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Original poster

Advantages of giving up smoking.

40 replies

Ashleigh42 · 15/07/2023 14:47

Inspired by the advantages of weightloss thread. Does anyone have any unexpected benefits/advantages of giving up smoking. I’m 42 and have smoked since I was 17 (excluding pregnancies). My motivation is waning somewhat! What has been the greatest benefit of stopping the cigarettes for you? Thank you!

OP posts:
Lanadelday · 15/07/2023 14:49

Better skin- less dry, less sallow
You can whiten your teeth and keep them whiter
Your fingers don't smell
No more yellow fingernails

DustyOwl · 15/07/2023 14:50

It eventually made me less stressed out, once the rollercoaster of nicotine had ended. I realised that I was artificially stressed out between cigarettes so then, when I smoked one, I felt more relaxed. In reality just stopping smoking made me, overall, more chilled.

DustyOwl · 15/07/2023 14:50

Ahh yes, my spots disappeared rapidly.

RobertaFirmino · 15/07/2023 14:58

You are free. Free to do whatever you like without worrying about when you can have your next ciggy. Free to spend the money you have in the bank without thinking 'Well, I need to make sure I've got enough left for my ciggies for the week'. Free from that nagging little voice in the back of your mind that momentarily scares you shitless about lung cancer and heart attacks.

You can also do less housework. No ashtrays to empty and wash. You can generally get an extra wear out of your clothes because they don't reek of smoke. Same with hairwashing, you can be confident of going that extra day without doing it because you don't stink anymore.

greenplantspinkflowers · 15/07/2023 15:00

I've quit smoking! Ok I'm on vapes now but I've weaned myself to 0% vapes. Was a smoker for 17 years.

I recommend you buy an Elf bar vape with nicotine and then just stop buying cigarettes as you get used to the vape - tastes so much nicer. Buy a couple 0% nicotine vapes and over a couple weeks switch to them.

I'm slowly reducing the vapes now but couldn't imagine smoking a cigarette again.

greenplantspinkflowers · 15/07/2023 15:01

I know you weren't asking for help to quit but I'm proud of quitting and didn't think I could do it as easy as I have! You can do it to!!!!

Watchkeys · 15/07/2023 15:02

I became a runner. Life changing.

Was126orbustandmaybebust · 15/07/2023 15:08

Money is the biggest advantage for us retrospectively though it was health that motivated us to try.
DH and I gave up smoking when we decided to have DC.
DD1 is now 21 and we saved enough money to be mortgage free which is bonkers.

OneMoreCookieMonster · 15/07/2023 15:13

Hair doesn't smell
Don't have to hide in the shadows like a social pariah
Better skin
Better teeth
Suddenly have more time
More money
Less anxiety- would panic when down to last 7 cigs and would map out if I had the time to get more how long could I make them last for

I'm an on again off again smoker. Haven't smoked since September (pregnancy, now new baby) hoping I won't pick it back up when I return to work next year. I also only ever smoked when out or at work. Never around the kids of if I was going to see them and fight have time to change etc

WhatADrabCarpet · 15/07/2023 15:23

After nearly 40 years of smoking I finally gave up last year. I do vape though.

No more stench ( oh how they stink now) more money, no more smokers' cough and 'the fear' has gone.

After only about a month , I was able to walk up a nearby hill without gasping for breath part way up.

thatsn0tmyname · 15/07/2023 15:30

I've been smoke free for 12 years and the biggest improvement for me was no longer doing the mental maths working out when I could next have a cigarette.

Sanch1 · 15/07/2023 15:35

Agree with others, the biggest thing for me was not constantly thinking about and working out when I could have another cigarette, and hiding it from the children. Mentally free.

IDontHarte · 15/07/2023 15:39

Every time I had a cold it would go straight to my chest and I spent years with a hacking cough. All gone now and I can breathe so well!!!

Sarfar45 · 15/07/2023 15:41

Money and you don't smell. I didn't realise how much it smells until I gave up 20 years ago!

BrainTumourGirl · 15/07/2023 15:45

Never having to think about it ever again. Mental freedom.

mnlk · 15/07/2023 15:47

You won't stink
You'll live longer
You'll have more money

caringcarer · 15/07/2023 15:50

Improve your lungs/breathing
Better skin
Fresher breath
Whiter teeth
Less stinky clothing/hair
Save money
More likely to be invited to social events in others homes
Setting a good example to any children or young people
Less likely to get COP D or emphasemia

Perfect28 · 15/07/2023 15:53

Mental clarity of never having a withdrawal/ craving again

CharityJane · 15/07/2023 16:05

Being able to undertake a long journey without feeling desperate for a fag.
Not standing on the street in bad weather to smoke.
Sense of smell and taste have massively improved.

The health improvements are what kept me going when I gave up, I didn’t realise just how wheezy and cough-y I had been until I gave up smoking.

LotsOfThingsToThinkAbout · 15/07/2023 16:20

You risk of dying younger is massively higher if you smoke. Everyone knows someone's Nan who smoked like a chimney and lived to 100 but the reality is very different. Smoking kills and it kills people young. It also kills in nasty painfully ways. Dying of lung cancer is an awful way to die. My Dad died of lung cancer from smoking. He gave up about 15 years before he died but he'd still spent too much of his life as a smoker. He deeply regretted it.

So living longer is a big advantage of giving up smoking.

Another commonly overlooked advantage of giving up is that you stop giving money to truly evil tobacco companies such as Altria, Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco. They profit out of selling something highly addictive that is proven to kill people. They don't care though. They also make loads of money.

It's always interesting to see which politicians have accepted 'hospitality' from tobacco companies or have shares in them etc.

Allmyghosts · 15/07/2023 16:26

Have just started my approx 7th go at vaping, longest achieved was 3 months 🙄so this is a good thread to read. My breathing is already a bit better, I was desperate for a fag the other day, when I actually got some and had one it was just like meh, why was I so frantic grr.

Allmyghosts · 15/07/2023 16:30

Tbh I don't particularly want to live longer, but the hacking cough and shortness of breath was getting on my nerves. Spoiler for people who say lung cancer is a nasty way to die, no ways to die are much fun.

LotsOfThingsToThinkAbout · 15/07/2023 16:43

@Allmyghosts I agree that there are no good ways to die but some ways are definitely more painful, stressful and drawn out than others. I think knowing you are dying from something that you have done to yourself rather than something that was unavoidable is worse.

Original poster
Ashleigh42 · 15/07/2023 16:43

Thank you all! Yeah I’m always thinking when I can have my next cigarette etc… factoring it in when I’m at the airport etc…

these responses have been super helpful.

OP posts:
Allmyghosts · 15/07/2023 16:46

LotsOfThingsToThinkAbout · 15/07/2023 16:43

@Allmyghosts I agree that there are no good ways to die but some ways are definitely more painful, stressful and drawn out than others. I think knowing you are dying from something that you have done to yourself rather than something that was unavoidable is worse.

How would you possibly know? You haven't died multiple times Confused, I have seen many many deaths, obviously I can't know what people were thinking, but they all seem to go in predictable progression.