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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:
Cheezecake · 31/07/2023 21:45

Chocolate. Changing where I went and who I spent time with. Wish I'd just kept smoking, on reflection.

DelphiniumBlue · 31/07/2023 21:50

Hypnotherapy. Just one session, and on the way out she said not ever to have " just one".
If you make any exceptions you'll be back smoking again, it's like being an alcoholic. You can't have " just one."
Also the fact that it was so expensive for the session was an incentive, I didn't want the money I'd paid to be wasted.Ironic really when you think how much even a light smoking habit costs.
For the first year, I'd treat myself to something nice every month using the money I'd saved from not smoking.

uncomfortablydumb53 · 31/07/2023 22:12

Vaping and sheer determination

RoyalImpatience · 31/07/2023 22:13

Urge surfing.
When I wanted one, wait 7 mins then have one.
Usually i didn't want one.

RoyalImpatience · 31/07/2023 22:17

I definitely broke the habit.

Didn't buy any.
But only on rare nights out have one... But I used to be counting pennies at night before the shop shut, panicking about not having any. Anyway phone call I had to smoke.
Glass of wine had to have a cigarette.

I broke that habit, allowed myself to a so others which made me feel bad.

So I could have the odd one and not be tempted back in to day smoking.

After 2 years I didn't even think about it anymore at all.
Now the thought of that lingering smoke smell on my tongue ect make me feel ill. Also it makes me more anxious

jonesysy · 31/07/2023 22:19

Just stopped with the intention to NEVER have another ever again. It worked. The cravings subside. soon enough. But for a long time, years even, there may be times you would quite fancy one. But never, ever do that!I havent had a cigarette for over 16 years. For years now I have had zero cravings

CwmYoy · 31/07/2023 22:22

Hypnotism.

Sunnyweatherwoman · 31/07/2023 22:25

Pregnancy. Then I started again, I'd have 1 at about 8pm sat at the back door. I realised it was the break I wanted not really the cigarette so I started taking a cup of tea instead. It took a week I think.

whatatool · 31/07/2023 22:27

Switched to vaping, gradually reducing nicotine over a year until it was 0 then all I had to do was quit the habit as the nicotine cravings had already gone

Stomacharmeleon · 31/07/2023 22:28

Honestly...
I was diagnosed with cancer in my thyroid and lymph nodes and had to have an operation on my neck. I was cut from ear to ear and have a very visible scar. Then treatment.
It was enough to make me never touch fags again.

Survey99 · 31/07/2023 22:34

Gave up for ds. During ttc, pg and then so he didnt have a smoker for a parent. Just stopped, no stop smoking aids.

Cravings were a nightmare at first and it took a good 3 years to stop wanting one, but thinking of the benefits of having a non smoking parent would do for ds outweighed everything else and kept me going.

Probably wouldnt have given up just for me.

TheLizardQueen · 31/07/2023 22:43

Alan Carr - Easy way to stop smoking book. I read it once and never smoked since, best fiver I ever spent. Honestly I was addicted to 20 a day and I’d tried everything else. It works! Good luck!

LizaTarbuckForQueen · 31/07/2023 22:44

The change in packaging also helped me. Who wants to look at diseased lungs on a plain black box? That ain’t ‘Marlboro Cool’.

boredsolicitor · 31/07/2023 23:09

Champix worked a treat

Mercy1968 · 31/07/2023 23:19

Vaping. Cigarettes went up to over £11 a packet and I started to hate the smell.
My beloved dad died of a pulmonary embolism having smoked since his 20s and I just wanted to quit.

Had a Cigarette a few weeks ago and it tasted foul so not going back.

mumda · 31/07/2023 23:23

Chewing gum. Gave up overnight. But it took over a year to give up the gum. Just normal stuff.

Coyoacan · 31/07/2023 23:38

Allen Carr's book. I had been smoking for 45 years and the last twenty years I was smoking about 50 a day. I did take high doses of Vitamin B complex for a few days before and after giving up but it was incredibly painfree.

doubtfulguest · 31/07/2023 23:40

Pregnancy and the death of social life killed my habit although I was a 'social smoker'. Husband properly addicted tried everything and the only thing that worked permanently was vaping.

ThickSkinnedSoWhat · 31/07/2023 23:41

barbarahunter · 31/07/2023 18:48

I had to give up alcohol and coffee too, because they were part of the link I had with smoking, ie I always had a cigarette while drinking wine or coffee. It is do-able although you have to be determined. I am now able to drink again and not crave a cigarette while I am doing it.

Yup. Alcohol had to go for me too. Also used nicotine patches initially, whilst sicking hard boiled sweets and keeping my hands and head busy doing crosswords, reading, knitting and crochet. After about 2 weeks I forgot to change a patch one day and realised I already didn't really miss smoking.

Northernsouloldies · 01/08/2023 04:40

Stomacharmeleon · 31/07/2023 22:28

Honestly...
I was diagnosed with cancer in my thyroid and lymph nodes and had to have an operation on my neck. I was cut from ear to ear and have a very visible scar. Then treatment.
It was enough to make me never touch fags again.

Bloody hell, no wonder you stopped. My own path was a hell of a lot easier, Zyban tablets n orange juice in the morning instead of coffee. Been stopped 17 years.

Sux2buthen · 01/08/2023 07:19

@gamerchick they don't make it clear on the advertising that you don't spray it down your throat, if they explained it properly it would fly off the shelves

explainthistomeplease · 01/08/2023 07:21

Long time ago now. But I met an ardent non smoker, and also did the 'one day at a time' mantra. Was surprisingly easy actually.

homeforme · 01/08/2023 07:30

I was ill, too ill to smoke. I was also too I'll to drink so I didn't. As I started to recover from being unwell I realised I felt better than ever. I haven't smoked or touched alcohol since. It's been a few years now'

Crunchymum · 01/08/2023 07:31

Allen Carr - The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.

It's been 12 years now and I've never had so much as a drag or a craving since I finished the book.

Crunchymum · 01/08/2023 07:31

I was a 15 year / 20 a day before I stopped.