Giving Up Smoking
 

Okay, so I briefly mentioned this in the Resolutions thread and didn't get any expressions of interest but even if nobody else wants to take part something like this will definitely help me. If you're planning on giving up smoking as of tomorrow then you can use this place to vent your frustrations, boast about your accomplishments and maybe beg for support or something if you're on the edge and too embarassed to go to a real life meeting. Hell, if you're trying to kick another addiction you're perfectly welcome to use this for the same things as well.

I'm not actually going to drop the smokes until the 2nd because my resolution for last year was to never again see the onset of a new year sober, meaning I'm not going to be in any mindset to remember to keep away from smoking. When I get up in the morning I'll go out for one last one and then hopefully not touch a single cigarette again for the rest of my life.

Understatement of the universe for those who have tried: “it isn’t easy”. I’ve tried…a mentally and emotionally draining time; I still smoke.

Just my 2 cents (take it for what it’s worth, considering); you’ll never quite if you make dates, plan on ‘one last cigarette’, or even tell anyone you’re going to quite. That’s the big one, never tell anyone who you know personally that you’re trying to quite, or even planning on it. Its different for different people, some people like that emotional support, but at the same time, it may put unnecessary weight on your shoulders; and make you feel like you owe it to someone, or someone is counting on you to quite.

Try to keep in mind; NO cigarette is your last. I found that, during my smoking cessation, it was easier not to smoke when I had a pack of cigarettes on me. Having a pack with me at all times made me feel in control, and assured me that “no one is taking this away from me”, “if a want, I can light up”. - When I went the rout of throwing my packs and lighters away, I felt extremely depressed, anxious, and just an overall feeling of helplessness.

Making dates causes unnecessary stress, because it will make you feel like you have a deadline, and as it draws closer, you’ll dread it even more.

Now, I don’t know what kind of cigarettes you smoke, but if you smoke the chemical **** like I do (Marlboro, Camel, Pall Mall), it will be a hell of a lot more difficult to quite, because you not only have a nicotine dependency, but a dependency on a number of other additives, the things that give a cigarette that ‘kick’.

Believe it or not, switching to an ‘organic’ cigarette, or at least one with a significantly reduced number of additives in comparison to the big brands, will help. Some that are more widely available are Natural American Spirit and Nat Sherman’s for instance. Smoke something like that for awhile to wean yourself off the additives.

Again, this is just me; take it for what it’s worth considering I still smoke. I’ve only tried twice (seriously tried). For some people it takes a few tries.


Bottom line: don’t be so hasty about it. Pace yourself, let it come naturally.

I wish you luck

I usually don't make new years resolutions as I will probably never keep them. I've practically quit regular smoking at this stage and only smoke when I'm out drinking with friends. I aim to keep it that way. Quitting smoking completely would be a huge challenge for me as a large portion of my friend circle smoke when drinking and I can't imagine at this stage going out for a few drinks and not smoking. You get into a habit of going to the smoking area of a pub or club to see who's there, have a chat etc and it's something I love doing.

I haven't smoked a cigarette during daytime in over a month now and I don't feel any desire to do so, which is great. Whenever I have a few cigs left over from a night out I usually just dump them so that I don't get tempted to smoke them. I don't know if the e-cigarette approach works effectively as I've never tried it but it could be a method for you to experiment with.

Check this post mate - http://www.musicbanter.com/1266404-post21.html

I have some other tips and stuff, such as think of yourself as a non-smoker, not an ex-smoker.

I don't smoke anymore. I personally think, without sounding patronising, it is as difficult as you make it (I have thought this even more since stumbling across Allen Carr's method). My dad for example, drinks a lot and obviously when you drink you're more tempted to smoke. So he quits, then drinks as he normally would, then the inevitable happens. It would be easier for him if he stopped drinking too, at least for a period of time, but he claims it's fine.

Two things I think are important if you want to quit, are that you must really want to quit. The other is to be prepared to remove yourself from any temptation, so if that means avoiding your friends for a while, not going to the pub, do it. Find something else to do (set a fitness goal?) and work towards that. I know they sound obvious but there will be times as a non-smoker that you think 'one won't hurt' and that is the moment you must really want to quit. The worst problem for me, is that I sometimes have sleeping trouble and stuff. I keep some patches and Nytol in my desk next to my bed, so when that happens I stick a patch on and take a Nytol and watch a documentary and I'm fine. Cravings only last 5 minutes apparently but with insomnia I've eventually just smoked to fall asleep.

I cannot recommend that Allen Carr method enough. There is a book and a DVD, I have watched the DVD but not read the book, the DVD is about on the internet somewhere as a torrent. Should be easy enough to find.

Good luck Circe and everyone else quitting smoking.

Best of luck t'ya Circe. I don't smoke but my sister does and I know how hard it is, as she has MS, is bedbound and STILL bloody smokes! She can't even hold the cigarette herself now, I have to do that for her.

You need any support/shoulder/spanking if you lapse, let me know. ;)

That is admirable and you just earned a lot of my respect. You're a true caretaker in my book. :)

I think not telling people you're going to quit helps massively, it stops people talking about it all the time and stops you thinking about it. Plus nobody expects it from you so if you relapse you don't have someone blabbing about how you've failed miserably.

Keep the hands busy too, that was the hardest for me.

And the routine of having cigs is hard to break, try and fill that time with something you enjoy to help try and take your mind off it.

Heh, thanks for the advice and encouragement everyone. Not telling anyone probably won't work unless I can get some kind of memory eraser as I've already announced it to my mum and a few friends, but I'll try and shut up about it so the people I'm less close to don't know. If I start lapsing or finding it really challenging I'll be sure to give the other stuff a try but being the lazy teen that I am I'd rather do it all with a minimum of effort on my part unless absolutely necessary.

Also I feel really bad for just sucking up loads of attention here so if anyone else is considering it you should really talk about it here.

Thanks Engine. Yeah, if there's one thing I hate more than smoking I don't know what it is, but four times a day I have to put the cig in her mouth, light it, hold it and also hold the ashtray underneath it (as she's in bed) while simultaenously trying to avoid breathing in that choking thick smoke! Urgh! Still, if I didn't do it she wouldn't be able to smoke, and she has very few pleasures left in life. Eyesight going bandy, so no more reading. Can't drink anymore, finds it hard to listen to music... ah yes, MS: the disease that just keeps on giving!

Fair play TH, you seem like a nice guy.

I do, don't I? You'd be surprised! :rofl:
Nah seriously, what can you do but do unto others? I'm no believer, but that statement for me has always made a whole lot of sense. When it gets too much and I'm about to lose the rag with her (whether it's justified or not: being called at 5AM and then 6:30 AM to help her use the toilet stretches my patience just a little!) I always try to put myself in her place and think, well, if I had this how would I want people to treat me? Usually works to cool me off and often make me feel just a little ashamed. After all, she has to cope with the damn thing, I just have to look after her.

i recommend having lots of chewing gum on hand, mint-flavoured toothpicks, and maybe one of those squeezy things for building forearm strength. and don't forget that kissing a smoker is like licking and ashtray, you stink like an a**hole on fire, and makes you less able to run like a cheetah. good luck circe. it's an admirable thing that you're doing.

I believe a lot of people use jelly babies as a substitute. Just a thought. And I echo Zevokes' sentiments...
http://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/...setts-540g.png

Trollheart, you are a truly admirable guy.

I was able to quit smoking 2.5 years ago after numerous attempts. I smoked roughly a pack a day for about six years until I gradually (very gradually) cut back to about 5 cigarettes a day. My turning point was when I suffered from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 23, which resulted in surgery. Dropped cigarettes from my life the day before the surgery.

I have only smoked several occasional cigars since.

I honestly thought I'd never quit.

I'm kinda tipsy so I probs shouldnt type up much but I finished my last pack tonight and I guess that means I'm starting from now Hopefully I don't buy another pack ever again.

Get an app for your phone that tracks your progress.

:clap: :clap: :clap:
Let us know if/when you need support. And buy some jelly babies! Nothing quite like biting the heads off little gelatin people when you're struggling with those cravings, I would think! :D

Aww gee shucks thanks Kay! :o:
I do my best...

I used sunflower seeds to get over the worst moments and I found that definitely helped. I wish you the best of luck though, once you've got a handle on it you'll feel great, but it's a tough climb to get there. I mean hell even if you can get to the point where guys like Zer0 and myself are at, where we can just smoke when we're out with friends (and even then it's only sometimes) then you'll be doing better than most.

How's it going?

I smoked for a few years (in 2012 I smoked almost 1 pack and a half a day), and I quit 22 days ago. It was easy once I read Allen Carr's book, really. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to quit smoking - and to those who don't think they want to, too (I included myself in this group). Once one realises what is all about, quitting is easy. I kept telling myself that I would quit the moment a cigarette didn't feel nice with a cup of coffee, without realising that moment would never come.
I know enjoy my coffee a lot more, and I can actually feel the taste of it in its full splendour. Good luck to all of you who are trying to quit. Just remember there is never a right time to quit, so better do it now than later or never.

Cool as fhuck mate, well done :cool:

Have you seen the DVD?

Heh, I wasn't really bothering to say much because not a whole lot has happened. I feel a craving pretty much constantly (although the strength of it goes up and down quite a bit) but right now I'm stuck at home all the time so it hasn't been much of a problem. My mum (who quit about a decade ago) suggested I chew a load of gum because it helped her but I've never really liked the stuff so I'm not going to give it a try unless absolutely necessary. I think the real challenge will be in a few days when I'm back to school and around a few people that go out at lunch for a few cigs, and when I walk past my usual supply shop on the way home every day.

Nope, wasn't even aware there was one. I guess it's not necessary anymore now, though :P
Tonight will be my first night out drinking beer without my old friend. Won't have to go outside every 20 minutes, especially with all the snow. Brilliant :D

I think I read in an NHS leaflet that cravings only last 5 minutes, so just be strong.

How have you been finding getting to sleep? That was horrendously difficult for me.

First time drinking is always difficult. That used to be where I would fail. I have learned that if I am slightly tired before I start drinking and drink pints of water in between each beer, I don't want to smoke. In fact once I am at that level where I feel tipsy, every drink from then is a pint of water. I also drink weak lager.

I get cravings sometimes, but they go away within 5 minutes. Been eating a lot, though :D
Fluffy, fortunately my best friend hates cigarettes, and he seems happier than me about the fact that I quit, so I can drink confidently, knowing that he'll punch me in the face if I even mention a cigarette. But I really don't want to smoke, either way. I have those cravings now and then, but they're the result of years and years of a bad habit. Even as I am having a craving, I am completely aware that I do not want to smoke: it's just my brain that temporarily thinks I do.

Just realised my horrible use of the word craving there. Yeah, I didn't mean an actual craving (having them constantly would be a nightmare) but I h
do have a feeling of not getting what I need pretty much constantly, if that makes sense.

You feel a certain emptiness. It's completely normal. If I were you, I'd be happy about it. I know I am! It's just your body getting used to the loss of a habit. I don't know for how long you smoked, but your body came to see it as a habit, so it's now mourning its loss. A lot of people feel depressed (I had mild depression for about 3 days), because the feeling can be compared to that of losing a close friend or a relative. After all, you could always count on that cigarette to calm you down, to keep you company, to celebrate with you, etc. Just keep in mind that it's all in your head. Bad habits die hard. You really should be happy that you're giving it up. Your body doesn't really like it - FOR NOW -, but it will thank you further down the road. There is absolutely no good reason for lighting up a cigarette. None. Zero.

The feeling will go away. Replace it with a healthy habit and let yourself be consumed by that habit. I embraced the practice of drinking tea. Now I don't need it anymore, but I still do it all the time. Tastes great and it's probably much healthier than all those fumes damaging your lungs and heart.

By the way, I hope you're not using any nicotine patches or nicotine gum.

I used patches at first, I know you are not meant to but I only used them to help me fall asleep for the first week or so.

I quit in 2004 I think it was after having smoked for 7-8 years. I wasn't the only one who quit; me and my mates generally gave it a go around the same time, but I was the only one out of 5 of us or so who actually managed to quit back then. That is, the others quit too, but they started again.

For me, it was easy. I decided that okay, when I'm out, that's it. I'm not gonna buy any more and I'm not gonna smoke any more. I did it cold turkey and I took it very seriously. At first, it was really hard going out and drinking without smoking. Especially when I still had friends who were trying their best to make me smoke again. I had a couple of times when drinking that I smoked half a cigarette, but then I realized how pointless that was and it also made me feel guilty so I never smoked a whole cig after I'd decided to quit. Except for those couple of setback which happened perhaps within 3 weeks of me deciding to quit, I never smoked again.

As I wrote, most of my friends also quit, but unlike me they eventually started again. What made the difference, I believe, was that I didn't try to kid myself. I know that deep inside me there is a great love for smoking. I just love it. I can still feel that longing for cigarettes, although as far as cravings go it's quite harmless now and no trouble staying on top of. The point here is, I know I can't just smoke a little every other weekend without starting. I would love it and I would miss it too much during the week days. I don't trust myself enough to smoke even a little bit. With me, it's gotta be all or nothing. So, if it's not gonna be all, it's gonna be nothing. It's a simple rule that's easy to stick to and I can relate to things like that.

My friends who started again would of course eventually allow themselves to smoke at parties or even during special situations like when walking the dog. I think that's a really bad idea.


So, bottom line is; I think quitting is easy. What's hard is to stay quit if you know what I mean. You have a deep love relationship with cigarettes in you and it won't go away even after you've been smoke free for years. Respect that and don't forget it. Smoking at parties years later can revitalize that love so just don't give yourself the chance to start again and it's simple. I used to have dreams in which I smoked and I would wake up feeling so guilty for caving in and starting again :p: I believe it's been a few years since last time, though.

That's what I never get: why, when you're doing your best to quit, and therefore improve, perhaps extend your life, do your so-called mates all do their best to try to stop you, encouraging you to go back? Is there no support among smokers, or once you become a non or trying-to-be-non smoker, are you just seen as some sort of scum and ostracised?

"One of us! One of us! One of us!"
"I keep tryin' to get out, they keep draggin' me back in!"

Don't seem like mates really... :confused:

I'm not sure what the psychology behind it is, but it's typical, isn't it? :p:

It may just be their way of protesting against a life choice that they don't agree with. Maybe I should tell them I'm a teetotaler and a vegetarian and see if they buy me beer and burgers.

Eh I think it's a coping mechanism. I mean by this point in time everybody knows how dangerous smoking is for you, so people try to convince themselves that it's not as bad if they do it with friends. If it's a large group then you can't be ostracized, plus it gives you someone to talk to.

Anyways I have to agree with Tore, I've never found quitting to be that particularly hard, but resisting temptation is a whole other story. Then again even at the height of my smoking I was never more than 3-4 a day, so I don't know how much my opinion counts for on that subject.

Yeah it's not just that though. I think people are inherently dickheads. I see (or used to see) it all the time with a girl in my office who used to fast for charity. Damn hard thing to do, but people in the office would all be exaggerating their enjoyment of their lunch while she drank a glass of water for hers, almost as if they wanted her to fail. Wtf? Are people that insecure that they can't accept someone is able to do something that can't, or won't, so they have to do their best to ruin it for them? :confused: :banghead:

The way around this is just to not say anything if you quit. I don't think it's that bad anyway, I'd just consider it a joke, 'banter' if you will.

Fortunately for me though, none of my friends do this.

That's what I done, just stopped and didn't tell anyone til I had stopped for around a month.

I think it's probably more about group psychology. Humans are social chameleons who adjust their behavior to match their chosen social group, and they expect their chosen "friends" to do likewise in order to maintain group homogeneity. Not consciously of course, but you know what I mean hopefully.

Ha ha! You used the word homo (and a lot of BIIIIIGGG) words in your post! Queer! :D:D:D:rofl: