I need help quitting smoking cigarettes

[bublebee]

Hi guys, I just wanted some advice from people that have quit smoking cigarettes.
I have been smoking since a very young age, I think I started when I was around 13/14 years old I’m 31 now.
now it’s come to a time where I would like to quit but I just don’t know how to.
I hate the smell and how it makes me feel, my chest feel tight every morning I wake up my skin looks horrible and of course the financial side it’s getting too expensive.
I don’t know what steps to take, everytime I go couple hours without smoking I crave it and when I don’t have it I feel angry and stressed.
I smoke quite a lot, probably around 10/15 roll ups a day.
if anyone has any good advice on how to stop please share it with me as I don’t know where to start.
thank you

I read Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking. That was over 10 years ago. Haven’t smoked since. Was very skeptical, but it worked for me.

I have no advice to help with stopping, but please do your best. I'm currently sitting in the waiting room outside a hospital critical care unit after my DH had a brain aneurysm, most likely caused by smoking. We're in our 50s and he's smoked for the majority of the 30+ years I've known him. You really don't want to put your family through it. Good luck 🤞

I was smoking for 16 years and well more than you, I hate to admit it but I was over 40 a day. I never thought I was going to be able to quit either but I read the Allen Carr’s book at the end of last year and had my last cigarette New Year’s Eve and not had one since.

I’m not going to lie first few days were hard, I locked myself away and avoided everyone. Everytime I wanted a cigarette I had a chocolate eclair or starburst sweet. I also brought loads of
lego to build to distract me. But after those first few days it was a lot easier and I am so proud of myself for doing it.

I still occasionally crave one but then I look at my fingers that are no longer yellow and that makes me so happy I don’t want one anymore. Plus I also had a tub where I put how much I would spend on cigarettes into at the end of each smoke free day for the first month. Seeing the money build up really helped!

Good luck quitting, honestly it’s the best thing you can do and you will feel so proud of yourself

Definitely use nicotine replacement for the beginning. Not vaping as we all know that's just as addictive.

I found the inhalator quite good. It looks like you're sucking on a tampon but it gives a kind of blast of nicotine that resembles smoke or vapour once you get used to it. And it deals with the oral fixation and holding something in your hand which smokers often take comfort from.

Chewing gum as well is good. Some people end up eating loads of sugar so keep sugar free gum to hand and healthy snacks.

I replied to an advert on Facebook from our local council.
I'd been smoking for over 30 years!

They called me, sent me out a vape, gum... Told me to get rid of all lighters, ashtrays, tobacco, rizla etc and that my quit date would be...

Panic!!!!!

It was a 12 week program... They'd phone weekly to see how I was doing, every 2 weeks stock me back up on vape juice or gum or tablets.

I haven't smoked for 6 months now. I never thought I could do it. I don't miss it at all. I've even rolled fags for my adult son and haven't even been tempted.

I didn't 'graduate' because the goal was nicotine free in 12 weeks. I'm still vaping but I'm reducing my nicotine mg.

Honestly, have a look on your council website. I remember asking GP for the support group and he rolled his eyes saying we don't have that power any more.

I don't cough. I don't hack up greenies (sorry!). I have a lot more money!

Have a look and good luck. If I can do it, you can too.

Ps if the council don't do it - the vape I use cost £18. I order juice online 5 for £10 (in the shops they are £4).
I spend maybe 40 a month rather than 170.

Let me know how you get on, you can do this!!

I smoked for 50 years (!) and gave up almost a year ago. First thing you need to know is that your craving will pass in about 3 minutes, whether or not you actually have a cigarette.

Second thing is that cigarettes are not physically addictive (despite what the tobacco and pharmaceutical companies will have you believe). No one is advised to consult their doctor before giving up or only to give up under medical supervision, as they do with alcohol and drugs such as heroin.

Smokers don't need more and more cigarettes to get the same effect, because there is no effect - you don't get high or feel better when you smoke. The addiction is just psychological so the fact that you want to give up is a big plus.

You probably started smoking to fit in with your friends, to look grown up and cool (like I did). Then you learnt to believe that smoking helped you with stress, boredom and to help you relax (also as I did). But ask yourself – "is there any situation or event that will be improved or helped in some way by inhaling poison?" (as...!).

Once you know you aren't actually addicted, because there's no such thing, and that stopping is just a matter of dealing with a 3 minute mental craving for a week or two you'll crack it.

I switched to vaping but now im addicted to that so dont know if its the best advice but I haven't had a cigarette in 6 years

OK, OP - take your cigarettes/tobacco/papers and throw them away. If you can’t bear to do that, then finish them and don’t buy any more. Notice the times you most crave a cigarette - after meals/when you get home from work - and telephone someone, or do something where you can’t smoke (like taking a shower) so that the moment passes. Put the money you are not spending on tobacco in a jar - you’ll be amazed how it mounts up. Try chewing gum/patches if you think they will work - they don’t for everyone. When I stopped smoking, I just went cold turkey. WhenI first met my DH, v much later, he smoked and I didn’t like it, so he started eating polos instead and it worked for him. My DSis gave up by putting back the time she had her first cigarette by half an hour a day, until it got so late she couldn’t be bothered. Different methods work for different people - you’ve got nothing to lose by trying a few. But the bottom line is: it’s much easier if you don’t have cigarettes in the house.

I'm 7 weeks quit, after 25+ years of 20 a day. I did buy a vape but barely used it, I was very wary of becoming addicted to something else and have heard that quitting vaping is harder than cigarettes.

After day 3 of being quit I coincidentally got a sickness bug that rendered me incapable of doing anything, never mind think about smoking. Ive tried to quit so many times over the years but this time feels different. Ive been out with smokers/vapers and not felt the need. I honestly believe you can only quit successfully when you're mentally ready to.

Hopefully I won't be stupid enough to start again, I'm in quite a stressful period of buying a house and haven't felt the need 🤞 just go for it, these days the monetary saving is a massive incentive! Good luck

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your responses.
im literally on the last bit of my tobacco today and won’t be buying anymore, I’ll throw away my rizlas and filters after it’s finished and hopefully I can resist from buying another pouch.
I really want to stop, it’s a horrible habit and I wouldn’t want my son picking it up in the future when he is grown.
I also recently stopped smoking cannabis which was hard but I managed to do it after consistently smoking it for over a year.
Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Good luck op, get some patches and watch your mountain of cash saved grow.

You don't need another person saying how bad it is for you, you know this already. But remind yourself its true !!

Please DON'T get patches - all that does is reinforce the belief that it's difficult.

You manage to not smoke for 7/8 hours every single day...

Ask your GP for champix or varenicline

I used it to quick 10 years ago and after decades to trying everything found it ridiculously easy with no withdrawal symptoms and I’ve never wanted a cig since.

Yeap. I smoked 50 cigarettes a day for 45 years and gave up after reading that book. That was five years ago and I'm so grateful. I did dose up on vitamin B complex from a few days before to help with my nerves, but it was dead easy

Great advice here. I quit by doing this years ago. I was on 30 a day.

I quit smoking by getting Champix tablets from the doctor that block the nicotine receptors in your brain. I genuinely never craved a cigarette and I've never had one since. Smoked 20 a day for about 30 years - quit about 12 years ago.

I gave up nearly 20 years ago after smoking from a very young age & had become a heavy smoker. I'd tried to stop many times before over the years and failed . This time I cut down a bit before giving up altogether, I started by giving up my favourite cigarettes first, because I knew they'd be the most difficult to get rid of , which were first thing in the morning before I'd even got up 😕 I did that by leaping out of bed and getting on with my day instead Next the one I used to smoke after our evening meal once all the washing up was done. I would still sit down with a cuppa but just not have a smoke, I would browse the internet like eBay or Amazon or something instead anything to distract my mind and break that habit , after that I'd drop another regular one and another until I was down to about 4 a day.Then I started on nicorette patches and after putting on my first patch I never smoked another one. I had cravings and vivid dreams about smoking the best cigarette ever but after 6 weeks the craving were gone and I stopped using the patches.
I also had a filthy cough for weeks, worse than the one I already had for years but that was just my lungs clearing out the built up congestion and once they cleared I could feel them filling with fresh air again at long last. That made me even more determined to never smoke again.
I see someone further up says don't use patches but they worked for me. Personally I wouldn't use use vapes or gum. You have to find what is right for you. Good luck, I hope you succeed, because it feels so good to be free of them .

Well done! ❤️

Might it help you to know that a friend of mine has just has their foot amputated due to problems with a blocked blood flow ENTIRELY due to smoking since a young age.

The vascular ward was full of people in the same situation and it was HORRIFYING.

Please please please don’t let it go so far, give up NOW and put your health and well being first.

On the practical side, go to your GP and get support and patches prescribed along with a support programme.

I stopped smoking 28 years ago.
I'm so sorry to tell you this but I'd happily light up right now. I won't do it though because I have more of a reason not to.
Can you think of something you can hold onto the next time you're craving?

Read Allen Carr, I haven't smoked for over 23 years now, was previously 40+ a day