Yesterday, 13/04/2009, I celebrated 2 years without nicotine. I used to smoke cigarrettes for 35 years, 20 by day. Quiting is not an easy task, but it is doable. If you are struggling against nicotine, please believe it is doable, you will succeed ! ! ! Life without nicotine is the real life.

I will always recognize the wonderfull help I got from WhyQuit all the knowledge and the cold turkey quiting method. - the most efficient, simple and cheap ! Once more I thanks all the people who manage or participate of whyquit.com: You do a wonderful job ! ! ! Thank you very much ! And NTAP ! ! !

Ismael Nogueira da Gama Orenstein
ismore@hotmail.com
Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil

Thank you guys so much for offering your WhyQuit.com website with its wealth of materials and assistance. On April 8, 2009, just four short days, I will celebrate my one year quit anniversary of not even once!!

Your concise explanations of the addiction, the effect on your brain and, more importantly, why even ONE slip was a disaster, starting you over at square one, really helped me stay focused.

At every single turn, your resources (especially the two-week video at a crisis moment) NAILED exactly what I was going through and how to get past it. Ultimately it was the explanation of my choices: quitting or going back to the same level you were smoking or worse (not merely just one cigarette) made the difference between success and failure. It was as if you were reading my mind.

Employing your information, quit meter, videos and board (although I never joined but did a lot of lurking and reading), I MADE IT!!!

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you! It must be so very rewarding helping others in this manner, knowing full well you’re saving lives.

God bless.

Connie

My self, Deepak Kulkarni,age 42 years,India visited whyquit site on internet five & half year back (October 2003). I studied tricks & tips in depth, this helped me to quit.

I Quit smoking on First January 2004 & I am proud that I am nicotene free since then. Enjoying freedom & life.My health improved lot & so as my saving.

I was addict of tobacco for 22 years & used to take dose every half an hour. I first tried to leave tobacco in June 1996 then Feb.98 but were in vain.

I really could break free due to help of Whyquit only. I am really thankful to you. Thanks again.

Regards

Deepak Kulkarni

After smoking 2 1/5 to 3 packs a day for 50 Years - I have been quit for 1 Year, 7 hours, 24 minutes and 4 seconds (365 days). I have saved $913.26 by not smoking 18,265 cigarettes. I have saved 2 Months, 2 Days, 10 hours and 5 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 3/21/2008 12:30 PM

JoeW10

I daydreamed and focused on this day so many many times over the past year. Would I make it, could I do it? What if a cigarette jumped in my mouth? What if I was tempted beyond what I could handle?? I was so afraid of the power nicotine had over me. I would read of people being "gold" and think to myself, wow, what a huge accomplishment, I could only be so fortunate.

Well, I've done it and it feels great! I smoked for 25 years but found this site and decided to finally do it.

I still remember a lot of the trials I went through and the encouragement that folks here gave me. There were BLACK times where I didn't know if I could do this or not. But seriously, I never could have gone one week without the knowledge and support I got from this site. I just want to say what so many others say....If I can quit, anyone can quit! One thing that helped me through the process was reading how people were going through the same feelings and anxieties that I was dealing with. Knowing that you're not alone, that what you're feeling is normal and rather typical is most reassuring.

For any lurkers out there who stumble upon this note, please know that you can be free of nicotine. You, yes you can be free - think of it! It's not the mountain people make it out to be, it's a mole hill. Armed with knowledge and encouragement from this site you too can quit that nasty chemical addiction. And oh yeah, it really is as simple as NTAP, or dip or chew, honestly.

John (Gold) Woo Hoo!!!

Well, 5 years ago I made the smartest decision of my life and quit nicotine. In February of 2004, my mother, who is a smoker, had a heart attack. I realized that I would have to find her a support group on the Internet to help her quit smoking. As fate, or Google, would have it, I landed here.

Not even thinking of quitting myself, I started to read and read and read (to see if this site could help my mother). A week later, on February 26th at approximately 10:00pm, I put out a half smoked cigarette and never looked back. With the help of all the available information on this site and the support of all wonderful brave people here who were going through (or had gone through) the same experience I was, I started to look forward. This works. It is serious about its business of helping people. It is focused on one thing.

To any newbies reading this, please believe me when I say that this is the place for you. Read and learn and celebrate your achievements! We are all cheering for you and we are all proof that you can do this!

So, Thank You Freedom for giving me the tools and support and focus that I needed to change my life for the better. NTAP!!!

Tina - Free and Healing for Five Years, Two Days and 2 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 76 Days and 5 Hours, by avoiding the use of 21948 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $10,065.53.

Dear Joel, I found your website 1 year ago and wrote to you to thank you for helping me quit cold turkey. It has been 1 year today and I am still not smoking! I want to thank you and all the other wonderful people on this site that have been such an inspiration to me. I have been a lurker for the past year now and whenever I feel the need to reinforce my quit or just to know I'm not alone, I come here and read or watch another video.

I am finally finding comfort which has not come easily to me since my husband and most of my friends are smokers. I know that most of them want to quit too, and I will give them your website when they ask. My 15 year old daughter gave me a big hug this morning and congratulated me on my 1 year quit! I can't believe she remembered ! She loves that I don't smell anymore and that I might be around to watch her grow up. To all of you oldies and newbies, thank you for being here for me and the many others that are lurking YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION! GOD BLESS YOU! NTAP!!!!

Sandy

Hello my name is Neet and I'm an ex-smoker. My story includes a wake-up call. I'll try and keep it short. My quit date was September 12, 2007 and I am so blessed to be here. I have a 30 year-old daughter who has asthma. She was born with it. As she grew up I continued to smoke around her. Although her asthma remained dormant for 15 years, it returned in September 2007.

In the hospital, before they put her on life support, we had a discussion about her last will and testament. We put her affairs in order. That was the hardest day of my life. When they put her on the bypap, I was told that this could be the last time I speak to her. I didn't know how things were going to turn out, but it was a stressful time. After she was sedated and the bypap was placed across her face. I wanted a cigarette. Can you believe it. I craved so bad. I cried as saw my first born child laying there, fighting for each breath. And all I wanted was to smoke.

That is when I realized that if I was going to tackle my addiction it would have to be cold turkey. So this was my method. I locked my self in my house for 3 days and went crazy. They really need to tell people that it feels like some kinda of heroine withdrawal. Needless to say that if a person quits this way they won't go back. Not if they experience the nasty feelings that I did. So I feel that cold turkey may work for some folks out there. I have been smoke free for over 75 weeks. This is my story.

Yours truly,

Neet Harding

I've always meant to drop you a line and I'm finally sitting down to do it tonight. I wanted to let you know that on August 21, 2004, I quit smoking, and I have not taken a puff since. For the first 24 hours or so, I used Nicorette gum and felt terrible. Then I found your site on the morning of the 22nd, spent hours reading your articles and resources, and threw away my nicotine-replacement gum. I also convinced my husband to stop using the patch (he quit with me). We are BOTH smokefree and loving every day that we Never Take Another Puff!!!

Keep doing what you do and helping people kick nicotine! You are saving lives!!!

Amanda Johansen
Saint Paul, Minnesota

P.S. I used a computer software counter to show me how much money I was saving not buying cigarettes and I put my savings towards a nice used car (owned by a nonsmoker, of course). I paid it off last year after four years of not smoking. :)

Yep! It's been two and a half years now and still off the smokes!

Regards

Rue Johnson

"It Feels Good! I knew that it would now...So good, so good, So Gold!" Ok,so I am no James Brown, but I am dancing/singing inside and enjoying my Freedom From Nicotine. Due to last year being a Leap year I waited an extra day for the Calendar Year Milestone, but you Know it wasn't that hard to wait an extra day. Everyday of Freedom from Nicotine is celebration and I am now Gold! How Very cool is That? Way cooler than sticking a "Dip" into my lower Lip! Never Take Another Dip! Going to take a gander at my diary and post a note. Thanks WhyQuit and FFN.

MY Name is Gary, and I am a Nicotine Addict. I arrested my addiction to nicotine and stopped using smokeless tobacco 366 days ago keeping my Meat Hooks out of 480 cans of "dip" and saving approximately $1340.00 so far ( and in all probability even more than that in future dental and health costs!)

It's been a long while since I've been here, and the group has changed and evolved some. All for the good! I wanted to do my check in and say that I'm now part of the Gold club! It hasn't been an easy feat, there were bumps in the road, but with the sound advice and the mantra never take another puff lingering in my thoughts, I made it. I hope to continue my journey here, and hope to learn how to do this posting thing on the new forum! :) Seems like there's alot going on and I hope that I can learn it!

To all the newbies, we were all there too. We understand how it feels, but we also know that comfort is attainable... more than you know now. I can't believe that I've been quit for a year - this is a HUGE milestone for me. I thought I would be a lifer... But nope... I'm not going down like that!

Keep your chin up, keep reading, and NTAP!!

Beth - Free and Healing for One Year, Four Days, 11 Hours and 51 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 25 Days and 17 Hours, by avoiding the use of 7410 cigs that would have cost me $1,692.87.

02/10/2009 will be 4 years that my wife and I have been quit smoking. We have not smoked over 83,000 death sticks together. Let me encourage all of you to continue with your quit and not ever smoke again. It was tough on me to quit, I was very hateful for a long time. It was worth it though. It is better than dying at a young age from a stroke or heart attack of from many different cancers. I would like to see my children get married; I would like to see grandchildren some day. I can’t do that if I am dead from inhaling poison into my body. Smoking is not worth it. I thank my God for delivering me from these death sticks. NTAP!!

Danny C.

As of yesterday I have gone one full year without the use of nicotine. The help I got from WhyQuit's Freedom group has been the difference. The encouraging words that I have received and the information on the site have all been very instrumental in making my quit successful. It was not easy at times, but now this milestone has been reached and I can look forward to the day when I can not remember how long it has been since I quit.

Thanks to Joel and everyone at WhyQuit, it is an incredible thing you have done.

To folks just starting out, it can be done. Follow the advice, read the missives and you will be successful, just Never Take Another Puff.

Carneadese

The DAY Has Finally Come!! What day? Alot of people might think I'm talking about some woopty do in Washington..............no,no,no......I'm talkin about what was happening right here in Freezin and White as can be Auburn, Ohio... GRANDPA WENT GOLD!!!!!!! I know its hard to believe, even for me but here is what GRANDPA STEVE"S QUIT MEETER said this morning..........1 YEAR 13 hours 53 min 9s 366 Days 10,997 Nicotine Delivery Devices $2061.99 LIFE SAVED 1 month 1 week 4 hours 25 minutes!

Now please...all you newcomers please read this....THIS WAS DONE AFTER 40 YEARS OF ADDICTION.....40 YEARS! If I could do it anybody could do it. The first days hard, the first week is even harder.Keep coming back to Joel. Unlike what was happening in D.C. yesterday and everyday, you will get the TRUTH. Plain and simple, read the facts over and over and over. Its been a year and I am Proud to reach this milestone, but everyday, every minute truly was a milestone for me. I still think about it , I can't lie....but thinking about it and doing it are 2 VERY DIFFERENT things.

THANK YOU JOEL AND ALL YOU QUITTERS FOR YOUR HELP!!!!NTAP EVERYDAY!!!!

Grandpa Steve

Hi everyone,

I have been a quitter for three whole years today (13th January 2006 – 13th January 2009), and it feels wonderful to have managed to succeed in quitting after thirty years as a smoker. I never thought I would ever be a quitter, but I made it, and it was the "one day at a time" philosophy here at Why Quit that got me through when everything else I tried failed. Why Quit dot com totally rocks! Fifteen months after I quit, I posted to Turkey Triumphs, and another quitter, Harry, who quit exactly a year after me (13th January 2007), contacted me through the Turkey Triumph pages to tell me he was another "lucky 13" quitter! We have kept in touch ever since, and we now invite someone else to join the Lucky 13 gang today. One day at a time will do it, and we’d love for you to join us, whoever you are!

Regards,

Lexie Devine

WOW! I am so excited. Here I am DOUBLE GOLD! Two years being drug free. Thanks to this site I have even made an across the ocean friend who also quit on January 13, just one year before me. CONGRATS on Three GOLD'S, Lexie! If anybody gets off the dope this January 13, feel free to say hello to us.

For me this has been so easy, just never challenge the "First Law of Addiction" and I never again have to go through the first three days of withdrawal. I just hope that I can help another overcome the slavery of addiction. Not only can it be done but it can be done without the use of powerful mind altering prescription drugs with side effects like killing yourself.

If somebody out there is reading this you really can be FREE in 72 hours but you have to stop now! All there is to it is taking the first step and that is to say Never Take Another Puff (NTAP)!!!!! From there take it a minute at a time and say NTAP! Then it becomes days at a time and you have to say NTAP! Then it becomes months at a time and you have to say NTAP! Then you have to put on your Windows Calendar a note to remind you how much you wanted to post this on the 13th of January 2009.

As I sit here typing double gold I think; you could not pay me enough to smoke one of those nasty, stinky, poison, carcinogenic puffs of what might be the most addictive drug on the planet. Life is good and health is better then it has been in years! Funny thing, by quitting smoking I feel better every day even though I am getting older.

Harry M

I'm mostly posting my four year anniversary for all you newbies (and soon to be newbies) to lend some perspective on what's to come. When you wonder 'What's it like to never be able to smoke another cigarette or pack in another chew?' Here's what I'd like to share with you. It's WONDERFUL! It's like living in an alternate reality, but this one's true. The actual 'alternate reality' is living tied down by an addiction to the chemical compound nicotine.

The clean of and free from reality that comes with the simple decision to Not Take Another Puff is filled with peace of mind and no worry or false dependency anxiety. It feels really good to be free. Keep reading here as I did and that becomes quickly evident. It's what the 'oldbies' have always said and it's true - life is so much better living free from nicotine.

I found my freedom from nicotine right here, sitting at the computer and reading information. Many thanks to you all. Yesterday was actually the anniversary day when four years ago I finally was able to be true to myself and kept the promise of no more. So this post is a day off. I remember when that made a big deal of difference .....measuring the time free by the hour and day. Now it's just another day in the life of a free man. 4 years ago yesterday at 10:15 am I finally was able to free myself from nicotine dependency. I'd read at WhyQuit and FFT the day before. That's really the day my life changed for the good - 1/9/05. That was the day the light turned on. When I realized the depth and reality of my addiction to nicotine - not simply having to use tobacco cigarettes or chew or gum or any delivery vehicle to maintain the false feeling of nicotine normal (see Message 41 ). Why couldn't I have realized it sooner? Often wonder that. No matter, all that really matters is for the rest of TODAY I'm very sure I'll not permit any nicotine to sully my wonderful life of remission. Take care of today and the rest takes care of itself. On probation for life and yet free to choose. It is an easy choice now. I like my chances of living the rest and best of my life free.

Again, thanks to you all who showed me the way. You're all the best that's ever been. To all of you who follow. C'mon along and walk the Freedom Trail. There's an awesome life free from nicotine awaiting you and all you gotta do is ntap and live your life naturally. It's the Good Life. Understand this one core truth - It is not living without it it is a life free from it - change the way you see things and the things you see will change.

JoeJ Free, a nicotine addict & an ex-smoker who last administered nicotine 4 years, 23 hours and 52 seconds Ago (1461 days). Not needed, wanted or missed 38011 deadly dose delivery devices, and retained $9,693.34. Reclaimed 263 days, 23 hours and 9 minutes of precious remaining life time

3 years, plus 8 days and still going strong! In November 2008 I ran in a 15K race for the local Epilepsy Foundation - Came in 148 out of 385 runners, not bad for a former smoker of 25 years.

I am currently in training to run in my first marathon this upcoming May - Cincinnati's famous Flying Pig Run.

The world, well at least in my locality, has changed significantly - I rarely see a smoker anymore, if I do it's one or two outside of a restaurant, or someone getting a fix in before or after leaving a store. What I do find strange is that while driving in traffic if there is someone smoking in a car even way ahead of me I can actually smell it!

My greatest rewards from quitting smoking is the freedom I gave myself back , and also that my children are not witness to an addiction. I am a non-smoker, I am still a nicotine addict and always will be. But everyday is a victory gained with my quit. Advice: fill your world with activities and things to do, get a PS3, do crossword puzzles, run around your house two to three times, when you breath heavy it will be a sober reminder as to what smoking has done to you.

Tom Botelho

When I found this site, I had just decided to try to quit smoking after 31 years. I really didn't think I could quit, especially not cold turkey. However, after reading and learning about nicotine addiction, I thought I would give quitting a try. I was especially curious about the timetable that showed the changes that could be accomplished over time. I really wanted to see if staying quit for 3 months would provide me with the foundation to become an ex-smoker. Also, my plan was to celebrate with a pack of cigarettes if I was able to quit for a few months. Fortunately, I learned that ONE=ALL early enough to prevent my planned disaster from happening.

So, here I am 6 years later - filled with gratitude. I am greatful for the Managers and all those who give of themselves to keep this site up and running. I can always drop by and find encouraging words and read posts that remind me of what a wonderful gift we give to ourselves when we quit smoking. When I see my family members doing their required nicotine feedings and spending ridiculous amounts of money for cigarettes, I thank God that I am on this Quit Journey.

For the last 18 months, I have been doing water aerobics, which is really helping me to get in shape. However, if I was still smoking I would not have been able to handle the exercises while huffing and puffing. I guess I'll stop at this point before I run out of space.

I wish you all the best as you move onward and upward on your Quit Journeys.

Your Quit Sister,

Mona Lisa Brown

At first it was a difficult proposition that I made with myself. I had tried many times over to be successful, but I lacked the understanding of what it was that I was fighting all along, and what it took to win. It should not have taken this long to see what to do to put the addiction in dormant stage. But I soon realized that was all I could hope for; no matter what, I was always going to be addicted to nicotine. There was and is no escaping it and given what I know now, the only escape is total abstanance from the source itself.

It was a warm night in January. I had just finished dinner and talked with my brother, when he informed me that he was coughing up some blood that day. He resigned himself to quitting that night. He had enough, so he said. I remember fluffing it off at the time and actually smoking while we talked on the phone about it, before hanging up and proceding with my election night TV watching.

A few more cigarettes and a a couple of beers turned into a relaxing night overall. I had a good meal, and carried on with life. Knowing that I am close by to the store gave me less and less motivation to get a fresh pack at such a late hour that evening. I figured that I would easialy get the new pack at the train station right before work. It would go good with the coffee, I thought, as I flicked the last butt away onto the roof beside my apartment and closed the window to my kitchen.

It was eleven thirty. I'm already late to getting some rest, so I better start thinking about sleep.

Much to my surprise, after a rather regular, ordinary night of R and R at the apartment, something stuck with me that next morning. It was the conversation with Bob coupled with the feeling deep down that I knew that I wanted to quit smoking. Yearning for the excuse to stop, but knowing that I "needed" it always got in the way. But that Wednesday morning would prove to be a different story, and it's one that's carried the day ever since.

Approaching the store near the train, I found the nerve to plop down a pack of chewing gum instead of asking for the Marlboro Lights. From there, I started my journey.

Realizing that i tried and failed at this before, I started frantically searching the Internet for some sort of "cold turkey" website that I could hang my hat on. At first it was all "patch" this, and "gum your way out" that with every webpage I found. By that point, three hours into this, I was starting to feel the pangs of wanting the morning smoke. "So useless anyhow," I told myself. "They all want money for NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) and i tried that before." Dreding the through of hiding (again) out of embarrassment of smoking on the side of the building where I work, I got a little lucky. I found WhyQuit and it was the life saver that I had needed to "tell" me that all I needed was to avoid nicotine at all costs, and how to make the cold turkey process somewhat managable.

In the past 100 times to trying, I tried gum and Zyban to help me stop. Zyban did nothing and allowed you to smoke while on the drug. Gum just reintroduced the dreaded nicotine back into your bloodstream, preventiing you from accomplishing the goal. This was explained to me at the WhyQuit website. They had a tip sheet telling you NOT to skip your meals during quitting, because the blood sugar in your system was going to drop like a stone. I immediately called my brother and told him this, party because I was very excited to know this, since not eating was one of the many reasons that I went back to tobacco.

It was not going to be a fun week. I had to work all week long, but I muddled through. I had terrible mood swings and cursed the clean air every night when I arrived home from work. I read and read on the internet on WhyQuit and followed step by step the guidelines that they set out to do.

Was it easy? No. I am no different than anyone else. I just quit smarter and it was the reason that after a few weeks I began to understand why I smoked and what to do to try and never take even a single puff.

I would often be lured back to smoking because I thought that I could take a drag off someone else's, or that I could go days and weeks, grubbing cigarettes from friends, just to keep the lie going. The truth was and is simpler for me; I am a lifelong addict, who got head over heals for a chemical that is as powerful of a drug as any on the planet, and I will remain free of an active addiction to smoking as long as I never administer the drug back into my body.

It sounds like a prison sentence when you first start the quit. I felt lonely, sad, almost like someone had died. Everything that I did for the longest time, revolved around this drug, and it DOES FEEL good to get it back into your bloodsteam. But in the end, that's all I was doing. Like most powerful, addictive substances, I was staving off withdrawal from the drug, much like a heroine addict does when he or she inserts the needle into the vein. It's no different. The only difference is that I was never more then an open storefront from getting twenty of them, compared to the junkie who has to find his or her fix ( or two) in a clandestine manner.

It seems that my brother was not so receptive to the advice I gave him, and he found it difficult to achieve that drive to read the website, unless he was over to my place. I am saddened, and so is he, to say that he did not make the journey with me, but I was nevertheless inspired by his initial actions, and I am greatful too, in spite of his struggle. I called the American Cancer Society to try and be of service to them, if they needed any one for a testamonial, and they said they would call if they had something to offer. I guess i just wanted to pay it forward to someone that wants to quit. My friends who smoked and still smoke were not supportive for the most part, but the website helped me there, with the topics of "Negative Support from Others."

I guess i just wanted to write you and tell you of my story, since tomorrow, January 3rd, will be one year without smoking, and I am truly greatful to you and your site for doing the work, and keeping the honesty about the addiction in the forefront. It may have ultimately saved my life.

Take Care

Kevin Grogan
Long Island NY

A journey that started with such trepidation on midnight New Years 2008 continues after a full 366 days and one second. I haven't had any nicotine in a year, the only such year out of the last 43. Alas, to celebrate my gold milestone I had to wait one more day because of leap year and then this year (adding insult to injury) they added a "leap second" too.

How has this quit lasted for a year now when so many others failed? Did I get stronger? No, I wasn't visited by Governor Schwarzenegger's trainer, besides more muscle wouldn't have helped anyway. Was I more motivated this time? If my heart attack, three days in intensive care and three arterial stints didn't motivate me a few years ago then it likely would have taken body parts painfully falling off of me to get my attention. Was it pressure from family or friends? Hardly, with as many years that I'd smoked they'd reluctantly become resigned to it a long time ago. Did I have a miraculous infusion of will power? Ha, get real. Did I get smarter? Ah, now we may be closer to the truth, not smarter but perhaps I just got a little education … and then took it to heart, literally.

In the articles at WhyQuit and member posts at Freedom I found honesty and the weak links in my thought process. I found out from other addicts, just like me, that quitting might not be easy but it is most definitely "doable". I got an accurate picture of how nicotine had enslaved me. I learned how long it would take to get the nicotine out of my body and how long I'd experience the physical craves. Then I found out the single most important thing I needed to sustain this quit and that was to simply "never take another puff". Talk about a "light bulb" moment. That's why all my previous quit attempts had failed, duh. I had always thought, up to that second, that I could have just one "occasional" cigarette and stay off. I couldn't. No one can. Thank you, Joel Spitzer. I wasn't stupid after all (which can be incurable) I was just ignorant (definitely correctable).

So now after a year I've been musing on some of the positive and negative effects of giving up smoking. Yes friends, sadly, there are some negative effects.

• I can smell everything again.
• I can smell everything again. Face it, there's a lot out there that stinks and as a smoker I was blissfully unaware. Still, on the bright side, it's not me that's stinking anymore. I take a shuttle bus to work (I’m trying to reduce my carbon footprint by not smoking and ridesharing). The seats are informally assigned and most days I wind up sitting between the same two gentlemen. One smells like a cross between a wet dog and an unwashed athletic sock and the smoker, well he’s not even that pleasant.
• I can actually read about, watch TV programs about or hear about the dangers of smoking and not have to ignore them hoping that what they said just wasn't true, but always knowing that it was. I don't have to worry about hearing those dread words from my doctor "you know you really should quit". I can ignore the ubiquitous signs where I live that say "According to state law, smoking permitted in designated areas only." I actually saw one where a couple of words were added to the end so that it read "According to state law, smoking permitted in designated areas only … like Wyoming".
• I'm actually a bit obsessed about looking on the net and through the literature on nicotine topics and voraciously reading everything I see.
• Those little smoking urges we call triggers have faded almost completely and as a result I've almost forgotten what it was like going through my early quit.
• I don't want to ever forget what it took to quit and I'm so comfortable now that doing that does take a little effort. It helps me to read the newbies posts to remind me of that time. Thank you, all you new posters. Trust me it will get easier for you newbie's and sooner than you imagine.
• I haven't branded or burned a hole in any of my clothes, my old dog, rugs, car seats, furniture, work benches, tools or various body parts in over a year.
• Actually I really can't think of a negative here and neither can Doogie (my old dog).
• I don't have to dash outside or into the garage in the heat of summer or the cold of winter every 30 minutes for my drug "fix".
• It is difficult coming up with excuses to leave the room when some of my in-laws visit and then drone on, incessantly. The operative word here is "difficult". It's "difficult" to get away, but not impossible. Nothing is impossible, I learned that when I quit smoking.
• The money we've saved.
• Every time my sweet wife sees the quit counter on my PC with how much we've saved the first words out of her mouth are "Woohoo, let's go shopping". Sigh.
• I don't wake up every morning trying to hack up a lung on my way to and during my first cigarette. I can take a deep breath now when I want to instead of gasping for air just because I'm climbing a few stairs. OK here's another one that's hard to complain about.

All right, I'll be the first to admit that the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Pat

I quit smoking about a decade ago. I started when I was about 16 or 17, and I quit while I was still a teenager. As you can probably guess, I used the "cold turkey" method. I just quit. I threw away most of my cigarettes, but kept a pack around for years. Maybe for nostalgia? A few times, I was tempted, but came to my senses. It definitely would have been easier if I hadn't kept that pack around. What surprised me though was how easy it was for me to quit. I had heard about how difficult it was, even impossible. So for a while, I thought maybe there was something different about me. Maybe I just don't have an addictive personality. Maybe I have more will power than most people.

I now know that there was nothing special about me, but that I just happened to stumble on the right method. I've met a lot of ex-smokers since I quit. Every single one that I've asked told me that they quit cold turkey. I've also met lots of "trying" or "tried" to quit smokers. All of them seem to be using some sort of cut-down or nicotine replacement method. I know anecdotes don't prove anything, but if replacement therapy and drugs are so effective, why haven't I met anyone who successfully used them to quit?

I now also think that quitting smoking really is easy. Anyone who wants to quit can quit. The only requirement is that they want to quit. Then quit. That's all there is to it.

Quitting smoking is an inaction. People just need to let their inherent laziness take over. Everything that prevents them from working hard to achieve their New Year resolutions... can help them succeed at quitting smoking. "Do I really want to get dressed, drive a half-hour to the 24-hour mart in the bad part of town, in the rain, at midnight ... OR ... go back to sleep?" Hmm...

The only thing achieved by telling people how difficult it is to quit smoking is a sense of futility. "Why try if I'm doomed to failure before I even begin."

So some data to back up how easy it really is to quit smoking ... over 50% of people who ever smoked are now ex-smokers. So if someone were to start smoking today, if they don't die first, there's a better than 50% chance that they'll become an ex-smoker. But only about 44% of current smokers bothered to try to quit [during the past year]. So, for those who try, the odds of eventually succeeding are actually over 69%. Maybe it takes more than one try, but it's not really "difficult". To put it in perspective, what are the odds of people successfully getting an advanced degree after graduating from high school?

So the reason I'm writing this is to vent. Apparently, in at least one medical school, where someone I know is a student, they teach that the chances for someone to successfully quit smoking using the cold turkey method is about 10%. But the chance of success using drugs is 30% to 40% (buproprion or varenicline). The biased drug-company reports are treated as reliable, and the students are told that quitting smoking is like being told not to breathe for several days. It's so bad that it might actually be better to die. That such misinformation is being taught in medical school is appalling to me. That the medical students don't question it and look up information from more reliable sources like peer-reviewed journals or the American Cancer Society is sad because these future doctors will believe that trying to quit smoking is futile, they will give poor advice, and their patients will die as a result. In my opinion, that medical school is teaching its students how to kill their patients someday.

I'm glad I quit before one of those doctors got to me. I'm also glad I found your website because it is a great resource to give to people who may decide to quit, and it has reminded me how important it is for me to never take another puff.

Varrho [Editor's Note: Cold turkey quitters expecting to endure and navigate withdrawal were not invited to participate in pharmacology clinical trials. Instead pharmacology competed against placebo users who wanted free chemicals which stimulate brain dopamine pathways but did not get them. Please note that "placebo" is not a real quitting method.]