Quitting smoking

[maristella]

Is anyone else quitting smoking in the New Year?
I'm planning on quitting on 2nd Jan!!

Good for you! Are you using any NRT? I stopped in November, and frankly I wonder what all the fuss is about. You will do it,and hopefully you will find it so easy!

thank you silent - i was wondering if i'd posted in the right section for a while there!
i won't be using the nrt, i'll be reading the allan carr book (not the comedian).
i quit 2 years ago that way, which worked but i stupidly started having the odd smoke while out, then had a crisis and started again.
i'm just not looking forward to my intestines going crazy again

Try acupuncture.

I quite in June and haven't had one since. It was my 4th time trying.

Only thing that worked different to last time was that this time each morning i say im not smoking today. The thing that made me fail each time before was the fact that i said i am a non smoker and will never smoke again. It petrified me as i loved smoking.

I think if you have been a smoker, you will always be a smoker but when you quite your just a smoker that doesn't smoke.

I didn't do it cold turkey though, i used patches. Niquitin(sp) cq clear 24 hour patches i found to be the best.

thank you guys!
snow - i totally hadn't thought of acu! good one
loulou - i think you've hit the nail on the head. i genuinely enjoy smoking and the thought of never doing it again does actually scare me - how sad! yes, as with any addiction it needs to be tackled on a daily basis.
princess - how long before the physical symptoms calmed down? last time was awful, i made smells that cleared rooms, i'm dreading team meetings!

my dp has just quit he has had champix tablets from gp and from day 8 he hasnt touched one cig and hasnt had the cravings or desire you stay smoking until day 8 the latest and he found he was only having 1 a day and tasted awful then no cravings at all

it was the what to do that got him so maybe find crosswords or puzzles etc to distract from the habit but apart from that he has been fine and has been nearly 4 weeks now

bubbla - i might have to resume my sudoku habit my friend will also teach me to knit, which she says might also distract me from eating so much, which was a problem last time

Am quitting 5th Jan,after my smoking friend goes back to Germany.Have stopped lots of times before,really don't want to any more.

Having a glass of water or cleaning your teeth passes the craving. Technically real cravings last for only a few minutes and the rest is in our heads (supposedly).
The worst thing is trying to avoid the places or times that you would normally have a fag, so basically changing your whole daily routine.
My worst was when i had eaten a big meal (dinner) god the cravings! So obviously ate less at dinner time to avoid the bloated i need a fag to help it go down dilemma and had a relaxing bath straight after instead.

The best thing i found was having someone else go through it with you. My DP did it with me, yes some say thats a bloody nightmare waiting to happen, but in reality its not, because you understand what the other is going through and moments of weakness are not at the same time as our smoking habits were different.

Am quitting on the 1st, have to have surgery 2 weeks later, and promised the surgeon!
Shall we do a support thread?

skybluewinking i think that is a great idea. A little encouragement goes a long way.

Save the money from not buying fags in a glass jar as well. It soon adds up and treat yourself to a manicure/pedicure, whatever floats your boat, with the money you are saving. Visual aids always help.

"Take a look at this page for some visual encourangement".

I am also quitting on the 1st and so is DP. I stopped when I got pregnant, but stupidly started again after having DS.

I read A Carr before and quit for 6 months, but again, stupidly started having "the odd one" and it all went downhill from there.

Hopefully will do better this time!

I quit after my first session with acupuncture. I didn't want one and had no cravings whatsoever. I could have fancied one from time to time, but not that awful "I've simply gotta have a fag" feeling.

Maristella - just wanted to lend my encouragement and to say that Sudoku cured me of smoking this time! And jigsaw puzzles. I knew I absolutely had to have something to do with my hands when I would normally smoke.

It has been over 15 months for me now. Longer than any of my previous 6 attempts! I now fancy a fag about once a month I suppose. Strangely, its not when I am out drinking or socialising with smokers, but when I am doing some super-tedious sorting or cleaning task at home which I used to break up with cigarette breaks.

Anyway, just wanted to say to everyone, good luck. The trick is to convince yourself that you will be happier as a non-smoker (even though you don't believe it now, and feel that you are giving up something huge lol!) - because you will be. Honest .

yes princess the smell of which was enough to wake me up in the night!!

skyblue - a support thread would be brilliant!!

duende - as i learned you can't have the 'odd one'. well i can't! that was a slippery slope for me. once i started doing that i would smoke every time i drank, and my friends would get pissed off with me blagging theirs, so i started buying them for nights out, and found i was always thinking about the leftover 2 cigarettes in the drawer....

bibbity - i so know what you mean about breaking up tedious housework with smoke breaks, it's like a little reward system foe me. when i quit last time i replaced those smoke breaks with rewarding slabs of chocolate - not the way forward!!