wanna quit smoking...

mewso

jazzlewazzle wrote: »

hi,

so whats the story with the e cigarette?
Do you plan to rely on it as a substitute for ever?
are there -ve health side effects from it? etc..

I did the quick guide in the end - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055796757

I think I answered your questions there but to repeat my thinking on them was they are much much safer than the real thing. We smokers are happy smoking things that contain stuff we never heard of. You can research whats in e-cigs very easily. If I ended up vaping e-cigs for the rest of my life I am convinced I will be immeasurably better off than if I continued smoking the real thing. It's a personal decision at the end of the day. I think we are all different and different things work for each of us.

busybibi

Botom line is if you are not giving up because you want to and have a little thought at the back of your mind that i can always smoke again then you won,t succeed. December 2003 i finally became a non smoker and in those two words lies a clue if you tell yourself that you are giving up you make it sound like a big sacrifice on your part if you tell yourself that your are going to be a non smoker its a little way to fool ourselves but it does work. I decided 3 months before on a date and kept to it , the hardest part was the lead up to the day but when it came i have never looked back, you can try any amount of aids to help but if its not what you really want nothing will help it has to come from you.

sporina

hi all, I heard on the radio that boots are doing a 12 week support program to help those who wanna give up the ciggies - and its free. I assume this in in conjunction with Nicorrette or some pharmaceutical co - anyone know anything about it?

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

sporina

ok, OP here.

i am ashamed to say, that I am only now getting around to paving the path to becoming a non smoker.
My plan has always been "as soon as I finish this book, then I will start my Alan Carr book". Hmm, about 50 books later, I finished my latest book last night. And so tonight I am going to start Alan Carr - the book I read when I gave then up initially.

I have a mixture of feelings - to be honest, in my head I do not seem to be in the right place to stop - but I have waited long enough. I know all the facts about the harm smoking does to our bodies (i work in a hospital by the way, so i see it everyday I work). I know how much it costs in every way. The shame of smoking is also a bit reason to give up - it is such a bad habit - and nowadays its embarrassing. I was at a wedding recently where there were few smokers and I felt like I had leprosy.

So folks, who have given up - please give me some good vibes towards quitting.
Oh and also, as I said before, I am more of a psychological smoker - but should I get patches? TBH I do not think they will do me any good, but maybe it would be no harm to have them just in case?

sporina

Ok - i see I started this thread in 2009 - and here I am in 2012 - still a smoker.
Well, I started reading the Alan Carr easy way to stop smoking book there about 6 weeks ago and this time around (read it in 2004 and I stopped smoking for 2 years, a crisis triggered the relapse) it has had no effect on me.
So I have myself a prescription for patches and I have set the date for Monday 16th!!!

I am soo nervous about it.
I suffer from depression and anxiety which is what I think has prevented me from trying to give them up.
But it has to be done - I hate that I smoke. I want to be free.

I am worried about all the associations I have with cigarettes; I smoke when I get up, after breakfast, before I was the dishes, before and after everything.
Any tips??????

I have read lots of stuff on the net but it would be great to get some active advise!!

thanks. S

mewso

If the thread tells me anything it's that different things work for different people. I'm no expert on the patches but I would suggest you'll need support while you are using them for them to be effective so have people around you can moan to or keep posting in this thread.

username123

sporina wrote: »

I am worried about all the associations I have with cigarettes; I smoke when I get up, after breakfast, before I was the dishes, before and after everything.
Any tips??????

Yeah I was worried about that too, but the way I looked at it was this - There are places I used to associate with smoking, like bars and restaurants, that are no longer places where someone can smoke - so associations can be broken right?

And I dont remember it being hugely traumatic not to be able to smoke in bars and restaurants (and other places like peoples houses, my own home, peoples cars etc...). So its not going to be hugely traumatic to break the everyday associations with smoking.

Then I discovered (Im Day 10 now), that your brain simply gets bored/sick of thinking about smoking after a few days, you simply dont keep obsessing on it, you go on to think about other things so the associations are less important than they were. You are making new associations each smoke free day. Plus you are setting up a positive feedback loop where you know that every single day, if you survived not smoking the previous day, you can do it again today. And it just gets less hard.

From my own experience, thinking about giving up was 100 million times worse than actually giving up. I thought about it for years. I did the hard part in days. And it wasnt as hard as I thought itd be.

Feck the depression and anxiety, the smoking isnt making that any better anyway, smoking raises your heart rate!!! Thats only an excuse not to stop, your brain playing tricks on you!!

You can do it.

locater7

was on champix for a week,was planning on quitting after i stopped last year for 3 days after getting tooth pulled.never ever considered quitting before.
last sunday decided was day and also stopped the champix--to many lousy side affects
honestly the preamble and the momentary cravings are hard!!
read the carr book-get your head right-know what your doing is right and then do it-pick your day and do it

sporina

thanks for the replies.

I have picked a day - its gonna be next monday. I am actually looking forward to it. Sick of being a slave to the fag. I have read the carr book - it worked for me years ago, read it again and it did not seem to have any impact, but there is stuff I read in the book circling around my head so i guess it will help.

I was thinking of creating a quit log, like another poster here - but I am not sure - I will see how I go. That could be a bad idea - I do not want to give it that much time - making it that significant - although it really is - i have been smoking for 15 yrs, on and off. I'll see - I might just post here the odd time.

sporina

username123 wrote: »

Yeah I was worried about that too, but the way I looked at it was this - There are places I used to associate with smoking, like bars and restaurants, that are no longer places where someone can smoke - so associations can be broken right?

And I dont remember it being hugely traumatic not to be able to smoke in bars and restaurants (and other places like peoples houses, my own home, peoples cars etc...). So its not going to be hugely traumatic to break the everyday associations with smoking.

Then I discovered (Im Day 10 now), that your brain simply gets bored/sick of thinking about smoking after a few days, you simply dont keep obsessing on it, you go on to think about other things so the associations are less important than they were. You are making new associations each smoke free day. Plus you are setting up a positive feedback loop where you know that every single day, if you survived not smoking the previous day, you can do it again today. And it just gets less hard.

From my own experience, thinking about giving up was 100 million times worse than actually giving up. I thought about it for years. I did the hard part in days. And it wasnt as hard as I thought itd be.

Feck the depression and anxiety, the smoking isnt making that any better anyway, smoking raises your heart rate!!! Thats only an excuse not to stop, your brain playing tricks on you!!

You can do it.

I am actually going to read this post for support - Monday is deliverance day!!!

username123

sporina wrote: »

I am actually going to read this post for support - Monday is deliverance day!!!

lol, Ill be checking in here to see how youre doing!!

For me, the dread of doing it was so much worse than doing it, it was a relief when D Day finally came and I could just get on with it.

Im Day 12 now, and really, I am barely thinking about cigarettes at all anymore. The odd time I think, oh I used to always smoke in the car - but its more a nostalgic thought than a craving thought if you know what I mean?

I still havent told people. Only my husband knows and 1 friend (who was also supposed to quit but didnt). Im kinda holding off to tell - just in case

Try not to be worrying about quitting, dont let it take over your weekend. You'll be totally grand doing it.

sporina

username123 wrote: »

lol, Ill be checking in here to see how youre doing!!

For me, the dread of doing it was so much worse than doing it, it was a relief when D Day finally came and I could just get on with it.

Im Day 12 now, and really, I am barely thinking about cigarettes at all anymore. The odd time I think, oh I used to always smoke in the car - but its more a nostalgic thought than a craving thought if you know what I mean?

I still havent told people. Only my husband knows and 1 friend (who was also supposed to quit but didnt). Im kinda holding off to tell - just in case

Try not to be worrying about quitting, dont let it take over your weekend. You'll be totally grand doing it.

lol - thanks for your reply. It has been the fear of failure (you see, carr there again) that has prevented me from trying to quit!
Great that you are getting on so well and yes perhaps we can encourage one another.

staker

Hi Sporina, I too like you read the Easyway and quit for 8 years. Back on them since mid December and disgusted with myself.
I'm reading the book again but have no confidence in it at all, I just can't forget that Allen Carr eventually died of lung cancer himself.
Stupid way to think I know.
I'm just hoping I can pick one thing out of it and hold onto that.

sporina

read this on a website and think it could be very useful for me when I get a craving - maybe for others on here too:

"Cravings to smoke are not commands. How you choose to react to a craving can either increase or decrease its power over you. Try a little reverse psychology - instead of tensing up for a fight when the urge to smoke hits, relax and mentally lean into it. Let the craving wash over you, and accept it as a sign of healing, which is just what it is. The urge will run its course and pass. Practice makes perfect with this technique. You'll get the hang of it and will find it empowering"