Fell into an ashtray, help needed to get back out!

[charliecat]

Seriously though, I stopped smoking for a few months but had that dreaded one, and have smoked for the last week saying to myself, Ill stop tommorow...need a kick up the bum to stop me again tommorow, anyone help please?

If you're pregnant or breastfeeding it's difficult because you're so limited as to what you can take to help you. I use to smoke alot but gave up so easily when trying for a baby even though i'd smoked for years, i started again after my first daughter (that dreaded one cigarette!!) and then stopped with second pregnancy and touchwood haven't started again. I miss it terribly though and have to say that i did really enjoy the break/release that it gave me. Maybe if you tell yourself that you can have a cigarette the urge for the 'not allowd' would be less plus if you say to yourself 'wait until lunch time' then when lunch time comes say 'wait until dinner' etc etc. I've heard that putting a load of cigarette butts into a jar with water and having a wiff of that every time you crave can also make you go off of the idea. Good luck anyway.

As the Mumsnet smoking bore I'll be brief and will cut & paste part of something I wrote on another thread.
I'm a 'many times' ex-smoker and have finally had to accept that I'm an all or nothing person. I LOATHE smoking, except when the wheels have fallen off my waggon.

STOP Charliecat !

Here is my previous rambling, hope it might help:

'Patches really helped me through the early stages, then I went and got pregnant so had to go cold turkey...

I used to find my weakest point (apart from the pub) was getting petrol, I was so used to picking up 40 B&H at the same. I used to try and fix it so I'd always fill up at a 'Pay at Pump' station, that way I avoided all the sweets too.

I stopped going to the pub unless dh would be there too (not that he's scarey at all !) and pretty soon hated going at all as I couldn't stand coming home stinking of smoke.

A word of warning though, after the inital physical withdrawal symptoms stopped (which is quite a short period of time, around 7 days I think) my brain used to play tricks on me
'well you've lasted this long so you've proved you can do it, so just having one every so often will be fine'
NO IT WON'T, everytime I've thought that (I've 'given up' 4 times) I've been back on to 20+ a day in less than a week. I have to think of myself as a recovering ex-smoker not a non-smoker, even after 4 years of not smoking (I once went back to it after 6 years, how stupid am I ?)'

good advice, twink, need to take you up on it again!

I agree with bk- very good advice, Twink... And you're not a bore at all. I'm at a dangerous point I'm afraid- fallen off the wagon when drunk a few times now and enjoyed it immensely Back to taking it a day at a time now and trying not to slip headlong down the slippery slope.

Good luck in stopping again, charliecat. You KNOW you can do it- don't put it off.

twink, so sorry i didn't mention it before, scummy's posted reminded me, you are so not a bore, but an inspiration, and i mean that from that from the bottom... oh no will stop there before it all gets just too icky!

scummy, all i will say is... look me in the eye and say you want to go back to that expensive, dirty, unhealthy, out-of-control, addicted, apologising life...

no i didn't think so...

fingers crossed you get over this period of temptation - then i will be citing you as well as twink as a paragon of giving-up-ness...

scummy, not that you need this, but i will also say twink is an inspiration on the exercise and weight loss front too...

umm, er, have yet to follow in her footsteps on those either...

sigh sigh sigh. at the thought of exercise that is... I do need it- v flobbery at the moment. can't bear to even contemplate it however so my ears are closed to even Twink on that one for the moment!

Oh you two !!!!! Sorry, I've broken out into multiple '!'s' and it's down to you !

I really do sympathise with you both (never posted my experience but truly empathise with your recent trauma bk)

BUT !!! If nothing else, think of 4.50 ish per pack, sure perhaps 1 a week to start, give you 10 weeks and you'll be at 7 per week so after a year you're up to £1500 +. You're getting into a couple of weekends away at Babington or similar by then !

You don't need me nagging, you know it all already, Hugs xxx

Oh yikes (is that a word ?) our posts have all crossed !

Allen Carr, miracle man, I watched the video and thats what stopped me after months of failed attempts....until that dreaded, oh just one, my excuse is that my mum had told me to have a brandy but i thought id have a fag instead since it was early afternoon!!!!
I read the book in the last week, im thinking Carr like thoughts but im still smoking.
I am now awaiting the pc cd-rom from Ebay, this is comical if it wasnt such a deadly habit, but I really dont want to smoke till the parcel arrives.
I am going swimming first thing, so im hoping i will excersise my lungs and start me nicely and im seriously considering taking a water spray with me to dampen any ashtrays i come across!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you everyone wish me luck!

have done the sums many times, twink! even got our cleaner to come twice a week instead of once on the basis of money saved by me giving up...

chin up, bk! that's just more of an incentive now, right!

twink, trauma, schm... i'm fine, but thanks so much for remembering

All of you, just wanted to pop in to wish you all luck in staying stopped or giving up again, whichever stage you're at. It is hard...Twink, wise words about being a recovering smoker - I've given up several times before and I'm so determined not to go back to it this time but must remember to stay on guard against it. I'm Ms All or Nothing too and know there is no such thing as one cigarette for me.

I know just how you are feeling Charliecat. I started smoking again a few months ago after giving up for 6 years. I never thought I'd smoke again - I was very smug, look at me now!

I'll be reading this with interest to see how you get on and to see if I can inspire myself to give up again. I don't think I'm in the right frame of mind at the moment unfortunately.

Good luck charliecat.

Im still swimming in my filthy ashtray sadly, going to give it another bash in the morning. This morning there was a fag kindly left for me by dp so that was todays excuse.
Feel an idiot, am hiding away from the kids to smoke, goodness me how sad is that?!

I once was a rather amateur smoker until my sister said " I dont know why you spend all that money looking nice when you go and smoke"

Hmm that stopped me.

I gave up for 4.5 years and I've just fallen off the wagon too. I think the house move in 38 degrees was the final straw. Am giving up again on Monday.

Good luck to us both then SamboM!

Quite. Let me know how you get on!

(chants) GIVE UP GIVE UP ITS SMELLY

GOOD LUCK GUYS

Well on to day 2 and no probs yet...

Well done Sambom, remember a lot of the nicotine is out of your system now. By day 3 I think almost all of it's gone.

Good. Be gone foul weed. Thanks for your support WWW!

I can't believe it will be that hard as have only been smoking for a week really. Has anyone else fallen off for such a short time? Is it easy to pack it in again?

I gave up smoking 11 years (28th January)ago and still miss them! I would highly recommend Allen Carr also. I had to really obsess to give up. I had his book, a hypnosis tape which I did every night, a chart on my wardrobe door which I put a sticker on every night (did that for about 4 months!). I know it sounds very sad!! I also had to really scare myself health wise - it got to the point that every cigarette I smoked frightened me! As I said I had to become obsessive about giving up!

Like Twink patches helped and I had to stop going to the pub for about a year (now don't enjoy them as the smoke is so bad! - nothing worse than an ex-smoker!

I would even now have dreams about smoking, about twice a year. I wake up in a panic in the morning thinking "oh no, I've had that ONE cigarette!". I really really really know that I am just that ONE away. Ignore those people who can social smoke (I hate them - wish I could, even now).

Saying all this, I am so so so glad I gave up and it is one less battle I have to fight! I am trying to apply the same strategy to losing some weight now! Hopefully it works.

Good luck everyone giving up - it is worth it.