Does anyone have any advice or stories about quitting smoking? Have you done it or a friend you know?
I been trying to quit for ages now and it is really getting on my tits that I can't.
I want to be able to do it just by will power but fail after a very short period of time... I ain't getting any younger and I know it ain't good for me so REALLY wanna be successful... I'm thinking about gearing up for it now as a New Years Resolution.. that whole setting a date and building up for it? Should I gradually decrease to that date or smoke shitloads so I get fed up of them by New Years Day?
Any advice appreciated.. (apart from.. "don't buy any" ) :P

What worked for me?

Nicotine Patches - make sure you get the right level set of patches, the strong ones won't let you sleep if you are not used to that much nicotine....(I found that out myself). They are expensive but after a few weeks I weaned myself down to the weakest ones and then onto Nicotine Gum and then off nicotine completely. I was never the strongest smoker in the world, but I needed to stop. And it worked. But everyone is different, and a friend still comes round now and again and we smoke some "different stuff" :halo: but I don't have much and don't touch anything else, so I class that as having quit :P :ok:

I thought it would help with the No Smoking Ban in pubs but I still stupidly go out in the freezing cold and puff away..
I have tried the gum.. awful stuff, had to smoke to get rid of the taste :P

Not tried patches yet but may do so.. I did want to do it on will power alone but I am obviously a weak and addicted individual...

I may take up the "other stuff" again if I manage to quit.. least I will know I get a hit occasionally :P

I've failed myself so am not much use BUT there are a few things I do know tips-wise

you have to be READY to give up - if you've got a lot going on or are stressed etc it is not a good time to quit, and you are likley to fail and feel even worse.

you have to really WANT to give up - so if you feel that you enjoy smoking and will feel deprived of your pleasure then that won't work either.

you need COPING STRATEGIES in place to help you or you'll come off the rails quickly. You need to assess your triggers and how you will handle them.

you need to UNDERSTAND your habit - what makes you smoke, which ciggies are habit, or phsyical dependency. You can try to kick the 'habit'ones that you don't need first.

They say to AVOID situations where you know you will smoke, but if you smoke at any time like me then this is impossible as you'll never be able to do anything. It's especialyl bad if you use them to relax and socilaise as this will mean you can't realax. If say you onyl smoke in a few situations then cut them out and see what happens. If you have one before say work, go straight to work. Likewise do more things where you don;t smoke - I find my mind is off it when shopping, but this is an expensive way of giving up :lol:

CUTTING DOWN - this is not supported by the NHS Stop Smoking Service. They want a quit date and that is it. I have cut down then gone up again so see what they mean but I say cutting down is better than nothing and it can get you to feel more in control of your habit.

DRINKING - if you drink you'll find it harder to give up I reckon as they go together. Toughie I know, as once I start drinking I smoke liek it's going out of fashion.

TREAT YOURSELF - if you are to give up then ensure you reward yourself when you do well. Have a massge or summat! :D

INCENTIVES - put the money you woudl have spent in a jar and take a holiday :D

BE PREPARED and DON"T RUSH into it - set a date to prepare mentally for. Don't go for New Year as most resolutions get broken and also you might wake up feelign crap with a a hangover so your will will eb challanged.

PHSYCIAL ADDICTION/WITHDRAWAL - these symptoms are real. Try NRT. The inahlers are pretty good although they did nto help me give up but I cut down for a bit. You can get addicted to them mind. You'll also find you feel worse, you'll cough more and eat more so be ready.

LOSS - with any addiction there can be a sense of sadness or loss so you need to consider this. My mate gave up drinking and thsi side of ot depressed him a while so he sought counselling.

If you really struggle it might be worth getting some one-to-one help to explore things and counsel you through. You sound very motivated though so best of luck :ok:

Btw people I know who have quit - My mum did it immediately with acupuncture and never had a fag in about 20 years since. Didn;t work for my dad but worth a go.My dad used the patches and gave up and never smoked again.

If you do manage it you can share tips :ok:

Other than the patches and stuff that Gav suggests, it's mainly just will power. But different strategies of 'quitting' can be good - don't necessarily try to go from 20 a day to none whatsoever, that's gonna be much harder. Try and drop gradually, i.e if you do 10 a day now, try and drop to 8 a day, then after a week or two, to 6 etc... by the time you get to 1 or 2 a day don't even worry about it. That's not gonna do much harm, and the last years of your life are probably gonna be shit anyway.

You might also want to avoid getting pissed, if you're anything like me. That'll rocket up your fag count. Although giving up fags and alcohol, that's probably too much for you too contemplate in one day. :P

Cheers SB, all sound like good tips there. You sound much like me, I always associate smoking with drinking too, just goes hand in hand in my opinion.. I think that is the biggest thing I need to break as there is no way I am stopping drinking too! I need some vices and enjoy a healthy tipple or two as you guys know :P
I think I may do the set a date method, although I have done this before and failed. Don't help that everyone I drink with smokes..
I find that I don't want to smoke the day after I have been out for a night.. that can sometimes extend into the next day too and I guess those attempts have been my most successful as I have stopped for a couple of weeks a few times all started from the one day of not wanting to smoke after a night out, and the stopping wasn't planned.
I may try that again on Saturday actually after I have been out on Friday.

I had a mate desperate to give up and she basically couldnt do it until like SB says, you really, really want to give up - not feel you should but feel that you want it. She didnt use much other than willpower and she did say that nights out down the pub were harder - though that should be easier a bit now that you have to go out in the freezing cold.

Good luck if you go ahead Trisco :hug:

I used to be 10 a day roughly but the last week or two packets of 20 seem to have been flying by.. :wacko:

And your statement is TOO true Wise :D :P

I do REALLY want to now so fingers crossed. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy smoking but I have let my fitness deterioate for the last year and as I ain't getting younger, I can really feel that.

I think I will go for the Saturday quit after going out on Friday night.. may even go to the Gym to feel good about myslef on Sat too.. feel the benefit of exercise, and not reward myself with a cigarette this time like I did last time!

Cheers for your tips folks :ok:

Yeah more folks are outisde th epub than in!. Tbh becuase of the ban me and my mates spend more time NOT going to pubs and do things indoors. The pubs must be losing loads of dosh - we used to spend 3-4 nights a week there, up to 100 per head per week. Now we go once a week if that, like last week my pub budget was just 10 quid. Serves 'em right :rolleyes:

1 day

stand in front of a mirror and watch yourself smoke and ask yourself if that is really you doing that. Start trying to build up a level of dislike seeing yourself with a cigarette and take it from there.

I was fortunate really and never got addicted and just got bored of smoking. I was on about 15 a day and just stopped.

The last cigarettes I had was a year Nov 2006, the friend I was out with was smoking Marlboro menthol and I nicked 5 off her during the evening. Enjoyed them, but haven't wanted to smoke since!

:clap:

one day at a time - this can be your daily blog Trisc :hug:

I used to smoke a lot of small cigars but was able to stop witout wirthdrawal symptoms so I guess I wasnt really addicted. I havent smoked for 5 years . But what helped me was the benefits of stopping- more money , no breathlessness, no smell of smoke , etc.etc. Its worth it and I would never be tempted to smoke again.

Those small cigars aren't so addictive I don't think. I never got the point of cigars tbh, as you don't inhale. At least I don't think you do? :shrug:

The money one is tricky. It doesn't work for me because I see folks spending a lot more per day on sundries than the cost of a box of fags. People buying canned drinks, snacks, magazines, fancy boxes fo sarnies. I don't buy stuff like that often and kind of think that all I do treat myself to is ciggies so psychologically that hasn't helped. And I reckon if I stopped I'd still spedn the cash on something else beacase they tell you to treat yourself if you give up. I discussed thsi with a smokign cessation person a while ago. She came up with an idea for me to treat myself with to help give up, something I'd like. I didn't want magazines, coca cola or a lipgloss every week :D and what we came up with I could not even afford once a week on my smoking budget. Now I spend hardly anything at the pub as opposed to my previous 50 -100 pounds I feel less inclined to save money cos I'm savign a fortune on beer! So I don't knwo what to do for my incentive really.

I think the money only really works if you can actually not afford to do something because you smoke. If you don't have cash for a holiday for eg then you can save that up and have a great incentive. But if you can afford to go where you like tomorrow then it does not help. I'm sure ti helps a lot of folk though.

I have analysed my addiction and I think ti is deeply psychological so mayeb I will see a counsellor. But my trouble is I do enjoy smoking, espcailly after dinner whilst relaxing and with a drink. It's the ciggies that I don't really enjoy though that I want to cut out, like when you are needign one and have to go sneak it in in a rush, or when someon phones and it's a stressful convo so you light up. I never smoked as a teenager btw, I hated it. I onyl smoked form University, I was smoking occassionally when socilaising and started full time when I left Uni and was unemployed for a while, depressing time. Then I got a job and the job was stressful and annoying and had a heavy smoking cultrue and the only sanity you got was in the smoking room, then it kinda stuck. I was about 27 by then so I've smoked for 15 years. I never wanted to it just happened.

I want to stop farting around on the Internet and start spending the time I spend surfing around and on this site (and the beeb) on working, admin, and ultimately with my family. Since I am self-employed it is all my time.

I used to scoff about people saying they had no will-power, but boy it's difficult so I sympathise with you smokers.

Any tips for my dilemma?

If it works I promise I won't come back and tell you....... ;)

I'm struggling too with the same dilemma so I'm afraid I can't help much Barry :rolleyes:

This darned interweb thingy will ruin me I tell ya

Mrs Lex isn't too impressed either I tells ya

:blink:

I almost said chocolates but they don't last very long, do they?

So how about chewing-gums?

Take the teen's advice ;)

Take a job where you can't access a pc? :shrug: Or use yoru PC all day for work then you won't want to go on it after. :D Tell you what if I had to work on a pc all day I woudl nto want a computer at home cos I'd be pig sick of it.

I used to be quite addcited to using the board but the novelty wears off so I don't feel the same urge to be on it, although when I am in I am usually always on-line.

I'm with you on this one - it's awful and I sympathise with all that can't give up, myself included. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I did this http://easyway2stopsmoking.co.uk/ and it worked for a month, then I got taken into hospital 3 years ago with Pneumonia and Pleurasy and was told I had lung cancer :wacko: (misdiagnosis of the lung cancer thank goodness) and would you believe, I started smoking again because of the stress! :wacko: :wacko:

Yup, I know, I know, but anyway, as everyone else on here says, YOU REALLY HAVE TO WANT TO GIVE UP! Unfortunately I don't want to, I NEED to, so there's a difference. I need to do it because I now have a lung disease and smoking don't help :rolleyes:

Anyway, Alan Carr is well known for his books and courses and once you read the book you will stop for a while that's a certainty - if I did, then anyone can! :rolleyes:

Oh dear.. :( Hope it isn't anything to bad QJ :hug:

I hope you feel like having another attempt to quit soon..
Since I started this thread, I have managed the 1 day without which I posted earlier, I then promptly failed as soon as alcohol touched my lips the next day.. :angry:
I then tried to quit again which lasted just over 2 days, (crap effort I know) from New Years Day... maybe I shouldn't have made it a resolution..
I am now trying again, didn't plan it or think about just decided when I woke up Monday morning, I wasn't going to have any...
4 days later and I still haven't had one so best effort I have had for a while.
I do want one right now but, hey ho... I know I just gotta ignore it.
I wonder how far I will get this time..
Serena Williams mentioned in some of her interviews that she has recently read a book that has changed her outlook on things. I popped out and bought it a few days ago and am trying to use what the book tries to instill in you to help me quit smoking. The book is called "Who Moved My Cheese?" and I can see it being a book where some people will take something from it but on the other, people will say, a load of pap and I knew everything the book is trying to tell me already...
I'd recommend it, it may tell you things you already know but it is something you can thing about that will bring this attitude and thinking to the fore again.
I've moved my "cheese" to represent a healthier me and that "cheese" will be easily obtained if I manage to quit smoking....
Just hope when I have alcohol tomorrow, I can still understand I can't get my "cheese" if I smoke..

Keep going, Trisco! :bow:

I gave up last November, but I was highly motivated, as I was losing my teeth (!) and my dentist advised me to quite smoking. I cut down from 20 to 0 in about ten days and haven't touched a cigarette since. I don't miss the actual smoking, but I miss the "reward" that smking was. You know, an hour's slog in the garden and then a cigarette as a reward. AS my son says, a carrot isn't quite the same and chocolate's great but fattening, and when you stop smoking you find yourself fighting the kilos, too. or at least I do. I now weigh all of 7 st. 3!! I suppose I was underweight before....