Help - Giving up Smoking

[TheMustressMhor]

I have decided to give up smoking tomorrow.

I am going on a long journey by coach and train and my GP has prescribed nicotine patches.

This will be my seventh attempt. I did give up a for nearly two years about five years ago, but started again when I was stressed. I thought one wouldn't hurt - well, that was a mistake.

Has anyone got any Top Tips? When I get to my destination I shall be staying with DD for a week. There is no smoking allowed in her house and I have no intention of going into the garden for a sly puff.

She has no DC so my clothes, which I am sure smell of smoke, won't be an issue from that point of view.

Tell me how you did it. I am determined.

@CherM1592

Wow - that's such a good idea.

Keeping busy worked for me, and its been over three years now.

I just went cold turkey, without any replacement products, having tried these on previous attempts and failed. However, everyone is different, so that won't work for everyone.

However, I do believe that empty time is the most dangerous thing when quitting smoking. Time goes quicker when you are busy and if your brain and hands are both active, they won't have as much space to itch for that cigarette.

Good luck! It is hard but it's so worth it.

I'm also going to buy the Alan Carr book, as many PP have recommended it. I didn't know that it existed.

I've just ordered a painting by numbers set.

Yes, it will keep me busy. I have no confidence that it will turn out okay though.

I was actually banned from our school's art room because I was so rubbish.

*Allen Carr, even. ^^

@cantmovewont

I will ask our pharmacist when I get back.

@RoyalChocolat

I'm so sorry about your mother. It was awful watching my own die of lung cancer.

@cantmovewont , My DD used those and he did stop .

Didn't help though as he died from Empysema in May .
I smoke OP and really I shouldn't so following with interest .

I read the Allen Carr book recently. Worked really well. I sort of picked a day I felt ready and sat down and read it periodically throughout one day.

Also have a vape that doesn't contain nicotine for the moments when tempted by the physical habit (eg. with a glass of wine).

Champix worked for me op, you can also buy tobacco that has no nicotine in, herbal tobacco (no not wacky baccy! 😂) so if you are tempted you can smoke but it tastes nothing like cigarettes...

Good luck, I never went back...
I only stopped as DP wanted to quit, so both did champix, I stuck at it, they reverted and still smoke today, me not 😀

I've managed to stop, I smoked for 46 years!! I did the Allen Carr group brainwashing but it didn't work for me. I had a stroke so great motivation for me to stop.
You'll maybe have noticed that I haven't said I've given up.
Giving up implies that you'll be depriving yourself of something. Just think about what you'll be missing, the smell of smoke, the carbon monoxide, the carcinogens you inhale every time.
So I tried to turn the language around. What would I gain by stopping. I would be gaining large amounts of cash, quite possibly gaining several years of life, seeing my grandchildren grow up. The best one for me was that I'd gain Freedom. No more panicking in case I ran out, I'd be able to fly for longer. I would be able to enjoy a meal in a restaurant, meet my friends for coffee. Spend more than 2 hours in someone's house. All without wondering where and when I could go and have a fag.
It's really liberating and I think I might have stopped. I'm almost sure I had my last cigarette in April this year. I don't miss it at all.
And I've noticed just how much it stinks, it's vile, it's foul. Yes I've become the annoying reformed smoker.
Wishing you the very best of luck OP

Thank you, everyone.

I have done four days now.

Well done, good for you. 👏👏 keep up the good work

Well done,OP!
Evenings were hard for me at the beginning, so I bought a plastic recorder at the Pound Shop and tooted away at that until even the cat objected
Frozen green grapes helped too.
All the best.Keep going

I used nicotine gum. It was before vaping existed.

But, the one single thing that motivated me was the look of fear in my 80 year old, frail, mothers face when I had to tell her I had a lung cancer diagnosis.

Ten years later, that look on her face stays with me

I’m going to join you. Day 1 for me today, going to use patches

I gave up cold turkey about six years ago. I tried an a-cigarette, but that, (and how it didn't feel like an actual cigarette to me) just empathised what I was giving up. I had to stop two weeks before major surgery and told myself I could smoke again when I got back home - which was actually six weeks later, but thankfully haven't felt the urge to do so.

I did a local stop smoking course called Smoke Enders about 20 years ago, and did stop smoking for a couple of years but then restarted when pressure of work kicked in. However, a couple of things that they mentioned I have found useful.

One was to set a time limit, say three months, and save all your non-smoking money. Then spend it on something that you wouldn't normally buy but want. I bought some cashmere jumpers from Boden to wear around the house. To me this was a real luxury that I wouldn't have been able to justify before, but, goodness they're lovely and comfortable. Someone I know – a much better person than I– gave the money to her favourite charity.

Another thing, and this sounds disgusting, was to have a designated "Butt Jar" half filled with water, and then you throw your butts in it as your taper off. (Smoke Enders had a tapering off method).Then whenever you get the urge to have a cigarette open the jar and have a sniff. It's disgusting. I know you want to stop cold turkey but with a bit of luck you'll find enough butts around the house to be effective.

Good luck, and you have realised, as did I, you can't just have one.

Have you tried an e-cig? Generally people fall into two categories, people who are better off quitting cold turkey and those who need nicotine replacements. After numerous attempts at quitting cold turkey, failing at it and feeling shit about myself I realised I am definitely a 'need assistance' quitter.

Tell people, it will help, especially anyone who you know would be disappointed if you got back to smoking, it makes you think twice about having a cig.

I got an e-cig when I finally decided to quit, best thing I ever did! Don't sell yourself short on nicotine, the person in the shop should be able to advise you better but I think I remember him saying the more cigs you normally smoke, the more nicotine you need in the vape (else you'll get withdrawal and might go back to smoking to get your full fix). I started on 12mg a year ago and now I'm on 3mg. People will always tell you it's 'cheating' or just swapping one bad habit for another.. well there's far more unhealthy substances in a cig. This stance just puts the people who are not cold turkey quitters in a position where you think 'well I may as well just keep smoking'. It's far better to quit with assistance and cut down on your nicotine that way, than not bother in the first place. It's also useful in situations where people around you are smoking, my housemates and people at work would be used to asking me if I was going for a cig with them, and my housemates had no intention of hiding their tobacco to make my life easier! So having the vape was handy so I can still go outside with them and feel part of the group. I now rarely use my vape except for very stressful situations where I NEED my nicotine.

At one point I completely forgot to add the nicotine shots to my vape juice, topped it up in my vape and carried on like normal for a few days until I found the liquid nicotine bottles! I had been going for days without any nicotine at all, so now it's time to quit the vape completely!

Good luck!

Thanks for all the support.

It has been six days now.

Tomorrow I shall be travelling back to Scotland - and a DH who is still smoking.

He has said that he will go into another room to smoke though.

I know that if I feel like I want a fag and I know that there's tobacco in the house, I am more likely to give in.

Well done on four days.

I quit with Allen Carr, audiobook instead of the actual book, audible have it and you can get one book free, might be worth a listen in your journey back home?

it was a piece of piss, it really was, but I put that down how he changes your whole thinking around smoking and makes you realise you're not giving up anything, you're not depriving yourself of something and he breaks into to "monsters" you have to fight, the physical monster, and those withdrawls are really nothing more than a mild hunger pang. The rest of the book changes your thinking habits.

I've never ever been tempted. My husband still smokes and its genuinely never bothered me, whereas times I've tried before I'd feel angry at him for not stopping as well, which was kind of unfair of me because I know he needs to decide for himself and be ready himself.

Best of luck OP. You can do this.

Six days even. Well done

Nineteen days!

I have amazed myself.

Thank the Lord for nicotine patches.

now I need to persuade DH to give up

Nineteen days is great. Well done and keep going

I haven't smoked since March. I have done it using a vape. I'm on no nicotine now and my gp says so long as I'm not smoking cigarettes I am OK and can slowly come off the vape.

Well done @fantasmasgoria1

Nine months, eh? Brilliant. I tried a vape but didn't like it.

My painting-by-numbers set still hasn't arrived. ROFL.

It's a good job I wasn't relying on it to help me to stop smoking.