Anyone interested in a stop smoking thread?

[Freinddilemma]

I could do with support as I try and kick the habit 🫣

How are you giving up?
Do you really want to give up or is it because you constantly get moaned at because the number one motivation is wanting to yourself.
I failed countless times because in reality I wasn’t ready. My internal voice was all about how I would cope without, what would I do when out etc etc. I finally kicked the habit seven years ago after more than 40 years of smoking. The thing that helped me was actually something my daughter said, which was that the craving only lasts for a couple of minutes and the time between gets longer and longer.She was right so each craving I used distraction tactics and it worked. I went cold turkey as I didn’t want to be addicted to something else.
I’m happy to support you and if you genuinely want to give up you can. Make sure you have a piggy bank to put money into that you have saved each day and have a treat lined up for each milestone. Take it a day at a time, then a week then a month etc.
Very best of luck.

Well done you for making your mind up to kick the habit OP.

It's along tine since I gave up. What i did was steadily reduce the number I smoked every day and those that I did smoke I only smoked about half of the cigarette before stubbing it out. The biggest step for me was finalky cutting out the last cigarettes and sleeping in a fag free house.

I found not knowing what to do with my hands the biggest problem, not nicotine craving. I smoked herbal cigarettes to get me through the hard times such as when I was drinking alcohol. And generally tried to keep myself busy.

What i found though OP was that I felt so much better physically almost as soon as I stopped that it was a great encouragement to keep going.

You can do it OP. Best wishes

Thanks guys!
My biggest reason to stop is money. I'm buying a house and just cannot justify the exorbitant cost particularly at the rate I smoke at. It is just not financially tenable.
The other thing is ive been chain smoking for 20 years now, started hard from the moment I picked it up, and as I creep into middle age I realise I really am playing chicken with my health now.
Ive always smoked rollies, Ive got a pack of tobacco going now which will take me through the england game tonight 😂
Will probably last me through tomorrow morning too.
So tomorrow afternoon will be me throwing all my paraphanelia away.
Its hard because I know it sounds weird and lame to non smokers but it's almost like smoking is a friend in a way.

Hearing your stories helps though

I used this site as well. Useful forum.
https://healthunlocked.com/communities

How is it going?

I managed to quit just before Christmas last year. It was difficult but has been so worth it. I went through my local healthy living stop smoking service. It was a phone call to check in every week and a prescription for patches & a nicotine inhalator. I came off the nicotine products by the third week as realised that I didn't need them. Remember that cravings are intense but pass quickly.

I have tried to quit many times before and the difference was that I so badly wanted to do it for good this time. I wish you the very best of luck, you can do it!

@Freinddilemma
I'll join your group!
I'm a smoker and tbh I enjoy smoking but I'm desperate to give up for health reasons, getting old, I constantly think "it'll be the cigs that finish me off"

I stopped smoking using Champix, it really works, I ended up forgetting to smoke, unfortunately I started again when I had a death in the family.

Im about to order Champix from an online pharmacy, used them before as the GP won't prescribe Champix due to the cost.

The downside is it's not cheap and there are potentially serious side effects, look into it if you decide to try it and discuss with your GP.

I've found the GP not very helpful when trying to quit, they want you to go to a support group, the last thing I want to do when trying to quit is talk about smoking as it'll make me want to smoke😉

Good luck, let us know how you get on and if anything works for you

Oh me! I stopped on 22 January and I'm still finding it so hard!

This is my third serious attempt and it's got to stick this time. I'm using an inhalator which is helping. I don't have cravings that pass, I want to smoke all the time. My life feels unrecognisable because I've no cigarette routine and I've cried a lot.

It is like grief. I doubt I'll ever drink again (I was never a big drinker so I don't miss it) because I smoked a lot when I drank. But that's another thing gone.

If I've seen smokers I've hung about but there aren't that many! I don't know how non or ex smokers do it.

I keep hoping I can get over it. One day I would no longer think about it or not believe that I ever smoked but I doubt it.

on one of my many attempts to stop I went to a support group because that was how you got champix. It didn’t work for me but I know people who it did work for. As I said earlier I went cold turkey. I’m not saying it was easy but eventually cravings stop and actually once you have got passed a certain number of days/ weeks you tell yourself - haven’t got this far to fail.
Everyone has to find what works for them and if you really are determined you will do it.
One thing I notice now is how few people smoke.

I gave up seven years ago and there are times when I think - oh I’ll just have a ciggie or it would be nice to have a ciggie but I don’t. It takes time but the benefits are huge. Healthier, don’t stink of smoke, have more money and actually really proud of myself, my dds didn’t think I would ever give up and nor did my H.

Thanks for joining the bandwagon guys!

I feel like an absolute dickhead. I bought another packet of baccy 😭

If you want to stop smoking come and work in the vascular unit I work in for one day and help me remove the rotten toes and feet of people on oxygen with chronic obstructive airways disease suffering daily agony from the horrific vascular pain they have 24/7.
None of them have any teeth either. Long term smoking makes them fall out.
These arent old people. They dont live long enough to be old. They just look old.
It put me right off years ago.

You might have bought another pack but it doesn’t mean you have to smoke it.

Can you give it away? How long might it last you?

When I decided to give up I had nearly a full packet left and I promised myself that would be it. Then I found a random cigarette in the car a couple of days later and threw it out in tears.

You can do this! I know it's so hard.

Op, don’t berate yourself for buying another packet of tobacco, the important thing is that you’ve made the decision that you’re going to stop smoking.
When and how you do that is personal to you and you just need to find the way that works for you.
I stopped eight years ago after 30 years of solid smoking (although, strangely I managed to stop while I was pregnant) using the Allen Carr’s Easy Way book.
One day I was a smoker and the next I was a non smoker and I haven’t had a single drag since.
I bloody loved smoking but I knew I was playing a game of chance with my health that I didn’t want to continue into my older years, that was my drive and the money was a useful side issue.
Keep going with your conviction to stop, one day everything will be aligned and you will do it but don’t beat yourself up meanwhile.
People stop smoking using a variety of different methods, you just need to find the one that works for you - and at the right time.
Keep on going at it until you find your way.

Good luck! It is doable. I gave up nearly 11 years ago and I hate smoking now. To the point I sometimes forget I used to smoke, even though I smoked for years.

Try to figure out what kind of smoker you are. Is it a habit/routine, is it a comfort thing, a social thing, a reward to yourself? Is it a coping strategy for stress? You need to understand the psychology of your smoking to change things.

I was a routine/habit smoker. I smoked with a coffee, to have a brain break at work, at certain times of the day. I decided to give up when I went to Florida for 2 weeks. I know that being away in a different time zone, and being busy at theme parks every day, and in the high temperatures, would mean I wouldn't be in my normal routine and habits. As we were away for 2.5 weeks, this felt like long enough to break the habit. I managed really well, and as soon as I got home, the urge was to go into the garden and smoke, because that was my routine every time I got home. But because I was aware of my routine, I could challenge myself not to.

I vaped as well, so I could keep some habits, and just vape as well

I gave up in May last year after 40+ years. I was planning to attempt giving up in July last year when I retired as I don't think I would have been able to afford it, as well as the health benefits.
Last May I had a couple of weeks of not feeling great, so just decided now was as good a time as any. I didn't buy patches or gum etc. Just went cold turkey. It was hard don't get me wrong. After a couple of weeks I bought a small vape, but found I didn't like it and binned it.
14 months later I'm still going strong, and on occasions I really feel like one, but I've resisted so far. I remember my wife telling me she remembered her grandparents tobacconists back in the 60s selling fags individually. If they still did that now, I would absolutely buy 2 a day...
My son recently got engaged and will likely have children in 3-4 years time, so my aim is keep off the fags for that reason. I don't think he'd let me near any children of his if I was still a smoker so I'm using that as an incentive! 😃
Keep at it. It's hard, but just take one day at a time!

For me it's about reconciling I can never smoke again and it brings me to my knees even after 6 months. I tried giving up twice before and made it to 3 and 4 months then thought I could be a social smoker. No I cannot. I'm an addict. I loved smoking and I hate not smoking but I have to stay stopped.

I noticed I managed better on holiday and I definitely used it as a break from work or if I was stressed.

I've thought about checking out the smoking/vaping shed at work to sniff the air. But I don't want vapes and even when I smoked few "proper" smokers were there.

One of my uncles gave up when I was born and I don't know how he did it because so many people smoked then. 25 years later he still loved the smell and missed it. It's mad isn't it?

That is a great tip that I forgot to mention.

I had a couple of packs with two or three wrapped in cling film dotted around the house just in case I ran out. Get rid of them all!!!

Don't have a single grain of baccy in the house!

Good luck!

What a stupid unsupportive thing to say.

Does your vascular unit allow every Tom, Dick or Harry to rock up to work with you?