Quit Smoking Stories

Many people have been encouraged to stop smoking after someone that they loved or admired either was diagnosed or succumbed to a smoke-related disease. Hundreds of thousands of people die each year from illnesses caused directly or indirectly (secondhand smoking) by smoking. Other people have decided to stop smoking for monetary reasons, while still others believed that having a healthy baby was more important then lighting up. Here are some of their stories.

Julia was 26 years old and married to Bob. Julie also had been a smoker for the past 9 years. However, Julie and her husband desperately wanted a baby and she understood well, the negative impact that smoking would have on the baby growing inside of her. Julie set a quit date and then went cold turkey. The couple begin attempting to have a baby and were successfully pregnant 3 months later. Julie and Bob’s baby is now 3 years old and Julie never went back to smoking.

Ed smoked since he was 14 years old. It was getting old and he was getting tired of shelling out his money for this terrible habit and his wife and kids hated the smell of his cigarette smoke on his clothes, car ,their home and his breath. After years of them pressuring them, Ed decided to go cold turkey. That lasted for an entire three days. Ed decided he needed some help so he tried nicotine therapy replacement. That seemed to work well for about 3 weeks but go too costly. Finally sick of failing, he went to go see his doctor. His doctor prescribed Zyban and suggested that he go to counseling. Ed followed his doctor’s advice and has been smoke free for 6 months. He is still tempting to start smoking again, but he feels much better physically, has more energy and can breath better then he has in 16 years.

Rob was a smoker, all of the men in his family where. That was until Rob’s and three brother’s mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. She wasn’t a smoker but Rob’s dad, her husband was. They watched as she slowly wasted away from a disease that wasn’t her doing. After their mom died, Rob and his brothers decided right then and there to give up smoking for good. They had family’s of their own and didn’t want them to suffer the way that there mom had.

People give up smoking for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is the people closest to us that give up a reason and the courage to give up this harmful habit. Other times, people choose to stop smoking because it is expensive or they are looking to have a baby. Whatever the reason, any reason is an excellent reason to stop the harmful and deadly habit of smoking cigarettes. Going cold turkey, using nicotine replacement therapy, hypnosis, counseling or even medication are all fantastic ways to kick the habit. Remember to consider your budget and temperament when you choose a treatment method and to never give up. You may fall of the wagon. There is no shame in that. Just get up and try again until you have conquered it.