i just started quitting smoking. Today at 11 noon it was my second 24 hours without a cigarette. I am 39 and have been smoking since i was 13. I didnt smoke a lot as a young teenager but was almost to a pack a day by my early 20's. The last time i went 24 hours or more without a cigarette was when i was in bootcamp when i was 19, otherwise i havent been 24 hours without a cigarette for 20 years. Recently i started having a bunch of health problems after being relatively healthy - i guess it was just luck since i didnt take the best care of myself and on top of that i smoked. what happened is that back in december (it is now march 2004) i got cellulitus on my left leg. Took antibiotics and it healed. A couple of weeks later i got it again on my left buttock and also treated that with antibiotics, before that one was healed another small on started right near that one but i took another course of antibiotics and it never got really bad. A few weeks went by and then i got another on on my right side in that area below the buttocks thats not quite on your hip or thigh. That one was a bad one and i took antibitoics for it. that one had barely healed and two more flared up. one right near the one on my right side and another on my left buttock. these weren't progressing as fast as the worst ones i had and i called my dr and she begged me to not take anymore antibiotics because she said too many can cause some kind of bad thing to happen in your digestive system or your colon or something. anyway these two havent been getting much worst so i havent taken the antibiotics even tho i am scared because cellulitus can get into bone and blood and kill you or so i have heard throughout all this i have also had the flu or flu like symptoms twice when i havent had a flu in over 17 years i had an ear infection and an inflammation of the eye from something hitting it this last time i had the flu i had a fever of 101 for 4 days and right after that the 4th cellulitus started on my right hip i also developed a small cough with hardly anything coming up but lots of wet sounds when i tried to breath deep i also found out recently that my uterus is so full of fibroids that it is the same size it would be if i was 3 months pregnant and have been having a lot of pain with menstruation and mild cramps pretty much constantly i just visited a womens center last week and they want to give me a hysterectomy since i wanted a tubal ligation anyway they told me my cough was probably something called smokers cough and it can become chronic i am scared to death right now because i feel like something is really wrong with me so for many reasons i decided to give up smoking i asked my boyfriend to help me buy the 21 mg patches and slapped one on and now i have been almost 52 hours without a cig an indian healer who is a friend of a friend recommended i start drinking turmeric and applying it to the cellulitus and i went online and read about it and found out it also has awesome antioxidant properties so right now i am going to start drinking a teaspoon of powdered turmeric in a cup of milk twice a day and also have been taking hot sit baths in it i am a recovering alcoholic - 15 years sober as of this month 2004 and i just sat and thought about what i want and what i am doing - my brain says dont quit smoking now there is too much stress but when isnt there stress? yeah the patch is helping - i hardly crave at all but now and then i get hit hard with a craving anyway - well since i am wearing the patch i know its not a real chemical craving it is just my brain and habit yeah a cig would be really comforting for me right now no doubt but will it fix anything? no just like drinking never did so i havent set any goals for myself i dont even care i just want to try to quit smoking one day at a time cuz every day without a cig is a day without a cig but i can say one thing for sure my sense of smell has already improved i use my empty dry cat food bags for trash by my computer and emptied my ashtrays in it and i have sat here with it for 4 years and it never bothered me - today as i was reading these forums i had to take it outside - it smelled so bad my taste buds are already better- everything i am eating tastes richer and fuller - i dont know how to explain it even and even better i tried to take a deep breath earlier today because i still have a little gurgle in my lungs but no coughing and i was expecting a lot more stuff to be coming up then what is so i took a deep breath to try to make myself cough up and as i sucked in it kept going and going - i guess i never realized how shallow i have been breathing all these years i was almost frightened by how deep a breath i sucked in i am hoping and praying that quitting smoking will help my body have a chance to start repairing itself and for my immune system to be able to start fighting back with all these problems i also wanted to quit smoking because if i am going to have surgery to take out my uterus i want my body to be as healthy as it can be one thing i know is that i didnt really want to quit smoking and i dont think i ever would - i kept waiting and waiting and finally with all this happening i just realized that waiting any longer is going to kill me and i dont want to die i just started a new relationship with a guy who is younger then me - even tho i never liked younger men but i am convinced he is my soul mate and i dont want him to have to deal with me and a bunch of health problems or me dying young and i certainly dont want him taking in my second hand smoke then dying from lung cancer anyway pray for me if you believe and if you dont believe pray anyway cuz psychology is finding now that beleif in something greater then yourself is almost critical to emotional health i also threw away all my ashtrays cuz in the past i kept them in case i started again but screw that and i have gotten rid of anything that smells like smoking or tobacco and aired out the house because those are triggers i am also going to avoid ppl who smoke for a while also another thing thats good about the patch is in order for me to have a cig i have to take the patch off and wait a few hours so i dont have a heartattack and right now a cigarette isnt worth suffering in withdrawal for, for 4 to 5 hours so the patch helps slow you down i am planning on doing the entire step down program tho i may try the lowest patches first after the two weeks of these sorry for the long post and if you are trying to quit smoking go read about turmeric - it doesnt taste that bad and i am a real wimp when it comes to bad taste and also i think you can now get it in pill form good luck to all of you trying to quit - just do it - and use anything you need is what i say - i am eating anything i want i rather gain ten pounds then die of lung cancer or emphysema

Thanks Daniella. I was gonna try Chantix - until I spoke to my friend who had such a bad reaction to it. She said she had to go sleep it off. The others says it makes them sleepy, tired. They're slowly getting used to it. Baby aspirin is about where I'm at - except for excedrin for migranes (has caffine) - otherwise - unless it specifically says for daytime - it's gonna put me in the drool zone. (Eyes glased, drool from my lip.) And unfortunately, I've got one of those jobs where I have to stay/be sharp. Can't be thinking through cotton. I wasecited until she told me she started thinking about it and what it was doing to her brain, and what it was attaching itself to, and why she felt so awful. She almost took food out of her mouth in a restaurant because she didn't think she could swallow it. I'm thinking the patch and gum is gonna be my route again. I just need DH to agree to do it with me. Whole family smokes. I won't be able to do it in the face of everyone else smoking. And I can't ask him to do it right now - heavy stressers in our lives right now. Soon though, very soon.

I quit smoking on March 17 of this year. My husband had just been to his doctor 2 days before that and advised my husband for the umpteenth time to quit smoking. He's a diabetic with emphysema and COPD - he has told us numerous times what can happen to a diabetic smoker. So, I had been wanting to quit anyway and on the l7th I made my decision to quit that day and told my husband that it would be nice if he would try and quit too. So, he said he would give it a try and cut down on his smoking. We were just starting out on a spring road trip. From a pack and a half smoker a day, he went to smoking just a couple of cigarettes a day, with me nagging him all along. We were gone for 2 and a half weeks on that trip and he probably smoked one pack of cigarettes the whole time. Now, he still smokes but only occasionally. He's a social smoker so that makes it hard for him when we are in a social atmosphere, then he will break out the cigarettes and smoke. He started out pretty good, maybe smoking 3 cigarettes in one whole evening. But now he's got it up to maybe 10 or 12 (maybe more) and he says he's doing fine. I can see him getting drawn back into his old bad habits. Although, he doesn't smoke in the house or in our pickup, I am afraid that he will start up again. I haven't smoked since the 17th of March and to tell the truth I don't miss it a bit. I smoked for 30 years. I don't miss the stinky smell of stale butts anymore and I can truly say that I feel a whole lot better. Once in awhile I get an urge, but it quickly goes away. The benefits of NOT smoking, truly outweigh the pleasure of smoking. Now, I just need to keep working on him.

I smoked for 40 years , now I have COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) this is Emphesema in lay terms along with brochotus. I tried to quit many times over the years .I now have been a non-smoker for 2 years 11 months . I can no longer work ,I am on Oxygen 24/7 .Doing even the simplest things are a real chore ,bathing,shopping ,vacuuming,etc. My quality of life has ben severly diminished and also my longevty .Every day my breathing gets just alittle worse. I feel so terrible that my life is going to end soon and my wife will be alone,that I will not be sharing our childrens and grand childres lives with her.The youngest grand daughter is now 10 months old and the grand son is 6 weeks old. So smoke if you want but be aware you are paying dearly for it. I am 57 yrs old .Why the heck didnt I listen when my 7 th grade Science teacher actually took his time to speak and educate me on the dangers of smoking . I wish all who will try to quit the best of luck and encouage you to use your will power.Dont let a cigarette be stronger than you. Cravings will diminish each day. Hang tough,and dont let a cigarette make you a weakling.