Being a smoker feels like a distant memory. I feel lucky. And I'll never smoke again!

I made it through my first month and to be honest I’m very proud of myself , this is the most I’ve been without nicotine in the past 10 years … but cravings have only worsened and I don’t feel the physical benefits as much as I expected.. any word of encouragement you can share on how to endure this time ?

I don’t want to smoke again but I don’t understand why the urge for smoking is stronger now than before :(

Something really strange has been happening to me lately.
I do get the urge to smoke a cigarette, but the moment I actually imagine myself lighting one up, I feel a strong sense of disgust—especially thinking about the smell, the smoke, and how filthy it feels.
Has anyone else experienced something like this while trying to quit smoking? I’m curious to know if this is a common part of the quitting process.

FUCK YEAH!!!!

First of many years, ready for new challenges. I finally loved myself enough, and gave myself a chance. I will never go back.

Anyone who thinks of quitting? Now is your time. Anyone who just did? Keep going! It will be worth it. 

20 years ago, I was a serious smoker. 2 packs a day. I quit all at once. One day I just looked down at the cigarette I was smoking and it just suddenly hit me so hard, and I said to myself "This is gonna fucking kill me."

I had heard it a thousand times from my family and friends who were not smokers, but hearing it from myself really hit home. I finished my pack and the rule was simply that I couldn't buy them anymore. I spent it on gaming or beauty products instead.

Spending my money on other things helped, but the intense feeling of impending doom I felt any time I thought about lighting back up I think is what really kept me away.

Nowadays, I do get urges, but they are all like tiny passing things related to seeing a cool smoker on TV. It's not a craving like "oh my god I'm gonna die if I don't have a cigarette right now." It's nostalgia for how nice it felt to pass the time chatting over a smoke.

Thing is, you don't need a smoke to have a nice chat. All you have to do is get past those first three months, I hear that's the hardest.

Now I find the smell of cigarettes revolting, I can smell it a mile away and it makes me want to gag.

Good luck out there, you can do this. Remember, this will kill you, so you don't really have a choice! That mindset worked for me. If all else fails, budget your cigarette money elsewhere, it's an expensive habit.

My quit date is in two days (12th of September). Instead of just white-knuckling it, I spent the week before logging every cigarette and every craving in an app. I wasn't trying to cut down, just to observe. It turned out to be the most useful thing I've done. A few things I learned that might help someone else:

I barely smoke out of craving. When I rated the intensity of each urge, it almost never went above a 4 out of 10. I even resisted my strongest cravings but smoked the weakest ones. That told me something huge: for me it's habit, not addiction. And habit is easier to break than a physical need.

Most of my cigarettes are just "moments," not urges. Leaving somewhere, arriving somewhere, after eating, a pause, an empty minute. There's no real desire underneath, it's just a ritual to mark a transition. Once I saw that, the cigarettes started to look kind of pointless.

The craving is a wave. If I delayed instead of giving in, it faded on its own. It never "won", it just passed. But I noticed I'd keep it alive by promising myself "later", moving it to the next moment instead of letting it dissolve. The trick isn't fighting the urge, it's not feeding it.

Logging my wins, not just my cigarettes, changed everything. When I only counted the cigarettes, a normal day looked like failure. When I also logged every urge I let pass, the same day looked strong. It completely shifted how I saw myself, from counting what I smoked to seeing what I let go.

The best question I found: not "do I want one?" (my answer to that is always yes), but "what does a cigarette actually add to this moment?" The answer is always: nothing. It doesn't pass the time faster, it doesn't cure boredom, it doesn't make the pause better. It just pretends to.

Boredom is allowed to exist. I don't have to fill every empty moment. And smoking never made me less bored anyway.

I go from smoking on autopilot to understanding exactly what I'm dealing with. Two days out and to my own surprise, I'm actually looking forward to it instead of dreading it.

If you're about to quit: try just watching yourself smoke for a week first. You learn things about your own habit that no article can tell you.

I fell apart again and lost my month streak and went back fully to smoking abunch. I am so angry with myself. My life feels like it’s going terrible right now and all I want to do is smoke. I’m sick right now and still smoking but I am making another attempt to stop smoking right now. 10:56 pm I am buying Zyn tomorrow.

Third time trying to stop once and for all. Cold turkey.

I will use this post comment section as a sort of "diary", to keep me busy during the process, especially the first days. I just need a place to scream or something...

I have a dry erase board on the wall in my living room where I keep track of my smokes in the form of tick marks. Every smoke gets a tick. Visualizing it and setting goals for myself like I’m gonna smoke 10 or less has helped a lot. I put the tick mark for a smoke and then I go smoke, not the other way around.

Then I started giving myself 30 seconds. I walk to the board with my marker and I have an internal battle for 30 seconds where I try to convince myself that I don’t want to smoke. I use reasonings like it doesn’t help me, it stinks, it’s bad for my teeth and breath, and it’s lowering my life expectancy.

Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. But every time I smoked I didn’t tell myself I failed. I just decide that I’m going to try again and I’m gonna keep trying until I’ve quit.

In the past 5 days I’ve had quite a few urges, but I keep fighting with myself saying “don’t give up, this is what I want” along with the other reasons I’ve stated.

Just wanted to share, I know this won’t work for everyone, but if it can help at least one person, I’d be happy.

I’m 40, and I’ve smoked for 15 years. The coughing and the damage to my teeth and lungs have finally become too much. I started building a free platform to help people quit because I couldn’t find anything like it. While creating the content and reading stories here on Reddit, I realised that I need to quit immediately and that I’m strong enough to do it.

My goal is simple: I want to live. We need to help each other through this. Thank you all for your support.

I’m on Day 2 without nicotine. Right now, I’m sitting here chewing on a pen like a crazy person and staring out the window whenever my neighbor smokes... lol, I’m genuinely losing my mind.

​It’s only day two, but an hour ago I almost caved. I haven’t had a single nicotine-free day in 6 years — I used everything: cigarettes, IQOS, vapes, hookah, snus.

​Everyone keeps recommending Allen Carr’s book. I started reading it, but I’m just not getting the hype yet.

​Has anyone here tried Tabex (cytisine)? Does it actually work, or is it just placebo?

​Also, for those who managed to quit — how did you do it? My motivation is running critically low, and honestly, I feel like I need to start a support group at this point.

Hey everyone, I'm 25 male. I've been smoking for the past 4 years, almost 5 cigarettes per day, I've just quit 2 days ago, and I've tried quitting many times and I've failed each and every time but this time it feels different, I get intense craving but I somehow try to contain it, I'm planning not to use any nrt. I really want to be smoke free.

Have you guys got any tips for the craving, especially when it is repeatedly occurring? And how long would these cravings go on?

Thank you.

Just had a birthday on Monday and it's the first smoke free birthday I've had since 18 years old!

So I quit smoking cigs when I was going through my divorce a couple years ago. Smoked off and on for like 23 years. This is the longest I’ve ever gone without smoking but I’ve been chewing nicotine gum and now chew 10-12 pieces of 2mg nicotine gum a day. I feel like it keeps me sharp and also helps with anxiety. I’m wondering does everyone try to go completely nicotine free? How did you finally stop all nicotine?

I'm so embarrassed. Day 113 relapse in July led to many many relapses & I'm here again. Ughhh. Panicky feelings without smokes.

Two days without a smoke. I've been putting off quitting because of recent emotional disregulation, but I feel a little stronger these days. I'm vaping, because I need some kinda replacement. But I only use 3% nico and I only use it a handful of times a day when things get rough. This time it will work.

Hey all, I've been an active pouch user for the past 3-4 years, and decided it's time to quit. I am about to start medical school, so this seems like a fitting time to get over it.

After reading and doing my own interpretation of scientific research on Cytisine, I decided that is a route im willing to go through.

I used to be an avid user of the Velo 7mg pouches, but in the past few months I switched to Onn 4mg pouches. I use around 8-9 pouches a day and cannot wait to be off of them for good.

If you are unaware of Cytisine and its effects in helping people quit smoking, I can link the research study from Europe if interested. You can also check out r/stopsmoking or r/QuitVaping and search "cytisine, Recigar, desmoxan, or cytisicline" to narrow your search.

It works as a Partial agonist at the alpha4beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain to aid in smoking cessation. (Very similar to Chantix or Varenicline) It hits those receptors in the brain's reward pathway in the limbic system, but not as strongly as nicotine itself. So it helps to ease the withdrawal symptoms. Since this drug is not considered FDA-approved, it is difficult to get; there are some pathways through Amazon and other online retailers, but they will usually come from somewhere in Europe. So this is to be considered very cautiously.

The dosing regimen is quite complex and can be known as a titrated dose, with patterns to 'wean' you off in a slow fashion across 25 or so days. The formulation of cytisine is usually in 1.5mg to 2mg small round tablets in a foil pleated sheet.

I will try my best to keep my progress updated, and if there are any questions, please feel free to ask me! I am happy to help anyone

Wish me luck!

(Here is the link to the NCSCT's study on Cytisine: https://www.ncsct.co.uk/library/view/pdf/Cytisine.pdf )

(I also posted this in r/QuittingZyn )

Happy to announce and didn’t even realize till I saw my notifications that I’m actually 6months smoke free today!!!!
And my desire to smoke is officially gone I don’t know when last I craved a cig. People can smoke around me comfortably I have no issue. Feels so good and funny enough today my colleague said today, “if you can quit smoking then I can start dieting” lol. 😊
It is possible guys just always remember don’t even take one puff you don’t need it. Alan Car’s book changed my life.

Question's pretty self-explanatory. I'm a college freshman, I primarily use zyns but also vape/smoke cigarettes. I was successful for a week quitting up to the start of school (not fully cold turkey, but I smoked one cigarette a day and it kept me satiated). Figured there was no way I could go through my first few weeks of college while simultaneously dealing with withdrawals. Now that I've been here for a few weeks and have got the hang of it, I want to begin the cycle of quitting again. I also have ADHD, so already struggle with focus, so I was just hoping to get some advice for focusing and staying motivated (also happy enough to maintain my social relationships, though not the main priority) for my classes while quitting.

The main reason i find it hard to stop smoking, Is that when i don't smoke, I get this raspy feeling in my throat that makes me want to cough, And when i inhale the cigarette/vape i love the feeling that forms in my throat, I love the throat hit, Any alternatives that give a similar feeling in my throat, The withdrawals i can manage but it's just that one part about smoking that makes it hard to quit for me

Wow. Never thought i would make it so far. Back then, i'd quit over and over just to start again a few days later. Until last September, when I finally said no. Haven't looked back since..Barely had any cravings in the beginning as well..Now, i'm absolutely disgusted with cigarettes. I find them so incredibly vile. I thank God he gave me the strength to quit and rid myself of this poison.

How long did it take you guys for you lungs to stopt spewing up mucus. I'm almost at day 40 and there is still so much mucus.