How I Quit Smoking

On January 2, I quit smoking at 7:30 in the morning. As a smoker of 32 years, quitting has been a thousand times easier than I ever imagined it would be. And the reason it’s been so easy is Chantix (Varenicline) — the prescription drug from Pfizer. I started taking the pills a week before my target quit date, as directed. Some time around the fifth day, smoking a cigarette was becoming an odd experience. The smoke had somehow gotten “neutralized” and I was not getting the satisfaction from a smoke like I used to. On top of that, the smoke itself tasted funny — not bad but not good, either. What was going on? Well, apparently, it was the Chantix at work.

My doctor had encouraged me to set a quit date when I saw her in mid-December. I was reluctant to name a date but she reassured me that if I didn’t quit on the date I named, no one would give me a hard time about it at my next appointment. So while she waited, I debated the wisdom of various upcoming dates. I settled on January 2nd as the first of the year was too cliched. And the first was on a Monday. Mondays are bad enough without attempting a monumental task like quitting smoking.

In my pre-quit zeal, I smoked like a fiend. I lit up every chance I could because I wanted to be as sick of smoking as I could get by the time I put my lighter down for good. On New Year’s Day, I spent most of the day hunkered down online, researching quitting tips and trying to get myself prepared. I’d already bought supplies I thought I’d need for my quit: sugarless gum, sugar-free hard toffees, orange sherbet, fat-free ice cream sandwiches (mmm, Skinny Cow), green seedless grapes, orange juice and apples. If you’re a smoker or used to smoke, you already know that fruit and smoking don’t go together. Neither do dairy and smoking.

On Tuesday morning, I brewed coffee as usual. After brushing my teeth and pouring a cup, I went outside for one of my last cigarettes ever. Years ago in an American Lung Association pamphlet, I’d read it was easier to smoke a few the morning of the day you are quitting. I don’t know if that is still the current wisdom but it made sense to me. First thing in the morning, the desire to smoke is the strongest, especially with that first cup of joe. So there I was out on my patio, drinking coffee and inhaling as deeply as I could on a Carlton Menthol 100. And freezing my ass off. The temperature was somewhere around 28 degrees, which is very cold to me. I think I smoked five cigarettes that morning. Then I took the rest of the open pack, broke them in half and immersed them in a cup of water. Which is still sitting on the patio table where I can see the ugly brown water any time I want. Right or wrong, I took four unopened packs, put them in a zip up sandwich bag and left them on a park bench across the street from my office. I smoked my last cigarette, then headed for the shower. I washed my hair, hoping to get rid of the smoky smell.

On my drive to work, I carried ice water instead of coffee (ice water and smoking don’t go well together either). Not smoking that day was surprisingly easy. And ditto for that night. And the next day and night. And on. Now 79 smoke-free days have piled up and I am simply amazed at how easy it’s been. And thrilled. It has to be due to the Chantix. I’m not saying I’m out of the woods yet. An ex-smoker never is. But I just don’t want to smoke anymore.