Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you smoke cigarettes?

117 replies

monroeagogo · 14/02/2022 22:51

I'm an ex smoker. Been 20 years. Get a craving now and then but wondered how many people still smoke?

So, do you smoke?
If yes, how many?
Why don't you stop?

OP posts:
stabbypokey · 15/02/2022 13:39

I smoke roll ups maybe 1 30gm pouch every ten days. A lot of my friends are social smokers but I can’t do that.

It is an addiction which is hard to beat, I believe I enjoy it (which is ridiculous really) and I also feel i look like a bit of a loser smoking in public so im slowly building up to stopping for good.

bedheadedzombie · 15/02/2022 13:47

I used to smoke rolled tobacco. Quit in my twenties and don't miss it. It was a bit hard at first, but after that I became so thankful that I quit. My skin was better, my fitness levels increased, I felt much more relaxed during the day because I didn't have to plan my next smoke and I didn't have to worry so much about lung cancer anymore. I'm never going back, I feel so much better without it.

OverFebruary · 15/02/2022 13:48

Yes I still do. Quit during lockdown and then started again, stupidly! My DP has managed to stay off them and hates me smoking. My excuse is that I have a stressful job, but in reality I have crap willpower (and actually really enjoy it still), but I know I really must - even if it's just because of the ridiculous cost!!

TGIFbishes · 15/02/2022 13:53

Since the ban on menthols I've not touched a cigarette. I vape the Juuls but only when I have a drink and even then I can take it or leave it.

Really recommend Juul for anyone wanting to make that transition, they're not like the big vapes that need juice etc.

fuckoffImcounting · 15/02/2022 14:00

I stopped 30 years ago after 20 years of smoking - it was hard. I am in my sixties now but I look 20 years younger than my smoking friends.

Sagealicious · 15/02/2022 16:22

Used to smoke here and there from the age of 13 but a pack of ciggies here costs about a million bucks so can't afford it...unless I can get a free one off someone in a social situation which is when I'm more likely to smoke.

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 15/02/2022 16:30

On a night out/weekend I can easily smoke around 10 but then go weeks without touching them.

I only smoke when I really crave one. I know it's becoming a problem if the cravings get closer together so I'll stop giving in for a while.

roarfeckingroarr · 15/02/2022 16:31

No, it's a grim habit that negatively affects others as well as myself.

SexyLittleNosferatu · 15/02/2022 16:31

Yes I do.
Menthol roll-ups.
Maybe 10 a day, more if I am drinking.
I enjoy it. I don't want to give up.

AryaStarkWolf · 15/02/2022 16:32

@Bran21

Stopped smoking 12 years ago. If I walk past someone smoking I love the smell. Always feel one day I'll give in and start again even after all this time even though I've never even had a puff in all that time.
Ugh these stories make me feel hopeless about staying off them for good Sad
SexyLittleNosferatu · 15/02/2022 16:33

Really recommend Juul for anyone wanting to make that transition, they're not like the big vapes that need juice etc

How do they work if they don't need juice? Genuinely interested. Have tried vapes and didn't like them before.

Mydogisagentleman · 15/02/2022 16:39

Started when I was 12, am now 58.
Smoke between 15 and 20 tailor made a day.
I don’t stop because I love it!

Bunnyfuller · 15/02/2022 16:47

Gave up in 2014 after being a die-hard committed smoker. Went onto vaping but didn’t take to it, and just stopped smoking.

I had a heart attack in 2019. One of the consultant cardiologists said of all risk factors, smoking was the biggest contributor. The feeling of freedom you get from not having nicotine cravings is fantastic.

Justcashnosweets · 15/02/2022 16:47

Yes, I smoke roll ups. The thing is I have always loved smoking but I hate it aswell. I'm stopped twice and gone back to it like a fool. I know I need to stop again as 1, I can't afford it, and 2, I'm the wrong side of 40 and have been smoking since I was 17. Enough is enough!

guestusername · 15/02/2022 16:51

I stopped smoking 95 days ago. I had the super cold and the cough was horrendous, I tried everything to ease it and my GP wouldn’t help. After yet another 4am coughing fit where I’d got up for a smoke because it seemed to be the only thing that gave just the tiniest bit of relief, I realised that I’d have to lose the rollies if I was going to have any chance of sleeping! I spent hours trawling various forums and went to my local vape shop that morning. I’d planned on “duel fuelling” to begin with but thought I’d see how long I could go, and 95 days later…

I wanted to give up anyway having watched my little brother die a long horrible and painful death from cancer two years ago but I wanted to give up on my terms in my own time. Seems that my body had other ideas! Smoking repulses me now and I know I’d never go back. Plus, I’m kinda enjoying all the changes - better looking skin and hair, I don’t stink, I have more time because I’m not stopping to smoke, I can taste so much more and I’ve got much more energy

20 a day for more years than I’d care to admit

Plumface · 15/02/2022 16:56

I smoked for 20 years (!!), give or take a few pregnancies. Started vaping a year ago and now just do that but it can be a hassle because you need different bits of kit, they're not all compatible, it means a lot more planning than just going to a shop and buying fags, plus people who work in vape shops are usually blue haired psuedy arseholes. So it's not perfect but on balance better than the old fags, plus it's loads cheaper.

TimBoothseyes · 15/02/2022 17:06

I smoke roll-ups. How much really depends on the day of the week. Mon-Fri, not many as I'm busy at work so don't really have a craving. At the weekends it's more, between 15-20. As for why I don't give up, well I have tried...attempt #1 was going well until BiL was killed in a horrific work accident. Attempt #2 lasted 3 weeks then I was involved in a bad car accident and finally attempt #3 was at the beginning of March 2020 and, well let's just say that one didn't go as planned. I will probably try again but only when I have bubble wrapped everyone I care about and locked the away for their own safety. Grin

TimBoothseyes · 15/02/2022 17:07

the = them. Oh for an edit button.

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 15/02/2022 17:08

No, never.

I am afraid that I really judge people under 60 who smoke as they were brought up when it was know to be dangerous.

ldontWanna · 15/02/2022 17:09

I smoke.
Pack a day on average, sometimes more ,usually less.
I don't want to.

Twillow · 15/02/2022 17:10

I loved smoking.
I would still be a smoker if:
it didn't cause cancer etc
it didn't cost so much

TGIFbishes · 15/02/2022 18:06

@SexyLittleNosferatu

Really recommend Juul for anyone wanting to make that transition, they're not like the big vapes that need juice etc

How do they work if they don't need juice? Genuinely interested. Have tried vapes and didn't like them before.

I probably didn't explain that very well.

You but the device from sainsburys/the Juul website, usually on off or for like £5.

Then you buy the pods that you smoke from. I think you get 5 in a pack and they're about £10 but they last me months and months. So you don't have to fill with a juice. You just click the pod in the device to smoke from.

This is it attached when charging. The charger comes in the pack with the devise.

Ha I should be on commission Grin

To ask if you smoke cigarettes?
Turnitupto11 · 15/02/2022 18:42

@Plumface

I smoked for 20 years (!!), give or take a few pregnancies. Started vaping a year ago and now just do that but it can be a hassle because you need different bits of kit, they're not all compatible, it means a lot more planning than just going to a shop and buying fags, plus people who work in vape shops are usually blue haired psuedy arseholes. So it's not perfect but on balance better than the old fags, plus it's loads cheaper.
This! I hate going into vape shops for advice, I always feel they're judging me somehow. I just want something simple and non leaky that actually tastes of something and doesn't cost the earth. But it's all mods and direct to lung ... I just want something like a cigarette, but it hasn't to actually give me a nicotine hit unlike the cigalikes you used to get! They always talk me into some new eliquid too that I never like and end up throwing away Angry
YouCantTourniquetTheTaint · 15/02/2022 18:57

Yes I smoke, started as a teenager, very stupid decision. I now smoke rollies, about 20 a day.

Why won't I quit? Well I both love smoking and hate it, I know its pointless, I know what I'm doing is harming me, but at the moment it just isn't the right time for me.

40% of people with ADHD smoke, apparently we find more pleasure in it, and use it as a coping mechanism. I'm in that demographic. I'll probably need some type of specialist support to stop smoking. Confused

MinnieJackson · 15/02/2022 19:11

Yeah I smoke about 25 roll ups a day. Im currently giving up alcohol so all my energy is going on that.
Hope to be smoke free one day but I'm worried about the horrible cough you get when you quit (ironic isn't it Blush) been smoking for 17 years Confused