Reciprocity

That's it! Distraction, distraction, distraction when those urges to light one up come calling. Busy hands and a busy mind have no time for smoking. In terms of not having the patch any longer, I found that it didn't make that much of a difference to me as I still had horrible cravings whether the patch was on or off in those first couple of weeks so I decided to stay without the patch so I wouldn't have to deal with that later. I found that it was simply my steadfast commitment to stay quit, no matter what, that saw me through the tough times

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This is another key to staying quit; looking for the positives from quitting rather than focusing on the challenges of the early days.

That sounds very famliar to me, what you said about forgetting to replace your patch. I think I was on day 2 and took my patch off to have a shower. I forgot to put it back on and when I remembered, I thought ... hummm, maybe I'll just see if I can do this cold turkey now. Why not get the nicotine outta my system right now. It worked out fine for me in the end so yes, it's very doable. I also agree about staying connected to the forum. I was never a social media person but I was pleasantly surprised how much hanging with a bunch of quitters was in helping me though the tough days. Stay the course @SD2026 and you'll make it to freedom!!

Hey @mm34! Good decision to quit, in fact, the best one you'll ever make! Now stop playing around and torturing yourself by smoking a couple or a few a day. That is not a viable quit strategy. Just make up your mind that you want NEED to quit and do it! Yes it's tough for a while but you just gotta rely on your commitment to yourself and power through those moments when you feel you can't go on ... you CAN go on and we're here to help you. What ever method we have used and what ever method you decide to use (other than cutting back) we all go through the same crap early on. No one is special, we all have to do the heavy lifting for ourselves with support & advice from other quitters but the ultimate reward is 100 times worth the short period of challenges. Every quitter here will agree with that so let's get you quit

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I was 17 when I started regular smoking. Had tried it a few times when younger with friends but never took it up on a regular basis. Now I wish I never did when I was 17. At 17 I was hanging around with a guy who smoked so I bought a pack and began smoking full time. Had to hide it from the parents for awhile but I think they could tell from the smell. They both were smokers at one time. The why is tougher. Didn't give it much thought at the time but I suppose I was influenced by my peers and I also suppose I saw it as an adult thing to be doing - right of passge into adulthood perhaps? Of corse the following decades it was because I was an addict and kept denying all the bad stuff that was coming out about long term smoking. That bad stuff only happened to other people right? Isn't that what an addict does? Deny, deny, deny?

Congrats on your quit @Alexander! Keep up the good work

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Nope!

Quit "romancing the cigarette"; or a nicotine fix to be more exact @j3nny3lf! You've quit - IT'S OVER! You're a non-smoker now. Surely you can't be contemplating trading doing additional damage to your lungs just for an imagined momentary pleasure of having a hit of nicotine? This is your addiction talking to you, trying to control your mind still. Don't let that happen because you'll regret it tremendously; I guarantee it!!

Nope!

Fabulous achievement @GonSo! Hardest month done & dusted. Keep pushing forward. It won't be as chaotic now that you know the drill and how to deal with challenges but you must still be fully comitted and remain on guard at all times! Your diligence will be rewarded with a life long quit

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That's great @Kdad! You're almost there now; keep up the great work

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I give up!

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