quiting smoking

linda101

Any good tips to stay off them using patchs so far so good

lord lucan

You'll get a better answer here OP.

Moved from Smoking.

Snatchy

I'm gone cold turkey. Didn't smoke on the 31st as I didn't want for it to be a NY resolution. I'm nearly at 72 hours and am struggling at this stage to be honest!

Experiencing very weird side effect of muscle twitching in left arm persistantly since last night!

Does it get easier?

Snatchy

I'm gone cold turkey. Didn't smoke on the 31st as I didn't want for it to be a NY resolution. I'm nearly at 72 hours and am struggling at this stage to be honest!

Experiencing very weird side effect of muscle twitching in left arm persistantly since last night!

Does it get easier?

linda101

Snatchy wrote: »

I'm gone cold turkey. Didn't smoke on the 31st as I didn't want for it to be a NY resolution. I'm nearly at 72 hours and am struggling at this stage to be honest!

Experiencing very weird side effect of muscle twitching in left arm persistantly since last night!

Does it get easier?

Hiya I have tried cold turkey lasted 2 weeks v hard im using patchs this time and honestly not to bad at the moment my problem is staying off them not stopping arghhh

Vizzy

Snatchy wrote: »

I'm gone cold turkey. Didn't smoke on the 31st as I didn't want for it to be a NY resolution. I'm nearly at 72 hours and am struggling at this stage to be honest!

Experiencing very weird side effect of muscle twitching in left arm persistantly since last night!

Does it get easier?

Fair play to you.
72 hours is good, They reckon that the Nicotine leaves your system after that time.
There will be some weird dreams, cravings,sleeplessness etc but don't give up.
It will get easier by the day and believe me it is worth it in the end.
22 months free of the weed at this stage and couldn't be happier.

linda101

Vizzy wrote: »

Fair play to you.
72 hours is good, They reckon that the Nicotine leaves your system after that time.
There will be some weird dreams, cravings,sleeplessness etc but don't give up.
It will get easier by the day and believe me it is worth it in the end.
22 months free of the weed at this stage and couldn't be happier.

Ok day 2 just over was using patchs but hsve just finished reading Allen carrs book and it convinced me to get rid of patchs so cold turkey here we go

spitfireIRL

Snatchy wrote: »

I'm gone cold turkey. Didn't smoke on the 31st as I didn't want for it to be a NY resolution. I'm nearly at 72 hours and am struggling at this stage to be honest!

Experiencing very weird side effect of muscle twitching in left arm persistantly since last night!

Does it get easier?

Did the same, except it was two days before NYE.. It's not too bad, and one thing I've noticed, the hangovers are NOT the same as when you're smoking. The difference is insane! Doing okay anyway, no major niggles yet

Snatchy

spitfireIRL wrote: »

Did the same, except it was two days before NYE.. It's not too bad, and one thing I've noticed, the hangovers are NOT the same as when you're smoking. The difference is insane! Doing okay anyway, no major niggles yet

Perhaps it was a stroke of genious by us! Still haven't relapsed and totally agreed re the hangovers.

I was really bad yesterday though - the twitching has subsided a bit today which is good. Could hardly sleep last night!

jobeenfitz

I gave up smoking late last Thurs 1st, Couldn't breath properly for hours the next evening, hoping it was withdrawell symptoms. I am roughly 46 hours off them. My biggest problem is what to do with myself now. I feel like going to bed and staying there for a couple of day.

I also had to give up drinking cos I have no will-power after four r five drinks.


My question to any of yee who have conquered the fags. What does a man do when he stops drinking and smoking?

Thanks in advance.

spitfireIRL

I've been distracting myself with exercise, cycling, weights etc.. But you have it worse than me, I always smoked like a chimney while drinking but I've been on the sauce loads the last few days and it hasn't been bothering me too badly, I don't know how long this will last though...

jobeenfitz

spitfireIRL wrote: »

I've been distracting myself with exercise, cycling, weights etc.. But you have it worse than me, I always smoked like a chimney while drinking but I've been on the sauce loads the last few days and it hasn't been bothering me too badly, I don't know how long this will last though...

Thanks, might go for a long walk on the beach tomorrow, weather permitting. Hopefully take the edge off.

Snatchy

jobeenfitz wrote: »

Thanks, might go for a long walk on the beach tomorrow, weather permitting. Hopefully take the edge off.

I know what you mean, I've given up boozing for January too.

Sex helps. Went for a jog in the afternoon. Bought strings for guitar and picked it up again. Started watching Breaking Bad. Anything to keep the mind off fags.

Also went to Arsenal/Spurs this evening.

I'm on five days now - getting easier.

Keep it up!

spitfireIRL

I reckon it's a great time to do it, the cold air really helps, I went cycling earlier in the freezing air and it was class, I really enjoyed the feeling of it if that makes sense? Says the man 6 days in, but onwards and upwards... Still can't quite go into the smoking area with my friends though! One day at a time..

jobeenfitz

Snatchy wrote: »

I know what you mean, I've given up boozing for January too.

Sex helps. Went for a jog in the afternoon. Bought strings for guitar and picked it up again. Started watching Breaking Bad. Anything to keep the mind off fags.

Also went to Arsenal/Spurs this evening.

I'm on five days now - getting easier.

Keep it up!

Ha, Im a Spurs fan. They didn't help today but honestly didn't give a fcuk about the cup, wuda preferred to lose to anyone else though.

jda

I've also put post up on this also!! I've tried everything including Allen Carr books any one I've talk to about it says cold turkey all the way!!

jobeenfitz

I'm fekn great at giving up smoking. Cold turkey everytime. Had to get up oua bed again last night with breathlessness. I think it could be panic attacks rather than any real serious breathing problems. As I said I am great at giving up smoking its usually after a few drinks I go back on them, even if I don't drink for months, still happens.

So all I have to do is learn how to drink without smoking or give up booze for good. Not sure if I could or would give up booze.

Anybody else solve the drink/smoke thingy?

AlanMcC23

I had my last fag last thursday morning and bought the electric one (ego firebird) and have to say its been really easy for me have no interest in them just a few pulls outs my gizmo and im sorted

mobro5

Off the cigs 1 day went cold turkey. I just stopped after watchin a documentry on youtube and was so shocked. I ve been smoking for 12 yr and I never knew there was 4000 chemicals in cigs.

So what I did was while I was smoking and enjoyin cigs I went on to youtube and watched the graphic videos and read every article on the internet and in 2 days I went from craving a cig to the sight of them making me sick. Now cig remind me of tar filled lungs where just 2 days ago i was craving them.

Another thing I did was filled and clear blue plastic bottle of water and used it as an ashtray and throw ur cig butts in and closed it. The water turned black and while I was having a cig I wud smell d cigs in the bottle. The smell was so bad i nearly puked.

The best thing is to change ur perception of cigs from cravings to them making u sick. This is my 4th time trying and my mind isnt focused on the stress of quitting right now its the picture of tar filled black lungs thats turining me off. Good luck

merryberry

On the nicquitin 24 patch and nicorette quick mist. I take off the patch before shower in the morning and slap on a new one around 11 when I'm bullin for a smoke. Patch works fine till about 3 in the afternoon then out comes the spray, patch on and all. 3/4 sprays does me the rest of the day. Overdose maybe but works for me.

Break80

HI.
Off the smokes 5 days now. I am posting this in the hope I can read it this time next year as an ex smoker and offer some advice to the new recuits next year. I am 49 next birthday and I can still remember my first smoke at the age of 12. I know all the reasons not to smoke but I just loved the whole experience. The first one after breakfast, the 20 or so in between is a blur. to the last one before I go to bed. Jees I am an intelligent man HOW am I so stuck on these coffin nails.
Forgive my rambling I just hope I can read this next year smoke free but I am struggling big time at the minute.
If I last tonight and tomorrow I will log on again tomorrow night and read this post maybe it will spur me on a bit more.
Thanks.

jobeenfitz

Break80 wrote: »

HI.
Off the smokes 5 days now. I am posting this in the hope I can read it this time next year as an ex smoker and offer some advice to the new recuits next year. I am 49 next birthday and I can still remember my first smoke at the age of 12. I know all the reasons not to smoke but I just loved the whole experience. The first one after breakfast, the 20 or so in between is a blur. to the last one before I go to bed. Jees I am an intelligent man HOW am I so stuck on these coffin nails.
Forgive my rambling I just hope I can read this next year smoke free but I am struggling big time at the minute.
If I last tonight and tomorrow I will log on again tomorrow night and read this post maybe it will spur me on a bit more.
Thanks.

I often wondered how people with any intelligence could continue to smoke. It is a combination of the shneaky manufacture, his addictive drug and us ignoring the facts and even lying to ourselves.

If we know our triggers and beware of them, maybe we could both be looking at this thread in a years time as non smokers.

Finnbar01

jobeenfitz wrote: »

I gave up smoking late last Thurs 1st, Couldn't breath properly for hours the next evening, hoping it was withdrawell symptoms. I am roughly 46 hours off them. My biggest problem is what to do with myself now. I feel like going to bed and staying there for a couple of day.

I also had to give up drinking cos I have no will-power after four r five drinks.


My question to any of yee who have conquered the fags. What does a man do when he stops drinking and smoking?

Thanks in advance.

You could play with yourself...mind you not in public though.

jobeenfitz

Finnbar01 wrote: »

You could play with yourself...mind you not in public though.

Could help, they say when you quit you miss the habit of holding that stick in your hand. You could make millions out of this solution.

What advice would you give to women who ain't born with an automatic substitute?

Finnbar01

jobeenfitz wrote: »

Could help, they say when you quit you miss the habit of holding that stick in your hand. You could make millions out of this solution.

What advice would you give to women who ain't born with an automatic substitute?

Simples. They could play with their husbands or boyfriends.

In fact,not only will this help women quit, sure it will also improve relations between the sexes!

Pompous

A trick that worked well for me was to quit everything that I associated with smoking until I was well and truly off the smokes. I smoked after every game of LoL (a computer game with 30-40 minute matches) so I quit the game. I smoked when I drank so I quit drinking. I avoided stressful situations.

The hard part is not having the after-meal smokes, because you can't exactly quit eating.

Hope this helps! Hang in there the first week is the hardest!!

lapua20grain

you have to want to really give them up i gave them up 18 months ago as i wanted to be around for my son when he was older. decided on the Saturday when i had my last smoke in my 20 pack went cold turkey, killer for the first week or so but haven't looked back best decision i have ever made keep it up well worth it. keep off them

Break80

Hi.
Still going strong after 7 days. Had to drive for 6 hours today with my workmate smoking away next to me. It didn,t bother me too much even though I was dreading it last night. My fear is Will this get worse as I seem to be cruising along at the moment. OK the odd strong craving but nothing to send me over the edge. No mood swings or food bingeing so far. I am worried should things be harder at this stage?

jobeenfitz

I'm 5 days quit but not getting carried away. Even though the withdrawal symptoms are greater in the first days and weeks, it can be harder to stay quit as time goes by and enthusiasm decreases. After a few weeks/months you forget the reasons why we quit.

I am going to buy myself something this Friday as a prize for getting to over a week without the smoke. Then I will plan to do something bigger for little o'l me when I make it to a month. After that I will have to make a plan. Might plan a holiday, paid for by money saved from smoking.

I think rewarding is the way to go.

Mink

jobeenfitz wrote: »

I'm 5 days quit but not getting carried away. Even though the withdrawal symptoms are greater in the first days and weeks, it can be harder to stay quit as time goes by and enthusiasm decreases. After a few weeks/months you forget the reasons why we quit.

I am going to buy myself something this Friday as a prize for getting to over a week without the smoke. Then I will plan to do something bigger for little o'l me when I make it to a month. After that I will have to make a plan. Might plan a holiday, paid for by money saved from smoking.

I think rewarding is the way to go.

I think this is a great idea, will do this myself. Husband and I are 7 days off them and I'm already starting to get worried that the novelty will wear off and we'll get complacent and think "ah sure just one won't hurt" even though it's repeated over and over not to even give in to one as the nicotine gets back in your system.

Salt001

Myself and the Hubby off them since March 2013. Didn't even have one over Christmas and I was totally sure I would.
I even warned himself that I was very close to cracking but I stuck it out and I am so proud of myself.
Its such a totally b**locks of a thing , sometimes its a complete struggle but other times I can go weeks and weeks without even thinking of smoking.
I was a fairly heavy smoker and loved smoking but towards the end there I totally felt that the cigs were controlling me not the other way around if that makes any sense???.
I'm so glad to be off them , I just wish that I had never been on them in the first place.

Snatchy

jobeenfitz wrote: »

Could help, they say when you quit you miss the habit of holding that stick in your hand. You could make millions out of this solution.

What advice would you give to women who ain't born with an automatic substitute?

3 weeks off them now - how is everyone else doing and feeling about it?

stampydmonkey

Off them the same length. Had a wobble on Friday when had savage cravings but GF put me straight in no uncertain terms. Have drank too and not wanted them but big test will be heading out with the lads. Been flat out exercising and seriously noticing the difference. Hope to God I can keep it up

jobeenfitz

stampydmonkey wrote: »

Off them the same length. Had a wobble on Friday when had savage cravings but GF put me straight in no uncertain terms. Have drank too and not wanted them but big test will be heading out with the lads. Been flat out exercising and seriously noticing the difference. Hope to God I can keep it up

Same as this without the serious exercise, unless walking on beach is serious exercise.

Have had a few bottles of beer since giving up but not went out to pub yet, that will be my big test. will try to leave that test for as long as possible.

Have been spending the spare cash on myself as reward.

linda101

Anyone used wicked e cigs any good ??

abolia

my mom gave up 6 years ago, will willpower, terrible to be around she had mood swings only lasted few months she is happy now that she did give up. thankfully i never smoked hate the smell, you can do it!!

CL1970

I would suggest the following book I read 3 years ago and was very helpful "The Easyway to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr

spitfireIRL

Haven't smoked since I originally posted, 61 days today

stampydmonkey

Well done spitfireIRL. That's brilliant!

Have had 2 setbacks since new years. Once abroad on holidays and then last weekend had 3 or 4 on a night out. Really annoyed. Was first time out with a group, did grand for hours, then took a notion and crumbled :mad:

Have been avoiding nights out tbh but really need to address it in these situations. Very determined to sort it out. 4 days and counting...next time I post it will be 40 days and counting without the c**ting smokes!

Snatchy

Haven't smoked since 30 December 2013 - very happy with myself. Hardly think about them at all now.

What really helped was the non-drinkng and non-going out aspect to January.

Stampydmonkey I suggest you don't go out on boozy nights for a while - makes it so much easier to quit.

Paddy Cow

spitfireIRL wrote: »

I've been distracting myself with exercise, cycling, weights etc.. But you have it worse than me, I always smoked like a chimney while drinking but I've been on the sauce loads the last few days and it hasn't been bothering me too badly, I don't know how long this will last though...

I wish I could be like that. I have quit loads of times and my longest stretch is six months. My downfall is always drink. The first drink is fine. Second not so bad. But once I have the third or fourth drink, all I crave is a cigarette. After my six month stretch I though I was cured for good, but a night out drinking made me think I could have just one.....which turned into two.........and next thing I was back on them.

I think that I am going to have to give up drink if I want to give up smoking. The two are just too intertwined with me. It's like I have a scumbag brain that is trolling me. On the one hand I know that smoking is bad, so normally I don't do it but once I've started drinking, it's like there is a devil in my brain, pulling all the strings saying "Go on, have one, it won't do you any harm and will make you feel soooo good". So either I spend the whole night wrestling with my scumbag brain and the addiction wins or I don't drink and it's not a problem.

Honestly, I don't get it. As a rational human being, I know that smoking causes a lot of illnesses, costs a lot of money (for a completely stupid habit as you are literally smoking your money with nothing to show for it) and smells disgusting. With no drink involved, if I am around smokers, it is the most repulsive smell ever and I don't want to be around them. After a few drinks, the smell of cigarettes is both repugnant and alluring and I have an overwhelming urge to have one.

I'm no spring chicken anymore, so giving up drinking isn't that big of a loss to me but it does fascinate me the link between smoking and drinking.

happyvape

quit today,, not let it for tomorrow,

spitfireIRL

Paddy Cow wrote: »

I wish I could be like that. I have quit loads of times and my longest stretch is six months. My downfall is always drink. The first drink is fine. Second not so bad. But once I have the third or fourth drink, all I crave is a cigarette. After my six month stretch I though I was cured for good, but a night out drinking made me think I could have just one.....which turned into two.........and next thing I was back on them.

I think that I am going to have to give up drink if I want to give up smoking. The two are just too intertwined with me. It's like I have a scumbag brain that is trolling me. On the one hand I know that smoking is bad, so normally I don't do it but once I've started drinking, it's like there is a devil in my brain, pulling all the strings saying "Go on, have one, it won't do you any harm and will make you feel soooo good". So either I spend the whole night wrestling with my scumbag brain and the addiction wins or I don't drink and it's not a problem.

Honestly, I don't get it. As a rational human being, I know that smoking causes a lot of illnesses, costs a lot of money (for a completely stupid habit as you are literally smoking your money with nothing to show for it) and smells disgusting. With no drink involved, if I am around smokers, it is the most repulsive smell ever and I don't want to be around them. After a few drinks, the smell of cigarettes is both repugnant and alluring and I have an overwhelming urge to have one.

I'm no spring chicken anymore, so giving up drinking isn't that big of a loss to me but it does fascinate me the link between smoking and drinking.

I gotta say, i'm having no trouble not smoking normally.. but the cravings ARE insane when i'm in the pub. ALL of my friends smoke so we're usually in the smoking area.. I don't really know what to tell you, there's no secret to it, you just gotta fight through it! I was mad for one at a few stages last night but it does pass...

spitfireIRL

Just over eight months.. hiyyyo..

jobeenfitz

spitfireIRL wrote: »

Just over eight months.. hiyyyo..

I'm with ya there SpitfireIrl. The unbelievable thing for me is that I went on a few drinking benders with my friends, most of who smoke and I'm still a non smoker. I always believed it was impossible to get drunk and not smoke, now I know it is possible.

I gave up smoking years ago for two years but went back on them without any particular reason so will have to look out for this again. I do believe I will never smoke again even though no-one knows for sure.

Tilly

I'm 16 days off them and they only thing getting me through it is saving €200 a month. That's what i keep telling myself and it's working. I'm getting less cravings and have been out a few nights and smoking areas havent bothered me.

GeorgeSlate

Smoking tobacco is both physical addiction and psychological habit. While there are smokers who are planning to quit smoking but they need a start to go ahead for this plan. For this one must have to follow a few steps to quit smoking.
You have to quit smoking
Tell to friends and family members that you are planning to quit smoking.
Make a commitment, take self decision that you will quit smoking.
Keep track when you smoke, try to decrease your the number of cigarette you are smoking per day.
Adopt some good habits and healthy tips, make yourself busy in doing works, remove cigarettes and other tobacco products from your home.
Try to talk to your doctor about getting help to quit.