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10 years after quitting, your risk of dying from lung cancer is half that of a smoker's. Your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas also decreases.
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Smoking & How to Quit

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Have a helpful hint or motivating thought to share? Tell us your story. Encourage others. Share strategies for quitting smoking. This area is for you.

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I woke up one morning coughing my lungs out-I was so mad at my cigarettes, I quit. I made my list of good reasons to quit and my number one reason is that smoking is expensive! etc. I also made a list of reasons that I liked smoking and realized I really liked the inhaling part-it was relaxing. Then it dawned on me-Duhh I can do this with just air!

Mary from Indiana

I started smoking at the age of 17. I smoked for twenty-four and a half years. After developing bronchitis, I pushed myself into stopping. This year, I haven't smoked for 30 years. At the age of seventy-one, I am on no medication, and my doctor says that I am in very good physical condition. My daily exercise is walking 4 miles a day and dancing. Life is so enjoyable!

Anonymous from Alabama

I had asthma since I was baby. I became a teenager and it was cool to smoke. I had asthma, bronchitis and went into the hospital every year. I was always sick and could not breath. I tried quitting 30 times. My friends were all quitting I was still puffing away. Finally got these lozenges with 4mg of nicotine in them and went down to 2mgs. Then one night I had a pain in my shoulder and I got a fever of 104. My husband took me to emergency they found a blood clot in my lung. Since than I never picked up a cigarette. I wish I could convey to these teenager that it is not worth going through all this misery for a cigarette.

Anonymous from Kentucky

I quit smoking 7/9/06. It was a tough struggle and I was sick a lot after I quit and I wanted to give in because I thought I felt better since smoking was masking my problems. I am not owned by the nicotine anymore and I have control. Things do not smell anymore from smoking and I am setting a better example. I wish everyone great success w/ their stopage of smoking it is very hard and takes plenty of willpower good luck to you! Use your patches, call your friends, get out and walk, change your daily habits (don't stop at that store anymore), you are creating a new life for yourself so enjoy it!!

Anonymous from Nebraska

It has only been 2 days without a cigarette for me, but I feel truly blessed. I had quit for 14 years and then started smoking again 4 years ago. When I quit for 14 years I was on a nicotine replacement all the time. Now I have decided to go "Cold Turkey". I have been craving a cigarette, but after a minute or two I feel better. I just need NOT to give into my momentary cravings. I am 56 years old. I am going to give it my all...I want to be an ex-smoker. I only weigh 102 lbs and have high blood pressure (I am sure from smoking). When I wasn't smoking I weighed 116 lbs and looked so much healthier. My father died of lung cancer in 1981...Just remember to not smoke no matter what...one minute at a time...Lets all beat this addiction, lets not let the cigarette be our boss and us the cigarettes slave. God bless and we can all do it!

Blessed from California

Hi All, I have been smoke free for 1 week. It's weird; I cut down to just smoking on a Friday or Saturday night and then I would not smoke all week. I didn't find that hard at all and just said to myself on the weekend that a few won't hurt me. I know that is not true so decided this weekend is going to be different. I want to totally quit and not smoke anymore but today I am finding it so difficult. I know it is so silly because I go all week without even wanting one, it's just habit I suppose. Good luck to everyone!

Anonymous from Alabama

When I quit smoking, I made the decision that I HAD to do it. I told several people that I was going to do it. I switched to very light cigarettes and I picked a date for quitting (mine was Independence Day!). A few weeks before the date I started to cut down (from a previous pack-a-day)to fewer cigarettes each day. When I figured I had purchased my last carton, I rationed my cigarettes to last until "quitting day." On July 4, I actually had a few cigarettes left and quit 2 days later. July 6, 1982 is my Independence Day! I was also exercising every day, and that probably helped. I look back at this and really think that the key is in making the decision.

Anonymous from Nebraska

As an RDH I often encounter people wanting/needing to quit smoking. One of the more easy, and least stressful, plus more effective tools I teach my patients is that if they want a cigarette, have one, but wait 10 minutes before they light up. If a person smokes a pack a day, that is 20 urges to smoke. Multiply the 20 urges x 10 minute wait time and that equals 200 min (3+ hrs)/day they did NOT smoke. As time passes, the urges get less so that the number of cigarettes smoked decreases. And actually, by waiting with each urge, by the end of the day they are out of time to smoke the whole pack! I realize that with today's smoking bans in many public and work places this is not as "easy" as a few years ago, but can still be applied, especially at home or on a person's own time. Good luck and good health!

LSC from Nebraska

I have been smoke free for 2 1/2 months and feeling better now. At first the withdrawal was driving me nuts. Little did I ever realize that nicotine is like any other drug. Sure it didn't effect my behavior toward others, or interfere with my ability to work...well that is what I used to believe. Now I know how much my smoking was effecting everything in my life. I didn't do a lot of things because smoking was not allowed, and now I don't have to worry about that restriction. Was it hard to quit? You bet it was! But most definitely worth the effort, I am using a smoking cessation product my doctor prescribed to quit and it has helped me a lot. I am diabetic and had high blood pressure. My blood pressure has already returned to normal and I am seeing improvement in my blood sugar levels. So yes, it is really worth the effort to quit!

Donna from Florida

I bought straws and cut them in half. I had a problem with the hand to mouth thing. This helped a lot. I'll be 3 months free tomorrow the 12th.

Dee from Kansas

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Content last updated July 1, 2008.

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