Thread: Giving up Smoking!

Any tips?

After too many years it really needs to happen now.
I know all the arguments about how much it is costing me, how much damage it is doing.......
Patches don't work - give me an upset tummy -, so I went for hypnotherapy last week, which wasn't at all how I expected it to be : thought I'ld come out not understanding which end to light, whereas it was more like CBT, re-inforcing my own ( not very strong) will-power.

Does anyone have any advice?

Vx

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Well I'm still a smoker but on occasions when I have stopped smoking it's been through 'willpower' (which I don't have a lot of)...I just try to have something to do with my hands when I feel a craving coming on (in the time it takes me to send a text, I've forgotten said craving), staying away from social situations (pub) for a little while until I feel I'm ready. I also once gave a more than half full pack of ciggies away after having one and deciding that I didn't like the taste of that particular one so I should just give up - I literally turned round, looked for a smoker and asked them if they wanted my cigs cos I didn't anymore - they were grateful which made me feel good and because I did it in front of my other half I felt I couldn't very well go and smoke or buy another pack of cigs as he would make fun of me and it seemed an awful waste of money to go and buy some after I'd given them away. I think things like that help, if you can actually SEE your money going (even if it's just by giving them to someone else) then for people like me (if I have money in my purse I'm loathed to spend it, if it's in my bank account it's virtual and does not exist) it makes it a lot harder to part with and yet easier to understand where all the money goes.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck, I have unfortunately hopped back on the smoking band wagon (usually because a month after I give up, I end up working in a pub, with lock-ins and smoking inside and get drawn back in), but I know at the moment I'm not ready to give up, when I am, I shall look at this thread with hopefully lots of peoples answers and do it! x

I've recently quit, and what's working for me is every time I think about wanting a cigarette I start thinking about that horrible smell, the nasty taste, the coughing and the general crap which is trickling down my throat and into my lungs with every intake of smoky breath. When I'm done visualising that (very graphically), I feel I don't actually want a cigarette and get on with doing something else.

Can't promise it will work for everyone, and only time will tell if it actually works permanantly for me, but seems to be ok so far.

Hey there and first of all, well done on passing the first hurdle which is WANTING to give up! I quit around 18 months ago, and I won't lie, it's extremely hard work and even now there's times when I really need a cig and I have to remind myself how far I've come.
First if all I think you have to have something to motivate you. My motivation was not wanting to still be a smoker when I turned 30 (I had a bit of a 'crisis' all round with that birthday looming!) so I had six months to pack it up. I had glided through life on junk food and cigarettes and alcohol and I will admit, drugs when younger, and I knew that it was time to start taking care of myself when I got heart palpitations one day after just climbing the stairs. I was thin as a rake but in no way healthy or fit! So I started the gym and eating better and this year I have really noticed the difference - you don't see results straightaway but it does happen!
Second of all, you do need to have something to channel that cig money into that you really want - something that no matter how hard you want a fag, you want this other thing more! Be it vintage couture, a cruise down the Nile... Have pics on your fridge, in the car, in your purse, next to your bed to remind you what you CAN do with that money instead.
Third, no matter what assistance you get, I'm afraid WILLPOWER is really all that will see you through. I have friends who have used medication such as Zaiban and other pills (which seem to be quite effective but not all GP's will prescribe them), some on patches and gum... but if they decide they are going to have a cig, nothing will stop them, not any drug! I actually just went cold turkey. I was sick as a dog for three weeks while my body forced out all the tar and junk in my lungs, I broke out in acne and my skin went flaky, I was irritable and moody and generally foul. But then it got a bit better. HANG IN THERE!
Finally - Support! New Leaf clinics and other groups are helpful, even if you go once - the NHS Quit Kit was marginally useful but really only for the 'health wheel' from which I could calculate how much I'd saved and what state of recovery my body was in. After just 24 hours of not smoking your body has already made a massive recovery - so it may as well carry on..!
When you get a craving, if you can wait 15mins it usually passes. In that time I would do a google search on some far flung exotic destination I could save for to remind myself that for every cig I had, I was taking a step away from getting there. Do something creative for a burly routine or even better, use your hands to embellish a bra or knickers for a costume! I also found having the contents of an ashtray tipped into a jar with a tot of alcohol was useful - just take the lid off and have a sniff - you really will not wanna light up then!
And tell yourself 'I've QUIT' - say it as if you have done it! Program your mind to believe it.
I also spent around 3 months not going out. That was the worst thing, but every time I had a drink, or was in a social situation, the urge to smoke was even worse. Until I could cope with that, it was easier to remove myself from the situation altogether. And if friends came to me, smoking was banned full stop. A lot of people supported me and would congratulate me and write smiley faces on my calendar or bring me a lollipop which was a great boost. And those who didn't, or would joke and offer me a cigarette, generally aren't my friends anymore!!

When people ask me if I smoke, I tell them I'm a non-smoking smoker and I'm even prouder of the fact that I quit without any help at all except for support from my family and friends. It was DAMN hard work but the first 28 days will be the hardest. Once you get past that it WILL get easier.
Anyways, I have rambled a little but hopefully you have some inspiration there to keep you ticking over. Get in touch if you want to chat more!

lots of love and best wishes xx

It's been almost two years I quit... just said myself "that specific day I'll quit". And I did. It's that simple... honestly. The trick is to set up a very specific day within two months or something like that, and become aware. Tell your friends, your family that this will be the day... and you won't go back.

I gave up in 1996 through getting a fright one day coming home from a job. I thought I was having a heart attach just as I lit up after the job...........It was eurythmia in the end but, was enough to bring me to my senses and stop smoking. I went onto patches that day, the 24 hour ones, I didn't take it of at night either, this helped no end, after a month of this I went on the small patches. Three months later I was off the patches and not smoking. It took night on a year for my taste buds to come back and the cough I developed from the muck in my lungs clearing. Then again, think of this, how much do you spend on ciggies a week????

Unfortunately stressful times knocked me right back on the cigs...i thought i was clear after 8years off through will power but 1shit thing after another that turns into a mountain followed by a drink and a moments stupidity and I'm back at the start...I'm as addicted to them as I am to feathers and sequins...one is bad for my lungs and the other bad for my credit card!!