Quit smoking cold turkey

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

That is awesome! YOU are awesome! Keep it up. My husband said that he was done in November and hasn't had a single cigarette since. He made himself busy remodeling a house (not MY house of course ) and has been very successful. You got this!

 

[soccerdad72]

Congrats! And continued good luck on sticking to it!

My parents both "quit" cold turkey a number of years ago, when my dad was in the hospital for a work-related injury. I put quit in quotes because my mom still sneaks (or thinks she's sneaking ) cigarettes every day. My dad stuck with it from that day.

 

[everylastbreath]

Sincere congratulations from me too! I’m on the verge of another quit attempt, having done so several times. My only advice is DO NOT take even one, single smoke. You may miss it for a long, long time and giving in is the beginning of the end (my longest quit was 3 1/2 years).

BEST ADVICE! Congrats!!! speaking from someone who has many years of smoking (& quitting) this is KEY!! much like an alcoholic, you can NEVER even take a drag, stay away from it- and count yourself VERY lucky that you are young and can hopefully repair all damage done and believe me, the next time you have to quit will probably not be as easy! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

[skittles67]

Congrats!!! My husband quit, cold turkey, 26 years ago. He would tell me the worst times for him were after a meal and when he was at the bar. Keep it up!

 

[Someluck]

Congratulations! I smoked from age 16-61 and then had a mini-stroke. Luckily no permanent damage, but new mantra became, "cigarettes are death"! 6 years smoke free now. Keep it up! It's a wonderful positive change for you and those who care about you!

 

[Skylerwalker]

I’m the one!! The one that quit for 5 years and then started back up again. I also read Alan Carr, it helped me tremendously in my 2005 quit. I also used a message board called quitnet.

I started back up at a get together with long lost friends in 2010. It started with one puff. That puff brought the demon back and I wasn’t prepared like when I quit the first time. One puff quickly escalated to a pack a day again and I was lying and hiding it from family.. so I had no support. It was horrible!!

I let it out in 2012 and started on ecigs.. I got hooked on those then and that was worse.. they were new and you could use them everywhere.. so I was puffing all day..

I said enough was enough again and quit cold turkey in Feb 2015. Three years now and not a single puff of nicotine and I cherish this quit.

My advise.. stay aware of your quit. Read Alan’s book down the road. Put milestones on your calendar and celebrate and regroup on how you felt now.. celebrate EVERY year!! you’ll forget about the struggle down the road. Cherish the fact that you were able to do this! Not everyone can and YOU did!! Great work!!

 

[Farro]

I quit smoking cold turkey in January of 2013 - not one puff since! I had been smoking since my teens, I was 39 when I quit (wanted to quit by my 40th birthday) I won't lie, the first year was difficult. There was one day about 6 months down the line where I thought I couldn't do it. Bought a pack of smokes and we just sat outside with it unopened until that craving passed. Threw them out. That's the worst craving I ever had.

Today - I rarely think of smoking. I don't miss it. I can smell it and not want one. I still enjoy wine, coffee, everything I thought I wouldn't.

You can do this! Don't look back, only forward and don't take one more puff, ever!

 

[mamamary]

Congrats!! Both my parents quit cold turkey together back in the 1970s (I believe). Never went back to it!!

 

[Grmnshplvr]

I smoked from 13 to 23 (I'm 50 now). The thing that kept me from going back was the 'clean' feeling I noticed about 2 weeks after I quit. I felt like a film of nicotine had been peeled off my body. My skin felt different. My hands felt different. I was like "ewwww, I was gross and I didn't know it" Congratulations and good luck. Take a little money that you would have spent on cigarettes, and treat yourself to something.

funny you say that because on day 3 I noticed how good my shampoo and soap smelled and felt! It was like I was a brand new person I felt everything differently and feel cleaner! I got detoxifying toothpaste and whitening strips to celebrate my two weeks clean too

 

[Grmnshplvr]

I am most looking forward to our disney trip this summer, every trip has been a source of anxiety and stress because no matter how much fun we were having in the back of my mind I was thinking about how few smoking sections there were and instead of riding space mountain 5 times in a row with my kids I'd sit behind it and smoke while they had fun =( and then there were the resorts, we stay on property. Every knows the first cigarette of the day is so important to a smoker, well, that wasn't easy when you're in your pjs and have to walk through the hotel to the smoke section far from your room or when it was raining. What a nightmare, so then I'd get ready and go smoke before our bus came but it wasn't enough of course so I'd smoke again when we got to the park. Just a nightmare. Disney is not a good vacation spot for smokers. I expect to be triggered while we're there because it'll be my first time vacationing without a cigarette but its 4 months away so I hope I have a good amount of time under my belt and be able to enjoy our first trip as a non smoker.

My husband still smokes and so there are cigarettes readily available to me everyday and I do now realize how awful I smelled all these years but am not tempted by his pack sitting on the porch.

 

[Grmnshplvr]

You won't gain a lot of weight if you don't want to, it's all in your control. Good for you going to the gym. DW and I are gym rats...there 5 days a week at 4:30am. Quick suggestion, don't do just cardio, such as running. It's not the best way to be really fit, use resistance/weight training and sprinkle cardio in. True runners require a very different nutrition plan than most of us do, so people who eat "normally" but do a ton of running wind up what is often called "skinny fat"....look thin but have a high body fat %

I am adding the strength training today actually, just pulled out my old weight set so the plan is strength train at home 3 days a week, cardio at the gym 3 days a week (HIIT)

 

[toesmom]

Allen Carr

Today is my 2 week anniversary of being smoke free. I decided 2 weeks ago today that my morning cigarette would be my last and haven't had one since. Not even a puff. Honestly, if I knew how easy it was going to be I would have done this years ago. I'm 36 and have smoked for 20 years, I'm well aware of the damage I've probably already done and just hoping I'm young enough to heal some of the damage.

Panic and fear of quitting has kept me from even trying all these years. Day 1 and 2 were hard, very uncomfortable but not unbearable, not painful. Just felt like I was crawling out of my own skin at times but not the worst thing I've gone through by far....Day 3 was so much better and every day has gotten easier, less triggers as time goes on. It's the oddest feeling but I just don't feel like I ever smoked if that makes sense. Majority of my day I dont even think about it, hoping as time goes on I can get through days and weeks without thinking about....but for now I'll take a couple hours of not thinking about it. I feel brand new.

My fear is I read about people who quit for 1-3 months of even years and go back to it, any successful former smokers here with a few years under their belt for motivation?

For anyone looking to quit I read Allan Carr's Easy Way to Quit Smoking and bought a harmless cigarette, it isn't electronic has no vape or nicotine, its basically a straw that resembles a cigarette. It gives me something to do with my hands especially when I'm driving because that is a big trigger for me still.

Allan Carr passed away several years ago, but his book is what helped me to stop smoking too. Actually his book changed my life too. I didn't read the short version, but he wrote a 200 page version published by Penguin Publishers I think. It was an amazing read and changed me forever. I completely stopped smoking and never looked back. I felt sorry for smokers after that. I tried to tell everyone about this book, but people don't listen.

So congratulations - believe me - you will never smoke again. and if you ever have any kind of urge.... use the nicotine patches - they worked.

I smoked cough-cough from the time I was 15 up to 31 years. Then stopped. And I smoked a lot.

Allen Carr was a genius - RIP

And great job on quitting finally.

 

[Owlpost23]

For those of you who are thinking of quitting,look into the cold laser method.My husband and I did it 15 years ago and haven't had one since.Very helpful.

 

[Klayfish]

For those of you who are thinking of quitting,look into the cold laser method.My husband and I did it 15 years ago and haven't had one since.Very helpful.

Cold laser? That sounds a bit scary...

 

[Nohal]

Congrats! Quitting is not an easy thing to do. I smoked for 50 years and quit 5 years ago for health reasons. I'll be honest and tell you that there will be at least 1 cigarette a day that you will miss the most, I still do. I promised myself if I quit I would treat myself to manicures with the money I saved from buying cigarettes. I look back at different times, especially Disney with the family, and realized what I missed by having a cigarette while the rest of the family had fun.

 

[Owlpost23]

Cold laser? That sounds a bit scary...

Not at all! Just similiar to accupressure,with a cold laser.No pain at all.

 

[Kitty 34]

Congrats to you!!! It's been 22 years for me but I had to have the help of acupuncture. What was nice about acupuncture was I never ever felt the urge to smoke again which was fantastic!!!

edited to add......I was 42 and had smoked since I was 24.

 

[roxanne_kliebert]

Congratulations to you!!!You will be amazed how easy it is when you put your mind to it and the MONEY you will save. It's been 10 yrs. for me and I do not miss it at all! DH is still a smoker, but he does it outside.

 

[Kitty 34]

That is awesome! YOU are awesome! Keep it up. My husband said that he was done in November and hasn't had a single cigarette since. He made himself busy remodeling a house (not MY house of course ) and has been very successful. You got this!

I have some home repairs that need to be done........

 

[mnrose]

My husband quit cold turkey about 18 years ago. Hasn't smoked since. He wasn't a "big" smoker, but he still thought it was hard. You've got this!