Quitting the dreaded Tobacco? Stories of success would help!

I have been smoking cigarettes for the past 9 years, and people always used to harp on me, it's bad, when you gonna give up etc... and i would tell each and everyone to lay off my case, i enjoy smoking and will give up when i am ready.....
Well i do believe that time has approached me... I have been having these feelings for quite some time now... i am only having a few drags of my cigarettes these days and am smoking less purely because i just don't get off on them the way i used to crave and really enjoy it.... now i can tell it's purely habit and not enjoyment... Also i am quite sick of paying $9.95 a pack, it's a rip-off and not worth it anymore.... I feel confident in myself of giving up except for the 2 times im worried about buckeling....
* the after-meal cigarette i still enjoy
* clubbing and socialising, going out etc....
I was curious to know if anyone here has successfully given up and how hard it actually was.... I have never been on patches, so i am thinking of starting these in 1 weeks time...
Having a non smoking partner i feel will make it slightly easier and i am eager to see how much better i will feel... i also have a throat/health problem at the moment which is another reason for me quitting.
Your comments would be helpful.....
I am now into my 5th day of non smoking and am at times finding it really difficult, other times quite easy....

Keep going!! It's worth it. Just passed my 5 month giving-up anniversary and finding it really easy (as I have since Xmas). Feeling noticeably healthier (and richer) and not finding going out a problem - it really does get easier.
There's also a good thread in Social which might help:
The 'quit smoking' thread
The patches also really helped me in the first few weeks

I quit 6 weeks ago on wednesday.
Patches for 3 weeks then nothing. The trick for me has been PK chewy. I go through over a packet a day. Whenever I have a craving, I just have a PK.
As for going out, I've cheated a few times. Had 5 or so smokes on saturday night, but I am not really craving them as much as I used to. I think it was because I was with my family, and everyone smokes.
You just have to keep telling yourself that yes, you really DONT want to have a smoke, and it's just a nicotine addiction telling your body it does, over time, it gets less and less insistant.
The biggest bonus I've noticed so far is that I have a sense of taste and smell.

patches....they work a treat. helped me kick the habit for 12 months to date.
good luck...

I am almost at the 2 week mark, hanging in there, only advice really is to make sure that you do really want to quit. I was reminded the other day of a little goal i had set when i first started smoking ("i'll quit before i'm 21") .. so i realised that i had to do it luckily that came at a time when i really felt like it. hopefully fingers crossed i can do it.
I know this is probably way out of the question, but i reckon for the first few weeks you gotta stay away from pubs and clubs if poss (i tried before and as soon as i went anywhere a cigarrette would magically find its way to my hand).
Oh yeah, and this is probably off the topic, but those smoking ads, how crap are they really!! that new one with the woman on it pfffft, just think if your not a smoker anymore you wont have to worry about the pathetic targeting ads like that!

i quit for 4 months - i wish i'd never re-started. so i'd say this: dont think you can have 'just one'.. 'just one' turns into just a couple.. and before you know it you buy a pack and its all over. maybe stay away from going out with friends to pubs n clubs for a couple of weeks, if your friends smoke. thats how i re-started. 3 friends who smoke and a few vodkas.
but its really not so bad after the first few days, and it just gets easier. you do still crave them but less and less and less..
if you want a bit of inspiration, my mom smoked from when she was 13yrs old, till she was 43. 30yrs, over a pack a day. and she quit, cold turkey. she bought a hotted up 200SX on the condition that it was financed with the cigarette money. she loves that car WAY more than she liked smoking.
my dad also hasnt had a smoke in over 5 or 6 years. he said he refuses to quit. he's just having "a really long break between cigs" :D
best of luck n stay with it - its the best decision you could make, i'm starting to feel like heading down that path myself

I used zyban to quit in Feb last year. Zyban was good because I could still smoke for the first 10 days or so and when the time came to actually stop I was surprised to find how easy it was, though I still get the occasional craving. It was also cheap. Less than a carton of smokes.
I had smoked for 16 years and only gave up because I was sick of paying such outrageous prices. I still miss it but know I did the right thing.

slightly off the topic... has anyone tried that liquid stuff thats being advertised on tellie lately, that blocks out like 90-something % of the nicotine? (the name escapes me).
personally, I have tried to quit a number of times and failed each time...

I substituted my addiction with cookie dough and coopers stout. My methods may not be conventional, but they were effective...

If you really want to quit, you can never have a ciggie again.
Ever.

Yep, I've tried a lot of times to quit, and each time I'd say to myself "mm might as well, one won't get me started again" and you know what? It does, each and everytime. As soon as you break it, you're fkd pretty much, even if you don't start smoking again straight away after the first cig back, it will eventually become more and more.
The longest I went for was 3 weeks (cold turkey), and I fkd up because I was pissed off with my girlfriend and was stressed to the shite.
Ohh and the patches really do help. The first week was easy, even when i went out drinking with my mates just because of the patches I think. Maybe it's a mental thing. But after the first week, I didn't buy anymore so yea =/
Good luck mate, hope you do better than I ever have.

5 days and counting...fuck, it's really much harder than i thought.

two of my good mates, both long term heavy smokers, have just quit, they read a book called 'how to quit smoking' and theyve found its very effective. the process of the book begins with talk about how you enjoy smoking, why you enjoy it, etc, it gradually progresses through all the issues of smoking, and then talks about the little niggling things you dont like about it, then it begins to get technical and talks in great detail about how much damage youre doing etc, it draws you off them.
ill find the correct name and the author and post it on here.
i would definately recommend the book.

NicoBloc- anyone tried it?
NicoBloc Website
Sounds interesting!