What was your lightbulb moment?

[ginmakesitallok]

I used to love smoking. I smoked 30 a day for over 20 years. One day I just decided I'd had enough. I was sick of having to shell out for fags every day. I was fed up with having to go outside to smoke. I had a wheezy chest. I was walking past an ecig stall and just thought, "that's it. I'm going to stop" and I did. Had one more cig on my way home and never had one since. It's been 10 months.

What made you stop?

The threat of redundancy. I realised we would never cope if I was smoking so decided to stop so I could save just in case it does happen.

I still miss it. It's only been a couple of months.

I just knew I would have to stop at some point so I might as well get it over with .

That and just being sick of hiding it from people , being one of the last of my group of friends that still smoked . I love the freedom now of not having to think about it , not having to buy them is a massive bonus too . I have now been cigarette free for 18 mths and I don't miss it at all .

Realisation that I was choosing to be a slave to something that was stinky and likely to kill me.

Realising people don't want to smoke, they need to smoke.

I had tried many times before and I would weirdly be jealous of colleagues / friends going for a smoke break, how lucky they were that they could smoke whenever they wanted.... My 'jealously' always led me back to the fags after a few weeks / month. I thought I missed them!

That little sentence though really hit home for me and I've now been quit for over a year and know I will never go back.

What does make me cringe me now though is all those times I thought I was a 'nice' and considerate smoker and didn't smell..Oh I did!! One of my friends is very particular about her appearance and is always so well 'turned out' yet she always has a stinky eau du fag undertone to her perfume :( even though she never smokes around me (her choice) she always smells of to much perfume, a whiff of mints and that all telling stale smoke smell.

I also remember putting on a top months after I had quit and I couldn't work out all day why I could keep smelling the odd whiff of fags, it dawned on me later in the day that it was my top! Despite having been washed, I could really whiff smoke on it :(

A lady at work died of cancer, my friend had a hysterectomy from cervical cancer and my auntys just starting chemo. Im not lucky so I doubt id of been one of the smokers who never got cancer so I switched now hopefully ive cut out one of the main causes of getting it.

I got a cold & it went straight to my chest & I knew it would be 4 weeks of hacking cough, tena lady etc. I just decided I'd had enough of smoking.

Smoking on the balcony with my friend. Her 1yo dd on the other side of the door, copying us.

Getting pregnant. I had been trying to stop while we were ttc but never quite managed it. I had my last cigarette the day I got my bfp.

That was 2nd august 2011, and I haven't had one since. I realised I didn't want my children to grow up thinking smoking was normal.

Having half my teeth pulled out and being told I couldn't have implants as there was not enough bone left.

I never smoked in the car with DD but I smoked in the car when she wasn't with me. Someone told me that her clothes smelt of smoke when she was 9 months old and I was disgusted.

I had hypnotherapy, it worked and I haven't had a cigarette for nearly 8 years now.

The second time I got bronchitis, which came at a time when loads of other stuff was really bad including various other health problems and through the roof anxiety.

I managed an attitude change, with a bit of determination which I'm not sure where I found the strength for from, based on the Alan Carr book I'd read a few years before, and this time I know I'm quit for good.

Over six months fag free now and still getting a good self esteem boost from knowing I've sorted out the one most important thing in my life, however much else there may be which still needs attention.

I got cervical cancer. But that still didnt stop me. I felt ashamed smoking, and when I got a chest MRI that was clean as a whistle I still continued. I read about vaping on the net, and bought a cheapo one, and was converted. I've got two other people vaping now too. Also the money- I'm off work sick and spending the money hubby have me on fags!? And after I started vaping I couldn't stand the smell of smoke on people. Their hair particularly.basically I was asking for another dose of cancer..I've invested so much money in it now- well a months worth of cigarettes, I will never smoke a cigarette again. I'm just so ashamed I smoked after cancer, how bloody stupid is that?

I'm just falling back into it after two years not smoking since I fell pregnant !!! I just don't know what to do?

Sorry to hijack the thread but any help or pep talks or virtual slaps are needed!

You're not stupid, Shona, you just got addicted to a drug that's available on every high street in the country and which the govt. make a fucking fortune from

Think about what you want to achieve:

If you want to ditch the addiction altogether and you haven't tried it yet, lots of people swear by Allen Carr's easy way to stop smoking book.

If you've already tried that or you actually quite like nicotine but would just rather not die from it, smell bad and be offensive to those around you, try an ecig.

What worked for you last time round?

I have an e cig but just keep talking myself into having a real cig. Last time I was pregnant so just was a no go!

Now I have a beautiful daughter and I can't see why she isn't enough to stop me ?

Only caveat is that I have just moved house and we are renovating so under stress. Or is this an excuse?

It would be so wonderful if guilt actually helped people stop smoking - there would be no smokers left! I just about stayed off the cigs through two pregnancies but every day was hard and I only lasted until the first post-birth night out, then it was the walk of shame to the newsagent the next morning

What sort of ecig do you have? It might be that a different sort or a higher strength will be enough.

Is your DH/DP still smoking? That won't help.

No he is just cross with me for smoking... I worry that it's just a cross to bear. I have tried hypnotherapy, Alan carr... Everything.

Only thing so far to work was pregnancy and breastfeeding. Can't do that indefinitely!!! Or can i??? Ha x

OK, what ecig do you have and what strength liquid are you using?

When dh recoiled from me. I realised I much preferred snogging to smoking.

I'm embarrassed to say my lightbulb moment was money - I'd lost my job & just couldn't afford the rest of day to day living let alone around 30 fags a day. Timing was helped by friends of mine starting their own e-cig business & them being very encouraging & helpful.

Nothing stopped me before. I have calcium uptake issues so have weak/dry hair & nails, which smoking makes worse. I've had cervical cancer (luckily nowhere near as bad as Shona's). Both my parents died of cancer, though mother didn't smoke & father's was a type not caused by smoking but a form of asbestosis.

I'd tried hypnotherapy, various books, those dreadful pills from the doctor, patches - nothing worked. First time I tried with a cigalike it was a few years ago & they were pretty awful, went back to smoking. 2nd time I tried with a cigalike I managed to get the smoking down to half & no better. Finally a decent battery & clearo type system & about 3 months of dual fuelling & I made it!

I think part of the problem is that though I KNEW I needed to stop smoking, deep down inside I didn't really WANT to.

Aother New Year's Day arrved and after 20 odd years as a dedicated 10-20 a day smoker, I just couldnt face doing the whole 'half hearted giving up' thing again.

I was SO sick of the guilt about smoking as a mother of young kids, the stench, the effect it hadvstarted having on my skin and the extortionate price.

I bought an e-cig from the petrol station on Jan 2nd this year and havent had or wanted a puff of a cigarette since. I can confidently say I will NEVER smoke again. Mug's game.

I don't know about the rest of you but reading everyone elses moments are spurring me on

I am in my early forties with a teen and a young one. My voice went hoarse after Christmas and as a heavy smoker my Dr sent me for tests to rule out lung and throat cancer under the two-week wait policy. I had to have a vocal chord biopsy eventually.

I smoked my last cig at the end of January and was happily stealth-vaping in hospital not long afterwards

Got the all-clear and the feeling of having gotten away with it by the skin of my teeth has also prompted me to quit my dangerous levels of wine consumption. Coming up to a month alcohol free.

I am very happy and energetic. My skin is amazing and I have a lot more money to spend on vaping stuff thanks to the original threads and all the help and support from the lovely posters here.

Best of luck Lora

I hadn't thought seriously about stopping until my hairdresser, a much heavier smoker than I was, showed me her ego set up. I went out and bought a starter kit that day, went cold turkey straightaway the following day, and haven't even wanted a cigarette since. That was the end if June last year. I still had half a pack of cigs left when I quit - I found them and chucked them out the other day.

I am finally seeing the light today. I've quit before for weeks at a time and then slipped up. I don't want to smell it on my clothes , I hate the fact that my kids have seen me smoke and it's time to give up. I don't want to do ecigs because i think it reinforces the hand to mouth action ( but I'm not condemning) so here goes nothing...