How come cigarette smokers can quit for years but then go back to it?
93300
A cigarette really can release stress.  Someone who quits for a long time and then goes through a tramatic ordeal is likely to remember the release they got from the cigarette, and is likely not to care at the moment about all the reasons they decided to quit.
71779
Because by removing nicotine, you've only removed some of the bad stuff.\nAlso people are addicted to nicotine so they only smoke more.
917090
Here are some facts from personal experience as well as other family/firends who have given up or tried to give up:\n\n1. your metabolism slows down, you can even feel your pulse slowing down when you give up. Temporarily, smoking a cig can accelerate your heart just a tiny-tiny bit.\n2. Food smells and tastes just the same, you just have a craving because you  are not smoking, so you want to substitute that craving with eating. Chewing gum doesn't work.\n3. You can retain more water when not smoking so you may appear 'fuller' too.\n4. Some friends of mine (including my mum) have put on upto 3 stones when giving up smoking (not by eating so much, it's just how their bodies reacted).\n5. Most supermodels smoke (as well as other drugs) to stay thinner. In the modeling world putting on even half a stone could wreck their career.\n6. Some people can actually manage to get back to their pre-quitting weight but not many.\n7. I managed to lose all the weight I put on after quitting but once I reached my pre-quitting weight I had to re-start smoking because the lowered intake of food was driving me nuts and the only way I could keep it down is by lighting up again. \nSometimes I stop for a year, sometimes for 10 months, sometimes for 4 years sometimes just 6 months but I always end up smoking again. Horrible!
683223
Smoking is not so great.  But, I'm addicted to cigarettes and smoke them for that reason.  \n\nSmokers don't want to smell like cigarettes and be looking through a haze.  So, you smoke in such a way as to minimize it.\n\nMost smokers don't walk around with giant signs saying 'smoking rules!' and stuff like that.  Most are aware that it's a smelly and unhealthy habit and desire to quit.  \n\nIt's just pretty difficult to do, and takes some time to build up the courage.
984343
yeah .. but only because society makes smoking seem so glamourous and we all know it's addictive.\n\nI dont believe you could be addicted after only the first cig. I believe it was more of brainwashing(we all know it's addictive) than actually addiction.\n\nI tried it once and i imagine it but only cuz i know it's bad for u and i've been told it help relieves stress and i am always in high stress.
275935
Yes!  Go to a website called WHYQUIT.COM  I smoked for over ten years and I really wasn't even ready to quit.  I met someone who was a smoker and he had used that website and shared it with me.  It is not easy; I tried gum, celery, chewing on straws, everything...you have to WANT to quit.  Go to the website and read it!!!  It is true and inspiring and helpful!  \n\nIt is worth saving your life!!!  Good luck!
797901
You know- I've smoke for 21 years and tried to quit 7 times. I tried the patch, the gum, slowly cutting down.  I got pissed about the price and tried to quit 2 years ago again, and I was cheating in three days.  6 months ago I finally had enough, I quit cold turkey bought a motorcycle , and every time i wanted to smoke I got on that bike and rode the hell out of it-  The upshot is you realy have to want to quit, and I guess that you have to reward yourself adequately for doing it--Best of luck!
475534
first of all you must be seriously and willingly want to quit. Think of all the diseases that you might have if you keep smoking. you should set an example for you children if you have any.keep all the above in your mind.\nI was a smoker and i quit now for 1yr & 7m this what I did\n1- I prayed a lot to God that make me hate the ciggarrates\n2- I promised God (I worship) not to smoke (I sat a date)\n3- Get rid of all thing related or help me to smoke like ashtray, lighter from my bedroom \n4- Have sweet or chewing gum handy\n5- keep my self bessy especially the time i used to smoke\n6- Don't sit with smokers especially the first weeks\n7- Avoid smoking areas\nfinally, I hard many stories and I saw my sitter (a former smoker) gave up many times about how difficults is it, but when you set you mind to do something believe me you will succeed. Good Luck
732122
It might help you to replace your smoking habit with something that will be beneficial to your health/body. Try starting up an activity such as Yoga, running, swimming, something active that will help you rebuild your mental/physical health while quitting. They say it helps to replace one bad habit with a good one. I'm sorry I don't have any personal experience to share but I wish you the best of luck and just know that YOU CAN DO IT and you will feel so much better in the long run.\n\n\nTake a look a this...\n\nWithin 20 minutes after you smoke that last cigarette, your body begins a series of changes that continue for years.\n\n20 Minutes After Quitting\nYour heart rate drops.\n\n12 hours After Quitting\nCarbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.\n\n2 Weeks to 3 Months After Quitting\nYour heart attack risk begins to drop.\nYour lung function begins to improve.\n\n1 to 9 Months After Quitting\nYour Coughing and shortness of breath decrease.\n\n1 Year After Quitting\nYour added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.\n\n5 Years After Quitting\nYour stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker’s 5-15 years after quitting.\n\n10 Years After Quitting\nYour lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker’s.\nYour risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases.\n\n15 Years After Quitting\nYour risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a nonsmoker’s.\n\nGood Luck!
151420
i used to run 5k and 10k races. when i got heavy into training i would stop smoking about 2 weeks before the race. after a good race (in awful weather) i decided i wouldn't smoke until i craved the cigarette. i had opened packs at  my house and work, but when i tried to smoke them (just out of habit) they made me sick. i had sweated out all the nicotine during training, therefore i had no withdrawals. it's been 25 years
493317
Well, at 50 pack*years most people get either tobacco related cancer or pulmonary disease (COPD) or heart attacks. With 1.5 pack per day, this gives you ~33 years. Even for tough people, I don't think it's physically possible to do more than 70-80 pack*years without getting a tobacco-related disease (especially cancer). This gives you at most 50 more years of smoking.\n\nThat being said, you may prove to be the exception and live until age 90. Medicine is not like mathematics. However, for the vast majority of people, smoking AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE is the best and safest strategy. \n\nBy the way, even if you manage to reach age 90 despite smoking, you (a) would have lived to age 120 if you didn't smoke and (b) suffered from a lower quality of life throughout.\n\nTrust me on this one: Just don't smoke. This is probably the most certain medical advice I can imagine. (OK, along with wearing a seat belt, a condom and avoiding drugs)
573867
January 1, 1987 I had my last cigarette at 1am, after smoking a pack-a-day for over 20 years. Try the following. It will work. You don't even need good luck.\nLocal hospitals offer week-long programs to make you quit smoking. Then you'll need this trick to not go back to it: Just don't have that ONE CIGARETTE!\nPeople buckle under the intense urge for a cigarette and think that their problem will go away with one cigarette. But that just makes the problem go away temporarily, only to come back with a higher intensity.\nQuitting smoking feels like a loss of a loved one because to the brain it is just that - a loved one. So be prepared for the longing and the pain. Just endure it. It won't kill you. Actually, it will make you live longer.\nAdapt a new lifestyle i.e. eat fruits, go jogging, etc. Do whatever, but once you have gone through the week-long quit-smoking program, DON'T HAVE THAT ONE CIGARETTE NO MATTER WHAT. If you have that one cigarette, you fail and if you don't then you succeed. It is that simple. You do need that week-long program to launch yourself into the wonderful world of non-smoking though. \nOne more thing: you may need to keep the company of non-smokers for a while i.e. at least one year.
640538
When it got really hard for me, I would remind myself that, if I had a cigarette now, it would take me a whole week to get back to where I was now. Somehow, knowing I didn't want to go through quitting all over again helped. Good luck.
85932
Another reason to quit smoking.
571104
I think because a "social smoker" is not addicted to the nicotine and just smokes while partying, and can allegedly stop smoking at any time.\n\nA "smoker" has a physical addiction to nicotine, thus makeing it very difficult to quit.
363606
Dear Friend, \n\nGood on you that you want to quit. YOU CAN DO IT!!! Can a smoker overcome the physical addiction and habitual behaviors of tobacco use? The answer is a resounding yes. Not only is quitting possible, but it is also highly beneficial. It is never too late to stop using tobacco. Quitting at any age and in any state of health improves one’s health.\nBecause no single condition leads to tobacco dependence, no single solution cures smokers of their dependence on cigarettes. Some people are able to quit smoking easily, while some find quitting so difficult that they do not quit even when facing tobacco’s serious health problems. Smokers who believe that quitting smoking will be easy or that God will make it easy for them may become disillusioned if they experience the normal withdrawal symptoms or if they relapse back to smoking. Therefore, it is wise for smokers to take time to plan this important change carefully and prayerfully.\n\nSuccessful treatment can include at least three components: (1) counseling and advice from a skilled, knowledgeable professional, with a focus on developing problem-solving skills, overcoming barriers to quitting, and preventing relapse; (2) support from friends and family members; and (3) the possible correct, careful use of legal stop-smoking medications, including nicotine replacement and other drugs tested for safety and effectiveness.\n\nA local hospital or clinic may offer a stop-smoking group, and a health professional may be able to provide expert advice about medications that can help ease the physical and emotional discomfort of withdrawal symptoms. A nicotine replacement medication helps control withdrawal symptoms over a period of weeks or months while the ex-smoker gradually becomes accustomed to living without tobacco. 11 Nicotine replacement products are not designed to replace nicotine permanently; rather, the ex-smoker tapers off the nicotine replacement medication over a period of weeks.\n\nThe least successful way to stop smoking is to try to quit all at once, or “cold turkey,” without any kind of help. Quitting this way may seem like a good idea at the time, but statistics show that only a very small percentage of those who attempt to quit this way will still be smoke-free a year later. The work of quitting smoking involves not only the initial actions of becoming tobacco-free, but also the lifetime task of remaining tobacco-free.\n\nCheers
824124
Quitting smoking is not an easy task. Just like other additctions the person(s) must really want to quit. That is the first step. Then, trying the patch or the gum. If one can't use them, then everytime you want a cigarette, you wait until as long as you can. Believe me this will help reduce the amount of cigarettes and can eventually lead to quitiing. Finally, if all else fails, quit cold turkey! Since smoking is a hand and mouth thing. Try just holding the cigarette and chewing some gum or sucking on hard candy.