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G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.... (replace Ever with Min Hour Day as required!)

Horney Toad has got out of bed early ,to start your big day off... 8 Years is Mega !!!!! Try and do something good today ...in all the madness of the world ... Call in here now and again to stir things up .... Your fat backside is missed .....by some ...lol.... Well done ....

NOPE!!!!!!

NOPE

Not One Puff Ever...another way of saying "I love you," to my children and grandchildren

NOPE

NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope

You deserve a window to lick for each year of freedom. Congrats @bakon

Good job breakfast meat! Eight is great!

Nope

Congratulations @bakon on 8 years free!!! Wow...8 is great! All that improved health and the $ you 've been able to spend on other goodies, too. Yooohooo!! Do you also sometimes forget that u used to smoke?

Nope nope nopity nope nope an just in case ya missed the memo....

nope

Congratulations Bakon! 8 years of freedom is awesome! An inspiration!

Congratulations on 8 yrs. This is great.

Congratulations on 8 years of freedom, Bakon.

NOPE!

NOPE

NOPE

G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.... (replace Ever with Min Hour Day as required!)

Congratulations on 8 years quit Bakon! Hope you live it up today

NOPE!!!

NOPE!

NOPE...

NOPE

A good reminder that anybody can quit. ANYBODY! Bakon is an idiot and even he figured it out. Good job dumbass.

I sure did Sweetheart.... Just having fun

Oh my goodness! Thank you for pointing that out Doreen!!! I'm sure you knew what I meant...

I think you meant quitting is your normal Mona lol....x

awesome thanks you bunch of window lickers...remember nope

Hi John. The answer to your question is yes, I have experienced this. I kept a journal on a smoking app for nearly 2 years with a few words (almost daily) about how my quit was going. I was still having some hellacious days after many months. Here's my entry on June 22, 2016: "7 months quit today. Still craving frequently and feeling like crap! Thought I'd be over it by now." It can take some people a long time to get to the place where they feel like the corner has been turned and it's no longer a struggle. I was one of those people. All I can say is eventually the addiction does lose its grip and freedom emerges victorious. It's worth whatever amount of time and effort you need to render. Keep focusing on those positives you mentioned. I also encourage you to take up some type of physical activity to help focus your mind and body on a beneficial course. Hang in there.....you're worth it.

You have quit smoking but your brain is having trouble accepting that fact. It is like the final stage of grieving, you will feel better when you know that you are done with cigarettes. The day this happens will be like magic. You must keep going. Read on the forum to help you get a better understanding of the process of freeing yourself from nicotine addiction.

Hi everyone, I've spent ages looking for a support forum and you guys look the best fit for me, so here I am. I quit smoking about 6 weeks ago, the psychology of the decision took more than 2 years, the decision took 2 weeks, smoking the last cigarette took 6 minutes... it's a work in progress. I bought nicotine patches before I quit, took a short vacation (can't go on vacation and not smoke, I'll be stressed and miserable, yada yada yada), so made every effort to cut down until we got back. Thought about it some more when we returned home, and began to realise why the psychology takes so long! Eventually, let myself run out of cigarettes and decided the last one in the packet was the last one. And it was. I'm still using patches (21mg down to 14 mg, with a pack and a bit to go before I finish the program). Spoke with my doc this afternoon, she's thrilled. She suggested getting some nicotine mints in, for when I'm done with the patches, but I don't know, that feels like I'm still feeding a habit. I just want to think about next steps and avoid having a major wobble when the patches are finished. I think what I need is to hear from others about management. How did you manage quitting long-term? For those of you going through it right now, we can be travel buddies - how are you managing cravings? I haven't had too many cravings, in the early days of quitting, I would sometimes realise I was really thinking about smoking (not actually thinking to do it, just thinking about cigarettes) and then realise I forgot to put a patch on today. So off I'd pop and put on a patch and the thoughts would subside. I guess that's what craving is, right? Other days, I'd be so irritable that I'd pick a fight with my husband and then realise I had nowhere to stomp off to... that was hard. Its not been an easy journey so far, but it's not been as hard as I thought it would be either. I'm feeling strong, I'm feeling healthy. We walk around the block most days, it's just a mile and the elevation back up the hill is, according to my tracker, 18 floors. There's a point midway where I'd always stop and pretend to be admiring the view but, in actuality, I was doing a quick cardio recovery. I don't stop now, my chest feels clear, my breathing is good and there's no coughing and throat-clearing after exertion. I'm at a point where I don't want to give that up. Right now, I don't desire a cigarette. I don't want to be a smoker anymore. I've smoked for 30 years and never seriously tried to quit. I've always been able to last for hours between cigarettes without it hurting. I take several trans-Atlantic flights a year and can do that no problem. Having said that, I can go through bouts of near chain-smoking too. Depends on the situation. Got it all under control... so why am I here? I live in a world of non-smokers and they don't really 'get it' - that sounds ungrateful for their genuine support, but it's true. Sometimes, 'well done, I'm proud of you' isn't really what I need. Soon it will be 'you don't still need support do you?', in the way that people have when they don't realise the depth of something. You know? Well, I wasn't really going for 'War and Peace', so I'll stop there - just wanted to say 'hi'.

Welcome aboard, Shezi! You have the right mindset, so you will be successful with your quit...but do lots of reading here and watching the Joel videos to educate yourself about the nicotine addiction. Congrats on the 6 week mark! Reward yourself and KTQ! PS I quit using NRT - patches and gum

Welcome aboard, @Shezi and congratulations on 6 weeks smoke free. You are doing a truly great thing. I can't give you any advice on the patch as I did not quit that way but there are many people here who can and I am sure you will hear some great advice about it. I do think it is great that you are noticing positive changes in your overall health and life since quitting. This is very important. Having the mindset and desire to "not be a smoker anymore" is also very important. Quitting is very doable. I smoked for 20 years and towards the end, I noticed that I had fewer and fewer smoking friends. When I was quitting, I didn't have many ex-smokers around me who "got it" when t came to quitting either. I joined an online quitting support forum similar to this one and the support and knowledge I gained really helped me and I'm sure it can help you too. There are a lot of resources here to educate yourself about nicotine addiction and a lot of people who will help support you. Keep reading. Write about your experiences. Reach out for help if needed. Participate. Quitting is a great thing. It is good to have you here.

Hi Shezi welcome to our train full of quitters and congratulations on six weeks quit already We have quite a few members who have successfully quit by using the patch so you're in good company. I agree with you that reintroducing nicotine after you're done with the patches is a step in the wrong direction. I quit cold turkey but what I would do when I got a bad crave was use my air cigarette. I just pretended I was holding an actual cigarette in my fingers and then went through the motions of "smoking" it. I can't believe how well it worked at tricking my mind into thinking it was getting the real thing. Some people use cut straws, pens, even licorice whips lol. We also have a great social section to help get your mind off smoking for a while so check those forums out as well

Congratulations on the 8 year mark Bakon!

NOPE!!!!!!

Thank you for the cheers everyone! It is getting easier and easier as each month passes. Not smoking is becoming my new normal and I love it!!!

Hi John, congratulations on 7 months quit, you're doing great! I have to agree with the others. I smoked almost a pack a day for 35 years and my whole first year was rough with me feeling sorry for myself that I don't "get" to smoke anymore because of my breathing problems. I even wrote a post about it when I was 6 months quit. I liken quitting to the death of someone close because really when you think about it smoking was our constant companion for x amount of years. Going everywhere with us and doing everything we did. Then suddenly it's gone............... For me it takes about a year to accept the death of someone close and smoking was no exception.... Please keep in mind too that this pandemic is playing on everyone's well being mentally and some of how you're feeling could be attributed to that as well. And lastly, if your depression is too much to handle please consider talking to your dr. They can usually give you a temporary med while your body is readjusting to life without nicotine.

Welcome @Papagoat I smoked for nearly 40 years, I quit and failed many times because of similar junky thoughts as you've stated above. This time I'm confident that it is my permanent quit because I have learned so much about the Nicotine addiction, and getting the tremendous support from members here. I now realize that all the junkie thoughts about missing smoking because I thought it kept me calm, helped me relax, helped me concentrate, filled the emptiness, etc. were all lies. I now realize that I was just simply an ADDICT who needed to feed the Nicotine addiction, which had controlled almost 40 years of my life and I'm taking it back. I treasure my FREEDOM from Nicotine addiction which helps me squash all those junkie thoughts, those perceptions, those lies. Please do yourself a favor and go educate yourself about this nasty addiction, there are a lot of great materials in the static posts in this forum and from Joel Spitzer's library as well. Obtain an understanding about this addiction will help you get rid of those junkie thoughts. By the way, A big Congratulations on your 7 months of Freedom! Treasure it!

7 Months is still a very early quit ..... Your body has some serious healing to do ....you have been feeding it poison for years ....up to 40 times a day Be patient ....Quitting is a journey ...with ups and downs ....until one day ....Wham the magic happens ,and it all slots together ... If you have health issues you worry about always seek medical advice ... Take a seat on the Train ...travel along with us ...there is so much great information here to help you along .. Play games .. have fun ... Quitting is not all doom and gloom ...

Way to go Mona. 5 months is a major feat.

Thank you @Doreensfree . I'm so sorry about your husband. Luckily you at least saved yourself in the end. Unbelievable, how high the cost of this addiction is, to individuals, entire families, communities and societies. It's too bad we can't recognize that truth as a society and make it much more difficult for anyone to profit from the sale of tobacco and nicotine products.

Congrats, Mona! One day at a time! Celebrate your smoke-free 5 months and KTQ!

Woohoo way to go, Mona! I bet you feel awesome, as you should. The pesky nicoturd is getting smaller by the day now. Soon it'll be like a gnat; an irritant. Keep it going cuz now you are FREE! Celebrate life without nicotine!!

Congratulations, Way to go Mona. This is freaking awesome