Can anyone help me quit smoking?

[violetbloom]

I'm so keen to stop. All advice and tips very gratefully received.

Well done, Violet
How is quid doing?
I stopped but then had some when I was a dinner party on Saturday

Will start again tomorrow

Fizz, condolences, that must be very hard for you and I'd like to thank you for finding the time to post on here and support us

Fizz, what a horrible story. I must admit one of my nightmare scenarios is to quit and then in a year get diagnosed with lung cancer. I've managed to use that as an excuse not to quit in a weird twisted logic, i.e. the damage is probably already done.

Well, I still haven't smoked. I've been the cliched, take one moment at a time, kind of person. But I've really suffered some horrendous moments. I stopped Friday morning, suffered Fridaynight, pretty much all of Saturday and Sunday. Sunday evening was easier but today's been very tough.

When I think about smoking I feel nostalgic and sad. Earlier today, though, I had an inkling of what it might feel like to be free from smoking and all the guilt and fear that goes with it. that was nice.

How are the rest of the gang?

It's a very good job that there are no shops open right at this very moment ...

I hope tomorrow is easier!

However ... to go to bed on a positive note ... I did notice quite startlingly that when I walked through the icy cold, snowy park to collect dd from school, I didn't cough once! That's quite amazing for me. I usually cough and hack all the way on the walk to school. I really cough like a smoker, rattle rattle, yuck. But today, no cough, not even a teeny urge. I can't have imagined that. Could it be possible, though, for my chest to show benefits after just 3 days?

(To my shame, I have severe asthma, so shouldn't ever have started smoking in the first place. Had pneumonia last year. Still smoked as soon as I was recovering from it)

Well done all! I stopped for about 5 years then had a blip of about 6 months of smoking again. I stopped in Nov last year, smoked a few fags over Christmas and had a couple in the pub over a month ago. Given half an excuse I would be back smoking for Britain, even though fags are very poor parent substitutes. They are even worse than my parents, which takes some doing!

If things are that bad, I whack on a patch. Silly really, but it makes me feel as though I am 'doing' something.

well done! you're only on day 4 don't worry about stopping patches, are you planning on using them for three or four months? i didn't find it hard at all when i came off them completely. I was a very confirmed heavy smoker too depechemode.

and i suppose i am putting on some weight but my lungs don't ache anymore and i don't cough all the time! it's so worth it.

my wages last all month now - they don't run out two weeks before pay day

my weakness is tic tacs

First day going well! Am starting to get the cravings though
Kepp going everyone

This is day 5 for me. Best day so far in terms of cravings. But I did get my first bash of the psychological missing feeling as I walked to the tube this morning. It would normally be a fag moment. I'm finding the evenings very hard so far but hopefully it should get better.

I guess I'm over the horrible intense cravings few days now. So it's the psychological stuff I have to face?

Can they tell you that, then?

Oh, I wish I'd known about that. Could have done a before and after sort of thing!

Not doing too badly here today. But am at work so am used to not smoking. I didn't go out at lunchtime in case I was tempted. I'll feel 'sad' on the way from work to the tube as I used to love a smoke then.

Something is different for me with this quit though. It's like if I don't do it this time I feel as though I really will never do it.

I remember the jittery feelings when I stopped smoking a couple of years ago. It's all part of breaking the addiction, I'm afraid. It won't last for long. The years of smoking has "trained" a basic part of your brain to think that nicotine is vital to your body. Stop the nicotine, and that part of the brain starts to panic hence the jitters. The good news is that if you recognise it as simply the death-throes of the chemical addiction, you can force yourself to calm down and the jitters pass.

I also wonder if a part of the jitters is down to an "overdose" of oxygen. I noticed that when I stopped smoking, I had to force myself to slow my breathing sometimes as now that my lungs were working better I simply didn't need to breath as fast any more.

It will get better!

Yes, having a fag was often a 'reward' wasn't it? (Note how I'm using the past tense rather bravely!) Something to look forward to. I think one of the reasons it's so hard to quit is that there isn't anything you can really replace it with.

I've found the jittery feelings have been better today. They were really awful at the weekend. I felt like I'd taken some sort of stimulant! I do feel as though I'm breathing better though and I'm barely coughing! I normally cough A LOT.