This is a page on my attempts on quitting smoking through the years and now that I am succeeding, I thought I would share my experience with you.

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I came to the understanding that I am an addict of nicotine and the only way to quit is to quit. I gave the 14 cigarettes I had left to my wife who hid them, this was on the 20th of March 2001, she said she will finish them and then she will quit. The week prior I tried to quit and on the third day I succumbed to my addiction and bought a pack. At first I wasn't smoking much, but then I realized today as the couple of days went by that I was smoking almost as much as I was before I quit. I told my wife that I am not doing this for no one else but, myself.

My health is deteriorating and my Doctor told me that I have to make a decision, "smoke and die in a couple of years or quit and live longer, it's not going to be easy but, it has to be done". I did a lot of soul searching, prolonging to quit will only make that more hard on me. I am addicted and now that I realize this as well as there will be psychological and physiological episodes, I will just have to struggle through it and get the nicotine out of my bloodstream.

I can't give in to my addiction. I can do it, I know I can. Like a recovering alcoholic, I am going to take it "One Day At A Time", worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes, NEVER GONNA TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! I researched over the internet and even though I already knew most of what I read, I didn't realize the amount of excuses I was using not to quit and just keep smoking. That's exactly what they are, EXCUSES, I have to break the dependence of nicotine, NO MORE SMOKING FOR ME!

I do have cravings for a smoke, but I am telling myself I don't need one. The feeling will pass in a few seconds. It does. Quitting smoking and learning Imagery and Meditation, I will have a lot of control over my health and well-being. Never Gonna Take A Drag!

On the 3rd day of not smoking, I really got the cravings for a cigarette especially since I didn't change my regular routine. I read through my research on the Internet that a person shouldn't put what they normally do during the day on hold while they quit smoking because even though the urge is there now while the person is quitting and doing their normal activities, if these activities are put on hold then, once the person returns to those activities the craving for a cigarette will be stronger.

I tell you though, it is hard keeping the same activities. When I would clean my rabbits cage and then clean the house, I would take a coffee and smoke break. Now I only take a coffee break. I wait for a few minutes and the urge for a cigarette subsides.

I am on my way to becoming a non smoker.

I can't believe it, on my 6th day, it was a true test, earlier I was around people who were smoking and although there was a little craving I was able to fight it until it subsided. I know I am doing good and I know that I will be a non-smoker. This is the first time doing it cold turkey but, for some reason I feel really really good about it. My wife quit March 25th, 2001, which is good. When she was smoking, she would go outside to smoke which was great. At least she respected the fact that I quit. I am proud of her also because she is taking the big step of not smoking.

I am not thinking about tomorrow, just today and that I am not going to take a puff, I don't need to. I can do this, I am doing this and I am so proud of myself.

Here's to the future and me being a non-smoker.

On my 7th day and I still was having cravings. I woke up that morning and boy did I want a cigarette, I had to keep telling myself not to have one. It worked, but, having hard time to keep saying no, I have to though, no choice, would be stupid lighting up, don't you think, I do.

It's hard quitting cold turkey though, I am not as grumpy has I thought I would be, still snap a little at people, don't mean to, don't want to, it seems my mouth speaks before I have time to think of what to say and because of this it sounds like I am snapping, sometimes I do snap, sometimes I don't, I wish my mouth would wait until my brain has everything sorted out on what to say.

I have to keep pressing on, don't look back, just go forward, worry about today, tomorrow will take care of itself, not taking another drag......

My Health - Poem written by me - 3/29/2001

I remembered something else that proves my memory is slipping. Last Friday March 30, 2001 I sent myself a registered letter (this is to copyright some material) and when a card showed up that there's a registered letter waiting for me at the Post Office, I was trying to figure out from who. It was really bothering me. Then I realized a few hours later that I sent it to myself. I couldn't pick it up right away, time on card told me when to pick it up.

Weird yes, becoming normal for me, yes.

I was doing a lot of running around with my family, shopping etc., this was on my 17th day. Everyone knows that when you go shopping and then go do groceries, especially with kids, it can get a little stressful. Well, usually I would light up when I was stressed but, I didn't even think about it. Went through the evening doing what we had to do, came home hooked up our new mouse (cordless trackball) to our computer, put everything away, had supper and after the dishes were washed, we sat down. It felt great, still feels great. This is the first time that I use a trackball mouse, especially a cordless one at that. I am used to moving the mouse around to be able to do tasks with the computer, pretty neat though, mouse stays put now and with the cordless feature, I don't have the cord hanging all over the desk. That always bothered me. This mouse was my wife's treat for herself of being 12 days smoke free.

I am counting to exactly one month of not smoking in which case, I am going to buy myself something special as a treat. I am into Steven King, I have quite a few of his books. I am reading "Hearts In Atlantis" and I am thinking on getting "Dreamscape" for my gift to myself. Would be pretty good I think.

Here the cigarettes are going up to .50 cents more and about $4.00 more a carton which is over $40 Canadian for 1 carton. What a waste of money. To think that by now, the one's who have been smoking a long period of time like me, we could have used that money for something useful, like a down payment for a house or a new car. That's if you calculate how much you spent for smokes from the time you started until the day you quit. What else is a coincidence, here in Canada (I don't know about any other Countries) April is Cancer month and a lot of people are quitting, we are ahead of them and we could use our knowledge to help them through.

If we could help at least one person, then they can help someone, then you never know, in time, every one will stop smoking and there won't be any need to have these killers on the shelf anymore.

They say Drunk Driving is like putting a gun into someone's hands. Tobacco industries are the one's putting the gun into stores that supply cigarettes and killing people (especially kids, some starting as early as 9 or so, still baby's, what a shame). Judge's would convict Drunk Drivers for manslaughter or murder in a case of killing someone behind the wheel. I say that the Tobacco Industry should be held liable for all the deaths and addictions that claimed so many lives. This industry long time ago, I believe it was in the '50s, could be later, could be earlier, stated that cigarettes are not harmful. No not much, where's the justice in that, how many people die each day since then because Tobacco played a big part in their demise be it early or later in their lives. I say, this industry should be held accountable and prosecuted just like a Drunk Driver. Similarities are the same, except Drunk Driving kills if not immediately, pretty close to it, whereas, cigarettes takes years and in the end can be a painful struggle to stay alive.

I am not mad or really that upset, it just breaks my heart to see so many lives wasted and mine could have been one of them.

Another weekend past. This was the start of my 3rd week of non smoking and I feel pretty good. A couple of days ago I brought my van into the garage to get fixed, this was the ultimate test for me. You see, I used to work in a garage and there was always a cigarette hanging from my mouth when I worked on vehicles. Being in a garage brought that back, especially when I saw mechanics working on vehicles doing the exact same thing. It bothered me for a split second and then the rest of them time I was there I never thought about it. Felt pretty good driving again. I haven't driven my van since December 2000.

I would always smoke in the van, but, didn't even bother me on Saturday. I didn't want one while I was in the van.  Doing things that you normally do while smoking is a good test to see how your will power is not lighting up. I passed that test. I used to do Drugs and Drink excessively. In 1993, I walked away from Drugs and I only drank socially. In fact, I haven't drank since February 2000 when I went to see my friend Les Emmerson from the Five Man Electrical Band (he recorded the 1971 hit song "Signs") in his new band "The Hitmen" play. For over three years, that was the only time I drank is when I went to see him. I went to see him after February 2000 but, because of my medication I couldn't drink. I drank pop (good for designated driver eh?) anyways, didn't bother me. Watching the other people though and the way they behaved made me wonder though if I acted like that, if so, I would be embarrassed if that came to light. These two addictions I was able to overcome and also to handle the drinking responsibly but, for years that I tried to quit, smoking was the only addiction I had a hard time to beat. Except now, the only addiction that was left in my life is now walking out the door forever and it can keep walking. I always told ex-girlfriends that the door swings both ways and if they didn't like something or I didn't like something they would be walking through that door quicker than they came in, cigarettes just joined those ex-girlfriends that found themselves on the other side of that door.

I was reading someone's webpage notes and they had stated that Zyban was an anti-depressant in actual fact Zyban isn't. It's an ingredient found in anti-depressants which they found helped people quit smoking but, when it was extracted from the anti-depressant is nothing more than a smoking cessation killer. Meaning, it concentrates in the part of the brain which gives you the cessations and the moodiness for smokes. All Zyban does is control it. No anti-depressant is in this anti-smoking medication. I used it for two weeks when it first came out on the market and was able to quit for 2 weeks. Went back to smoking after the two weeks because I personally wasn't ready at the time and no matter what, Zyban couldn't help with that, you have to be ready to quit.

When using Zyban, remember that you have to set yourself a stop date two weeks after starting the medication, that was another downfall of mine, I tried stopping right away. I hope this helps. There's so much information on the internet on this "wonder drug" that you can't be mislead.

Hope this helps someone who isn't sure.

The above information was taken out of an online diary where we write how we feel and how we are struggling to quit smoking and you can have people write notes back in support on the achievement and/or the support when someone is having a hard time with quitting.  We are a support group from all over who have one goal, to quit smoking.  If you are interested in joining this support group because you are thinking of or you already have quit smoking and you think you can benefit and/or help someone here's the web address; http://quitsmoking.opendiary.com  you can also get some information from the site that links into the Diary at; http://www.quitsmoking.com/  They have a lot of useful information here.

Below is excerpt taken from quitsmoking.com that I have visited during my research on quitting smoking.  It's tips on successfully quitting smoking and the 10 stages you go through when you do quit smoking.

Quit Smoking Tip Sheet

1. Quit cold turkey. In the long run it’s the easiest and most effective technique of smoking cessation.
2. Do not carry cigarettes.
3. Quit smoking one day at a time. Do not concern yourself with next year, next month, next week or even tomorrow. Concentrate on not smoking from the time you wake up until you go to sleep.
4. Work on developing the attitude that you are doing yourself a favor by not smoking. Do not dwell on the idea that you are depriving yourself of a cigarette. You are ridding yourself full fledged smoking because you care enough about yourself to want to.
5. Be proud that you are not smoking.
6. Be aware that many routine situations will trigger the urge for a cigarette. Situations which will trigger a response include: drinking coffee, alcohol, sitting in a bar, social events with smoking friends, card games, the end of meals. Try to maintain your normal routine while quitting. If any event seems to tough, leave it and go back to it later. Do not feel you must give up any activity forever. Everything you did as a smoker, you will learn to do at least as well, and maybe better, as an ex-smoker.
7. Make a list of all the reasons you want to quit smoking. Keep this list with you, preferably where you used to carry your cigarettes. When you find yourself reaching for a cigarette, take out your list and read it.
8. Drink plenty of fruit juice the first three days. It will help flush nicotine out of your system.
9. To help avoid weight gain, eat vegetables and fruit instead of candies and pastries. Celery and carrots can be used safely as short-term substitutes for cigarettes.
10. If you are concerned about weight gain, do some moderate form of regular exercise. If you have not been exercising regularly, consult your physician for a practical exercise program which is safe for you.
11. If you encounter a crisis, (e.g. a flat tire, flood, blizzard, family illness) while quitting, remember, smoking is no solution. Smoking will just complicate the original situation while creating another crisis, a relapse into the nicotine addiction.
12. Consider yourself a “smoke-a-holic.” One puff and you can become hooked again. No matter how long you have been off, don’t think you can safely take a puff!
13. Don’t debate with yourself how much you want a cigarette. Ask yourself how do you feel about going back to your old level of consumption. Smoking is an all or nothing proposition.
14. Save the money you usually spend on cigarettes and buy yourself something you really want after a week or a month. Save for a year and you can treat yourself to a vacation.
15. Practice deep breathing exercises when you have a craving.
16. Go places where you normally can’t smoke, such as movies, libraries and no smoking sections of restaurants.
17. Tell people around you that you have quit smoking.
18. Remember that there are only two good reasons to take a puff once you quit. You decide you want to go back to your old level of consumption until smoking cripples and then kills you, or, you decide you really enjoy withdrawal and you want to make it last forever. As long as neither of these options appeal to you—never take another puff!

© 1987. Rush North Shore Medical Center. Good Health Program

The 10 Stages of Quitting

by Tom Ferguson, M.D.

Smokers tend to think of quitting as a huge, insurmountable obstacle. It's more realistic—and more useful—to think of it as a gradual, step-by-step process. Here's how to plan your course and what to expect along the way, along with some suggested activities to help you cope. 

1. Think about cutting down/quitting

Talk to others about smoking. Observe how nonsmokers react to smokers. Observe negative aspects of smoking. Smoke in front of a mirror to see exactly what goes on when you smoke.

2. Seek more information about quitting.

Ask ex-smokers how they did it. Tell a friend you're exploring healthier alternatives to smoking. When you feel an urge to smoke, wait a minute before lighting up; experience the urge fully and think of other ways to respond to it. Reward yourself for becoming more aware of your smoking patterns.

3. Modify your smoking risk (switch brands, cut down, etc.).

Start a smoking journal and record when you smoke more or less than usual. Try stress-reduction techniques. Adopt a healthful new activity that's incompatible with smoking (swimming, dancing, etc.). Switch to a lower tar brand. Reward yourself for each risk modification.

4. Decide to quit (no date set).

Keep track of the number of cigarettes you smoke each day. Stop buying cartons; buy only one pack at a time. Identify your top cigarette triggers. Brush your teeth several times a day. List the reasons you want to quit. Switch brands every week, each brand being lower in tar than the last. Postpone every third cigarette. Ask family and friends for ways they can help you quit.

5. Set a quitting date.

Sign a stop-smoking contract. Sit in the nonsmoking sections of restaurants and airplanes. Prepare at least three responses to your top 10 cigarette triggers. Switch brands after every pack. Postpone every other cigarette. Cut back on alcoholic beverages. Set up a health bank. (Deposit a certain amount of money each week that you'll get back after you stay smokeless for a specified period of time. Or quit with a group; whoever remains smokeless after a specified period divides the kitty.)

6. Refrain from smoking for 24 hours.

Schedule healthful activities (walks, bike rides, fishing, etc.). Have your teeth cleaned. Send your favorite clothes to the cleaners. Discard all your ashtrays. Pamper yourself as much as possible.

7. Complete your first week as a nonsmoker.

Treat yourself to daily rewards (massages, hot baths, etc.). Avoid smoking and drinking areas. Notice how much better your food tastes. Continue to work on your cigarette triggers.

8. Complete your first month.

Begin a regular exercise program. Add one new stress-reduction technique to your activities each week.

9. Complete your first trimester.

Gently increase your exercise level. Treat yourself to a weekend getaway. Volunteer to help a smoker quit. If you've been using a nicotine replacement, begin to cut back.

10. Complete your first year.

Throw a party to celebrate!

During stages 1 through 5, you may find yourself in a state of profound and confusing ambivalence. Studies show that during this period a smoker's positive feelings about smoking do not disappear, although the negative feelings increase considerably. It is only after you actually quit that this conflict begins to ease.

One smoking researcher suggests you make a list of pros and cons of smoking. Chances are they will be fairly evenly balanced in stages 1 through 5. But after you have actually quit, the list of cons will get longer while the list of pros will get shorter and shorter—and gradually disappear altogether.

There is alot of information out there over the internet on quitting smoking.  Hopefully if you are determined enough and the desire with the will power is there, then, you too can quit, but only if you are ready too.  You can't do it for anyone else but, yourself.

I hope this information helped in some way.  Please e-mail me at this address which I had setup just for quitting smoking.   Quit Smoking E-Mail

Here's another good site through Health Canada, it has a lot of information on quitting smoking and what to look for and what to expect. Great site for the person who is deciding to quit. The address is Health Canada

If you haven't already done so, please check out these other webpages!!!

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This page was updated on Wednesday June 27, 2001