Given Up Smoking

[Twinkie]

Message withdrawn

Come and suffer with us then madgirl! Isnt it daft though When you can smoke its rotten and filthy and when you cant its built into something great....wish id never ever started.

Oh yes, the Voice.... 'You'll be fine, you've come this far, you've proved you can do it now, one won't hurt, go on you know it'll be fine..'

Nightmare isn't it ?

But it does go away eventually, I would suddenly realise I'd not thought about it for a day (subsititute minute/hour/week as applicable) then I found I'd be obssessed again for a while until I was distracted.

Northerner, I'd be seriously tempted to not go this time or rebook into somewhere which only allows smoking away from the tables - our local Chinese lets people smoke in the waiting area near the bar but that's all.

But then my willpower is deeply suspect, even after 5 years (this time) I had to be careful at the last MN meetup I went on.

Stick at it guys, it's a tough few weeks/months but as a proportion of the rest of your (longer) life it's not so much. If you do fall off though jump straight back on if you can. Good luck.

I'll leave you with a loud outburst from dd in a DIY store last week:

'Mummy why does that man smell so disgusting ?'

northener, I hope you got through this evening. One (horrible, but it worked for me) thing I used to do was imagine the smokers at the table in white gowns receiving cancer treatment. It helped me to pity them for their continuing addiction (a la Allen Carr) rather than envy them for being smokers. I know it sounds horrible and drastic but it worked for me and so I'm passing it on. Obviously I've NEVER told a smoker that I'm imagining this and it's a horrible thought but I needed shocking images to make me stop. I didn't give up until March last year despite having watched my dad die of lung cancer. It's an evil week isn't it? Good luck to all of you stoppers.

www, thats the sort of thing i do, but not quite as graphic as that. The sad thing is, when my mum or dp cough it just rings death in my ears now.

How did you get on Northerner ?

Hi all. Managed to get through the dinner. The smokers moved to the bar when they had a fag so that really helped me. However, today is really bad for some reason. All I am thinking about is fags. Walking to work this morning I very nearly went into the newsagents and bought some. I kept thinking 'I'll just buy 10 and a cheap lighter'. I would do anything for just 1 cigeratte right now. Why do I feel like this, I feel very close to falling off this wagon. Help me please!

Northerner it is a terrifyingly addivctive thing. I am 17 weeks pregnant, crave every day (afer FIVE months) and get depressed at the thought that i will be miserable without fags for the rest of my life.
i was on 5 a day for 2 years. is that so so so so bad?
aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Hi Madgirl. I keep thinking to myself that I could just smoke 5 a day. God everyone would be soo dissapointed in me. Having a bad day so far, so that little voice is getting louder. watch thsi space.

Sh*t Northerner, try and hang in there, it's the nicotine screwing with your brain.

DON'T LET IT WIN, I truly know what you are going through right now (and believe some people suffer more than others) but it WILL pass (honest madgirl), it just doesn't seem like it sometimes. Are you using any replacements ?

Getting through Friday was ace, be really chuffed with yourself for that but stay out of the newsagents today !

Good luck

Hi Twink. No I'm not using any nicotine replacement. I did Alan Carr who believes it simply prolongs the addiction. I thought it would get easier not harder. Hate myself for feeling like this.

It does I suppose.

Just spoken to dh who quit when I did first time round and he's convinced that 4 weeks after stopping is a crucial time, the craving kicks in really, really badly again for a little while.

You're not letting yourself down by feeling it, just if you act on it.

There's nothing I can say to make it easier, but it will stop, you won't feel like this forever and ultimately it's worth it but you know all that already.

Anyway, can you really go home and face your still-smoking dh if you smoke today ? Surely the feeling of non-smoking smugness beats that ??

Hope you make it through, xx

Yes Twink you are so right. I have been on and on at dh, so if I smoke today I'll look a real t**t! Also he has set a date of Feb 1st for him to give up, so I need to be strong for him.

It's reassuring to hear that 4 weeks is a crucial time. I'm gonna have a Kit Kat now, see if that helps!

Thanks Twink.

Northerer, have ANYTHING you want as long as it's not a fag. There's no such thing as one blah blah blah. Have you got the book with you? Buy another one, re-read it. Or tell me which bits you need to hear again and I'll post them here. Can you really bear to have one and go through the first couple of weeks of stopping again? Allen Carr is fab and he's right, you know he is. I'll shut up now, since I'm getting annoying I gave up last March and I honestly rarely think about it now (was heavy, heavy badly addicted smoker).

Thanks WWW. I don't have the book on me cause I'm at work, but I have got it at home. Why hadn't I thought of re reading it? Will do that tonight. Will just keep thinking of killing my monster.......

Northener, i have stopped for two weeks but had 2 over that time so i guess i haven't really. I just keep thinking," Surely just one a week when i'm gagging for one!"
I haven't had one for 6 days now my longest yet but my mam is having dd this afternoon and thats the WORST time! Hope you stay strong and i will try too!
Catch you all later

SIGH!

Hi Angeliz! Hows it going?

hi Northener, it's going good, i haven't cracked yet but am DYING for one. No dd, i am all alone, nothing stopping me!!!
You???

Hang in there guys !

My craving is not as bad as earlier, but yeah I'd really enjoy one right now.

God this is awful. Wish I'd never started!

On a positive note, I'm convinced my skin is better, i never smell(), and i have been cooking some lovely food and have cleaned nearly all my cupboards

i have some herbal ones and i thought if i get desperate i'll smoke one of them for the habit but they're AWFUL!!!!!!
How long is it for you???

Northerner, my sister said to me "don't start again - if you do you'll have to read that f*ing boring book again" Think about that - and you wouldn't enjoy it any more than you'd enjoy wearing tight shoes just to get the enjoyment of taking them off blah blah blah blah, the nicotine monster is trying to trick you into lighting up, blah blah blah, well done for not cracking both of you...

dd is back home and now have no chance if i wanted to so am very glad i didn't give in
Till the next time..............

Guys, well done for hanging in there. When I have a really bad day with the kids, it's like it's my escape route, go outside and have a fag BUT I went to see a hypnotherapist and have not had ONE since! I was on 20 plus a day and yes, I admit, odd times at first I did have cravings, but they went and now I am on my 20th week! My kids are proud of me and I am (boast, boast) but I do know how hard it is. What's great for me is that I was "programmed" not to mind other people smoking (my dh and all my family do) and also not to"preach" to others. I occasionally get a whiff of smoke and think that it smells nice but then again, I smell smoke on my Dh sometimes and feel really guilty that that was all my babies could smell on me, and it must be yukky for them as their senses are very strong. Keep trying, and good luck!