Erm..... I think I just quit smoking.

[CarbeDiem]

I'm 36 been smoking on and off (for the most part on) since I was 14.
Stopped long term during 3 pregnancies but always started again after.
Same goes for long hospital stays - always always re-start.

I'm asthmatic and believe it or not it doesn't make me react like chemicals or cats, obviously it's certainly not helping my lungs/asthma at all and that's always shocked me. I don't have a morning cough either, never have. I do get out of breath if I run or during heavy exercise and I'm terrified about COPD.

I used to smoke roughly 40 a day until about 3 years ago when I started ttc then I started to cut down to roughly 15 -20 daily, sometimes less.
I have wanted to stop for ages, read Allen Carr and amassed nicotine aids - patches, gum, lozengers, the little inhaler thing. Also tried vaping but couldn't get away with it. :( I just couldn't summon the motivation. I even hoped the Gynae Dr would tell me that 100% my smoking was what was/is not letting me get upduffed... but he didn't.

Anyway, yesterday I suddenly thought about it, nothing in particular prompted it and something has driven me on since then.
Last night I raked out my patches etc... left them on the bench for morning then went and smoked 3 cigarettes in roughly 10 mins to sicken myself.
Woke up this morning and slapped my patch on and puffed away on the inhaler thing while having my coffee.

I FEEL FINE - no craving really, I haven't wanted to pick one up AT ALL - I'm quite shocked. I tried a lozenge earlier but bleurgh! I don't like them, it gave me hiccups and tasted absolutely horrible.

I'm giving myself little pep talks each time I pass the bathroom mirror.
'You can do it Carbe, think of your lungs, skin, teeth etc.. You won't stink anymore, Cigs are vile etc....'' :)

I'm worried about after dinner - the cig after dinner is probably the one I 'enjoy' most in the whole day. If I feel like I want one I'll maybe try another nasty lozenge or brush my teeth, chew mint or spray some antiseptic in my mouth.... Something to distract and make me not want one.

I'm going to try my best not to eat instead of smoke as I'm already trying to lose weight and have lost a little so I don't want that back on. I've got pumpkin seeds, carrot slices and dried goji berries as well as fruits to pick at if I need to so hopefully I'll be able to continue losing weight.

I don't know why I've posted really, will maybe keep popping on to log it down.
Hopefully I won't succumb, I want to be free from this stinking evil weed.

Well done.
I think you can sign up for Stoptober if you want some encouragement and support.

Wow well done! You're very right when you say do something to distract yourself, the reason most forms of NRT don't work is because they don't address the habit aspect of smoking just the nicotine addiction.

One person I know said she learned to knit as a distraction when she gave up smoking .

Well done that's brilliant!

Good luck for the days to come, you can do it!

Thank you all

Yup! my hands need something to do. I'm convinced I'm using the inhaler more because I need something in my hand rather than really needing a hit of nicotine.
This could also help me drop caffeine too. I associate a cup of coffee with a cig.
This morning I drank 2 coffee's quickly and haven't had any since. I've been drinking herbal tea and water - which I don't associate with smoking.
Probably explains why I feel a bit weird, like spaced out and a bit light headed... lack of caffeine :) Oh well, it won't kill me.

Thanks again guys X

Good on you

My BIL who is the last person in the world world you'd expect to give up smoking (iyswim) randomly picked up my sisters vape thing and hasn't smoked a proper cigarette I over a year now.

I think you're awesome. Good luck

Thank Tits, well done your bil too.
I'm also, according to my family, the last person to stop, so if I can do it I'll certainly rock their world when I tell them in a week or so once I'm more confident that I won't start again :) if I get that far

Uh-Oh!
Dinner has happened.
Once finished I immediately got off my arse and went to the kitchen and washed dishes and tidied. (usually I'd be sat having two cigs in quick succession after a heavy meal)
Then made a detour to the bathroom - brushed teeth and swilled mouthwash.
There's nowt like a bit Listerine to kill the taste for...EVERYTHING :)
Few puffs on the inhaler and I feel strangely calm again.

Come on Carbe - you don't NEED Cigs anymore - You've got this hopefully

Have a really early night - once you're in bed all your usual triggers will be gone.

I'm going to soon Plenty.
I'm an hour ahead of the UK so it's bedtime soon for me anyway ;)

Just popped in a nicotine gum - I felt I needed a little something - Urgh! they don't taste nice do they? but I suppose it's not the flavour that matters :)

Good night all.

Night x Lots of strength for tomorrow, you can do this!

I have also just given up after discovering it really makes me feel like crap! My only struggle now is nights out. I am currently not drinking but if I restart I will find it hard I think. Good for you though - you can do it :)

Well done nikki, how long have you been off them?
I know I'll absolutely not be able to touch alcohol for a long long time. I don't really drink all that often anyway but I'm still not risking it.
My mum stopped smoking years ago but it was always after alcohol that she felt she would give in - she used to ask a friend to smoke half a cig, put it out then give it to my mum - she would then spend the rest of her drunken night pretending to smoke it or just sniffing it :) she said it helped. She'd then throw it away in the morning as she couldn't stand the smell when sober.

I'm awake (obviously as I'm Mn'ing :) ) I can't bloody get back to sleep, I've tossed and turned and I'm hot then cold :(
I'm sat here with a milky hot chocolate, a handful of dry muesli and my inhaler.
I think it may have something to do with the nicotine patch - I left it on overnight, thinking that my craving wouldn't be as bad come morning but I think I remember, many moons ago, having the same issue when using them overnight.
I'm going to take it off when I'm tired enough to try sleeping again.

It's funny - I keep saying to myself ....go and make cuppa, go to the loo, get some fresh air on the balcony or whatever and a little voice pipes up at the end - AND A CIGGY
NOOO! naughty voice - you're not getting a bloody ciggy, STOP IT!

Whoo! Day 2 nearly done and it wasn't as easy as day 1.
I was craving badly when I woke up and it took a while for the fresh patch to kick in but I managed. Less coffee too this morning so I'd stop fancying a cig, but I done it.

I've carried the inhaler everywhere today and have used it more than yesterday but that's still okay. I can live with that at the moment.
I'm not liking the chewing gum, it's made me feel quite nauseas today, I'll have to see if half is okay or mix with a normal gum because I can feel the nicotine in it and think it helps.

After dinner was torturous. Again I kept busy immediately after then brushed teeth and listerined but it wasn't enough this time.

Many puffs on the inhaler later and I'm feeling a bit better, the worst of the craving has passed I hope.

Physical effects I can feel already - Heightened sense of smell. The soft tissue where my nose joins my throat is really sore and feels bunged, I've got a sore earache and the back of my throat has been hurting too. I suspect it's all the toxins leaving those areas or at least because I haven't been polluting them - they are beginning to heal.

The patch is coming off for bed tonight, I'd rather not have a repeat of last night and be up and down - not a good sleep at all :(
I'm also having a reaction to the patches bugger but will continue, alternate arms and different area's and I should be fine.

The little voice is still there - a few times today I've heard it but have ignored, ignored, ignored :)

Well done! I can't believe that it's been 16 months since I've had a fag, still remember the day I stopped, best thing I've ever done. Keep it up, and tell that wee voice to bugger off!

Congratulations, you're doing great! IME most people find days 2 and 3 the absolute worst and then it gets progressively better, so well done you're half-way through the shittiest bit

Well done you too Letthem, you've cracked it! I'm coming up a year next Thursday

Thanks to you both.
Also well done to you both, Wow! 16 and 12 months - that's great. I can't imagine what that must feel like.

I read that day 3 is supposed to be the worst - apparently because it takes roughly 72 hours for all of the toxins to completely clear your body and then it's like cold turkey for them all except the nicotine (which I'm still putting in)
I don't remember from the previous times I've stopped as it was so long ago.

The voice has gone away for now, I'm doing my best to ignore it but then I think 'what if I had just one?' but then my stubbornness kicks in and I'm like ''No fecking chance, you're 2 days in Carbe, you'll have to repeat these 2 god damn days if you light a cig now, NO!!'' :)

Think I'll pray tonight for strength tomorrow :)

Well done Carbe!

I gave up smoking during a particularly bad cold. I was about 40, asthmatic, and was down to 3 a day. I realised that if I continued smoking like that into my 50s, I'd be hospitalised at times like that.

You know, sometimes I think we all just grow up and think "Do you know what..? I've had it with smoking" and it's then that the inner voice kicks in.

Once my cold had disappeared, I did struggle, but was probably on day 4 or 5 by then and my inner voice got stronger and stronger.

You really won't regret it.

Thanks Ishould and well done for quitting.
Yeah it's something like that with me too. Like I said - I've wanted to stop and worried and stressed about COPD, my asthma etc for AGESSSS just always used excuses not to stop.
It got to the point where I wouldn't let DH lie his head on my chest because it worried him that my lungs were wheezy and rattling - which of course, they can do anyway with asthma just a lot more when you add cigs :)

I honestly can't explain what it is that has made me stop. If someone told this time last week that I'd not be smoking now I'd have pissed myself laughing in disbelief.
Whatever it is, I like it :)

Hells bloody bells !

Today was trying. VERY.
Morning took ages to stop craving.

After dinner even longer :(

Dh keeps forgetting and lighting up around me before running out, it's not making me want one surprisingly, it's making me feel sick.

The patches are doing something to my arm, along with causing a reaction - God knows what but it's a pain, all the way down to my wrist, feels like a big bruise for a few minutes then goes away. It's definitely from the patch because It happened on both sides.

I seriously can't wait to go to sleep and get today over with :)

One thing I'm so surprised at is that I'm not being ratty or biting anyone's head off - I thought I would be by now but nothing.

You're doing really well to handle the cravings

Can you see your GP for something other than the patches if it's causing a reaction? Have you tried those Champix tablets before.

Keep up the excellent progress.

You can get an app that tells you the physical benefits to your body after different time periods that might be good to have.

You're doing brilliantly!

Sorry to hear you're having such a crap time with the patches. From what I've heard lots of people get a reaction to them. I know vaping didn't help when you tried it before but if you fancy giving it another go there are lots of us here who could help you find decent kit that might work this time round.

And yes, get an app - there's at least one out there that also tracks how much money you're saving. I also agree it would do no harm to see your GP. Lots of people do well with NHS stop smoking services - the regular check-in and support helps you keep going.

Thanks to you both.

I think I'm just going to plod on with the patches and the inhaler - they are working, must be or else I'd be smoking again by now. The chewing gum when absolutely necessary and just see how I go. I might try sticking the patch to my tummy, bum or leg and see what happens.

I'm reluctant to try the tablets. A) I don't want anything to mess with my head, I've a history of depression and B) I'm trying to conceive so want to keep myself as chemical free as possible. (Get me! the possible ex-smoker :) )
I'd probably happily suck on an a E-cig right now but again I'm reluctant. I know it's because of the habit and the feel of 'smoke' - Hmmm Not sure I want to go there because then later I'd need to wean off those too or stop immediately if I fall pregnant - whichever comes first.

Ha! If only I was saving a fortune. Not being in the UK I'm not paying horrifically over the odds for ciggies, If it was just the cost I'd happily continue at £2.00 a packet :)
For the same reason - not being in the UK - I don't really have access to NHS nor can I get anything from GP - they don't do that here - you're on your own basically. There's probably some support groups but attending and understanding to that level would be a struggle.
That's kind of why I've started this thread, to give me somewhere to log it.

I remember my friend said that she had something called microtabs and they were what helped her the most, you pop one under your tongue and they work fast - I might have a look in the pharmacy.
Dh said there's some nicotinell spray I don't know what it does, just that it's very expensive. I might have a look at that too and see if I can find some reviews.

Day 3 almost done - Thank God above. I treated myself to a few sweeties today, being on a diet I've not had any since before september 1st - I think I deserve more of them after today :) With a nice cup of tea.

You go Carbe! Well done on getting through the day.

Having not smoked for so long, I occasionally look at someone smoking and think " Wow, I miss that ". And then I smell the smoke, my chest almost instantly consticts. I don't think it'd let me start again...

Well done Carbe - another day survived smoke free!

The Nicotinell spray is similar to the inhaler type of thing, except you spray it up your nose.

Regarding e-cigs - did you know you can get 0% nicotine liquids for them? I know a few people who started out with quite a strong liquid & over time went for weaker & weaker nicotine content; a couple of them are now just vaping 0% nicotine. If you would have to come off nicotine containing e-cigs the moment you got pregnant, it would be the same with any other form of NRT like the patches & inhaler, but at least you'd have the hand to mouth thing to fall back on using 0% liquids

Proper heavy smoking mediteranean mama here, 20 a day if I wasn't going out type of thing. I got a vap thingy last year, it was pouring with rain and cba to go out in the rain, I thought I'd get one for when it was too cold/wet etc. Well, the novelty of 'smoking' in the house in the warm, in the comfort of my own bedroom/armchair hasn't worn off after all this!!!! I had medium nicotine fluid, then ordered one with zero nicotine ( tastes like s**t, so I only use it when I socialise and they all drink and smoke).
Not only am I not a smoker anymore, I absolutely hate the smell now. A year on I haven't even been tempted.
Get one, I urge you. Cold turkey is not something I believe in.

Also, not being funny, I suppose your inhaler has corticosteroids and/or bronchodilators? Don't overdo it, it's not meant to be smoked! You might do more damage than it's worth it.
Good luck!