I posted in June about quitting. Failed attempt.

[redwitch]

However I am happy to report that I quit in November on Great American Smokeout Day. Using the patch, almost finished with them, in fact I think I have already made the 6 week mark- but forgot a couple of days during step 2 to use the darn things! What has helped me tremendously is waiting to my "vacation" time of year from work. I am in sales and on the road much of the week, most of the year. I didn't smoke at home- instead went for a drive or to the store so I could have a cigarette in my car. And smoked like a chimney when I was on the road. So, since I am home most of the time from around Thanksgiving til a little after New Years, it was a really good time for me to quit. I feel better. :-) And I know really welll by now not to bum "just one", that kept me thinking I was a smoker at heart, just denying myself the pleasure. There really is no pleasure in it. That is the truth of it, it is merely the relief of easing withdrawal. Smoking made me feel lousy, I had no energy, I smelled yucky. Not anymore. I am happy and I feel healthier. Anybody considering quitting, I urge you to pick a good relaxed stretch to try. Good luck to you!

[murielm99]

1. You chose a good day to quit.

I agree that it is a good idea to quit when you can be home and relaxed a bit. I needed to be away from people.

I quit November 6, 2005, at 6:00 a.m. I feel healthier. I can't say it has been easy, even with the patch. I still get the urge to smoke every day. But long-term quitters tell me that it gets easier with time.

I felt like a slave to cigarettes. I always needed to know that I had enough cigarettes on hand. I was always thinking about when I could have the next smoke. I always had the fear in the back of my mind that I was going to die of some smoking-related illness. I'm learning how to be free.

[NI4NI]

2. Until last November 2005

Since I was 17, I smoked non-filter Camels for over 40 years, and when I couldn't smoke indoors at work I'd put a pinch of Skoal between my cheek and gums. I like to smoke. The only time I ever tried quitting was in 2000 after 2 angio-plastyies. That only lasted for 5 weeks until I started again. Even with emphysema I was excersising hard 20 hours a week to keep my weight down but the excersising stopped after I ripped up my back at work that caused 2 more surgeries in 2004 that laid me up for 6 months. I rehabbed by smoking almost 3 packs a day until 11/2/05 when I had to go back to the hospital for a third angio-plasty (I even got caught smoking in my hospital room) As soon as my procedure started they stopped right away because they saw that an angioplasty would have been as helpful as a pack of wet matches. I needed 5 new heart valves. The next day I got bypassed.
I ain't preachin' to anybody because I still want a cigarette but it's finally all caught up to me just like it will you and that even though a bad heart is as deadly serious as it is, I bet it ain't as painfully deadly as lung cancer is! So for me it really came down to "Do I wanna live long enough to see some Republicans get their rotten sorry asses kicked out of office, or do I wanna check out all on my own by continuing to be an utterly amazingly foolish asshole"?