Quitting smoking

Terry

there comes a time when you just look at your health and your pocket and say 'screw it, i'm not doing this any more, so I've decided to quit smoking on saturday. I know it will involve a lot of effort on my part and will mean staying sober for a bit. there is also the fact that i love cigarettes. they're great. and they make you look cool, but my lungs are fucked from them.
My question to you good folk is, has anyone here successfully done it and if so, how did you do it?

CiaranC

Its easy, dont listen to all the bull****. Just grit your teeth and bare through 2 weeks of discomfort and it will be over. Another 2 weeks after that it will be like you never smoked.

Honestly, the withdrawal is on a par with having an irritating toothache.

Macker

I'm off them 5 weeks ,just one too many chest infections ,I found the first couple of months the easiest in the past ,as soon as your health improves all the urges come back .
There's a sticky in PI for those quitting

Ruu_Old

Have a look here, might be of help.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Yeah, there's some good reading in that thread for sure.
Good luck with the quitting stuff btw

nesf

Good luck with it.

gimmick

Im off the fags almost 6 years at this point.

How was it done? Simple. Just stop. No gimmicks, no books, no patches or any of that shít, just stop.

When day one is over, look back at it, say "that was grand, imagine if I smoke tomorrow, yesterday was a complete waste of my hard work and effort".

When day two is over, do likewise, and so on.

Then after 3 days, you can start thinking that you would be ashamed of yourself that you are so weak as to smoke again.

Its purely down to whether yuo actually do want to quit or not. It is that simple.

Of course, I havent had an ounce of will power since quitting the smokes!

cornbb

Best of luck dude! I'm quitting as soon as my exams are over.

Zillah

I also agree on the "ignore the bullsht" angle, grit your teeth and push through it. Just don't make excuses for yourself.


What I found to be the worst angle was that it wasn't so much the physical addiction as it that I really really liked smoking. It was brilliant, so I just had to discipline myself.


That was about a year ago and I had stopped completely for nine months or so. These days I'll take one from a friend if I'm at a party or out drinking. I'm in no danger of smoking properly though, I just have a flat out "never buy cigarettes" policy, so I'll be buying them drinks in repayment occasionally

RedPlanet

I've quit cold turkey twice.
First time i was off them for a year or more.
Thought i'd had it licked. Then hungout with some old mates adn you know, had a fag and just like that i was hooked again.
Smoked for almost a year before started having health problems.
Off them now for probably 2 years, maybe more.
I'm never going back.

dubtom

I gave up years ago, was off them for 3 years and went back. I regret it. I smoke about 60 a day and their killing me, I can feel it. My biggest fear of giving up is the little man who keeps telling me that I should have one and start again tomorrow. I seriously tried to give up a couple of years back and the little fecker won after about half a day.It's been on my mind latley to give up again,the thing is, I don't enjoy them any more, I hate the smell of them, I hate the smell they leave in my house, my clothes, my hair. I hate the money I spend on them,over 5 grand a year, isn't that fecking insane.One of the tricks I used the first time was telling myself all the negative things about smokes and it worked, infact I became so anti-smoking that it drove a friend to stop and he's still off them.I''m gonna try again, no more excuses. Glad you posted this thread mate.

crosstownk

dubtom wrote:

I gave up years ago, was off them for 3 years and went back. I regret it. I smoke about 60 a day and their killing me, I can feel it. My biggest fear of giving up is the little man who keeps telling me that I should have one and start again tomorrow. I seriously tried to give up a couple of years back and the little fecker won after about half a day.It's been on my mind latley to give up again,the thing is, I don't enjoy them any more, I hate the smell of them, I hate the smell they leave in my house, my clothes, my hair. I hate the money I spend on them,over 5 grand a year, isn't that fecking insane.One of the tricks I used the first time was telling myself all the negative things about smokes and it worked, infact I became so anti-smoking that it drove a friend to stop and he's still off them.I''m gonna try again, no more excuses. Glad you posted this thread mate.

I know how you feel, mate.

Gonna do it too..............

embee

Read Allen Carrs Easy Way To Stop Smoking.

There's some sort of brainwashing in it, but it works.

funk-you

julep wrote:

there comes a time when you just look at your health and your pocket and say 'screw it, i'm not doing this any more, so I've decided to quit smoking on saturday. I know it will involve a lot of effort on my part and will mean staying sober for a bit. there is also the fact that i love cigarettes. they're great. and they make you look cool, but my lungs are fucked from them.
My question to you good folk is, has anyone here successfully done it and if so, how did you do it?

</angry fathers voice/> YOU GONNA BE A QUITTER YOUR WHOLE LIFE BOY? </angry fathers voice/>

Nah seriously, good luck.

-Funk

Fajitas!

Give up cold turkey, drink yop or something like that when you have a craving (Not nicorette, my aunt got addicted to them... ) First few days will be the worst, after that, it's just a matter of missing them. And your probs better off not going out on the p*ss for a good 2 weeks if you're serious about giving up!

Best of luck!

galah

I tried hypnosis after a long struggle to give up (always managed to give up for a month or so, then went out, got drunk, and was back on the fags...)

been off the fags for 3 weeks now, had a good few temptations (parties, nights out, and a lot of stress at work) but I managed to stay off them - I actually feel sick when I imagine smoking a cigarette, so i think this time I'll stay off them for good!

johnp

galah wrote:

I tried hypnosis after a long struggle to give up (always managed to give up for a month or so, then went out, got drunk, and was back on the fags...)

been off the fags for 3 weeks now, had a good few temptations (parties, nights out, and a lot of stress at work) but I managed to stay off them - I actually feel sick when I imagine smoking a cigarette, so i think this time I'll stay off them for good!

Hypnosis. Sounds interesting.
How much?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the cost of smokes over your life versus going to a hypnotist blah, blah, blah. Sometimes it's easier to scrape together a few quid for a pack, rather than forking out x amount for a remedy.

crosstownk

embee wrote:

Read Allen Carrs Easy Way To Stop Smoking.

There's some sort of brainwashing in it, but it works.

I've read it - several times. I even went to his 'seminar' in a hotel that cost me €200+ . I got my money back as it didn't work:(

I think cold turkey is the only option................not easy tho.

galah

johnp wrote:

Hypnosis. Sounds interesting.
How much?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the cost of smokes over your life versus going to a hypnotist blah, blah, blah. Sometimes it's easier to scrape together a few quid for a pack, rather than forking out x amount for a remedy.

120 for one session. At this point, the cost was worth it (would have spent more on cigarettes...). And I had the same opinion for a while - 120 in one go sounded a lot compared to "only" 6.45 a day...Thing is, you really need to want to give up, otherwise nothing works...I just needed another kick up the arse, a final reinforcement that I made the right decision - and so far, it's been great. This time round, i even had the "moment of truth" Allen Carr talks about in his book...so success, finally!

Kolodny

Fajitas! wrote:

And your probs better off not going out on the p*ss for a good 2 weeks if you're serious about giving up!

I'm in two minds about the drinking thing personally. I know people who've avoided it for a month of two, then started smoking again the minute they had a drink. When I quit I sort of forced myself to go to the pub after a couple of days and have a few drinks at home (not hard really ) so I could condition myself to get used to drinking without smoking. Now my addiction is chewing (regular gum though not Nicorette), although I was once so drunk and so dying for a fag that I chewed half the inside of my mouth to pieces!

Orlee

My bf went into hospital to get his tonsils taken out, it was too painful for him to smoke for about 2 weeks after, he just decided no to start up again when he was better - since he wasn't smoking I decided to give up too. I dont think I'd have been able to do it on my own - especially if he was still smoking around me. Is there someone you can give up with??? The buddy system can give you support and encouragement to keep off them.

Good luck

tallus

I'm off them close to a year after over 20 years of smoking, but to be honest I was sick of smoking and who wouldn't be. I used the patches for 12 days to get me over the withdrawl bit, as far as I know the physical addiction bit only lasts three days, so after that it's driven by willpower and whatever crutch you want to use, mine was the patches and the fact that I was f*cking sick of smoking.
Haven't looked back since I stopped, I have sisters who went the alan carr way and went back on them and another sister and brother went for the hypnosis a few weeks back and it did them no good, just remember that people cannot be made do anything that they don't want to under hypnosis.
The way I looked at it was "It takes as much willpower to smoke as it does to stop smoking", as everyone is aware of the damage they can do.
My 2 cents

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

the Guru

I have given up the evil white sticks , but i had the help of the prescription drug called Zyban and a lot of Intestional fortitude, they block the receptors in your brain that crave for nicotine.

I love it I feel so more heathier, why give up on saturday when you can start today.

Mossy Monk

julep wrote:

My question to you good folk is, has anyone here successfully done it and if so, how did you do it?

decided i wasnt going to smoke anymore. threw away the fags i had left and that was it. i dont believe in nicorette or any of that bull****. cold turkey was fine

the Guru wrote:

why give up on saturday when you can start today.

indeed. if you are ging to give up why not now

Ardent

I'm off them a little over 2 months now. Paid 300 smackers to attend an Allen Carr clinic in the Red Cow hotel and I walked out a committed non-smoker.

Cheaper option would be to buy Carr's book, worked for me as well a few years ago (I foolishly had a cigarette on holiday after 2 years off them and ended up back smoking for another few years).

Belle_Morte

I decided to quit the fags last Saturday 6 days cold turkey so far, and to be honest it hasn't been too bad.

eiretamicha

My husband was a smoker for 11 years and has been off 'em since November 8, 2005. I am so completely proud of him.:)

His trick? Removing himself from the situation. His life was changing, he was moving to Florida and marrying me, there was no better time to quit. He also used those little Nicorette tablets, but they made his mouth ulcers worse so he stopped them. He says they really helped in the beginning though, because every time he wanted a fag, he'd just eat one of the tablets. Looking back, however, he says he believes it wasn't the tablets that helped him, but the move.

Now obviously, we can't all move overseas just to quit smoking. But you can remove yourself from the situation. If you go out on the town every Friday night with a group of smoking friends, it will be almost impossible for you to stay off 'em. If you immediately roll a fag every time you pour a cup of coffee or have a pint, you're gonna hafta stay off coffee and beer for a while. These things are triggers and will only serve your cravings even more.

The best advice I can think of is to get some anbesol (not sure what yous call it over there, it's a little mouth gel that helps with ulcers) because mouth ulcers are sometimes a side-effect of quitting smoking (evidently it's the poisons expressing themselves from your mouth, yuck), find something to keep your hands busy like puzzles or knitting or one of those stress-relieving squish ball things, and stay away from anything that would have encouraged you to break out a cigarette in the past.

And above all, you must truly want to quit. Good luck!:)

Terry

Mossy Monk wrote:

indeed. if you are ging to give up why not now

i read somewhere that it was a good idea to pick a day and just stop on that day. get rid of all smoking paraphanalia like ashtrays and stuff.
i just decided on saturday to do it. no particular reason.

thanks for all the support, folks. much appreciated.

the thing that will get to me is not drinking. not the drinking itself, but the social aspect of it.
ah well, i suppose it will be worth it in the end.

Spicy Lauren

julep wrote:

the thing that will get to me is not drinking. not the drinking itself, but the social aspect of it.
ah well, i suppose it will be worth it in the end.

Yes it will be worth it, trust me! I've given them up 3 years. The best thing I could ever do in my life. Maybe you should avoid socialising for the next 2 weeks?

I read Allen Carr's book in 2 days. I was crying like a baby when I lit my last cigarette!!! (towards the end of the book)

Congrats to you Julep, you're a non-smoker now!!

Much love
Lauren

Terry

i'm not a non-smoker yet. in fact, i am smoking as i type this.
i'm trying to get rid of all my cigarettes before the morning and am also drinking the last few beers i will have until i feel i can trust myself enough to drink without smoking.

a lot of people have mentioned this alan carr book. i'm not familiar with it. i'll check out the library tomorrow and see if they have it. again, thanks for all the good wishes and success stories.