Can you stop smoking?

[sandymoon101]

Hello, quick question. Can anyone stop smoking on their own? with out any medication? - not talking about passive smokers - If they have been doing it for a long time?

I dont know if anyone's still reading but I think it is helping me to release writing.So still going strong,was in my office today and thought id really find it hard as I usually enjoy a nice cig and a coffee but I made it!I did think about smoking but id be so disappointed if I did now after all the sweat and tears.

Oh well done Proud, sounds like you really are cracking this. Is that a week now?

I gave up for the first time in 2005, using hypnotherapy, then stupidly, as was seeing a smoker last year started again.
But have cut down totally since December, as in will go weeks for a time without having one. But drinking makes me want them. So from today onwards won't be drinking OR smoking.
I have the motivating factors of really noticing how much my skin got aged last year and I have excessive hair loss, which I am quite sure is worsened by the smoking and the drinking. Also smoking really does make people smell disgusting.
Good luck everyone.

proud you know what's great is staying inside all cosy warm with your coffee and not having to go outside in the horrible weather. Think about that tomorrow.

Proud - 1 week cold turkey!! You're a hero! Well bloody done :)

Thanks crispandfruity!I feel like I should wear underpants over my trousers so everyone can see I am
I do agree gaggiagirl, no more coming inside with wet hair.No more trying to carry my brew while trying to protect my paper stick of tobacco from getting wet while getting myself soaked.I mean yeahhh ill really miss that......NOT

And no more stinking. Fags really do stink- especially the stale smell on clothes and hair. I've started using perfume for the first time in...well, pretty much forever. I hardly ever bothered before because I knew I just stank of fags anyway so figured there was no point.

And think of how much more time you have in your day now! Popping out for a fag takes 5 minutes or so on average. Multiply that by however many times you were popping out for one and that equals a lot more time in your day to do nicer, healthier, more useful things. (Or just drink a cuppa and stare into space- whichever you fancy!)

Yes I noticed on myself now that I smell fresher,I have had no sense of smell until past couple of days....weird! I dont feel like I am getting cravings today!I am kind of dreading having an alcoholic drink because although I dont drink more than once every few months I do enjoy a cig when I drink!
Its not only the five minutes popping out to smoke its kind of the amount of thinking time too isn't it?I've realised that I would wait to do something because id be thinking ill just have a cig in ten minutes....I just feel so much more relaxed, like the day is all mine and because I'm not having nicotine withdrawal every couple of hours in not nearly as tetchy or narky. The nicotine makes you stressed craving it and its taken quitting to really get that message to myself. People think the cig is calming them yet it makes you more stressed!

Apparently the nicotine completly leaves the system after 48 hours so now you might just be craving the habit more than anything but you sound like you have really turned a corner, that's great.

A friend of mine also recommended the Alan Carr book. When I searched for it on my kindle I was drawn to another book called Stop Smoking: it's a doddle by Daniel Mcdermid. I liked the idea that giving up smoking is easier than everyone says so i bought it. It was really useful and helped me to quit. It's really not that hard. I mean we've gone through child birth! Much much harder! Why are we so worried about quitting a silly habit? The book helped me change my thinking and i quit cold turkey. No drugs and definately no vapour cigs! I've gone over a week and feel great to have got that money draining monkey off my back! It gave me a good kick up the a**!

Hi Goose, haha, no just saying what worked for me and if the book helps others then happy to share about it as it really helped me. I know stop smoking books might not be everyone's cup of tea though. I found the first couple of days the hardest as all the nicotine was leaving my system. As for the future weeks well I made the decision not to smoke so I can't, that's it, whether I really want to or not. It's just the way it's got to be :-). Good luck everyone and very well done ProudForMe. It looks like you are already feeling better...I agree, smoking defo made me more jittery! I feel like I'm more in control now, not cigarettes being in control of me.

According to me one can't stop smoking suddenly but it needs time. I do something to ignore smoke like I prefer to take my favourite toothpaste instead of smoking and within a few months I had quit smoking.

Allen Carr worked for me because he helps you WANT to stop and ENJOY being stopped, instead of feeling you have to stop, and feeling deprived forever.

However A.Carr's EasyWay worked for only a few months. I've now read A.Carr's The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently and it was such a tedious read that I quit smoking just so I wouldn't have to read anymore. It tiny typeface and rambling tangents were enough to make me pack the fags in. It does work though- it's sort of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as you read.