To ask how to give up smoking when I don’t want to?

[Cadela]

I have to stop, I know that. I’m 35, lone parent and my dad died from lung cancer when he was 64.

I KNOW I have to give up. I’ve tried vaping and hypnotherapy and the guilt of smoking when I have a child. Dd is my world and I can’t even stop for her. The guilt and stress is eating me up.

I enjoy it is the problem, I roll cigarettes and it’s the habit of rolling and going outside (and I have tried rolling nothing and still going outside) but I always cave. I feel awful but I don’t want to give up?

How do I get myself out of this mindset and replace the habit with going outside and eating a strawberry or something.

If anyone has struggled please let me know how you did it!

I don’t know, but for your DD please persevere. My mum died at 55 after smoking for 40 years. She’s missed out on so much and her last few years were grim.

hopefully someone else will come along with more practical suggestions. Good luck.

I don't have an answer but sympathise as I smoked for many years. I enjoyed it and did not want to give up. I stopped as I developed a cough which exhausted me.
antibiotics and steroids did not stop the cough so had to stop smoking.
I found that I had cravings constantly for several months. What helped was thinking that, when smoking I started craving another cigarette soon after smoking, so I was always craving anyway.
I chewed gum constantly and ate more. You cannot worry about your weight when giving up smoking. I did not want to use nicotine gum or vape as I would still be addicted but it works for a lot of people.

You just have to do it even though you don't want to and it will become easier!

When I was on my journey to giving up one thing I did was give up for just one day. The first cigarette I had the next day I didn't even enjoy!

It's so hard when the sun's out and you just want to sit outside and have a smoke. But just don't stop trying! I got there eventually, although it took some false starts.

As a lifelong smoker the only thing that stops me from smoking is vaping. But I vape more than I used to smoke does that make sense?

It’s bloody tough.

I was the same.
I actually gave up reading the Allen carr book, easy way to stop smoking.
I thought I’d give it a go, and it actually worked.

So I’d say try that, and if it doesn’t work, you haven’t lost anything and are no worse off so worth a go

I didn't want to stop smoking. I read Alan Carr's "Easy Way to Stop Smoking" to prove to my ex that it was a load of bollox and wouldn't work.

It bloody worked. Still annoyed about it.

Saying this kindly...

You're not special. You're not different. What you've said is just plain old, vanilla how most smokers feel.

You enjoy it. It's a ritual. Yep. Same for most others too. There is nothing different about you. Ex-smokers felt the same as you do,

You do have to give up. You just do. Your daughter needs you, lung cancer, heart disease or COPD are nasty, nasty diseases.

I caught a bad bout of covid. And just couldn't smoke. It hurt my lungs. It hurt my sinuses. It made me feel sick and lightheaded. Not just for a couple of days, but for 3-4 weeks.

Probably not the solution doctors would recommend... But if you contact your GP they will be very excited to offer you a lot of smoking cessation help.

I got ill and couldn't catch my breath properly- it was a window into the future and awful

I had to take medication in the end, I used to really enjoy smoking (I was smoking 30-40 a day) but my Mum was dying of lung cancer and I couldn't bear to let her die worried sick about me.

I took Champix for just a couple of weeks but it got me through the worst few early days. I cried a lot and sobbed through the cravings! But they really do only last a few minutes.

Good luck! Don't give up giving up!

I gave up when pregnant. Twice.

I spent a lot of money being hypnotised and had a fag on the way out of the hypnotherapists office.

I vaped. Then smoked again.

Then, I got a thing on Facebook that my local council was giving away free sessions on Allen Carr stop smoking courses. So I signed up. It was one day, online (although I could have attended a physical seminar) and was 10am - 4pm. I am incredibly cynical and not a suggestible or malleable personality. But it was free, so hey ho.

I logged on and was greeted by some hippy, wishy washy chap who was the speaker, and very nearly logged off at that point. I listened for the first hour thinking "what a load of clap trap, when is this thing actually going to start?". In fact I'm not sure at what point it did start. Or what they actually did. But that was May 10th and I haven't had a cigarette, nor remotely wanted one since. I'm not even trying. The urge to have one has entirely gone. Utter sorcery.

You really don't want to catch pneumonia as a smoker believe me. And the risks of catching it a far higher for a smoker.

I watched someone I love go through it. She was early 40s and lucky to escape with her life.

When you fancy a fag, think of things like this. Or think of DD trying to cope without her mum.

I read the Alan Carr book
Had smoked 20 a day for 20 + years
When I finished the book i just never smoked again
Like never amd im 53 now so that's around 21 years ago.
Can't even stand the smell .
Try it ?

More or less the same here.

Nothing else had worked, with this book it wasn't even a struggle, I just never felt like smoking again.

I'm in the process of quitting, currently coming to the end of a 21 day box of stage one patches and using a vape. I quit because my chest was starting to hurt/feel heavy regularly. I was probably smoking a good 30 a day at least

I do feel better for it, my chest stopped hurting almost immediately which was a relief, I had myself convinced I had heart problems or lung cancer, my fingers are no longer stained and my teeth are whiter

I've tried previously with just the vapes but always failed, a combo of patches/vapes seems to do the trick, and the NHS says nicotine isn't harmful its all the other stuff in cigarettes so I'm not bothered if I have to use them longer term

Edited to add, I read the Allen carr book and didn't stop at all so it doesn't work for everyone, but lots do find it helpful

I quit 2 months ago. I wanted to as it had become a chore BUT I was spurred on by seeing my Nan die from Cardiovascular disease (she also had COPD) my grandad had lung cancer years ago and went in to hospital with a sickness bug. He died of pneumonia after aspirating his own vomit into his one remaining lung. My Mum has early onset Alzheimers (and who knows what the cause of that is?). I just couldn’t keep on. I vape instead which is just another addiction but it’s one I’ll break.

I also gave up rollies on the Alan Carr book, had a sugar free polo each time I fancied one instead.

One day at a time. If you can do one day, you can do two, if you do three that’s almost half a week and so on. Be prepared to be angry, feel awful, resentful, filthy tempered. It takes a while, but by God is it worth it. Put the money in a pot. Treat both of you. Try!

I vape and love it. I realise that it isn't ideal but I haven't smoked a cigarette in nearly 4 years and I'm not remotely tempted to. Can't stand the smell of them at all now.

I read the Alan Carr book too and literally never smoked another cigarette again. 13 years off them now. It is a weirdly boring, badly written book but it is MAGICAL whatever it does to your brain.

And i watched my dad slowly choke to death over 18 months on an inoperable tumour in his oesophagus caused by smoking.

She already knows she has to give up. She is asking HOW to give up.

I was kind of annoyed it worked too! 😂

Fucked it up though, and started vaping a few years later when drunk.

Currently got the east way to stop vaping Sat on my bookshelf, where it’s been untouched for months 🤦‍♀️😂

I loved smoking but I still gave up - got a massive bill to pay it was the only thing that made sense. I used a nicotine inhalator and just planned one day at a time - I couldn’t say I had given up for ages - in my head I just wasn’t going to smoke today. Good luck.

This is just my experience but - you can't.
You have to want to stop or it's really unlikely you'll succeed.

I started smoking when I was 14 and had so many attempts to stop that all failed because I didn't want to stop. I felt like I ought to. I was pressured by others. I had countless ok I will stop on Monday / after I finish this packet / on such and such a day moments. I never threw out my lighters though...

I'd stop for a day or two then I'd start thinking well I've proved I can stop if I want to so I'll just have one a day. One became two, three four... A pack of ten, a pack of 20.

Every time.

I tried nicotine patches, gum, everything.

Then one day I was smoking and I just thought you know what? I'm done. I've had enough of this. And I threw my cigs and my lighters in the bin.

I've never touched another one or even been tempted.

The physical withdrawal was hard but didn't last that long and now it's been been over ten years and the smell of smoke makes me want to throw up.

Every time I 'tried' to quit I could tell you how many hours since my last fag. When I actually quit, I never counted. I was just done.

Your best chance of success is to have that "I'm done with this shit" moment.

I didn't really really want to stop. I mean, I knew.it was terrible for me. But I liked it. Ridiculous as that sounds.

Allen Carr doesn't require you to even want to stop. I found it dull, hippy dippy nonsense. That is also magic and I have no idea how or why I have stopped smoking from that day and it's not even been difficult. I just don't want one.

I'm not repelled. I'm not anti smoking. I just don't want one. It's really hard to explain, and bloody brilliant.