Jordan7

That's really rough, Chris, but I'm so glad you got the warning shot while there is still time to correct the problem. Nothing fun about surgery, though, so I'll be cheering you on and wishing you a quick and full recovery.

If at only 18 days into your quit you hadn't had an issue for the past week until these recent craves hit, you are waaaayyyy ahead of where I was at that time (hell, you're ahead of where I was 6 months later). Start the celebration now and give yourself a toast for being the toughest quitter on the block. Enjoy any good days (or hours or minutes) that you have very early on and grind your way through the bad ones, keeping the end game in sight when things are rough. You really are doing beautifully, Wantsit, and now you've gotsit!

Congratulations on 6 months, and I'm with you all the way on running out of choices if I continued to smoke and finding it very mentally and physically challenging to quit. Since there's nothing good to go back to, you just have to keep going forward. The more active and involved in any nonsmoking activities you are, the faster your get up and go will come back to you. Great job on getting into the studio and back to work like a champ -- you've already exceeded and blown away your own expectations.

Hey, every little bit helps.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but as a lifelong Kool smoker (w/a brief flirtation with Marlboros in my teens), I have always thought that Kools were more addictive than any other cigarettes. This is partly based on the fact that I was the only smoker I know of who would not smoke any other brand (not even one cigarette), including other menthols, if I ran out of Kools. I would walk/drive any distance to get more Kools, even if another brand was right at hand and offered to me. I did switch from Kools to Kool Milds, but that was about it. For me, banning Kools would have been about the same as banning cigarettes altogether.

Congratulations on one week down, Lily! It's like having a new puppy or baby -- it's all you can think or talk about and all of your real buddies and those who can relate will be thrilled for you and happy to go along for the ride. The rest will just smile politely, but that's okay, too.

Yep, as others have said, it's not too unusual to hit rough patches just when you're getting used to having some days of happily uneventful smooth sailing. 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months -- you're at the last of the terrible threes, and it's just a temporary reminder of all those difficult early days that you don't ever want to have to go through again. It's also the beginning of the holidays and a new season, with a lifetime of memories competing for your brain's attention and some smoking memories are bound to sneak in and try to stir things up. Also, any emotional highs you may have gotten from the "newness" of your quit have probably worn off by now. So all in all, give yourself a big pat on the back, a gold medal, a bag of cookies, a couple of your favorite drinks, and a whole lot of credit for making it to 3 whole months(!!!) -- which probably sounded like an impossible dream about 3 months ago. You are doing fabulously!

Welcome Chosen, and yay for you! A huge shout out to you for turning away from cigarettes, rather than towards them, when things got really tough. With that kind of strength mixed with good sense, there's no doubt you are going to succeed and never regret this decision. As rough as life has been for you lately, you've done what you needed to do to move past each obstacle, and you will do the same with smoking. I'm sure many of us wish that we had made the decision to leave smoking behind forever by age 33, and by doing so you are giving yourself the gift of a lifetime. As hard as quitting may seem in the beginning, it always easier to stop when it's your choice rather than waiting until you "have to", and it seems as if the rewards are often much greater. I did have a final cig, but didn't really believe it was the last for quite some time and was very creative at thinking up with reasons to have another -- the trick for me was to not believe my own nonsense and just make it to the next day smoke free, then repeat.

Gorgeous pics, Shane, and congratulations on completing the charity trek.

Linda, I'm so sorry for the loss of your beautiful friend. What a wonderful and rare relationship you had, and I hope you can always cherish the reciprocal comfort, companionship, and joy, you gave to each other.

Jo, you have a gift for writing, for expressing complicated feelings in fairly simple, raw terms -- but more importantly you have a wonderful capacity for empathy and humanity, which both seem to be in much shorter supply in this world every day. Thank you for that, and for seeing the positives in the negatives, no matter how lopsided they may seem at times.

Congratulations, T4C, you're well on your way to one week down now! Don't stop plowing through and you'll be on the other side before long.

Great job, Lilly. Keep up the good cheer and keep reading, writing, snacking and napping! Napping was my go-to activity the first few days, which isn't as rewarding if you're an insomniac like me, but being able to sleep away even a few of the early minutes helped them add up a little faster. You'll be well rested for your big birthday celebration weekend. Early Happy Birthday to you!

Great job, great attitude, and keep enjoying the good moments.

Welcome to day 3, Parsley!!!!! What a huge accomplishment, and you're well on your way now so there's no turning back. Keep pushing through these sometimes crappy early days and enjoy all the small victories along the way.

Fabulous job, Linda, and give those gorgeous pups an extra cookie from me.

That's impressive, jo. Have you considered working in costume design or as a stage make-up artist? Could be fun.

Pink cheers for 5 years!!! Congratulations to the kindest quitter on the block, and it looks like you're making good progress working your way through the first round.

I quit several years ago and I'm not particularly good and I don't feel anything close to wonderful. Does that help? I have slowed down the damage though, so I'm still a bit ahead.

What a great post, Bird. Well done, you. That's a fabulous quit you have going and an attitude that will help it last a lifetime.

wtf??

Now that's a good-looking quit buddy you have! And extra walks mean you both get extra treats afterwards. Just no smoking -- either of you.

Hang on, Rusty, and huge congratulations on making it to day six! The first week is almost behind you. Since every quit is different, maybe this time it's throwing everything at you up front and then things will start to get easier much more quickly than the last time. Let's go with that for now as you slog through these never easy, early days. Stay as busy as you can and get out and walk your dog whenever the worst of the craves hit (at least he'll be happy and it will be a great distraction for you). Hopefully soon you'll notice that you are breathing a little easier and enjoying the walks more.

So hard, so much to lose. I'm very sorry to hear of your loss, Doreen.

What absolutely wonderful, magical news, Jillar! I'm so happy to hear that your mom is beginning to recover.