I smoked for a decade and it has been 1 year since I quit. I did quit before for 9 months, however after a stressful day at work I told myself “actually if I were to just smoke once a week it would be fine”, and as you guys might guess, once a week became once a coffee, once a coffee became anytime that I drink a hot beverage on a cold day and I was back at it again.

I won’t make this a long monologue but here is what I learned so far.

The addiction is chemical
- After my last relapse I decided to study what made me relapse, and why was I smoking. This really helped me in understanding myself. As I started analyzing my cravings, I realized that for me smoking was primarily a chemical addiction to nicotine. Until then I thought I liked the feeling and strongly disagreed that it was about nicotine however this was not the case.

I know this might not be a surprise for many but it really was for me, and helped me really much in managing this situation. I really used to say that I would smoke nicotine free cigarettes and get the same pleasure but now I couldn’t disagree with that sentence more.

Changing my quitting mentality
- The mentality of giving up smoking forever was a really challenging and scary thing for me. Because when I looked back I realized that I met my friends, coworkers, my exes nearly whole of my social circle in smoke pauses and a very large chunk of them smoke.

- So instead of promising myself to never ever smoke again I decided to give a “break” first. I still consider myself an addict but not an active smoker. As far as I am concerned, I am just a smoker that decided to give his lungs a break. This really helped me with the cravings. Im not exactly sure how this happens but I feel like I have deceived my brain into thinking that we still have the possibility of smoking in the future after the “break”.

This Sub really helps
- I love this sub. Reading people’s experiences and knowing that I’m not alone is comforting. I understand how some people may feel overwhelmed when they see other people relapse but I really appreciate anyone that shares their views, experiences or relapses. Because in the end reading them either reminds me of the unhappiness and frustration that I got after relapsing or it comforts me that there are other people who struggle/struggled just like me but achieved quitting.

i reached 65 days so far and feeling proud...

Today was my 14th day quitting again. I regularly buy from this gas station next to my house. The guy at the desk is friendly Egyptian man. We do small talk and I always tell him that hope this is my last time. I told him that I have not smoked for 13 days and he refused to sell me cigarettes today! He said, let’s see if you can keep going. I am feeling very emotional about it. Sometimes strangers care more! Its a crazy world.

Very early in my quitting I read a post which was in essence "thanks for the help bros, but I'm out, y'all are holding me back". I was a little offended and thought the poster very selfish, but I now understand the sentiment. For someone who is doing great with their quit and feeling fantastic, it's not really helpful to read a dozen posts about relapses, how hard it is, addiction fuelled rationalizations etc.

Makes one appreciate the people who stick around here years after quitting, if not for them one would come away with the impression that giving up smoking is an impossible endeavor, as these forums self select for people that are struggling

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 5 YEARS I AM 1 WEEK NICOTINE FREE!!! TWO WEEKS SMOKE FREE!!!!

Not too sure how often this book is talked about, it was a reddit post I saw this book recommended on, but it was years ago. I was a couple days in on my quit when reading it, but it says to smoke until after you've finished it. This book changed my perspective in everything with smoking and therefore has changed my life.

I've not smoked for 6 months and 1 week up to now, after smoking for 45 years. To say I'm proud of myself is an understatement!

Hi friends! I’m on day 72 no vaping! Yay! I’ve been eyeing NAC supplements at the store and am curious what people notice when taking it? I had horrendous brain fog the last couple months but just this last week it’s started making huge improvements! I’m curious if this would help potentially! Thank you in advance :-)

Long-time casual smoker… had a wicked quitter’s flu that subsided and other than that did not struggle too bad with mood. But dang am I shitty today! Anyone else have a delayed irritability response??? Grrrr (still glad I quit tho!)

My final day 1.

After years of struggling to quit, I can now safely say that the habit is behind me.

Granted it's only day 2 but I haven't been able to have a day 1 in over 3 years.

My last smoke, I remember looking at the cig and wondering, "why do I enjoy this"

It's 5am, it's day 2. Will update again on the weekend

im 8 days free rn, and day 3 was so easy compared to yesterday and today; all i have thought about was buying a pack im so irritated and so close to giving in. will this urge go away??

So i posted earlier very upset that id smoked after 23 days however im now looking at it in a more positive light because to be honest after smoking about 5 I felt sick, dizzy and visibly shaking. Its made me realise I couldn't power through and after 23 days I dont enjoy them. They made me feel awful so every cloud. I now consider it a lapse rather than a relapse. Thanks to all who commented with kind words and support

I (26M) started smoking "daily" back in Covid era, not much but not less than 5 nor exceeding 10 each day, i tried cold turkey back in 2025 and relapsed on 2nd day.

As of today i haven't smoked for 3 weeks going strong, but a friend of mine passed me a 🍃 yesterday and i took a puff, now i feel guilty af.

At the doctor for a regular checkup, nothing serious. But as part of the checking paper work it asks if you smoke tobacco. (Yes, no, or Former) After quitting for 7mo after smoking for 20yrs it felt incredibly good to check the box “former.”

I don’t think most folks would understand, but I needed to share this with somebody.

Gotta take the W’s when and where you can.

So I stopped smoking after so many attempts like I was trying a whole year to stop. I was a passive smoker since I was born like everyone in my house smoked ever since I was a baby, crazy right. Even in the car while driving, I come from a family with a high nicotine addiction. Balkan and war makes that, anyways. I started smoking on and off since I was 16 and last 2 years I smoked a pack per days. Now Im 28 years old. In the first months I felt completely all over the place, just weird, depressed and paranoid af. Experiencing things I have never experienced before and having for months pessimistic views. Meditating and walking helped and now finally after almost 9 months I feel like myself. Happy and calm. I was expecting bad days, weight gain( which happened), but never this and I swear more for some reason still?? So yeah, would love to hear more about your experience..

Hi! I’m over nine months quit, and I am so glad I did—my life, my mood, my health—everything has improved. I have more time on my hands, and I love coming back on here to support other people (we got this!). My only issue (and I have OCD, for context) is that I have these jump scare thoughts like What If I Start Smoking Again and Have to Go Through Withdrawal Again—I get legitimately terrified. I have noticed myself romanticizing smoking a little bit—since I am further along in my quit, and I sometimes forget how nasty it is—but in response to those thoughts I feel almost a genuine horror because I know I’m only human and could fall right back into it someday. Anyway, I’ll talk to my therapist about it, too, but I wonder if anyone has experienced this! Good luck, everybody, and thank you!

I quit smoking years ago and kept it up for many years until I finally picked up vaping. 3 years ago I quit vaping for over 2 years.

Foolishly, I picked up smoking again a few months ago and I am having a HELL of a time keeping my quit, despite using medicating and nicotine replacement. It’s simply too easy to just go buy another pack and there is no charger, etc. required, just a lighter which I easily have laying around.

I’m a grown adult and not sure what I’m looking for here, just growing increasingly disgusted with myself every failed attempt.

I’m still dealing with weight gain from when i quit vaping and have a lot of stress in my life now but i know those are just excuses.

I keep saying “after this pack” but then less than 24 hours after finishing I am back at the gas station.

I hate to say that smoking, nasty as it is, is one small pleasure/ relief/ reward I can easily give myself.

Any tips or words of encouragement?

I have been smoking for the past 12 years. I have flopped between cigarettes and vapes, sometimes both at the same time. It has definitely taken a toll on my lung health (wheezing). I haven’t vaped in almost 3 years. But I still smoke cigs. I stopped back in 2024 for 9 months (became pregnant). I started back up last June or July when I became a single mom.

I need to quit for my son, I don’t want to suffer severe consequences. I want to be able to keep up with my son.

I know I can do it. It’s just hard. I haven’t had a cigarette in 24 hours, however I did pick up some Zyns. I know I know, it’s not good to replace one habit with another. But mentally - I can’t just stop nicotine cold turkey. When I quit when I was pregnant I struggled for MONTHS with my emotions, sleeplessness. I want to wean myself down. I wanted to start with getting over the “hand to mouth” motion first. That was a big thing for me the first time around. Second is weaning down the nicotine levels.

I picked up a 6mg can and I seem to be feeling okay with that. Not really hankering for a cig. Just missing something to do with my hands.

Any advice is welcome. just please don’t scold me for picking up another habit while trying to quit another

I quit smoking/vaping approximately three months ago after five years of heavy smoking. Since then I have been completely smoke free except for a single drunken pull on a cigarette at a bar about a month ago. Which I’m not proud of, but at least I didn’t relapse.

This week I’ve been getting strong, relentless cravings to smoke or vape. Which makes no sense after so long without cravings. I’m not going to do it, but is this a normal part of the quitting journey? It’s gotta be psychological at this point, but these cravings feel physical.

Who has quit smoking using wellbutrin?

I'm tired non stop, scarily tired, Anxious, bad brain fog, asthma symptoms heightened because of tar clearing, dizzy, irritable, feel completely dead inside, random adrenaline dumps, heart rate weird with palpitations, feel sick constantly, everything is absolutely boring and flat, insomnia of course, paranoia, heightened OCD thoughts, can't eat properly when I'm supposed to but am hungry when I'm not supposed to eat, muscle spasms sometimes. It is really making me think what the point is.

I’ve been smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 9 years. I’m currently in a financial crisis, I’ve run out of cigarettes, and I haven’t smoked for 10 hours. My brain just won’t "switch on", it feels like I’m in a constant state of sleepiness, while my body feels weak and I have an intense, overwhelming pressure behind my eyes. Is there any way to alleviate this? I’ve been trying salt water, but it doesn’t help much, and I need to work.

Upd: I feel asleep for about 3 hours, woke up a little better but it is coming back slowly. Coffee did helped a little. Its 18 hours now.