I think I'll quit, too... 2016 update

[vanagon40]

In 2009, sugarbee started a thread about quitting smoking => http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,1433.0.html

In 2009, I quit smoking after 35 years. I did good for many years. But, I relapsed on a few occasions and then on more occasions, and finally I was smoking daily again. I was only smoking about a half pack a day rather than the pack and half in 2009, but still I was smoking.

So I have quit again. I always attributed part of my success in quitting to posting my progress on the "I think I'll quit, too" thread. So to ensure my progress this time, I am starting a new thread.

If anyone wants to join me, jump in and post your progress. If nothing else, think of the money we are saving.

Quitting the second time seems a little harder than the first time. Thirty cigarettes a day for thirty years was just a stupid habit. I really enjoyed the ten cigarettes I smoked each day last week.

TODAY IS DAY SEVEN. I have to keep reminding myself that I am a non-smoker.

[gordonv]

Congratulations on the 1st hard step forward. Never smoked as a habit. Only cigars for a time. Still enjoy the odd (maybe 1 a year) cigar and glass of spirits of choice.

Lost my dad after 18 yr of being smoke free, lung cancer. Gone too soon at 72 yrs old. He didn't see his grand children grow and start their lives.

Good Luck!!

[Ken Tarver]

You go dude! Congrats on quitting again. Wishing you great success this time. I never was a long term smoker so it wasn't hard for me to quit. Last cigs I had was in 1971.

Ken

[Jess from VA]

Way to go Van.   

We have a similar story, except I'm on again. 

[bill-jr]

The wife and i both quit smoking cigarettes on Feb 24 2015
Hardest thing i ever done ....
Still want one every day.....

[The emperor has no clothes]

Started smoking while in the Navy in '78. Didnt finally quit for good till '03.  For me I know I can't have 1 or 2 here or there. If I did even though it's been 13 years, I'd be right back at it. Good luck Vanagon. 

[Hooter]

Been done for 29 years now. Quit on a cancer scare but later found out it was a false alarm. Never started again. Good luck!

[RDKLL]

Congrats...the more times you try and quit, the better your chances. I quit in '01, never looked back....stated smoking cigars very occasionally and never slid down the slope, personally there was no slope because I never "had to have " a cigar...more event related. I know it has not been the same for others....

[Danny McMillin]

Smoked for 37 years! And I'm talking smoked!! Three packs a day; with some days opening the fourth pack! Laid them down in 1999, after first heart attack!

It's not hard to quit smoking.......when they cut you from your ankle to your adams apple!!

[phideux]

I quit about 15yrs back, if I average it out as a pack a day, at todays price for Marlboros, I've saved around $30,000.
I've got about $18,000 put out for my bikes, I guess that means I can buy a couple more, Right? I've still got $12,000 in saving left.

[mark81]

I have only had 1 cigarette yesterday and it had been over a week before that.  This is my 3rd attempt at quitting. First lasted about 6 months second was about a year this time is the hardest to resist the urge to bum a smoke when i see someone else light up.

[Serk]

, but who's counting?

And yeah, although I have picked up cigars, I still consider myself an ex-smoker, and am proud of having made it this far.

Much respect to all quitters, whatever method you're using, and whatever you consider to be "quit".

[czuch]

Good on ya and keep up the good work.
I found you have to be disgusted with stinking and having the "Just licked an ashtray" breath.
Done, Done, Done. 7 years ago.
I see people in the rain at work and it cracks me up.

[Pete]

Keep after it and quit for good this time.
Just make your mind up and do it.

Best wishes for a smoke free life. 

[old2soon]

Since my last unopened pack with the date I quit is amongst the not present I had to do a bit of research. Turns out I quit 20 April 2002. Little over 14 year ago. Another that wishes I had NEVER started. People look at me strangely in a Handi mart or a grocery store when I ask them WHY are you spending so much to kill yerself? This last Inzane and the 2 months I was gone I had a battery powered concentrator with me "in case". One of those fun things old folks git that I never thought I'D need!  Take it from a NOW ex smoker-QUITQUITQUIT! WHY would ANYONE spend THAT much money to DIE/KILL YOUR SELF/EXPIRE/LEAVE YOUR LOVED ONES/Make the  tobacco companies richer??  RIDE SAFE.

[Ken Tarver]

i quit a thousand times,, 20 years ago i decided i would just not smoke another cigarette,, i am not gonna quit, i just aint gonna smoke another one,,
well i havent quit yet but i havent smoked a cigarette in 20 years,, knock on wood


  Like your method there Jess.


Ken

[henry 008]

when my daughter turned 18 she wanted to smoke in the house. My wife and I both smoked. I decided then that I needed to quit. we all got Chantix and we said that we would never smoke in the house again, regardless of if we quit or not. daughter quit 1st, wife and I quit 2-08-2008. she started back up, daughter and I are still quit. wife smokes in the garage. only bitch I have is that the garage smells and there is this film on everything, Valkyries included! 

[Fazer]

Congrats...the more times you try and quit, the better your chances. I quit in '01, never looked back....stated smoking cigars very occasionally and never slid down the slope, personally there was no slope because I never "had to have " a cigar...more event related. I know it has not been the same for others....

Same here with the cigars.  I quit cigarettes 25 years ago and smoked my first cigar about 10 years ago.  I love trying different brands, types, sizes, etc.  Kind of like Harley's--there are millions of variations.  I get two or three cigar catalogs a week and daily email enticements--those guys are marketing geniuses!  I have a humidor full of cigars upstairs and a large coolerdor full in the basement.

I don't remember if the gum or patch was available when I quit cigarettes.  I used a little pouch of snuff (not the dip guys are using now) called Bandits.  Very mild and did not need to spit.  Probably went thru a couple of cans.  Took the nicotine edge off.   My brother uses Copenhagen and has tried to quit many many times.  I have heard that is more difficult than cigarettes--so be careful if going the snuff route, but it worked for me.

Good luck and keep with it.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Congrats...the more times you try and quit, the better your chances. I quit in '01, never looked back....stated smoking cigars very occasionally and never slid down the slope, personally there was no slope because I never "had to have " a cigar...more event related. I know it has not been the same for others....

Same here with the cigars.  I quit cigarettes 25 years ago and smoked my first cigar about 10 years ago.  I love trying different brands, types, sizes, etc.  Kind of like Harley's--there are millions of variations.  I get two or three cigar catalogs a week and daily email enticements--those guys are marketing geniuses!  I have a humidor full of cigars upstairs and a large coolerdor full in the basement.

I don't remember if the gum or patch was available when I quit cigarettes.  I used a little pouch of snuff (not the dip guys are using now) called Bandits.  Very mild and did not need to spit.  Probably went thru a couple of cans.  Took the nicotine edge off.   My brother uses Copenhagen and has tried to quit many many times.  I have heard that is more difficult than cigarettes--so be careful if going the snuff route, but it worked for me.

Good luck and keep with it.

I hate to admit it. But for years I did Bandits and cigarettes at the same time. 3 or 4 smokes in the morning, then 1/2 a can of Bandits at work, then a pack of smokes after work. 

[cabincruiser]

I have been a hospice nurse for 17 years. I can attribute smoking to at least 1/4 of the deaths I attend. Not only does smoking cause lung cancer (in a big way, trust me), but did you know that other cancers like bladder cancer are caused primarily by smoking? Not to mention emphysema which creates a miserable existence in the end stages. Heart and vascular disease are primary results of smoking. Blood clots and stroke are a common result of those. The list goes on and on. I have lost two parents to lung cancer in their 60's and many, many friends to cancer and heart disease.
I'm a former smoker and certainly not here to lecture anyone. We all have a tendency to think that it won't happen to us but the facts say otherwise. It's never too late to quit. Your lungs and heart will begin healing quickly, and even if you have permanent damage you can extend your life considerably by quitting at any stage in your life. I'm happy Van started this thread, as social support is vital in beating addiction (nicotine is the king of all of them). Seen people recover from alcohol and heroin addiction only to die young from smoking.
Keep sharing about your struggle, it really helps you and others.
People are counting on you not to die prematurely (trust me on that one, too)
People who die from smoking always say they wished they had quit on their deathbed
The urge to smoke never lasts more than 5 minutes, so start by just putting off the next one.
Dying on your bike is much better than respiratory failure (think fish out of water)
Best of luck to all!!
Chris

[The emperor has no clothes]

I have been a hospice nurse for 17 years. I can attribute smoking to at least 1/4 of the deaths I attend. Not only does smoking cause lung cancer (in a big way, trust me), but did you know that other cancers like bladder cancer are caused primarily by smoking? Not to mention emphysema which creates a miserable existence in the end stages. Heart and vascular disease are primary results of smoking. Blood clots and stroke are a common result of those. The list goes on and on. I have lost two parents to lung cancer in their 60's and many, many friends to cancer and heart disease.
I'm a former smoker and certainly not here to lecture anyone. We all have a tendency to think that it won't happen to us but the facts say otherwise. It's never too late to quit. Your lungs and heart will begin healing quickly, and even if you have permanent damage you can extend your life considerably by quitting at any stage in your life. I'm happy Van started this thread, as social support is vital in beating addiction (nicotine is the king of all of them). Seen people recover from alcohol and heroin addiction only to die young from smoking.
Keep sharing about your struggle, it really helps you and others.
People are counting on you not to die prematurely (trust me on that one, too)
People who die from smoking always say they wished they had quit on their deathbed
The urge to smoke never lasts more than 5 minutes, so start by just putting off the next one.
Dying on your bike is much better than respiratory failure (think fish out of water)
Best of luck to all!!
Chris

Nice post. Very informative and nonjudgmental . I'm glad my wife and I quit years ago. I just wish I could get my 27 year old son to see the light. But I know from experience it made no difference what people said I should do.

[mark81]

I'm happy Van started this thread, as social support is vital

I am happy to have stumbled across this thread as well.  There have been a few times i have wanted to go and pick up a pack of cigarettes in the last few weeks. Although most of you I have never met personally and I am not the one who started this thread I feel the support in my efforts to quit. Thank you all.

[old2soon]

More than once but not near as often as I used too I have to CONVINCE myself that there IS enough air in the room. Even outside I've had to Convince myself that there is plenty of air. To those that don't have breathing problems I know it's hard to relate. If you're STILL smoking-QUIT. If you've NEVER started Keep It THAT way.  I met R J coming from from I-15 last year and I can still hear what he told me before we left-try NOT to become tethered to an oxygen source 24/7. At this point in time only use o2 when I REALLY need it. As an aside-I'd love to have ALL the money back I spent on smokes and support equipment. Be a new Corvette in this old mans driveway! RIDE SAFE.

[woofred1832]

                    When I was figuring how much the payments would be to get my 2014 Valkyrie, and at $6.00+ per day times 30 days is $180.00 and the payments were $170 and change it was a no brainer..... ya I still want one but then I just go for a ride and its all worth it........

[cabincruiser]

To those that don't have breathing problems I know it's hard to relate.

FYI- A new study successfully reversed COPD in mice. They did it with high concentrations of Vitamin A (which is tricky as fat-soluble vitamins can be toxic in high doses). Research is getting there, but it is encouraging that they are targeting how to stop the mechanism which causes the disease. Its your bodies response to the pollution, not the pollution itself, which causes COPD, which might explain why some heavy smokers don't get it as bad as others. Dietary vitamin A is beta-carotene. Yes carrots and green leafy veggies. Cant hurt yourself with high doses of those. Also, inflammation is a big part of COPD; organic turmeric is really effective. I take a teaspoon daily mixed in water for arthritis, but noticed my breathing is easier as well.
Hang in there and thank you for your service 

[hubcapsc]

we all got Chantix

I guess it is not worse than smoking, but Chantix can have
some undesirable loopy side effects, such as wandering outside
your motel room in the middle of the night in your underwear
and becoming lost 

Smoking got both my mother and father... it didn't help that
my father was a sign painter. There was a layer of every
color of paint on everything in the shop after 30 years or
so, and that's the air he breathed...

Good luck y'all...

-Mike

[vanagon40]

Ordinarily, I do not consider the day over until I go to bed and get up the next morning. But I will make an exception today and call midnight the end of the day.

I now have 10 days in the bank. Today would have been an easy day to relapse/backslide: my wife was out of town and I had a couple (okay, maybe more than a couple) of beers. But I really wanted to post my ten day celebration--the reason I started this thread.

Like the original thread, this thread is helping me to remain a nonsmoker.

Anyone else who feels inspired to quit too, please join me in posting here.

[Serk]

Congrats!

When I quit cigarettes there wasn't a service like this, I had to make my own, but give this a look see and you can embed it in your signature so you always see it out there as a reminder of how far you've come:

http://sincemylastcigarette.com/

[sugarbee]

Hello everyone.  I had forgotten about this thread.  I had quit and then started again.  I was smoking my fool head off until around August of last year (2015).  I got off them things and feel so much better.  So, it's been a little over a year now.  Yay me!   

[Earl43P]

Congratulations on your YEAR   

I quit right before the election (really I quit before a week long work trip to CT).

Used the Nicorette gum this time. Hate to admit that I'd been smoking on and off since 1974.
I recall a few stretches of 18 months to two years without, but I took an extensive travelling job back in 88 and have pretty much smoked steadily since then.

I like the banner, thanks for that AND THIS THREAD.

[Hook#3287]

Hello everyone.  I had forgotten about this thread.  I had quit and then started again.  I was smoking my fool head off until around August of last year (2015).  I got off them things and feel so much better.  So, it's been a little over a year now.  Yay me!   

Congratulations sugarbee.

I quit cigarettes about 30 years ago after smoking for about 20.  Started as a teen.

Keep going, it gets easier as time goes by.

I can see 3 reasons for you to stay non-smoking.

[..]

I'm happy Van started this thread, as social support is vital

I am happy to have stumbled across this thread as well.  There have been a few times i have wanted to go and pick up a pack of cigarettes in the last few weeks. Although most of you I have never met personally and I am not the one who started this thread I feel the support in my efforts to quit. Thank you all.

One day at a time.

Wake up and tell yourself you wont smoke today.

Thinking about not smoking in a weeks time, a months time, a years time can make the attempt seem very difficult.

Wake up and tell yourself you wont smoke today.

About 21 years since my last.

Sometimes I still have to tell myself "not today".

[sugarbee]

Hello everyone.  I had forgotten about this thread.  I had quit and then started again.  I was smoking my fool head off until around August of last year (2015).  I got off them things and feel so much better.  So, it's been a little over a year now.  Yay me!   

Congratulations sugarbee.

I quit cigarettes about 30 years ago after smoking for about 20.  Started as a teen.

Keep going, it gets easier as time goes by.

I can see 3 reasons for you to stay non-smoking.

Thanks, Hook.  My grandkids are a big reason and big part of my life right now.  I am homeschooling one of them and will start the other one next year as well.  I have my ministry and it all keeps me busy     Busy and happy   

[gregk]

Smoked about 40 years a pack in a day to a day & an a half. 12yrs ago in the spring I was awarded a quad bypass, they kept me in the hospital 11-12 days cause of nomonia so I quit because my wife had Asama real bad an when she was at work I'd smoke in the house an my German wirehare thought himself to come an sneeze in my face so I quit. I was off to a good start and I bought ice breakers to chew on which was a great aid. Only problem I had was during deer hunting that 1st year I believe I maybe could of killed someone for a smoke but I was by myself and did not see anyone. I also refrained from stopping at my cousins tavern as I went by, I had no problems after that, however I seen the icebreakers were becoming habit forming so I weened myself off them. Now 12 years later in the spring they found one of the arteries plugged and the other 3 in pretty good shape so they don't want to open me up yet.  I also want to say a co worker quit the same time an I told him about the icebreakers but he started going through I'd say 2 time per day, o believe he is also not smoking any more but I bet he is still on the icebreakers.   My son had a heart attack this spring at 37 an was lucky to be by me, he has now stopped smoking.                                                 Been told no to light one up and held this religiously .  I also heard someone here once say they spent about 5,000 on their wife to quit smoking and only when she had a heart attack did she quit.

[BF]

Stopped Jan, 3rd, 1995.  That was after 21/22 years of smoking. 

I put them down and never picked them back up again. 

[cookiedough]

congrats to all who have quit or in the process of quiting.  Never smoked and not preaching, but seeing my dad's lungs start going bad in his 60's at the time after 20+ years of smoking along with 2 uncles and 1 aunt who died from smoking several packs a week all in their mid 60s in recent years, and now just found out my uncle's wife having lung cancer,  one can only imagine how many more years they could have lived probably another 10 years easily since all died in their 60's/early 70's for age just by puffing that cig.

I am really money conscious right now and to think of say easily 5 bucks per pack about 2 packs per day at 10 bucks per day easily is 70 bucks per week thrown out the door.  I can drink for 70 bucks per week and get drunk daily (at home) and still come out ahead...     I use to drink one heck of a lot more, but not anymore either. 

Now, I just have to toss out all that junk food/chips and I might not die of obesity issues????

[solo1]

I quit on the same day that Kennedy was shot.  I had started a new job that same day.  Cold turkey but it was hard to quit. It was dumb of me to start as I have asthma.

My wife quit later but too late. She died from COPD at 67.  I've lost two friends to lung cancer, a third person who I knew, just died last month of lung cancer,  and have seen many friends with COPD.  Most all were smokers.

When I was taking my wife to a pulmonologist for the COPD, the doctor had a sign in his office which stated  the phrase,  "Leave me alone so that I can die in Peace"  ....... after that it said, "But you won't die in Peace"

I hate to see smoking but I don't hate the smokers.  However, I"ll drive 15 miles to my American Legion post as a member, but I won't join the post just next door to me.  Why? because the next door post allows smoking. I will not go to any place that has smoking.

[Alberta Patriot]

I quit on the same day that Kennedy was shot.  I had started a new job that same day.  Cold turkey but it was hard to quit. It was dumb of me to start as I have asthma.

My wife quit later but too late. She died from COPD at 67.  I've lost two friends to lung cancer, a third person who I knew, just died last month of lung cancer,  and have seen many friends with COPD.  Most all were smokers.

When I was taking my wife to a pulmonologist for the COPD, the doctor had a sign in his office which stated  the phrase,  "Leave me alone so that I can die in Peace"  ....... after that it said, "But you won't die in Peace"

I hate to see smoking but I don't hate the smokers.  However, I"ll drive 15 miles to my American Legion post as a member, but I won't join the post just next door to me.  Why? because the next door post allows smoking. I will not go to any place that has smoking.

I finally decided to beat the habit when my youngest son was 6 weeks old...he is 34 now.
I tried countless times but it always only took 1 'borrowed' smoke to get me back...and the lender is only too happy to keep you in his company.
Cold Turkey was my final strategy...swore to myself that I would NEVER have another one...it was stomach grinding tough for about 3 months, after that it got a little easier day by day. It is like AA...you are addicted for life.

[scooperhsd]

Please - all you smokers - if not for yourself - think about your family. I lost my dad at age 57 due to lung cancer from cigerettes in '94 -  my next to last year in the service.  Fortunately, by that time I had LOTS of leave time built up, and we made lots of trips from DC back to Kansas that year. The last time I saw him alive was over christmas '93.  The only good thing about his funeral is that most of my college buddies made it out for the funeral with us.

Good luck to those trying to quit - It's probably the hardest thing to quit ever...

[gordonv]

I personally never took up smoking. Tried it as a kid, never as an adult. Enjoy a cigar with a nice glass of something (wine/whiskey), but usually only once or twice a year, and my last was 2 1/2 years ago. I have a nice Cuban cigar sitting on the fridge in a zip lock bag, waiting for the "right time".

Now my story. My father quit at 55 yrs old. He had outlived every male in his family, but up to 10 years. He wanted to see his grand children grow, and be there.

We lost him 18 years later, to lung cancer. I was there when he went into hospital with asthma. I was there, with my mother, as he drew his last breath 23 days later, kissed him goodbye, and removed and gave mom his wedding band, and walked out of the room with her.

Please, for your sake and your loved ones, keep up the good work. My understanding, is most of smoking is a habit. You just need to substitute it for a better habit.