My first child was 2 1/2 mos. premature due to my smoking & drinking while pregnant (undiagnosed bipolar). That GUILT helped me quit. Plus I was so MAD that these things had control over me! The never enjoying a movie completely knowing I wanted to slip in a smoke at some point & when I was w/all my non-smoking friends I felt like a drug addict. I had to wash my hands & face, brush my teeth, change my clothes to get rid of the smell. We have lots of friends who are docs!! Had to hide it from them, for sure!

So I did quit for 13 yrs. & then went into a deep depression & started smoking again. Doc couldn't believe it--quit that long & start again--YUP--depression makes you do "crazy" things. So I smoked for another 10 yrs. (actually started for the first time when I was 15).

Then when I got dxed w/bipolar & put on meds I was feeling so good that I thought I should be making good decisions now that I had the ability to. I used the patch, as it says you absolutely cannot smoke while using the patch so that was a good deterrent. I've quit about 7 yrs. (maybe more). I just can't even imagine me smoking anymore! It is like it was a different person (pre-treatment, I guess I was).

My husband went to a program called Smokenders when he was about 26 after our preemie was born & I quit & insisted he quit, too. He has stuck w/it, but didn't harp on me when I started again as he knew it was a symptom of my depression. In fact, if I get the urge to smoke now I look carefully for other symptoms of depression.

So I'm the queen of quitting & restarting & quitting again. You can do it. A big thing for me was the thought of this cigarette having so much POWER over me that I would regulate my schedule around it. I didn't like that at all.

Good luck. Keep us posted. Plus, it is a good idea to stay away from smoking friends, places you usually smoke (like don't linger over your coffee in the morning--go for a quick jog instead; don't have a drink w/the smoking buddy, etc. until you feel like a non-smoker again).