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Hello everyone! My name is Sal and I'm 55 and trying to quit Cigarettes. I've tried several times but just can't get past a few months without at the most. I live with my wife who also smokes and is so fed up with my smoking is willing to quit also. I just can't get past the cravings. I've been on the patch several times and just have problem jumping ship so to speak. Please help!!

Welcome Sal. Linda got it right saying read about addiction. Knowledge plays an important role understanding addiction but if you really want this you can do it. I quit at 66 after a long time smoking and wish I had done it sooner so it can be done. If you have tried before and failed don`t give up. Most of us are in the same boat. Lots of support here so stick around and stay close. Best wishes.

Welcome @Sal Good decision to quit smoking!! What a good Christmas present for you and your family. Read all you can here about the addiction. Stay close on the train. We have a lot of good people here with lots of support to help you. Its not easy but it is doable.

G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.... (replace Ever with Min,Hour, Day as required)

Thinking about this little man, my newest grandson, Sage, who is half Japanese, and just as cute as can be:

55 degrees and sunny here. Temperatures are forecasted to reach 70 degrees on Christmas day. Nice weather, but any semblance of a white Christmas is going to require a trip to the hardware store.

Welcome aboard Sal. Good call on giving up the smokes. You get past the cravings by going through the cravings. There's no other way. Cravings are temporary. With the right commitment you can ride out any craving. Buckle up, knuckle down, and drive on.

NOPE

NOPE!

Welcome! So glad you are here. Most of us (including me) have tried numerous times to quit and we always find a reason to start again. I did Allan Carr's book/seminars which really helped this time. Everyone has a different approach but after using NRT, this time I am cold-turkey. I think it is ultimately easier. The thing that I learned is while smoking, I WAS ALWAYS IN WITHDRAWAL. In other words, our entire smoking history we are craving. Going through a quit and understanding the craving will go away is an amazing shift in thinking. Because it does go away. We don't know how we will feel "smober" until we do it. The last couple of days for me have been rough (emotional things) and I have thought about smoking. But blessedly haven't done it. I know that it will only make things worse. Again, not saying it is easy but I think smoking is harder believe it or not. Happy to have you (and your wife) here. Being on line makes a HUGE difference!

Hello, @Sal! I’m glad that you have hopped on board the train. There is a lot of information, from personal quit issues and strategies to articles,books, and videos on this site to help you along the way. Reading the personal blogs and posts helped me the most. Other than recognizing(from the videos) that I am an addict(‘twas an ugly day) it’s where the most useful help I received was found. I used the patches because of lifelong anxiety issues I have. I started with step 2. I didn’t do the full suggested time requirement before moving on to step 3. Once I became comfortable with step 3 and actually forgot to apply the patch one day, I knew that I was done. The problem was that I suffered through the nicotine withdrawals 3 times! It was grueling, but I knew then and still know today that I would not have survived a cold turkey quit. Every quit is different. The most important thing that you can do is read everything on this site and arm yourself with knowledge and also keep a record of your quit. Listing craves-what triggered them and what worked to end it. Your notes will be useful if you happen to pick the cigarettes back up again. Stay busy, busy, busy and stay hydrated. Unfortunately, still being on the patch, you still have nicotine in your system and your addiction is still being fed. The three days that it is going to take to get it out of your system are going to be rough. I was confined to my bed, curled up in the fetal position with the covers over my head crying and silently screaming for those three days. But thankfully, everyone’s experience is not quite the same. I truly hope that you and your wife can beat this addiction. It is so worth it. It truly is liberating! I am 55. I started smoking when I was 15. I was up to two packs a day(and on occasion, more)when I quit. I just celebrated my 9th month quit! Coming up on a year!!! Without a doubt, you’ve got to want this! It takes full commitment! I’m looking forward to following your quit and hope to see you on here—a lot!

Nope

@Boo When my son was small (mind you, he is now 33, with a family of his own) Our city would do such amazing things at Christmas, they would bring in a company that made snow and give the kids a white Christmas to build snowmen. make snow angels and have snow ball fights. The parents enjoyed it just as much. Other years bring in musicians to play Christmas songs and people that made true kettle corn at the tree lighting. There was a church that did a live nativity, with all the animals and the children were welcome to come up and pet them. They also had nights at the church for the whole community regardless of religous affiliation where their choir preformed. Those are things you should seek out for your daughter and son. And you Mr. Boocluase can still go to the hardware store and build all the brilliant things that come to you!

Hello Mr. and Mrs. Sal I am writing this to both of you. I hope Mrs. Sal will join the board as well. She is going to deal with quitting that are not the same as you. She may feel things diffrent than you do and need support in a different way. It is an individual journey and I see that women handle things in a different direction that she might need. I have just made it to the six month mark. I quit upon having a cat scan of the chest that showed the beginning signs of emphysema. When you know there is no choice then there is no choice. That is what made it real for me. Most linsurance offer this under preventative care. You should see if that is covered under your insurance. If it is, get the scan. I used nicotine replacement therapy in the way of lozenges. I had used chantix, gum, patchs without sucess in the past. The lozenges helped me thru the first part. Knowing I was making permanent bad things really sealed the deal. You can lie to yourself all you want but that is what you are doing. You are more important than any craving. For me I just accepted I could not pretend any more. That helps everytime I get a crave...do I crave to live or do I crave to die. That is the simple truth. You can do this!!

Welcome aboard @Sal, you've come to the right place to get your forever quit! I found my first support forum at three weeks quit and am sure that without the support I received from people who had gone before me or walking beside me I wouldn't have succeeded. Stick close, we have quitters from all over the world so there's almost always someone here 24/7 to help you past a bad crave. And if you can make it a few months than you can make it a few more. And we want to help you do it We have lots of great sub forums here from the SOS board where you'll post if you feel your quit is in danger so we can give you some extra support, to our Social boards for when you want to stick close but get your mind off smoking thoughts for a while. And there's lots of everything in those from exercise and food to music and games. So lets get this done once and for all ok?

Welcome to the train Sal. Congratulations on deciding to quit smoking and taking back your life. Read the articles and watch the videos. Gain as must knowledge as you can regarding this horrible addiction. Knowledge is power and the more you know the better. I'm not going to lie it's going to take so.e work on your part to be successful. You just need to believe in yourself. So, grab a seat and enjoy your ride to a happier and healthier life.

NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOPE!

Nope!!!

Congratulations Katgirl. He's a handsome little fella.

Also @Sal, A lot of us found that sucking on candies helped. I was stuck on soft peppermint puffs my whole first year lol. And make sure to drink plenty of water or juice, Gatorade etc to help flush out your system quicker

About time to fire up the smoker. I'm smoking a turkey tonight and a ham first thing in the morning. Finally decided on apple wood pellets for the turkey. Keeping it simple with the ham, maple wood pellets and a brown sugar glaze. Sugar Britches laughs at me for how much internal debate I have with myself over choosing the right wood flavors. Speaking of the better-half, she will be making deviled eggs tonight....that woman makes a damn good deviled egg. Merry Christmas folks.

Hello @Sal..and your good lady wife .... Firstly finding this place is a great start ,to putting down the cigarettes forever ... I Was a 52 year smoker ,with countless failed quits ....finding this place and its members shown me the way . The reason I kept failing is ....I never completely put my whole self in to the quit ... Half hearted is no good ...it has to be the most important thing learn all you can ..we have tons of great information, a good place to start are the post pinned with green on The Main Smoking Discussion Board.....also watch Joel video,s they will cover most of your concerns ... Take the time to look around the board ..... Ask anything you want here ...we have heard it all..... you can do it ....Oh yes and ... Never stick anything in your mouth and set fire to it

Welcome Sal. Quitting smoking is a great thing to do and it is very doable. Knowledge about nicotine addiction and support from other quitters really helps. You can find both here. It is great to have you here.

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NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations @Katgirl! He sure is a handsome little fella!

Congratulations Katgirl on the safe arrival of this gorgeous little man ... What a wonderful Xmas present ..

Always room for one more Doreen. We'll leave a light on for you. I have an uncle that tried to deep fry a turkey one Thanksgiving before giving it time to thaw out. Fortunately, everybody lived to tell about it and the property damage was minimal.

Love it, one year there was a family fiasco, husband decided he must smoke a turkey at the last minute. I told him he would never find a fresh not frozen turkey. Guess who lost, that would be me and I hate to eat crow but that is what I did(as per Andy Griffith) We also love deviled eggs, mine will never live up to my husband's, I was allowed to boil and peel, then step aside and let the magic happen.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas folks.

Three traditional classics from Nat King Cole...

G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.... (replace Ever with Min,Hour, Day as required)

Hi Sal. don't give up on giving up. it took me almost a year to finally grow a set and put the cigarettes down. it's a very simple process. it's not easy, but it is simple. There are only 3 steps. 1. don't put anything in your mouth and set fire to it. 2. do something else instead. 3. repeat steps 1 and 2 as needed. congratulations...you have quit smoking.

I agree on the pepermint puffs, they were great until I had to hide them from the grandson. K

Friends whoops I mean Roses.

NOPE…

@Katgirl congratulations what a cutie!!!

Such a cutie and I LOVE his name

Confession..... I had to Google these eggs ...never heard of them .... After reading ...they sound really nice ...I will give them a try at some stage .

Oh !!! Boy .....this sounds delicious.....set another place at the table

G’day 4:30 here and hot. Can hear thunder and see some lightning off down south. Last of the storms from last night. See what tonight brings…. look out Santa.

NOPE!