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[MSE Wendy]

This post is in relation to the Stop Smoking Article.

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[pumpa]

i'd like to discuss the NHS approach to helping people give up smoking. It all seems to be based on the physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, ie patches, chewing gums inhalers etc. I managed to give up for a week once, and the worst I had from the actual nicotine withdrawal was dizziness. It's the psychological aspects that are the worst- ie, smoking when depressed/anxious/bored. To a smoker, smoking is pretty much the same as breathing, it's not just a case of 'oh you can give up just whack a patch on'.
i have tried the patches, fake fags, zyban, inhalers, lozenges and chewing gums, none of them work. I feel that i'm made to feel guilty because i have this dirty habit, non smokers just don't understand at all. If it was a choice between smoking and eating, the money would go on fags because i just cannot get out of bed in the mornings if i know i don't have any. The thing they always say about youll have more money is rubbish too, if you work it out , 20 fags a day= a fiver, well personally i would probably spend double that on food, i'd have to do something. There is simply nothing to replace holding a fag, lighting up when nervous, it's second nature to a smoker.
i could stick on how many patches now it wouldnt do a thing, i'd still smoke with the damn things on. It;s all very well people complaining about smokers clogging up hospitals, saying they don't deserve o be treated etc, but where do the taxes for the nhs come from...cigarettes in the uk are one of the highest taxed products (just compare the price of fags here with abroad)
Why is it as well that people who have never smoke decide you are evidently idiotic and need to be told things like ''where's your willpower'' ''if you want to kill yourself that's up to you'' ''don't you care about other people?''
I don't care what anybody says. Shock tactics, guilt, lectures on willpower DO NOT WORK. The psychological effects of smoking need to be addressed far more than they are at present and the emphasis shifted from the physical cravings. Until I get help with that I know I can never give up, call it lack of willpower whatever you like but I simply cannot function without a cigarette (I started smoking 8 years ago whilst going through a terrible time btw, i was totally anti smoking before that and yes i do regret it now, I am totally dependent on the things because subconsciously I think, ''feel bad have a fag''.
I would like to know how other people on here have dealt with the psychological problems of smoking. What did you do while walking around if you couldn't smoke? at bus stops? in pubs? when anxious? half the time i don't even remember lighting them, I just notice i am smoking the thing it's like its subconscious! this is why it is so hard to give up, it's like saying to a non-smoker to give up thinking!

[ailuro2]

It's the best decision I ever made- without it my daughter would go to school smelling like a dirty ashtray.

It is a switch inside your head that needs to be switched OFF.

Yes, I used nictotine patches,
Yes, it was very very difficult to stop- I'd smoked since I was 12, came from a house where both parents smoked even though we had no money for holidays etc. I never realised how bad the smell was until I stopped.
Yes, I put on weight the first few weeks.
Yes we had the holiday of a lifetime with the money we saved-flying down into the Grand Canyon in a helicopter took my breath away more than smoking did, if that's possible
Yes, I do still look older than my real age because I smoked for so long, but not as old as my sister who continues to smoke.

No, I'd never ever smoke again- the thought makes me want to vomit now- there is nothing about it, not even when I'm stressed that could persuade me. I don't even miss our post coital ciggies anymore.

Start date sometime in 1982 aged 12
Stop date-November 18th 1999 aged almost 30

[TheWaltons]

I find that the patch works quite well for me, I can keep the patch on all day and not smoke in work - I can do this without a patch also - but when I get hom I feel the need for a smoke. Especially when sat on the computer.

It is a habit, I would say if you can find something else to do - like cleaning - or chewing gum, everytime you need a fag sit on an exercise bike. You do need to want to quit though.

My husband gave up a few weeks back and all he does now is eat snacks all night, but he's been under a load of stress also these past few weeks and still didn't light up! He can do it so easily. He was irritable, but now he's just irritating. He occasionally, smugly says, 'I'm a permanent non-smoker'. He brings free fags home from me from his job, which would be great if I could smoke them as we'd save money, but quitting fags is so much more than the money.

The smoking ban wont affect me, I never go to pubs and dont feel the need to light up when I've gone out for the day.

Good luck, you can do it, have you tried hypnotherapy?

[starkj]

I am coming up to 40 months smoke free. I quit using patches provided by the NHS on prescription, a massive saving.

I also found support from a dedicated web site. www.quitnet.com

Now there is more motivation. Do you to look a twerp standing outside a pub in the rain?

[noonesperfect]

Patches and steely determination did it for me (35-40 day a habit, smoked for 25 years). Gave up in 2000. The truth is, until you're stopping for yourself rather than because you know you should it just won't happen!

However, it's my OH I'm really impressed with. This is only an option if you've tried giving up before, but he's been using Champix thru his GP's nurse and it's worked for him. He's only three weeks into his course and says he has absolutely no cravings at all. Seeing his blood pressure and carbon monoxide readings drop is a good incentive for him.

It's a brand new treatment......if you're serious about quitting why not give it a try?

[Karrie]

I gave up 2 weeks and 3 days ago I used the patches for the first two weeks. I forgot to put the patch on on Saturday and didn't realise til Sunday!! Now it's Wednesday and I haven't had a need to put a patch on - no point now because the nicotine is out of my system. BUT I do get the odd craving, they only last about 20 seconds. I have started running everyday which makes me feel so much better than smoking did.

[pumpa]

But what do you do when you can't get the thoughts out of your head, or am i just odd? the first thing i do when i wake up literally still half asleep is get out of the bed and light a fag, i smoke every time i come out of a shop, i smoke when im bored (which is all the time) they are my (sad) life, i don't see how i can function without them. If i know i haven't got any fags i just won't do ANYTHING, it's not physically possible. I have nothing to replace them with. I drop my son to school in the morning, sit in the house all day doing nothing (all my friends moved away) that's all I do...people say get a hobby but nothing interests me, smoking feels like all i've got, i need something to replace it with. i'm not one of those people that can go to mother's meetings and stuff to pass the time, i spose i just feel depressed and miserable, if i didnt have fags i just don't think i'd bother getting up!

[pumpa]

that champix thing looks good but when i google it it says it hasn't been finalized for nhs prescription yet? there's no way I can afford private.

[elle45]

Pumpa, I so agree with you!! I find smoking is as natural as eating and I so want to give up!! But when I get my head in order to stop All I think about all day is smoking . Then I get thoroughly miserable and have a fag. Then I feel bad because I have failed!! Definitly a psychological thing.

[Karrie]

I was a heavy smoker. Used to have one as soon as I got up. I smoked whenever I could and didn't give a toss. BUT it was ruling my life. I decided that I didn't want a cigarette to dictate the way I lived. Plus my ds was giving me a hard time about smoking. The thought of life without cigarettes scared the pants off me. How was I going to function without a fag?

It is hard. I tried over the past few months but this time it's worked for me and I feel so good. My chest isn't tight, my throat isn't sore, I can breathe without wheezing.

In my opinion, you have to plan it for a while before you actually do it. I had to come to terms with what I was going to do and how I was going to deal with it.

Good luck to anyone planning to quit.

[pumpa]

Just read another site gong on about the 'burden' of smokers on the nhs. Let's get this in perspective. 89% of a packet of 20 fags is tax. The revenue created in one year to the government from smoking is around 7 billion (yes, billion!), the cost to the nhs from all us evil smokers is around 1.5 billion per year, so do-gooders take note and get your facts straight before judging.

which raises another question-are the government and the non-smokers who continually criticise going to be happy to make up the shortfall in taxes caused by all the people 'forced' to give up because of the ban?...

[emmaroids]

tbh it was the easiest thing i have ever done, no patches or anything, cold turkey ftw, anyone who says they cant do it has got the will power of a shrew.

[pumpa]

just because you found it easy doesn't mean everyone else will, and criticism doesn't exactly help. Good for you you gave up so easily but it's not the same in every case. like i said a few posts up I have tried zyban and all otc smoking cessation products and none helped. I can't just invent willpower from nowhere?

[queensway_boy]

Originally Posted by emmaroids

tbh it was the easiest thing i have ever done, no patches or anything, cold turkey ftw, anyone who says they cant do it has got the will power of a shrew.

Not the most tactful post i've seen,i gave up 7 years+ ago and it was hard

[Karrie]

Originally Posted by emmaroids

tbh it was the easiest thing i have ever done, no patches or anything, cold turkey ftw, anyone who says they cant do it has got the will power of a shrew.

We're all different. Some fine it easy, some don't. I happen to have no will power at all so I NEEDED the patches.

[TheWaltons]

Originally Posted by emmaroids

tbh it was the easiest thing i have ever done, no patches or anything, cold turkey ftw, anyone who says they cant do it has got the will power of a shrew.

I quit alcohol much easier than I can quit smoking.

Anyway, I have just taken my patch off my tummy because I reckon it's making me feel anxious - or is that the lack of fags?

[emmaroids]

surly if you wanna do something so badly then the will power will come naturally?
thats how i see it anyway.

[chopra]

I quit in 2000 with nicotine nasal spray but the trouble is NOW I am hooked on Nasal Spray. Any ideas as to how ro get out of the habit?? I use 2 bottles a month.

[TheWaltons]

Originally Posted by chopra

I quit in 2000 with nicotine nasal spray but the trouble is NOW I am hooked on Nasal Spray. Any ideas as to how ro get out of the habit?? I use 2 bottles a month.

Find another Nicotine Withdrawal replacement offering lower amounts of Nicotine (and costing less) and wean yourself down.

Perhaps if you told the Dr of your predicament, he would give you the pills on the NHS!