I'm quitting smoking TODAY - can anyone help / advise? I'm struggling already!

[souvenir]

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If you really really want to quit, I would recommend Alan Carr's Easy way to stop smoking book. It changes the way you think about smoking and, for me, made it pretty painless to stop, even though I'd been smoking for a similar length of time to you.

Good luck - being smokefree is great!

Well done!
I gave up for few years, restarted for few months then quit a second time.

I found that sucking on lollipops helped when I had cravings and making a plan of alternatives to favourite cigarettes when I knew the craving would be bad. e.g. a nice cup of hot chocolate when the kids were in bed, LOADS of coffee in the mornings.

Avoid alcohol for at least a couple of months as it makes the cravings worse.

Having someone to talk through the cravings and keep you strong really helps too.

What are you using to help? I stopped nearly 6 years ago with support from NHS stop smoking group. I smoke now and again now and I need to stop properly again. This time I am pretty much on my own. I saw the smoking counsellor who really wasn't much help as she said there were not many people like me who smoke rarely and want to stop. I reckon she means she hasn't met many people in this situation.

I've got a copy of the Alan Carr book and lots of NRT.

Smoking is SUCH a waste of time and SO useless and disgusting(easy to say). In the beginning I found all that extra oxygen a bit hard to cope with.

Yes, Alan Carr has some good ideas to reduce cravings to nothing more than a bad idea.

souvenir, I quit at easter after 25 years too.
Alan carr's book helped. I used nicotene lozenges for a couple of months but I am now a non-smoker

I had a look at all the NHS stuff but deided groups weren't my thang! GP was fecking useless too. So I have done it by myself, because my children deserve to have a non-smoking mum. Because when your 11-yr-old looks at you and says :''You'd hate it if i started smoking, mum. Well I hate you smoking. so you're a hypocrite.''
And because he wouldn't let me hug him if I had recently had a cigarette.
I am mortified to be even typing this because I was so in denial for so many years, i didn't smoke in front of the dc and I really though they didn't know....[fool]

I am happy to hold your hand over the next few weeks.

Remember a crving only lasts around 7 minutes, so find someting to do to get through those cravings. I found ice-cold water helped.
Also I worried about eating too much (I am definitely oral fiz=xated, lol) so I had plates of healthy nuts, seeds, carrot sticks, celery, cucumber etc prepared in the fridge to munch on.

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That all sounds normal.... Nicotine is a really strong and addictive drug and the withdrawal symptoms can be really hard.

The good news however, is that 90% of the nicotine will have left your body after 3 days so the physical withdrawal should be much easier from then. That was the danger point for me though because I started to think I could just have "1 or 2" and stop again. Breaking the actual habit is by far the most difficult thing

Every time you get a craving, do something else until it passes. Glass of water, cleaning teeth, eating drumstick lollipops all helped me.

I stopped about 5 months ago. It is really difficult but worth it.

My parents have also just stopped after 30+ years of smoking 40 a day. They did it via a smoking cessation clinic and had nicotine inhalators. They've been smoke free for 6 months now.

You know all the reasons why you shouldn't do it but you just have to make the decision that you will NEVER be a smoker again. Be strong and good luck

sugar helps fool the nicotine receptors in your brain, apparently. So it is ok to indulge your sweet tooth a little if it helps fool your body into thinking it has had nicotene,

You are 4 times more likely to quit if you use the NHS stop smoking service. If you can't get to meetings, they have a phone call/e-mail/text service.

There are also prescription drugs that can help, but usually you would start taking these before you quit.

Investigate patches/gum/inhalaters/microtab options - again, you can get these on prescription.

It is a really good idea to cut down on alcohol and caffeine for the first few days of quitting, and to increase exercise in the fresh air. This will help reduce your cravings.

Well done to you and good luck!

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Well done so far - you're doing really well

To be honest, I am pregnant now (gave up when ttc) so I don't really think about smoking at all. I gave up for 18 months with dd when pg/b'fing but within a couple of months of stopping b'fing, I was back on the fags (one of those, just 1 whilst drunk at a xmas party and before you know it, I was back on 15 per day).

I think everyone varies but I was speaking to a friend yesterday who has been off them for over 3 years and she said she still fancies one occasionally.... She doesn't think about them all the time but probably has a couple of times a week where it crosses her mind

Good luck and let us know how you're getting on

When I stopped before, I used to think that there was no point in lighting a fag, only to be hungry for the next one. I've had a few days without one, and it feels normal now.

You get better at stopping! It improves with practice.

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I have heard that lemon helps with craving nicotine; if you carry a bottle of water mixed with lemon juice and glug from it when you get a craving, it stops it. Also that if you find yourself eating more you should try glucose sweets.

Sounds like you're doing pretty well. Congrats

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Once you go three days - the nicotine is out of your system, then you need to go three weeks with taking deep breaths for three minutes each time you want a fag.

I stopped even thinking about fags after three months and now never bothers me.

I love the smell of a fresh ciggy, but I wouldn't bother smoking it as I really want to help my dd get ready on her wedding day and be the proud mum - much better than being 6 foot under and having a brides bouquet placed on my headstone. keeping that thought with me it is easy not to smoke

Sit down and write down all the reasons you want to stop, from the major to the trivial. Keep that list close to you at all times and when the cravings are really bad, have a look at it and remind yourself.

Everyone on here is right, if you can get through the first 3 days, you're doing well. Then you have to get through the next five weeks, then things get a bit easier after that.

I stopped cold turkey 5 years ago. Had one half cigarette at the end of day one and another at the end of the first week. Since then, nothing.

Hardest thing I've ever done, but it was absolutely the right decision and I am grateful every day.

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