It can be done.......stick with it.

desper8hsewife

i love reading these success stories! well done to all! i quit myself, god, around 6 years ago now. twas being pregnant with my son made me quit and ive never looked back and hopefully never will. keep it up lads and well done! you ll feel so much healthier!

F5MWG

I am 10 weeks off the cigerettes today. I took Champix for the first 5 days but after reading up (And also starting to experience) the side effects I decided to give them a miss and go Cold Turkey. In the following days I read Allen Carr's EASYWAY to Stop Smoking and cannot reccommend it enough!! I would of been the first person to laugh at someone suggesting that reading a book can stop you smoking.. but it can! It gives you a whole new outlook on smoking. I still get small cravings here and there, and I know I am only one away from being back on them.. but so far so good! ;-)

Good Luck!

mig mag

Congrats F5MWG, and well done
It's definately one of the most important things to remember I think,
that we're always just one cigarette away from being smokers again.

I learned that the hard way again last week when after being off them for 5 days I smoked while out. BIG MISTAKE!! I smoked a little every day after that and then I had a Hypnotherapy Booster Session last Monday and haven't looked back since

Hopefully I won't make that mistake again!
Best of luck to everyone

unkymo

After smoking for 15 years, I'm now off them for 15 weeks! I had a terrible hangover and decided that I didn't want to smoke anymore and went cold turkey.

Obviously the first few days were the toughest and my method for giving them up was a bit unusual. Basically I moved back home and locked myself into my old room for a few days playing PlayStation and eating rubbish food.

My sister and her boyfriend have giving them up as well after seeing me give them up and they're both 10 weeks off them.

Best of luck to everyone trying to give them up.

New York

del88 wrote: »

gave up 12 years ago......30 a day.

Did you find it very hard to give up? I am on Day 3 now and having a really bad day. THe first and second day were actually not too bad but I know I am tired today and my mind is playing tricks with me telling me how much I want one, i was thinking of having one if I am still this bad tonight.

Let me know if it was very hard for you to give up and thanks in advance.

F5MWG

New York wrote: »

Did you find it very hard to give up? I am on Day 3 now and having a really bad day. THe first and second day were actually not too bad but I know I am tired today and my mind is playing tricks with me telling me how much I want one, i was thinking of having one if I am still this bad tonight.

Let me know if it was very hard for you to give up and thanks in advance.

Fare play on even getting this far! The first few days are the toughest, but once you get a few days down it gives you encouragement to soldier on! Your not giving up anything, your breaking free of it.
Also it sounds like your using the 'mind playing tricks' as an excuse to have one tonight! Just remember how much you would regret having it! Your there now saying how much you want a cigerette but when your having one you think ... How much you don't want to smoke! Bit of a paradox really! All mind games but the fact is you don't actually want a cigerette, it is just to feed the little nicotine monster in you! And if you feed him he will be hungry again 20 minutes later! A never ending cycle (An exspensive one too!). BUT if you don't feed him, your actually killing him off. After 21 days (which sounds like alot but it gets easier!) you rid yourself of the nicotine monster completely! And then its just psychological.

I am 10 weeks off them now and trust me ... You feel much better in the long run! More money... Run further (Well just a little!)... Clearer skin... Feel better ... No more coughing ... And when you smell a smoke filled room or the scent of a person who has just had a cigerette you realise just how disgusting the habit really is!!

Good Luck with it!

New York

Thank you for the wise words. I printed your message off before I left the office and read it 3 times and then realised that it stopped me thinking about having a cigarette. I went for a walk instead!! To be honest one of my main reasons to give up was because I couldn't run anymore and when I saw that you said you can run further now - that was all I needed to hear. Thanks again and may I say congratulations to you!!! Well done - 10 weeks is fantastic. :cool:
You are right about the nicotine just wanting another one after 20 mins so it is like a vicious cycle. I will bear that in mind next time I think that i really want one. One is never enough, thats the problem.
Thats really interestng about the 21 days, I didn't realise that. I will keep that in mind and the fact that you feel much better after 10 weeks. I do notice that my cough is lighter already which is pretty amazing after 3 days.
Bring on Day 4 and thank you.:)

Ticktactoe

New York wrote: »

Thank you for the wise words. I printed your message off before I left the office and read it 3 times and then realised that it stopped me thinking about having a cigarette. I went for a walk instead!! To be honest one of my main reasons to give up was because I couldn't run anymore and when I saw that you said you can run further now - that was all I needed to hear. Thanks again and may I say congratulations to you!!! Well done - 10 weeks is fantastic. :cool:
You are right about the nicotine just wanting another one after 20 mins so it is like a vicious cycle. I will bear that in mind next time I think that i really want one. One is never enough, thats the problem.
Thats really interestng about the 21 days, I didn't realise that. I will keep that in mind and the fact that you feel much better after 10 weeks. I do notice that my cough is lighter already which is pretty amazing after 3 days.
Bring on Day 4 and thank you.:)

Well done New York. A lot of people find it hard after the first two or three days to stay of the ciggs. You really have to get tough with yourself and say no while thinking of all the crap you inhale from a cigg and how you can feel it in your chest - it helps me to think of the negitive things when i get a craving.

The cravings may be every 20 mins now but after the first week it maybe every hour or two and after a month it maybe once every day. Each day is a milestone so keep it up! And well done.

New York

Thanks Ticktactoe. I am going to take your advice and get stronger. Day 4 started hard but a little easier now. Coffee helps me greatly
I made a list of the pros and cons and ad to the pros each morning and that makes me feel good!

I like the advice about never say 'I gave up' instead say 'I stopped smoking', the difference is incredible, so much power in the second statment.

That is interesting about the cravings and I really look forward to week 3 or so when they do get less. But the funny thing is cravings are bad and you come to expect that but the mind is just unbelivable the way it trys to fool u!
Thanks again and you keep up the good work!

ceduffy

its so worth it 5 weeks off them now and feeling great not easy though but well worth it in the end

New York

HI Ceduffy, It is very hard I have to say. I think the mind is quite powerful the way it keeps making you feel that you are missing out - big time! And I know we are not but amazing the way the mind works.

Did it take long for you to go to pubs etc to be around smoke?

New York

Hi F5MWG
Still off the smokes, found Day 5 a killer!! But weekend is here so going to keep busy. I seem to be thinking about smoking a lot which crazy! I am not going near a pub for the moment, too easy to give in me thinks! Good luck going into your 11th week!

Ticktactoe

New York wrote: »

Hi F5MWG
Still off the smokes, found Day 5 a killer!! But weekend is here so going to keep busy. I seem to be thinking about smoking a lot which crazy! I am not going near a pub for the moment, too easy to give in me thinks! Good luck going into your 11th week!

Its amazing the way you will you think about cigs the whole time - eat, sleep, drink, add breaks on tele, leaving the house, driving, doing housework... i found i was thinking about them the whole time. However, the more days that passed the more I found I wasn't thinking about them all the time - it was amazing and was shocked when I could say to myself 'Im not thinking about having a cig now'. It felt good.

I went to the pubs on my third weekend of been off them. I gave myself no option when it came to thinking about smoking, it was simply a no. Discipline is the key - I think of it like teaching a child the word 'No' - you have to be tough!

New York

You are so right, think about it a lot!! I think I might venture out this weekend but take it easy otherwise I am a gonner!! Discipline is really the name of the game isn’t it. I do found myself thinking of how many cigarettes would I have smoked and so far it is approx 200 which makes me determined to keep going!

That’s great that don’t think of them that much at all, good for you J

JuliusCaesar

EI111 wrote: »

When I quit i drank 4 cans for the first three nights off the cigs, because my enthusiasm was so high at the start i figured i could do it.
I think it helped as i got used to having a few drinks with no cigs at the start.
Different strokes for different folks though.

Me too! I was so afraid that I'd associate alcohol (not cans in my case!) with cigarettes that I drank MORE than I usually would. Now I'd better cut down on the drinking

(Day 30 today - no patches or ecigs, just decided to stop.) I smoked about 18 a day, so I've saved €219 so far. And I do notice I've more money in my pocket, and that I go to the shops less often - so I don't buy the silly stuff I'd get just because I was there.

New York

Thats great, day 30 is excellent. Well done. I find the exact same thing, I usually go into the shops and end up buying lots of goodies so I do notice the difference however I should really put the money away like you did. Best of luck over the next few days. I am off them 2 weeks and one day!

Miss_Ellie

Well, I did it.
I had my one year anniversary on June 7th!!

I swear, if someone had told me that 14 months ago I would have thought - 'yeah, I wish, but it won't happen to me, I've got NO willpower!!'.
But I've done it and I'm very pleased with myself.

I still have moments that I would chew my arm off to have a puff. But I now know that is only a craving and will pass once I distract myself - even for a short while.

I have listened to and got advice from pals who have successfully (and sometimes not successfully) quit. There are the ones who help you along....who assure you it can be done and who know how tough it can be.

But it does get easier. SO much easier.
And, at some stage, not smoking is as much of a habit as smoking was!!!

Ticktactoe

Miss_Ellie wrote: »

Well, I did it.
I had my one year anniversary on June 7th!!

I swear, if someone had told me that 14 months ago I would have thought - 'yeah, I wish, but it won't happen to me, I've got NO willpower!!'.
But I've done it and I'm very pleased with myself.

I still have moments that I would chew my arm off to have a puff. But I now know that is only a craving and will pass once I distract myself - even for a short while.

I have listened to and got advice from pals who have successfully (and sometimes not successfully) quit. There are the ones who help you along....who assure you it can be done and who know how tough it can be.

But it does get easier. SO much easier.
And, at some stage, not smoking is as much of a habit as smoking was!!!

Well done, that is some achievement indeed! Im looking forward to the day that I can say I am 1 year off the cigs. I have a good bit to go yet, but am getting there.

I agree completely with what you said in relation to the fact that is does get easier. Im four months off the cigs and it is a lot easier to get through the day without the physical and mental torture of trying to convince myself not to have a smoke. That alone was extremely draining! But i dont give it a second thought now.

I do get the odd times alright when i would do anything for a cig but it is another craving and thats where the self discipline comes back into action!

Again, well done. Its great to hear success stories!

Ticktactoe

Weird thing crossed my mind today.... and im convinced again that my mind is playing tricks on me so that I will smoke..... I basically was thinking of how I was going to leave this world and thought that if I knew how i was going to die and it was nothing to do with my health then I could be smoking my lungs out until the time came! The power of the mind is lethal!!

F5MWG

6 months off them!! :eek: Going strong.

How are you getting on New York?

New York

Dear F5MWG, that is TERRIFIC news... great work. I am delighted to hear that.
I am off them 19 weeks, nearly 5 months - WOWEEE! Still can't believe it. I am going on holidays this week so I need to be very careful and keep the faith.

Great to hear you are off them 6 months....

I wonder how everyone else is going on???

New York

Miss Ellie,

I just wanted to say congratulations...

I think your few words are great. Well done to you. I hope you did someting nice for yourself or celebrated in some shape or style.

F5MWG

Go US!! lol


Yeah its good to hear success stories! Also good for people in the early day's to read for motivation!

New York

Hear hear! Go us!!

Well for anyone in the first few days - DON'T LET ANYTHING HOLD YOU BACK. It seriously is one of the best things I've ever did. Good luck everyone and well done to everyone who are still off the cigarettes

New York

Off the Smokes 6 months now so it can DEF be done!!! Well done to everyone for staying off them. Does anyone find it hard to shift those unwanted pounds?! BEST OF LUCK EVERYONE !!

Sasquatch76

New York wrote: »

Off the Smokes 6 months now so it can DEF be done!!! Well done to everyone for staying off them. Does anyone find it hard to shift those unwanted pounds?! BEST OF LUCK EVERYONE !!

Fair play! Have my 6 month anniversary next month, and looking forward to it. I personally needed to drop a few pounds before I quit, so the few I put on after quitting didn't make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things.

F5MWG

Well Done New York!! Still going strong I see! ;-)

I am 3 weeks away from 1 year off the cigerettes!

I know what you mean about the few pounds, I have been running to counter act it. Not going too bad recently either.

Actually, if you wanted to get into running I definately reccommend you check out this link:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k-plan.aspx

It is called "Couch 2 5K", and it is actually handy enough once you follow the plan. If your using it, make sure you download the podcasts, there free and you listen to them when you are running. That way you know when to run/walk etc. Basically after 9 weeks you will be able to run 5K direct! I am just starting week 5 of it, and can really feel the difference! D-)

Ticktactoe

1 year yessterday.
Sometimes i wonder is it worth it! but i know it is

Mountjoy Mugger

I gave them up 117 days ago, according to www.giveupsmoking.ie and have saved €1006.20 - another 248 days and I can get a reduced rate on my mortgage protection premium