hi stacey and welcome. so yes, you do need to quit due to the health issues. Congrats on 18 months of soberity.

now, you need to get educated about the nicotine addiction. whyquit.com is a good resource. also if you go to groups in the upper right hand corner and go to the group "good posts" you will find a lot of information there including allen carr's book which also will help.

once you get yourself educated then you will need to make the decision to quit and pick a quit date and get prepared. you say you can't imagine life without smoking. you need to change that to a life of a non smoker. make a list of why you want to quit and post it everywhere. a positive mindset is key to quitting.

do roll call and pledge with us every morning. it sets the tone for the day. if you believe you can do it , you will .

Hi stacey and welcome. I think we all thought of smoking as a reward at some point during our years of addiction. That's part of the junkie mentality that goes with any addiction. The fact is that smoking amounts to sucking poison and the ONLY thing smoking does is it makes us want to smoke even more. Smoking does nothing FOR us, it only does TO us and what it does is to inflict a whole lot of damage to our bodies. Sambod gave you some great advice. I'm also going to suggest you spend some time on the discussion boards, read the posts, ask questions, learn what others are experiencing as they take their journey into living smoke free lives. You have no doubt experienced the freedom that comes with sobriety (congrats on your 18 months!) and the same holds true with living smoke free. Try rewarding yourself every day that you do not smoke. Rewards need not be expensive, they just have to make you feel good. It can be something as simple as taking the scenic route home or taking a luxurious bath complete with candlelight, soft music and some ice water to sip from your favorite goblet. I once needed to use an inhaler every day and thought I'd be on albuterol for life. I have not had the need for an inhaler since about a week into my quit. I can't promise that will happen to you but I do know your health will improve, your breathing will improve, your appearance will improve and all it takes is one day at a time. you absolutely CAN do this. It takes some getting used to but the benefits that come with living smoke free are worth the initial discomfort of learning a new way of living. I'm glad you're here, so now do some reading, make a plan, pick a quit date and begin your journey into smobriety with us!

So many people say they can't quit because, they are this they are that, I have this I have that. What all that means is you don't want to quit. Any one that smokes is addicted to smoking. You either quit or you don't. There are Meds to help use them!

Congrats on your sobriety andf although you used smoking as a reward/comfiort for so many years, you can do things differently. I felt exactly like you 2 years ago- could not imagine living w/out my cigs. It was a process to learn how to relax, comfort myself, and basically deal w/life w/out the addiction/ If you commit your mibnd to this first and foremost, use this site for info & support- you can do it, just like so many of us here. Jump in and take advantage of the inspiratioin from others here- I know it worked for me. Two years quit now and have never felt better.

You can do it too!!!!!!!!!!!