you can tell.

Good luck to you, remember, inch by inch it's a cinch.

[salinen]

40. I know

one cigarette would do it.

[Mira]

53. Then, if you know that, don't give yourself permission for that one cigarette.

It's your elbow that bends and leads it to your mouth. You are in charge, not that monkey on your back.

[Th1onein]

22. YES, IT WILL GO AWAY!

And don't let anyone tell you any differently. I know; I've been there. The urge might come, less and less, and it will be met with a great feeling of success at becoming a non-smoker. But it WILL stop.

[salinen]

41. I need to hear this

I want to imagine a time without the craving.

[Skip Intro]

55. Does it stop for good, or just pass, to return again?

[madamesilverspurs]

23. After eight years (for me)

the 'urges' are long gone. I enjoyed cigs for nearly 40 years, so it was quite the change when I quit. I thoroughly enjoyed smoking. But I hated that smoking kept me from spending time with little ones; I'd still rather hold a baby than a cigarette. The health stuff got very bad, and I chose to approach quitting not by saying 'no' to cigarettes but 'yes' to breathing. Every now and then I'll catch a whiff, and if I spot the smoker I ask them to enjoy one for me. What still catches me offguard, though, is what I'm told is 'body memory': if I'm really, really tired and the phone rings I reach for the cigarettes with one hand while answering the phone with the other. Weird, huh?

[Papagoose]

86. not weird

I stopped reading the newspapers on Sunday mornings because it was absolute torture to do so without smoking. I can no longer drink beer - because I ALWAYS had a smoke while drinking. Addiction really messes with your mind.

[Bryn]

26. I started vaping a month ago

Rather than stopping smoking I simply changed over to vaping by using e-cigarettes. It worked. I haven't had a real cigarette for 3 weeks now. I honestly think anyone who stopped smoking without help of e-cigarette deserves a metal!

There is no tar and other cancer causing stuff in e-liquid that produces vapor (it feels and looks like a real smoke) You can pick from highest to zero amount of nicotine. No bad smell.

It works too well that Australia, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland have either banned e-cigarettes or blocked the imports. USA may be next. All I know is that they think it may be unhealthy, but in Australia's case, it's because they couldn't collect taxes on e-cigarettes like they do on real ones. There's a scientist in New Zealand doing research on e-cigarettes and has said they're safe.

Since I stopped using analogs my lungs feel better already, my coughs have stopped, my sinus problem has cleared so I know I can never go back to them. I smoked them for 35 years (one pack a day). No need to buy Febreeze to spray around here to cover the stink anymore.

e-cigarette is the best thing next to a real cigarette. Not exactly the same, but good enough for me.

[salinen]

42. I know someone

who is doing that. What a great idea.

[Bryn]

51. There's a great forum for e-cigarettes

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/

There you will learn about news and stuff. Great people from all over the world, too.

[DevonRex]

83. Vaping is perfect because you have the sensation of smoking but you're not smoking.

You can do zero nicotine, too. You can even make your own juice very inexpensively.

[ebayfool]

67. I was a skeptic 'til I tried them ... they're working beautifully!

40 year/3 pack a day habit that I truly couldn't imagine giving up, & I'll be damned if I ain't well on my way to getting off the pony ride.

Didn't intend to wholly switch over to the e-cigs - I was thinking more like trying to just smoke less. I still am not calling it quitting, I'm just surprised to see that I'm coming to prefer the whole vaping/e-cig thing over the Pall Malls. I've gotten the nicotine down to unbelievable levels for me (smoked 2 cigs yesterday & afterward felt sicker than a dog!). I started out w/zero nic vapor & only hit the analogs when I seriously felt like I needed it, & only after smoking the e-cig 1st. Each time the urge to have the Pall Mall after the e-cig was weaker.

Most people don't realize what a huge deal it is to have 2 cigs in your pack & NOT get up to go the the store ... for days! I've stopped choking up a lung every morning, the persistent cough has virtually disappeared, & I haven't baked a cake a day like the last time I tried to quit w/the patch!

I'm stunned to find it was so simple a solution for me. I'm certain that the 'body memory' mentioned above is a large part of it - I get to have my binky while getting rid of the other stuff!

And it's been less than 3 weeks - I've never, in 40 years, made it past the 1st 3 days (whilst being meaner than shit to everyone @ me).

I've ordered Pilots for my kids w/the money I've saved just this far - they're stoked that if Mom can do it w/vaping then anybody can.

Biggest drawback? My sense of smell is, ahem - returning? recovering? Now I'm gonna have to scrub down the whole dayum house - it doesn't smell very nice in here (& I'll leave it at that!)

[salinen]

69. yeah!

40 years and 3 packs/day proves you are a tough bird.

[TorchTheWitch]

91. what are analogs and Pilots?

I've been really seriously considering doing e-cigs but I'm having some trouble with some of the lingo.

How can you find out how much nicotine is in a regular cigarette? Didn't they used to have to print on the box how many mg's of nicotine and tar were in them, because it doesn't say squat on my pack.

[ebayfool]

92. Sorry @ reverting to lingo ...

The Pilots are here: http://www.puresmoker.com/category_s/47.htm

but he seems to be out alot lately. Upthread someone posted a link ( http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ )to a forum that's a well of information on nicotine, vaping, e-cig brand & seller reviews, etc. An excellent resource to read on before diving in! There is a slight learning curve, but if I can pick it up ...!

Oh - analogs are real cigarettes instead of electronic cigarettes.

I need to hunt down NMDemDist2 & thank her - one of her posts are what got my curiosity up & onto the e-cigs. DU has come to my 'rescue' yet again (& it's amazing just how frequently the right info seems to show up on DU juuusst when I need it!).

[TahitiNut]

29. Redirect the CRAVING to some activity. Go for a brisk, quick walk.

Whether it's smoking, snacking, drinking or whatever (like sex?), I've found (stumbled upon) an approach I find is workable. I "interpret" the drive as something I need to do that's good for me (like sex?). I find that I can "train" myself (brainwash?) to sublimate such urges (like sex?) in that fashion and they're actually sated.

Hard to explain. :shrug: I suspect that some people convert it by cleaning house. (Or having sex?)

[eShirl]

37. that's another thing I did, started exercising regularly

exercise bike and used exercise videos from Goodwill

[salinen]

43. If I had sex as often as I have the urge to smoke

my wife would be a human pin cushion.

[OswegoAtheist]

46. lol

And you'd still want a cigarette afterwards!

Oswego "and George W. Bush must be tried for war crimes" Atheist

[alfredo]

32. Drive ten penny nails through you thighs. It worked for me.

[upyourstruly]

47. Tea tree tooth picks

I had the same problem. Two years after i quit smoking i started using Thursday plantation tea tree chewing sticks. I have not smoked in 21 years but I still use the toothpicks they have a natural antibiotic that kills germs in your mouth too.

[pepperbear]

48. sounds crazy, but I heard good things about this.....

http://smokingeverywhere.com/

e-cigarette. seriously.

[Bryn]

59. According to e-cigarette forum

This one doesn't have a good review. One of best is TheSmokeSafe.com. Their Yeti is popular and good price, too. Fast shipping. I ordered from Totally Wicked website and widowsbeadwork.com <---- has great prices with free shipping and fast, too.

[McCamy Taylor]

50. Exercise to increase your endorphins.

If it can cure depression, it can probably cure the cigarette craving.

Oh, and chew gum.

[Skip Intro]

54. The urge will pass. Chew your nails. Chew some gum. Move to a different room.

It will pass...

[MrMickeysMom]

56. From your friendly respiratory therapist...

... who's not going to tell you what she sees all these years... Instead, she's going share what others say-

"I can't keep up with my grand kids."
"I feel so sorry for what my husband/wife has to do because I can't anymore."
"I couldn't even get out of my house today!"
"I can't even think of sex. He/she thinks I'm going to die doing it!"
"I get so frustrated just trying to get through daily activities."
"I used to love food. Now, I can digest it well and I get tired."
"I'm not able to make the stairs."
"I can't tolerate exercise, so I'm gaining more weight. How can I ever get back to normal?"
"Don't EVER start this habit!"
-----------------------------------

These have come from people I test, have taken care of, have tested, and have helped near the end stages of their lives...


salinen, you have a choice. Forget "jonesing"- Think of others! Don't deal out the kind of outcome it's likely to cause for those who should be the most important people in your life. Face "the urge".

Face it, and change your behavior NOW.

The others who know too well say, "Thank-You, salinen"!

[salinen]

70. MrmickeysMom

You know, every time I think about having quit for 2 years gives me pride. All smokers know the story of the heroin addict who quit heroin but could not give up the cigs. Well, I feel like I kicked heroin and cigarettes.

[slackmaster]

57. Just light up a joint whenever you feel the urge for tobacco

It worked for one of my roommates in college.

[salinen]

71. sssshhhhh!

don't ask, don't tell.

[Stinky The Clown]

61. I use a cartoon image

(What else would a clown do?)

I had to quit smoking after a heart attack. I had five stents placed, was kept for two nights in the hospital, and sent home.

As Sparkly is lovingly, solicitously, caringly escorting my cranky, recalcitrant ass back to the car for the trip home, I find the pack of smokes in my coat pocket. I finger it.

My cardiac recovery RN DIL's words echo in my ear. My cardiologist's words echo in my ear. My kids' words echo in my ears. My wife's ring in my ears:

Don't smoke, you stubborn, stupid, old goat or you'll die.

I make it home smoke free.

An hour later, I lie and and say I'm going out to give my stents some air.

In front of the house next door, I light up. I realize then and there that I am truly stupid.





We're sitting around celebrating my having lived another day. I ask my DIL about the effect of smoking on the heart. "It causes your veins and arteries to constrict and it raises your blood pressure."

In my head, I was already dealing with this cartoon image of the stents inside me, falling down to someplace in my calves if I jump or pound too hard while I walk. "Jump .... plink-plink-plink-plink-plink ...... dead" (Stent falling)

Now I have a second cartoon image in my head. "Puff ..... schluuuumph-splat ........ die" (Artery closing)





That stupid cartoon has kept me from any relapse at all for more than two years.

I still get the urges.

I laugh them off.





Good luck. It isn't easy, but it ABSOLUTELY is doable.

[Mira]

65. I'm glad you told it. There is life after cigarettes, there really is.

My friend Ruth, a very heavy smoker, ran a little junk store. I stopped in one day, I was still smoking, and found her sitting in the dark messy place with an ashtray overflowing with butts and with an oxygen tank and the tell tale clip in her nose.
A cigarette was smoldering and another was lit in her hand.

Ruth. I said. What is it going to take to make us quit.

She said: I would rather die early than to live half of a life.

I went home and thought about that a whole hell of a lot. It became a motivating force in my quitting shortly thereafter. Because it completely brought home to me the power of the nicotene addiction.

I think, but can't swear to it, I had quit by the time I went to her funeral not much later. She went to the bathroom at night, fell over and knocked out her oxygen cord, and could not get it re-connected.
I learned she was 10 years younger than me, and I had thought she was about as old as my mother.

[salinen]

75. Thanks Stinky

I too had heart surgery. I quit before the surgery because I thought I might go box city on the operating table. We're both at the 2 year mark. I'll bet you notice, like me, that your skin looks better, you don't become light headed as easily, and the lungs don't hurt.

Best of days to you.

[Stinky The Clown]

76. And to you, my friend!

The *very best* of days to you.

:hi:

[Marymarg]

62. Thirty years plus

Quit 32 years ago after smoking for 10. Sometimes I long for the old days of lighting up but only have that thought for a second. I would not ever smoke again (I hope) because I could never quit again. That is what has kept me off cigarettes. I am a non-smoker and since I adopted that persona, smoking is a non-issue. Also, a biggy for me was the fact that smokers are pariahs and I have enough image problems without that.

[applegrove]

63. I smoked herbal cigarettes after I quit nicoteen. Now whenever I think of smoking it immediately

disgusts me. It has been about 10 months since I quit smoking using Champix/Chantix. And I think of smoking only a few times a week. Usually I am disgusted when I see someone on the street smoking...or I feel so sorry for the people..because they are slaves.

Whatever I did - I have a good strong quit and rarely do I crave. I musta done something right.

[seabeyond]

64. hubby watched a&e or discovery or history channel this weekend. world ends in 2012

i asked hubby why the hell i was fighting this stop smoking things so much.

been over a year. i go three four weeks without and start again

you have two YEARS.... dont do it

but am sad to hear you are still wanting.

[salinen]

77. If I knew the world was going to end in 2012?

like I say to my friends, I'm going to start smoking again in 25 years. I'll be 77 years old and it won't really matter then.

[Tuvok Obama]

68. I was in the same position

One day I was amazed and pissed off that I still wanted a cigarette after quitting so long ago. That day I added up the months and days, and discovered that it had been 2 years, 2 months and 22 days ... and I was still craving a cigarette.

I don't know when the cravings finally went away, but there came a point when I realized, Hey, I don't crave cigarettes anymore! I'm sure this was at some point before my three-year mark.

I've experienced other ex-smokers reacting to that story as if I were mentally ill. For most of them, the cravings went away after a week, 10 days, maybe a month.

So what I'm saying is, we're rare, but it's not unheard of for some of us to experience cravings that last for years.

[BurtWorm]

72. Pretend you're smoking right now.

Use a straw or something cigarette shaped if it helps with the fantasy. Inhale that imaginary smoke and let it out, just as if you're really smoking. Don't stop "smoking" until the urge goes away. Repeat as necessary.

[salinen]

78. Can I stuff the straw with tobacco?

just kiddin.

[BurtWorm]

81. Seriously, did you try it?

I'm curious to know if this works for other people. It always worked like a gem for me. I carried a straw around for a month and a half when I finally quit for good. Occasionally I get stressed and want a puff, and I'll just do that familiar, friendly old slow inhale-exhale I did day in and day out for 20-odd years, and the stress--or the urge to deal with it that way, at least--magically disappears.

Good luck!

[salinen]

82. I accually miss

rolling a cigarette. Wierd, but spreading the tobacco out on a paper, and rolling it into a cigarette was very satisfying. I guess I could roll some dried leaves of something.

[BurtWorm]

90. I used to roll my own too, by the way.

I sometimes dream about having my pouch of Drum with me.

[G_j]

73. I would love to sue the tobacco companies

for permanently altering my brain.

I know exactly what you mean.

[Ron Green]

74. A close friend of mine died yesterday of lung cancer, and he hadn't smoked in years.

I don't know if it helps or not to think about him; I'm still sorting out my feelings about his death, which came 2 months after he was diagnosed.

[salinen]

79. So sorry

My father-in-law is being treated for throat cancer. He's probably going to survive.

[Alcibiades]

80. Snuff

Nasal snuff. Much cheaper, too.

[salinen]

84. That helped me to quit

I don't like to chew. So I gave up cigarettes, started chewing, gave up chewing, started the patches, then quit.

[G_j]

88. is that legal in the US?

I've never seen it sold.

[Alcibiades]

95. Try Food Lion

They sell it at the counter where they sell the cigarettes. It's certainly legal, and taxed--well, come to think of it, there's no tax stamp at all. All you pay is sales tax. All the old brands you knew from before cigarettes became popular are still available, so the packaging looks as if it has not been redesigned in 100 years, because it has not. I'd recommend the "Square Snuff," which is a brand that is just tobacco, so it's literally like snorting powdered tobacco. Later, I'd try some of the sweet snuffs, like society, or the scotch snuffs (which are a little scotchy) such as Navy.

Absolutely satisfies your yearning for nicotine, plus you can do it all the places where smoking is banned. Much lower risk to your body than inhaling smoke all day. It is an unnatural thing, an acquired taste, to be sure, but not too bad once you're used to it. Buy Kleenex in bulk.

The best thing is the cost. Food Lion charges about $3.00 for a 1.15 oz plastic "tin." My first tin lasted me three months, and I was a pack a day smoker.

You can also get it online.

http://nicotinerush.com/american-snuff-2/

[Papagoose]

85. It's been eight years for me

and not one day goes by that it doesn't cross my mind that I'd like to have one - just one - maybe just half of one. I work in an office full of smokers who take at least two smoke breaks every hour. While they are out, I have to cover all of their desks (or just sit there and let all the phones ring) - my anger often makes the urge that much more severe.

I have complete confidence in myself and my power over my (former?) addiction - I will not have one - just one - maybe just half of of one. It will not happen.

[robdogbucky]

89. everyone is different

but there are so many fine examples of various strategies on this thread I'm sure one of them will resonate and work for you.

Try them all, what the hey? One probably will work.

I smoked for 33 years. I had been addicted to other substances, including heroin, but nothing was as hard as quitting nicotine. Seeing several relatives and friends die of smoking related diseases was a great motivator too.

After just quitting one day when disgusted with how inconvenient and expensive it had become and how I was not really enjoying it, only maintaining an addiction so I would not begin withdrawals, I was urge-free for quite a while.

I did not have cravings again until some years later when I dreamed I was smoking and once when I was depressed and thought there was no tomorrow. I survived these and came out the other end of them glad I did not succumb tothe urges. When I first quit I had taken the advice of an older fishing buddy, who told me the only thing that worked for him was to re-work his self-image. He told himself he was never going to smoke again, that he was now going to finish his life as a non-smoker. He did. It has worked for me as well. My mother smoked for many years and finally quit, to her benefit, at age 55. She swears that drinking grapefruit juice helped to quell the urges. Something about balancing the PH in the body I believe. She will be 93 in September.

I thought I was going to cheat a few times and even bought a pack when I was driving alone away from family and friends, and opened the pack of Camel straights, got one out, put it in my mouth. It all came back when I did that. I was re-enlisting my self into the slavery that benefits only the tobacco corps. I was instantly disgusted, returned to my resolve of myself living the rest of my life as a non-smoker, and threw that unlit cig out the window followed by the rest of the unused pack. I was so proud of myself and did not want to return to my loser addicted past.

Running and other aerobics also continued to reinforce the positives of quitting and the urges passed quickly whenever they revisited. It feels so much better to be a non-smoker and the whole process really points out the strong hold this most addictive substance known to man really has on people once they are addicted.

Now reading this thread has brought back some distant urge. So I will go for a run and rejoice again that I am not dead, that I have been a non-smoker for 12 years now, and at my last physical my doctor said there is no evidence I was ever a smoker.

I feel great being a non-smoker and urge you to do whatever is necessary not to succumb. Maybe the self-imaging can work for you?

Just my dos centavos

robdogbucky

[EmeraldCityGrl]

87. You are my hero! Keep the faith.

:toast:

[EFerrari]

93. It's never as good as you think it will be. Put something else in your mouth.

And then you won't have to detox your whole life again!

[1]

94. you should probably just smoke a cigarette...

all of the anticipation and those fond memories of how great a cigarette is will be dashed in the first few puffs.

it will taste like shit. you will probably cough. it will not be like you remember and this new, bad experience will just reinforce that decision you made to quit in the first place.

that's what i do whenever i get the urge. it doesn't happen often, and it passes for long periods of time after a smoke...