The Giving Up Smoking Thread - Part 3

choille

I was the same as you smiley - Didn't take them for long & had rapidly cut down before the stop - just happened two years ago almost after 32 years on the weed. Felt a bit like cheating in some respects, felt I didn't sweat it.

smileytiger

choille wrote: »

I was the same as you smiley - Didn't take them for long & had rapidly cut down before the stop - just happened two years ago almost after 32 years on the weed. Felt a bit like cheating in some respects, felt I didn't sweat it.

me too i kept waiting for the catch - was way too easy if that makes sense - i'd been a reasonably heavy smoker for over 20 years and all the dread of and fretting about quitting just never happened - wish it could be like that for everyone - have friends who have been to hell and back to quit .x

ps well done you .xx

flis21

oldreekie wrote: »

Well done, flis21 - those stats are fantastic and you sound positive, too!

Have you thought of a treat you can buy yourself with some of the money you have saved? There has to be some reward! I remember going to have a consultation at the MAC counter and coming away with a bag of goodies. Felt so good about myself, especially when I passed the smokers huddling in the cold February air.

Having just read your signature maybe you could find something other than the MAC counter!!;)

oldreekie

Thanks, I really am positive, about the smoking and my moneysaving and getting rid of my debt. Really don't think I'd feel like this without this fab forum!!

I am putting a little of the money aside (not much, as most of it's going into my debts) to decorate my bedroom. I am obsessed with pink and want to paint 2 walls hot pink and 2 walls pale pink and buy a few pictures to go on the walls. I redid my boys bedrooms last year and they look fab, but as always I put myself last and never got round to doing mine. So that is my treat and it's one that will smile everytime I go in there!! Have started a bit and got first coat of hot pink paint on 2 walls. The two pots of paint and one pot of gloss has cost me less than £30, so still had quite a bit to put towards my debts as well!

Sorry, going OT there, but I'm so excited about doing my bedroom!

I haven't used my inhalator again today, so i think it was just that I hadn't put my patch on this morning. We would always go outside to smoke anyway and only 2 of the 6 people coming smoke, so I won't feel too left out and will have my inhalator on standby! Am dreading my first proper night out not smoking, but don't have to worry about that till later in the month at least!

Flis x

Denis_UK

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I mean Champix can have some pretty nasty side effects, so some people might not want to try that.
Horses for courses.

Have you tried it?. many people I know are free of smoking because they took the course.

E-cigs, the jury is out maybe 10 years from now they may have enough data to know whether it is a safe alternative.I am free of nicotine for over 6 months.

Surely this is the aim of everyone on this thread

CKhalvashi

Quick update!

I’ve managed to do most of today, even though my ‘cigarette’ hasn’t ordered yet, and stupidly bought a pack (not the usual 400) Polish cigarettes from the guy in the pub earlier. Had one, chucked the pack in the bin, and am soooooo tempted to get it out again

(Is there any way around this, that preferably doesn’t fill my house with the smell of tobacco; thought about the open fire)

I’ll attempt to resist temptation, and my girls are proud!

CK

Needstochange

Hello everyone - is there room for another potential quitter?

I am in my 40s and have been smoking on and off for many years (2 years off up until a year ago - why oh why did I fall again )

The bad news is that I smoke around 30 a day (more if I am not in work) the good news is is that I am nearly ready to stop again. I have putting off the quit day for quite some months now but it was strangely a piece on Radio 4 that has motivated me to do it - For the saddies like me who listen to Eddie Mair on the way home on an evening he has started a campaign to get people to mark 29th Feb as a momentous day by achieving a goal.

So that is my date - sorry to be on here so far in advance but feel I will be doing a lot of reading and hopefully gaining some motivation leading up to it.
My motivators are to save lots of money - in fact enough to nearly fund the new car I am taking delivery of in March.:eek: I want to keep the car smoke free from the start so theres another motivator. I am also very conscious of my age and the dangers I am putting myself in, so a healthy me is on the cards for 2012. Other things include

I hate smoking at work - freezing in an old bus shelter Yuk
I hate other people knowing I smoke and looking down their noses
I hide the fact I smoke from my parents still and that at my age is just pathetic
My house stinks as do my clothes and my car

I am scared of putting on weight but will read advice on here to help with that
I am looking forward to it but also know its going to be very tough.

Sorry for the long post to say I haven't even stopped yet but I will be posting daily from now until the 29th and beyond to keep the momentum

All the best to everyone in the process
NTC

choille

CK- If the temptation is bad consider having a bath, going to bed - your allowed to do almost owt. And remember that cravings don't last long. Good to have a distraction that involves doing something that wouldn't have involved you smoking.If you have an open fire then put the fags on it - best to destroy them completely to avoid temptation.

choille

Hi Needstochange - great that you ahve a brilliant incentive & feel ready. There is a cessation service on the NHS that you may wish to consider. It's someone wwho's trained in helping you decide which method is best for you - from cold turkey to everything else in between. I found it really helpful & she was tough on me when I needed her to be. I too was a heavy smoker - 30 a day usually, but had been doing it for over 3 decades - yikes.

There is a quit metre that you can download for when you stop & it calculates how much you've saved & how many cigs you haven't smoked.

I think you are wise to set a date a few weeks in advance - that's what I did - didn't stick to it, but stopped a week after that date & have been for nearly two years now - Brilliant buzz I get from saying that.

All the best & keep posting please.

Lotus-eater

Denis_UK wrote: »

Have you tried it?. many people I know are free of smoking because they took the course.

E-cigs, the jury is out maybe 10 years from now they may have enough data to know whether it is a safe alternative.I am free of nicotine for over 6 months.

Surely this is the aim of everyone on this thread

No I haven't tried it, I understand it's a great drug, I was merely pointing out it can have side effects. I'm not knocking it at all, I have pointed out more than once, that if you can give up cigarettes without e-cigs, then you should do so. In fact I said it in my past post.

The problem is, that some people (myself included) can't and constantly go back to real fags.


And re e-cigs, certainly the jury is out, in a way we are guinea pigs for something that's only been around for 8 years.

This is being discussed on the e-cig forums all the time, in total honesty, which is why I advise people who are interested in e-cigs, to go on to those forums and read about it for themselves.

What we do know, is about the things that go into e-cigs and the effect they have on the human body, without going into too much detail, the 2 main things in them (PG & VG), have been used and inhaled/ingested by humans in large amounts for a long time. I am personally satisfied that they are as safe as can be reasonably thought.
Apart from that, you have nicotine, in which I believe is present in greater absorbed quantities in cigarettes and flavourings, which are in everything.

Everyone has their own personal choice to make. What I chose, worked for me. You can call me any names you like, you can say I haven't really given up cigarettes if you want, you can debate the worthiness of e-cigs with me, because I (as well as everyone else who uses them) find it an interesting debate.
But I know the benefits I have felt, know I'm not getting 98% of the rubbish in fags, know my dentist and my doctor are really happy.

I've packed in smoking well over 10 times and every time I've gone back, now I have no desire to do so, for me, that's a miracle.

Now I'm well off cigarettes, I can start reducing my intake of nicotine and then one day stop vaping if I want to. I know I'm happier vaping and having nicotine, than still smoking and constantly trying to give up.

I could maybe be saving up some problems for the future, or I could guarantee 120% I would be having problems now. For me there is no choice.

Educating people about what e-cigs are about and what is known from the huge, highly vocal and often skilled vaping community, is my pleasure, warts and all. I think that's a good thing to give back to the smoking community. I wished I had it to hand when I started my journey.

HTH

Needstochange

choille wrote: »

Hi Needstochange - great that you ahve a brilliant incentive & feel ready. There is a cessation service on the NHS that you may wish to consider. It's someone wwho's trained in helping you decide which method is best for you - from cold turkey to everything else in between. I found it really helpful & she was tough on me when I needed her to be. I too was a heavy smoker - 30 a day usually, but had been doing it for over 3 decades - yikes.

There is a quit metre that you can download for when you stop & it calculates how much you've saved & how many cigs you haven't smoked.

I think you are wise to set a date a few weeks in advance - that's what I did - didn't stick to it, but stopped a week after that date & have been for nearly two years now - Brilliant buzz I get from saying that.

All the best & keep posting please.

Thank you so much for your support choille - I knew I could rely on MSE

I did use the NHS service last time I gave up but I found the process not especially useful for me, I think it depends on who you get as your nurse and mine was wholly uninterested I have ordered one of the quit kits so that should be here tomorrow.

I cant use the usual quit meters Im afraid as I have a mac and cant find a decent one that is compatible - anybody else using a mac? I am quite keen to monitor my progress though so may set my own system up that can keep an eye on weight at the same time

Thanks again for your support and I will be here daily no matter what happens