I QUIT!

I think that whole "don't dwell on it" part is the most important. Dwelling on it leads to greater cravings and feeling deprived which is the quickest way down!

The other reasons, those are good ones for most people. I'm just not like most people so they aren't good reasons for me. :-)

I am glad you posted your experience and your ideas, it helps.

~Denise
Daily Dose of Denise ( http://flamingohouse.blogs.com )

Jane

I quit 12/3/03, after smoking for 30 years. I'd attempted numerous times before, but this time, 2 things made all the difference:
1) realize all the good things about NOT smoking. (your breath doesn't stink, your clothes don't stink, your lips aren't getting more wrinkled, your teeth aren't getting yellow, etc.)
2) don't let your mind dwell on the subject. That is a HUGE no no. I believe if you do that, you're setting yourself up for failure.
As scared as I was to quit, using the 2 things I mentioned, it really hasn't been difficult at all. I'm sure I already sound preachy & I hope I'm not offending you, but think of the grandchildren you will have 1 day & that you want to watch them grow up & celebrate their milestones with them. Also, if you breath only through a straw for a few minutes, that's what it's like having emphysema.
There are so many reasons to be happy that you quit. You've taken a HUGE step & you have already gotten over the hardest part. Now it's just a matter of NEVER taking 1 puff of a cigarette.
I totally believe you'll remain a non-smoker & I commend you.

Cigarettes are a curse. I'm not just saying this because I quit a long time ago. I'm saying it because I am certain that growing up with smokers helped trigger the auto-immune disease that is the bane of my existence (ankylosing spondylitis.) I'm saying it because I have relatives I can't visit because I can't breathe in their homes because of the smoke -- and one of them has already been diagnosed with COPD. The prevalence of asthsma and lung disease in this country is appalling -- and tobacco deserves much of the blame. Stick with it -- not only for yourself, but for those around you whose lives will be a little bit better for your sacrifice.

Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com )
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Law and Journalism/Media ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/kim-pearson )

WOW, Denise! That's fabulous! Congratulations!

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Liz Henry
lizzard@bookmaniac.net
http://liz-henry.blogspot.com

Okay, so I quit a lifetime ago but the process was so excruciating that I can re-live it with very little problems.In fact my chest is aching just thinking about it.
Needlepoint was my salvation--I just helped to do something very repititious and kept my hands moving so I didn't miss reaching for my cigarette ( too much)
I loved all the smoking peripheals..the cigarette case, my lighter, my ash tray.I gave up talking on the phone. Driving in my car was miserable. It was all miserable.But I did have my needlepoint and I still have the pillow that is my "I QUIT" pillow.

elana
Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&CareersFunnyBusiness ( http://funnybusiness.typepad.com/funnybusiness )

It totally stinks to quit, not the quitting part but the not having a cigarette part. I really am an odd bird and I don't have all of those reasons most people have for quitting. In fact I don't really have any reasons for quitting except that I know I should.

Nice to see so many of you (well not nellenelle) former smokers in the mix... wonder where GIPSY is... aka Amber... aka one of the Entertainment & Arts CEs. She quit recently, too. Amber, still quit?

~Denise

It sucks. It still does and I quit 2 months ago. I stay quit because the crappy moments of REALLY wanting one are getting to be less and less. I stay quit becuase when I feel pain in my chest, I know it's from exercise and I am in fact NOT having a heart attack. Also, I smell so much better. Write down the reasons that you quit so you can remember when times are tough. Congratulations and keep it up! Benefits are coming!

I was there, many, many years ago. And I do remember it was quite hard to quit. But worth it. Good luck.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

All you get from me is...

what do you get from me? Surely you know by now?

Nelle ( http://liberalfeministtranniedyke.blogspot.com/ )

Link Text ( http://byjane.livejournal.com )
Jane Gassner
I'm sympathizing, empathizing and saying, right on sister. I too loved smoking. I quit once (got acupuncture for it), but went back after I realized that almost all of the interesting people were standing outside puffing away. And my reasons for quitting had so little to do with health, so much to do with smell.

Then, on one moonlit summer night--July 8th to be precise--I had my final cigarette of the day. And went to bed. And woke up in the early hours of July 9th with what neurologists call The Worst Headache Of Your Life. A cerebral aneurysm. Mine ruptured. I spent the next 6 weeks in the hospital, most of it in ICU. Where, you know, I just never missed cigarettes.

That was almost four years ago. I wish there wasn't such a connection between smoking and vascular issues, but there is....as my neurosurgeon reminded me just last week.

Or rather, it doesn't suck at all.I quit 14.5 months ago after a zillion years. I quit because it was just too stupid to keep smoking. The worst part passes pretty quickly. Hang in...here are some things that helped me:

1. Drink lots of water and take extra showers - your body gets rid of nicotine even through the skin.

2. Get a box of cloves and pop one in your mouth when you feel like smoking -- or keep a bottle of whole cinnamon sticks nearby to bite on. The latter have the advantage of actually feeling like a cigarette.

3. Get some orally agressive foods around - like Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Wasa Rye Crackers, raw carrots, apples.

4. When you want a cigarette take some deep breaths. Just doing the inhaling thing actually helps.

5. Drink bottled water from those containers that have the little pull-out stopper. Again, the inhaling/sucking thing. (Modesty forbids more detail).

6. Get some dreadful picture of lungs befouled with gooey death-laden smoker sludge.

7. Call the Cancer Society free help line. Click here for more info ( http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_1... )

8.Think of the money that you are not putting into the hands of some greedy, evil corporate scumbags who knew damned well that you could get addicted and maybe die -- and they liked it.

9. Do it for the sake of having a future with the people you love.