A (non) smoker's tale

funkymonkey

as a nurse i can tell you COPD is a smokers disease. 95% of copd sufferers smoke or recently smoked.

there is no program to the book - you have to smoke whilst reading it really to be relaxed and taking it in.

i read it in one day (although it was my third attempt - i was to scared to finnish it the first two times because i knew it would make me quit) i started it in the morning and finnished it by 4pm then went to work in a smokey pub and told everyone i had quit a few days ago (i didnt want people to know i had only stopped 1hr earlier for some reason but i knew that was it! no more fags)

and that was it! all done! finnito!

until day four when i came home from work and would have cut my arm off for one as my OH had some marlboros in his bag but i just threw a hissy fit and went to bed. when i awoke i was fine and i havnt given in yet! you feel so good when you remember you used to smoke! i cant believe i have kicked my forty a day habbit that made me so depressed and miserable!

Nelski

Just wanted to cheer you all on in your efforts to quit the evil weed:j

According to silk quit meter its been 1year, 2 months, 1 week, 6 days 17 hours since I had my last fag:T

Its great to read everyones success stories and whilst I would never claim giving up was easy I would agree with ember when she says it is the greatest achievement.

I used a combination of "aids" such as the smoking cessation clinic at my local gp surgery (not that helpful for me though it was good to see my CO2 levels drop dramatically when I gave up) a week of zyban (got a bit worried about the side effects) Allan Carr book (best thing I learned from him is that I can never ever have another cigarette without getting hooked again which had been my downfall so many times in the past).

To be honest what helped me the most was the support I gained on the previous thread (big up Amateur Saver:A ) it was nice as well to see the money build up - like some of you have mentioned I set up a seperate account called my Smoke Free Savings and used it every week as a motivator. (Saved for a holiday:j )

Yes I have put weight on theres no hiding that one but that is something I can now start to deal with and I believe it will be a lot easier than giving up the smokes. Its all relative - I may be a bit chubbier this year but I am a healthier non smoker and there is no feeling to match that:D

Sorry to go on for so long - good luck to everyone and please pm me if you need any support

xxNels

In_Search_Of_Me

Keep it up Millie!! Sugajen do you fancy a giving up buddy...I get back from hol in 2 1/2 weeks & want to come back with No duty free and give up on my return....

sugaJen

fishface-69 wrote:

Keep it up Millie!! Sugajen do you fancy a giving up buddy...I get back from hol in 2 1/2 weeks & want to come back with No duty free and give up on my return....

Yeah, I giving up buddy would be good.

I dont blame you for quitting on your return, you dont wanna be thinking about not lighting up while trying to enjoy your hols.:D

In_Search_Of_Me

ohh good! Have just got the book (well ordered it!) on Amazon for £3.20, with Cd which isnt bad! Shall we set a date for quitting? (feeling slightly scared but positive as have smoked for over 20 years!)

milliejon

Thanks everyone. It is getting easier. It's actually nice to have one less thing to worry about. Have I got the money? How many ciggies have I got left and will they last until I can get to the shop?

SugaJen - all the very best of luck to you. You will need to keep smoking whilst reading the book, but it only took me just over a week to read it (and I have two kids and hubby to keep happy!).

Skint1

Hi Milliejon
Glad everything is well. Its silly because I used to smoke roll ups I worried did I have enough papers, tobacco or if my lighter had enough fuel. If I ran out of any it would drive me up the wall until I could sort it out. Now I laugh about it.
Good luck Joe

youngandreckless

Hi Millie,

I've not been on the boards for a while, so I'm thrilled you're still off the fags and doing so well!
My quit chart is now at 3 weeks, 3 days and 22 hours, £123.04 saved, 424 cigs not smoked (!!!) with 1 day and 11 hours saved. I gave up on the 1st june, so I could easily remember how many days it was.
I think the trick for me this time was to make it as insignificant as possible. I mean for as long as I built it up as a big deal for me to have quit, the more pressure and "deprived" I felt. So now its just something I used to do that I don't any more and its been much easier.
Good luck to everyone about to quit, don't allow yourself to be daunted and you'll be suprised how easy it can be x

milliejon

God the past three days have been hard. It's three weeks tomorrow that I gave up, and work is getting stressful now. I think the honeymoon period has gone already! All I've thought about for three days is when/how I can have a ciggie.

Also, although my meter says I've saved over £85 by not smoking - it's not in my bank account and I'm still stressing about where money for the month is coming from.

To top this off, we're going to a barbeque tonight at my neighbours' house and they not only smoke, but smoke the brand I smoked.

I've also been asked to the pub tomorrow night with my mates from work, and one of them was my smokin g buddy, who also smokes the same brand. Aaaaarrrggghhhhh!

I can't see the financial benefits of not smoking, and that's the biggest reason for stopping. Any advice??

lynzpower

I remember when I gave up,( i restarted though) I too had the same phenomenon, you cant see all the spare money? Where is it? I know for a fact, I will go without plenty of other stuff so I cna remain smoking.

Partly, it was becuase in those dark days long ago, I was putting fags in the credit card :doh: If you by hook or by crook HAD to find the money for smoking it would be there. So One thing you can do is make sure that every day you put some money physically in a jar or a new seperate bank account.. If you can bear to play this mind trick on yourself, move £5 a day ( if thats what you spent) out of your account and put it elsewhere. if you were smoking you would have FOUND that money if you are/were anything like me. Now if it sits in the bank you can choose to do other stuff with it.

Sorry, I bet that doesnt make sense :rolleyes: