No smoking.

I smoked about a pack of cigarettes per day from the ages of about 18 to 21. Then I stopped cold turkey. I didn't smoke for four years. Then seven months ago, in February, I began to smoke again. I stopped cold turkey on Friday. I smoked my last cigarette after my therapy session. I have not had one cigarette since then and right now it is 11:56 PM on a Sunday night.

Good job stopping! Keep up the good work. How are you doing with it now?

cool pink. thats rough to do. i wish you the best.

chalmette

congrats............keep up the good work.

That's great! You want to come and teach my husband how to do that? Maryland has a smoking ban in restaurants/bars that goes into effect in January so he's gonna be hurting (or I am as I won't be taken out to eat as often :-) The other day I was almost wishing I had a really bad habit so I could "trade" him and we could each give up our particular problem in company with the other.

Pinksoil,

Congratulations, you are doing a wonderful thing for yourself & the people around you (even if they never said anything). I know that my grandparents smoked all the time & when my parents dropped me off there to be babysat, I would always end up with bronchitis....& to this day, I get very ill when I am around cigarette smoke......so I for one appreciate everyone who stops smoking.

Debbie

Congrats, Pinky! You and yours will be healthier for it.

I had my last cigarette in 1969. I also had my first one in 1969. They were about a month apart. Many of my friends were smokers, so I tried it out. In addition to not enjoying the taste, it wreaked havoc with my asthma.

My mother was smoker for about 50 years. In 1991, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. By then she had quit smoking, but the damage was done. She had half of a lung removed. She lived another ten years without any recurrences of the cancer. Her death in 2001 was not cancer related.

We're pullin' for you!

Gary

you go girl!!!!!!

Good for you!! As a past smoker I know that it can be hard at times....just take it one day at a time.
Snow

Good luck Pinky. I am almost ready to quit but not just yet. I'm pulling for ya.

Jbug

You're very strong! I am working on my mindset to stop smoking, You're an inspiration to me!
Patty

So I kinda freaked about a couple of things and bought a pack of cigarettes... smoked about five between yesterday and this evening and then threw the pack away.

So I was totally smoke-free for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Then about five cigs between Tuesday night and earlier this evening.

Not bad. I think I'm doing okay. I can do this.

((( pink )))

I am pulling for you too. It is so good to become smoke free.

I quit after over 30 years of smoking. Quit cold turkey, after tapering off and planning and thinking about it, March 1, 2005.

The best thing I did was to think of it not as giving up something, but of becoming a non-smoker. It felt like an activity to be not smoking...I was working at becoming a non-smoker. And I cut way back on caffeine before quitting, and drank a lot of water the first few weeks. Also, I timed the nicotine cravings to find out that they lasted only about 10 minutes or less, so when one started I knew how long i had until it subsided.

Did you know that smoking is an anti-anxiety behavior? You probably did since you are educated in the psych field. But I didn't and I didn't realize that it is often a reason people return to it. It explained why so many times when I tried to quit a crises would cause me to go back to it.

It's funny I found this post because for the last week I have been thinking about smoking again. Not that I will, because I am truly done with it, but that there are times I miss it. The humidity has been lower here the last few days and I have had thoughts of sitting out on the patio, smoking and thinking ... Sitting outside to smoke while reading or taking a break from a chore like cleaning was something I really enjoyed.

Keep at it. As my neighbor said to me when i was reporting a failed attempt to quit, "It's okay. You're practicing and one day you'll do it!". I didn't know it then and would have never guessed it but he had smoked for years and had quit. It was nice of him to encourage me to forgive myself and let myself off the hook. Very calming and helpful to me.

So, keep at it. You're practicing!