Anyone successfully stopped smoking? How?

[ataloss24]

I smoke about 20 per day.

I was it a point where I was starting a new job, leaving an ex BF (who smoked), moving to a new place and basically starting anew. So I decided part of that new start was t stop smoking. 14 years later, I am still stopped and have no desire to start again.

Good luck :)

Using patches & inhalator. Into my 3rd month without a cigarette now & previously was on 20 a day. Saved £700 & feel so much better. You've got to want to stop though, your willpower is the real driver, the nicotine replacement is just the support. You can do it, if you're ready to x

My dad. My brother started smoking and dad was telling what a hiding to nothing it was. 17 year old brother said he'd been smoking for ages and couldn't give up. Dad said he'd been smoking for 40 years and could give up ... never smoked again.

Moral of the story ... just do it.

Psilocybin mushrooms, 0.3 grams several days over 2 weeks

i used patches for a while and partner had easily given up so i just had the mindset that if he could do it so could I.

It actually helped that i had a chest infection so couldn't smoke anyway

i've never missed it either

Me! Although not ideal, I swapped to vaping. That was two years ago and I recently had a cigarette and it was absolutely disgusting! Coming from someone that used to smoke like a chimney I was amazed.

Not ideal, as I'm struggling now to quit vaping and am a bit on/off with it BUT my cough has gone, my chest doesn't feel tight, it's cheaper and I don't smell of fags anymore.

If you can do it by other means then you should as vaping isn't a great habit. But it's the only thing that permanently got me off cigarettes so it's worked in that regard.

I did, and believe me I never thought I'd be able to.
The problem people have is thinking they are giving something up. You aren't giving it up, you are gaining soooo much more. Just think

• so much more money
• no smell
• more in control of yourself
• no need to stop work for breaks
• healthier lungs
• longer life
• more respect off people (let's face it, smokers aren't well thought of these days)
• no need to buy a million lighters because you lose so many
• no more empty packet panic
• better skin
• better teeth
• better fitness

And there's probably loads more.

I went cold turkey 10 years ago and never looked back. Download an app which shows you how much money you've saved.
I would say you need to do this when you don't have something stressful in your life going on. A little but if stress you can cope with.
Good luck OP.

Pregnancy was the only thing that made me stop. Decided that if I hadn't smoked for that long I may as well not restart. I do still miss it though.

I was a heavy smoker, 20-30 a day. I had managed to stop during pregnancies but always ended up going back after few months after giving birth. Something about being pregnant seemed to make it easier.

Outside of pregnancy I tried quitting several times, trying most of the nicotine/quitting supports except for Zoloft. Never made it past the 1 week mark.

Then one day I just decided not to smoke that day, and then the next and so on. No build up, no planning a set date or anything, just straight cold turkey. I didn't actually tell anyone i was quitting either. I went off to work and it wasn't until I turned down an after dinner smoke my husband noticed.

That was just over 8 years ago now and the thought that I used to smoke seems strange.

I smoked the same quantity as the OP and, honestly, I just stopped. Never smoked again. No patches, books or therapy (although I agree with the mushrooms comment, they genuinely work). But you have to be firm in your decision and not give in. I did it after having a cold that left me feeling rotten (and cigarettes tasting horrible).

Paul mc kenna stop smoking hypnosis free to listen to on you tube. listened to this for about 2 weeks every single night (usually fall asleep)

during the day read Allen Carr book and chewed chewing gum non stop.

i would say the first week was the hardest, havent touched a cig or vape since September 2022, never thought i’d ever stop vaping.

i have to say i also absolutely 💯 wanted to stop, so will power is very important. I was absolutely fed up smoking and vaping on a constant on/off loop.

I did it cold turkey. The actual physical addiction only takes 3 days to beat. The withdrawal symptoms get worse and worse for those 3 days and then they disappear very quickly. Psychological addiction is harder for some. Thankfully I was fully ready to give up. So once I'd cried myself to sleep on that 3rd night, I was free.

Champix tablets

Prescribed by GP
Zero cravings and zero withdrawal
Never wanted to smoke again and never have after 7 years.

Easy peasy after years of trying. Nothing else worked but this was a dawdle.

Mumsnet

I was scrolling through about a year ago and saw a thread called elf bar wizardry. Bought a vape on a whim, stopped smoking no hassle within a few days.
Gave up vaping a few months later as I had a bad cough and couldn't for a few days.
What helped was keeping it low pressure. I never once decided to give up and I still have cigs left in the packet and several unused vapes so I could if I wanted to... but I don't. I had smoked for years and always started again after pregnancy and thought there was no hope and then it just happened!

I tried to quit several times but always went back to it. Eventually I reached the age beyond which I had always told myself I must not smoke for the sake of my health.

I contacted a smoking cessation service via my GP and we set a quit date.

I counted down the days smoking myself silly. When the date arrived I switched to nicotine replacement lozenges. The quit service rang me regularly offering support.

The desire to smoke still strikes me sometimes but it's been quite a few months and I haven't. I do use a vape now as I still 'need' that regular nicotine hit and I find inhaling more satisfying than sucking a mint, but I am determined not to smoke tobacco again.

I have put on over a stone in weight - as I feared I might! - I knew I would eat more to compensate for missing the ciggies.

I recently invested in a small collection of 4000 puff, 2mg vapes, in a variety of flavours and I have cut my smoking down by at least half! Last Friday, I rolled a tin and a half (tins the size of cig packets) and still had half a tin left on Sunday night! They would normally have been gone by Saturday evening!
My husband bought me an expensive vape years ago, he asked what the difference was between these and that. I said, the flavours are much nicer these days and having a selection, I'm not stuck with one flavour.
I gave up cold turkey years ago, for well over a year and stupidly thought I could have a drag... Nope! So I'm hoping this time I'll nail it! Good luck!

I had a stroke and wound up in hospital for three months. Hospital is a good way to stop smoking. But you don't want to end up going there so it's best to stop now. Just stop, cold turkey. It really isn't as hard as you think it will be.
I think it is the fear of stopping being a terrible struggle that prevents people trying. The first day is murder. The second day too. The third day it's only at the old habitual times like coffee break or last before bedtime that you miss a cigarette. A fortnight in and you're proud of yourself and a month in it is easy to resist because you actually don't want to have to start again. Be brave!

Nicotine lozenges. I must have quit smoking 30 times, but the most recent has been for about 13 years so far. Don't give up giving up x

You’ve got to really want it, to absolutely of had enough of being a smoker. To be so fed up with how it tastes, smells, what it’s doing to your body that youre determined to quit. Unless youre at that stage then it just doesn’t work.

Cold turkey too - it’s the only way. Break that nicotine/habit cycle.

Cold turkey was the only thing that worked for me.

Analysing where I was most tempted - going to the pub, fag breaks with colleagues, etc, and planning what to do instead. I gave myself permission to leave situations if the temptation was too strong, for example, leave a party early, that sort of thing.

I gave up on the 5th of january as i was in hospital with 86% lung function.
I used to chain smoke for 40 years. Now i cant stand the smell of fags, it makes me ill.

Hypnotherapy worked for me, but you have to be in the right mindframe for it to work.It's no good if you are not prepared to enter into the spirit of it. The fact that it was really expensive helped keep me focused, too! It took about 8 weeks to break even financially, and after that, it's savings all the way. I worked out that I could buy a new pair of shoes every month as a reward to myself ( and that was calculated on the basis of 2x £10 packets pw- I know cigarettes are more than that now!)

I just stopped too, but I really wanted to do it. I think that's the key. If you're not ready and not committed, you're likely to fail, but if you are ready and you're really fed up of being a smoker, then it's not even that hard. I smoked up to a pack a day at the time I quit and I had half a pack on the table by the door, but I really wanted to quit - so I did. Cold turkey.