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That is awesome! Speedy recovery to you. Guard that quit.

Yes, you're an addict. And it doesn't take long to go from 4 to 10 to 20. Best to accept it for what it is and if you really want to stop, please take action now.

Like everyone, wouldn't have stopped me. Not that they taught us those things when I went to school but the reason i started was because older kids were smoking and ... it was cool.

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Walking demands comfortable shoes (learnt from experience) regardless of what the situation may be with others .... Hopefully, you can keep doing the walking in different shoes.

Hope you're doing well, idontsmoke. Wish you speedy recovery and glad smoking is not part of the recovery process.

Congratulations, Steven. There are many here who quit successfully after as many years of smoking so you will receive good input and support here. Please do stay close to the board, post often - historically, it has been seen that folks who do this tend to have a higher chance of success. I would encourage you to understand triggers - there are daily triggers which you will need to face right away and overcome. They are the hardest as they will hit you often in the initial days e.g. coffee, lunch, meeting someone, going to the convenience store, gas station - all the little things that we do daily that we associate with a smoke. They are also the easiest because you get past them quickly within the first few days and become strong at overcoming the daily triggers. Then there are the occasional triggers - a birthday, weekend drink, vacations, etc. These are things that will likely occur during the year and will catch you by surprise as you start to feel confident about overcoming the daily triggers. You need to stay alert and recognize that these are different and will need to be overcome using some of the same techniques used for daily triggers. This addiction is so insidious that it will want to you celebrate quit milestones - 1 week, 1 month etc - with ... a smoke. Be very alert. Finally there are the life event triggers - losing someone, break up of relationship, job loss, surgery etc. We become vulnerable to going back to smokes when life hits us with these events. Smoking doesn't really help solve any problem but the addiction manages to overcome rational thought for long enough to cause us to lose the quit. The trick is to recognize that we are addicts and will always be one so we need to guard our quit like a winning lottery ticket and not let anyone or anything take it from us.

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Nancy, Congratulations on 7 years!

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Being able to take a deep breath, a lungful of air, without coughing was something new for me that I really enjoyed. You're doing the right thing by going to your Dr. Not smoking will definitely give you benefits.

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Congratulations, Mona! So happy to see you reach this milestone, awesome.

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I had to try a few times until I got the final quit. Just go for it again. As insidious as it is, you can beat the addiction. There are many of us here who were able to quit after years of smoking and we are all ... just like you.

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To my understanding, very few make it in their 1st attempt. The road to success lies through a few relapses so please accept it as a mile-marker to success, own the relapse and accept the encouragement and support to quit again. There will come a moment when the switch goes on and you're able to beat the addiction.

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It's normal as you mentioned. It reminds of the time when I had armed myself with cough drops and felt so bad when the cough wouldn't happen. Those days my brain was foggy as well and I used to question if my quit was 'normal' if there was no cough. Why wasn't my system going through the cleansing that everyone else seemed to go through. I also felt bad about having wasted the money for cough drops. So I think you're lucky to have the symptoms that I wasn't fortunate enough to have.

I can only say I agree with all the above. I don't think about smoking any more but the thought has crossed my once in a while but it's just that ... a thought. In the 3 1/2 years, there have been challenges but smoking did not come up as an option. I now 'know' that it will do nothing for the challenges. Also, have no desire to be a slave to nicotine again.

You're doing great, Jeff, and for the right reasons. I didn't tell my wife until I was in week 3 since I had failed so many times before that I didn't want to talk about it until I was somewhat sure of my quit. The lethargy is normal. Many of us have gone through the period of lethargy. It will go away. I took up running as a way to make myself feel good. When I initially started, I couldn't run to the end of the street and back and would be wheezing and coughing while I sat on the front steps for 15 mins to recover. After some months, there came a day when my legs felt tired before I ran out of breath - that was SO HUGE for me. I mean, I don't think anyone ever felt so happy that their legs were tired. My point is, find a way to reward yourself and feel good. Many people go for walks or take up running or cycling or some other form of physical activity. See what works for you. It should help you get out of the lethargy stage faster.

Congratulations on 4 years, Jillar ! So sorry to hear about your losses and proud that you're facing life with your quit intact. Way to go!