Help me not to buy cigarettes today

[Tweetypie27]

I’ve give up smoking I’ve got a vape a good one I haven’t smoked since yesterday. This is so hard I really want one I want nothing more.
Im 36 and need to stop now I smoke up to 20 a day sometimes my skin has gone rubbish my hair is snapping my teeth have had better days.
my only reason for quitting at the moment is vanity and I’ve promised my children they keep nagging me to stop and their scared I will die young.
I know all this I know it’s bad for you but will I always miss it ? My morning coffee and fag my pudding fag I want to stop so much but I feel like something js missing will this go ?
Im avoiding the shop today I will buy some if I go in there today the worst bit is sometimes the man even gets my fags for me before I even ask lol it’s terrible I feel like I can’t go in if he does that I will have them help me see the benefits

DONT DO IT ITS SHIT

I've never smoked but once saw cigarettes described as death sticks. Which would have been enough to put me off.

You can do it, every day that passes will be a little easier then the last, just keep busy (fun busy not stressful busy) and plan something lovely to do with the £50+?? A week you must be spending on a 20 a day habit.

Took me a while but I did it. Take it literally a minute at a time. Just let it go and refuse to give in until a bit later. Do all the usual stuff.....think of the health, think of the cost and never give in.
I was a 30/ 40 a day for 20 plus years, stopped about 30 years ago and wouldn't dare have one even now.

Hypnotherapy is your friend - I promise!

A packet of cigarettes is 10 pounds right ?

you were smoking maybe 5 packets a week ?

So £50 a week ?

There are 74 weeks until July 2024

So if you kick it in now and maintain by summer 2024 you could have saved 3700 pounds.

I'd make an Pinterest board of things you could do with 3.5k, holiday, new car, kitchen refurb, deposit for children uni or homes - and whenever you have a craving go and have a look at it.

It won't always be this hard. Stick with it.

I’ve got no direct experience advice as I’ve never smoked but I’ve supported friends who have given up. All the best today, it’s the right decision but I’m sure it won’t be easier.

could you try adding temporary or permanent new ‘habits’ in place of the cigarettes? For example go for a quick walk (not near the shop) after pudding.
have a different hot drink so the association/routine isn’t as strong. Get other things to put in your mouth such as a sweet, buy some nice (non alcohol) drinks etc.

Vape. Does your liquid/pods have a high nicotine content? I stopped smoking in August after 20 years and now vape. In the early days I vape continuously it does give you the nicotine you need but don't get the 'hit" so to speak. Sweets are also good. But with the vape it gives you something to do with your hands.

I gave up smoking 20 years ago and it’s a decision a made everyday for several years. Even 10 years a day swigging bear in the sun, or a tough day would have me having that ridiculous internal discussion. You know the “I’m an adult I can do what I fucking like” one?🤣🤣🤣
My advice is decide to do it. Decide you aren’t a smoker anymore and respond with “I’m an adult, I CAN decide not to smoke”.

I used to smoke 20 a day and gave up when I was 30. Over 10 years later and my daily life is completely smoke free but I'm still tempted when drinking. I've found nicotine to be the most addictive drug I've tried - and I've tried a few 😂
It's great that you want to, it's the necessary first step. It has to be for you, no one else. The voice in your head will be incredibly loud so it's best to keep busy rather. Do not buy them, be aware that if you do, you will smoke them all. Be kind to yourself that a slip up does not mean a failure. I agree with collecting the money to do something nice, maybe also find an app that lets you count the smoke free days.
If you can keep it up for a few weeks, you'll start to hate the smell of smoke. You'll smell it on people's clothes and breath. Realising how disgusting it smells will keep you going for another few weeks and by then the cravings will have reduced. Good luck!!

Read the Alan Carr book on how to give up smoking. I went from 20-40 a day to zero before I'd finished the book.

Also, open an online savings account for a specific thing you've always wanted to go - especially if it has an elemnent of fitness needed (e.g. do the Inca trail or learn scuba or climb Ben Nevis etc). Every time you want to buy a pack, transfer £15 to the account and do something for 5 minutes that brings you closer to your dream - fitness or research or something. By then the immediate craving has passed. I gave up years ago but the first thing I noticed, before better skin or lung power, was how incredibly richer I became overnight. I always seemed to have money.

You already know the benefits and you know the downsides, having someone point them out isn't going to help you.
I'm an ex smoker (20 a day for 25 years) and I bloody loved smoking- cup of coffee = fag, glass of wine = fag, need a think = fag, finished a meal = fag and so it went on.
I tried to give up with patches, gum, vaping etc and nothing worked.
I finally stopped smoking six years ago with Allan Carr's Easy Way. I didn't go to the courses, I just read the book - and I smoked while reading it (as he recommends). By the time I was halfway through the book I had stopped smoking and I have never smoked since, not even a puff.
An important part of it is language, I don't consider that I've 'given up' smoking, I've simply 'stopped' and interestingly from day one I told people 'I don't smoke' and fully believed I had the same status as someone who had never smoked.
Sorry to bang on about it but it's another idea you may not have come across, good luck.

Ex heavy smoker here, went over to vapes 6 years ago now nothing at all for 2 years.
It's a habit not just for the nicotine but for the whole ritual, I smoked rollies so the whole thing of getting a tin out and making one, using it as an excuse to get away from people etc left me feeling really empty when it was gone. I can remember feeling as well the first time I excused myself in a pub to go outside and vape "Well how long do I stand here for?" You will feel weird and strange for a while but I promise it passes very quickly.

The vape will help with controlling breathing when you're stressed there are different types of nicotine shots, some are slow release some work quicker ask your vape shop if unsure, I found slow release worked better for me.
Within a few days I could feel the difference, unbelievably I cycled when k smoked and suddenly I wasn't stopping to catch my breath.
Within a month my face stopped feeling like sandpaper .
Stopped coughing up my lungs etc

Thanks guys all great reasons I admire you all for quitting it is so so hard it’s like smoking becomes your friend it’s always there for you but also Killing you it’s crazy what addiction does.
Im tea total which helps now as I gave up before and started again when I drank but I haven’t had a drink in about three years now. This is my only vice that’s why I tell myself it’s ok it’s all you do but it’s killing me.
More money would be nice for us as a family we haven’t been abroad for a while.
I know how proud my kids will be of me my oldest is 16 and keeps telling me I have time to stop and undo some damage I want to do it for them but it’s hard.
I know I can do this I’ve done it before just have to take it minute but minute and not smoke.

Alan Carr worked for me.

Most GP practices or health centres have stop smoking schemes where you can receive support. This often involves nicotine patches in gradually reducing dosage. And they give lots of encouragement. Instead of buying cigs today, why not use the time to research what is available in your area and get in touch?

Alan Carr, the easy way

@Tweetypie27

I smoked for around 20 years (stopped nearly 19 years ago) and echo a PP, that the Alan Carr book helped me with my mindset around smoking.
(Although I did stop for a few years having read Alan Carr and then get hooked again, but have not had so much as a drag since 2004).

I'm afraid I can't tell you when the longing for a cig stopped the first (few) times I had a break from smoking, what I can say with conviction is that this final time it was like a switch had flicked. I literally went to smoke my first cigarette of the day, thought 'I don't want to do this any more', stubbed it out (what a waste!!) and that was that. No cravings or anything. It was totally a mindset switch. I wish I could apply the same thing to my diet!

I knew I was properly free when I could walk past the cigarette counter at a supermarket and not notice the packets of cigarettes (this was before they had to be hidden from view). And when I saw someone smoking and thought 'what a weird thing to do - I used to have to do that!'

You CAN stop smoking. The addiction is a strong one to break and it can be really difficult, but the fundamental point is that you only want / need the next cigarette because of this one.

I read Allen Carr Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Honestly it is so good I really recommend it.

One thing that really helped me was realising that although I craved a cigarette.. there is no PHYSICAL pain. The actual nicotine withdrawal only really lasts a few days... after that all the cravings are purely in your head. Somehow when I realised this it really helped.

Also the concept that smoking is actually not any easier than stopping. Every time you have a cigarette all you are doing is resetting the clock so you're back to one hour without nicotine, two hours without nicotine, three hours and so on, then you smoke another one and you're back to the start again. Every cigarette smoked you constantly go back into withdrawal until the next one. Going cold Turkey, ripping the plaster off, means you will go a few days and finally the nicotine is out your system. Then you just need to remember any other cravings are purely in your head and keep busy.

You can do it, honestly you can.

Two years vaping for me. 35 yrs 20 a day fags. Stopped and started countless times. 16% vape juice and at first I was sucking on it all day long. WFH so could! It was hard for a couple of weeks but OMG could never have a fag now. It stinks. I stunk. I feel so much better and financially so much better off. I hated having to sneak out for a fag in a pub and come back stinking. Can go much longer between vapes than fags now. Please don’t be me and wait till you’re in your sixties. I could be retired now if I’d saved all the money I burned

What nicotine level are you using? I gave up cigarettes last summer but still vape disposables

Be pleased that your kids want you to stop. Think how you'd feel if they weren't bothered and wanted to smoke too.
Avoid shops for as long as you can until the cravings ease - online food shop etc.
If they're not there, you can't smoke them!

Also my friend who struggled with giving up used to 'smoke' a pen - bear with me, here!

She had a Bic biro with the ink bit taken out so that it was just the plastic tube and if she was really struggling would inhale through that as if it was a cigarette, so she had something to do with her hands and could sort of pretend she was smoking with the way she was breathing through it. Looked a bit mad so she didn't do it out and about, but I suppose no madder than smoking or vaping when you think about it!

I suppose a bit like the Nicorette inhalators that were around in the 90's. But Alan Carr is very clear that nicotine replacements just prolong the process (although I know they have helped many people to give up cigarettes

The only thing that worked for me was vaping, I had to start on the maximum nicotine dose otherwise I still craved it a lot. 6 years later I haven't smoked since but am massively addicted to my vape and have no idea how I'm going to stop!

I tried champix which worked well but the side effects weren't much fun and also patches which again were fine but didn't last long before I started smoking again. I quickly realised that 'just one' was a slippery slope.

Now I don't smoke I really hate the smell, my OH smokes and I can't go near him after he's had one. I do still have the odd pang when I see people standing outside a pub with a cig but it doesn't last long. I like feeling cleaner and healthier and can't imagine smoking again now.

Good luck!!