The Giving Up Smoking Thread!!

JoeHel

tattycath wrote: »

Hi everyone. Ali-ok, just read your blog... You are not a failure, you are adjusting. I've got a temper like godzilla since I decided not to have cigarettes!!!!! Not a pretty sight I can tell you. I stopped smoking in February-and stayed stopped for 6 months-cold turkey like this time, no problem, but on hols cravings got the better of me and I started again-soon back up to 20 a day!!! So I decided, that It was a blip and I would stop again when my mind set was right. And at beginning of this month I decided I either wanted to be a smoker or to stop and I couldn't just smoke and then feel guilty, it had to be one or the other.
I haven't had a cigarette for 12 days, and this website is a great support network, and it would be a hell of alot more difficult without you guys, so thank you all and continued good luck to everyone. If you need support lean on us, we all need to lean on someone sometime.

You are doing FAB Cath!! The best thing ever is EDUCATION and learning about nicotine and how it gets to you. You absolutely nailed it - you need to make the decision of whether you want to be a smoker or a non-smoker. There's no half measures of either!! 72 hours of cold turkey and the nicotine is GONE! Any so-called "cravings" after that time are completely psychological. Once you get that into your head and feel REALLY excited about getting off the drug and healing your body, it's SO easy to ignore those little psychological itches. Life without ciggies is HEAVEN!! :j

truthseeker_4

Hi guys :wave:

i'm not a smoker but i'd like to share my addiction story if you don't mind...i had an addiction a while back and i really wanted to quit it but no matter how much i told myself to stop i just couldn't quit. In the end i got so sick of trying but failing to quit, cos it takes up so much energy you know? that i just gave up quitting. And amazingly the addiction went within 2 weeks!

The only thing i changed was that i didn't beat myself up about my addiction. I accepted myself with it and everytime i did 'it' i didn't beat myself up afterwards. I went the opposite and congratulated myself. I told myself just do it again and again i really don't mind.

Cos there's a cycle of: you do it--> you feel bad for doing it/tell yourself off --> you want to do it again. If you break the 'feeling bad' stage the cycle breaks.

So i did 'it' loads for about a week or two and then the desire to do 'it' just went away. Even with the physical cravings.

I was kind of annoyed that i'd spent 2 years trying so hard to give up and the answer was to not try lol...weird eh? But if anyone wants to try this method too be my guest!

antronella

Hi to everyone, I have been lurking here for a while now..plucking up the courage to join you all. I'm going through a really tough time at the moment having split up with my husband after over 20yrs. Anyway, I really can't afford to smoke anymore, never mind what its doing to my health, but I just don't know if I can do it while I'm feeling so low. Maybe I will lurk a bit longer until i feel ready to join you all. Well done anyway! :T

in_debt_again_but_dealing_with_it

Hi antronella
Lurk away! Sorry to hear about your problems - you will know when its your time to quit and the fact that your thinking about it is a positive sign, take a look at page 1 and all the links that might inspire you even more. Also the support on here is priceless!!! I was a smoker for 27 yearks (eek) and never though I would quit but here I am almost 6 months on. Not easy but no regrets!! Take care hun.
love and hugs to all
IDA
xx

TNG

Hi antronella :hello: and welcome

IDA has given you the intro spiel so I won't bother, but now is the PERFECT time to stop, even though you may not think so. You will be able to look back in moments of weakness and say to yourself "Well, I got through THAT without a cigarette, so I can get through anything"


Best of [STRIKE]lurk[/STRIKE] luck and stick around. Most of them are quite friendly, you know

JoeHel - good to see you back
ILA - long time. How's you?
IDA - :hello:
jo - no morning post? You slept in? :rotfl:

tattycath

Hi Everyone. Just checking in. Went christmas shopping this morning, and am having to catch up on work etc this afternoon. Still no cravings as such, day 13 today so all's well so far!!!!!
Well done to all in the challenge, good luck to all those who have just decided to stop smoking and big hugs and support to anyone who feels in need of some strength in there quest to be smoke free.

jo1972

Hi antronella and welcome to the thread :wave: good luck with your quit, IDA has already filled you in with the 1st post advice, read it and get as much information as you can, this will prepare you and build your will power up Good luck and keep us updated.

How's everyone today, I'm feeling surprisingly okay considering it was the work do last night and I didn't get in till 3am :eek: I couldn't even tell you how much I drank and my legs are killing me so I must've been dancing most the night Oh well, it must've been a good night :rotfl:

xx

mumofthreemonkies83

Hey guys,

Sorry I havnt been on in a while, Is it just me that cant believe its only 9 days till xmas:eek:?
Still smoke free and so happy ive done it and the cravings are very few and far between now.
Quitkeeper says £174 saved so far so thats really cheered me up, for the first time in ages I dont mind not having cash in my purse for "emergencies" :rotfl:

Off shopping now so best run, good luck and well done to everyone here.If youre thinking of quitting theres no time like the present :T
Emma xxx

tattycath

Hi everyone. Still not smoking, not really craving... Temper is absolutely foul, no one can do anything right for me these past couple of days. OH & mysel;f have been under enormous pressure this year, and coped really well til now... I've been inm ripping off head mood all day. Please can someone give me any hints and tips on how to combat this??? Any comments/help much appreciated-thanks

JoeHel

tattycath wrote: »

Hi everyone. Still not smoking, not really craving... Temper is absolutely foul, no one can do anything right for me these past couple of days. OH & mysel;f have been under enormous pressure this year, and coped really well til now... I've been inm ripping off head mood all day. Please can someone give me any hints and tips on how to combat this??? Any comments/help much appreciated-thanks

Hi Cath! You are doing so well. The only advice I can give you is recognise that, after 2 weeks off the dreaded nicotine, it is NOT any sort of withdrawal that is making you feel in a rubbish mood. All nicotine will have been out of your system in the first 3 days. We ALL have times when we feel in a rubbish mood, whether we smoke or not. It's life! Lack of ciggies haven't caused this bad mood and having a ciggie won't cure it either!! But you already know that. Do whatever you find works to get through it. Do you get PMT? What works for that?! Just take a few deep breaths, go for a walk, have a bath, put some soothing music on, if you have a TV in your bedroom get into bed and put a chick flick on. I find a great stress-reliever is having a spring clean and my OH likes to put a shoot-em up game on the XBox and take his frustration out on that!

I think the main thing to realise is that good and bad mood are completely NORMAL and don't need fixing with drugs or chemicals! Your body is equipped to protect you from pretty much everything with natural chemicals like adrenaline and for the first time since you started smoking you're letting your body deal with emotions in a natural way. Just do what feels right!

Just, whatever you do, please don't give up and think a ciggie will help you feel better. It won't, and you'll feel in an even worse mood because you'll be so disappointed with yourself!

Good luck!