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I managed to not smoke for a week and today had 2 puffs of a friend's - how can I stay stopped?

27 replies

souvenir · 28/09/2008 20:50

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Posey · 28/09/2008 21:02

For me, all my failed attempts were where I hadn't got my head round it. I thought if I didn't smoke for long enough then the cravings would go. They never did and I always gave in.
On my final, successful attempt, I knew I would never smoke again. I read 4 different copies of Alan Carr and did the reverse brainwashing. In the 3 plus years since I stopped I can in absolute honesty say the I have never been tempted to smoke. I can be around smokers, see a packet of fags on the table with a lighter already for me, do all those things that triggered a craving before, and feel absolutely nothing. I genuinely feel like I never smoked. I'm not vehemently anti-smoking like many ex-smokers, its weird really and hard to describe.

So my advice would be, don't try and stop by pure willpower hoping that you won't be tempted. It will be a hellish struggle and you will constantly feel deprived. Get yourself Alan Carr. I read his standard How to stop smoking, then read the much bigger version that just repeated the same stuff but in loads of different ways. Then I read the one aimed specifically at women, then the little pocket book.

Good luck

souvenir · 28/09/2008 21:07

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Bowddee · 28/09/2008 21:10

Hypnotherapy.

I stood outside chainsmoking, had the treatment (one session of 20mins) and I have

a. never smoked since
b. never craved a cigarette
c. replaced the smoking with anything

FAB!

ratbunny · 28/09/2008 21:12

I have given up for 2 months (about) - used alan carr and nicotine patches.
I have got to the point where I actually dont crave ciggies anymore.
So when I went round my friends and we had some alcohol, I nicked a fag off him.
and NOW I WANT MORE!!!!!

once a smoker always a smoker, I guess. Like an alcoholic - I will never be a non-smoker, just a smoker that doesnt smoke.

So I guess the answer is - You can really not have ANY if you want to stay stopped.
but they are so lovely! lol

FiveGoMadInDorset · 28/09/2008 21:13

hypnotherapy

fryalot · 28/09/2008 21:13

hi,

First of all, bloody well done for not smoking for a week. Tis hell, isn't it!

I think the second week is actually the worst, so your cravings at the mo are to be expected and not down to your couple of illicit puffs.

Try not to be disheartened, a couple of puffs is NOT smoking a cigarette.

I bet it sent you a bit lightheaded, didn't it? That's because your body IS getting used to being without fags and another few days and you will find that the cravings get less and less. One day soon you won't even think about having a cigarette.

When you get a craving, try to remember that they only last for a minute or so. They really do, you can time them if you like. It just feels like longer.

You've done a week, you can give up properly, it's just another little step for you. Don't let the last week of hell be for nothing, okay, be strong!

If you don't feel up to being that strong, I can recommend nicotine patches. You can get them through your doctor on prescription (although he may refer you to an NHS stop smoking clinic rather than just prescribe them off his own back)

What you've done is slip into the classic trap of thinking "I've all but given up, a couple of little drags won't hurt. I can give up again, I've done the hard stuff once, I can do it again" You need to get into the mindset of thinking about smoking a bit like alcoholism. I will always be a smoker, but at the moment, I don't smoke and haven't for a couple of years now. I know, however, if I start again, I will start again. (iykwim)

Again, well done for doing so well, and good luck for tomorrow.

cafebistro · 28/09/2008 21:19

I gave up smoking just over a year ago. To succeed you've got to REALLY want to stop.
Beacause you've had a nicotine hit you're now going through the initial withdrawl again. I dont know why it would be worse...probably because you're annoyed with yourself for having a few puffs.
Dont worry about this little glitch...just concentrate on not smoking now.
Alan Carr books really helped me too. But what did it in the end was when I was pregnant with DD. I just decided one day that I was going to stop and I havent had one since. It wasnt easy, I just used willpower but it got easier everyday.

I can now go days without thinking about smoking but there are days when I could just light up. I enjoyed smoking you see and if i could have had the occasional fag with a drink then that would have been ok. But I couldnt be a social smoker and ended up on 20 a day. Im determined not to start again though as it would ruin a year of hard work!

souvenir · 28/09/2008 22:09

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paros · 28/09/2008 22:20

I went to the Alan Carr clinis (my lovely boss paid ) Ok ao I had to go three times but hey Im on my fourth month of no fags . I refuse to be miserable ex smoker . Ok so I have put on a few pounds so life isnt simple but still the best thing I have ever done . If I can give up fags (a tweny to thirty a day smoker ) I can achieve anything . I dont mind the smell of fresh smoke but I can really notice stale cigerette smoke now. I have faced all the things I thought I would cave in at . Night out ,no fags,Night out with drinks , Funeral ,I did my first holiday in 25 years this summer as an ex smoker . Ok so day one wasnt fab ) I always loved laying on sun lounger with a book sunbathing by the pool with a fag . So what (I am trying to say is keep at it . LOL

paros · 28/09/2008 22:25

Souvenir you dont realise how good you will feel untill you do stop . No one has a hold over you . When those ads come on the tv about cancer you dont have to feel guilty . You know why its bad for you no one has to tell you . Smokers are very strong people . You have been brainwashed . I used to use my fags as a reward to myself for when I had completed a particular chore . If my kid did well at school I wouldnt hand him a packet of fags and say well done .

souvenir · 28/09/2008 22:34

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paros · 28/09/2008 22:55

I tried to change routine and chewing gum . I had to laugh though . I went to doctor about another thing and said I had give up smoking and she said make sure you only have sugar free gum . FOR FUCKS SAKE I had given up smoking who gives a damn about sugar free or not . LOL . Dont get me wrong I make it sound simple . It isnt there is a lot of though process behind it . Alan Carr is very thought provoking . I mean you look at it the government spend alot on getting people of the fags but they spend a hell of a lot more (Millions ) on getting people of drugs . If you think about it which one gives the government money back Fags do because they get tax on it . Drigs dont and then health care has to treat people that are dependant on drugs . So really the government dont want you off the fags they want your money . All smokers ex smokers alike have been conned . (LOL ) a bit heavy handed I know but think about it .

paros · 28/09/2008 22:57

Oh and you dont replace the fags with anything because why do you need to replace somthing that is so bad for you . (see I said Alan Carr was thought provoking )

paros · 28/09/2008 22:57

Oh and you dont replace the fags with anything because why do you need to replace somthing that is so bad for you . (see I said Alan Carr was thought provoking )

paros · 28/09/2008 22:57

Oh and you dont replace the fags with anything because why do you need to replace somthing that is so bad for you . (see I said Alan Carr was thought provoking )

paros · 28/09/2008 22:59

Sorry

kristatwin · 28/09/2008 23:08

just read all the messages, and you have all done so well, i feel like a failure, i stopped smoking for 3 weeks with the patches and felt energised and really positive, like i was taking some of the control back, i feel like i am missing my best friend now though.

paros · 28/09/2008 23:12

Your best friend was killing you . whats to miss . LOL

souvenir · 28/09/2008 23:24

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combustiblelemon · 28/09/2008 23:28

Well done for getting to a week. I'd never have made it that far without patches. I know the Alan Carr book has helped many people but I've never read it.

The way I dealt with it was by telling myself: 'Even if you have a cigarette, you don't get to be a smoker again- as soon as the smoke is exhaled it's straight back to quitting. This is bloody awful (cravings), do you really want to have to go through it all over again?' It made it easier to resist when I knew that failure wasn't the easy option or a license to smoke again.

Why did you quit? There must have been reasons? It sounds like you've 'quit' more than once, so they must be strong enduring reasons. When do you crave most? Can you change your routine to break the pattern/avoid temptation e.g. if you started the day with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, try having a cup of tea after you've showered instead. I remember that it took a month or two for some of the associations to be broken. I always smoked in the garden, and at the end of a tv programme I used to be halfway to the door before I remembered I didn't need to go!

Try rewarding yourself- cash put aside for each day you haven't smoked to treat yourself.

pipsqueak · 28/09/2008 23:30

i can highly recommend champix pills from GP . i smoked about 20 day since i was about 17 and gave up in April aged 45 with the help of these tablets - appraently according to my gp they ahve a very high success rate and very few side effects. have saved a fortune already and feel really proud . dds are so happy and have long last stopped the naggging...go for it and good luck whichever method you chose

combustiblelemon · 28/09/2008 23:36

Are those the ones that switch off the nicotine receptors in the brain Pipsqueak?

souvenir · 28/09/2008 23:44

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pipsqueak · 28/09/2008 23:45

yes i believe thye do . its quite a nice way to give up as you take a half dose for 14 days and then a full dose for about 10 weeks . somewhere around day 14-28 you give up . i thought it would be horrendouse but actually by about day 14 i found i was just smoking because i still had "permission " to do so and fgelt i should cram them in whilst i still could iykwim . i really ahd no desire / urge to smoke at all which i still find hard to believe as i would have ahd a cigarette as soon as i got up normally and would barely be able to get through til lunchtime at work . DH has taken them too and quit too

souvenir · 28/09/2008 23:53

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