Give Up Smoking or Die Trying
Discussion
HQ2 said:
Well, I've nearly bagged day one. Trouble is, several times a week I may not have smoked by this time of day. Once the kids are in bed, I'l take the pooch out, hit the man-cave and more than make up for it. Just hitting my first cravings, but feeling confident.
One quote from the Alan Carr thing, did stick though. Remember that by having a cigarette, it doesn't stop stress, it causes it.
Keep at it..
thenortherner said:
2 year anniversary today of being smoke free. Finished Ironman 70.3 in June 2014 and signed up for Ironman 140.6 Zurich for July of this year. All this was unthinkable not so long ago.
Good luck everyone who's trying.
To see you on the first page 2 years ago and still off them now is a great help. Hats off to you and it's really where I want to be (with the exception of the Ironman bit). Good luck everyone who's trying.
HQ2 said:
To see you on the first page 2 years ago and still off them now is a great help. Hats off to you and it's really where I want to be (with the exception of the Ironman bit).
Thank you.I think it's just genuine will-power and nothing more that gets people through it. If you want something badly enough you'll get it. If you really want to stop smoking then you will.
Good luck with it and I'm sure you'll get through it. This time next year you'll be posting on here saying you're a year clear.
Remember that the brief feeling of relief etc you get when you have a fag is wiped out x1000 5 minutes later when you realise you've failed and feel massively disappointed and angry at having to reset the clock to day zero.
No one else giving up this year (or trying)?
I've had many attempts at giving up over the years, including EIGHT YEARS clean (cold turkey) and 8 months (nicotine chews to start with) a while back. Sadly, I'd been back smoking for nine years after the 8 without which needed to be put right. I think someone said some pages back "never stop giving up" which is about right for me. I really am one of those 'tried everything' kind of guys and nothing seemed to stick.
I was proud of my smoking buddy from Cyprus - to see her on her electrics for 2 years while I still smoked, but then to see her switch to "I'll buy a pack of smokes" the minute she'd left her charger behind made my mind up. No chews, no vaping, no NRT, just chuck 'em in - job jobbed.
Pretty chilled here at the end of day 3. At home now so no temptation, not that it's really been a drama.
I've had many attempts at giving up over the years, including EIGHT YEARS clean (cold turkey) and 8 months (nicotine chews to start with) a while back. Sadly, I'd been back smoking for nine years after the 8 without which needed to be put right. I think someone said some pages back "never stop giving up" which is about right for me. I really am one of those 'tried everything' kind of guys and nothing seemed to stick.
I was proud of my smoking buddy from Cyprus - to see her on her electrics for 2 years while I still smoked, but then to see her switch to "I'll buy a pack of smokes" the minute she'd left her charger behind made my mind up. No chews, no vaping, no NRT, just chuck 'em in - job jobbed.
Pretty chilled here at the end of day 3. At home now so no temptation, not that it's really been a drama.
Here's my experience for whatever it's worth. Smoked since school and apart from 2 periods (one of 18 months and the other 12 months), have smoked about a pack of Marlboro reds a day ever since. I am now in my very late 40's.
I love smoking. Love everything about it from the taste, to the nicotine hit, to the tactile prop in my hand, to the little breaks it gives me away from my desk at work....but after 30 odd years of near constant smoking it's really starting to f
k with my health in a tangible way. Shortness of breath is the main thing along with some chest pain when I wake up. Plus having recently got remarried i'd love more kids and don't want to leave them without a dad at a young age due to entirely avoidable factors.
Soooo, I packed them in cold turkey and am now on day 64. I need to learn from my 2 other abortive attempts at quitting. Both of those previous occasions when I quit for fairly decent periods of time were done using nicotine gum which I gradually weaned myself off. Would happily use the gum again but haven't needed to this time. I picked a day when I woke up with a cold and so didn't particularly fancy smoking, to stop. This happily coincided with a week's holiday and I found the change of routine made it much easier to stop. Chucked away all ashtrays, lighters etc at home to reduce temptation when I got back. What made me go back to smoking though on those 2 previous occasions I gave up? I think it was just the virtuousness I felt at having quit had long since worn off after a year and more, and I thought, fk it i'll have one. And that is the key...I can't have one. Not a puff. Or a cigar, or a pipe or anything. That is the key lesson I have learned about myself and smoking.
Well, it's been relatively easy so far this time. Had a few pangs and near misses over Crimbo but didn't crack. Have been doing everything I usually do (hanging around friends who smoke, going for drinks etc), because sooner or later i'm going to be tempted so may as well make it sooner. The initial few days which are hard were made MUCH easier by quitting when I was not in my usual routine and also feeling under the weather. Now....it's just a question of remembering I can't ever have even a drag of a ciggy or a good cigar after dinner on a special occasion because i'd be back on a pack of Marlboro a day within a week. And I actually am starting to feel much better too which is great!
I love smoking. Love everything about it from the taste, to the nicotine hit, to the tactile prop in my hand, to the little breaks it gives me away from my desk at work....but after 30 odd years of near constant smoking it's really starting to f
k with my health in a tangible way. Shortness of breath is the main thing along with some chest pain when I wake up. Plus having recently got remarried i'd love more kids and don't want to leave them without a dad at a young age due to entirely avoidable factors.Soooo, I packed them in cold turkey and am now on day 64. I need to learn from my 2 other abortive attempts at quitting. Both of those previous occasions when I quit for fairly decent periods of time were done using nicotine gum which I gradually weaned myself off. Would happily use the gum again but haven't needed to this time. I picked a day when I woke up with a cold and so didn't particularly fancy smoking, to stop. This happily coincided with a week's holiday and I found the change of routine made it much easier to stop. Chucked away all ashtrays, lighters etc at home to reduce temptation when I got back. What made me go back to smoking though on those 2 previous occasions I gave up? I think it was just the virtuousness I felt at having quit had long since worn off after a year and more, and I thought, f
k it i'll have one. And that is the key...I can't have one. Not a puff. Or a cigar, or a pipe or anything. That is the key lesson I have learned about myself and smoking.Well, it's been relatively easy so far this time. Had a few pangs and near misses over Crimbo but didn't crack. Have been doing everything I usually do (hanging around friends who smoke, going for drinks etc), because sooner or later i'm going to be tempted so may as well make it sooner. The initial few days which are hard were made MUCH easier by quitting when I was not in my usual routine and also feeling under the weather. Now....it's just a question of remembering I can't ever have even a drag of a ciggy or a good cigar after dinner on a special occasion because i'd be back on a pack of Marlboro a day within a week. And I actually am starting to feel much better too which is great!
Well sort of we're binning the tobacco, rizlas, filters, ashtrays etc and buying some e-cigs. At least its a start.Coming up to 2 years now and feeling loads better.
My advice... go cold turkey. If you get e-cigs you'll still be addicted to nicotine. Bite the bullet and ditch the lot. It won't take long before you'll feel the benefits and that will be enough incentive to continue and before very long you'll have forgotten what all the fuss was about. If you get the e-cigs you'll still be buying crap you don't need and you'll still be a slave to nicotine looking for an excuse to go outside for a quick toke.
Good luck.
Mark
My advice... go cold turkey. If you get e-cigs you'll still be addicted to nicotine. Bite the bullet and ditch the lot. It won't take long before you'll feel the benefits and that will be enough incentive to continue and before very long you'll have forgotten what all the fuss was about. If you get the e-cigs you'll still be buying crap you don't need and you'll still be a slave to nicotine looking for an excuse to go outside for a quick toke.
Good luck.
Mark
I'm a glutton for punishment. Said I'd help out the father-in-law (builder) for a few weeks, if I can work with him without smoking, I must have cracked it. Only day one back at work, but day 5 overall and my first 'craving' of the day is right now as I type this. Long way to go, but bizarrely doesn't feel like I'm trying to pack up, it feels like I've packed up.
I stopped about 10 pm on 31 March last, after 20 B&H gold a day for 40 years. Used 16 hour patches, high 21 mg dose for 4 weeks, medium 15 mg dose for 7 weeks then low 7 mg dose for 4 weeks, so nicotine free since mid August. Carbon monoxide reading reduced from 22% to 3% inside 2 weeks. Note I've stopped smoking not given up! Absolutely vital to take patches off before bed as vivid noisy dreams result if not. The NHS evidence indicates that patches or other nicotine therapy in a controlled pattern to zero usage has the greatest chance of weaning people off cigs for the long term, cold turkey while very laudable has a higher relapse rate
to all on this path, stick at it, the cost savings if nothing else soon mount up...
to all on this path, stick at it, the cost savings if nothing else soon mount up...
Good luck to us all, I am 14 days into my latest attempt to quit. My usual routine is give up, do very well, then randomly reward myself for doing so well by have a crafty fag....
Anyway, feel more determined to quit than ever. I remember I used to say I would quit if a box of twenty was more than £5. Now at more than £10 for 20, it really is madness to carry on. It is almost £150 a month to smoke.
I am once again noticing that I am no longer out of breath climbing the office stairs, and breathe much more easily in the mornings when I first wake up.
dern said:
Coming up to 2 years now and feeling loads better.
My advice... go cold turkey. If you get e-cigs you'll still be addicted to nicotine. Bite the bullet and ditch the lot. It won't take long before you'll feel the benefits and that will be enough incentive to continue and before very long you'll have forgotten what all the fuss was about. If you get the e-cigs you'll still be buying crap you don't need and you'll still be a slave to nicotine looking for an excuse to go outside for a quick toke.
Good luck.
Mark
What I did. Ignored the plethora of "taking money off you" devices. Just see them as extending and drawing it out. Over a year now and I still have the same stresses in life.My advice... go cold turkey. If you get e-cigs you'll still be addicted to nicotine. Bite the bullet and ditch the lot. It won't take long before you'll feel the benefits and that will be enough incentive to continue and before very long you'll have forgotten what all the fuss was about. If you get the e-cigs you'll still be buying crap you don't need and you'll still be a slave to nicotine looking for an excuse to go outside for a quick toke.
Good luck.
Mark
I stopped in July using Champix. I found it had little side effects and within 10 days of starting them I had stopped smoking.
This New Year I was in Austria skiing. Last year on a particular run I would have had to stop 3 or 4 times to catch my breath. This year I smashed it without stopping once. Admittedly, this is in conjunction with regular cycling and gym work that I have started since stopping smoking. The difference in my fitness/stamina levels in just 6 months is quite staggering, the wife certainly appreciates it.
Good luck to all of those trying to quit, the benefits of doing so are immense.
This New Year I was in Austria skiing. Last year on a particular run I would have had to stop 3 or 4 times to catch my breath. This year I smashed it without stopping once. Admittedly, this is in conjunction with regular cycling and gym work that I have started since stopping smoking. The difference in my fitness/stamina levels in just 6 months is quite staggering, the wife certainly appreciates it.
Good luck to all of those trying to quit, the benefits of doing so are immense.
Well done to everyone who's at the early stages of being smoke free. It really is the way forward but like most things in life to achieve what is really worthwhile it's not easy. Just keep at it. The longer you go on the easier it gets but remember NEVER EVER smoke again it will reawaken the addiction and you'll be right back at square one.
Well, I've been pretty chilled, no proper cravings - after all, I've packed up.
Tonight I get an email that I've been short-listed for a job I would love. I imagine I'm an outsider for the role, but they want some 'pre-qualifying' answers to a load of scenarios. Sat down on the laptop to draft some answers and my head told me "this is when you smoke/stimulate your brain". I'm conscious that I smoked a lot when using my brain and in my head the smokes did stimulate me, or at least accompanied the 'buzz' I generated in other ways, but it was quite odd.
For tonight, I just gave it a miss, I'll face that hurdle another time.
Tonight I get an email that I've been short-listed for a job I would love. I imagine I'm an outsider for the role, but they want some 'pre-qualifying' answers to a load of scenarios. Sat down on the laptop to draft some answers and my head told me "this is when you smoke/stimulate your brain". I'm conscious that I smoked a lot when using my brain and in my head the smokes did stimulate me, or at least accompanied the 'buzz' I generated in other ways, but it was quite odd.
For tonight, I just gave it a miss, I'll face that hurdle another time.
On day 2 of e cigs now, been easier than expected. Tobacco/rizlas etc all in the bin. I had been smoking old Holborn (morning st tobacco) with green rizlas for a week though which were horrible (always been blues with Amber leaf) so I wasn't enjoying them as much, not sure if this helped though
Still keeping in the habit of going outside/conservatory to have a puff. Hoping to see some physical benefits in the next week or so.
Next step giving up completely but one step at a time for us.
t tobacco) with green rizlas for a week though which were horrible (always been blues with Amber leaf) so I wasn't enjoying them as much, not sure if this helped thoughStill keeping in the habit of going outside/conservatory to have a puff. Hoping to see some physical benefits in the next week or so.
Next step giving up completely but one step at a time for us.
Don't know whether to bother quitting, I never thought of 20 roll ups a week to be a big deal really... I suppose I could do with somebody telling me that even 20 a week is detrimental to my health. I guess I am addicted, but fortunately I never developed a full on morning smoke, fag breaks at work, after meals smoke, bedtime smoke kind of habit. For me it's normally one when I get in from work and / or one after dinner, and then about ten over the weekend.
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