I've switched from menthol cigarettes to non-menthol... I'm preparing to quit at some point again. Had a date set, but not sure I will be ready by then (May 9th). I'd quit last year for over 250 days, from early March until late November. For some reason I've found it harder this time to even just cut down one cigarette a day. I'm thinking I might be trying too hard here, out of the frustration I've felt with the smoking habit. Last year, here's what worked for me:

got the patch from my doctor (prescription, never used it, but it was good to know I had a backup plan, anything but buying a pack of smokes).

Set a goal date months in advance. March 8th. Ended up quitting March 7th, a day earlier than planned. Figured I'd tackle my addiction by quitting a day early, as cravings seem to get worse as the goal date nears.

Kept cutting down cigarettes. First week, got down to fifteen per day. Second week, twelve per day. Third week, ten per day. Once I hit ten, I cut down one per week. This made the transition feel a bit easier.

Moved all smoking to outside once I got down to fifteen.

Got Lemon Zinger tea, added no milk or sugar. I also tried many other varieties of tea (peppermint, peach), but the Lemon Zinger was my personal favorite and seemed to stave off cravings the best. When I'd have a craving for a smoke, I'd keep my hands busy making the tea. The traditional aspect of tea-making became a huge factor once I finally quit. My hands would be busy stirring with the spoon, dipping the tea bag, similar to the process of smoking (where the hands are kept busy), and then drinking the tea once cooled down enough (very much like smoking, except you are taking in a tea instead of smoke.) Drinking tea calmed me in the way that smoking had. The herbal teas that are decaffienated seem to work best in the adjustment.

Bought five pounds of Twizzlers. For some reason, this soft candy, shaped somewhat like a cigarette, also helped immensely in the process of quitting. I can't even eat them often now, after overwhelming my tastebuds with a few months of perpetual Twizzler-to-mouth action.

Got into omlettes. Heard that eating eggs during quitting is helpful, so got some great omlette ingredients (peppers, sweet onions, mushrooms, swiss cheese) and treated myself a few times a week to an omlette. This resulted in my gaining a good five pounds in the first few weeks, but I've never much minded weight gains... weight losses drive me more nuts, as my pants won't stay up. Unfortunately, over the past six months I accidently lost about twenty pounds (possibly more, grrrrrr), without meaning to or trying to, which meant I had to search through all my clothes for pants that fit. I have two pairs that fit without falling down throughout the day. When I quit smoking, I'm hoping I'll get back to my initial weight, as it's the weight I feel most comfortable at. My appetite is at zero lately. Even the thought of an omlette doesn't make me hungry, but I figure once I quit smoking that will change.

Quitting in the spring of last year seemed to help, as spring cleaning and gardening took up a nice chunk of time and energy. I would think quitting in the winter time as being ten times harder than quitting in the spring, summer or autumn. Timing is everything, as they say. :)

My guess is that by the summer time I will have quit smoking again. I'm still hesitant about my May 9th quit date, so I may up it to late May or early June. In the meantime, I focus on just knowing I am capable of quitting. Going for as long as I did without smoking, I am positive I can do it again and achieve perhaps a permanent state of non-smoking.