Hey! It's April 6th again! ONE YEAR WITHOUT A CIGARETTE

[underpants]

After basically 35 years of smoking I had my last smoke April 5th last year. April 6th is my quit date. I’ve never liked the number 45 - not for political reasons - which gave me an extra day of smoking a year ago.

So on a Sunday morning a year ago I got up and had two smokes with my morning coffee on the back deck. Waited until I wanted another, smoked it, and then started with THE PATCH. I wore the patch waaaay to long into September I think, it greatly tore up my shoulders even though I rotated it everyday.

I can’t say I even think about them much anymore. Mostly when I’m busting butt in the yard or on a project and I take a break. For most of my life “taking a break” involved a cigarette.

I have to admit I really surprised myself doing it. The lockdown was counter to the normal way of doing it but the steps I’d have had to take to get a pack threw lots of hurdles and stops in the way.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. I smoked for 40 years and quit 8 years ago. Still quit! BEST TO YOU!!!

[underpants]

6. We had some birthdays recently

We have a bunch in a span of a few days. My daughter - she never knew I smoked everyday - asked if I had a lighter for candles. I laughed. For soooo long doing anything without having a lighter with me was like a gunfighter walking out without his guns. Head, feet, wallet, lighter....

Going back into work in July was a bit tough just for the “smoke break” and after lunch element. I stopped noticing it a few months ago.

Congratulations Curt!

[CurtEastPoint]

9. Thanks!

[SheltieLover]

2. Congrats!

[Dave in VA]

3. Congratulations!

Did you set the money aside and now you can buy you something special as a reward? You have probably saved nearly $2,000.00

[underpants]

7. At least $2,000 a year

That’s the number I’ve always used too. Take $5 a day plus buying this and that it’s at least 2 grand a year.

[Dave in VA]

13. I stopped 20 years ago

smoked for 30 years. Every year I go buy something as a reward! Better habit than the cigarettes!

Now to watch out for the triggers that you've not encountered being socially isolated, etc.

Wishing you continued success!

[secondwind]

4. Congrats!! Welcome to a fresher, healthier world! I quit in 1985, and have never looked back..

[Girard442]

5. Congrats. Never smoked, but if I had, probably could never quit.

Admire you folks.

[lapucelle]

8. GREAT NEWS....Congratulations.

When my dad quit many decades ago, he told me he was "sick of being serf to Lady Nicotine" which definitely made an impression.

[blm]

10. ((undies))

[flying_wahini]

11. I quit about 8 years ago after trying several times.

Chantix RX helped me tremendously. Not sure I could have quit without it.

Highly recommend it if you just can’t shake it.

[INdemo]

12. The patch worked for me too, but on that last

Last edited Thu Apr 8, 2021, 04:32 PM - Edit history (2)

day of step 3 was rough but I found that drinking lots of ice water helped me when I was doing my yard projects to overcome the cigarette craving.

So congratulations on your difficult accomplishment

[Dream Girl]

14. Good going! You should be proud..

[Phoenix61]

15. Congratulations! That's an awesome accomplishment. nt

[RainCaster]

16. Good for you! You will appreciate this more each year

[niyad]

17. Congratulations!

[NurseJackie]

18. I'm very proud of you! Congratulations!

Keep bragging! Keep not smoking! Keep saving money. Keep NOT having to go outside in the rain. Keep not stinking. Keep not having yellow teeth. Keep not having stained walls. Keep not stinking-up your vehicle. Keep not having nicotine stains on your computer screens. Keep not tormenting your pets and others around you.

THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!

[sinkingfeeling]

19. Congratulations! I smoked for 43 years and have been smoke free since Jan. 2009.

[NJCher]

20. I used to work with the American Lung Association

and saw a lot of people quit through their 8-week clinics. One strategy I saw that worked pretty well was what you did: wearing the patch until the psychological addiction was overcome. For you, it took a long time but that's nothing compared to what smoking does to you. It raises your susceptibility to all forms of cancer.

American Lung broke down smokers into different types, or psychological profiles. I remember one type was the "handler." This type of smoker enjoyed the entire experience of handling the cigarette, from tamping the pack to opening the cellophane, to holding the cigarette and exhaling the smoke, sometimes into rings.

To this day (and my work with them was over 20 years ago), I look at people smoking and try to determine which type they are.

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. Well done!

In 6 days it will be 3 years for me.

[Jay25]

22. Congratulations!

[Trueblue Texan]

23. Congratulations!!!!

Quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I ever did, but it was so worth it!! In March I reached my 32nd anniversary of no smoking after giving up a 3 pack a day habit. The first year was the absolute hardest-- hardly a moment without thinking about smoking. The second year was MUCH easier and it has only gotten easier over the decades. Occasionally I still have a dream that I have taken up smoking again. I hope never to be enslaved by a substance like that again.

I don't know you, but I am so proud of your accomplishment! Keep up the self-loving work!

[Submariner]

24. Congratulations

for doing it during the pandemic.

After 52 years of cigs, I quit 5 years ago, but I could only do it because that particular week I had a horrible head/chest cold with total congestion, and a slight sore throat and a lost of taste. Smoking was tasteless and it irritated the throat. It was the perfect time for me to quit cold turkey and stick on the Nicorette patch.

I don't think I could do what you did, because during this past years quarantine I did not even get a sniffle, and I think i was so weak I needed that severe common cold to kick my butt and get me over the hump.

[MiniMe]

25. I quit November 22, 2019

It's hard, but so far, I've stuck with it. Mine was cold turkey, had bypass surgery, and it hasn't been that hard.

[central scrutinizer]

26. I managed to quit cold turkey

35 years ago. Took the last half pack of Camel straights and flushed them down the toilet. Something just flipped inside my brain and I was done with cigarettes. Didn’t use a patch or gum. Just stopped and never felt tempted. I was smoking pot back then so maybe that replaced some of the need. Stopped smoking weed about 15 years ago. Same thing - just stopped one day. Did take one hit about two years ago.

[rambler_american]

27. I quit 50 years ago

on the day I got married. I had told my fiancee that I had quit a year before so I had to either own the lie or quit. Quitting seemed the better choice for a couple of reasons. Be aware, however, that in my experience, even after 50 years there are still times, albeit very few, when a cigarette would seem good. Thankfully resistance gets easier every year. Good luck to you and may everyone else take your post as an inspiration.

[panader0]

28. Congrats, I know it's tough. I smoked for 50 years before quitting at 66 years old.

It had to be filterless cigarettes. Camels, Luckys, Pall Malls or roll your own (Bugler) when I was broke.
So over 4 years for me now. I slowed down for the last year or so, down to 3 or 4 a day, then quit
cold turkey. I still miss it at certain times but I know if I start again I can't stop. Amazingly, my
lungs seem OK. I still have a few tokes of herb almost daily. When I find out what I'm dying from,
I'll start smoking again.

[dixiechiken1]

29. Incredible accomplishment... CONGRATULATIONS!

I think it's difficult for people who've never smoked to understand how truly difficult it is to quit. ( Friday will be 7 months for me. 😊 )

This is an amazing milestone. Congratulations and best wishes to you!

[sdfernando]

30. Congratulations!!!!

I'm so proud of you!

[RickHworth]

31. Congratulations

I quit 8 years ago this month, too.
Had to go the Chantix route, finding out that the patch didn't work for me. I had a really hard time keeping it lit.

[underpants]

33. Okay that got a chuckle

[jmbar2]

32. Way to go Underpants!

Agree with posters above - no one knows how hard it is unless you've been there. I quit in 1999.

I went to a 12-Step program in a building where all the 12-Step programs ran 24/7. Down the hall was Narcotics Anonymous. Every once in awhile, they'd come to the Smokers Anonymous room by mistake. Once they realized, they practically laid skid marks backing out the door.

It was said in that building that our group was the last one they'd go through, after quitting alcohol and heroin. They were terrified of quitting smoking.

Treat yourself to some goodness today. You deserve it!

[cayugafalls]

34. Congrats! It is truly a big accomplishment when you give up a lifelong addiction.

I know it all too well.

I'm going on 15 years and I still think and dream about it.

Congratulations!

[Old Crank]

35. COngratulations

A wise choice and will give you better health.
All the best to you.

[NoSheep]

36. Congratulations! It's an amazing thing being free from that addiction

[NNadir]

37. Congrats!!!

I know it's very hard. My father didn't really quit even when smoking gave him the cancer that killed him, and he was in many other ways a very strong man.

[maliaSmith]

38. years without a cigarette

I have 53 years without a smoke. I used to smoke 2 packs a day and I quit cold turkey when I was 22. Thank God!

[LittleGirl]

39. Congratulations! Quitting was so hard for me. nt

[Laffy Kat]

40. That is huge! Congrats.

[usaf-vet]

41. Congrats. I quit 48 years ago. The day ours son was born.

[BobTheSubgenius]

42. Well done, you!

Stay with it, and NEVER assume you can have one "for old time's sake" or "once in a while." It's like every other addiction - it's with you for life, and doesn't need much of an opening to grab you once again.

I didn't keep track of "my" date, because I didn't want it to be a thing. Now, I'm not even sure of the year, but I believe it was 1982.

[CaptainTruth]

43. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[MiHale]

44. Great news underpants...

Going on 4 years myself and my wife. Thought one day hey let’s try...bummed a drag off my neighbor, just one puff cemented in my brain why I quit. I get an urge I remember that day.

This was all pre-covid.

[mgardener]

45. Congratulations!

[MLAA]

46. Congrats! Great news! 💕

[hollygolively]

47. That is great!

I took a class in becoming a non-smoker. Your lungs and body are way better now that a year has passed.

Good for you for beating the really, really tough addiction to cigarettes.

[Moostache]

48. Congrats! I'm happy for you!

As we near the end of the pandemic (hopefully), I would advise on finding new habits and associations to avoid the familiar rhythms that causes so many of us to light up subconsciously before we actually fire one up.

Its been 14 years now for me, and I had to give up my entire social life to break the habit. I was a competitive pool player on a travelling team...THAT was the hardest thing to give up for me. I could not stand the pool rooms and bars without smoking...of course, within a couple years of me quitting they began banning smoking in many indoor places, but for me the association was too strong. It was the same with drinking. I was a hard core drinker in college and the first few years out of school, but that was another unconscious thing....beer + cigarette... shot + cigarette... Margarita + cigarette... etc. etc. etc.

I found that those temptations far exceeded the physical nicotine addiction. I gave those things up rather than tempt fate and my (non-existent) will power. You made one of the most important psychological milestones! Congratulations and continued good fortune on your journey!

[cate94]

49. Congrats!

I quit in April of 98. It made life much easier, especially traveling.

[ailsagirl]

50. Congratulations!!!

[pazzyanne]

51. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Achieving a smoke free year is amazing. My Dad was a chain smoker who tried quitting numerous times with no permanent results. He had his first cigarette at age 7 and his last at age 85, so I realize what an accomplishment smoke-free living is.

[bluecollar2]

52. Welcome to the club!

It took a triple bypass and time on a ventilator to get my attention...

[whopis01]

53. Good work! Congrats. n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

54. CONGRATS! Two days ago was my 7 year anniversary!

YEA FOR US!

And a really big HELL YES for you. That first year....damn!

[Nululu]

55. Congratulations

[Akoto]

56. Congrats on kicking the smokes! n/t

[Marthe48]

57. Congrats!

I quit when I was 36. It was tough, but thankfully took

[gratuitous]

58. Outstanding

Good for you, good for those who care about you, and good for your bank account.

[Skittles]

59. ten years for me

I will, however, always love the smell of tobacco - yes indeed

[underpants]

60. Congratulations

I have no sense of smell so ....

[ChubbyStar]

63. Today is day 28 for me

I quit both smoking and drinking after I ended up in the hospital with a very SERIOUS gastrointestinal hemorrhage, I consider myself very lucky to be alive.

[Skittles]

64. ooh

tip for you, ChubbyStar - if you get an overwhelming urge to light up or imbibe, resolve to POST YOUR INTENTION ON DU FIRST. Yes indeed......we have your back!

[ChubbyStar]

67. Will do

[rurallib]

61. Take about ten deep breaths if you ever get the urge - it really works

Bet making it to that year milestone felt tremendous - big congratulations


I've been smoke free for @ 47 years.

[Hotler]

62. Well done,

[electric_blue68]

65. Congratulations, especially during this pandemic!

Luckily I hated the smell of smoke so much I never even tried it - get headachey, irritated eyes, sore throat.
I was a at 'Progressives For Humphrey indoor' rally that my my uncle took me to -a real smoke filled room I was soooo miserable by the time we left!

My mom was a pack + a day but quit after she got severe asthma in '57 - '58 from a bad flu season.
My sib quit ?35+ yrs ago thank goodness! .
Keep up the good work! 👍

[The Polack MSgt]

66. Congratulations underpants

Keep going cousin