Support for those quitting smoking

bennyc

I did the Alan Carr way and was a Happy non Smoker for 6 months , the I lost someone close and made a decision to get back on them to see me trough the dark times, basically I did what was mentioned in the book, go away from everyone and remember the first smoke, how bad it tasts etc....
I left it about a year and tried to get back off again but couldnt handle the 5 days cold turkey, my wife then made an appointment to go to hipnosis I was asked one question "Do you really want to stop" ans Yes . that ws a year ago.
I havnt wanted a smoke since but have to say the first feww days were still hard.

peckerhead

Cold turkey, midway through the Allen Carr book.

But I'm 43 with kids and I was (finally) really, really ready to quit.

Utter b'stard of an addiction; noone should ever underestimate the power of it. Even now I know that the only way I can stay away from them is "one day at a time", that old 12-step mantra that I used to scoff at. The day I relax is the day I offer my lily-white orse up for it to sneak up and bite me again...

Saibh

bought the allen carr book last week but only half read it with one thing and another and haven't got back to finishing it.

does it help to finish reading the book as soon as you can - any suggestions.

SandhillRoad

Here in USA I Have been off them since April 15th 2007 via hypnosis .
First cig I smoked was in Zurich , friend set it down in ashtray. I was probably 18 and that was close to 40 yrs ago.

Terry

ulster wrote:

bought the allen carr book last week but only half read it with one thing and another and haven't got back to finishing it.

does it help to finish reading the book as soon as you can - any suggestions.

Check the sticky at the top af the page. That may help.

Will power all the way, but don't take my word for it on that. I just put one out.

david1two3

started 1969 gave up 1999 at 36 ,doctor said ,"inhaler for your bronchitus",I thought you idiot and many other unrepeatable sayings towards him ,chainsmoked till 4 am and never touched them since.

I was chronically addicted with no release ever for more than the 8 hours I slept.Several weeks before I quit I didnt have coffee for a day and it turned into weeks.One always led to another, smoke and drink and vice versa.I also did a life altering weekend of very heavy group awareness training and that played a part but I would,knowing what I know now never recomend an LGAT (large group awareness training ) to any one as the people in charge are never interested in you really , they just want to make up the numbers and your one of them .If they decide you are one of the chosen ones then thats what you become,if on the other hand you have and use your own mind(if they cant brain wash you) then they try and ease you out .if that doesnt work they attack you.That didnt work either and eventually I dropped them and now I never hear from them at all ,cowards,Sorry I digress.When I did this weekend they told me after I arrived that there was to be no smoking .On friday night late I told one of them I was having a cigarette , He said no smoking and I informed him with mostly nmy eyes and my tone of voice that I was most certainly smoking. The explosion never arrived as they caved in instantly,such was my rage.

A few times the idea of smoking has appealed to me but I realised I didnt want or need one.

A dozen times I went to Nicotine Anonymous but being with ten people who the minute the meetiung ended lit up didnt make any sense to me at all so I gave up on that idea.

I used to walk from Blackrock to Foxrock with Conor(cancer aged 18) ,my now dead brother and we would smoke two cigarettes with the 2p bus fare ,I was seven and thought this was amazing to walk three miles for a couple of cigarettes.One day I robbed 10p from my mothers purse and went up to Cornelscourt and bought 10 woodbines and matches .I lit up in the bushes above South Park beside the dump and being seven I never thought to hide the cigarettes ,I smoked all of them and fainted ,for how long I dont know.When I woke up I just went home as if nothing had happened.Addiction is available at any age, 7 or 97 ,makes no difference.Last night I came third in a vets road race in which I did a flyer, taking off from the bunch at 36 mph on the last lap to escape from them ,it was a brillaint feeling to know I have recovered so well from smoking.I used to be able ,when I was twenty six,to do 38mph on my own,if I had never smoked it would have been 42 and more.

To me the greatest gift is to know that I cant control cigarettes ,they do me and once I think "one wont do any harm",thats me defeated or should I say being defeatist. The gift it gives me to be able to breathe and race and no more chest infections.Until jan 2005 I used to get 3-5 chest infections every year,now I havent had one for 20 months and am slowly getting to be better than all the group of guys I race with of a similar age ,I just get stronger all the time as long as I look after myself.i have more on this but i need to eat dinner.Good luck and remember the rewards are amazing and they are free .

p.s. Nic Anon didnt really suit me but dont let that put you off trying it.

eamon234

I tried a few times then finally made up my mind to do it - I tried Alan Carr but I didn't find it very helpful, especially when he admits halfway through the book that he used bloody hypnosis! On my final try I used the 24 hour patches and they worked a treat I was working a very stressful job at the time but I was determined. I changed some habits like breaks and took a shorter lunch or went for a walk. I was even confident enough to finish the course early. Four years on and I haven't touched one - you have to be adamant about this - if you smoke even one you've failed you have to stop completely because this is how the addiction gets you - you have to understand how these things addict you as much as what they do to you.

Terry

Just like the tar on your lungs, this thread is now sticky.

Just remember, each to their own.

govinda

david1two3 wrote:

To me the greatest gift is to know that I cant control cigarettes ,they do me and once I think "one wont do any harm",thats me defeated or should I say being defeatist.

Great post, and spot on above. Congrats on your quit!

Imhof Tank

I dont know whether my story would help anyone or whether anyone has had a similar experience, but it did work for me so here goes ..........

I smoked 20-25 a day for 20 years up to August 2006, and made several very half hearted efforts to quit cold turkey over the years.

The tipping point with me was when we took our 2 daughters aged 7 and 4 at the time on holidays to Spain last year. The kids had never seen ashtrays in restaurants before and were facinated by what they were for (at home myself and wife smoked out in back garden etc). Anyway, within a few days th kids were fighting between themselves as to who would have the honour of bringing over Mummy and Daddy's ashtray so they could have a good smoke for themselves. Their innocence/ my complete self loathing crushed me.

Basically I felt like a junkie/ scumbag and I found this to be a bit of a revelation to me, because I never felt that way about myself before.

Shortly after I got home I was sick for a day and didnt smoke that day for the first time in 20 years. From that day I just motivated myself with thoughts about the kids and their future and I have to say it was not difficult - I found it incredibly easy in fact - I have not had even one moment of doubt or what I would consider a moment weakness, and I hope I am not tempting fate but I just cannot see myself ever smoking again.

So basically, my experience was that I had to learn to uncoditionally hate myself and what I was doing in order to find the motivation to quit. After that, I found it easy

Archeron

Imhof Tank wrote:

So basically, my experience was that I had to learn to uncoditionally hate myself and what I was doing in order to find the motivation to quit. After that, I found it easy

Really good post.
I also found that my own hatred at my complete inability to have any control over my smoking was the single biggest reason for making me determined to stop. There were times when I would look with disgust and contempt at a cigarette, while I was actually lighting it, but still felt I had no choice but to continue puffing away. I'm happy to be able to have gotten over that lack of control. (although I feel that one ciggie could easily lead me back there, hence the reason I have never ever had even one sneaky one since I stopped).

Jeapy

Reading these posts, I finally decided to join! Id love to know how all of the people are doing who posted over a year ago!

Last Christmas, I was sick of the hangovers, the smell, the cost and most of all I was ashamed to be a smoker. Id hide it as much as possible and claim Id only smoke 3 a day, which was about a third of the real total on a normal day!

Walking home from the nightclub at about 3am on New years, I smoked the last two in my box (only part of each though, just wanted to waste them!) and threw each of them into puddles, just in case Id try to go back to salvage them later!!! I laugh at that now but desperation can turn you into a real nut!

Im doin fine now though. I dont really have cravings only three or four weeks but I dream about it a lot!!! 40 weeks/9 months tomorrow! My sister is swearing by Zyban, somebody mentioned it earlier, and ya its still available on perscription.

Good luck to everyone else on the same road as me, and to all the others thinkin about givin up...go for it, its all worth it!

Malice

In my case I had smoked from my mid-teens to early twenties and I realised that I was in very poor shape physically. I took no exercise and it showed I was playing football with some friends and I realised that they were all running rings around me and they were far from fitness fanatics themselves.
I also got fed up of the smell. Coming home from nights out absolutely reeking used to drive me nuts. The cost was also a factor especially when I was a poor student!
All in all, it was a combination of many factors that eventually lead to me saying enough was enough. One thing I definitely remember was that it took about six months before I stopped properly. I wouldn't smoke during the week in college, in work or at home but as soon as I was out for a few drinks at the weekend I would end up having one or two. Thankfully I was even able to knock that on the head after a while. Although it came into force long after I had quit, I think the smoking ban helped enormously. Every time I am out in a pub I think it's great that the temptation has been moved to outside the pub.
Now if only we could do something about the clueless twats who like to block up doorways while breathing smoke into your face as you try to get in or out. That's a rant for another thread though

Floodzie

david1two3 - great post!

I gave up on Jan 3rd 2007 and after the first few days I wasn't too bad. I had a very bad flu which meant I couldn't leave the house so I went around looking for all the cigarettes, butts and cigarette bits (from joint construction), ran them all under the tap and then shoved them down at the bottom of the bin, amongst all the gunk.

I'd been thinking of giving up for about... 12+ years! Started when I was 12 but smoked every day from 14 to 30.

I had been cutting down for a few years - Marlboro Red -> Camel Lights -> Silk Cut Purple -> Silk Cut Blue -> Ultra. Have to say I craved the Ultra as much as the Reds! Managed to get down to less than 10 a day (with some difficulty).

Allen Carr really helped - gave me something to counter all those 'ah just one more won't hurt' thoughts. It's the addiction speaking, listen instead to common sense (hard to in the middle of a craving, though!)

Some of the best advice I got was to wait 10 minutes, and see that the craving, while it may still be present, is a LOT less intense.

Also, going to the pub was tough. A friend (also an Allen Carr success story - 3 years and counting) suggested just going home as soon as I started feeling like a smoke. The first time I went I left after a pint. Second time (a couple of days later) the same story. Moved up to 2, then up to the normal amount (4 or 5 on a Friday). I needed to drink the normal Friday amount about 10 weeks in a row before I was comfortable in pubs, to be honest.

Also, steer clear of smokers. They like to see quitters fail (I've been guilty in this regard too).

I have a friend who quits regularly enough (about every year) and insists that smoking joints is fine. Then we have an argument with me saying 'you're just re-rolling a cigarette with pot in it! It's still a cigarette! And you now NEED to be stoned every day, often all day! Buy a pipe!' but it's no use. Addicts can very easily kid themselves.

Giving up nicotine means just that - no joints, patches, gum etc. As Allen Carr said, you have to completely starve the nicotine monster. Even a little keeps it alive. Get the withdrawal out of the way.

Someone mentioned mints. I found sucking a small square of chocolate and having a cuppa after a meal helped. Nice and relaxing, and the chocolate made me not want to smoke. Also found eating tangerines helped.

And taking up jogging a few times a week is a big help.

Also (and this really should be a clincher for you guys) but my er, 'firmness' in the sack was vastly improved. Took a couple of months to notice the difference but it completely turned me off cigarettes!

Even if I found the world was going to end in 6 months I wouldn't smoke. My last 6 months on earth feeling like sh*t, tired and irritable with c*ck-flop???

No thanks.

sideshowdave

floodzie,
a super post, i totally agree 100% with everything you said, four weeks and counting and i am still doing that ten minute thing, and f**k has it got so much easier to get through the day without feeling like im missing something. i thought that would never go away. already two of my friends have stopped because of my stopping. And i am very aware of smokers wanting you to fail "im also guilty of it" that has been toughest so far just staying clear for now.

Floodzie

Sideshowdave - good to hear you've succeeded! Took me about 8 months before I stopped thinking of them every day... sounds awful I know, but it is well worth it. Even the thought of smoking now makes me want to retch. More good advice from Allen Carr was not to set targets (6 months, 1 year etc) as you'll just go "hey, 6 months was easy!" and then light up! :-) Better to see it as a part of your life that's over now. See giving up as relaxing a muscle, not tensing it.

...and thank feck for the smoking ban (never ever thought I'd be saying that :-)

TheDeficit

Thanks to the Carr book, I haven't smoked in 18 months. I've been living in the US and haven't really been surrounded by smokers so it's helped, heading home on Friday and practically everyone I know smokes... I survived a 2 week trip home 12 months ago but this time I'll be there for a few months, a proper test.

benny

...... the first 6 months are the worst, you have to pace the floor and keep telling yourself you wont give in,I found I had to eat everytime I got a craving,I put on some weight but knocked it all off again when i had beaten the smelly things, every so often even now I get a craving but it only lasts seconds...SHEER willpower will do it, its hard but when you have them beaten its the best feeling.I think the worst time was when I dreamed i was smoking and woke up with the smell of the smoke in my nose I sooooooooooooooo wanted to go back on them there and then but I didnt!
Im off them 19 years now!

benny

...oops forgot to say..TELL yourself every day "I didnt smoke yesterday, I WONT smoke today ,I might tomorrow'

dangel

Hi all,
I believe you need a really good reason to give up smoking and for a lot of us simply saying that your health will be better just doesn't cut it. Some say that smokers have addictive personalities; once the smoking habit is gone another habit is ready to fill the void. Every smoker and ex-smoker has made a decision to take on board the habit of smoking and when you remove the cigarettes from your life choose another habit that will have positive repercussions. Cravings are easy to get beyond, the habit of your elbow bending towards your mouth with the space between your fingers filled, that’s the killer. We need an outside influence to give us that extra kick to leave the smokes behind. I read Allen Carrs ‘Easy Way To Give Up Smoking’ and when I got to the last chapter it told me to smoke my last cigarette now. I didn’t touch that book for two weeks. On the 25th September 2001 I eventually started the last chapter and lit up my last cigarette with two more in the box, finished the chapter and scrunched up the two cigarettes and never touched them again. It wasn’t easy and there was a bit of work involved, like the nights of broken sleep. I remember waking one night at 4am and standing over the toilet bowl and hawking up flem from th every bottom of my lungs that I had to bite through to spit it into the toilet. Avoiding friends that smoked (with their understanding) and getting through Christmas and New Year parties. I had a habit to replace the habit I was kicking, my wife gave birth to our first child in June 2001. My son Peter was my replacement habit. By the way I still get cravings.
With you in willpower.

JabberJaws

A friend of mine wanted to quit smoking, so he whitened his teeth. He was so amazed with how white his teeth got, he didn't want to ruin them again...so he gave up cigarettes. Do your teeth suffer extreme discolorment from smoking?

toiletduck

My mother is currently undergoing chemotherapy (not smoking related) but seeing that is really making me want to give up. I find it ok most of the time (sometimes will go a day or two without any) but after a hard night of work at the pub (I only do weekends) it's very difficult. Added to which a lot of my friends smoke. I'm thinking the best way is to set a date, let those close to you know about it and then go cold turkey? From anyones experience is that a good method.

Macy

Alan Carr clinic with me. Had tried patches, inhalers, gum before, but nothing worked. I suppose more of a consequence of the clinic, I now see why. That was 2 and a half years ago - still occasionally tempted (I'm not sure it'll ever be totally gone) but haven't made the jump to a full cig so far.

the dee

Hi everyone,

I had my last cigarette on Sunday at 6pm. I've been doing ok. I'm using nicotine patches but am still having some very powerful cravings. I was at a dinner party last night and had a few glasses of wine, also when I got out of bed this morning I nearly convinced myself to go to the shop and buy some, just to have one in the morning. Any one have any tips for beating these cravings?

Also, how long should I use the patches for? Am I just delaying worse cravings when I come off the patch?

ZENER

the dee wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I had my last cigarette on Sunday at 6pm. I've been doing ok. I'm using nicotine patches but am still having some very powerful cravings. I was at a dinner party last night and had a few glasses of wine, also when I got out of bed this morning I nearly convinced myself to go to the shop and buy some, just to have one in the morning. Any one have any tips for beating these cravings?

Also, how long should I use the patches for? Am I just delaying worse cravings when I come off the patch?

Firstly well done on taking the first step, it WILL get easier despite what you're feeling just now. Take it a day at a time and if things get really stressful just get out of that situation immediately and go somewhere else - maybe for a walk ? Bring a music player and a warm coat and take a stroll on the beach away from stressful people/situations.

Take your time, people will just have to learn that you are doing something that will benefit them in the long run so they'll just have to be patient.

Of course you can always come back here for moral support too !!

ZEN

worben

Hi all,

I've been wanting to quit (again) for ages now and decided to forget about waiting for "next Monday" or whatever and just stop now.
So in a fit of madness I've cut up all my cigarettes and thrown out my lighters.
I'm going to pop to the shop for some fruit to munch on if needed.

Hopefully it sticks this time.

Auldloon

worben wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been wanting to quit (again) for ages now and decided to forget about waiting for "next Monday" or whatever and just stop now.
So in a fit of madness I've cut up all my cigarettes and thrown out my lighters.
I'm going to pop to the shop for some fruit to munch on if needed.

Hopefully it sticks this time.

Hi worben
Good decision.How about a challenge just for the crack? I quit for the hundered time two weeks ago and havent touched one since:) My partner also quit in fact it was her idea. Were quiet competitive and have both agreed not to be the one to break if you know what i mean. So far so good and getting easier. Your welcome to join us if you think it would help?

cance

Trying again today, was off them from january to july then got hideously drunk and woke up with a packet in my pocket.

Cold turkey all the way as its the only way i find that works. Coffee is very lonely without its friend nicotine and i find myself with less work to do without going for a wee break every hour.

Any tips on surviving the nights out?

smilingeyerish

i did it for love. my boyfriend hated me smoking so i gave up.i know your supposed to do it for youself and that works best but i never wanted to give up until i met him. i just stopped one day, didnt think about them after that or even crave them.

gillyfromlyre

Alan Carr and about 20 consecutive attempts, main thing is not to get all cranky and self pitying when you can't instantly do it, you learn new ways of dealing with it each time, after a while you will know how best to do it. Not easy, 1 really crap month, but then your free, can't stand em now unless theres a bit of the happy stuff mixed in