The Giving Up Smoking Thread!! Part 2

ameliarate

stroppy wrote: »

Thank you!:T
I feel a touch better now,I know my brain is playing tricks on me its just so tough trying to override it today......it keeps saying go on just have one....what are you going to do for the rest of your life if you dont smoke?How are you going to enjoy an evening with a glass of wine again.....?
I am ignoring it and know I would be so disappointed in myself if I had one now.
Have been to my friends house today and we always used to drink tea and chain smoke.....was really odd not smoking and bless her she didnt smoke the whole time I was there.
Anyway deep breaths and a big lunch coming up now.....:D

I am so glad I found this thread at the right time for me. I have decided to bring stopping forward from Monday to Saturday. :eek: .

THese thoughts are exactly the same thoughts I am having and I haven't actually stopped yet!.

I think it is wonderful the support being given here, particularly Sue-UU, Littlelittly and TismE, and to Adamsmum - hang on in there you boy is more than worth your effort and the crowd on here are fab!
:T :T :j

graemecarter

I have not had a ciggie for 2 months and 5 days

It is not easier to start with but it can be done.

Cravings now are few and far between, and they pass quickly

[Deleted User]

Hi all

I am busy reading through this thread, because I would love to be a non-smoker, but I'll admit, I get agitated and scared when I think of giving up. I don't like the sound of patches or Champix but wondered if any of you had heard of Bio-Reduction Therapy?

I am arming myself with lots of information at the moment and when the time is right, I will go for it.

Well done all of you :beer: .

ameliarate

goochie wrote: »

Hi all

I am busy reading through this thread, because I would love to be a non-smoker, but I'll admit, I get agitated and scared when I think of giving up. I don't like the sound of patches or Champix but wondered if any of you had heard of Bio-Reduction Therapy?

I am arming myself with lots of information at the moment and when the time is right, I will go for it.

Well done all of you :beer: .

The fact that you are researching, someone said to me, is a good sign. I too always became agitated and scared thinking about giving up, I think it's because you can't imagine what you would do if you don't smoke and the answer is exactly what you do now but without the cigarette! (and the smell and the cost etc etc etc)

Go for it I am going to and good luck.

sparrer

Dear Sue, I was so sad to hear about your SIL. No words anybody can say will ease the pain, only time will help you all come to terms with that, but there will be no more struggling, pain or panic for her any more. God bless her, and the family.

Thank you for your kind thoughts, my DD isn't 100% just now but like me she thinks positive and says the lupus has to live with her, not the other way around. I'm very proud of her, as you can imagine.

Thank you for this forum, you're helping so many who do or will soon really appreciate the amazing support you give.

Take care
Sparrer

little_lily

stroppy wrote: »

go on just have one....what are you going to do for the rest of your life if you dont smoke?How are you going to enjoy an evening with a glass of wine again.....?

Stroppy and Ameliorate - reading your posts is like reading my own posts from a few weeks ago! THOSE WERE MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!

As graemecarter says below, as you go on the cravings become fewer and fewer. So instead of thinking about smoking for 59 minutes of each hour as I did in the early days of my quit, I now think about it for less than five minutes a day!

Honestly, honestly, honestly - from someone who was EXACTLY where you are now (as Sue-U will tell you as she bore the brunt of my rather emotional and hysterical rants!!!) stick with it and before you know it you'll be over the worst.

And no matter how bad your cravings are, they won't kill you. Returning to smoking almost certainly will. Come on guys, you SO can do it!!!

stroppy

Phew thanks Little lily......to be honest Im getting pretty bored of thinking about them from the minute I get up to the minute I go to bed,their like an obsession :rotfl:
Feeling a lot better this afternoon and spurred on by the fact im hopefully going to feel great soon.......:D
Is the worst over yet?!please tell me it is.....as long as i know its gona get better soon im ok!
Stroppy xx

whathavewedone

Hi Stroppy

Sorry you're having such a hard time of it. Are you on NRT at all? I ask because I have quit before without NRT (Alan Carr) and I found it absolute hell for 2 weeks. I did stick with it (started again after 6 months, it was my first quit attempt 12 years ago :mad:) but I felt absolutely horrendous and when you have children to look after it's much harder.

I'm on patches and not having any horrible withdrawal symptoms, it's mainly just getting used to not smoking. Even when I was pregnant I used patches for a couple of weeks - you don't have to do the whole 3 month thing, you can go straight to medium strength 16 hour patches and then one week on the 5mg ones then cold turkey. I plan to use patches for 4-6 weeks, depending on how I feel. I do feel a bit lousy sometimes, as though I'm detoxing but nowhere near as bad as I felt when I went cold turkey. Some people suffer more than others I think. This is where me and Alan Carr disagreed I'm afraid, it isn't easy to just stop no matter how determined you are and it feels worse than a cold. I had headaches, constipation, felt dizzy, couldn't sleep, kept bursting into tears etc etc.

I think Alan Carr is a great read and some things that he said have stuck with me but I do disagree with him that you have to quit without the aid of substitutes.

Hope this helps - I know when I quit first time round and my mum suggested NRT I went mad thinking I would be feeding the "nicotine monster". In hindsight it would have made life easier and I wouldn't have dreaded quitting so much second time round (took me 2 more years to even attempt it!)

little_lily

Hi Stroppy,

According to the science, the physical withdrawal takes place in the first two or three days of quitting smoking. By day three, all nicotine has left your system and so the only cravings you have to deal with after that are the mental ones.

Personally, I found the first few days/weeks surprisingly easy yet hit a brick wall at about week 8. All the thoughts you have described today hit me then and boy, did I struggle for a few days!

So, with a bit of luck you're getting the worst out of the way now. Everyone's journey is very different and of course you will continue to miss the routine and habit of cigarettes for a while yet but I promise you, hand on heart, that it does get easier and easier. You think of smoking less and less and when it does pop into my mind now, I can dismiss it in an instant.

Keep strong and keep ranting if you need to - we're all here for you. The good people on this thread have heard it all before - last time it was from me!!!:rotfl:

And, at the risk of repeating myself, cravings don't hurt. Dying of lung cancer does.

whathavewedone

Little Lily, I read that it's precisely because the nicotine leaves your system after 3 days that that is when withdrawal symptoms peak. For me when I quit cold turkey the worst part was Day 3-Day 14.

I really don't think what I felt was pschological as I was very motivated after reading Alan Carr.

Horses for courses and all that, I just feel that there is nothing wrong with NRT. As I say I used it for a short time at the start of both of my pregnancies and giving up was an awful lot less painful. I'm feeling pretty good now too and I'm only on Day 5.

Stroppy seems to be having a really rough time of it and I just don't think that you have to suffer that much to quit. If you remove (or minimise) the withdrawal symptoms then all you have to worry about is removing assocations and breaking habits. Which is hard enough!