Stories and experiences by: NotThisTime

Tomorrow marks my 2 and a half year cold turkey quit. I rarely log on the site anymore, but do log on to see a few individuals that are around the same quit period as me. Unfortunately, although it has been 2 and a half years, the nico-demon has made a reappearance. I have decided I will be reading Alan Carr's Easy Way to Quit again (I find his book invaluable as a tool to take away the negotiati...

I forgot to post the link to the video I spoke about in last post: https://youtu.be/gnSEbLX94Tk

The day is here! 2 years quite for me. Although I am celebrating and am more confident than ever, I am not going let the nico demon use this as an excuse that I have beaten it and I can "just have one puff, or one cigarette" I found a video presentation that was interesting and thought I would share what I related to most and wrote about in my postings on this site: 1. When starting out do...

I came across an article that was geared towards quitting addictions in general and nutrition. I believe nutrition was a helpful tool I used in my early days of quitting. Not only did it help physically, but it was a commitment to a "lifestyle" change that supported my endeavour of escaping smoking for good. Here's the article: IT WOULD SEEM LIKE A no-brainer that the foods you eat can affect ...

Today marks 23 months that I quit cold turkey. The one regret I have is that I waited so long to quit in the first place. Better yet, I regret that I ever started at all! For me, I still find experiencing things that are stressful and that I haven't endured since quitting to be triggers that try to trick me into thinking that a cigarette would make things better. These triggers/cravings definite...

I marked a year and a half quit cold turkey a couple days ago. I found out from recent medical tests that it was time to quit when I did. I have some physical things going on that finding out were a wake up call. I have always believed strongly that everything happens for a reason and I believe I quit smoking a year and a half ago for a reason. Not only did quitting smoking have a positive effect...

I have compiled a list of the top things that have helped me get to the point I am at now (over 15 months quit). Please keep in mind the quit process is different for everyone but I believe there are certain techniques listed below that will help most quitters: 1) Read and be open to the concept of Allan Carr's "Easy Way to Quit Smoking" The foundation for Allan also gives live seminars in ce...

I am over 15 months quit and feeling the most confident I have felt throughout my quit so far. I have read that the nicotine receptors in the brain remain active for approximately 5 years. I would say cravings are triggered for me when I smell cigarette smoke ( although at the same time, I find it disgusting and repulsive ?? ) I have been reading "easy way to quit" again and will be attending a l...

I have been quite now just over 13 months. It is much easier now and I continue to say that it gets around 3-4% easier with each month that passes. Thats approximately 1% a week of the cravings decreasing in frequency and severity. I have a friend that had been quit over 5 years. She had an extremely stressful and traumatic event occur. She told me that she had a plan in place in case somethi...

Its been 11 months since I quit smoking, cold turkey. For anyone that is just starting their quit, please know it definitely gets better! The cravings diminish as time erases the memories of smoking. In the beginning, much time was spent a lot on this site and reading others stories that were stopping smoking. I found it encouraging to know what others were experiencing both good and bad. I foun...

Hello everyone! I will be 10 months quit, cold turkey in one weeks time. Hard to believe its been that long. Overall, if I were to graph my cravings and thoughts of having just one it would be declining at approximately 2-3% a month rate. There are days/weeks where the cravings / thoughts increase but the overall monthly average are definitely declining. I have noticed that being around oth...

This is the longest I have gone without uploading a post. Next week I will reach 9 months smoke free from going cold turkey. I have noticed that cravings seem to come and go in waves. For the past week I have had pretty intense cravings and the frequency is only increasing. I have no explanation as to why the cravings are getting stronger and more frequent except I have been around smokers more o...

I have been looking forward to this day for so long and it is finally here. I remember like it was yesterday when I was excited to finally make it to 3 weeks. I still crave for a cigarette but will admit that over the past week the cravings have become less intense and do not last as long in duration. I have read a lot of other people say that they can no longer stand the smell of cigarette smoke...

I had a thought yesterday and it scares me! I have been telling myself that eventually the cravings will go away. As long as I get through the day without smoking, nothing else matters. I feel like I have just been existing for the past 5 months because at most times I would LOVE a cigarette! Yesterday I had a thought process of "I will stay quit until 6 months and if I am still craving I will ...

Its been 5 weeks since I last posted, and thats the longest I have gone without posting. I am finding it easier now with less frequent cravings but when they do come they are pretty intense. The hardest time is at night before bed. I usually end up going to sleep earlier than I would normally so I don't have to deal with the cravings. I am looking forward to hitting the 6 month mark (5 weeks to g...

105 days or 3 and a half months quit today. The hardest part has been the last 4 weeks. I finished moving last Monday and have noticed the cravings have been easing since I finished. When the cravings were the strongest I kept telling myself that all I had to do was NOT SMOKE. It didn't matter if I accomplished anything else during that hour, day, week, month... as long as I didn't smoke. I belie...

After 3 months I had the most powerful craving last night. I felt like I was almost going to be forced to get out of bed and grab my pack of smokes. It was way too close. Out of all the cravings I have had over the past 3 months, that one was by far the most intense. Luckily I managed to fall back asleep and get through it. I was keeping a pack close by to acknowledge that I had faith in my abili...

I have arrived at the 3rd "3's". I have to say that the past month (from month 2 to 3) was extremely challenging! I was having more frequent and more severe cravings than the first month that I quit. I originally bought Allan Carr's easy way to quit in digital format when I first quit and it helped me tremendously. It was amazing how easy the first week was after reading his book. 3 days ago I de...

The days are going by so fast now! Tomorrow will mark 12 weeks for me. The cravings are becoming less severe (although the frequency is about the same). I have noticed that putting lots of ginger in my juices helps with cravings. I also use lavender essential oil under my nostrils when a strong craving hits. I keep telling myself that once I hit the 9 month mark I should have hardly any associat...

Made it through! I am at 70 days quit tonight at 8pm. The past week has been very difficult for cravings. I have been dealing with the cravings pretty well up until a week ago. I got off track and out of my normal routine that I had established right after I quit over the past week. I decided yesterday was going to be different and got back into the old routine. The result was diminished craving...

I am on day 68 of going cold turkey. I was handling it really well until last weekend. I had a friend over for a couple of days who smokes. Just seeing the act of enjoying puts it in my subconscious. After 2 days of seeing her smoke my father came to visit. He is also a smoker. I think it is harder to see a parent (who we see as a role model) smoke than a friend or stranger. I was out of my n...

I am on day 49 of quitting and find the cravings and urges are mostly gone. I do get them when I am bored. As soon as that happens I am trying to get up and get doing something or take a nap. I know I am no longer going through withdrawal from nicotine but its still hard!

I started smoking when I was 14 and am now 40 so 26 years as a pack and half a day smoker. I have tried around 5 times before to quit and never made it past 2 weeks. I have tried cold turkey, Zyban and patches. This time I decided to go cold turkey. I have always wanted children but being gay I always thought it just wasn't in my scope of life. I have decided I would like to try a surrogacy o...