The Giving Up Smoking Thread!! Part 2

allthatmularky

Funkymonkey - I won't worry, it was one cigarette and look how it made you feel - don't think you'll be having another in a hurry.

Look at the positives - you know what you want - to stop smoking and you're determined to do it. Now its simply a case of getting there - maybe through Allen Carr or something else, folks always reckon that the biggest part of beating an addiction is recognising you have a problem in the first place - so you're most of the way there.

Hope it gets easier for you.

Lula-Hula

hi everyone,

I dont think I've posted on this thread before but am just popping in to say that if I remember rightly it's about a year since I quit :j

It is a really tough thing to do so NEVER feel bad about finding it hard. It becomes a habit that is ingrained in your lifestyle, habits & in my case my personality too :rolleyes:. I did put on weight, but it's come off again with a bit of effort. I was quite miserable for a while but a year on I can truly say that I am happy & proud of finally beating that nasty habit.

I confess that I have tried the odd one or two during the year, but they tasted so vile & made me gag & I now wonder why on earth people pretend they like it Yes, with a bit of effort I could become a smoker again if I wanted but frankly I like to be free . Life is for living, not choking on formaldehyde :eek: & all the other !!!!!! that goes into cigarettes

A year passes so quickly,

Listen to all the good advice that SueUU:A gives you; I am one of her success stories & as I always used to say :

You can do it, you can, you can, you can

funkymonkey

aww thanks guys. well im skimming through the allan carr book as we speak - im gonna throw that stupid packet of ten i bought and head to bed. and tomorrow im gonna start all fresh as a nonsmoker.

im not going to go out drinking until i feel comfortable to do so - even if im being pressured!

and im going to crack on with my degree tomorrow so that i feel like im doing something worthwhile.

sorry for failing sueUU but im gonna try again! and god loves a tryer!

Sue-UU

Hi there funkymonkey, no need whatsoever to say sorry to me, the only one you should be a bit like that to - is yourself! However, I think with your last post you've said it all, you need to keep off the drink for a while....and the last thing you need is ANYONE who is going to treat you in any sort of a mean manner because of quitting, or in finding it hard. When reading the post in which you were pouring out your feelings out (a great thing to do!) I could have popped up to that pub and swatted everyone of those blokes that were mean to you!! :mad: People like that make me utterly SICK!!! :mad:

Scotland has such a bad health problem and so many people die from smoking-related illnesses, and people who take the mickey (not what I first thinking:rolleyes:) out of those doing their level best to quit are such fools. Not YOU though! You know all the risks and aren't just ignoring them with the "it won't happen to me" attitude, you're someone who, with the love and support of your OH, is determined to quit smoking and get your life back. Keep away from those other fools FM and show them you CAN do it....and that you WILL!!! God loves a tryer indeed and he'll help you through all this, so will your OH so chat to him about those "mates" and assure him you need to quit and will. Plugging yourself into something like your degree will be great, it'll help you get rid of such an awful habit, and that's all it is, and you'll gain in education too! Go on FM, do a Lula-Hula on us and tell yourself that you too WILL beat this! Congratulations on turning it all around this evening, you've passed your first hurdle, now keep on the right track of a fantastic journey!!!!

Love, Sue x PS. How about putting aside all the money saved from smoking, and watch as it piles up? Anything that acts as an incentive for you - do it! Good luck FM, you CAN get there!

Sue-UU

Hiya Lula, it's so good to see you back! A year, already?!!!:eek: Excellent news, you did it and deserveall the pride you're feeling after such a brilliant achievement!!!:T "Feedum" was here a week or two ago saying it was a year for her too!!! It's so wonderful when you all come back to tell us of your successes, more than anything else it spurs others on to know that they too CAN do it and feel just as good as you do, in time. Thanks for all that you've put above Lula, it does folk good to see that it really is possible to get over the worst bit. Thanks Lula, you've been amazing! :j

Excellent news allthatmularky! :TYou're doing wonderfully and sound so chuffed with yourself, so you should be too! I know what you mean about not counting the days, though isn't it fantastic when you suddenly realise how far you've come!!! Keep it up, you're doing great!!

You too Chrissie, just about a month already! Do you happen to resemble a pastille yet...per chance?! :rolleyes: If it works, then that's the main thing.

Great advice there larmy, it really is!

Have a lovely Sunday everyone and enjoy all the pleasures of being smoke-free and enjoying all the fresh air you can muster, far better any day than coughing your lungs up! So many of you are getting SO close to that winning line, keep up that great work and stay the course of that sensational journey! :j :T

Sue x

sar050680

funkymonkey wrote: »

Am feeling so down

session went brilliantly - came out - went to the pub had two drinks and had a ciggie.

OH is still not smoking and still in the pub with mates.

came home all depressed. bought my lottery tickets online and bought three £1 online scratchcards and didnt win a penny LOL how ridiculous - i hate gambling! feel even worse now.

i just want to get in the bath and go to bed but ive promiced OH i will go and collect him when the pubs close and its pride weekend here in edinburgh so its a busy fun nightthat im missing out on coz im moping around because im an idiot and had a ciggie.

i really dont know what the answer is. when im sober i can do it but after two glasses of wine i would kill for a fag. i think im gonna stop drinking for a few weeks and see but i started notdrinking tonight and all steves mates were just mean to me (which is pathetic of me i know) about me not drinking. There is such an alcohol culture here in scotland and i hate it. they make me feel like a lepper for not drinking!

sorry im having a cry and a winge, i just feel so low.

FM, I imagine most people who try to kick the habit have done exactly what you've described above, I know I have many times and always felt worse after it. Hope its just a blip for you. Stick with it, Paul.

little_lily

Hi funkymonkey,

I quit nearly seven months ago using Allan Carr (book, not live sessions!). This followed a 'quit' of five months about six years ago, again using the book. That one failed due to the dreaded 'just one fag' after a long night at a party...but that's another story!

Whilst I totally 'got' the book and all the sentiments in it, neither quit was as easy as the late Mr Carr had led me to believe it would be! If he were here now, I would thank him from the bottom of my heart because I know that without his words I would never have been able to break free but I didn't enjoy the process of quitting, I found it bloody hard work if I'm honest and I certainly NEVER had the moment of enlightenment that I was promised!

The good news is that the book really, really helped me and whenever I felt like reaching for a ciggie (about 100 times a day in the early weeks!) I read and re-read and re-read highlighted chapters and passages and this kept me on the straight and narrow. I kept saying over and over and over in my head "to have a cigarette now would be like putting on a pair of shoes a size too small so that I can take them off in an hour and say 'oh that feels good!' "

Sometimes, no matter how many experts tell us that something is easy or pain-free, the reality is very different. I went into childbirth armed with some whale music and a tens machine, determined that it would be a stress-free, pain-free enlightening experience. I worked my way through gas and air, pethidine, epidural, forceps and caesarian. The experience was hideous but the end result was the same...!

I guess what I am trying to say is don't feel bad if you don't find it a walk in the park with Allan Carr - you are not a failure, the method can still work and I'm proof of that!

funkymonkey

thanks everyone for your kind words this morning! am feeling so much better - iwas just so cross with myself last night!

im back on the straight and narrow this morning!

not had any more ciggies since last nights fiasco and feel fine although maybe a little spaced out but thats just my body getting used to propper amounts of oxygen im sure!

its funny because all our "mates" that were out last night - none of them smoke and they hate smoking - the issue was drinking which makes me laugh! its really funny to me that they cant enjoy an evening out without alcohol and thats why they were taking the mickey out of me - not for not smoking but for not drinking! cant believe i fell for the peer pressure though because i knew an alcoholic beverage would lead to a fag.

as for the money im not sure what to do really! think i am going to put £5 a day into my online saver every day! infact im off to do it now!

geekinaseat

I used the nhs scheme at boots to quit, meeting someone every week really helped. It wasn't that I ws worried that I would be discovered by the carbon monoxide machine or anything it justs keeps you in the right frame of mind I think.

Additionally I made this site at the time to remind me how much I was spending http://www.moneysavingmotivator.com/smoking.html (no personal gain provided you don't click on the google ads or I have a excel version I can email to you if you prefer) I am about to bin it as it gets barely any visitors but you might be interested to see just how much you can save. I was a bit of an addict to it when I quit!

Just a few words of encouragement to all of those who are starting to quit now, there really is a light at the end of the tunnel, after a while you really stop wanting one and start to understand why non smokers always used to maon about the smell etc! keep with it, it's the best thing I've ever done and the one that I'm most proud of. After all beating addiction is no easy feat, be proud of yourself!

larmy16

Funkymonkey don't forget that nicotine is probably the biggest adversary that you will ever come across in your life. For every person who was able to "just give up" there are just as many who have "had to fight for their very life". I know I sound dramatic but that is how it was for me. I have fallen so many times. I have been in tears and prayed to God to remove this awful addiction.

There was always part of me that hoped it would just go away, but in the end I knew I had to put on my psychological armour and do it myself, for myself and by myself yet accepting the support such as on this thread as in a trouble shared is a trouble halved etc.

I have stopped counting the days which to me proves I am free. Yet, I can never be complacent. I have quit and failed so many times. Once I stopped 3 years!!!!!!!!
I have done 10 months, 3 months, and only smoked on Fridays for many years!
Even doing that, I still felt disgusted. The smell on my hands and that anxiety it produced was just awful.

In a way I suppose I am doing the 12 step programme but just with nicotine instead of alcohol. I strongly recommend giving up booze for as long as it takes. For me givng up alcohol opened up another world - free of what I believe to be a poison like tobacco (at least to my body).

Keep going and keep reporting here when you feel like lighting up. All those one ciggie episodes do is just prolong the agony of indecision and severely affect your self esteem.

As Allen Carr said, there are no positives to smoking but there are many positives to not smoking.

All the best. X