To ask you for the thing that finally motivated you to stop smoking ...and did it work ?

[Yoyokitten]

My Dad, born in 1919, started smoking at 12 years old, was totally addicted and could not stop.
He died at 57 of a pulmonary embolism.
Far too young.No one else in my family smoked.
So when I listened to a programme on Radio 4 this week called Tobacco and Me, it got me thinking.
I went to college at 17,and everyone smoked, so being an idiot I tried it too.
Hated it ,felt sick and dizzy so instead of rejecting it I carried on until it became a habit.
The thing that stopped me smoking was that one night about 9.30pm, in the middle of winter I realised I was running out of cigarettes.
The nearest little shop was about half a mile away.
It was snowing, but I set off.Got to the shop slipping and sliding, bought them and set off back home.
On the way back I slipped sprained my ankle and fell and sat on the fags as I went down, crushing them.
I sat in the snow laughing and crying.
That stopped me, and I never smoked another one 🤣.

Getting pregnant, but that’s a bit drastic.

That's the best reason in the world 🙂

Twice, being too ill to even think about it. But the first time it happened only lasted a year or two - I was driven to desperation by coping with dementia, and succumbed once again to the fags.

Second time, years later, 3 weeks in hospital with pneumonia and pleurisy was very effective! A bit drastic, but I have not weakened since.

A dear (non smoking) friend died of leukaemia aged 26. I was a year older and reflected that whilst his life had been taken from him, I was wilfully doing something harmful and being careless with mine. I gave up on the 1 year anniversary of his death and couldn't possibly let him down by smoking again. That was 27 years ago.

It must have been so difficult, well done for lasting a year.
My mum in law had dementia, it was horrendous.
Sorry you went through both

That is amazing well done.

I switched to vaping instead. I was never really addicted to smoking, and was an on and off smoker, but I quickly became addicted to vaping. I did stop vaping after a few years but it was really hard to quit.

My dad stopped smoking after I gave him my cold which for him turned into a chest infection for him

He was told to give up previously as they weren't sure why he collapsed at work (later diagnosed as epilepsy)

Wow so many different reasons.
My husband was a heavy smoker and decided one day to save up for an expensive camera.
It was going well, then he developed a chest infection and pneumonia.Was really ill for 2 weeks.When he finally recovered he couldn't face starting again.He got his camera !

Well done all of us, it's not easy 💖

I have been addicted to nicotine probably from the very first puff.
I have tried many times being an occasional smoker (I remember at a time, I was "allowed" to smoke at gigs, so well, I was going to gigs every evening) but it doesn't work for me, my brain craves nicotine the moment I put a cigarette down.
So my motivation was to not be a slave to this addiction anymore. Health, money, all of that were very nice add-ons.

I have only managed to quit long term bu quitting drinking as well. I have a way less complicated relationship with alcohol, but after a couple of drinks, my nicotine-craved brain starts negotiating "we could have one, just one, come ooooon". Which doesn't happen sober.

Ironically, I find quitting smoking very easy, which is also why I came back to smoking so often, because I knew that it'd be easy quitting again.

I started smoking when I was 23 - everyone in my crowd smoked. I started by taking the occasional cigarettes from them when we were out drinking. And it was just amazing how quickly I was hooked.

A couple of years in I started getting the occasional irregular heart beat and went to the GP. He immediately linked it to the smoking and more or less said I could possibly have a heart attack if I continued smoking.

That was a wake up call for me. I didn't go cold turkey immediately but I started systematically reducing the number of cigarettes each day. And the ones I did light up I only smoked half before stubbing them out. I got it down to 3 day and then the hardest part was giving these 3 up and actually spending a night in a house with no cigarettes in it at all.

But thankfully I got through that. And the biggest incentive to not smoking again has always been the memory of how hard it was to give up.

I started running after I stopped and the health benefits were so enormous it really is worthwhile. Not to mention the money saved.

A friend of mine stopped after the dentist pointed out it was staining her teeth.

Never a particularly heavy smoker (<10 a day) she had tried everything to give up from patches, electronic cig, hypnotherapy etc but nothing worked.
She has always taken care of her teeth (not so much as a filling at nearly 60) but during a check up, the dentist pointed out that unless she stopped smoking, the staining on her teeth would be permanent.
15yrs ago and she says she hasn't had a drag since (and knowing how much she cares for her teeth, I believe her).

Honestly when they stopped doing 10 packs and a packet of 20 was nearly a tenner, i did pharmacy cessation, both of us stopped at the same time which helped, but i have blips now and then but in the main i don't smoke, miss it though loved smoking !

For me it was a bet with DH. He played a lot of online RPGs (like World of Warcraft). I said I bet I could give up smoking before he gave up playing games. I won - didn't have a single cigarette after that. He still plays RPGs, but then so do I now, so it's worked out pretty well in the end.

I was a hardened smoker for years, but eventually as I got a bit older I began to notice my circulation suffering, my skin looked grey and I had a permanent cough. My giving up went like this:

• give up coffee too because smoking and coffee were linked for me
• got frightened about ruining my health
• one day I visited my friend and she involuntarily announced 'god, you stink of fags' (actually I did thank her in the end for that)
• became more difficult to smoke in public places, so that helped
• the cost of cigarettes became so expensive
• became less 'cool' to smoke, people thought badly of me for my smoking

I still miss it occasionally but I feel so much better now. Haven't smoked for a decade.

Varenicline worked for me, years ago now. At the same time, I prepared well, with my reasons written down, and a strategy for managing cravings.

A chest infection where I coughed up blood. 22yrs ago. If I was still smoking, then recently watching one of my best friends die from lung cancer that spread to her brain would have been the trigger that made me stop. It was horrendous. She was 57.

My teeth. I said to myself I’ll get them whitened once I’ve quit for a month. After getting them whitened I got so many compliments and people couldn’t put their finger on what I’d done, but I look so much better.

I started in uni and finally quit for good two years ago. I thought it was giving me wrinkles and I am vain!

Honestly, that Alan Carr book. He honestly hammered into me that it’s just stupid. It gives us nothing. Once I actually realised that, it clicked. Give it a read. I didn’t even finish it.

I loved it as well. I do miss it

I stopped when I bought 2 packets of cigs with the kids child tax credits. I worked part time and one month my wages ran out so I dipped in to their money and I felt like a thief afterwards. On the spot I decided no more. Finished the packet then went cold turkey. I had been smoking since I was 14 and stopped at 32. It was hard but stealing the kids money was what made me realise. 46 now and so glad I stopped

I stopped in January this year, after 40 years. In that time I'd never even attempted it.

I gave up for cost (ouch!) and health. Fearful of developing copd and then having no choice but to give up, I'd rather stop now on my own terms.

Feeling the health benefits already, sense of smell and taste returning, sinuses clearer, lack of breathlessness and tiredness. Bowels no longer irritated! I didn't realise how rubbish smoking makes you feel.

Did anyone else's skin get really bad after cessation? Mine became greasy and flaky and I got dandruff for the first time in my life. Apparently sebum production goes a bit nuts for a while.

TTC / pregnancy / bf, then never started again because didn’t want dc to smoke / wanted to be a good role model.

It wasn’t easy, for a good 3-4 years after I could have easily restarted, but just had to look at dc to keep going. 22 years stopped now.