it was either that or kill someone, anyone. It really is awful at the start isn’t it.
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Do it! If you can get past having that first one, then you can get past it 
Sleep, cry, eat, repeat! 
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Actually my first week or two I was OK. Now I’m around the three months my emotions are really getting the better of me. But that’s a life thing. I know I’m just attaching cravings for cigarettes because that feels like a familiar and comforting thing and the greedy little dopamine gobbling lizard in my brain is just trying to get me to do something it thinks will make me feel better.
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Omg, that was IT for me too!! What a moment that was. Duh, I was addicted to nicotine, that was the withdrawal!!!
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Been smoking again for a week now. Setting the intention to quit after these four packs are gone which will be about a week clean, sober and gambling free if God wills it. Wish me luck.
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There’ll be help here too. Doing it together. I learned that when I quit smoking on another forum nearly 7 years ago. Biggest thing I learned in becoming sober and clean and smober -that’s what we called smoke free on the old forum- is that I can’t do it all on my own.
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No luck needed Brian. I do wish you success. And strength. And togetherness. You know how it’s done friend. Why continue to smoke for another week though? The money is already spent. No need to poison yourself any longer.
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right. i guess i could try sooner. maybe tomorrow, such an excuse.
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@Dolse71 I go for a ‘no smoke’ break. Especially in this heat. Just sit in the shade for 5 mins and have a sip of water. I look at the smokers and I’m grateful that I dont need to do it anymore. Your doing great Paul almost 2 years mate 
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Sounds a lot like myself, I’ll quit then and then. Will quit when therapy starts in a few weeks. All excuses, last week my son dumped my cigarettes with some remarks a long the way. Purely out of concern like: you get lung cancer asshole and what does it cost and their they went. This is my day six.
Real eye opener that I just was full of excuses to keep smoking. Like drinking there is always a choice and never an excuse to continue….
Take care Brian 
P.s. your end quote in some posts always makes me smile
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Replying here so I can find this again. Lord, give me the strength to finally be done.
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@SassyBoomer Hope you can find some support & strength in this thread. It isn’t the most active on the board but not the most quiet one either. I love to share some stuff I saved form my own journey into being smokefree almost 7 years ago. Different times, different forum, same solution. One drag is too much and a thousand smokes aren’t enough. Here’s one I posted a couple of times before. A toolbox specifically for quitting smokers. Lets do this and NOPE! (as in not one puff ever). Success!!!
The Quit Kit
Repost by GrammaX6
Welcome Newbies! Ready to quit? Then you need a Quit Kit!
It isn’t a matter of just slapping on a patch or chewing some nic gum. Every behavior you can think of is tied to your smoking. We smoked because we were happy, sad, mad, hurt, tired, sick, bored…etc. You need to replace those habits. Take a day to make a plan.
We call it a Quit Kit. It can be anything you want. Get creative and really think about it. Some things folks have used is nicotine gum. You can buy regular gum the same size, color and flavor so you can go back and forth between the two. If you are using the patch, make sure you have an extra patch in the office, in your purse, or in your wallet, for those days when you have forgotten to put one on in the morning. It happens more than you think! Have lozenges available for those high stress / high craving times.
Have some Red Vines to ‘smoke’. Or cut up a straw into thirds…especially during high trigger times like driving. Sometimes it feels good to just hold it if you are accustomed to always having a smoke in your hand. Grab your favorite CDs or tapes to put in your car so you can put one in and sing out loud. My favorite was dancing and singing at the same time. Your brain cannot do a third thing, so thinking about smoking just disappears.
To keep your mind and hands busy, go to Michael’s or some other craft store and look for things to do. Buy something that interests you; rug hooking kits, scrap booking stuff, or Christmas stocking kits for the grand kids. Or, get some coloring books and colored pencils or felt tip pens. Stained glass, floral, tropical fish or Native American motif coloring books are available everywhere now. They make you want to do a good job. Dora the Explorer would make me want to scribble on her face. LOL!
Make a list of everything that needs to be done, or you want to do around the house. Go through each room and write down everything from cleaning out drawers and closets to painting, rearranging or redecorating. Same with the garage and yard work. Once you have your list, break it down into 5-15 minutes segments so nothing becomes overwhelming.
Make baggies of crunchy foods to satisfy your mouth so they are at work and handy to grab. Carrots, celery, chex mix, pretzel sticks (you can hold those like a cig), gum, etc. They need to be ready to just grab at any given time.
This is important!!! The Three Post Rule: When you are craving and really shaky, post and click the “I’m craving and need some help” box. Wait for at least 3 response posts before you make a decision to purchase cigarettes or to smoke. Most times, you will be fine once you read the posts (keeps you from dwelling). If not…post again and wait for 3 more.
Once you have all these things figured out you will be well prepared to handle anything and you don’t even have to think…just look at your list… Keep 1 copy at work, 1 at home, 1 in your purse or wallet, 1 in the car.
If you did one day, you can do 2. If you did 3, you can do one more. No future tripping. You can’t do a darn thing about tomorrow until it gets here. Today is a good time to quit but if you feel you can’t, then take tomorrow to put together your Quit Kit and quit the day after. Don’t set a quit date out there for 2 weeks, 1 month, etc. All you do is make yourself crazy in your head by stressing over that date. You know you can do this.
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Same here @SassyBoomer I’m sure we can filter our threads in preferences cant we? Or was that just a dream? I’ll have a look. Day 68 for me I think or somewhere very close. Still feeling so pleased I’ve stopped smoking. 
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Oh honey, I’m in tears. That is so very helpful and resonates with hope. Thank you so much! The vines sound great but I avoid straws like the plague seeing as they were a massive tool in my addiction 
. Just like NA I’ll take what I can use and leave the rest lol. Thank you!!
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I’m totally done with smoking now. Pretty sure I’ll never smoke again. But I still use tooth picks at times, especially when driving or when I talk about the old habit and addiction. Like now 
…
BTW You ever read Allen Carr’s easy way to quit smoking? Helped me greatly with my mindset even though I didn’t follow instructions to the letter.
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Well I’ve never really posted before about quitting cigarettes but it’s been on my mind lately and yall drew my attention to this thread now @SassyBoomer & @Mno
It’s been 2327 days for me.
I was a heavy smoker in college. The people I dated at that time all smoked, drank, did heavy drugs…I just went along with it and took what they offered. The end of 2015 I decided to leave all that behind me. I had started to read Brendan Leonard’s book Sixty Meters to Anywhere in which he gets sober and takes up climbing. He had a habit of coffee and a cigarette in the beginning to keep him from drinking though. So after awhile I romanticized his life. Went 6 months without alcohol, took up climbing, but I was smoking again.
As I continued reading the book he talks about how dumb he felt doing physical activities as a smoker. I was a cyclist, a runner, and was becoming a climber I realized it did feel dumb. I had a history of childhood asthma that really made me feel dumb. So spring of 2016 I had started trying to quit cigarettes again. It took a few tries but eventually it stuck.
The hardest part for me was the craving of just one. I would go walking around Minneapolis looking for someone so I could bum just one. Then I’d get anxiety over it and end up buying a pack. I couldn’t get myself to throw away or give away the pack. So it was always I’ll quit when I finish this pack. That thinking didn’t work for me.
The odd thing I did that finally did help me quit, was finishing all but one. I had a tiny wooden box my cousin had gifted me when we were children. I tucked my last cigarette in that box and stashed it in a hideaway in the headboard of my bed. I told myself I’m not smoking today, but if I need just one tomorrow I know I have just one.
I don’t know why this worked but 6+ years later I’m still carrying around the wooden box containing “my last cigarette.” I tell myself that if I’m ever going to smoke again I have to smoke this nasty old cigarette before anything else. The terrible thing is some days it seems tempting. And I can recognize how f**ed up that seems and I stop myself, tell myself I really don’t need that cigarette or any.
— Mini rant:
Was in the car with my mum this morning - she used to be a smoker. We drove past someone that was out smoking while walking their dog and my mum remarked on how disgusting it was. Not that he was smoking in general, but only because he was smoking in the morning. She felt superior to him purely because she found smoking in the morning to taste bad, as if waiting until later in the day really made it into something more acceptable. I felt attacked by her comparison because I was a coffee & cigarette in the morning person. She used to smoke with us in the car as children on 6 hour long road trips to visit family in Chicago yet she was going to judge everyone else’s habits?! I don’t think she even notices that my sister is still (on & off trying to quit) a coffee & cigarette in the morning person. The comparison and judgement isn’t worth it. We can only control our own decisions.
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@Leveller and @SassyBoomer this is one of the threads that I watch. Down at the last entry in the thread there is a drop down menu and if you click on watching anytime someone posts here you will get notified.
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I love this idea of saving your just one cigarette. They are always available to us so we have to continuously say no. Excellent tool and if it worked for you it can work for me. Well done!
Good job recognizing your Mom’s judgement in that scenario. Isn’t it funny how often we say “at least I don’t…” as addicts. I think in sobriety we should shoot for the most. No more of this judgmental least stuff.
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Thank you @TrustyBird Emile, I trust you. Seriously thank you. I do enjoy reading on here. Some accounts really resonate with me, others not so much. I’d rather read someone’s account on here than start drinking again. I’m in the very early stages of quitting. 
3 weeks today.
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