FROM A 2007 POSTING:

I smoked for 40 years. Ulcers, lung problems, quad bypass, artificial mitral valve, ablation, dissecting aortic aneurysm, and on and on......ALL caused by smoking and still I kept on smoking. That's how strong the addiction is. I had tried every method known at least twice and still I smoked. My body was taken over by the effects of smoking and still I smoked. I damn near died on several occasions and still I smoked. I needed 9 different meds a day, some of them twice a day to stay alive, and still I smoked.

In 2005 when I went into the hospital for blood poisoning as a result of peripheral artery disease, a result of smoking, I tried to avoid it until it was almost too late because I knew I would have to quit and give up my old friend the cigarette. Even then I was having a hard time until I read the dumbest gawdamn thing I think I ever read. A two word sentence in a stop smoking pamphlet that makes perfect sense and yet seems completely idiotic..........Urges pass.

For some reason I had never considered that before but it was the truth. I went from almost 3 packs a day to cold turkey and I have not smoked since. I haven't even cheated in the slightest, not a single drag in 2 years. Urges pass.

Yeah, every now and again, about 20 times a day, I still think about a smoke but I've gone 2 years and man oh man do I ever feel better. Sadly my body is still shot and probably won't live a lot longer but quitting was the best thing I have done for myself in years and years. Urges DO pass.

Just quit man..... I ain't a zealot, I can't say a bad word about anyone who smokes, I know that addiction. But do yourself a favor and quit.


FROM A PREVIOUS POST IN 2007:

My problem with all of that stuff was that while I was doing it I was thinking "I'm doing this rather than smoke a cigarette." AND......I still wanted a cigarette as soon as I finished "whatever." In every case it was always on my mind becasue it wasn't natural or what I was doing. So the "urges pass" idea became an important stand alone idea.

I'd be reading and want a cigarette. I'd just think "Fuck it.....Urges Pass," and go right on reading. I'd be Mudcattin' which I damn near always did with a cigarette, chain smoking, and I'd get the urge. Again, "Fuck it.....Urges Pass." and keep on reading threads or responding.

When I tried all the subs, I'd be saying, "Hey great.....Ain't smoking, faking it with a cinnamon stick," but the urge was foremost and still there when I was done with the gum or mint or toothpick or carrot stick..........As soon as I was finished I wanted the real thing because I'd been thinking even more about it while I was gnawing on the jerky!

I'm a fan of whatever works for the smoker. I loved cigarettes. Really. Loved the taste, the hand habits, blowing smoke patterns.....everything but the price. Ya' know that last trip to the hospital, I was in really bad shape and I knew it but I stalled and covered as much as I could because I knew I'd have to try and quit again. Even with our "smokeless hospitals" its still easy to get a cigarette. Before I'd make it a few days and as soon as I could leave the floor I'd be having a gasper within a few minutes. I know the addiction is stupid. I also know its incredibly powerful. For me, the more I thought about it, the harder it was to quit......and that's what the substitution thing always did to me. It made me continually conscious of the addiction.

Urges pass. Let them go. Keep right on with what you were doing, even if it was staring at the boob tube!

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Both posts are similar but add in most of my arguments for the "Urges Pass" method.   Do it.



Spaw