Reply With QuoteEvery time you smoke think about all the smokers you know who have teeth problems.
dunk
Every time you are about to smoke, think about them sitting on your hospital bed while you try to explain that you won't be coming home.. ever. All because the cigarette now in your hand was the one that turned on the cancer.Originally Posted by Gilly
Good point well made
^ This should be enough inspiration for you. It is what worked for me, along with an ongoing addiction to nicotine gum.
he and his two sisters are all i think about when smoking....must quit
Selfish bastard, pack it in.
Have a nice day :wink:
Gray
Every time you smoke think about all the smokers you know who have teeth problems.
dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
I was taken ill and spent 3 weeks in bed. That got me over the addiction hump, so I didn't start again.
12 years off 'em now.
This is how I stopped as well. Totally unable to smoke for two weeks. Then it felt a waste to start again. GOOD LUCK! Best choice you can make.
well, for anyone that's interested, I haven't had a proper cig for two days now. quite honestly i think every smoker owes it to themselves and those around them to try these ecigs out,..now i am used to it it is quite simply the best purchase i have made.
bit early to declare victory yet but its a good start
Good on you mate, keep it up, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose! Two years to the day since I gave up.
Well done, I know it's hard but each day without a cig gives you inspiration for the next day.
Keep it up.
Alan Carrs "easy way to stop smoking". I hate reading books but I read this in the 3 days before my 30th Birthday and haven't smoked for a near decade since.
Well done on stopping and keep it going!
Awesome work. Seriously.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
ve given up smoking 5 times, Im now hopefully of the fags for good (7 years clean). I gave up by only buying the cigarettes that I really hated - in my case it was the French strong things. Plus I started exercising on a regular basis and before you knew my lungs started to shift some really horrid stuff. The outcome was that I couldnt exercise and smoke as it was just to hard. So the fags had to go, and now society really is against smoking so no cool factor attached to it anymore!! :mrgreen:
I stopped over 12 years ago the way i stopped was i would,nt put a cigarette to my mouth any more .
Hypnosis, £150, 1 session of 1 and a half hours. Chain smoked 5 fags on the way there, never touched one since. Was a heavy smoker of 14 years up to that point and had attempted many times to give up with little success.
Just decided to do it one day, threw out any of my cigarettes and that was it. Don't really believe too much in to many of the methods and products. Cold turkey!
This has been a very educational thread!, and the generosity of 'Digger' has humbled me.
This gentleman has sent me a box of patches, along with some sweets, and chewing gum, and his best wishes.
I now owe it to him, myself, and everyone here, to quit!
I will keep an update of progress, for anyone interested, and thank you all again, for the added inspiration!
Warmest regards to my fellow Wis's, Ian.
Whilst the patches work for many (as do the gum, lozenges and other replacements) one of the key things I found was to realise when I was in a situation when I would normally want to light up and either get myself out of it or to really focus on not smoking. I went from three packs a day (a very expensive habit in the UK) to zero overnight - that was over two years ago and I have not had so much as a drag on a cigarette since quitting. Everyone has a different system for giving up and some ascribe their success to certain methods but the basic fact is that the smoker has to want to quit and if they stay focussed on that and out of high-temptation situations then the odds are good for them.
I wish you every luck and if I can manage it then I have no doubts that you can!
Well done mate - keep it up!
Gray
This is what you and your other half could end up with if you continue smoking ...
dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
I found it helped to play a little trick on myself. When I felt the craving I'd think "I can have one later but I won't have one right now", and it seemed to work. It also helped to remind myself exactly why I wanted to stop, painful death, expense etc.
Glad I did give up, two of my friends died recently from lung cancer. They were both went bravely but the effect on the families was pretty bad.
My father in law quit smoking around 30 years ago - I quite enjoyed his story so I'll share it here.
His 3 daughters used to hate him smoking and used to nag him to stop - which had no effect whatsoever. One day at work, he had a new trainee working with him. This young man asked to look at the pack of cigarettes and promptly threw them away saying they were a unhealthy habit! My father in law was stunned and more than a little miffed at the cheek. He couldn't go out and buy another pack till the end of the day.
Went home in the evening and the same trainee showed up 15min later with a big box of sweets. When the family asked why, he said it was to celebrate him giving up smoking. At this point, my father in law could have been really annoyed but he decided to give it a shot and never smoked again.
Nice story, for how long was the trainee unemployed after that day? :D
Regards,
Al
I did three weeks on patches then two days on one of those sprays. After that I didn't really need anything. I've been 86 days without a fag now. Bought eight watches instead :)
Hypnosis, 1 session of an hour and a half and £150......chain smoked 5 cigs on the way there, still got the other 5 cigs of the 10 pack. Never touched a cigarette again and this was 5 years ago now. Was a 20 a day'er leading up to that, for 14 years. Recommended the hypnosis to a few people and all have given up. Best £150 i ever spent. :D
patches with the spray,lost interest in the spray and lost interest in the patches two and a half weeks in,been stopped over ten weeks now,ive put a few pounds on but ill sort that out soon,to anyone thinking about it just do it,you will stop if your ready for it.i was sick of smoking.
I tried patches, inhalator, gum and some slight willpower but none worked. Then I took a course of champix, took it for 2 weeks while still smoking then just stopped smoking! Absolutely no willpower required. The champix blocks the smoking receptors which make you want a fag. You carry on for about 12 more weeks with the tablets, at the end I was forgetting to take the tablets and never smoked again!
cold turkey on 31/12/11.
Been good since, although I have smoked a few cigars and sheesha. I'm giving up sheesha for good too now and will keep smoking cigars down to no more than 2 per months. Quality cigars, mind.
I really think this is THE best advice. I will never smoke another again. I don't drink any more either since my last birthday - it really is just a matter of allowing yourself to say no thanks.:roll: thanks, no really, thanks!
It's just a matter of time...
Using other means of lighting tobacco and smoking it doesn't really sound like Cold Turkey to me, but good luck all the same.
I am currently about four months through my latest giving up stint, starting with gum, which I knocked on the head mid-March so have been entirely nicotine-free since then. So far so good, though have had a few moments this weekend when I could have gone a bit mentalist, hoping that phase will pass!
Good advice, that was my technique over 15 years ago and I haven't had a cigarette since.
When I had a medical check up to get a mortgage many years ago I asked my now retired doctor if he had any advice for giving up smoking. His response was patches, gums and all the other aids won't help at all unless you really want to give up. Will power is your greatest aid and no substitute will ever replace it.
This was from a man who was a chain smoker for many years and during the 40/50's actively encouraged his patients with a nervous disposition to take up smoking as a way to relax. Those were the days :lol:
Cheers,
Gary
Anyone who thinks that smoking helps people relax is probably ill-informed. Nicotine causes an adrenalin rush which in normal circumstances prepares the body for exertion rather than relaxation - and it is the adrenalin rush to which smokers become addicted making them crave for a fag.Good advice, that was my technique over 15 years ago and I haven't had a cigarette since.
When I had a medical check up to get a mortgage many years ago I asked my now retired doctor if he had any advice for giving up smoking. His response was patches, gums and all the other aids won't help at all unless you really want to give up. Will power is your greatest aid and no substitute will ever replace it.
This was from a man who was a chain smoker for many years and during the 40/50's actively encouraged his patients with a nervous disposition to take up smoking as a way to relax. Those were the days :lol:
Cheers,
Gary
dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
Interesting perspective Gary - my mum (now in her 70's) was advised by her doctor that smoking would help to loose weight!.Good advice, that was my technique over 15 years ago and I haven't had a cigarette since.
When I had a medical check up to get a mortgage many years ago I asked my now retired doctor if he had any advice for giving up smoking. His response was patches, gums and all the other aids won't help at all unless you really want to give up. Will power is your greatest aid and no substitute will ever replace it.
This was from a man who was a chain smoker for many years and during the 40/50's actively encouraged his patients with a nervous disposition to take up smoking as a way to relax. Those were the days :lol:
Cheers,
Gary
As for the radium suppositories.... :roll:
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
It seems to me that the reason that people give up and the way they do it is personal to them. There's no one way of doing it that works for everyone, in a way you've got to find your own way. I gave up six years ago after successive bouts of ever worsening bronchitis. During the final bout I spent three weeks coughing so much that I barely physically breathe let alone smoke. After three weeks abstinence it felt like I'd done the hard bit and haven't touched one since.
Well actually that's not true. I had a slight difference of opinion with my partner, stormed off in high dudgeon and went for a long drive. Decided I would have a cup of tea and a smoke and bought 10 Marlborough. I couldn't physically smoke - at least not in the way that I could before. So that's a bit of a boon, if you do go back its like you have to retrain your body to smoke which acts as a sort of barrier to just going back.
For me the real difference is deciding that you will stop. Everything else is a form of procrastination which makes it almost inevitable that you won't succeed. Not being able to smoke anywhere makes it a lot easier to stop. Since stopping I've noticed smoke on other people more than I ever thought I would. My partner's father smokes like a trooper and I can smell the smoke from his van at the end of our driveway.
willpower i used to smoke 20 a day and back in 1997 decided to stop i bought some gum but i thimk its more in your head that that is working :|
Will power is all it takes....
Me and Mrs SPEEDY played at giving up smoking times , The one time we both actually
wanted to give up we did...
We was both 20 a day smokers , that was 12 years ago now.
No patches , No gum , No kidding yourself just STOP.
If you keep telling yourself you will stop smoking on a certain future date you will be able to quit ... just keep repeating to yourself every day that you will quit on that particular day and reinforce your willpower to do so by telling yourself repeatedly just why you want to quit . The repeated suggestions to yourself work like self hypnosis and when the chosen day arrives you will be able to stop smoking ... forever and ever ... and put at least ten years onto your life.
And the best part of it will be that you will not only stop smoking but you will also stop smelling like an old ash tray to other people who have better senses of smell than you.
dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
I tried and failed for many years to give up.
My mother (RIP) was a Health Visitor and gave classes called "Smoke Stop"
She got me to try everything - and I mean everything (except hypnosis - I don't know why).
Finally, I tried the "big one" - only for the very sick or the very desperate -
Simply smoke end to end untill you're sick, and then carry on until you're sick again.
You have to light each successive cig from the last - you only need a match for the first.
For health reasons, I also had a heart rate monitor and BP cuff monitor attached.
After the third vomit intothe sink, (BP/HR don't even ask !) I stopped.
Only to light up again fifteen minutes later, still feeling very very ill.
I was very addicted to Nicoteine - getting up in the night addicted, I mean.
Some years later, my four year old daughter told me to give up - and I just did.
And that was over two years ago.
I no longer have asthma.
I have saved just over £8k so far.
Shame about the watch addiction though - I might have been rich otherwise : )
It’s been 3 months since I quit smoking ciggies, I had been smoking since I was about 20 years old and I’m turning 40 this year.
Part of me gave up because I was turning 40 and I always said to myself that I didn’t want to be doing this $h1t when I’m 40, whilst another part of me genuinely grew bored with smoking and fed-up with the blackmail of it all.
Smoking really did feel like blackmail, I couldn’t be without a packet of ciggies or else I would start panicking, I would be stopping on my way to and from work to top up on the smokes. The thought of running out of cigarettes gave me genuine concerns.
If I had a long business meeting scheduled I would ensure I had a ciggie just before the meeting started so that I could “last through it”.
I have been travelling to the States a lot in recent years, major hard work doing a long haul flight without smoking, I would find myself doing crazy things like rushing to be able to go through security and then coming back through security at the connecting destinations before continuing on my journey..all for a smoke!
If i went out with just me and the wife I was regularly leaving her on her own in the pub or restaurant whilst I went out for a smoke. Really antisocial behaviour.
I was being completely blackmailed by these stupid things, my life revolved around the damn things. I’m an intelligent and extremely strong willed individual in every other aspect of my life, but cigarettes had total control over me.
For me it was will power combined e-ciagarettes that provided the real turning point, these helped me get down to approx 3 a day over a couple of weeks to then stopping one evening and not bothering to start again the next morning.
As Socrates wrote in his post
“ But the major pluses for me are: I don’t ever need to worry about when I'm getting my next fag, and that's big”
Good luck to all those trying to give up.
After 20 Marlboro a day for 15 years, I just stopped buying them.
I smoked since I was 15, a week before my 28th birthday I chucked all my cigarettes, lighters etc in the bin and quit nearly 2 years now and I have not given in or looked back.
The realisation that :
1) I had watched my father die in his hospital bed from heart/respiratory disease - it was a horrible way to die - he drowned in his own lung fluids after years of heavy smoking and chronic coughing.
2) My father's two brothers also died from smoking related diseases.
3) Some of my own health issues were directly attributable to smoking.
4) I was weary of the smell of my own shirts especially after concentrated smoking sessions.
5) I was spending (in today's values) over £15 per day on fags - all money going up in smoke.
6) I was witnessing the symptoms of emphysema in friends and colleagues who had been long term smokers and I did not want to end up like them - they were often fighting for breath and unable to walk more than a few hundred yards.
7) My own sister-in-law had suffered repeated respiratory illnesses including pneumonia and pleurisy - she eventually died from cancer. She had been a heavy smoker.
8 ) Other heavy smokers who invariably had a cigarette hanging from their mouths looked rather silly - their whole personas were cigarette orientated - they could not function without a cigarette.
9) I became more aware of the risks of contracting oral and throat cancer as well as lung diseases. I lost my voice at one stage and when hospitalised ref same after the discovery of a cyst in my throat, I witnessed the aftermath of a smoker who had contracted cancer in his tongue.
10) I was wasting considerable amounts of time every day smoking.
11) Other people I knew had succeeded in quitting the habit - so if they could quit then so could I - I was just as capable as them. Smoking is not an irreversible habit.
12 I needed to free myself from the nicotine habit and improve my health, wealth, fitness and peace of mind.
After meditating on the above I chose a day on which to quit - then for several weeks prior to that day convinced myself daily that I would succeed in giving up the habit.
I succeeded in quitting on Boxing Day 1991 - my finest achievement.
Anyone who wants to quit can probably draw up a similar list of reasons why they need to stop smoking. Reading the list daily can reinforce your potential ability to quit the habit.
dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
I havent stoped smoking yet. I know I should, but when friends and co-workers ask me about it, I always just smile and say "Winners never quit". I really should stop, been smoking for nine years now, and the negative sides of smoking just becomes more and more apparent for every day that goes by.
I guess, you could always try the swedes favourite nicotine product, Snus.
I tried for 3-4 years, constantly trying to quit cold turkey and always going back after a few days. Then I got ill and was laid up in bed for 5 days and didn't smoke (my wife was a non smoker so I never smoked indoors).
Having got through cold turkey by accident I stuck with it. I turned to hard exercise to get chemical buzz, which also helped me recognise the health benefits of quitting faster than usual.
I think the numerous times I'd tried to quit before may have helped lower my dependence on nicotine as I'd gone a few days most months without, but ultimately it was will power, exercise and having a safe place where I couldn't smoke (home) that did it for me.
That was 15 years ago and I've never slipped up. After about 6 months I didn't even have cravings so it's been pretty plain sailing since then.
I packed in about 10 years ago (third try) using nicotine chewing gum and still chew it, it costs me approx. 20 quid a week but it's better than smoking. My brother in law used to smoke 'til last friday when he had a heart attack, two stents later and he seems o/k but I'm not sure if he can continue to manage without smoking. :roll:
Went to boarding school and all the big boys nicked my fags.
Probably a bit late to use this method for most people on here, though
I started smoking in 1979 when my parents split up. I was 11. By the time I was 14 I was on 10 a day. By 17 I was on 20 a day and by 20 perhaps 40 a day.
In 1992, my mother was diagnosed with emphysema, and in 2003 aged 57 she succumbed to the disease.
On my way home from her funeral, in the early July, I promised my wife I would stop by the end of the year. I didn't. I had tried several times in the past with half arsed attempts, you know, patches, cold turkey, hypnotherapy, but really my heart wasn't in it. In January 2004, I tried again, with patches and failed. But this time I realised, that the only person I was cheating was me, so I went to my GP's smoking clinic and enlisted their help.
The nurse was very helpful, non judgemental, and did the normal tests, ie the carbon monoxide test, lung function etc. I opted to try the 16 hour patch, having failed with the 24 hour patch previously. I was given a 1 week supply of patches for a prescription ( bearing in mind at that time to buy patches over the counter for a week was about £30) and told to come back to see how I was going.
I then selected a day to stop. I work shifts, so I wanted to stop on my days off so I chose my first day off after a week of nights. I got home in the morning, had my last cigarette, and then threw out everything. I think I had 12 cigarettes left in the pack, but I chucked them, along with my lighters and ash trays. The only thing I left was my dog end bin that was by the back door. In effect is was a bucket filled with sand and brackish nicotine laden water that stank to high heaven. I left this on the basis, that in a moment of weakness all I had to do was go by the back door and sniff it. It was truly disgusting and a constant reminder of why I was giving up.
So I started on the strongest patches. It was tough. I was a proper first thing in the morning, last thing at night smoker. I always had a fag in my hand. When I had a craving, it was a full on physical thing. Sweats, hot flushes, the lot. So I worked out what my triggers were and then tried to divert myself away from those triggers. Alcohol was a major one, so I stopped drinking for 3 months whilst I weaned myself off the tobacco. I set myself goals and took each day as it came. I rewarded my self. "Get through this day and you can have...." was my mantra.
As time went by, things got a little easier. Then I dealt with something very stressful at work. I nearly, so nearly gave in. But I didn't and I knew after that particular event, I could cope. I haven't smoked since.
Yes I still get cravings, but they last for a mere nano second. I deal with it by telling myself, I am but one cigarette from being a smoker. I don't have it in me to stop again. Smoking and being around smokers doesn't bother me, and I am not a militant ex smoker. If anything, seeing someone I know slowly poisoning themselves fills me with sadness. I won't judge them, but If they asked for help then I would do anything to help them give up the evil weed!
Sorry for the long ramble.
Not a ramble, but actually quite inspiring - I gave in at 14 and even then it was a struggle.
My parents both smoke, and I've been asking them to quit for around 25 years now, I'm unlikely to be successful, they deny that there's any health issues, despite both of them coughing like frogs every morning, both my mum's parents died of lung cancer and my dad's dad died of heart disease. They both know people who have lived into their 90's smoking every day. They ignore the many they know who didn't.
I guess it boils down to one thing. You've really got to want to quit, if you don't, you won't. It's not easy.
I smoked up to 20 Marlboro a day when I used to work on shift. Guess it relieved the boredom of nights!
Both my Dad and my Grandad (paternal) died from heart disease. Both were smokers. That should've been enough for me to not even contemplate smoking, but it's never that simple, is it!?
The cost of a packet of ciggies was getting ridiculous, even back in 1997 when I gave up. I was on a night out with friends and being the designated driver I wasn't drinking. I got through 15-20 cigarettes that evening and the following morning felt terrible. The only conclusion I came to was that smoking was the cause. I binned what remained of the packet I had left, and a lovely Zippo lighter, and that was that. Cold turkey. Haven't had one since.
I then decided that I need to have something to show how much I'd been spending on cigarettes. So, I bought a new Honda Fireblade on a 3 year H/P. The monthly spend on the finance was exactly the same as that I'd usually have spent on cigarettes. Seemed like a better deal! :D
I bought the strongest, most horrible tasting cigs (basically the ones I didnt like) Camels. They made me cough and splutter so I smoked less, then I went onto roll ups as they were a pain in the arse to make, and then I added exercise to regime and that was the thing. You cant smoke all different sorts of brands without it making you feel ill if you add exercise to it. So eventually I quit, but in times of stress I went back to it. Over the years I quit 4 or 5 times, I have now been without a fag for 6 years, got 2 young kids and wouldnt dream of taking it up as a hobby ever again :wink:
I'm not a militant ex-smoker at all. I'd never pester anyone to quit as I believe in free choice, and in reality all smokers know the harm it's doing them even if they claim not to and laugh it off. The only time I'm different is with my kids. With them I'm clear it's expensive, makes you less sporty and can ultimately kill. I'm not concerned what anyone else does, but I'd do anything to avoid them going down the path I did, and the years of trying to give up.
I'm envious of anyone who could take or leave cigarettes, but that wasnt me. Giving up was the biggest, and potentially most beneficial battle of my life so far.
Good luck to anyone currently trying or considering quitting. It can change your life.
Forget ALL the rubbish on sale, it cost's as much as the fags!!!!
Simple to say but just stop!! However, like all things, you've got to want to!! No good trying till you do, trust me. Nothing will work till you get there my friend.
I live in a small village and there was even less to do than there is now, so i got started at 10 (i know!!!) and smoked till I was 38, got hacked off trying to roll one from the bottom of the pouch in the wind with it keep blowing away, so I threw it and that was that!!
I had read Alan Carr's book but i didn't agree with some of it, however most was enlightening. For example, how can most sit throughout an long flight with no problems, then get in the terminal and go on a smoke-a-thon!!!
HABIT is all!!!!
Get through the first 3 weeks and you're home free, but as I said, ONLY if you want to!! Think of all the things that you wouldn't do regardless of how much money was on offer and how you wouldn't change your mind and apply that logic to stopping smoking.
But don't think of it as giving up!! those very words suggest that you're not doing it freely and that you were forced to and believe me, you'll resent the reasons making you try to stop and you'll start again.
Hope this helps
By the way, it's fab when you've beat it!! Stuff smells again, you get to sleep better, wake up better and you're generally pretty happy with yourself. I had a terrible dirty nose though for a couple of years, always using blowing it. A couple of my pals said the same, probably all the crap coming out.
For me it was easy, following a road traffic accident i was in a coma for a month then in hospital for a further five months, when i was discharged i had absolutely no cravings for cigarettes at all. Effective for me but not recommended for everyone.
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