I quit smoking tobacco about 14 mos ago. I use volcanoecigs (vapor) never smelled, tasted, felt better. Less sinus wake-ups... :l

I smoked for many years and quite cold turkey 16 months ago. Being a single mom of a 3 year old and having bronchitis 5 times in one year was modivation enough for me to quit. They say it takes at least a six times of actually trying before you get it right. Now the idea of smoking makes me sick, I do feel better but my lungs are still cleaning themselves out and especially on humid days they feel moist, I also seem to be more allergic to things then before. I just hope that it's a passing phase of self cleansing. After reading this article, I would have never thought to put the two together, before reading this article I was thinking a few weeks ago that my eyesight seems to be better. Now I understand why. I'm not squinting nearly as much and that feeling of needing new glasses seems to have gone away. I know first hand how hard it is to quit, I think the biggest thing is you have to have the right motivation and be ready for it. Gradually prepare yourself and get used to the idea of not smoking. The things that helped me most were breaking the habits of coffee and a smoke, smoking after meals, smoking in the morning, smoking at work. If you gradually condition yourself not to smoke in those situations it will be much easier to quit when the time comes.

Cigarette smoking is very insidious, it get's into everything.

Goto trader joe's & pick up as many Ginger chew packages as you can carry. Something about them hits a rceptir on the tongue that satisfys much like a cigarette also it keeps your mouth busy for awhile. Replacing a habit w/ a habit (maybe not thr best route) but once the cigarette cravings are over (3 weeks) it's easy to break the Ginger chew habit. It worked for my husband & I.

I was a 30-yr. smoker. I wanted to quit for at least 7 years before I finally did. I had an easy 9-month hiatus while I was pregnant, but immediately went back after my daughter's birth. I tried hypnosis (limited success) and I tried the patch (no success). In '04 I met an old friend whose mom had died at the age of 58 from emphysema. This rang home. I was 45 at the time, still smoking, and fooling myself that I could get rid of cigs when I chose. I eventually realized my denial. So this is how I quit: Every day I thought about my friend's mom's death and that she didn't get to live to see her grandchildren or witness the love, success and challenges of her 7 children. I didn't want this to be me. This became a 1 1/2 yr. long "internal" event that ended when I finally quit at age 47. I knew 'what' the last pack was, and never replaced it. May you persevere and have your own success!

Strangely enough, for myself, it comes down to being conscious of the decisions being made. Like all addiction, you have to surrender to it. Find the piece of yourself that wants to be free, knows how to be free, and follow it! The other odd thing was it really bugged me throwing the spent cigarette on the ground. I know, weird ahh! Surely it would be health reasons, or even financial reasons, no for me, it was littering! In my opinion, the first step is why and more importantly, when do you smoke. But that's only part since the habitual side is so strong, as well as being constantly be bombarded with all forms of advertising, and sociological peer group pressure, it's understandably a up hill battle. If it's possible, take time to be with children and others that already know how to make the choice, even if they are doing it unconsciously. The good news, when it comes to smokin' is what can learned, can be unlearned. I would recommend a funky drink. Take the juice of fresh limes, a tablespoon of maple syrup, and a couple of pinches of cayenne pepper. That stuff will sure give ya a state change! Drink as much of that, and three to four glasses of tepped water with a tea spoon of cream of Tartar dissolved in it . Everyday, for the first twenty one days, or longer, if you feel it necessary. Be wary of the consumption of alcohol coffee and other narcotics, particularly stimulants. Before you you know it, you'll feel a whole new you!

I had started smoking at the age of 12, an occasional cigarette I used to pinch from my father’s cigarette tin. By the time I reached my college i had started smoking almost a packet of (10) cigarettes. Later while in service the quantity had increased to 30 to 40 cigarettes a day. I was a commisioned officer in Indian Army then. That is the time I was suggested by Osho Rajneesh to use a technique to leave smoking. The technique was very simple. I started to become aware of my inner thoughts whenever I got the urge to smoke. Then i became a witness to the thought process as to what goes on in my mind when I picked-up a cigarette, lit it, taken the first puff and the inner feeling I got till I put off the cigarette. This continued for almost 3 months. I never tried to stop smoking. Actually I stated enjoying the smoke and the quantity increased. I never tried to stop it. During this process I had realized that I get the urge to smoke when I was unsure of anything. For example when I start writing anything when I am not sure of a word to be used the first thing I did was to light a cigarette and smoke. After few minutes I used to get the word and leave the cigarette in the tray and I seldom picked it up till I got stuck again. Slowly I realized that my mental uncertainty was the cause of my picking it up. I continued smoking even though I realized it in the first month itself. But that was just an intellectual understanding. I wanted it to be felt deeply. I never tried to stop smoking. Then one day when I was traveling by train from Shimla to Jalandhar in Punjab, India, when I reached Dharampur in Himachal i had just one cigarette and one match stick. This I felt as indication from the universal intelligence to stop smoking because as a heavy smoker I always used to carry cartons of cigarette and match boxes. I enjoyed the last cigarette that day. I can still feel the enjoyment of it even now. But I had realized deeply within myself that it is false sense of satisfaction and the cigarette left me, rather than I left cigarette. It was 16 October 1974 and it is 06 April 2011. Till today it has not come back to me. I don’t hate or love smoking. I don’t propagate about its virtues or the its ill effects. I feel each one has to realize its futility. The same happened to me about alcohol. I was a moderate drinker, but used to drink almost daily. It also dropped one fine day in 2004 using the same technique. I never drank a drop after that. The alcohol has also left me!! Now I have realized that what we have in our subliminal mind as habits has to be cleaned up before we break any habit.

Eat lots of carrots - you can reduce 20 years of smoking damage with three years of carrot munching - seriously!

Quitting is a wonderful idea, how do I go about it?

Myself and a number of my close friends all quit quite easliy, by reading Allen Cars - the easy way to quit smoking - did the trick for me, had to read it twice though, but have not craved or suffered in anyway after quitting because of the way he manages to change the way you think about smoking and your dependancy on it. I highly reccomend it to anyone who wants to stop smoking for good.