Support for those quitting smoking

AsianDub

I'm off them since the 2nd. Mixture of the girlfriend who doesn't smoke and the fact that I have asthma and yeah they went up again in price. Yeah I know stupid to start in the place. I smoked for 10 years. Smoked 20 JP Blue a day, then recently cut down to 10 Marlboro Lights. I'm not entirely off them as I've been chewing the gum like crazy! i tried the patches before and didn't find them any use. The gum gives me a psychological edge, like I'm doing something with my mouth. Oh and also the pain in my jaw and temples from chewing takes the attention away from the cravings!

JoeSixpack

Had my last cigarette on Sunday night. So not off them long but can honestly say that i have no desire to go back on them. No withdrawal symptoms at all. Just so glad to be off them.

Can't recommend the Allen Carr book enough.

So to anybody considering giving up have a read of the book, sure you've got nothing to lose as you can smoke while your reading it!

tazdustdevil

Hello all!

I have climbed the 72hr barrier as of 5.45pm today. Unfortunately I still feel a bit pangy tonight which is disappointing as I was hoping most of the physical cravings would have disappeared by now!!

I have attempted many times using the Allen Carr easy way (lasted 3 months); the Allen Carr only way to stop permanently (lasted one month didnt finish the last chapter for some reason; cold turkey (lasted 3 and 4 weeks); patches (lasted 3 weeks and had 5 fags as well) and finally now= cold turkey + hypnotherapy. I thought the Hypno had worked a treat on the first night- I went straight out on the piss with a friend who was over from UK for one night and there wasnt a bother on me. I wasnt even tempted to smoke and my hangover was almost non-existent the next day (suggesting to me that fags actually account for most of hangover).....

The last 2 nights have been worse and despite strong motivation the irrational 'demon' in me has wavered on several occasions....

Thanks for the forum it is helping me to keep going, miserable as I feel....

Terry

Thanks for checking in and keep up the good work.
The first few days are always the hardest (or so i'm told. I never usually make it that far.)

Roar

ive been off since october.

why i gave them up, i was on 20 a day, and decided I'd like to get fit, and possibly run the cork marathon in june.

so a friend, who's a big fitness freak, took me out for a run, and i couldnt get more than 50 yards without stopping, out of breath and coughing up a lung.

i decided at that moment to stop, and havent smoked a cigarette since.

allen carr's book was a great help, and i still read it now.

unfortunately though, i tore my ankle ligaments playing football so the marathon is out, but I didnt relapse and go back on the cigarettes when i was laid up at home with nothing to do, so I'm quite proud of that.

now, i tell people I don't smoke, as opposed to "im off them"

Crea

Quit 3 years ago after getting a severe chest infection where I couldn't even walk up the stairs without having to sit down. Had no interest in cigs for the 3 weeks while sick so I just went cold turkey after that.
My mother gave them up for new years after being a complete addict for 50 years. She went cold turkey too and is still off them

Puddles

Me and MOH are off them 6 weeks. It definitely helps when two of you do it at the same time. I have been off them before and actually stayed off them before for 18 months but lapsed back after a traumatic event in family. I always go cold turkey and would absolutely recommend it, if you can put up with being a bit of a grump for three days.

MOH always uses Nicorette gum but the last time he used them, he actually ended up addicted to the gum. I know it's not smoking but its just swapping one addiction for another whereas if you go cold turkey, you're learning to deal with losing an addiction!

Anyway, we're still off them. So far so good!:)

orla3999

Hi Smokers

Just want to let everyone know that I had been smoking for twenty years. I tried everything to give up hypnotherapy, allan carr, patches you name it. I then went for laser treatment and I havent smoked since!

orla3999

orla3999]Hi Smokers

Just want to let everyone know that I had been smoking for twenty years. I tried everything to give up hypnotherapy, allan carr, patches you name it. I then went for laser treatment and I havent smoked since!

dumbyearbook

Went off them myself on Jan 2nd as did a poster above - still off them five months Sunday week. Had one drag in Spain when i was outta my head drunk and still threw it away - !

the odd one a day for 2 years + 6.5 years x 20 per day fair habit to break not outta the woods yet though!!!

Keep it up to everyone still of them; they are starting to look silly now at this stage and tehy are €7! (- were €6.35 when i went off them)

peckerhead

Well, fancy running into you here, DYB!

Congrats on your (nearly) 6 months. My 72 hours just started about two and a half hours ago... time to go to bed, I reckon.*

Jeez, this sticky goes back a long, long time. I'll turn to it again over the coming days & weeks, no doubt. Thanks to everyone for the advice/experience!

[* I'm going sick turkey, à la Allen Carr (and maybe one or two other like-minded sources). One day at a time, sweet Jebus...]

445279.ie

Haven't had a cigarette since last Sunday and feeling great.

The big test will be next weekend when I go out with my smoking friend

Nordie

orla3999 wrote:

Hi Smokers

Just want to let everyone know that I had been smoking for twenty years. I tried everything to give up hypnotherapy, allan carr, patches you name it. I then went for laser treatment and I havent smoked since!

I'm a lost cause and all the above didn't work for me either. Where did you have the laser treatment and how much?

sudzs

Bastack wrote:

I gave up when I smoked 20 in a row sitting on my hole bored one Monday night! I was disgusted when I looked down and the ashtray was jam packed with cigs... I was soo pissed off with my self I have not had one since.

I also read the Alan Carr book about 3 weeks after giving up and there was one line in the book that is repeated through out the book ( I believe that book brain washes messages into your brain - in a good way) 'There is no such thing as one more smoke!' and it is so true, If you have 'just one more' you have gone right back to the stage of being a full time smoker.

That line helped me for all the 6 years I have been off them! I will never go back....

Me too! Me too!!!

Fantastic book if you're open to letting it work. It does rearrange the way your brain thinks about fags and smoking, yes, brainwashing in a way... a very good way!

dumbyearbook

peckerhead wrote:

Well, fancy running into you here, DYB!

Congrats on your (nearly) 6 months. My 72 hours just started about two and a half hours ago... time to go to bed, I reckon.*

Jeez, this sticky goes back a long, long time. I'll turn to it again over the coming days & weeks, no doubt. Thanks to everyone for the advice/experience!

[* I'm going sick turkey, à la Allen Carr (and maybe one or two other like-minded sources). One day at a time, sweet Jebus...]

(Hey Peckerhead best of luck with starting to quit!),

I've had a lapse lads and im not happy with meself one bit!!would have been off them 6 months next week and now this... drove back to Mayo on Friday last smoked one that night ( was in my car somehow...? was it god lol??) back in Dublin Sunday night went out bought 20 smoked the lot had 2 on Monday was off work doing nothing of course and then had 4 on Tuesday evening so ive had 26 since Friday last, im really surpised at myself here i was doing so well anyway back off them now today!

McGinty

Quit 3 years ago after getting a severe chest infection

Ditto, although the first time I gave them up was via the Allen Carr book, I was off them for nearly two years until I had a joint (which had some nicotine) and I went back on them, slowly at first but then the cravings increased, so was an on/off smoker for a year, then had a death in the family went back on them for about a year, smoking roughly 10 a day but stopped finally two days before Christmas 2006. Basically I couldn't hardly breath, espicially on Christmas night, I was literally gasping for breath I was too terrified to sleep because I was convinced I would die in my sleep and something in my head just clicked, although I hadn't smoked for two days prior to this I knew it was those ****ing cigarettes and I have not wanted one since. I prefer living and breathing, I did cause some damage in that I use an inhaler but there is a vast improvement over the last six months, however if I am out with friends who smoke or I am around smoke, my lungs are in bits the next day. Also I used to suffer terrible sinus problems, my hearing and smelling were deeply affected and now I am getting those back. Its great not smoking. I didn't really use willpower because I was just turned off them, and yes I gained weight but now I am losing that so I am eating fantastic and looking it too.

learnerplates

Alan Carr and exercise.
The increase in stamina when jogging and swimming in particular is motivation. Still have the pangs sometimes.

alphanine

I gave up smoking 4 months ago, I still have cravings especially after food. I wasn't badly addicted, say 5 or 6 a day, I have some coughing and mucus but overall it was a great move. Used nicotine gum which made me sick, then even the thought of smoking made me sick and this got me through the two week barrier. Number 1 tactic is willpower.

Zillah

Nordie wrote:

I'm a lost cause and all the above didn't work for me either. Where did you have the laser treatment and how much?

What the hell do lasers have to do with quiting smoking?

peckerhead

dumbyearbook wrote:

I've had a lapse lads and im not happy with meself one bit!!!

Aaaargh! Get right back up there now dumbyearbook, and don't be discouraging me!

Just hand it over to the Higer Power...

orika1

I am off cigs now for a year and a half. I was a heavy smoker - around 30 a day. I was seriously addicted - I would be thinking about my first one in the morning when I would be smoking my last one at night! I really depended on them and I really thought that I would smoke until the day I died, I thought it was impossible to give up.

Then I tried hypnosis - just one session. Now it wasn't miraculous or anything, I still had to use a huge amount of will power - I found it very hard. I couldn't understand what people were talking about when they said that cravings would pass - for me for the first 4 months it was just one big looooooooong craving, it never really stopped - it was so hard, but I think the hypnosis just gave me that extra edge I needed to resist.

After the first 4 months for me it was easier and now I never really think about them - well very very rarely anyway. It is well worth it. If I can do it anybody can.

carpainter

I quit over 8 years ago- (is it really that long ago?) and I haven't looked back. I must have smoked for 12 years, since I was a teen. Like a lot of smokers I hated myself for the habit and desperately wanted to give up, but without the pain of withdrawal of course. The crunch time for me came when I needed to buy a house- I needed every cent I could get. I just went cold turkey and with the help of my partner I managed to kick the old habit. I put a little money away each month to fund a new hobby i was interested in and i found this a great motivational tool. That and plenty of excercise and fresh air; along with the continuous support and encouragement of my partner helped me stay on the straight and narrow. I had a few silly slips, the illicit smoke or two at the end of a drunken night or a few cigarillos on holidays...but thankfully I gradually "grew out" of this over time. "Never say never" and all that but i've had plenty of difficult, stressful times over the past few years and I've never been tempted to reach for a cigarette. I think the greatest help to anyone trying to give up is the support and encouragement of a partner or close friend, just because someone's been off them for a week or two doesn't mean they won't still have their down times and need your support. It's great that forums like this exist now to help and inform others; that and the smoking ban are two very useful aids to anyone thinking about quitting now. The biggest realisation for me and most other ex-smokers I reckon is that, yes life goes on, food is still good, nights out are still fun etc. Stopping smoking does not affect your enjoyment of life, life is better, far, far better without them; so good luck to all those smokers who are thinking about quitting and well done to everyone else!

2rs

I was off the smokes twice for a period of a year during all of my teens and early twenties. Was never really a heavy smoker butt still found it hard to kick the habit. I always went cold turkey every new years eve and would see how long I could last.

I gave them up on new years eve 2000, but did it along with a few friends this time, and had a bet. The bet was a good incentive as you just did not want to get beaten. I got a 10 year old bottle of whiskey out of it, which I still have and which serves as a good reminder.

They say the first 10 years are the hardest:)

Dacelonid

Off them 2 years and 2 weeks now, not that I am counting or anything :-)

I gave them up one day because I couldn't breathe. I couldn't gte enough air into my lungs and I thought I was going to die. So haven't touched a cig since. I since found out that I have hayfever induced asthma or some such and have an inhaler for those times it gets bad. Been having loads of hayfever sinus troubles since I stopped smoking but hoping all that goes away once my lungs get used to being clean again.

corblimey

I accidentally gave them up just over 5 years ago. I had bought the Alan Carr book in Easons (a 3 for 2 deal, it was the third book I chose and it was really just for "maybe one day..."). About 6 months later, I was taking a trip from Cork to Dublin on the train and decided at the last minute just to take it along to read it. I smoked all the way up to Dublin, finished about half the book, smoked all the way home and finished off the book as we pulled into Cork station. I had 2 cigarettes left in the box and since nowhere was open (it was around 10pm) I decided to keep them for home. I polished them off quick sharpish when I got home, and went to bed.

Next morning, I went to the shop, but just didn't feel like buying fags. Got some milk, a newspaper etc, but the urge to buy fags was gone. I've not looked at a cigarette since.

I had no real intention of giving them up -- I just had nothing else to read, so I was a little surprised when this happened and to still be off them even 24 hours later, never mind 5 years is a testament to how good that book is. At the time, I lived in a shared house with 2 other heavy smokers, and it just never affected me.

Morlar

Cold turkey at first then patches for a week and a half along with the carr book.

jmcwobbles

I quit for a year after reading Allen Carr (best book ever) but unfortunately was at a house party one night last October, and made the BIG MISTAKE... ah sure I'll only have one. Everyone else was smoking all around me (as opposed a a night out in the pub where they have to go outside), an eventually I smoked one. The warning Allen Carr gives about no such thing as "just one smoke" is so so so so true - I'm now back to where I started on 20 a day, and kicking myself every day for being so stupid. I just found this forum today and am gonna do it again, for good this time. It's just not worth it.

Terry

jmcwobbles wrote:

I quit for a year after reading Allen Carr (best book ever) but unfortunately was at a house party one night last October, and made the BIG MISTAKE... ah sure I'll only have one. Everyone else was smoking all around me (as opposed a a night out in the pub where they have to go outside), an eventually I smoked one. The warning Allen Carr gives about no such thing as "just one smoke" is so so so so true - I'm now back to where I started on 20 a day, and kicking myself every day for being so stupid. I just found this forum today and am gonna do it again, for good this time. It's just not worth it.

Best of luck.
You did it once, you can do it again.

Saibh

i am going to buy the alan carr book tomorrow have tried patches lasted a few days off them

i'm off on holidays for a week so i am hoping to get a chance to read it and maybe have quit the smokes before i go back to work

Magic Eight Ball

Cold Turkey is best, well worked for me anyways.
I think it's best to replace the cigarettes with something else, otherwise you'll feel like there's a void in your life.

I've been off the smokes over a year now.. I replaced cigarettes with martial arts. worked out pretty well, Ya really can't do both, so one had 2 go!

Lucky enough it was the smokes.