Is Anyone Else Trying To Give Up Smoking ?

Hello Everyone, I wondered if anyone else is trying to give up cigarettes. I have had heart problems & now have been diagnosed with COPD. They are going to give me a nicotine replacement therapy course which I should be able to get from the Chemists today or tomorrow. I know I need to do this for my health so that is a great motivation but I am still worried in case I fail as the consequences won't be very nice. Does anyone have any tips please or any ways of dealing with extra stress etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. All my very best wishes from Rose xxx

Hello justagranny, Thanks for your kind reply. You must have tried really hard to give up, I am so pleased for you that the patches worked for you. I know the benefits and I am going to try hard as my health is important. I'm at college (mature student.lol.) at the moment, so I don't have a cigarette while I'm there which helps a great deal. I might post here sometimes cos as you say the shame of failure may help.lol.lol.lol.lol. Thanks again justagranny for your post & advice. I do appreciate it. Look after yourself. With all my very best wishes from Rose xxx

I gave up smoking on the 25th Jan 2008....I have given up now counting how much money i have saved but it is around £3000.
I still have days when i fancy a fag but they are few and far between now.

I used the 'really bad chest infection' method.I went down with a really bad infection and just didnt fancy smoking for about 2 weeks,and then i thought i may as well try to give up,i hadn't intended to give up as i liked smoking.

I still keep a packet of roll ups in the car which i think has helped me not to panic when i get the urge.

I can tell you i feel so much better for not smoking ,i have no regrets at all,i no longer cough up dirty tar nor smell like an ash tray.

The first couple of weeks are the worst..................Give it up Rose you will feel so much better .............

I gave up smoking 12 years ago now and it's the best thing I ever did, not saying it was easy, the first year I gave in a few times but once i'd started feeling the health benefits, each attempt got easier and easier. My children also wanted me to give up, now nobody is allowed to smoke in my house! Good luck Moondamp

It has also become a terribly anti social habit.There are very few places i have seen where the smoker is not the odd one out.

justagrannynow wrote:

.................... it was the patches which worked for me.

Me too. I started off on the high strength 24 hour patches for a month, then down to medium strength for a month, then the very low strength ones for a further month.

Good look moondamproses. Wishing you good look.

Hi Rose, I started smoking when I was twelve (I know) but I have my birthdate in November marked on the calendar as the day I am going to try to give up. I know its going to be really hard but I have loads of family and friends who have promised to give me lots of support.
Keep us up to date Rose as to how you are getting on.
Good Luck

Good Luck Moondamprose :Hug1:

Think of something nice to buy with all the money you'll save

Do you know what really p****s off...

I go to see my mum in hospital and outside i see these people in dressing gowns DRAGGING their drips with sucken eyes, obviously dying off cancer and what is the first thing they do once outside the doors...LIGHT UP A FAG!!

hi..it can be done ,gave up 5yrs ago, after 25yrs smoking 10/15 a day... ..no nicotine patches etc..just willpower..you have to really really want to give up... i didn't miss them because the will to give up was stronger than the will to smoke, i did eat more though... and also when in company i used a plastic ciggie, really helped me.. i think 3 parts of the problem is pschyological, and the crave kicks in when other people smoke, its like a telepathic thing going on in your mind....so pretending to have a ciggie in my hand worked for me.

Hi Moondamprose,

I gave up 15 years ago with the help of a nicotine nasal spray (which my doc at the time was 'testing') - but mostly willpower.

I'm embarrassed to say - that I only lasted 10 months.

In the first few weeks my weight ballooned - but I was finally getting this down with exercise - which I grew to love!

I rue the day I picked up a ciggie again. It was the worst thing I ever did.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck in kicking the filthy habit - and if I can ever find 'that' moment again - I will be joining you!

All the best..........

Mumbles xxx

I've had none for the last 3 weeks or so. I am using Nicorette but while I am using it I dont class myself as "given up". I stopped before for a year but never got past the Nicorette 4mg. I dont miss fags at all whilst I am on the gum and I am a really heavy smoker, I just can't get off the gum!

I am determined this time though. I used to be a vocalist years ago and since having some weird chest infection a couple of months ago I found I couldnt sing a full sentence without having to take a breath half way through. I was also getting weird pains in my chest when I lay down in bed which I've never had before.
I think you get to the stage in your mid-forties where you are pushing it if you carry on. I also drank beer every night for 20 years and have stopped that completely. I dont miss it at all and my figure of my twenties has re-appeared.

It sounds daft but I prayed for strength and knocked the beer on the head overnight - a miracle for me.
Just the gum now and I'm laughing!

Good luck

Me and hubby are planning to give up. He smokes tiny cigars a tin a day and I smoke too many cigs. I too like smoking but recently with the expense etc and family pressure we have decided to both give it a go
.
A couple of my husbands friends in the pub have given up so it will be slightly easier for him as he is the only one that pops out for a smoke. With me Im hoping the competition between both of us is what will prevent me from caving in.

We start once my cigs run out I usually get 200 at a time. At the moment I am trying not to think about it nor look how many packs I have left.

MoondampRoses wrote:Hello Everyone, I wondered if anyone else is trying to give up cigarettes. I have had heart problems & now have been diagnosed with COPD. They are going to give me a nicotine replacement therapy course which I should be able to get from the Chemists today or tomorrow. I know I need to do this for my health so that is a great motivation but I am still worried in case I fail as the consequences won't be very nice. Does anyone have any tips please or any ways of dealing with extra stress etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. All my very best wishes from Rose xxx

I was wondering where you'd got to, are you coming back to the forum ?

The book Allen Carrs "Easy Way to Stop Smoking" is a really good motivator.
http://allencarr.com/central/

littlepixie wrote:The book Allen Carrs "Easy Way to Stop Smoking" is a really good motivator.
http://allencarr.com/central/

This is how i quit ,i had my last ciggie June 2008.patches gum etc did'nt work for me ,i still crave a ciggie at times but it passes .Good luck its not so bad believe me.

try the 'plastic ciggie' worked for me, i would never go back to smoking the craving goes away and they smell awful

I'm starting to panic a little I am down to my last 5 packets before D day.

I SMOKE 20 PER DAY HELP ME

Great advice from Eddie,just to add keep telling yourself its a habit not an addiction.i smoked two plus packets a day i gave up last June ,i cut down for about a week ,then listened to a no smoking tape .I've not smoked since.

to moonanddamproses
you gotta give em up, i had heart attack in april two stents fitted and now it has taken me 5wks to get rid of bronchitis....i gave em up 4 or 5 yrs ago(after a couple of years you stop counting the weeks )....if i hadn't had stopped when i did my health would be much worse ....as it is i had a fighting chance....
please try the plastic ciggie, that plus willpower ....it worked for me..no cutting down just threw pkts of fags in the bin and that was that..goood luck

Hello Everyone, Thank you very much for all your replies, I hope you won't mind if I just reply collectively to you all. I have been poorly and haven't been here for a while. I have to say I admire you all for your giving up smoking and also the people like myself who are trying to. I have fallen off the wagon slightly, I lasted for a few days then a very, very stressful situation occurred and I started again I am ashamed to say. I haven't been smoking much, though I know that's still not very good. I have cut right down from my previous 20 a day to 20 in a week so I am progressing slowly. I am trying really hard and it is not easy at all so please don't shout to much at me. With your help and some willpower I am sure I can kick this bad habit, so please bear with me. Thankyou again for all your messages I do appreciate them and they do help to strengthen my determination to succeed at this. Look after yourselves. Good Luck to everyone who is trying to quit as well. With all my very best wishes from Rose xxx

listen to eddie..good advice there..its about tricking your mind...keep at it ...eventually the crave gives up and dies

Hello Eddie and 4timesanan, Thankyou both for your replies. Thanks for the advice Eddie I will try what you suggested. I'm beginning to realise that the cravings etc is partly psychological, if you can trick your mind into accepting the fact that you're determined not to smoke, the cravings etc do get slightly easier. It's still not easy but I am determined to do this for the sake of my health. Thankyou also for not shouting at me for slipping, I have had a terrible week, but as you say Eddie if you give into the stress it becomes a no win situation. Look after yourself. With all my very best wishes from Rose xxx

justagrannynow wrote:Thanks for the update MoondampRoses. I had been wondering how you were managing. Don't feel badly about slipping back occasionally. Just believe in yourself and you will manage to kick the habit.
Put the money you save from not buying cigarettes into a glass jar where you can see it and earmark it for a special treat for yourself.

Good Luck and don't forget there are many people here who are with you in this.

Hello justagranny, Thankyou for your very kind words and your support. It does help me knowing that there are people here who are supporting me in this. How is your arm and did you get your hospital appointment and some proper help and treatment for your shoulder? I hope they were able to help you this time and not put you through any more pain and suffering. You look after yourself. With all my very best wishes from Rose xxx