The Giving Up Smoking Thread!!

tattycath

Hi there. Welcome to this thread. I am on my 25th day as a non-smoker. I went cold turkey and this time have found it easy, despite OH still smoking. I first stopped smoking just before I found out I was pregnant with my first child and I stayed stopped for 7 years-no problem, Then Myself and Ex when through an acrimonious split and I started smoking again. I have had a few half-hearted attempts since and managed to stop again for 6 months earlier in the year, but this time it was so easy and I intend it to be for good this time. I have received tremendous support from this giving up smoking thread and If I'm honest I haven't missed smoking. I was on 20 or so a day before I quit.
Good luck in your quest and you will receive loads of support from the people on here. Well done for making the decision.

jo1972

Hi Nykmedia :wave: pleased to have you onboard

Good luck with your quit, we are all here for support, everyone's off doing xmas things at the moment, but I'm sure they'll all be back when things return to usual. Plus I hope we see lots of new recruits come 1st Jan

Have a look through post no. 1 of this thread, there's loads of information and links there which may help or give support. I agree about the Pavlov syndrome, I am also programmed the same way, just got to learn how to stop that bluddy bell ringing :D

Good luck with the £4k challenge, I'm thinking of doing it too, just a bit scared to commit myself at the moment, figured I got another couple of days to think about it :whistle: :rotfl:

xx

yellowmonkey

Good luck and welcome Nykmedia

Hope you all had a great Xmas and are all feeling well and dandy. I had to work and have an awfull man Flu cold that we all know is similar only in pain and discomfort to childbirth:rotfl:

Nearly 1 month for me now and still feel good :j

Happy new year to you all

ym

jo1972

Oh god YM, hope you feel better soon, I did hear that man-flu can be fatal :eek:

xx

yellowmonkey

Thought it was. I must go and lie down

ym

jo1972

Be sure to come back regularly and clock in, otherwise I shall fear the worst!

xx

Frugaldom

Get well soon, Jo!

I've got 20 cigs left to last until midnight 31st December and then it's all over! A fresh start, no cigs and aim to save £500 in my new ICICI account. I may even add that to my ciggie siggie and call it my ciggie piggy account. I already have a ciggie piggy bank for using week to week :rotfl:

JoeHel

Hiya everyone! Hope you all had a fab Christmas. I've been busy cooking/entertaining and stuff, with laptop unplugged and packed away, so apologies for the absence. Hope everyone is doing okay and still nicotine free...?!!! Happy to confirm that I got through all my christmas parties not only not smoking but absolutely over the moon that I didn't have the need to go outside in the freezing cold for those revolting things!!!

nykmedia wrote: »

Hello to all, I recognise a few names here so don't feel quite so bad about 'coming out' as a smoker! :rotfl:

I've smoked for about 25 years in total and have quit on 2 occasions in the past, the first because I had an expensive hobby (an impulse buy that meant I couldn't afford cigs for a long time) and then when I was clearing debts after a divorce. However, I started again with the agreement (with myself) to stick to 20 a week, which then crept up to 40. This is not good when trying to live on £4000 a year, so 2008 is 'must stop completely' time. Do you mind if I join you all on here in case I need some moral support? I refuse to believe that smoking is an addiction and find it more of a habit - I only smoke when having coffee or chatting on the phone and only ever in one particular room, so will be doing what you call the 'cold turkey' route (and avoiding my kitchen table unless it's mealtimes! ) Does anyone else have this weird 'Pavlovian' response to chatting on the phone?

Hi nykmedia! Welcome to the non-smokers and wannabes!!

I smoked 30 a day for 22 years and accepting it was an addiction was pretty difficult for me too, but once I accepted that fact I have to say that quitting was a breeze. I 100% relate to how hard it is to see yourself as an addict - I mean, you don't go sticking needles into your arm or start sweating if you miss your "fix" do you?! But that Pavlovian response you talk about ... put it this way - I've not been to your house but I'm willing to bet a month's salary there is no mystical force field around your kitchen table that makes you smoke!! Yes, you HAVE made associations with certain rituals but you only have to do those things without a ciggie in your hand a few times to "unlearn" those associations. For about a week it felt funny walking away from the office without lighting up, but now (just 7 weeks later) I don't even think about it. The brain retrains very quickly I assure you!!

I thought I would be lost without my little friend the ciggie. You make a lot of pavlovian associations in 22 years! But they are now GONE, I'm happier than I've ever been and the one thing more than ANYTHING that I know will stop me from ever lighting up again is my education into nicotine addiction. I sit in my flat every night with a partner and his son who both smoke indoors. It doesn't bother me a jot. I've been out (and drunk!) and not wanted even a puff. It is ALL thanks to my education into what nicotine is, and my acceptance that I was a drug addict!

Do yourself the biggest favour you've ever done and read some of the information on WhyQuit.com. It's a site devoted to quitting cold turkey and ridding your body of nicotine. It has literally saved my life! :j

The first paragraph of the first section in the "first 72 hours" section states "A permanent successful quit is not nearly as dependent upon planning as it is upon learning. None of our prior quits failed because we selected the wrong quit date. They failed because we failed to understand and master the core principles underlying our chemical dependency upon nicotine."

And it's soooo true... I have tried to quit with nicotine replacement products and always failed. Now I know why! If you can get your head around the fact that the ONLY reason you smoke is to get the drug nicotine into your system, you are half way there. Understand your demon! Best of luck.

JoeHel

jo1972 wrote: »

Oh god YM, hope you feel better soon, I did hear that man-flu can be fatal :eek:

xx

Too right jo! This is a must-see... Funniest thing I've seen in ages... :rotfl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLHWmjA5IE

Frugaldom

Hi JoeHel - funny thing is, I don't always buy cigs and if they aren't here, I don't miss them. I quit for a couple of years when I err, accidentally bought a racehorse - YES! I am prone to some really spectacular impulse buys, but it seemed like such a bargain at the time! Anyway, I quit smoking and had 2 extra PT jobs to pay the training fees - the horse was rubbish, but the fun was well worth it!
So, I know I can stop when I want, but don't know anyone else who is stopping. Then I found this wonderful MSE thread where you are all quitting for various reasons. This time around, my savings are going towards a house... But I MUST spell it correctly and not make the same mistake twice!
H - O - R - S - E

Oops, I mean H - O - U - S - E