Smoking cessation

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

I know Mumsnet hates smokers so I am not expecting any support here - more just that I wanted to create a sort of log. I started smoking at uni when I was 21, I'm now 48.

I've joined Boots smoking cessation programme and have patches and a spray thing. I also have a vape. I think the habit of smoking - the punctuation points in the day - is going to be really hard to quit, but I realise I have everything to gain from stopping and nothing to gain from smoking.

Reasons to stop:

Health
Wealth
It's embarrassing to smoke and I am ashamed to be the last raver still at the party!

I have not smoked today.

Good for you!!!!! Keep up the good work - one day at a time.

I've quit and then re-started so many times - ridiculous I know. Stopped during lockdown completely, then the odd one once the pubs/bars re-opened, and now I am a full smoker again. I know I have to stop, not least because of the cost.

Day two. No cigarettes smoked. Early days, but I am just using the vape in the same way I would a cigarette - going out and having a seat in the garden with it.

Thank you so much @OverFebruary

You’re doing brilliantly! I stopped on Friday, so day 5 here.. using patches. I smoked 20 a day for years, then gave up 11yrs ago and only ever had the odd one when I was out drinking. Then lockdown happened and I was a full blown smoker again. It’s so easy to slip back into it!

Well done. You're more likely to succeed with the cessation support. Keep going, your body is already starting to recover. DH went from smoking to vaping and I swear within a couple of weeks he looked healthier.

Good luck.

I quit taking champix tablets and after years of trying and failing found stopping easy.

I'm 5 years stopped now and am confident I will never smoke again.

Love the extra money in my pocket, the health benefits, and not smelling any more.

Thank you all so much - I honestly didn’t post expecting support, just as a sort of journal so I am really touched by your kindness! ❤️

@PaulineFowlersCardigan how are you feeling? I think the vape is really helping me in terms of my smoking routine. (God that sounds so pathetic.)

How are you getting on? Stay strong x

Doing okay @OverFebruary - thanks for checking in! I feel like the vape is irritating my throat and making me cough, but maybe it is my body starting to clear out toxins? Or is that too soon? I am obsessively following timelines of how your body is when you quit, and reading “quitters’ stories”.

Tomorrow might be a test as I am in work, rather than WFH. I generally have a cigarette as I walk in, then take a break and walk round the block with a cigarette. Hopefully keeping to the same routine with the vape will be okay. I never see any colleagues in there now (I’m a lecturer and the number of classes on campus is being kept small still) so no-one will be offering me a cigarette. I’ve completely kept out of shops to avoid any temptation at the till so have just done an online shop to make sure I don’t end up “popping in” anywhere.

My DP keeps looking at me anxiously as if he’s expecting me to suddenly crack up. So far no cracking up.

I am aware this is all really lame - normal people do not have to do any of this.

In a previous life I worked on smoking cessation, and would never judge you for smoking, or for wanting to quit. Your rational mind knows it is the right thing to do. You just need to stack the odds in your favour, so that the reasons to not smoke consistently outweigh the reasons to smoke.

You sound really motivated, which is fantastic, and seeking support to stop smoking boosts your chances of success by 4x.

My dh was a smoker, he quit 12 years ago when the kids were small. He had attempted to quit 5 times, and always relapsed. On the 6th time it stuck, and I think he learnt something on each of those 5 'failed' attempts which helped him to eventually quit. 2 y after he quit we took the kids to Disney world. We would never have been able to afford that when he was spending on cigarettes

Wishing you the best of luck!

What do you mean ‘normal people don’t have to do this’? You don’t sound lame at all - those are all great steps to take to prevent you smoking! Don’t be so hard on yourself - this is a very difficult thing to do.

I quit New Year’s Day and have had a couple of nights where I’ve smoked since but I’m trying to focus on the cigarettes I haven’t smoked rather than those I have. Do you have an app? I have one called Smoke Free and I love all the little stats it gives like how much money you’ve saved and how much life you’ve regained

You’re doing great! I’ve heard a few people say that vaping makes them cough a bit, but it’s better than smoking. Keep it up! I may well be coming to you for advice as this is spurring me on to stop.

Ahhh, these posts have made me a bit teary, thank you all so much. Maybe DP isn’t wrong waiting on a meltdown! I am so used to the “smokers are the actual devil and if I sit beside one on a bus I need a full scrub down with bleach” posts on MN that I really did not expect people to be kind.

@ColonelNobbyNobbs I downloaded that app but it’s out of synch - I did it last week but set a “quit date” for Monday, and had my appointment with the counsellor person last Friday. It thinks I am further on than I actually am.

In more analogue terms, I have a handwritten list of reasons to quit stuck to the fridge and am doing a tally mark at the end of each day.

You can go in and change your quit date etc on that app - you click on the three dots at top right and select change smoking data. I just find the facts and figures motivational!

Well done OP you are doing really well. I don't think there is enough understanding of exactly how addictive nicotine is so you are doing well to get this far. Keep going !! I smoked for over 30 years and have given up for about 7 now. I feel released from that worry of when I can have the next cigarette. Good luck.

Heaps of 'Good luck' vibes heading your way OP! I have huge respect for anyone who can beat addiction.

Well I’m on day 6 and still going.. honestly you don’t sound even a little bit lame. The only people who think that are the ones who have never been through it! It is so ingrained in every little part of the day, I feel ok, just a bit lost? And my dh keeps waiting for me to get really irritable too! But so far I’m ok, if anything I feel really quiet!
You’re doing so so well x

Oh and I’m using a quit smoking app and am doing the same as you, obsessively reading quit timelines and reassuring myself with lots of quitters stories! Quite liking the little daily badges etc on it too, keep reminding me why I’m doing it.

Thank you for all the lovely messages! Day four, almost done.

@ColonelNobbyNobbs I wonder if I am on a different app? If I go into the settings it just gives me the option to erase all data.

@PaulineFowlersCardigan you’re doing amazingly. I know exactly what you mean about it being ingrained in every part of the day. I walked out of work with a student who immediately lit a cigarette and there was a big part of me who wanted to ask him for one! (I didn’t though.)

Just checking in to say day five - done. 👍

You must be so proud!! Keep going! Every single day you get through the ropes trying you to the addiction work looser and looser.

Well done!!! With the great storm of 2022 I ran out of fags and wasn’t risking going out to get any more so am on the vape and thinking of you! Thank you for spurring me on; I would have risked the weather without this thread.

@SuperSocks it’s really early days, but I am a teeny, tiny bit proud.

@OverFebruary amazing! Join me! I am kind of the opposite because I walked to work in high winds and a blizzard, and could honestly have killed someone for a cigarette. I had to pop in past the supermarket on the way home, and paid at the self-scan till so I wasn’t tempted.

The money is so brilliant. I have saved almost £1500 since I quit in November. I genuinely do feel richer. I smell nicer. I don't have to think of the next time I can have a fag all the time. It is absolutely all 100% wins.

Good luck to all of you. It's the best thing I ever did (still craving them occasionally but getting better and completely committed to the money I now have to spend on ME).

@Judystilldreamsofhorses well done for not giving in!!

My only thing is that I don’t smoke in the house, but my god am I vaping! Sitting on the sofa vaping away, when I would have had to brace the elements to have a fag. Going out tomorrow night so I can see that being an issue.