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You will mutilate and kill me, so I will say goodby forever. Soon.

Champix worked for me on my last quit - over 3 years and haven't even thought of having another cigarette. Gave up twice before that for quite lengthy times - cold turkey/quit counselling the first time; patches the second. Final attempt was because my lung condition (not caused by smoking) was also starting to show signs of emphysema and specialist said, "you don't want both conditions together". That scared me enough to try again and for some reason this quit seemed to stick.

My grandfather quit by deciding each morning to defer lighting the first cigarette - and just kept doing that till he stopped altogether.

I reckon if I can quit after nearly 50 years of chain smoking, then anybody can! Now I can't imagine why I wasted so much time and money doing it.
 
Squire Fulwood said:
I gave up smoking several times (that's supposed to be a joke) but I only succeeded (in 1979) when I wanted to and I did cold turkey. I only craved for a couple of weeks but I was determined. Next I went through a phase where I couldn't be in the same town as cigarette smoke. This part was difficult since it was back in the days when they had smoking carriages on commuter trains. The final phase was where I had no opinion on smoking because it never worried me again.

I vote for cold turkey.
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Hi,
I totally agree with the squire.
I also tried with Patches, cutting down Accupunture etc.
Totto, if you really want to give up, convince yourself that YOU want to give up(For Health or whatever reason), and give up
All the patches etc will not help if you do not want to give up.
Its in the mind.
20 odd years ago I was smoking 70 plus a day, and decided enough, and ive never smoked again, and never will.
You have no idea of what it will do for you health wise to give up.
Think, and when you have convinced yourself stop
Good Luck
 
I tried several times over the years to stop smoking but backslid every time. I had a bleed in my eye last year and was told retinopathy is 4 times more likely if you smoke. At the beginning of December I decided that I would stop smoking before the end of January. This gave me and my subconscious a time frame to deal with without a specific date looming ahead. The last week of January (I cut it pretty fine!) I bought cigs for the week as normal and decided when they were gone that was it - no more. I also got a phone app for self hypnosis which came highly recommended. I can honestly say that after years of feeling I'd never quit it was actually easy. No one was more surprised than me. I used patches for a week but stopped because of an allergy to the glue. If I felt an urge to smoke I calmly told myself, no you only think you want to smoke. What you really want is to not smoke. Your mind can play serious dirty tactics to get what it wants, just remind yourself that you are choosing this. Make a promise to yourself to stop so you can be healthy. Are you going to break a promise? At the end of the day it is mind over matter and once you resolve firmly to commit to a life without smoking and all the benefits that will bring it will be easier. Addiction is a strange thing, why do we feel we are depriving ourselves when we give up something that is doing us untold damage and is ultimately killing us. Apparantly when Kirk Douglas was giving up smoking he kept a pack of cigarettes nearby and when he was tempted he would take them out and say "Who's stronger, me or you. You can do this and just think of how amazing it will feel to know you really kicked the habit.

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Also just remembered some thoughts about triggers. Certain events in your daily, weekly life are associated in your brain with smoking. You mentioned one: reading the paper and having a cig. These are things you need to break. So when you are on the phone and go for a cig think, ahhh gotcha!
 
When I finally manged to quit for good 9 years ago I used nicotine Losenges, and sugar free lollipops. Couldn't use patches as I was allergic to them, brought me out in a lovely rash. I'd given up many times befor but fallen off the wagon usually after a couple of alcholic beverages in the days you could smoke in public places. I must admit I gained alot of weight which I didn't really bother to do anything about until I was diagnised T2 12 months ago, but the horrible heavy colds I used to get every winter and head straight for my chest leaving me needing steriods for my asthma disappeared, and according to the GP I'm no longer asthamatic, athough I still carry a Ventoline inhalor it always goes out of date before I've used it up. Choosing not to smoke is the first step Good Luck
 
Have you considered eCigs? I'm now 3 weeks smoke free, having gradually cut down and replacing fags at certain times of the day with a couple of puffs on my ecig instead. For example, I'd always have 2 on my way to work - one before I got on my first bus, and one before I got on the second. I started by replacing the second fag with a few drags on my ecig, and gradually worked it up so I'd have no cigarettes at all in a day. It's a lot easier if you just start cutting them out one by one when you feel ready.

I've also turned the whole ecig thing into a bit of a hobby, and have taught myself how to customize and rebuild mods for my device. It's really fun and I'm definitely enjoying having a new hobby! Beats smoking any day. Plus, seeing my forum signature works as great motivation even though it currently only seems like a short length of time :)
 
Giverny said:
Have you considered eCigs? I'm now 3 weeks smoke free, having gradually cut down and replacing fags at certain times of the day with a couple of puffs on my ecig instead. For example, I'd always have 2 on my way to work - one before I got on my first bus, and one before I got on the second. I started by replacing the second fag with a few drags on my ecig, and gradually worked it up so I'd have no cigarettes at all in a day. It's a lot easier if you just start cutting them out one by one when you feel ready.

I've also turned the whole ecig thing into a bit of a hobby, and have taught myself how to customize and rebuild mods for my device. It's really fun and I'm definitely enjoying having a new hobby! Beats smoking any day. Plus, seeing my forum signature works as great motivation even though it currently only seems like a short length of time :)
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My aim is to be free of nicotine. I have researched e ciggies so if I find it too hard I know they can be a possibility but first I want to try without them. I will use patches though at first. Happy to hear they work so well for you.
 
Totto said:
My aim is to be free of nicotine. I have researched e ciggies so if I find it too hard I know they can be a possibility but first I want to try without them. I will use patches though at first. Happy to hear they work so well for you.
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You can gradually lower the nicotine strength you use with ecigs, which is what I'm doing. Down to 6mg now and feeling much better for it.

What works for one doesn't work for everyone though, so best of luck with the patches. Really hope they work out for you, I know they definitely worked for a few family members who decided to quit :) Good luck!
 
jack412 said:
I've given up for 12mths now, gave up 50 times before from a day to a month.
Truth is you stop when you truly decide to. The patches will stop the cravings
If needed an antidepressant will calm the nerves
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Very true. This is how I quit:
I quit when I really wanted to and it was easy because I really wanted to. I used a bit of internal reverse psychology on myself to help. If you think quitting is a big deal, well, it will become so and take over all your waking and sleeping thoughts. Quitting is not that big a deal, it's just fags, not food or water. You don't need them to live. So let a little mantra run in your head....don't want them; don't need them. I didn't tell anyone I had quit, I didn't want the question a hundred times a day, it would make quitting into a big deal. I also went cold turkey and enjoyed the rush of nervous energy (yes there is a reason I have a sloth as my picture) and did lots of active stuff.
 
I've no idea why I eventually stopped in May 2012, when I had failed so many times before. There was nothing different in my life and I wasn't feeling any ill effects of smoking.

I just felt that the 'time was right' and then took it one day at a time. I still say I'm only reformed, not an ex-smoker, and that keeps me on my toes to guard against re-starting.

There are fewer pressures now than before the smoking ban came in for pubs and restaurants etc., which has made it easier (IMHO) to quit, but I still believe you only stop when you really WANT to, and it's difficult to recognise at the time when that is.

My wife found that the e-cigarettes worked, where everything else had failed, but after trying them I decided to go cold turkey, the electronic ones being not as satisfying as the real thing. Each to their own, though, and I know plenty of other hardened smokers who have quit via that route.

Good luck. It can be done, and you should remember that no-one actually NEEDS to smoke, despite what our addiction would have us believe .......
 
Totto, I gave up by using Champix. Haven't smoked for 6 months now and so pleased to have put my 30 a day habit behind me. The only side effect I experienced was vivid dreams (not nightmares). I would recommend this method if cold turkey doesn't work.
 
I have an appointment on Thursday with someone who works full time with people who want to quit tobacco. We are going to make a plan for me with set times for follow up. This makes me slightly more confident.

I can´t thank you enough, all of you. If you all could then I can too.
 
Another thing that helped me (it stuck with me from Allan Carr's book) was driving past office buildings and hospitals - and seeing the poor drug addicts outside, in all types of weather, desperately puffing away. Thinking of yourself as a drug addict is a bit more serious than thinking of yourself as a smoker.

I kid you not - I recently drove a friend to a hospital clinic appointment and a man came outside in his pyjamas, on crutches from a partial amputation to get outside the hospital grounds so he could have a cigarette. Talk about desperate!
 
Nicotine lozenges . I started off by gradually cutting down and giving myself a choice between a cig and a lozenge . ( I m the type who , if I ban something totally , I want it more ) . This process has taken years , yes years ! I am now addicted to the lozenges but my dr has told me not to worry about it . I have been thinking recently tho that I m getting sick of them so think it ll be a natural progression to stop them soon . The secret is to find your own way that suits you . I wish I could ve done cold turkey but it s not worked for me when I ve tried it .
Also , it helps to have a health scare ! Lol . I did and was convinced that I d got lung cancer . It did the trick . And my lungs are fine :)
Whatever method you try , do it your way . And when you ve done it , enjoy the rewards . Good luck x


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Good luck Totto. I agree with so much written above but especially;

  • Find your reason for stopping
  • Remember it can be done
My way was to promise myself I would stop if I became wheezy. Then I went cold turkey. For me, the harder it was to stop the less likely I was to start again.

Go for it! :D
 
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