Giving Up Smoking

Keith W

Keith W

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Well after 40-60 cigarettes a day for over 25 years I am finally giving up smoking.

I am not using any substitutes, I am doing it "cold turkey"

I would appreciate any encouragement & support you kind girls & guys of TP can give me.

Maybe I should write a diary blog on my quest to kick the weed?
 
Seriously, dont do it, i gave up almost 3 years ago and it was the worst thing i ever did, i piled on 3 stone and my health is terrible, my blood pressure is sky high for which im taking 10mg Ramipril daily (cough sweets).

Been advised for general well being to start again but i cant, it makes me physically sick which is apparently a long lasting side effect of the treatment i was on to stop, stopping was easy, getting on with life afterwards is the hard part.

Stopping interupts your immune system, it no longer produces loads of anti bodies to fight off the crap in your body from smoke

Dont do it
 
pop into tesco and buy some nicotine tablets, cold turkey is not the best thing to do.

i have been stopped over a year now and on the very rare occasion do i fancy a smoke.
 
Find some more physically engaging hobbies to distract yourself, climbing, cycling etc.

Could turkey may be tricky after that long, maybe step down to rollups first. They're cheaper, 'better' for you and take longer to make and get through so 40-60 won't be an option.
 
Good luck - just giving up with no props was the way for me as well 7 years ago after 25 years. Didn't miss it after 3 days and now would never contemplate one. Mind I did pile on the pounds ......
 
no disrespect intended Gary, but in this case you are the minority and a very low percentage, although i have put on about 2 stone I doubt your BP would be so high if you had not added 3 stone in weight.

I would rater be fat and wondering about dieting than stinking like an ash tray round my 11 month old.
 
Well done! I did it about 30 years ago, for me what helped was having a packet of cigs in my pocket at all times - then I never had the feeling that I didn't have one.
You won't look back if you keep to it, even though it might be a struggle at times - to encourage you consider this:-

  • The pure nicotine content of just one cigarette, injected into your vein, would kill you in about 80 secs.
  • The money you save will buy you a complete new kit of photo gear in next to no time.
  • Your family will see their husband/dad/grandad for longer.
  • You will save becoming a burden on the NHS through diseases such as heart failure, stroke and cancer.
  • You will be a more pleasant smelling person to be around.
 
Well done for you, I personally think that smoking is a terrible habit, disgusting infact. I wish you all the best and have no doubt that you will be fine cold turkey.

As for the comments about gaining weight, just simply stay focussed and don't eat to replace having a cigarette. Start to exercise aswell, you will feel much better and healthier.

Good luck.
 
Strangely enough after my first fag on my 2 hour journey back from a customer I put them away and have not had one this morning either,it may not last but I was always told to go for it when for no apparent reason you thought it was time.Hopefully now is the right time and I can start saving for that 70-200 f2.8.

But please no words of piety from non smokers if you have never smoked then you know nothing about quitting
 
Well Done mate I went from 40+ a day to 0 But with help, Here in Wales we have smoking cessation officers that help you through the procedd, with her help Patches and Lozenges I stopped,
The best thing I ever did, I actually hate the smell of fags now. Stick to it.
 
Good luck.

I quit around 7 years ago whenever I realised I was approaching a 20 a day habit. Cold turkey didn't work for me but nicotine gum really helped. Different methods work for different people. If you find cold turkey doesn't work then try something else, also your doctor might be able to give you some freebies like patches to help. Apparently I didn't smoke enough to qualify for freebies.
 
Best of luck Keith

A story from a few years ago: When I returned to the office from a fag break and went to speak to a non-smoking colleague, he would recoil and I just though that he was a typical anti smoker. A week after I gave up, another colleague returned from a fag break and came to talk to me......................I recoiled. I hadn't realised how much I stank! :puke: Also, within a couple of weeks, my breathing improved ten fold.

I also went the cold turkey route (although I was ill at the time and couldn't have taken a drag for the fist couple of days anyway) and I haven't wanted for a cigarette since and that was over 5 years ago after smoking 20-30 a day for 25 years. If you really want it, you will succeed.
 
I gave up last year with the help of the tablets. It was the best thing i have ever done. no it wasn't easy and still now there are a few time i think i would like onee but i won't.

One of the best things i found was join a gym and have little ramakins of fruit, every time i wasnted to smoke i had the fruit by the time i finished the craving had gone. and you don't have to put the weight on, i think that is more due to the fact you taste your food again.
 
I was smoking 20-30 a day but stopped 4 years ago.
I cut down the number of cigarettes smoked by 1 a week

So week 1 25, week 2 24 etc.

When I got down to under 10 I just stopped and have not gone back.
 
Stopped about 18yrs ago cold turkey just after my 3rd son was born. Started again 10yrs ago after a family catastrophe. Stopped again now for 3 months using lozenges so far so good.

Keep at it if I can do it anyone can but consider using a nicotine replacement just takes the edge off the worst bits

Steve
 
I'm now one month in and haven't touched one in that time. I also went the cold turkey route, and TBH it hasn't been that bad. The first week is hard, but it does get better after that.

I avoided as many of the situations where I'd normally smoke heavily (mainly the pub) for the first couple of weeks to give myself a fighting chance. Work was the hardest part as it gave me a break every hour or so, so I ended up still going out, but walking around the block rather than standing in the smoking area.

As with the others comments, find yourself some exercise to do; it will combat the inevitable weight gain (although I've only put on about 5lbs) and it generates endorphins which will cheer you up and stop you thinking about the cigs.

Get yourself a jar, and physically put the money into it each day that you would normally have spent on ciggarettes. That way you can physically see the other benefit of giving up.

Good luck with it, it's hard but I can already feel the benefits (y)
 
It must be almost 20 years since I had my last ciggy. IIRC, it was a budget that gave me the last push - a pack went up to £2.50 and I realised that I was paying for my own execution so I just stopped. Gave the last few in the pack to a colleague, binned the matches and... put on several stone (yes, food actually started tasting of something but it also gave my mouth something to do), got grumpy (ier) for a while etc.

Even now, if I'm enjoying a drink and am in the company of people smoking, I get the occasional craving but having lost both parents over the past 2 or 3 years to smoking related diseases, I'm finding it quite easy to resist those cravings, especially when I see the current cost of a packet of 20!
 
Buy this book and read it.

It worked on me and has worked on many of my friends.

Good luck!

By the way, you do not give up smoking, you STOP smoking. One implies you are making a sacrifice and "giving up" something that is good, the other puts you in charge and you have decided to do something positive.
 
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I also went cold turkey. Put the money you would have spent in a jar, and put it towards a new lens or something.
 
Good luck, I used Nrt to stop, couldn't have quit with out it.Still have some 2mg gum about due to cravings after 5 years, Though haven't used any for ages.

Your not only giving up Nicotine but also a habit,reducing the nicotine over a few weeks using Nrt helped me concentrate on quitting the habit first.Then reducing the Nrt as needed.
 
Good luck with this.
My dad woke up one morning and said to himself that he will not smoke another cigerette ever again. To this day, he hasn't and its all down to WILLPOWER.

Mind over matter is one of the bigger issue's I think.
 
Best of luck Keith.

I think the money in a jar is a superb motivation and you will have more togging kit in no time at all!
 
Hypnotherapy. My mother used it on me when I was ten. She said "If I ever catch you smoking I'll smack your arse so hard you won't be able to sit down for a week". Worked a treat.
 
I gave up 6 months ago, used patches for a day and then just realised I wasn't breaking the addiction so stopped them too. Haven't had one since.

To be honest it's not that difficult. If you want to stop you will. I really wish people would start saying how easy it is rather than conditioning people to believe that it's "more difficult than heroin" etc.
 
Many thanks everybody for your support and your own stories, I have found great encouragement in reading them.
 
niquitin actually had a really good forum but it seems to be down just now.

I found it quite beneficial to understand what was going on once I stopped. You've probably seen this but it's quite good :)

What happens when you quit?

20 minutes: Your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal

8 hours: Oxygen levels in your blood return to normal.

24 hours: Carbon monoxide has been eliminated from your body. Your lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris.

48 hours: There is no nicotine left in your body. Your ability to taste and smell is greatly improved.

72 hours: Breathing becomes easier. Your bronchial tubes begin to relax and your energy levels increase.

2-12 weeks: Circulation improves throughout the body, making walking and running a whole lot easier.

3-9 months: Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems get better as your lung function is increased by up to 10%.

5 years: Heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.

10 years: Risk of lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker. Risk of heart attack falls to same as someone who has never smoked.
 
I stopped 'cold turkey' about 6-7 years ago now. Keep to the same routine but cut out the fags. Ie, at work I still went on my smoking breaks with my mates but took a cuppa instead. When at home I would nip into the garden for a quick one, I'd do the same but take a cuppa instead. Once I'd decided to do it, I set a date and every day, and often, I told myself 'from that date I will be a non-smoker'.

As mention above too, make sure you make an effort now to do some exercise and watch your diet. I've put on about 3 stone since I stopped. I now go to the gym. I haven't lost any of the weight but my health and fitness has improved.

Very best of luck. Keep it up.
 
ShawWellPete said:
Buy this book and read it.

It worked on me and has worked on many of my friends.

Good luck!

By the way, you do not give up smoking, you STOP smoking. One implies you are making a sacrifice and "giving up" something that is good, the other puts you in charge and you have decided to do something positive.
Click to expand...

My husband got the audio books of Allen Carr and it worked for him. I was really surprised at how quickly he quit once he'd gone through the whole audio. I was actually a bit jealous of how easy it was for him after me struggling years earlier.
 
i had started the quitting process several times, i then found out we were having our 1st child and decided to quit for good. soon after that i watched my mother die in hospital after telling the staff to stop resuscitating her, i said i would never smoke again as cancer of the mouth was the cause of death.

mums been gone 13 months, Lucy was born 11 months ago, smoke free for 15 months and counting. its saved me a fiver a month as i smoked imported baccy and rolled my own :)
 
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14 days on high strength 24 hr pateches and nearly 8 years without a cig.

I smoked 60 rollups a day and couldn't start the day without 6 fags and 2 coffee's.

Still have the 2 coffees but no fags. Blood pressure gone up a tad but thats to do with the 3 stone I put on. My sticky blood has returned to normal. Sticky blood is caused by the excess carbon monoxide in fags making you generate more red blood cells to carry the oxygen. It's one of the effects most people don't here of but can cause strokes.

Would I ever smoke again, no flippin way. Do I ever fancy one, well yes every now and again.

Keep to it, it might take time for the body to recover from years of abuse but it's worth every little bad tempered minute of giving up.
 
dod said:
niquitin actually had a really good forum but it seems to be down just now.

I found it quite beneficial to understand what was going on once I stopped. You've probably seen this but it's quite good :)

What happens when you quit?

20 minutes: Your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal

8 hours: Oxygen levels in your blood return to normal.

24 hours: Carbon monoxide has been eliminated from your body. Your lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris.

48 hours: There is no nicotine left in your body. Your ability to taste and smell is greatly improved.

72 hours: Breathing becomes easier. Your bronchial tubes begin to relax and your energy levels increase.

2-12 weeks: Circulation improves throughout the body, making walking and running a whole lot easier.

3-9 months: Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems get better as your lung function is increased by up to 10%.

5 years: Heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.

10 years: Risk of lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker. Risk of heart attack falls to same as someone who has never smoked.
Click to expand...

dod said:
have a look in here Keith (y)

https://www.niquitin.co.uk/forums/default.asp
Click to expand...


Many thanks (y)

Well I am well into my first 48 hours of not smoking so all is good so far.
 
Gave up cold turkey 25 years ago. Had to keep a packet with me all the time though for about 3 months and after 12 months was still dreaming I had started again and waking up feeling guilty:wacky:

It doesn't matter what anyone says, you will only stop when you really want to.
 
All good to see people escaping from their smelly prisons. The Allen Carr book is well worth a read and does do a great job of putting your head in the right place.

Get your head right and you really can just stop smoking and not miss it one bit. :)
 
Yeah, yeah, I gave up loads of times - it got easier each time :).

Seriously, it's the best thing you can do, improve your health and save money, if any body made you that offer you'd bite their hand off !

Weight can be a problem, needs to be managed.
 
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