Support for those quitting smoking

Pal · 18-09-2006 8:48am

It's Monday morning. how you doing Squire ?

squire1 · 18-09-2006 9:23am

Hay Pal, I was wondering if you were still around. You still off the weed?

Yep, I'm glad to say I made it through the wall and am now clean. It feels great to say that I am a non smoker.

The withdrawl symptoms have nearly fully receeded now. I am starting to think about other things than ciggies. The weekend was difficult with Saturday being particularly hard having a few early evening beers out in the garden sunshine.

I have been sleeping really well since I gave up which is strange as the last time I went through about one month of very bad insomnia. I would definately reccommend cold turkey over the patches for this reason but basically whatever works for you is best.

I've already noticed my sense of taste and smell have improved. (I must wash the dog;) ) I have not started coughing yet so I'm wondering when that might start. I was out for my usual run last night and noticed a big improvement in my breathing. Sweated very hevily for some reason, maybe my body is getting rid of the poisons (sorry for being graphic:p )

The next stage for me now is to break the mental habbit. This will take a bit longer (forever really) but the saying "you're only a puff away from 20 a day" and the fact that I failed at this the last time will help.

I'll keep in touch from time to time but I feel the worst is over. The long hard slog starts now.:D

Best of luck to all those starting.

Pal · 18-09-2006 2:40pm

squire1 wrote:

Hay Pal, I was wondering if you were still around. You still off the weed?

Still here. Still off too. 9 happy weeks later.

Well done to you Squire. I'd suggest to take it easy now for the next few days. Don't get compacent and think you can have a quick one and fall back into the trap. Just relax and keep your guard up.

One of nicotine addiction's clever subtleties is to for people to stay clear for a few days and get a cocky 'I can take it or leave it attitude'.
You can't.
But the good news is you're on the home straight big time.
Your hard work is done.
Take a bow and hold on to what you got now.

squire1 · 21-09-2006 9:39am

It’s been a week now since I became a non smoker. The physical addition seems to be completely gone now but the mental addiction is still there. I keep finding myself in situations where instinctively I reach for my cigarretts before realising I don’t have any.

It’s both a good and a bad feeling. Good because I realise that I can do without them but bad too because I miss smoking a bit also. I miss the instant hit you get, I miss the social aspect of it but most of all I miss the five minute break you take to go outside, chill out and have a smoke.

I realise that these feelings are just part of the addiction and each time I overcome them I am closer to being clean but at the same time it’s like loosing a close friend. I had being smoking 20 a day for nearly 20 years so smoking was as much, if not more, a part of my life than any of the people I know including my wife and kids.

I’ve developed a bit of a sweet tooth since I gave up and have being doing some reading up on it. Apparently this happens because of the effect that smoking has on your blood sugar levels. Something to do with the oxygen in the blood and the ability of your body to take a sugar hit from the blood when required. Apparently smokers loose this automatic control of blood sugar levels and it has to be retrained. So when I feel like eating something sweet it is because my body has forgotten how to take stored up sugar from my body. The problem with this is that eating a chocolate bar takes 20 to 30 mins to effect the blood sugar levels and because a smokers body is used to the instant hit that a ciggy gives then they continue to eat more and more chocolate until the blood sugar begins to rise. This is how reformed smokers put on weight. The trick is to just eat something sweet and wait the 20 or 30 mins for it to take effect and not stuff your face. I bought a packet of boiled sweets and they seem to be doing the trick.

So anyway, onwards and upwards, I’m still as determined as ever to stay of the cancer sticks. I picked up a friend from the airport last night and he handed me 200 Marlboro Lights. It felt great to say “Sorry, I’ve quit. Fancy a boiled sweet?” In fact, I think I’ll make that my new motto.:D

curehead · 29-09-2006 1:11pm

i quit about 4 months ago and already feel like a non smoker i cant remember the date. i like so many in here tried unsucessfully many times over the years , but the key this time was what someone told me , he said it was a mind trick you had to convince your mind that you will have a cigarette but not today and continue to do this so when your body craves cigarettes you say i will give you one tomorrow ok but not today and keep doing this until the craving subside after a few days 6-7 . Worked for me :-)

Blub2k4 · 04-10-2006 8:52am

I was in the UK at the weekend at a wedding and out in the pub a bit. My voice is still sore from the passive smoking, I was also coughing up grey crap as if I was a smoker still sunday and monday morning. All I can say is that I am so glad that I don't smoke anymore and while I disagree with the smoking ban on a few levels I am definitely happy that I don't have to inhale other peoples smoke on the very few occasions when I do find myself in a pub these days.

I'll be off them three years on the 26th of January 2007.

circuit · 20-10-2006 11:47am

Only gave up smoking cos I was sick and couldnt smoke. But luckily I havent smoked since

JackieChan · 07-11-2006 1:51pm

I remember in Spring of 99 I got a dodgy Chinese that put me off smoking. Afterwards I used to smoke a couple of ciggs when out and 18 months later I started smoking every day again. So if your gonna quit it has to be 100%. No kidding yourself about only having a smoke when your out.
In Sept 2003 I was ill for a few days and didn't smoke much so I decided that I would attempt to stop.
I found that the physical cravings weren't too bad although I had a lot of trigger events to over come, eg when driving,on coffee breaks. Smoking ban certainly made it easier.Over time the effects wear off. I'd say after 3 months I knew that I would not go back and I have never had even a pull from a ciggy since.
Its the best decision any smoker can make. You get back your life, money and you don't stink of ciggys. I didn't realise how much they stunk a person until I stopped.
Oh and I had smoked for 17 years(12 when I started!!).Both parents smoked as to all four of my sliblings. I would hate my kids to become smokers, addicted like I was for years.
Best of Luck to all that are attempting to give up.

Beach Head · 27-11-2006 9:56pm

JackieChan wrote:

So if your gonna quit it has to be 100%. No kidding yourself about only having a smoke when your out.

Dead right. 32 years old and smoking since I was 15. On about 10 a day now, the longest I ever managed to stay off them was 3 months, even then, having the odd one here and there, that is always my downfall.

I have two kids under 3 and want to be around when they grow up. Just got myself checked out by the doc and joined a gym. Bit of a mistake really. Doc says everything is perfect (Including lung capacity) and I wanted him to say "quit the fags or youre dead!"

Anyway, trying to quit all the time now, its just that I like to smoke too much. There is no logical reason to continue smoking but I cannot stop, I use every excuse under the sun and keep putting off my quit day "I will stop next week" I am off them since Saturday night and have no problem in work going without, its when I am at home I have a problem not going out to the patio, looking at the sky and taking a drag. Ah well, this has been sort of therapeutic. Best of look everyone.

Gordon · 08-12-2006 5:01pm

Moved to the new Giving up smoking forum.

Archeron · 08-12-2006 5:28pm

Hi all,
Great to see this forum up and running!
I thought it might be a good idea as a post to see what has helped other people give up smoking already, as it might be a good indicator to other folk who wish to kick the habit too, and who want to see what methods out there have a good number of fans!

To kick it off, I'm off them a year, and good old hypnosis got me to this place. Woohoo!
What about anyone else? Good, bad or indifferent experiences?

09-12-2006 1:21am

I'm off smokes three years this new years day.

What made me give them up was the death feeling at parties ,the morning after while waiting for a taxi.
Life is short ,don't make it shorter.

DonkeyStyle \o/ · 09-12-2006 11:56pm

Well I haven't quit successfully so I won't vote, but two people I know quit using patches, two other people found hypnosis worked perfectly, and the other person quit with the cold-turkey/will-power method.

I've tried and failed a few different ways, I guess it's different for everyone.

spurious · 10-12-2006 12:01am

I stopped in December 1999 after I realised I was seriously considering going out in the lashing rain at 2.30am to walk a couple of miles to the nearest 24 hour shop for something that was killing me, making me stink, making me wheeze and costing me money.

I haven't smoked one since.

7y 1d 17:01 smoke-free
127,948 cigs not smoked
£38,384.40 saved
1y 2m 2w 5d 06:20 life saved

Wishbone Ash · 10-12-2006 12:03am

I'm off them for over 9 years now (30th august 1997 - the day before Princess Diana was killed). It's great. 60 Major a day for years. I still miss them but I could not have done it without Nicorette chewing gum

. I was addicted to the stuff (i.e. the Nicorette) for six years and still buy an odd packet.

Ardent · 10-12-2006 8:50pm

That poll is incomplete without an "Allen Carr" option. His Easy Way To Stop Smoking got me off fags twice now. I voted "Other".

Shrimp · 11-12-2006 12:57am

Ardent wrote:

That poll is incomplete without an "Allen Carr" option. His Easy Way To Stop Smoking got me off fags twice now. I voted "Other".

so it really only got u off them once.

Cake Fiend · 11-12-2006 12:59am

Off them almost 4 years now, from 20 Marlboro red a day. I cut down gradually, first to 20 B&H a day (hey, I said gradually...), then down in number to 15 or so, then Camel Lights, gradually down to 10, then to Silk Cut blue, then down to 6 or 7 a day, then dumped them for good on December 30th 2002 at 11:58 or so p.m.

I have the odd drag now and again when I've had a few pints, but very rarely a full cigarette. The daily addiction part is beaten (although I gave myself a couple of years off them before I even took a drag).

racso1975 · 11-12-2006 11:41am

Off them since april wohoo and was a bit of allen carr and a bit of me!!!! Got the book but just went to the last chapter and read that as everybody kept going on about this last chapter and here i am cig free for the longest time.

Frank Grimes · 11-12-2006 11:50am

I'll be off them 3 years on the 27th of this month. I used patches and a hell of lot of will power

The hardest part of quitting for me was simply getting out of the habit of smoking. I was 24 when I quit and I'd been smoking for about 9 years so it was well part of my daily routine at that stage.

dak · 11-12-2006 11:58am

I'm off them nearly 7 years . Decided to quit when buying 40 a day - used a drug called Zyban ( Not sure if its on the market anymore ,. You had to get it by prescription. Worked a dream- stops you having craving without a nicotene substitute. 9 wk treatment.

Would have spent 30K on cigs if I hadn't stopped!!:)

Kolodny · 11-12-2006 12:49pm

I quit at the beginning of February this year (over the last couple of years I went from 20 a day to having the odd few during the week in the evening only, then 'binge smoking' at the weekend when having a few drinks) and I used Nicorette gum initially. I didn't stick to the proper programme and switched to regular chewing gum after about a month because I couldn't stand the taste! I also drank a lot of bottled water (from the bottles with the 'sports caps', I think there was something psychological about the shape of it). Both definitely helped stave off the cravings. And although I rarely get cravings these days, after a few drinks you will probably find me chewing furiously on a piece of Wrigley's extra - in fact I can get quite panicky if I run out of gum!

Some of my friends laughed at me when I came back from Spain in the summer with bag full of chewing gum (they have all the lovely fruity Orbit flavours over there that we don't get here; watermelon, cherry etc) but I explained that it was my equivalent of bringing back duty free smokes

Very pleased with myself for quitting and not even tempted to start again as the pros are just too good; lung capacity much better, skin has improved, sense of taste is sharper, I don't stink like an ashtray anymore and hopefully I've added a couple of years to my life.

rubadub · 11-12-2006 3:46pm

"other"- nicotine tablets. The patches and gum would have been useless to me. I only smoked while drinking so they would have got me more addicted than ever! the gum is far to slow to take effect so it may have helped but the pills are almost instant, you stick them under your tounge and they enter the bloodstream very quickly. I only needed to take about 5 pills ever and was off them no problem. For about a year afterwards I would have one in my wallet. I remember the last craving I had, just about to give in and took a pill, craving gone instantly so I spat it out. Never smoked since.

I think they should be subsidised, or the tobacco companies should be forced to provide them free somehow.

subway · 11-12-2006 3:47pm

just stopped one day.
didnt like them anymore.

silvo · 11-12-2006 9:25pm

'other' again - Alan Carr - would really recommend it

sudzs · 12-12-2006 11:14am

silvo wrote:

'other' again - Alan Carr - would really recommend it

Me too! It should be an option in the poll, I voted other.

Off them over 3 years now and never have so much as a twinge for one now!

gandalf · 12-12-2006 7:32pm

Alan Carr has now been added as an option.

Backspace · 12-12-2006 9:38pm

Off them 36 hours ish.... since Monday morning when I decided to quit

I was off them before, well over a year. Back on them about a year or so. Simply can't afford to do it any more. First it was the smoking ban now the Bloody tax man. Smokers, were a dieing breed!

Give them up the last time by will power, cold turkey what ever you want to call it. For some reasons the worst day was 3 days in, then 3 weeks and finally 3 months. don't really know whay that was.

Terry · 15-12-2006 4:44pm

and stickied.

fuct · 16-12-2006 4:57am

'Giving Up Smoking' forum and a chuck norris forum, bandwidth to burn lads...

..on topic, dont give up its ace.

Marksie · 16-12-2006 12:16pm

Off them 5 days.. having to cut down on coffee too as it is sharpening teh pangs.. but am still on the lidle chewing gum.
What finally forced my hadn
two or three main reasons
1) the budget... he didn't put them up enough. It was the realistation that they are putting them up by increments not to get people to quit, as it isnt in their vested interests to do so, but to bolster the coffers. Given i cant stand FF anyways why prop em up LOL. (convoluted thinking)
2) i was going into Plaois shopping centre and there was his woman smoking, but she was heavily pregnant. For some reason that was the final straw.
3) i took a "white" shirt out of my wardrobe and it was yellow..i thought..is that what i am coating my lungs with????

I am going cold turky but i am also using meditation to help me to sleep. Put cold turkey in the poll

Backtoblack · 16-12-2006 12:27pm

I'm off them since june 05.. I used to smoke 20 plus a day, I would wake in the middle of the night, smoke a cigarette and go back to sleep. Crazy.
I tried a number of times to give up, I went to an Alan Carr seminar, didnt' work (but his 'thinking' is definitely helpful). In the end I used Nicorette lozenges - I found them really helpful in that they last a long time in your mouth so you tend not to think about having a cig as much.
Best best best best thing I ever did giving them up - if anyone's thinking about quitting - go for it - (you're only giving your money and your health to the CANCER-STICK companys!)

Recently I've been having the odd craving, but basically i will never ever even reach for one because I know if I had one, I'd be back on 20 a day.
f that!

Interestingly someone else had calculated how much they have saved.. and i'm gonna quickly get a calculater - €3285 approx
And I can safely say that I didn't 'just spend it anyway'!!
wohoooo!

Asok · 16-12-2006 12:35pm

I'm off them 3 weeks on tuesday. Simply got tired of smoking. Using nicorette patches at the moment which are working nicely.

RFP · 16-12-2006 7:58pm

Found the Allen Carr book very helpful. I was very sceptical about using a "self help" book but 4 years later I still never crave a cigarette so I guess his argument worked for me.

Best of luck to you all.

Note. I smoked for approx. 12 yrs and was smoking 40/day for the last few years..

Terry · 16-12-2006 10:08pm

congratulations. you are the first person to be banned from this forum.

Mr. Skeffington · 17-12-2006 1:06am

Allan Carr did it for me, smoked between 20 - 30 a day and it started to mess me up, read the book and it did the trick, tried all the others ways before the book but nothing worked.

I do think that you also have to have to really really want to give up. When I was reading the book I stopped reading for a couple of months, then realised I was really ready to give up, picked up the book again, read the last of it and it was like magic.

Backtoblack · 18-12-2006 12:42am

Asok wrote:

I'm off them 3 weeks on tuesday. Simply got tired of smoking. Using nicorette patches at the moment which are working nicely.

YAY! Keep up the good work, it gets easier every week and then (for me anyway) after 6 weeks I was really really happy I'd finally quit!

merritt · 19-12-2006 1:54am

So many interesting stories.

I stopped smoking, what, 5 years ago? I just became disgusted with myself and it's like a little switch flipped in my head. Struggled the first couple of times in the pub (ah, smoking ban - god bless ya!), but survived.

At this stage, I can't even imagine myself having been a smoker. I've gone from smoking 15 to 20 a day (and shítloads at the weekend), being pasty and lethargic to running up to 20km a week, resting heartrate less than 70 and better skin than I had ten years ago (I'm 33).

Terry · 19-12-2006 10:15am

fair play to all of you.
you are all much stronger than me. i'll just keep trying though.

smallpaws · 19-12-2006 10:35pm

I quit in '93, after I had a very vivid nightmare about my lungs literally speaking to me and saying that if I quit now, they could fix the damage, but if I didn't, they wouldn't be able to. After that, I got on the patch for a brief couple weeks and made a point of preparing myself for going to places where I used to smoke, amd having alternative behaviors at the ready--a stick of gum, a pen to doodle with, etc.. I hated the patch, personally. It was by prescription then in the US, and the thing would fall off or come halfway off at the first opportunity and drive me mental. I just bit the bullet and went cold turkey after that couple weeks and reminded myself that the chemical addiction would clear itself out of my system after about 3 days and the rest after that was psychological dependence. I used to get horribly ticked off when I was quitting, I kept noticing all the other people who were smoking, and it seemed like there were armies of happy smokers! Arrgh! I was insanely jealous. But quitting got easier as time went on; also having people I knew who still smoked looking at me in awe and wonder didn't hurt, either.:D
After a while, I noticed that my breathing was better and that I could run and work out without coughing (big plus).

custardcreams · 20-12-2006 9:57pm

patches for 8 days the step 2 patches as i smoked 9 a day. Then cold turkey for 3 days + mantra + replacement behaviour with silvermints. My dad beat a craving using silvermints. Past me the tradition. Didnt go out for a while and had one of my mates blow smoke in my face in a car after a few weeks. He was being a c-nt but it was an acid test. Anyway clean since and cannot stand the smell of it or dublin bus now ive got my smell back but on the way to being able to afford a car...sheesh not another one. Maybe ill just get a fancy bicycle as my scooter is too dangerous to drive around in this fair city of nutters.

romperstomper · 20-12-2006 10:08pm

smoked for 7 years until three years ago. had read the allen carr book a few times and although i agreed with what was said it didnt keep me off them. finally went to an allen carr seminar 3 years ago and have touched one since.

whatever method you try, if it doesn't work keep at it. worth it in the end

Supercell · 20-12-2006 10:20pm

I quit smoking many times, was easy. Then I started again and again and again..

Then a colleague in work gave me the Allen Carr "Easyway" book and that was it. After about 18 years hard smoking it was over on new years eve 2003

Not going to bullshít, it was one of the hardest things I ever did , and was about two years after before I didn't think about having a fag daily.

Thankfully now that's passed and I know that I'm probably one smoke away from the addiction again, but no way on earth is going to make that happen. These days I just view them as ugly smelly things that mad people inhale in the wind and rain and frost and fog..and then stink like crap afterwards.

Btw, a quit smoking forum should really spell Allen Carr correctly (http://www.allencarrseasyway.com/). The man died of lung cancer, but he saved many many many people from going down the same route, hopefully myself included. He deserves to have his name spelt correctly here !

greine · 22-12-2006 11:27am

spurious wrote:

I stopped in December 1999 after I realised I was seriously considering going out in the lashing rain at 2.30am to walk a couple of miles to the nearest 24 hour shop for something that was killing me, making me stink, making me wheeze and costing me money.

I haven't smoked one since.

7y 1d 17:01 smoke-free
127,948 cigs not smoked
£38,384.40 saved
1y 2m 2w 5d 06:20 life saved

I'm giving them up 1st of jan 07, i know i should stop right now, but i got a box of duty free and feel i must smoke them, how stupid is that! Anyway, must try at least, i'm psyching myself up now and I told my daughter that I am going to go cold turkey so she is prepared for the crankiness, tried before, did 3 months last year, but had a smoke and next thing was buying pack of 20 in no time at all! I'll keep ye posted, this thread will help, I think. I'll focus on the cash i'll save!

LegacyUser · 22-12-2006 5:11pm

Just start a new life, WITHOUT cigarettes - forget about them. If you want to live without them, then forget them. Its as simple as that.

The cravings - if you want to give up cigarettes then just forget about cravings ... they are all in the head.

I am off them over a year now ...

Wishbone Ash · 22-12-2006 5:20pm

greine wrote:

I'm giving them up 1st of jan 07

A lot of pressure for New Year's Day. In my experience it may be better to wait a week.

bubby wrote:

just forget about cravings ... they are all in the head

That's really helpful :rolleyes:.

texanman · 22-12-2006 7:28pm

Went off them new years eve and havent gone back to them.Still miss them though.The thing is to make that decision and keep to it.
Easier said than done.
Merry xmas

LegacyUser · 22-12-2006 11:24pm

Wishbone Ash wrote:

A lot of pressure for New Year's Day. In my experience it may be better to wait a week.

That's really helpful :rolleyes:.

That was how I managed to do it and I found it useful .. so don't knock it - just becuase you haven't tried it yourself.

Fingers Mcginty · 27-12-2006 12:35am

I was freed of the cancer sticks after reading Alan Carr's book.
Don't know exactly what did it it but something got into the old subconcious and it worked! ...have to say i do get the odd pine every now and again but it doesn't last long. My dad still gets it and he's been off them over 20 years!:eek:

DublinWriter · 27-12-2006 8:04pm

Wishbone Ash wrote:

60 Major a day for years. I still miss them but I could not have done it without Nicorette chewing gum . I was addicted to the stuff (i.e. the Nicorette) for six years and still buy an odd packet.

60 Major a day? Holy Jesus dude!

My aunt only gave up the Nicroette gum after 2 years non-smoking. At least the gum is far less harmfull.

I gave up for a year thanks to NicoteenL patches. I found the Nicroette patches utterly useless.

Unfortunately the family dog throwing himself through a plate glass window to get at the postman and the ensuing mad dash in the car to the nearest vet's complete with mad Jack Russell in the back with spouting artery made me go back on them again.

I hope to give them up in the summer of next year.

Although when I say 'give up' I mean 'let go'. I read the Allen Carr book and it was the genius of his technique. The mind is wired so that if you deny yourself something, you'll automatically want it. The trick is letting go, not giving up.

Best of luck everyone.

Support for those quitting smoking

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