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Original poster

Stop smoking - how did you do it?!

28 replies

TheBalladofMrsBegg · 06/05/2019 19:01

I’m currently sat in the garden smoking a cigarette.

I hate the smell, I hate that my DH hates it and I still do it, I hate that it is making me breathless & i hate what it’s doing to my body.

BUT I love a cigarette. I love to nip out into the garden and have 5 minutes to myself. Smoking relaxes me and I can think of nothing more pleasing than a cigarette and a glass of wine. I really want to stop, but I don’t know if I can.

I’ve tried patches, hypnosis and those vape thing (awful, I’d rather smoke — I didn’t have a lanyard with one on either) and it didn’t work. I became irritable and short tempered. How the fuck do I stop when I enjoy it so much?

OP posts:
dingdongthosebells · 06/05/2019 19:05

Try a vape pod system with a nice juice. I've tried vaping to give up smoking, and it didn't work, but the one I've got now is amazing. I use a juice that tastes like caramel, nuts and tobacco, and with the new type of ejuice (nicotine salts) you can have 20mg and it still tastes nice, rather than 3-6mg. I have this one, about £18 on Amazon. Worth a shot!
I've been a 20 a day smoker for years, and I have a terribly addictive personality, but this is good

vaping360.com/best-vape-starter-kits/pod-mini-vapes/smok-nord-review/

dingdongthosebells · 06/05/2019 19:05

(I'm not on commission lol, I've just found something that seems to work)

karala · 06/05/2019 19:07

I decided Iwas giving up and I used a combination of patches and chewing gum. It's one of the hardest things I ever did but it's been worth it. Accept that it will be hard but if it gets awful have a piece of nicotine gum as well as the patch - don't have cigs in the house and change your routines. Reward yourself daily or even hourly

AmazingBouncingFerret · 06/05/2019 19:08

I found browsing online shopping for clothes and lovely home wares and then converting the prices into how many packets of cigarettes they would cost really helped me. That and sheer willpower and taking it an hour at a time, then a day, then a week, then a month and before you know it you’re no longer thinking about them.
They really are an obscene amount of money now.

SimonJT · 06/05/2019 19:09

I also love smoking. I was on champix for a while and didn’t smoke on it at all, as soon as I stopped I started smoking again. I’ve tried patches, sprays, vapes etc and nothing has made the slightest dint in my smoking.

I think it has to be something you want and are ready for, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to quit while I still enjoy smoking.

Devaki · 06/05/2019 19:10

You have to really want to.

Racerback · 06/05/2019 19:10

I went cold turkey by challenging myself to see how long I could go without having a fag.
18 years and counting...

Buddywoo · 06/05/2019 19:11

I have smoked most of my life and tried to give up many times without success. 2 years ago I started vaping. It was awful for the first 24 hours but I haven't touched a cigarette since. It was easy and I am weak willed. I feel so rich now.

Faster · 06/05/2019 19:11

I got pregnant. Worked mind you. Not touched another one and DS is almost two.
Admittedly it is rather an extreme course of action for most people!

gamerchick · 06/05/2019 19:12

I used the quick most and then the lozenges. You have to really want it, you can still have your glass of wine in the garden if you really need 5.

SinglePringle · 06/05/2019 19:12

Gave up drinking
Got a vape (hated it, made me want to stop even more)
Counted days via an app
Went to the gym
Found it far far easier than I expected.

18 months now.

Squiff70 · 06/05/2019 19:12

I used to smoke 20+ a day and quit 12 years ago using Champix. Not touched one evil cig since and never will again.

gamerchick · 06/05/2019 19:12

*mist

OhDiddums · 06/05/2019 19:13

Watching with interest.

HJWT · 06/05/2019 19:13

I stopped as wanted children! Had one last year when drunk and nearly died 🤣 it was horrendous ! X

user1471453601 · 06/05/2019 19:14

I found giving up smoking after 40 years of smoking was remarkably easy.

All it took was having to tell my DD and very frail DM that I had lung cancer. Stopped straight away. I was one of the lucky ones, I'm still around 10 years later. The vast majority of people diagnosed with lung cancer don't survive

maidenover · 06/05/2019 19:15

I read Alan Carr’s Easy Way to Give up smoking. He explains exactly how nicotine works and why we don’t need it.

mrswarthog · 06/05/2019 19:19

I was sick of smelling bad, getting chest infections, pissing DH off because he hates it, finding excuses to 'go for a walk' because I wouldn't smoke in front of the DC. So I got the highest level patch & thought I'd just stop over Christmas/ New Years. Then I thought I'd stick it out in January. Dropped the patches down mid Feb and kept going. Dropped them down again mid March and counted the £960 in the jar I'd saved, then kept going. Went on holiday Mid April, didn't take patches, have still not smoked. Am now at £1608. It's still not easy, but I haven't smoked for nearly half this year and I won't today or tomorrow.

I didn't want to give up. I wanted to stop for a bit.

WeeWeed · 06/05/2019 19:24

Surprisingly, gum worked for me. Tried patches, vapes, sprays, cold turkey, lozenges, little minty things.

The problem now is how to give up gum.

SuckingOnDiesel · 06/05/2019 19:31

@dingdongthosebells I use a juice that tastes like caramel, nuts and tobacco, and with the new type of ejuice (nicotine salts) you can have 20mg and it still tastes nice, rather than 3-6mg.

This juice sounds lovely, where did you get it/ what is it called please?

OP I stopped smoking yesterday, am vaping instead. I'd 1000000% rather have a cigarette too but it's better than going cold turkey definitely. I find those apps really motivating as well.

SuckingOnDiesel · 06/05/2019 19:31

Sorry, bold fail Blush

Lou573 · 06/05/2019 20:21

I think you just have to do it. Accept it will be shit but just get on with it and it gets easier little by little. Acknowledging that it was horrible to stop but quitting anyway was the only way it worked for me after trying various ways to make the process easier. After a while it was such a relief to no longer be constantly wondering when I could have my next cigarette.

mclady · 06/05/2019 21:39

Smoked for close to 20 years, gave up the day I found out I was pregnant with ease and started smoking again (secretly) about three months after I gave birth.

I stopped again two and a half years ago, cold turkey. I stopped because I was ready to, every cigarette I smoked made me think "is this the one that will kill me?". It sounds odd, I loved smoking, but I didn't want to be a classed as a smoker anymore.

Don't get me wrong, every so often I get the urge for that five minutes peace and quiet in the garden but I know that it would be a slippery slope if I did.

mclady · 06/05/2019 21:40

Also, remember it's only your first cigarette of the day you need to give up.

Sourdoughpizza · 06/05/2019 21:53

Allan Carr
A calendar where I ticked off every day (I worked out if I got to six weeks most challenges and cravings were gone, I'd tried so many times!)
Picking a relatively stress free time
Lots of fluid in first week. I relied on food to help with cravings initially.

The thing is, if you have an addictive personality your brain will find another treat. The trick is picking a treat that is not slowly killing you.

I won't lie I am ten years quit and there are fleeting moments when I think wouldn't it be nice to have that head to toe rush, that numbing feeling, but I know it would shortly be followed by feeling drained and self hate!

The other thing was spending time on a chest ward in hospital waiting for surgery for an unrelated to smoking issue. Quit while you have health, you will not regret it.