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Original poster

To all ex-smokers…

163 replies

ButteryNut · 31/07/2023 18:43

How did you manage to quit?

Tell me your secrets, NRT? Knitting? Drinking water every time you got a craving?

OP posts:
Starlightstarbright2 · 31/07/2023 19:46

Tbh the one thing I found gave me the motivation was I wanted to as opposed to I felt I should.

Shurleyknot · 31/07/2023 19:47

Accupuncture about 17 years ago.

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 31/07/2023 19:50

I gave up 15 years ago, I had a packet with a few in which was my comfort blanket for a bit, but basically I just gave it up, it was becoming embarrassing buying cigarettes not to mention expensive and really anti social, I never wanted to be governed by fags.

Mayhem3 · 31/07/2023 19:51

I’ve given up a few times but this is the only time it’s stuck.

The hardest part was not being in my routine.

Fortunately I had a child that I wouldn’t smoke in front of so it was never easy.

My favourite cigarettes were in the evening once my DD went to bed.
So I had a vape all day and then had cigarettes just in the evening.

I didn’t actually get on with the vape and got rid of it quite quickly.

I then reduced these and would have just 1 and then go to bed early.

And then I got rid of that 1 and went to bed really early (literally as soon as I put my DD down) with a cup of camomile tea and read.

My biggest advice would be to keep very busy (if you’re craving really badly it do some sort of exercise or have a cup of tea).
I also brushed my teeth regularly throughout the day which really seemed to help.

There was definitely a mind shift switch that I hadn’t had the other times I tried to quit.

I realised how much I must smell and how unattractive I must look to other people. I started OLD and so many profiles said they wouldn’t go with a smoker as they couldn’t face kissing them.

But my biggest mind shift was realising that I’d always been certain I would never get into a controlling relationship because I refused to me controlled, yet I was being controlled by a little stick!
If any time I craved it I would remind myself that I won’t be in a controlling relationship with anyone or anything.

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 31/07/2023 19:52

Just got fed up and quit. After 20 years.

Didn't tell anyone and kept a pack hidden in my car boot just in case.

Kept telling myself "if you can make it to lunch/dinner/evening/breakfast you can have one" but at each increment I'd resist a bit longer. Never did have another.

The nic cravings only lasted 3 days or so. The behavioural aspect / what to do with my hands thing took months.

I ate a lot of carrot sticks and boiled sweets.

BettyOBarley · 31/07/2023 19:52

I tried nicotine gum and the Alan Carr book etc. and then one day I just stopped and never bothered for another. It was weird really.

DH quit with vaping. Although he's still vaping years later....

pontipinemum · 31/07/2023 19:53

I drastically cut back when I asked a work friend to not let me know when he was going for a cig. I noticed when he was on holidays I didn't have half as many. I was down to about 2 a day then got pregnant so quit completely. I don't think I've had a cig since about Christmas now.

I appreciate I make that sound very easy and it was for me. DH is struggling big time with quitting. He is taking some tablets from the GP. I really want him to quit I am terrified of him dying young from smoking.

Blistory · 31/07/2023 19:54

I had to double up the nicotine replacement. So patches to deal with the underlying craving and a nicotine inhaler to deal with the sudden urges. And the Nicolette app - the countdowns etc helped keep me going.

I also had to stay away from social events for a few months to break the habit .

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 31/07/2023 19:54

Oddly i have dreamed about smoking many times.

LakeTiticaca · 31/07/2023 19:55

Nicorette fresh mint gum . Addicted to that now 😄

MattDillonsEyebrows · 31/07/2023 19:55

Another one for Allen Carr. But I read it the week before I went on holiday as I knew I needed to start with a change of scenery.

I also added up how much money I’d spent on smoking. I was generally just a social smoker and when I started it was less than £3 per pack.
It still worked out in the region of around £16000!!!! That shocked me to the core, and really helped with my determination to quit.

ScarletWitchM · 31/07/2023 19:56

vape. I took part in a uni study that compared some participants on vapes and some on Champix, some on patches.
for me the vape was free and I got free juices etc for 6 month. This was the only way I was able to stop smoking after 20 years

noodles20 · 31/07/2023 19:58

CentrifugalBumblePuppy · 31/07/2023 18:54

Allan Carr’s (not the Spexy Beast one)How to Stop Smoking book.

DH & I listened to it over night after buying on Audible, next morning woke up, no cravings, no need for nicotine replacement, nothing.

Quite repetitive, a little condescending, but does repeat all the things us smokers tell
ourselves every day, and for some reason, it’s stuck.

Have given up then relapsed many times but this time has been pain free.

Me too, only i read his stop smoking the easy way book and listened to the hypnosis cd that came with it.

YoSof · 31/07/2023 19:58

I smoked for 15 years. Someone told me to use nicotine patches and a vape together for those first few weeks - the patches helped deliver a steady stream of nicotine and the vape helped when a craving really hit.

Haven't touched a cigarette for three years now and never will again.

ScarletWitchM · 31/07/2023 19:59

I forgot to add i vaped for 12 months after quitting smoking and then quit calling after moving to 0% nicotine juice

Sellingstress · 31/07/2023 20:01

Like a pp I had to cut out coffee and alcohol until I had broken the cycle. Been many years now and can now drink alcohol and coffee without even thinking about a cigarette. Oddly though it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve managed to stop thinking about a cigarette in a moment of big crisis or drama! Never gave into it though. Craving not strong enough I guess.

Badbudgeter · 31/07/2023 20:02

Hypnotherapy 21 years ago. So that was £50 well spent I had the odd drunken cigarette but never really enjoyed it enough to take up the habit. It’s been about 17 years since I had my last one.

holdupholdup · 31/07/2023 20:04

Champix 5 years ago. My husband is 4 years smoke free, he used Nicolette spray.

Barleysugar86 · 31/07/2023 20:05

Stubboness. Honestly it's the only way. I get one pack of 100 nicotine gum pieces to see me through the worst raging times but I only let myself buy the one pack and replace with regular gum. You just have to feel the pain and be adamant smoking is not an option when the cravings come.

If you actually mean it it's not so hard. Miserable but you are tormented sure if you don't really 100% mean it I think. Quitting when I was pregnant was that for me.

TastesLikeStrawberriesOnASummerEvening · 31/07/2023 20:06

Vape.
I'm aware that's still looked down on but it's better than smoking and a fraction of the price.

Moanycowbag · 31/07/2023 20:06

Allan Carr book here too, husband went away for 10 days so I read the book, panicked near the end and put the book down for two days, picked it back up smoked the last cigarette and never touched one again, from 30-40 a day to nothing, have never gone back, 16 years this year I did have a serious breadstick habit for a while as it gave me something to hold and replaced the hand to mouth action, I still love the smell of a good proper lit cigarette and will linger near some smokers just to get a proper whiff but I'm never tempted to start again.

elm26 · 31/07/2023 20:07

Pregnancy, then the craving for cigs came back but I didn't want to start again but it was a really strong urge so I vape now, not in the house but a few puffs outside every now and then and my cravings are no more. I'm down to the least amount of nicotine now and hoping to pack it up all together within the next couple of months x

Mrshawshouse · 31/07/2023 20:09

My Aunt, who was also a smoker, got cancer in her mouth. I got such a shock that I decided to quit on the spot.
I went to the pharmacy and got a nicorette inhaler. I decided to inhale them to the point where I felt I was going to puke to put me off. It took a few weeks I think. There's no point in getting them and just using them like a cigarette, it's just replacing one habit with another.

ImthatBoleyngirl · 31/07/2023 20:10

Pregnancy

Urgsleepmoresleep · 31/07/2023 20:15

Tried stop smoking tablets and stop smoking counselling. Didn’t work, just made me crave more. Found a suspicious patch under my tongue so gave up.

started to vape. That helped. But got addicted to vaping and did that lots. Went to Mexico where vapes are expensive and illegal to have in your suitcase. Now use lozenges. But still addicted to nicotine.