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I think it's great that so many of you have been able to stop smoking. I know how difficult it is because I recently quit. I smoked for 22 years, though I was never a heavy smoker. I think the most I was ever at was about 1 1/2 packs a day.
Anyway, I quit cold turkey. I woke up on a Saturday 3 months ago and realized that I was sick and tired of feeling like a slave to cigarettes. I smoked only 5 cigarettes that day. On Sunday, I vowed to smoke even less. I had 3 that day. During the week, I smoked only 2 drags off each cigarette before mashing it out. With each cigarette, I created a mental image in my mind of how disgusting I felt, smelled, tasted, and looked. On Friday, some friends came over, we drank and I had 3 full cigarettes in 2 hours. I felt like an utter failure. The next morning, I vowed to be finished. I haven't had one since.
Every now and then, a craving will wash over me, but it passes very quickly. What keeps me from picking up another cigarette is the idea of failing at this. I can't fathom going through this again nor can I fathom telling my daughter that I couldn't do it.
For those who use some form of chemical assistance to quit, I wish there were a way to quit without having to use pills or patches or inhalers. To me, it's replacing one bad habit with another that you have to end up kicking.
I honestly hope that there are no negative side effects with Chantix but something tells me that putting anything in your body that affects the chemistry of the brain cannot be all good.
Either way, I wish you luck and genuinely hope that you all succeed and do so without any ill effects.
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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
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