Help me give up smoking... Again!

[GlovesAndBoots]

So unfortunately I have been smoking again for 6 weeks. So has DH.

We had both given up but due to some trauma we both started again. It was the only thing that got us through the weeks of sleepless nights and the agony of the daytime!

Well it's fair to say I am back to a full addiction and it's in full swing.

I have done it before, a few times actually.

This time feels impossible.

I don't actually want to give up. I enjoy my sit down with a fag. But it could kill me and its disgusting for my children and its expensive! And it could KILL ME!!!

How do I do it again?

How did you do it if you have done it? It's agonising and stressful and I still feel stressed and traumatised and that's not going to just disappear over night and smoking is my crutch.

Please. Help me!!!

Sorry, got a bit ranty at the end! Probably should have proof read it! Thanks.

Whenever you want a cigarette, just wait five minutes.

If you hadn’t waited five minutes you would have already finished the next cigarette.

Then ask yourself what happened to you in those five minutes that you didn’t have that cigarette.

How many time’s did you think about that cigarette?

Now try another five minutes.

And then try another five minutes.

Take it one step at a time. Embrace the urge to have one, then don’t have one.

And see what happens.

You’ll feel exactly the same after five minutes as you did before you wanted one.

If you can get through five minutes, you can get through 10.

Then 20

Etc etc

Before you know it, there will be five minutes when you don’t even think about having a cigarette.

And then those times of not even thinking about it will get longer.

When you do inevitably think about having one, just say to yourself again, just wait. Don’t have one right now.

Have breakfast tomorrow, and break the habit of just lighting up straight after.

Again just wait five minutes.

It worked for me. I embraced the urge to have one, and then simply didn’t have one.

Five minutes turn into one hour.

One hour turns into one day.

And if you can get through one day, you can do it permanently.

I gave up last year. Just stopped one day. My son made a comment about how he might smoke when he is older and I though FUCK. Thought how bad I'd feel if he died of a smoking related illness. Picture him taking a drag and poisoning his clean lungs. It was just the right time for me. I've put on soooooo much weight though. Good luck OP.

Nicotine lozenges worked for me. They take the edge off when you have a craving. Never looked back

Have you tried jason vale. its a free app. worked for me.

My DH transferred to a vape, he weaned himself down from 20 whatevers of nicotine to 0 then gave up the vape too. The process took 9 months but he’s been quit almost a year and he was a 30 a day smoker. It’s 2 years in November since his last proper cigarette.

I don't actually want to give up

Herein lies your problem.

"I would like to stop", "I should stop", "I am thinking about stopping" etc are all totally different from "I am stopping".

While you are still a smoker, if your desire to smoke outweighs your desire to stop, you sill just continue to smoke no matter what you tell yourself about how unhealthy, expensive, or disgusting it is.

If you are not of a mind that you have absolutely had enough of smoking to the point whereby the idea of continuing repulses you, then there is simply no point in pretending that you are about to give up smoking as you will not have the necessary strength of will to refrain from lighting up when the urge hits you. If you are serious about quitting, then throw away all your smoking paraphernalia, do not accept others smoking in front of you, and approach every single day like another day where you are an ex-smoker, rather than a smoker trying to quit.

If you view each passing day as another day where you are an ex-smoker with a body and mind that is returning to normality rather than being in the grip of an addiction and trying to fight a craving for a substance you are still addicted to, it lends you extra willpower because you then have to justify to yourself ruining all the 'progress' you have made to that point. You do actually have to want to quit to begin with to take that bloody-minded outlook, and from what you are saying I'm not convinced you really do actually want to quit just yet.

Champix OP, I went from smoking 25 a day to 0 in 2 weeks. I could only take the course for 4 weeks as I then fell pregnant and have now been smoke free for over a year with 0 desire to return to it.

I loved smoking, I just knew I couldn't continue and have the life I wanted. Good luck!

Im 35....my amazing dad has smoked since he was something stupid like 12.....he got ill with a chest infection nearly 4years ago and went cold turkey.......he smoked more fags than I care to imagine.
He has never had a cigarette since......never in all my childhood did he say he would give up as he enjoyed it so much.
Every day I am grateful for the days he gave his body a break.
I love him to the moon and back and I cannot tell you how happy it makes me knowing he isn't inhaling cigarettes every day. I am so proud of him.......

Switched to vaping at the start of October last year so just approaching one year , I’m 48 and had a stroke a couple of weeks ago - zero intention to start again now despite very stressful situations. Set yourself a savings target and put the money away each month when you get paid so you can’t justify the cost of smoking as that money has already been ‘spent’

I quit 5 years ago using Champix, it's brilliant- took all the hard work out of quitting.

You will only quit when you really want to, if you are not ready don't bother cos you won't do it.

I was a committed cigarette smoker, really enjoyed cigarettes and all the little rituals that go with them. The only way I managed to stop was by switching to vaping. I still vape, the little vapes you get in the supermarket, but it's cheaper and healthier than smoking. When you're longing for a smoke with a coffee or a drink vaping fills the gap.

I quit 2 years ago.. thought I was seriously about to have a heart attack. That gave me the motivation to stop and I was also terrified.

I threw away my new tub of tobacco with papers and filters and never looked back. I used a cheap e cig and still use one, but without nicotine and very rarely.

Hynotherapy worked for me. I think the fact that it was quite expensive helped - I'd paid out too much for it not to work! It took about 10 weeks of not smoking to break even financially.
I've given up before, but this was by the easiest way. I do occasionally miss going out to my back garden to have a cig with a nice glass of cold white wine, but it's fleeting. It's been about 18 months now.

vape
nicotine lozenges
patches
champix
think of how much you stink and your yellow teeth

Agree @Tavannach I love my vape for that reason. Coffee / wine / stressful day...it stops you reaching for a cigarette. I keep it in my bag for those times. Not forgetting it's saved me a serious amount of money

Sorry to hear you’ve been going through a difficult time OP. I’m not a smoker but I’ve heard rave reviews of a book by an author called Alan Carr I think?

Best of luck!

Allen Carr

Paul mckennas hypnosis on you tube worked for me at last

Sorry I haven't been back to comment. I don't use MN that much and was actually afraid of reading the responses as it would hit me even more that I need to give up.

So I am still smoking but have cut down quite a bit. It makes me feel sick if I smoke too much now.

Will be using nicotine gum again I think. It worked OK last time.

I have used a vape before but i found it more expensive as I just smoked it all the time! Compared to 10 rollies a day.

It's the first on of the day and the last which is the hardest. I woke up late today so had to run around like a headless chicken getting DCs ready for school and no time to smoke. So I know I can do it.

And yes... The smell. I must stink.

I need to get DH on board too. He is willing to give up so we just need to take the plunge together. It will hopefully be easier doing it at the same time!

I think we need to put a date on the calendar and that will be it....still scared though! Pathetic isn't it!

Thanks everyone.

Im 35....my amazing dad has smoked since he was something stupid like 12.....he got ill with a chest infection nearly 4years ago and went cold turkey.......he smoked more fags than I care to imagine.
He has never had a cigarette since......never in all my childhood did he say he would give up as he enjoyed it so much.
Every day I am grateful for the days he gave his body a break.
I love him to the moon and back and I cannot tell you how happy it makes me knowing he isn't inhaling cigarettes every day. I am so proud of him.......

This did choke me up a bit! I hate the kids seeing us smoke and I have nightmares about having to tell them I am going to die because I have lung cancer.

I need to do this sooner rather than later.

I am enjoying it less and less and wanting to quit more and more. Both good signs it will work I suppose.