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I smoked for about 8 years. Quitting was the hardest thing I have ever done. You CAN do it. I was totally addicted. Pack a day habit and I quit cold turkey. If there had been drugs available, I would have taken them.
You will feel so much better.
You can do this......
I could never judge you - I smoked for 14 years. Started at 18, quit at 32.
I quite, then took up mountain biking. Best thing I ever did.
Two things - First - there is nothing wrong with trying and not succeeding - you're learning about what works for you. Second - When you are truly ready to quit, you will know it and you will quit. I knew the last time I quit and "stayed quit" that that was it. I used nicorette. It was not easy - I actually had a harder time with handling stress than I did the oral fixation. I finally realized that it was the act of inhaling (aka deep breathing) that relaxed me and once I started working on that, I was able to better deal with my stress.
Have fun riding!!
Best of luck to you. I know there can be bad side effects from Chantix, so check into it carefully for you, but if you find yourself really struggling, do check into it. My Mom smoked for 40+ years. She quit once for almost 3 years, then went back to it. Chantix is what finally got her to change the habit, and her physical urge to smoke is completely gone (she still struggles with some mental/habit urges from time to time, but the physical "no" is so overpowering now that she really has no desire to pick it up again). It is very effective when nothing else is (she had tried therapy, hypnosis, nicorette, wellbutrin, and all sorts of other natural and unnatural aids to quitting in the past, to no avail).
For some reason, despite growing up around my Mom and swearing I would never, ever, smoke, I still picked up the habit in grad school and continued until I was preggers with my first child. So I know how hard it can be, too. Good luck, and hang in there.
you can do it! i was a chain smoker and realized that i couldn't be the best i could be if i didn't quit. it makes such a huge difference in your stamina! i had a college roommate that was a very serious in-shape athlete that quit smoking and remarked on how surprised she was that she felt the difference (since she assumed she was in such great shape despite smoking). my lungs thanked me and so will yours!
any updates on how things are working out for you?
Backinthesaddle: Bravo to you for sharing this with us! I think one of the most helpful things is having a support group to help you in your journey to a smoke-free life. Too many people try to struggle alone, and then falter, and feel guilty, and never attempt to quit again. So I highly encourage you to reach out to your friends, family, forum family, and others to help you get over the difficult moments. You can do it!
Also, it helps to change your routines and the subtle environmental cues that trigger your cravings.. i.e., if you tend to wake up and have a smoke and some coffee every morning, try going to a different area of the house (or leave the house entirely), have orange juice, and something to snack on. The environmental cues play more of a role than you'd think. It's why reformed drug addicts have such a hard time staying clean when they return to their old homes and neighborhoods. We are not so different from Pavlov's dogs.. :)