Cold turkey after 50 years

[smokefreefor2023]

I'm early 60's and have smoked for 50 years with brief spells during pregnancies where I gave up plus a few more times using Nicotine lozenges which I then got addicted to, spent so much money on and ended up with sores in my mouth.
I've had a cough for around nine months which is nasty and today I just knew I had to do something about this
I dont want to be on here in years to come addicted to vapes so I think I\m going to go cold turkey. My cough is already better than yesterday and it's been about 20 hours than I havent smoked. I'm dizzy and cant concentrate but I havent smoked

Well done on making the decision. The dizziness will ease off, it’s possibly withdrawal from the nicotine.

I don't smoke but my Dad did - for almost 60 years! He went on a smoking cessation course with the GP who provided tablets to help (they made the cigarettes taste horrible and not attractive) combined with a plan to gradually reduce down from his current level at the time to 0 but not cold turkey. Also he had some very good tips on how to approach it psychologically. It was successful and he never smoked again. Sadly he did die of smoking related causes but we had him longer, probably a couple of years more, which were precious.

NB my Dad was almost 80 by this time and already in poor health. If he'd been in his 60s when he stopped maybe he would still be here now.

Have you tried the Allan Carr books @smokefreefor2023? There's books and audio books if you prefer listening. Like everything it works for some and not others but might be worth a try. I was a 20 a day smoker of 26 years and have been smoke free for 2 years now after reading it and it genuinely felt GOOD and no cravings, stressing, loss of concentration and being a crabby cow like i was on the many, many other attempts at stopping over the years.

Its not one of the scaremongering ones either, he makes sense (like the panic when you start running out of ciggies, have 5 left in the packet till morning and end up chain smoking them cause you're thinking about it and getting worked up). He also tells you if youre still smoking to not stop until the end of the book which i found was helpful and took pressure off. The easy way to stop smoking it's called, if you like to read/listen I would genuinely recommend giving it a try. I wish you all the very best, you can do this!!!

there's the first chapter in YouTube free. I dont personally like rhat narrator though, his voice annoys me but there's a few different versions with different folks!

I did read the Alan Carr book a long time ago, I can't remember what I thought.
I know lozenges would take away some of the discomfort but I'll get hooked on them again. Vaping seems a great idea and I do have a vape although was never really sure about them, I did try it once.
I'm just a hard core smoker, most people have never seen me without a fag in my hand, it's honestly disgusting. But the thing that is worrying me the most is my cough, it usually goes away in the summer but this year it hasnt. I literally cough 24 hours a day, it keeps me awake. Already it's getting better today
Thanks for the support

Well done! My mum went cold turkey on her 60th birthday. She had been a 60 a day smoker since she was 16. She never smoked another fag!

I gave up 5 times before I really gave up. It's hard but once you get through the toughest weeks it does get easier. I used lozenges but was addicted to them for a few years afterwards.

I vape for a while and found it helped, but I stopped cause I felt like I was getting too dependant on the vape and just replacing one with the other (used the vape for like 2 years). The first 24 hours was the roughest for me and you've done that bit so be very proud of yourself. Maybe give that book another go, it can't hurt and hopefully will help. I also found keeping a hair bobble round my wrist and pinging it sometimes helped take my mind off cravings if that's any use to you.

Another thing that helped was I put the money I would be spending on cigs in my savings account, seeing that was a right shock and gave me incentive to keep clear. I redecorated the living room with the money including a lovely big couch I always wanted but never had the money for before.

Are you me?! I'm on day 5 - smoked for almost 50 years (started at 11!). I gave up a couple of years ago but started again after 6 months when I was laid up with a bad back; a mixture of pain and boredom.

Bear in mind that cigarettes are not actually physically addictive - despite what the drug and tobacco companies would have you believe - it's the mental and emotional addiction that's hard to get over.

Stay strong ✊

Bear in mind that cigarettes are not actually physically addictive
But nicotine is which is in cigs

If nicotine was as addictive as it's commonly believed to be, why and how can people just stop without any withdrawal symptoms? There are no chemical 'hooks' in cigarettes/tobacco which cause people to need more and more to achieve the same high (unlike alcohol and other drugs) and there are no physical side effects from stopping smoking. Doctors don't tell people to carefully wean themselves off tobacco or do it under medical supervision.

Ah OK then it's all in my mind!

https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/stopping-smoking/when-you-stop/cravings-when-you-stop-smoking#:~:text=When%20you%20give%20up%20smoking,your%20constant%20desire%20for%20nicotine.

Just saying...

@smokefreefor2023 Really good luck! I start the process from Monday onwards.

Don't forget I'm in the same boat as you! My mind is poking me to have a cigarette 20 times a day but my body doesn't need nicotine to function.

@smokefreefor2023 - how are you doing? I've moved from the 'I really want a cigarette' to the 'this is a situation when I used to really want a cigarette' stage, and my sense of smell has returned with a vengeance!!

OP I would like to give you a virtual hug for doing this. I know it will be probably the hardest thing you have ever done. As you say, you don't want to be here months down the line with that cough, and I think you are very brave.
My ex partner has COPD, he coughs all of the time and has had pneumonia more than once and been hospitalised. The last time he went into hospital they told him he has the constitution of a ninety year old man and he is 61.
He does not even try to stop. He puts cigarettes and smoking before food and he put all this before me.
Well done if you keep this up.

@smokefreefor2023 how you doing?