Farrah,
As an ex-smoker myself (I quit ten years ago), I think its worth knowing that one big predictor of whether you will be successful quitting smoking is actually how many times you have tried to quit before. The more times, the more likely you'll be successful this time.
Quitting smoking is one of those "if at first you don't succeed, try and try again" things. So don't be hard on yourself if what you've done so far hasn't worked and *especially* don't give up. Just try to figure out where you went wrong, make a plan to cover that, and TRY AGAIN.
I actually found that a lot of the little things alcoholics in recovery use to quit drinking were also helpful to me in quitting smoking.
Some of the most helpful ones for me were these two:
1. be aware of the people, places and things that trigger a craving and AVOID them no matter what. I couldn't go into bars at all for about a year after I quit smoking because I got a terrible craving to SMOKE if I was out having a drink and chatting with friends (this was when you could still smoke in bars). I also couldn't sit down with one of my research colleagues from grad school and discuss resesarch because we had ALWAYS accompanied that with lighting cigarettes and chain smoking. And any time I was angry, at first, I was *dying* for a smoke. I had to learn entirely new methods of dealing with my anger (long fast walks).
2. When you get a really intense craving, put some time around it before even thinking about giving in. I would tell myself "OK. If I'm still dying to have a cigarette in 20 minutes, I can have one, but right now, just for the next 20 minutes, I'm not going to give in". If you are craving a smoke all the time at first you may want to make it 24 hours that you give yourself. It's where the saying "one day at a time" comes from and it's incredibly effective. Cravings don't usually last that long even when they are very intense.
3. This is a biggie. Its best to presume that because you are addicted to cigs now, you will always be an addict, even after you have quit for some time. Do NOT kid yourself that you can "just have a drag or two" and be OK. Doing this had me revert to smoking at age 30 after stopping for two years in my late twenties. If I hadn't reverted, I wonder if I would have ever gotten oral cancer.
Anyway, this is what worked for me. Good luck and remember don't stop trying!
Nelie
