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I got a sore throat and then a lung bug which lasted a month in total. And since I rarely smoke when ill I stopped.
At the end of the month I just plain forgot to start smoking again. 
That was 3 years ago, but I will still have a smoke on a special occasion, and dont have any difficulty afterwards. I think it associates more with place, and physical habit, rather than a chemical addiction with me.
In fact for many years I used to smoke only once a week, when I went to the pub on friday, then I smoked all the time for a few years prior to quitting. This kind of 'stopping smoking' is effective because you arent making a sudden change from smoking to non smoking, just only smoking on occasion, so its psychologically easier, and I found the association of smoking with place very effective.
And also one packet of fags a week down the pub isnt going to do anyone serious harm.
Perhaps it will work for you too?
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I smoked for 23+ years. Quit 10 years ago, and I am very happy I did - no regrets for quitting.
I will say though, I loved smoking cigarettes and sometimes have dreams about drinking in a pub and smoking. --- I quit drinking back i n 2001 - no regrets there as well.
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Slacker007 wrote: I loved smoking cigarettes
So, while you were smoking you weren't regretting that you ever started?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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My love of smoking was greater than any regret I had about it. I stopped due to health reasons, but I don't have a strong sense of regret, then or now. It's something I did, and now it is something I don't due, but I didn't walk around all day regretting that I had started smoking, if that is what you are asking.
I would still be smoking today if it didn't cause cancer, blah, blah, blah.
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Slacker007 wrote: but I didn't walk around all day regretting that I had started smoking,
That is essentially what I was asking. Interesting.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Addiction is a funny thing, whether it is ice-cream/cookies, cigarettes, or black tar heroin, we always formulate a thought process that makes our habits tolerable/acceptable and eventually, if you do it long enough, it becomes hard wired in our brains, making cessation even more challenging.
Good question by the way. 
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Slacker007 wrote: whether it is ice-cream/cookies, cigarettes, or black tar heroin,
Well, clearly I was wrong about smokers but I have to believe that people addicted to heroin or hard drugs are regretting it. No way I can be wrong twice in one day, right?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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You would think that "everyone" would regret their poor choices, but most do not, even if they quit these poor choices. I lost three close friends over the years to heroin addiction, and they did not regret once their choice to shoot up, and I don't think they had a chance to reconsider as they were overdosing. Secretly they may have, but they never conveyed that message to me, and my personal observation was that their love for their addiction overpowered any active regret.
Edit: you can't actively have a bad habit and strong regret for that habit at the same time - for any length of time. Eventually one of them has to win over the other. - my personal opinion.
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Very interesting. Thanks.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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I don't smoke, but every time I walk past a smoker (Or worse yet, a CIGAR smoker) on the sidewalk, I regret not wearing a gas mask...
Does that count?
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I do work with someone who smokes and you can smell it badly on them. 
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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I gave up in '04, but I don't regret smoking - I try not to regret anything, but learn from it instead.
I wish I'd realized how much the smell sticks to you when I did though - I might have given up sooner (and saved a shedload of money). But probably not. I needed to get to the point where I was fed up with them controlling me rather than vice versa before I could quit.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: but I don't regret smoking
Did you ever regret it while you were smoking?
OriginalGriff wrote: I was fed up with them controlling me rather than vice versa before I could quit.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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No - I didn't think about it. While I smoked, I just made sure I had rolling tobacco and papers / Superkings and a lighter on me at all times. It was "normal behaviour" for me, just like eating regularly.
When I decided to give up, it was under a week before I'd seen the doctor, got the prescription for patches, and had my last cigarette. I didn't really give myself time for regrets! 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: No - I didn't think about it
Interesting. I've never smoked at all, but everyone clearly knows the likely side effects, so I was under the impression that most people that smoked probably did not want to be smoking. Seems I was probably wrong. Very interesting.
Thank you.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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RyanDev wrote: most people that smoked probably did not want to be smoking
The side effects of Ice, Heroin, Ecstasy, and Cocaine are all well known - and nastier in the short term as well as pretty lethal in the long term - but that doesn't stop people from using it. In copious quantities in many cases.
Generally, people don't think far ahead when it comes to "normal behaviour". Drinking and driving is a good example: you have to know you are likely to do it later when you drive to the pub, but that doesn't stop many people jumping in the car anyway.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: The side effects of Ice, Heroin, Ecstasy, and Cocaine are all well known - and nastier in the short term as well as pretty lethal in the long term - but that doesn't stop people from using it.
But, and I could be wrong again, I would have to believe that people addicted to those are certainly regretting the first time they ever took them.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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I doubt it: I can only speak for my own experiences, and certainly I never regretted taking coke. (Except possibly at one company christmas lunch, but that's a long story)
When you take it, it's an upper, it's a rush. And you want that again. I understand from friends that ice, smack, and E are much the same.
I guess it's like learning VB. Do you regret it while you're learning, or while you're using it? Or only when you find out it's for children and "real coders" use C# or C++?*
* Exaggerated for effect, honest.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Some of these become compulsory because withdrawal is wrecking and painful for long periods of time.
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver
When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani
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So is giving up smoking, and coffee!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Precisely!
But not near as hard.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Yes, my dad stopped smoking 20 years ago and suffered 6 months of ravaging cough and mind numbing, then nothing more.
Heroine addicts on the other hands pass 6-8 months with increasingly more painful total body seizures and cramps, excruciating migraines and inner organ failures. Many of them stop pretty soon taking the drug for recreation and start doing it for bare survival - and that's why they can be pretty dangerous. Deperation fuels a lot of anger and aggressivity.
Ecstasy kills the brain but I don't know about withdraval symptoms other than deep depression, usually the consumers die from OD or badly mixed doses or lethal mixes, due to the perceived levity of the drug.
Cocaine is terribly addicting but offers low withdraval, almost like coffee. A friend of mine stated, exact words "I wasn't feeling bad, I could avoid taking it for an entire month and not miss it. But whenever I held 50€ in hands cocaine was my first thougt. I stopped only by self restricting myself at home for a whole year".
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver
When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani
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While I was smoking I loved it, no regrets. It's been just about 20 years (in November)since I quit, due to a non-smoking related illness. I have no regrets about quitting either, in fact it saves me about $8000 a year .
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jeron1 wrote: While I was smoking I loved it, no regrets.
I find that very interesting and fascinating. My assumption about smokers seems to be wrong, at least with this very limited dataset.
Thank you for the feedback.
jeron1 wrote: $8000 a year .
 Is that just the cost of cigarettes or are you estimating other health costs (doctor visits, etc)?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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