laura
“I thought smoking was cool until I wanted to start a family. Walking around town and seeing those moms blowing smoke in their babies’ faces made me feel really sad about the effects of secondhand smoke. It’s one thing to desecrate your own body, but quite another to expose your baby to toxins. There and then I decided to quit smoking for good. I bought a wall calendar and put a giant red X on each day I didn’t smoke. Before long, my calendar was loaded with red X’s. I am a graphic designer, so the visual part of that strategy really worked for me. It’s been 13 years since my last cigarette. My 12-year-old son lives in a completely smoke-free environment, and it’s been anything but a drag.”
dianna
I would first like to say that recovery came with me having to quit smoking cigarettes and having to lose 100 pounds. I had to change my whole lifestyle. First, I figured that I could keep smoking cigarettes but I will have to quit using meth. Then I thought you know what I'm gonna do, whatever it takes I'm gonna do. I'm gonna quit smoking meth no matter what. Then I thought it would be a whole lot easier if I just quit smoking cigarettes and quit smoking meth and quit drinking alcohol and lose the weight. If I just changed my whole lifestyle. So I quit smoking cigarettes three years ago. I haven't used meth in three years. I haven't drunk alcohol in three years and now I'm trying to lose 100 pounds that I've gained. I go to the gym daily (five days a week).I row for eight hours a day and I eat anything I want. I first started to run an hour a day seven days a week and now I'm rowing eight hours a day to lose the weight and the weight has fallen off. Thank you.
Joe
“I was 27 years old and sporting a three-pack-a-day habit when I realized I had the hacking cough of an elderly man with emphysema. I got spooked, and for several months I used sheer willpower to gradually cut back to two packs a day, then one pack a day. At just that time a friend came to visit from Denmark, bringing with him a carton of Prince cigarettes. At first I was dismayed by his gift, but then I realized I could use it as a last hurrah. Sure enough, with the last cigarette in that carton came my last puff. This past spring marks my 25th year of being free of cigarettes.”
Walter
“I started smoking when I was 12. The first time I quit was at age 21 and it lasted about 8 years, until I married a smoker. I quit again for one year at age 50. I foolishly thought I could smoke one cigarette without succumbing again. Both of those times I just quit cold turkey with no aids or support group. At age 75, wanting very much to stop permanently, I obtained a prescription for Chantix from my personal physician. Whether it was the Chantix or my belief in it, or whatever, I had no trouble quitting that time. From the very beginning, I have experienced only the occasional, mild impulse to smoke and have resisted relatively easily.
One of the recognized dangers or side effects of Chantix is mood change, depression, and/or suicidal tendency. I began to experience those feelings late in the second month of the Chantix regime and chose to stop its use after two months of the planned three month treatment. That was over three years ago and the urges to smoke have continued to decrease in both frequency and intensity.”
Ed
“I started smoking when I was 27 years old. I was dating a man who smoked and I had one of his cigarettes. I immediately loved it, and it was a continuous addiction until I finally quit, using hypnosis, at the age of 63. I’m telling my story so that someone may read it who believes they’ve tried everything, and that there is no answer for them. I felt the same way, but I am now a non-smoker and don’t miss it. Really!
​
I tried pretty much everything to quit smoking over the years: cold turkey (nope); the patch (nope); Chantix (helped, but I developed significant neurological problems that scared both me and my doctor…no nope on that one); gradual reduction along with behavior modification (nope); hypnosis while under general anesthetic for major surgery (pretty good….stopped for 4 1/2 years, but started again when my personal life hit a bump); and the “travelling hypnotherapists” who come through town and give you a one-time shot (nope – and did it twice).
My doctor knows that I’d rather not take any drugs that I don’t absolutely have to, and she suggested I try hypnotherapy again, but a full on program from a local practitioner who has been curing people of smoking and overeating for over 40 years. I went, bought 6 visits, and by the 3rd visit was no longer smoking. No withdrawals, no backsliding, calm, cool and – – – no weight gain.
​
If you haven’t tried hypnosis for smoking cessation and/or weight control, please give it a try. Be sure it’s someone with many years of experience and who is respected in your community. You won’t regret it.”
Lorna
“I blended several substances. Mainly cocaine, alcohol, food, and tobacco. After periods of clean time from cocaine and alcohol I’d go back to drinking and smoking. I found it necessary to address my eating disorder to stay clean. I had to address my tobacco addiction to stay clean. I have had to address my personality disorders too. There is no hiding for me. I have had to also address my honest feelings about God since the 12 step programs worked for me but I did not believe in God. There is no pretending for me. I have to be honest with what I really think and to be honest I have had to think about what I actually believe. I don’t like religion period and I don’t really believe there is a God. So I had to admit that and be true to myself. I have had a lot of therapy and still see someone twice a week. I have depersonalization disorder pretty badly. But I am in recovery from all the addictions that were killing me one day at a time. I know I walk a razors edge as do all seriously addicted people. I have been clean from cocaine and alcohol 21 of the past 25 years. The times I added these addictions back with my other ones, I almost died many times. I am free of tobacco 6 years, and eating addictively, and no sugar, no flour, for 3 years continuously now. I have not used cocaine for at least 15 years and haven’t had a drink in nearly 10. Life is difficult. Good luck to you all.”