To ask you what has changed in your life once you quit smoking?

[proseccoaficionado]

That's it, folks.

I set my date for the end of January (some stressful events in January).

Please tell me the positive aspects of quitting smoking, what has changed in your life and please, your top tips to stay away from it.

I have to admit I'm a bit terrified and never tried to quit before. I want to do it once and for good.

Thank you and a Happy New Year, everyone

My skin looked better after about 2 days. Everyone asked me what I was using. Even the guy I was seeing the time who never noticed anything asked me what I had done to my face!

And I had more money. Tons of it. At the time I was doing a lot of tutoring and I was getting paid in cash, about £100 per week. My purse was still full a week later. I gave up in 2009 and I think cigarettes were about £6.50.

I don’t get that horrible chesty cough, I’m no longer wheezing, I don’t smell (non smoking partner who would constantly remind me I stink of an ash tray)

I started vaping and still do nearly 2 years later and down to 3mg nicotine in the hope to quit vaping soon, only reason I want to stop is the cost (which is about £15 a week on juice and a new coil)

I quit when I found out I was pregnant, and never went back to it. The first 2 weeks are worst but it gets so much easier.

Strange thing is I like the smell of fags, but never temps me. How odd

Good luck you can do it

I saved £40 a week and after about 18 months I went to Australia for 5 weeks

It took me about a week for the intense craving to go away and a few months for the occasional cravings (usually when stressed or drunk) to disappear. I've found my lung capacity is much better, I don't get sick as much or as for long, I smell better, I waste less money. Feel less embarrassed about smoking and now 10 years on never ever fancy a cigarette (to be fair it took about 2 years to completeky forget I ever smoked)

The stress just goes away.

Honestly it is so much less stressful to be a non-smoker. I wasn't expecting that one as someone who would run for a cigarette every time I got a bit stressed, but it's true.

Good luck x

Hi! I smoked for about 12 years and LOVED it. Then I was forced to stop due to needed a series of surgeries.

Smoking (though you only realise this after you stop) is like wearing an uncomfortable bra or a shoe; you’re always aware of it. It’s so nice now not to have an extra massive thing to think about: where are my cigarettes, I’ll pop out in a minute for one, if someone is in the middle of a really involved story then how do you politely excuse yourself, are you going to run out. For a habit that becomes instinctive it takes up a hell of a lot of your thinking time.

And once your sense of smell and taste sharpen up, you’ll realise that for years you stank and would have been quite unpleasant for non-smokers to sit with.

ALL. THE. MONEY!

I’ve had a baby!
I no longer have to factor in time for a cigarette before and after everything.
I can go on a long train or plane journey or other long thing without getting g antsy.
I don’t stink, I don’t have a brown tooth, I feel healthier!

My tip, quit once. Don’t put yourself through the pain of having ‘just one’. Then you have to keep quitting.
Do it once and. That’s it!
Good luck

And be kind if you have lapses! I would lapse on a night out then say “fuck it, that’s me smoking again”. If you allow yourself a lapse or two but go back to being stopped the next time you run out then you’ll hopefully stop lapsing.

I realised my clothes, hair and skin stank. My breathing a night improved and my skin looked more healthy. I also saved a fortune. I realised my day had been broken up into cigarette breaks.

Health, money, energy and just feeling so much better in general. It's the nicest feeling not having to rely on cigarettes and knowing you can go out with friends and not feeling like you need one! I read the Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking Book (from Amazon). When I got the book I didn't have any faith in it, but it worked and changed my whole mindset. A lot of people don't need a book and I've quit lots of times, but after reading it I can honestly say I will never smoke again. Good luck with it all.

Wow, so many positive stories here, please keep them coming!

I am a bit worried about replacing cigs with food (I also need to shift about 1 stone so a bit anxious I could gain weight!)

Is it actually true that food tastes different/better?

What do you do about horrible craving?

Do any of you recommend plasters/gum/any help or just cold turkey and end of?

I can smell stuff again, I had forgotten about the subtle flavours in food.
I don't have to stand in the rain for a smoke.
No dirty fag butts

Buy a good vape pipe. It works.

My tip, quit once. Don’t put yourself through the pain of having ‘just one’

This! It's never just 1!

The first cig tastes awful which is how we get hooked in the first place, because we fool ourselves into thinking we would never carry on doing something that tasted and smelt so awful. Until we are on 20 a day again.

I don't get out of breath easily.

When I get a cold, it doesn't turn into a borderline chest infection anymore. It goes away in a week.

No more yellow patches on my fingers!

I smell nice!

My sense of taste got so much better so quickly! About two weeks after I quite I couldn't stop eating strawberries because they tasted so strong and amazing!

I quit cold turkey 3.5 years ago. Best decision ever. Have not had a cigarette since but have occasionally vaped on nights out.

@Ceejly When I bloody get a cold (addmitedly once at 2 years but still!!) it turns into a fucking full blown SINUSITIS!!!!

I didn't smell any more.
Read the Allen Carr book, it really helped me.

@proseccoaficionado

Yes it's true about food tasting better!

I was really worried about the weight thing so i started calorie counting when I quit which was tough but has also resulted in me losing 7 stone.

Quitting was genuinely a catalyst for so many positive changes in my life.

Recently I gave up normal cigs and only smoking IQOS (are they popular in the Uk? Where I live they're quite popular!) and they pretend there's only nicotine not the other bullshit so I'm kinda lying to myself that it'll be easier to come off these than normal cigs

Admittedly I put on a stone giving up cigs. But I managed to lose it, plus extra, because I felt so much better about myself once I had quit.

I am so excited now.

So what do I do when my set day comes? Do I smoke my last then, in the morning? Or the night before? Honestly I can't believe how much I'm overthinking this. I just love smoking (but I believe every smoker does)

I would honestly read the Alan Carr book before you try giving up. You read the book while you're still smoking then by the end of the book you just stop. By then you're also in the right mindset to stick with it and deal with any cravings. I actually had none and I was a hardened smoker.

@saltymofo I would be really surprised if that happened for me too😂 I just downloaded the book, thanks for the tip, I heard about it many times but I had no idea it works!

I quit smoking 6 years ago now, I was a 20 a day smoker, I read the Allan Carr’s easy way and was repulsed by cigarettes by the end but unfortunately my cravings and the fact I didn’t 100% want to stop smoking over ruled, I refused to have a cigarette so instead I bought a ecig and have never touched a proper cigarette since, I will however say I still do use an ecig unfortunately but I am down to the lowest ml of nicotine I can find (3mg) and keep saying I will stop using it but never get round to it, it costs me about £2 a week (I get cig liquid from home bargains 99p each) and every so often I will need a new battery or charger. Pros: a lot more money!! When I smoked 20 Richmond were £4.95 I think?? Now I believe 20 cigs are £10 a pack, OMG!! I don’t know how anyone can afford it!
My teeth didn’t feel as gritty in a morning, I don’t feel as lethargic and blergh in a morning I noticed more energy, I find food tastes nicer, don’t smell, I smell cigs now and i don’t miss them at all! Yes I’m still addicted to nicotine but I read on nhs that it’s relatively harmless on its own and similar to caffeine, however new year and all I really should make the attempt to get off the ecig once and for all! I am grateful they exist tho as before that I tried patches, gum, champix tablets (worked but made me soooo ill) hypnotherapy, nothing else worked long term. Good luck!! X