Giving up smoking is it really that important

[billy27]

Okay I know it is, I've done it before then I started again stupidly it's been 5 years now. I've smoked since I was 17 I'm now 26 I can't afford to smoke, it stinks disgustingly and I hate being judged for smoking out and about.
I am scared of giving up and the low mood that comes, I'm scared that I might get depression as I read that's a symptom to expect when giving up? Please tell me stories of how you gave up and the benefits you've felt since. I do suffer with anxiety sometimes so I think I'm worried incase it gets worse and I can't cope etc.

DF quit his 20 a day habit the same day he was diagnosed with lung cancer at 60. Too late though, and he died 6 months later. Seeing how he suffered mentally and physically during his last few weeks was enough to make me vow never to touch another cigarette.

Try an Allen Carr clinic, he has a book too. You can smoke throughout. It makes you dislike them and you can't miss something if you dislike it. Good luck.

Looking at my DM choking for a breath of air I think so.
The thing with anxiety and depression while giving up is inevitable for a few days, once I excepted I was going to be skipping down the street immediately it helped, you need to battle through it, putting it off prolongs it. Another one to recommend allan Carr, I will say the book is not as powerful the 2nd time so run with it the first time.

Wasn't

I've had two smokers in my life die of smoking related disease my brother in law died in his early 40s of copd.,my uncle recently had lung cancer which spread and it took 3 months of not being able to eat or drink for him to die.

I smoked very lightly for a few years and gave up when I first was pregnant. Never touched one since.

Yes it is very important. I wish I could take smokers to any respiratory ward to see what smoking does.

I used to smoke.
I switched to vaping and gradually reduced the amount of nicotine that was in the liquids.
I eventually got down to 0mg nicotine and after a couple of weeks I stopped. Figured it was pointless smoking something that had no nicotine in.
That was 5 years ago.

I'll be honest, sometimes I get stressed and think "I could really do with a gag" but then I think "it's been 5 years. If I do, then these last 5 years have been for nothing"
And I've never gone back to it.

I quit at 30, having smoked on and off since 14 (basically I’d quit when I got pregnant, then start again after). Then I had a health diagnosis, not smoking related, but I had to leave my part time job, and I realised how much I could save by giving up. I went to my pharmacist who did a scheme where you could get NRT for free. The patches helped for the first week or two, just to take the edge off. Changing routines was the biggie though. My brain associated certain things with smoking, so I avoided those triggers. I also used to believe smoking relieved my anxiety, but actually when I was no longer thinking constantly about my next cigarette, my anxiety improved.

If you can quit without vaping then do. It’s better than smoking but vaping is so new that no one knows what the longer term impact is going to be 10 -20 years down the line. You’re young enough for that to be an issue. If you were 70 and a smoker it would be different. Things like pulmonary fibrosis would be my concern.

If you’ve been a smoker and you have anxiety then I think you’d really benefit from learning some breathing relaxation techniques. The kind of thing that’s used in yoga (bending optional.)

I used the Alan Carr method and went form being a chain smoker to a non smoker overnight with almost no withdrawal pangs, no patches, no vaping.
Within 1 year I was amazed at the difference it had made to my health and fitness. I still remember the day I was able to walk up the local Big Hill without having to stop for a fag halfway up. I can almost jog up it now.

My mum is 69. She has severe COPD, right ventricular heart failure, mitral & tricuspid valve regurgitation, pulmonary odaema and stage 1 invasive ductal cell breast cancer they can't operate on because she wouldn't survive the anaesthetic. She looks about 80, has to walk with a stroller and gets out of breath in about 10 yards.

He's oxygen SATS are around 85%. She's refused oxygen therapy because it means she & dad won't be able to smoke.

Please try & give up now.

I used patches.

1,500 people die every week in the uk from smoking related diseases.
It’s the single biggest thing you can do for your health.
The nerves and anxiety are withdrawal symptoms from your last cigarette, when you stop smoking these will subside, may even go altogether.

I had never heard of pulmonary fibrosis so I googled it with the word vaping and came straight back to the awful US cases of 'vaping related illness' which are caused by oil-based black market THC products and have nothing to do with any legally purchased nicotine vaping product in the UK.

Have you found any other links between vaping and pulmonary fibrosis Breathlessness or are you just throwing around big, scary sounding words?

I care because I'm still a couple of decades away from 70. Thanks in advance.

Absolutely. Quitting smoking was the best decision I've made to this day. I used to smoke a pack a day and became reliant on it as a quick fix. When I quit smoking and no longer relied on it, I was able to learn how to become more confident. I had anxiety and often stressed out a lot. I've learned to deal with problems head-on rather than running away from them by lighting up.

Hope it works out for you.

How's it going @billy27? I've had to take myself off to bed but I haven't bought any or had one. Reading these replies I can't really believe how stupid I've been (I'm older than you) and how much money I've burnt

Well done Crusty. Keep going and you too OP.

It’s a disease we all have a chance of getting but certain factors increase your risk like long term exposure to eg sawdust through work or smoking. I’ve had two relatives die from it so I have an increased risk. I can’t see how long term vaping wouldn’t increase the risk of lung disease because regularly inhaling anything other than air seems to cause problems. There isn’t research on it because it will take years for any link to show.

It might come to nothing, and I think the accepted stats are that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking. If it’s vaping vs smoking, vaping is the best option every time. If it’s vaping vs not vaping? Not vaping would be better.

I smoked from 16 to 27. When I quit I would feel really panicky when I thought about never smoking again and how i’d cope. I would tell myself that I wasn’t going to smoke today and not look beyond that.

I’ve now quit for longer than I smoked and I often forget I ever smoked and detest the smell of it

My MIL had COPD from smoking and was never able to look after or properly play with her grandson (my DS) because she was too frail due to the COPD. The last 2 years of her life were just a constant round of admissions to hospital, then into a home to recuperate, home feeling dreadful still and almost continually taking antibiotics and steroids for chest infections, before ending up back in hospital. Her last years were pretty miserable. We miss her

Please quit op

I used champix.
It's a wonder drug. No cravings, no climbing the walls, just 12 weeks of pills with meals.
After a few days of quitting I realised smokers smell AWFUL. Even smokers who weren't smoking, I could smell old fags on them.
I bought nice smelling shower gel and moisturisers. I like smelling nice.
And my skin now looks so much better.

I'm sorry to hear about your relatives.

I'm pleased to hear that no link has been found between vaping and pulmonary fibrosis.

I think the accepted stats are that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking. If it’s vaping vs smoking, vaping is the best option every time. If it’s vaping vs not vaping? Not vaping would be better.

Thank you for this bit, this is sensible. Of course nobody should take up vaping if they are not a smoker who is trying to quit or cut down. What do you think vaping is for?

It started as an alternative to smoking but loads of teenagers who have never been smokers now vape. It also isn’t the only way to quit smoking. It has worked for people who haven’t been able to quit by other means, which is great. For smokers who have never tried to quit before there are other methods you can try first.

Gave up in January, was a heavy smoker.

Used lozenge and vape. Just went in with the mindset that that is it am not going to have a cigarette again and tried not to think about them.

The benefits are amazing. So much healthier, more money, don't smell, don't have to have cigs/lighter. It feels like freedom!!

Just do it don't look back.

Breathless, can we maybe discuss this on another thread? I have a lot to say (including about the 'teen vaping epidemic') but it feels unfair to OP to be derailing this one which is clearly meant for support.

Of course vaping isn't the only way to stop smoking. As I said earlier, we need all the methods because everybody is different. Every single other method mentioned on this thread has not worked for me but I wouldn't dream of putting others off any of them because any of these methods might turn out to be somebody's 'thing' that gives them a successful quit attempt.

Please just don't scare people away from a method that has worked for huge numbers of very addicted smokers when you have no evidence.