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Original poster

I want to give up smoking

30 replies

Birdistheword · 03/07/2010 20:13

I just got that sinking feeling when i realised i didn't have any fags left and so i have to go down the shop.

I quit for a whole month at the end of last year and then stupidly started again.

I don't want to be a smoker anymore...anyone else around that wants to quit? Maybe we can support each other.

I think that when i get to 2 weeks without smoking i will go and buy a dress i have my eye on and a paddling pool for DD.

OP posts:
Original poster
Birdistheword · 03/07/2010 20:32

bump

OP posts:
littlebabynothing · 03/07/2010 20:38

Not what you asked for but I quit after reading Allan Carr's book - might be worth a look

JuJusDad · 03/07/2010 20:40

what little said: here

ImSoNotTelling · 03/07/2010 20:42

Yes to allen carr

Also the drug is excellent - I had zyban but there is a different one now - takes the cravings away completely. You just aren't interested in smoking, So it;s a piece of piss to stop. You have to go to GP for it.

I would say get in the right place with allen carr then if actually quitting is hard then down the docs for the drug.

Sorry that's not what you were looking for either!

Good luck

hubbabubba112 · 03/07/2010 21:34

You have to really, really want to quit! I smoked since I was 15 now 36, and finally knocked it on the head 18 months ago after many failed attempts previously. The difference this time was I'd had enough of smoking, fed up of the bad chest, smell and feeling like a social leper!

It can be done and do reward yourself along the way and try keeping a diary. I found it invaluable at keeping me on the straight and narrow and really spurred me on during my weak times. Even now when I'm having a wobble and think I fancy a fag, I go back and read it and see how strong I was and what I went through to give it up and it's enough to make sure I don't light up again!

Good luck, you can do this!

dukester · 03/07/2010 21:44

Thgis a great idea I am far too busy to do the whole smoking cessation thing Are we going to set individual quit dates or all stop together?

nikki1978 · 03/07/2010 21:53

I really want to quit too. I know I can do it fairly easily as I stopped smoking during my pregnancies and for 3 years only smoked when I went out (once every two months) but I have been stressed over the last year and have gone up to 10 a day. I keep feeling short of breath which scares the crap out of me so need to stop badly!

I will join you I don't want to do Allen Carr as I want to stop now and you are supposed to smoke as you read it.

dukester · 03/07/2010 22:05

I am goung to smoke my last Fag tonight and use patches what about you guys?

scurryfunge · 03/07/2010 22:15

I used patches after 25 years of smoking (2 year break when I got preganant with DS).Have managed two and a half years so far. Patches made a massive difference....would certainly recommend them.

expatinscotland · 03/07/2010 22:18

I want to knock them on the head permanently, too.

I don't smoke like I used to, but I want to never do it again.

I wish DH would quit. He's very addicted.

He'd have to use Champix, as he's tried two full courses of the patch already.

But he also has to really want to stop.

Original poster
Birdistheword · 04/07/2010 11:20

I had a fag this morning (had one of DP's), but i have just been on the nhs stop smoking website here they have lots of useful things on there, have downloaded the Stop Smoking Widget which tells you how long it has been since you've quit and how much money you have saved. Have also sent off for one of the Quit Kits.

I really want to do this.

OP posts:
foureleven · 04/07/2010 11:24

another allen carr fan here.

I seriously and strongly advise you not to go on the NHS website... give the book a go first.

Once youve read it you'll understand why things like the widget are terrible... dont count the days you havent been smoking for.. Just forget that you ever did!

expatinscotland · 04/07/2010 11:26

Someone like DH needs Champix. The GP keeps getting on him about it because both his parents are diabetics, too.

LadyintheRadiator · 04/07/2010 11:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

foureleven · 04/07/2010 11:35

Just another little comment as this is something I feel really strongly about. The NHS focus on the medical side of smoking and the physical addiction where as what you need is to unravel the mental addiction.

The actual need for the nicotine wears of after a few days or so. If youre counting the days since your last cig you will keep the mental addiction alive. Same with patches... they keep you hooked unescesarily and do nothing to help with the psychological problem.

Snorbs · 04/07/2010 11:37

I smoked 20-30 a day for about 15 years. I stopped a couple of years ago after reading Allen Carr's book. It's far from the best-written book in the world but it works.

zookeeper · 04/07/2010 11:38

Allen Carr definitely. Everything else I tried just made such a fuss about giving up fags it seemed a huge deal. I liked the "just stop putting them in your mouth and get on with your life" approach. Once you're in that mindset it's so incredibly easy. I was a heavy smoker for over twenty years, smoked through three pregnancies and I managed to stop with his help.

ImSoNotTelling · 04/07/2010 12:54

nicki1978 you don't have to smoke while you read the allen carr book. at the beginning he says that if you have already stopped then that's fine. Honestly it is so worth reading - it make you really understand that what you are doing is just totally pointless. Honestly it is the most amazing book I've ever read. I would urge you to give it a go. You have nothing to lose!

foureleven · 04/07/2010 15:56

Its great there are so many allen fans on here, ive only met a few in RL. Unfortunately lots of people I preach speak to about it dont give it a go because they think it wont work.

I smoked while I read the book but youre right, you dont have to.

Snorbs · 04/07/2010 16:29

I know I put off reading the Allen Carr book for ages. Not that I was afraid it wouldn't work, but more that I was afraid it would and so I'd stop smoking. Yes, that is rather but that's drug addictions for you...

ReformedCharacter · 04/07/2010 16:53

I'll have been stopped for 11 weeks tomorrow

I was up to 40 a day and had been smoking for 20 years. I can go for 2 or 3 days now without even thinking of a cigarette.

I've read Allen Carr's book a few times and although I 'got it' from the beginning, I still found withdrawal very hard. This time I used patches for the first 4 weeks and bought a bike to ride when I felt pissed off and wound up - it's really helped.

I also compiled a list of things to do instead of smoke , and added a few no-smoking sites to my favourites folder. I like making things, so I made a 90 day calendar with inspirational quotes and rewards on. I found all this really helpful.

Why Quit
Tales from the Quit
No Smoking forum Not for the pedants, this one

Good luck

JuJusDad · 04/07/2010 18:11

As others have touched on, it was Allan Carr for me too. His thing is to return you to the state of being a non-smoker.

In the year or two after I quit using AC, I got into, er, somewhat inebriated or otherwise altered states of consciousness (not regularly or anything, honest, and it was loooong time ago now). States wherein two or three years previously I'd be chugging away on fags, but after AC I couldn't do it - it really was like being a non-smoker again - coughing lung up at first drag, utterly unable to actually smoke.

dukester · 04/07/2010 22:03

Got my patch on and havent had a fag all day! How's everyone else getting on. I have got the allen carr book but have only read half of it. Think I will have to try reading it again.

foureleven · 05/07/2010 08:07

Im not sure you can do allen carr AND patches.. Do they not contradict eachother?

expatinscotland · 05/07/2010 10:03

I think any way or ways that someone is able to stop smoking is completely valid.

Never give up giving up.

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