Giving up smoking

Izadora

I've finally decided that enough's enough and, for both health and financial reasons, have decided to quit smoking.

I'm not using patches/electronic cigs or anything else and was hoping that anyone else who's been there/done that could give me some advice/encouragement/let me know at which stages I'm liable to be pulling my hair out etc.

Anyone else who's trying to give up, feel free to have a rant and a moan - I'm sure I'll be able to sympathise...

Baileysonice

Hi Izadora (great name btw )

Yes I am a morning into my giving up (again ) and so far so good. I am however getting some help from e cigs but I plan to ditch these as soon as possible too.

Have you downloaded any quit apps for your phone? Theres loads on there and they are good for motivation. I have this one which I like as it has a minute by minute dashboard showing how much i have saved, how many minutes I have saved of my life, how many cigarettes I haven't smoked and a few other useful bits.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/smoke-free-quit-smoking-now/id577767592?mt=8

When I have stopped in the past I think the most dangerous times are not in the very early days but when you start to think you have cracked it and could probably just have one. I know for a fact now I can never have just one with being right back where I started.

Have you any nice plans for the saved money? Maybe a few treats would help too.

Good luck and I will see you on the other side!!! :T

rock_queen

I'm also a morning into quitting with the help of an e cig. So far so good. I have a back up of patches just incase from the last time I quit.

For me the worst is the first few days when people get on my nerves more than usual and I'm desperate to find some sort of 'get me out of here' excuse before I say things I might regret. I'm also starving all the time. Also once the novelty has worn off I get a bit bored with all these spare 5 mins in the day and don't know what to do with myself.

Good luck everyone!

Izadora

Baileysonice wrote: »

Have you downloaded any quit apps for your phone?

I hadn't yet but that one looks fantastic, thank you. All I'd managed so far was looking up what symptoms to expect so that I can hopefully rationalise things a bit more if I know when I'm most likely to feel grumpy.

Baileysonice wrote: »

Have you any nice plans for the saved money?

My boyfriend and I are moving in together later this year so I was planning on using the money saved towards a new bed. I haven't had a cig since Sunday night so I've got just over £9 towards it so far (I really like that app )

rock_queen wrote: »

I'm also starving all the time.

Same here but that's probably something to do with having started a diet yesterday as well. I like to make things as difficult as possible when I set myself a challenge!!

Thank you both and good luck.

Baileysonice

Hi quitters how are you doing?

rock queen I have been the same today with finding people annoying but also a horrible depressed feeling about not being able to smoke again. Probably a good job I live alone as the only person I can shout at is me. The brain is a devious thing at this early stage

On a positive I have saved £8 and have an extra 5hours of my life apparently which will be useful I am sure

Izadora thats tough doing both diet and quitting. Have you thought about being a bit more gentle to yourself with the diet whilst you kick the big one?

Good luck and keep going :T

Tiggifarfar.

Hi well done on your decision!

I quit the fags 9 years ago, stubbed the last one out and forgot about them. I found that the Allan Carr book 'the Easy Way to Stop Smoking' really helped. It's not preachy, no horror stories, the guy was on 100 a day, possibly a little self-hypnosis between the lines but honest truthful factual read. The real addiction is all in your head once the last of the nicotine has left the body (about 3 days) anything after that is psychological triggers & habits and you can actually learn to enjoy the feeling of the nicotine withdrawing as you know it's leaving your body. Anyway it was the best £6.99 I ever spent in Smiths.

Pennylane

Well done quitters!! On 1st Feb I will be 10 years quit having smoked all my adult life. I did it with patches and an inhalator and am pleased to say I never looked back. I would definitely have used an Ecig had they been around then.

It isn't easy but it's so worthwhile. I saved SO much money and spent it on weekend breaks, a summer house, books and CDs, spa treatments and anything else I deserved. After just a couple of days all the nicotine will be gone from your body and your carbon monoxide reading will be the same as a non smoker. :T

I used to have a little card stuck by my bed where I saw it when I awoke. It said "I did it yesterday so I can do it again today." I just took it day by day and the weeks just rolled by and the cravings just diminish.

Will check on your progress from time to time! :A

Pennylane

Baileysonice wrote: »

Hi quitters how are you doing?

rock queen I have been the same today with finding people annoying but also a horrible depressed feeling about not being able to smoke again. Probably a good job I live alone as the only person I can shout at is me. The brain is a devious thing at this early stage

On a positive I have saved £8 and have an extra 5hours of my life apparently which will be useful I am sure

Izadora thats tough doing both diet and quitting. Have you thought about being a bit more gentle to yourself with the diet whilst you kick the big one?

Good luck and keep going :T

It's quite common to feel depressed about not being able to smoke again BUT turn it into a positive. You chose to stop smoking and keep telling yourself that it's your choice .... You don't want to be a smelly, stinky, addicted person. When you feel like this just do something positive like walk round the block, paint your nails, take a bath with luxury soaps etc.

rock_queen

Thanks for the support everyone! I agree the Allan Carr book is great, I stopped for 8 months but unfortunately big life events happened and I started again.

Yesterday was ok, I was quite on edge some of the time, particularly when I remembered I wasn't going to smoke again but I soon snapped out of it. Let's see how today goes, one step at a time!

Thanks again for your advice x

kaya

There is. Trick, it's about taking control of situations. Many many people "try" to give up and fail because telling yourself you will "try" is allowing yourself the option of failure. Don't "try" to stop smoking, make a commitment to stop and follow it through, as yoda said "There is no try, only do or do not" . I went cold turkey six years ago and it's not as difficult as you tell yourself it will be , determination, self control and a huge feeling of satisfaction that you are a strong enough person to have succeeded afterwards is the greatest reward. I have on occasion felt the craving again but simply tell myself how the financial burden of starting again would affect my lifestyle (I couldn't afford to run my two cars and smoke) and also remind myself of how all my smoking friends stink like ashtrays whenever I go round their houses now I have quit, good luck to those who are quitting, be a stronger better person in life with this achievement and carry the strength of mind you will gain through the rest of your life whenever it gets tough, remind yourself that you are a stronger person than all the smokers you know and have achieved something in your life that they haven't , it can be a very empowering and motivating thing

Izadora

Thanks for the encouragement everyone, it's always nice to hear that people have succeeded because it makes me feel more like I can do it.

Rock Queen - I hope you're feeling less on edge today and well done for giving up for 8 months, you've done it once so I'm sure you can do it again.

Baileysonice - Hopefully you're less depressed about not being able to smoke again. I had one of those moments this morning, realising that I'll never be able to have another one was quite scary but it's the only way I'm going to do it. I know I don't have the self-control to have just one every now and then.

I know giving up and dieting together is a lot to take on but I lost a lot of weight a couple of years ago, which had started to creep back on, and I really don't want to put on any more - which is what normally happens when I try to cut down/quit smoking.

I made it through yesterday without too many problems - I did find that I was a bit tearful at times and I really, really missed my after-dinner cigarette but going without the others was easier to cope with than it was on Monday. Trying to think of the positives, even though I miss having a cigarette between the station and work it's really nice that I can put my gloves on as soon as I get off the train rather than having to wait until I've finished my fag.

My boyfriend's also given me a great incentive to keep going - if I haven't had a cigarette by the end of March then he'll give up too. Being the stubborn cow that I am, it's worth it just to make him quit