I stopped smoking, very spur of the moment, on January 10. I had some Chantix on hand from a previous attempt last October, so I took that, but since it was spur of the moment, I did not start taking it until I stopped smoking. On that attempt, I lasted 3 weeks 2 days, but felt that I never knew a moment's peace, the whole time, and finally gave in on an extremely stressful day. Smoking again, actually felt comforting for a few days, but I also felt horrible that I had blown the exerted effort that I had put in for those 3+ weeks! But every time I vowed never to buy another pack, panic would set in, and right out I would go! Then, earlier this week, I found this site and was very drawn to it--especially the support available. Although I originally set my quit date for March 7, I moved back to this weekend. I was going on a church women's retreat, last night and today, and knew that would be a good time to start, as no one would be smoking there. I had my last cigarette at 4 pm, yesterday afternoon, but I pretty muchly chained smoked, all day yesterday, until then--not quite, but certainly a whole more than I had been. For me, anyway, I seem to get into panic mode, right before quit time, and smoke all the more! So in that way, spur of the moment is better, as Edith indicated, for me too. Anyway, so far, so good on the first 24 hours, smoke-free. Last night was rather intense, but I started taking the Chantix again, even though it did not seem to help much in January, but maybe it helped more than I realized--maybe I would never have made it as long as I did, without it, who knows? I also used Nicorette gum last night, but today, haven't had much problem with cravings, so far. I am sure they will come, over and over, and that this is just the calm before the next storm, but I am excited about starting over again, and with a lot of prayer, meditation, affirmations, Chantix(?), and the support of all the EX's on this site who are actually doing it, day after day, week after week, month after month, and even year after year, I am determined to make this quit my final quit, and confident that I can do it with all your support.
I am sure that you will do just fine, Randy, because of the commitment to yourself and your children and getting support here to get you through the rough times. Good luck and remember to stay positive! YOU CAN DO IT! WE CAN DO IT!