I am 30 been on the snouts since I was thirteen. I gave up the Lou Reed about five years ago, eveytime I smoked a spliff the circulation of blood in my fingertips stopped, proper scared me.

I have since tried laser therapy, worked for a while till I was in an accident first thing I was offered when I got out the car was a fag
Needless to say I took it that was back on them again.
I also tried hypnotherapy, acupuncture, Alan Carrs easyway clinic.Alan Carrs book the only way to stop smoking permanently was the only thing that which actually worked for six months then I took the dog out one night bought a pack of fags and that was me fucked
Thing is I have developed a wheeze I just really want to stop but Ive got the willpower of a fat kid in a cake shop.

I have a stressfull job not an excuse but I would be gutted if I couldnt go for a fag when the pressures on.

Can anyone who has kicked it for good help me out?

 

Different ways work for different people. Me and the other half stopped six months ago. I used the Nicorette Inhalator and she used the losenges. For me it was the holding the fag and pretending to smoke that worked, for her it was the nicotine kick from the losenges.

It is all about will power mate, anyone can go 8-9hrs without a fag, its getting passed the 'breaking point' once you get passed the first major 'I must have a fag situation ' ,after you have paced the room, drank a pint of water, gone for a walk, ate some biscuits etc etc. Its cracked, after a few days you have no nicotine in you so its purely habbit....hence the fake fag that i used.

I still carry the inhilator around with me after six months just in case i feel the need to pretend to smoke

Its not easy mate....but you need a reason to stop, for us it was cos the other half got diagnosed with high blood pressure, doctors said stop smoking, so that was it, next day we both stopped. We had never had a reason before as we both enjoyed smoking.

I never had a pint for 3 months as i was to scared that i would break and have a fag....saved loads of money...

Good Luck

Leigh

 

I stopped 2 weeks ago, i wont say i dont fancy one, i could easily smoke one right now!

But....

A) the missus will kick my testicles into next week.
B) id have wasted 2 weeks hard graft!

Im after tips myself so i dont really know what to suggest

 

i was 30 when i stopped, i gave up coffee and beer for 3 months while i stopped cos they made me want a fag with them, i aint gonna lie and say it was easy cos it was the most miserable 3 months of my life, worth it in the end though just to have a kick around with my lad in the garden without sounding like a fuckin squeezebox, good luck with it mate

 

Here's a my tip for giving up - I want to reduce the risk of dying horribly at an early age!

 

well i quit 3 months ago

been smoking since i was around 14

im now 25

only reason i kicked the habbit was because i knew how bad it was doing me

i was on the patches, first week wsnt a success and was still smoking

nxt week i started the patches but thinking tottally different

as i knew that i had applied the patch so if i was wanting a cig i knew i couldnt due to the patch and its wrong to have one

sounds stupid i know but i only had the patches for a week and havnt touched a cig since

everyday i just carried on as normal and tbh you dont really think you need a cig at all
there are times when you do but once its out your sustem and realise how much damage it does too you, you shouldnt or wont start up again unless your really stressed id say

i think its all down to wll power, patches etc may help but its you that needs to do it

basically as long as you know you want to stop and realise how bad it is etc you will be fine

also it helps with any money you go bu a packet of fags with stick in a jar instead and watch the money rise

its quite surprising how much you spend i think

and once you ave stopped smoking for a couple of weeks, wait until someone walks past you with a fag and you will think that is a disgusting smell

well just think you used to smel like that

anybody can quit its just down to them wether they want to quit

 

Simple, just dont buy them. . stop. .if you've no fags you cant smoke. I done it and havent/wont smoke again.after reading of what shite is in a fag and what it does to your body its enough to turn anyone off them.

 

If you dont want to stop you wont!!

 

i did as well mate, smoked 40 a day(probably a conservative guess) from being 13 till 29 andi decided enough was enough and stopped cold turkey.
ive been stopped a little over 2 years now.

Everyones different but as far as im concerned all these patches and pills and inhaler things are just a waste of time and money, you end up replacing one habit with another. Stress is no excuse either, the week i stopped smoking was the most stressful of my life but i had already decided i didnt want to smoke anymore.

 

As said above, if you haven't got any you cant smoke them. Chuck them all away, or set yourself a goal. I started by cutting down from 20 a day to 3, just those ones after meals, the really good ones!
I always sat in the no smoking parts of pubs or when eating out. Try not to be around smokers for the first week if poss, as it really helps!
I gave up completely in June 2004 and promiced myself one for christmas, it helped me, and when i had it, it was horrible!
I still have days where i fancy a cig, but it really does get easier to resist.

You'll also have the benefits of tasting food better, you wont smell like an ashtray, no matter how much you think you dont... you do! Mainly, reducing your chances of heart and lung disease etc etc.

If you tell your doctor you want to quit they will put the patches on prescription, some will give them to you for free!

Just keep trying different methods and you'll crack it!

GOOD LUCK!!

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6207176.stm

 

I got to the point just ver a week agao, where i was short of breath and felt
generally like crap !!

I decided then and there to give up, cold turkey no patches etc..

So far its been ok, It deffo is the habit you have to break,as i dont feel the
urge to have one....

Downside is i have to work more now

But it suprising hwo much you save, i only spend a tenner in the week now...

Al....

 

I gave up on New Years Eve '04.

Didnt really plan on doing it but finished the pack i had with me at 1am and thought right thats it no more.

Went cold turkey and so far havent touched one since. And to be honest never will now. I used to get out of breath walking up the stairs but now im playing football again and making it through a whole game without coughing a lung up and without feeling like death.

Its all willpower in the end mate. There is only so much drugs, and all the other stuff will do, but it just boils down to the fact that if you want to give up then you will.

 

Bloke i know smoked for 20 years and couldnt give up. His misses arranged one day for him to go to hospital to check out a lung from someone who had smoked. He said he took one look,walked out and never touched a fag since

 

Its a really difficult question to answer, as every ex-smoker will have their own opinions, however here´s mine.

You are always a smoker at heart, once you have been there you can never go back, however, if you have enough willpower and support around you then you can stop smoking them.

Last year I quit for 2 months, i´m one of these sick & twisted people who liked putting themself under a stupid amount of pressure just to prove a point to myself.
I went cold turkey during one of the already most stressful periods of my life, but I kept a half finished pack in the house, and told everyone I was quitting just to test myself to see how much I really wanted to quit. I changed my entire lifestyle & eating habits to try and shake the routine of having a fag at set times.
I got to the point where I didnt really think about smoking anymore, but this is the dangerous patch where a single event can throw you back on to them, mainly because you forget how strongly you felt about quitting in the first place, your reasons dont seem as important.
I thought I was proving a point to my Boss that she had driven me back onto the fags, when in actual fact the only person it affected was me. I´ve since been told that all the mind games side of quitting is in the Allan Carr book.

When I went back to smoking I began smoking much more than I had before, even though I hated the thought of it.

It has taken me another year to convince my brain that I can do it, and so I chose the date but this time I didnt tell anyone but my best friend (who quit in January from a 40 a day habit using patches).
This time is also cold turkey, but I kept my lifestyle pretty much the same. I was lucky to be around only non smokers for 70% of the first month, which took a lot of pressure off me.
I´ve now gone just over 6 weeks and im back in Spain where fags are stupidly cheap and every fooker smokes.
It has been very difficult but I keep remembering how disappointed I was with myself last time for going back to them. If my best mate can do it, then I have no excuse, she was a highly addicted smoker and managed to quit.

The downside is that I have become the worst type of non smoker now, I bark at anyone who comes into my office with a fag (common place here sadly). I cant stand fag ash or ashtrays near me and am very vocal about that fact and I will blatantly move my chair or where im standing in a bar if the person near me is smoking. I genuinely hate the smell, taste and look of other people smoking now, but on a plus side, since I quit, I no longer get heart palpatations (which were starting to worry me big time) my synuses are far less painful and my sense of smell has improved massively, and thats in just 6 weeks!

If you are struggling with making the first step to quitting try writing a pros and cons list to start with, you will tell from that whether your brain has accepted the fact that you genuinely want to quit.
Then you need to decide if you want to go cold turkey or use patches, I never thought patches were any good but my best mate swears by them so go with your gut feeling on them.
Pin your pros & cons list somewhere you´ll see it every day, and tell the people close to you that this is something you want to achieve and you need their support. If they are smokers theselves ask them to be a bit more considerate around you, if they are decent people they will understand and help in any way they can (unlike the coonts I work with).

Lastly, go for it, it sounds like you are getting your head round the fact you want to quit (remember there are people out there who dont want to quit so you have already taken big steps even if it doesnt feel like it).

There are lots of ex-smokers on PF so if you ever need advice or support there are plenty of good peope on here that will be more than happy to help you.
I really hope you manage to kick the habit, I know its still early days for me too but I am staying positive this time, as should you. Good luck

 

hit nail on the head

you have got to really want to stop before trying