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*A lifetime of freedom from nicotine. *Worldwide support from members in all phases of quitting and who know and can relate to what you may go through at any given time in your quit. *Tons of educational material about our addiction to nicotine. Be it by reading, watching videos or asking other members. We have it all So what do you have to lose by becoming a member?

Hello, I managed to stay smoke-free for almost two days, but unfortunately smoked 3 ciggarettes today, as the brain fog became unbearable at work :(. I threw my pack, lighter and ashtray, and I am ready to jump on the Quit Train! My story: Smoked since I was 14, now I'm 23, and decided I should end this addiction for good. I'm happy to find this community and I am confident that I will manage to stay quit with the help and support provided by this forum, and hope that when the time comes I can help others quit as well. I will no longer smoke and punish myself everyday with this addiction!

Myself and my fellow Quit Train Buddies are in our Decade Year We have a few who have more years smoke free . So i am throwing a Big Party for us all... Oldies come and tell you how you are doing ..would love to hear from you Doreensfree xx

To all the newbies who are active or lurking, I can tell you that quitting smoking is definitely something you can do and it is worth the early struggles. I quit after roughly 20 years as a smoker, and the last few years of my smoking life was spent struggling with short quits, trying to cut down, relapsing, etc. What helped me was joining a site like this and reaching out for support and reading about others' experiences in their quits. I also tried to take it one week, day, hour, minute at a time.....whatever it took. Don't worry about craves that might happen a day or two from now. Just focus on pushing through and defeating any craves that you may be currently experiencing.. Each crave you fight through makes your quit stronger. Quitting smoking is very doable and I encourage anyone who wants to quit to take the leap. It is worth it.

Still around sometimes……

Woohoo, six years quit today!!! I couldn't have done it without all the support I received, especially my first year quit. I've been fortunate to be able to be here to pay it forward and have made great friendships with people all over the world and for that I feel so grateful

So I finally pulled the trigger on replacing a storm door that's needed replaced for about 6 months. It's one of those tedious, sometimes aggravating projects, w/ lots of steps that I really didn't want to do but it had to be done. From tearing off the old one to installing, then cleaning up the mess took about 6hrs. I was having huge cravings multiple times. This is the kind of project a cigarette would have given me a reason to take a break from the job. In the past, multiple times I would have come up w/ a reason to leave in my car (need a fresh fountain drink, probably need a tube of caulk, etc) so I could go have a cigarette and give myself a break. Instead, I just worked on it for 6hrs straight, forgetting to even eat lunch, just because I wanted it over with. So many times I thought how much I wanted to leave and go smoke. So many times I thought how when the project was done, I could tell my wife I was going to go hike, but buy a pack on the way. Nobody would know. And darn straight I would have enjoyed every last puff. But I made it through. I wanted to smoke about 6. But I did not want the 7000 that would come with the 6. And I didn't want to spend $4000 for those 6. I know full well I would lose all my mojo if I have even 1 and it always takes me well over a year before I can bring myself to start a serious quit. Should have taken a break and gotten on here cause it was getting real. But, it's good to get some experience learning how to deal w/ an aggravating situation w/o nicotene. OK, that's my whine.

When I quit smoking on Sept 7, I printed a Sept calendar sheet so I could put a red X on something each day I didn't smoke. Today marks 23 days and is the last day of the month. Felt great to have to print out a new sheet for October. Not a month of not smoking yet, but just the action of having to change the calendar felt so good. And taped at the bottom of my calendar is a small sheet that says: "If you quit now... You'll end up right back where you first began. And when you first began, you were desperate to be right where you are now. Keep going." Those red X's remind me of all I would be giving up if I take even one puff.

Why not take a seat and join us .... You,ll be surprised how better it is ,with friends who understand your fears and concerns ... Quitting can be fun ... What you waiting for

As many of you know I was officially diagnosed with severe emphysema and COPD after I had respiratory failure in January of 2020. Most of you also know that for years I was struggling with breathing issues that I was told was asthma. In the two years leading up to my respiratory failure I went from 110 pounds on a 5'5" frame to just 79 when I was admitted into the ICU. My prognosis at that time was pretty grim, get better or go home on hospice. But either way I was also going home on oxygen. Since then I have put most of the weight back on and continue to feel myself get stronger each day. So then what's the point of this post you may be asking and its this.... I found a great group for people with COPD on Facebook which is ironic because I never used Facebook pre pandemic but the group is awesome. So many people that can relate and answer the many questions those of us newly diagnosed have. Much like our community does. Here's the sad part, I read post after post from members of that group still smoking. Some are on oxygen and still smoke! I of course pass our site on to them and I hope they find their way here. Its just really sad to see. There's even a few who's Drs have refused certain procedures because they're smoking. Life saving procedures too I might add. COPD is a progressive disease with no known cure. It can be slowed with proper medications and quitting smoking. Sadly we can have it for years and not even know it until we get an exacerbation. Mine was thought to be asthma. My day consists of trying to keep my 50' oxygen tubing out of the walkways and from getting caught in the doors. I'm embarrassed to go anywhere because people will be whispering things like "that's what happens when you smoke" etc. My poor dog and cat also have to dodge it while I'm walking down the hall to feed them. Its no way to live. I'm not looking for any sympathy I just want to put a brutal face to this terrible addiction in the hopes it helps someone quit or keep their quit.....

It just doesn't seem real that I am coming up on 10 years quit! To all who are considering quitting...you CAN do it...and it is so worth the discomfort (and yes, some times misery) you have to go through. I smoked for 40 years, and I know if I can quit, anyone can!! Happy 10th to us!!

A New Month ... Who is still sitting on the Train .... Of course the Toad is still buckled up !!!!

I'm still on the train

Wouldn't miss old cobsie's anniversary month....especially when we all pretend to forget and he gets his blue tighty whities in a twist..

Cheers!

I'm here!

Here

Day 13 here, day 2 with no nicotine gum. It took me a while, but I finally made it. There's really no withdrawl to speak of, just substituting regular gum and it works just fine. I'm really glad I quit this way, it worked well for me now the rest without nicotine at all is up to me. Luckily, I forgot to bring the nicotine gum to work with me a couple of times and I didn't smoke so I have no fear of relapsing at work anymore. This quit will be as long or short as I make it, glad to be back in the drivers seat. Thank you all for your support.

I’m a newcomer pinging in to say hello. I’ve been lurking on the site for a while, but I set up a profile today so that I could participate. Thanks for the experiences and the compassionate, nonjudgmental encouragement shared here. Reading the info and comments has helped me through some white-knuckle moments. My last smoke was 17 days ago. It was not a planned quit. I was having oral surgery, and at midnight the night before I learned that smoking through the post-op was a really bad idea. (As if all the other harms of smoking for the last 40 years were somehow a really good idea?! Yeah, go figure.) Anyway, I slammed into this quit bass ackwards… unprepared mentally, emotionally or physically. I didn’t have any tools to hand, and hadn’t thought through how to be intentional to set myself up to succeed. Just boom. But I’m trying hard to make it work. There’s more than just a dental emergency at play. I want this quit and the suffering it entails to count for something. I’ve been ambivalent about smoking for some time, have been living in denial about the consequences, and have let smoking control my life for too long. Cold turkey was not an option for me, personally. (Did that before, didn’t stick.) So I’m using the patch on a step-down system. I’m constantly fiddling with silly putty. Trying to stay busy. Doing a lot of wall pushups. Attempting to stay positive. Getting a grip on my triggers. Making lists of alternative things to do in those moments. Re-reading the science. Doing more wall push-ups. I’m struggling with feelings of despair and intense physical discomfort as my body adjusts to a lot less nicotine. But this week, on average, was a bit easier than the last. So maybe that’s progress? I think addiction likes to hide in the dark. It feeds on shame and distortions, and whispers false justifications to us. So I guess part of why I am joining this QT community is to fend off those shadows by reaching out for reinforcement, to try to fill my brain with something different. I need to banish that voice from the dark that says nicotine is my best friend (it’s not) and says that I can’t exist without my smokes (I can, and I have 17 days of evidence to prove it). Today I am grateful for having your voices in my head, instead. You are helping me to rewire. Thanks for listening and bearing witness in return. DenaliBlues

Talked for a little while with a guy who started out as a professional acquaintance but has become a friend. He is a mechanic and shop owner. We send any company trucks that need repaired to him. He's a good mechanic and a great guy. He's also a smoker, a heavy smoker. Every time he would take a drag off of his cigarette, he would cough and clear his throat. Then he had a terrible coughing fit that went on for a while. He was out of breath. His face turned red. His eyes watered-up from coughing so hard. I have noticed a change in his demeanor lately. He seems tired all the time. He doesn't laugh as much as he used to and when he does laugh it sets off a coughing spell. The cigarettes are beginning to take a toll on him. He has asked me about quitting before and I was more than happy to tell him about my experience. Unfortunately, it never really took with him. His "quits" would start in the morning and be over before noon. It's a damn shame. He could quit right now, but I seriously doubt he ever will. He is beginning to feel the heavy burden of smoking and that load only gets heavier going forward. I quit four years-ago. Smoking is a distant memory and I am a bit complacent about my quit most days. However, today was a reminder of how grateful I am to have quit smoking.

It certainly has been a long and winding road for me on this quitting journey. I am definitely in a much better place now...both physically and mentally. I still remember those early days of my quit and how I thought "Will I ever get to a place where I am not constantly fighting the craves?". It was so exhausting but I kept trudging forward, ever so slowly! I am still here to let you know you eventually will get to that place and it will be a source of immense pride!! I truly think I couldn't have done it without the online support of a site like QuitTrain or QSMB (my first support group which is no longer around). Thanks for acknowledging my 5 yr (!!!!!!!) milestone, Rozuki the Rockstar

A new month ... It's time to see who's still sitting on the Train .... Of course the Crazy Frog Woman is still Here ....

Ohhhh boy do I have a story to tell. Some of you know me and some of you don’t. However, I can’t expect you to remember me. It’s been an incredibly long and arduous journey. But it’s been my journey and it’s been a decent one so far. I’ve gone by many names in the past; some born from shame, some merely from forgetting my login information. Probably the most prominent username I’d been known by was HonorAmongstThieves; although many of you endearingly referred to me as HAT. Well, I could not pinpoint any username on this website, so I had to make a new one some time ago, which, as per usual it had remained dormant due to being a smoker. You see, my quit smoking journey unintentionally began on 1 January 2011. It was New Years and I only hd a couple cigarettes left but I didn’t want to go out so late to buy more. I decided to see if I could quit. And I did for about 4 months. I relapsed; which I would soon learn would be a recurring theme in my life. On the first night of my quit I came across a now defunct website, the QSMB, which is where I met many of you trying to accomplish the same thing that I was. I didn’t make an account until I was 72 hours free of nicotine in case I couldn’t hack it. I learned many techniques and coping skills that did help me through my initial 4 month quit. But alas, I was weaker than the cigarette and I fell back into my old ways. This is much how the past decade had gone for me. When I got wind of wanting to quit again, I’d lurk around, quit, be active for awhile, and then eventually relapse again. I met so many wonderful people through that website. I was even around during the great migration to this website, though I relapsed and when I came back, that website, to my surprise, was completely gone. But that’s alright because change is good. I began doing the same things here, lurking, quitting and being active here, and then relapsing. So many amazing and wonderful things have happened in my life over the past 11 years that I have tried to quit. I have worked incredibly hard to make changes in my life and I’m proud to say that I am not the same immature young adult that I was 11 years ago. Even then, I still kept smoking. Quitting. Relapsing. It’s a vicious cycle. Through all the personal struggle, the drama on the QSMB, the difficult and often painful pangs of growing and maturing, it’s all been worth it. But like Frankie said, “Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, to few to mention.” Still, if there was one thing I could change about my life, I would never pick up those first cigarettes. They took too much of my life, my health, my money, my looks; too much of everything. I always wondered if I would ever be back to this place, other than lurking. Even now, I still do. It’s been hard. So many countless, blurry nights where I told myself that I hated myself. That I would never change. That I told myself I didn’t have what it takes to be a better person. Even those days aren’t that long ago. But I made gradual, sometimes baby-step, changes in my life and I’m a better man now. A better husband, father, provider. I often look back to that fateful night, 11 years ago and cringe with regret. If hadn’t relapsed, I’d be preparing to celebrate 11 years of freedom from nicotine. It was exactly that thinking that kept me bogged down, unable to advance. It seemed so far away. So impossibly out of reach. I’ve honestly had to fight myself from coming back to this board and posting, and being active. Not because it’s bad, lol that is NOT the case. I learned so much about quitting smoking from the people here…but I also learned about myself. I didn’t come back because I wanted to do it on my own. With my support group at home; my wife and children; my family and friends. My mentors and peers who believed in me. But I did tell myself I would be back. I told promised myself that I would not forget the people who helped me get to this point in my life, which certainly consists of many of you who tried to educate me. For those who believed in me and never gave up on me. I came back for you. Because I believe that I owed it to you to let you know how things have been. How much my struggle with nicotine impacted my life and my decisions to this point. But most importantly, I believe I owe it to you to tell you that, as I submit this post, for the first time in my life since I began smoking, I can openly and honestly say, unequivocally, that I am happy to be here to celebrate with you that I am officially one year free from nicotine! I have waited more than a year to share this post. It is literally 11 years in the making. I don’t expect to be a full time poster here, but I will try to check in from time to time. Just know that I am finally free from this beast. It’s an amazing feeling and I cannot imagine going back to it. I know it happens. I know that people who are many years quit sometimes relapse. Just know that I am doing well, I am happy, and I am nicotine free. What a time to be alive. Thank you for never giving up on me after my many relapses and thank you all for teaching me how to kick this habit. For any new quitters, it gets better. Take it one day at a time, or one minute at a time if need be. It’s invigorating to finally be on this side of the quit. For anyone lurking, what are you waiting for? The water is perfect, come on in. As Sarge always used to say, “eazy peazy.” Very Respectfully, Your old pal HAT

hello all! since I quit over eight years ago, a lot has happened in my life. I’ve gotten divorced, I’ve endured my son‘s not talking to me for a few years which now we have re-connected, I bought a new house, I dealt with some health issues which are now resolved hopefully for good. I’ve had some issues dealing with relationships and ups and downs in life, financial struggles....and then Covid hit and since then my life has really been turned upside down and tested my strength as many of us have. But in all of this ....not one puff ever!! no matter what that is all. miss you guys !! stay vigilant!! Babs xoxoxo

Four years ago I decided I'd had enough. I decided that I wasn't going to go out the same way my Old Man did at the age of 56 with lung cancer. That was it. It was my decision and my commitment. Once I'd made that decision, it was a done deal. I knew I would never smoke again, and I haven't. It wasn't easy at first, but it's easy now. I rarely even think about smoking anymore and when I do, it's such a far away memory it doesn't even seem real. It also terrifies me to think about what I would feel like if I'd kept smoking. The toll those 30,000+ cigarettes I would have smoked would have had on my body. To be honest, I sometimes wonder if I'd still be alive if I hadn't quit. I loved cigarettes as much as anyone else and if I was able to quit, you can too. If you're struggling, toughen up and stick with it. I promise it will be worth it! NOPE!

You know today I was reflecting on smoking and quitting and it dawned on me that 7 years ago today I could not imagine not lighting up upon awakening in the morning, after a meal or after finishing any task yet today, after 7 years being smoke free I can not for the life of me fathom why I ever smoked those damn things. They did absolutely nothing positive for me! Quitting brings about a complete metamorphosis in your life! You come out the other side as a completely different person free from the chains of addiction and able to live your life to the fullest.

Me too?

N.O.P.E……

Present

I had my blood test and it came back normal. It's great news and really nails home the quitting smoking theme. For those just tuning in, I had a high white cell count and the doctor said to cut down on smoking and take another blood test in three months. So now I have proof that smoking was to blame for my abnormal blood test and as long as I don't smoke anymore I will probably not have to get a bone marrow biopsy. I am so fortunate that this was found in it's infancy stage when quitting smoking now can make all the difference.

The magic cigarette. I had to smoke one first thing in the morning because it woke me up. Also had to smoke one right before bed so I could get some sleep. I had to smoke when I needed to focus on something. Also had to smoke when I just needed to clear my head and zone out for a bit. Finally figured out that attributing so many contradictory "benefits" to identical cigarettes was ridiculous. I need to relax or I need to focus sounds better than I need another fix. Facing the fact that I smoked because I was addicted to nicotine and I was addicted to nicotine because I smoked was important for me. Helped me recognize the futility of smoking.

I am 73 and began smoking right out of highschool. Never had a solid quit. It would be a week here or a few days quit and then re do the process over and over. When I decided to quit, this time for good, I had read and re read Alan Carr's Easy Way over and over until I finally got it. Smoking is doing nothing for me. It is killing me slowly. Being here these past few days has helped me stay the course. In a few days I will have a week into this forever quit. Being here has helped tremendously.

It was five years ago today that I snubbed out my last smoke. I remember it like it was yesterday, now that I really think about it (which I rarely do anymore). I was standing in my usual smoking spot on the side of the house. I looked at my last smoke and said "I'm done". At that exact moment, I made the commitment to never smoke again. I promised myself that no matter what -no matter how hard it was or how angry I got - I would never EVER take another puff of a cigarette. Now here I am and all the withdrawals, obsessing, stressing and general madness that went along with the first days, weeks and months of my quit are all just very faded memories. I rarely even think about cigarettes anymore and when I do, it's hard to believe I ever smoked at all. It's just such a foreign concept. My girlfriend honestly forgets that I ever smoked and if I happen to tell people I've met that I used to smoke, they can't imagine it. I never thought I would NOT be thought of as a smoker. It's a pretty amazing feeling. I smoked a pack a day for thirty years and was as addicted as anyone and if I can quit, anyone can. YOU can! If you're struggling, stick with it. If you feel weak, post an SOS here. Make the commitment to never smoke again and honor that commitment Every. Single Day. Your life depends on it! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!

I am here

Growing up in So Cal ive always been athletic and enjoyed outdoor sports. All of them. Smoking interfered with my performance so it had to go. Successfully quit once for almost 10 years, then took a puff and was hooked again for 7 years before my final quit in Feb 2021. I own a contracting company that deals with fire protection and im sure I looked stoopid puffing on a grit I now own the fact im an addict, and I can never ever take even one puff and im good with that. Now that im smoke free im back to playing ice hockey and running triathlons at 55+ years old and in great shape & kicking butt This site is key to my quit-

Ok.... Listen up !!!! This is not a crime ...more of a Dam Shame.... What IS a Crime is you not coming back and trying again ... Never Give Up....Giving Up.....Smoking Kills....People die far too young Risking your Health ....That's A Crime .... We have plenty of seats ...just pick one ,let's try again ... You know deep down Quitting is the most sensible thing to do ...

It's really good to see you here .... This means you want to rid yourself of the horrible addiction of smoking nicotine ....I was where you are once ....just trying to find that one thing that would free me once and for all of my 52 year smoking addiction .... I had tried every method know to man ...always to end up back to smoking ... I was given a sharp shock .... prospect of losing a limb or two...all of a sudden Just trying wasn't a option it was time to do.... I smoked my last 3 ciggerette,s...with tears flowing ... How would I manage without my crutch ..my friend for so many years ....I searched the web looking for that one thing I hadn't tried ... I stumbled on a group of people ...QSMB ....then The Quit Train .... They gave me the Knowledge...showed me the way ....armed me with my tools to beat this monster....they guided me every step of the way .People from all over the world ,they cared ,they understood .... I did it ...I free,d myself ....I still feel that sense of pride ... I stay to tell anyone that will listen ....jump on the Train....give yourself the best Chance you can to free yourself.....your so worth it ....don't be shy... It's your life ...and you only get one ..... We will welcome you ...

I'm here in Michigan.

Thank you everyone. I made it through today. I was feeling uneasy earlier, but it passed. I am glad you're all here for me.

A couple years or so. Got a new hat!

NOPE

NOPE!

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