The Giving Up Smoking Thread!!

melbury

silverbullit wrote: »

Hi all, just a quick word of encouragement to all existing and new quitters....keep at it! I know that when i first started on the path to giving up, i found the people on this thread enormously helpful and encouraging.

I would say to you all that quitting is really worth all the effort and anxiety that you will inevitably experience in the first few weeks, but i can assure you that it becomes much much easier as each day passes. Keep focusing on all the reasons why you are trying to give up and, every time a craving approaches, take pre-emptive action (go for a walk, take some deep breaths, have a shower or a snack (but be careful about that last one!)).

I would never have thought this time last year that my breathing would be so much easier (without feeling pain in my lungs if i tried to take a deep breath), that my taste buds and sense of smell would have improved so much, that i would be able to jog for 30mins non-stop (i used to get clapped out after more than a minute before!), that my clothes and house would smell so much fresher (this has been one of the things that i have noticed most; smokers really do not appreciate how awful is the stale smell that gets into the fabrics of one's clothes and furnishings!), that i would have saved enough money to have an extra holiday!

I think smoking was rather an oral fixation for me (fnar, fnar!), so i found it really helpful to use some of the nicotine gums for a while when the cravings were the strongest in the early days, and so i would highly recommend some sort of substitute at least for a couple of weeks; i found that it made things much easier.

My father died painfully at the age of 56 after a lifetime of smoking and i was determined that history would not repeat itself with me. I think it helps to have some sort of focus and motivation as to why you are trying to stop smoking (to improve your health, to save money for a treat, to not set a bad example for your kids/family members (i can say with honesty that my father's smoking did have some influence on me becoming a smoker, since i would often nick one from his packet on the odd occasion before i had 'graduated' to buying my own!).

I can honestly say that the renewed sense of freedom over my own body -ie not being a slave to the cravings for cigarettes that used to regulate every hour of my life before and around which my daily routines would be structured - that i now have makes life much more enjoyable. To be finally free- after 16yrs of smoking! - of the killer weed is one of the greatest achievements of my life, and i say that without any exaggeration whatsoever.

I can only say to you all that the stress and anxiety that you are feeling in trying to quit is only temporary and i believe that everybody has the strenght of will within them to beat those pesky cravings...after all, the goal is certanly worthwhile!

Good luck all, stay strong and DON'T give up!

***
Seven months, two weeks, five days, 17 hours, 40 minutes and 48 seconds. 3521 cigarettes not smoked, saving £780.05. Life saved: 1 week, 5 days, 5 hours, 25 minutes.

***

That is a fantastic achievement Silverbullit, you should be really proud of yourself.

I gave it up 8 weeks ago today, but am still struggling with cravings, especially with a drink, in fact really only when I have a drink. Please don't say forget about having the drink then:eek:

8 WEEKS TODAY***8 WEEKS TODAY:T

tattycath

Well done silverbullit, that's fantastic!!!! and thanks for sharing it with us, it's very motivating.
Melbury-you're doing brilliantly!!!! you should be proud too.
Don't come over and hit me but.... What if you just have a drink and build it up gradually (bearing in mind I don't know whether you drink copious quantities or just the odd snifter) I used to drink copious quantities every w/e until I moved in with my OH and now I hardly drink at all (sad)!!! but on the up side, I found it easier to stop smoking because I always used to associate having a drink with having a smoke (disregard the fact that I also used to associate having a coffee and a smoke and tea and a smoke and a meal and a smoke and instead of lunch having a smoke-disregard all that please). And disregard the fact that I'm waffling now, but take note... I think you're doing really really well!!!!!

In_Search_Of_Me

well day one for me & sucking hard on a lozenge just snt doing i but I know if I hae one I'll just be delaying it so am being stubborn & pushing through! No alch either as the two go hand in hand for me! Not a bad thing as have put weight on since starting to drink - I gave up drinking & smoking for 10 months so know (a) I can do it (b) I feel so much healthier & more in control when I do...that being said its flippin had isnt it eh!

jo1972

Hiya SB and thanks for posting, great to see your success on the thread

Melbury, you are doing so well, it's normal to wobble at 7/8 weeks, this WILL pass

Cath, :wave: hope you're well?

In Search of Me, good luck for tomorrow, keep posting and letting us know how you're doing

Hi to everyone else :wave:

Got a really nervous day ahead tomorow, DD1 has an audition for the National Youth Theatre, she's had to learn a 2 minute dialogue for the last few weeks and has to stand there and do it from heart, she knows it but I'm soooo nervous for her!! Although good news, DH is off for a stag weekend to Barcelona in a few hours, I've got control of the remote until Sunday tea time!!!! :D:D:D:D

Hope everyone's well?

tattycath

Hi Jo. Good luck to your DD for tomorrow!!!!
Enjoy the peace and quiet while DH is away and enjoy control of the telly!!!!

jo1972

Thanks, I intend to :beer:

skintbutsmiling01

evening all! Over my irrational nark (a bit) from last night, well apart from a small rant at OH earlier.
Thanks to the motivating posts to silverbullit - its great to hear about people who have come out the other end- and melbury- 8 weeks is fab, you've def done it! I have wobbled twice in the past 24 days, both times because of the demon drink! I think its cos you just don't give a damn after a drink, feel invincible, money no object etc etc ....
Jo- hope yourdaughter does well I'm sure she will one day be rich & famous!

skintbutsmiling01

what a quiet day its been on here for once! Has everyone been hard at work?
Here's to a great and healthy weekend with no temptation lol:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

melbury

tattycath wrote: »

Well done silverbullit, that's fantastic!!!! and thanks for sharing it with us, it's very motivating.
Melbury-you're doing brilliantly!!!! you should be proud too.
Don't come over and hit me but.... What if you just have a drink and build it up gradually (bearing in mind I don't know whether you drink copious quantities or just the odd snifter) I used to drink copious quantities every w/e until I moved in with my OH and now I hardly drink at all (sad)!!! but on the up side, I found it easier to stop smoking because I always used to associate having a drink with having a smoke (disregard the fact that I also used to associate having a coffee and a smoke and tea and a smoke and a meal and a smoke and instead of lunch having a smoke-disregard all that please). And disregard the fact that I'm waffling now, but take note... I think you're doing really really well!!!!!

Thanks Tattycath but I do like a drink at the weekend and that is when I am finding it really difficult, but can't bring myself to give that up as well, even though booze hasn't tasted as nice without the smoke enhancing its flavour:rotfl: :rotfl: Also, like you, I did enjoy a cig with coffee, tea, after a meal etc etc etc in fact at the drop of a hat really - never mind I'll get there.

melbury

skintbutsmiling01 wrote: »

what a quiet day its been on here for once! Has everyone been hard at work?
Here's to a great and healthy weekend with no temptation lol:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

You're doing really well - keep at it :T

I was standing behind someone in the supermarket queue today and she was obviously a smoker because she really stank of it - really horrible - just think we all used to smell like that:eek: