How does anyone give up smoking ?

I stopped for 14 years.
To my shame I started again and I didn't even want a ****

Having seen so many people try patches, gum, pills and so on and not stop, I am convinced there is only one way and it worked for me.

Simply decide you are a non-smoker.
After 3 or 4 days you will be desperate for a smoke - Just deal with it.
After a week or so it gets slightly easier.

after 2 weeks or so your brain will start talking to you, telling you "It's OK, you don't smoke so you can have one". Ignore it.
After 3 or 4 weeks you'll dream you had a cigarette, very believable dreams too.
Then it gets easier.

2 things though:

1. You have to be in the mood to stop.
2. You mustn't even have a puff once stopped.

Just get up in the morning and decide you are now a non-smoker and you'll be a non-smoker.
I'll be doing all the above very soon too.

what have you tried so far?

just avoid people for a month. people are what cause stress and will make you want to smoke. worked for me.

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/a_benefits_time_table.html

First 3 days are difficult, cravings disappear after a month. If you can do it for 3 days you're halfway there.

there should be smokers holidays, go away for 2 weeks to remote canada or something in cabin

Tried patches,electric ciggs,going cold turkey.Cutting down gradually.Even woke up gasping for  air,still couldnt stop.I went a whole month without one,thought I had cracked it,but hey ho,had to have one.I like the suggestion to avoid people,esp the ex wife.(and thats only because I still wanna s.h.a.g the a.r.s.e off her) the ****.g horny b.i.t.c.h

and avoid drink to :(

Off the **** for three weeks now. Using ecig with spearmint flavour, much nicer than the taste of tobacco and tar. In the pub at the weekend and never thought about having a ****.

Finally quit after I had flu - felt terrible and couldn´t go out to buy any, decided the time was right. Also, I thought I might have got pneumonia again after a bout last year and decided one warning was all I was going to get.

Just have to wean myself off spearmint now...

bloody hell, can´t even say fa g s now!

see a smoking cessation counsellor through your gp surgery

statistics show you are 8 times more likely to stop with help

there is a medication called Champix that is effective

you need to be abstinent from nicotine for 12 weeks in order to break the addiction, entirely abstinent

I trained as a smoking cessation counsellor

cut it down one **** less a week. hopefully by the end of the year they are diminished to level where stopping is easier.

stop selling them in shops unless you have a specific id card from the government - a photo id. this would cut out underage smokers as no future cards would be issued.

I quit but used an e-cig for about 3 months but then after so much stress (due to other people & living problems) i started again
Drink is also tough as i always fancy a real smoke with a drink .. so try & cut down the drink it's terrible stuff anyway!

I tend to alternate between a bit of tobacco & the e-cig at the moment depending on what i'm doing

I know i can quit the tobacco tomorrow but i need the e-cig instead which is quite enjoyable with flavours as mentioned (watermelon is nice) they're actually much better for you though as it's not so much the nicotine that's bad for you but all the tar & chemicals in the tobacco

gonna try e-cig

How does anyone start smoking with all the health information and warnings is a mystery to me.

smoking was cool and you had to smoke to be hard when we was kids

anyhow i stopped (6 years now)

for me i set the date and time of my last **** around 4 months beforehand
it was a weekend away(took myself out of normal environment)think this is a major help
said last f ag i have would be one before getting on plane(Prague weekend)
made sure had 3/4 f ags left in packet to give away(smokers can't give away more than one)
all good and well last one tastes like sh1t and you don't want another one

look

cutting down does not work at all

you need to understand the mechanism of the addiction and as long as you are taking nicotine the receptors in the brain that are activated by the drug will remain activated and you will remain hooked - in order to be free from addiction you need to be 12 weeks nicotine free in order to switch off the receptors so that you don't get withdrawal symptoms

1. make appointment with GP
2. Get referred to smoking cessation advisor
3. make the decision to totally stop smoking
4. Nicotine replacement can work to help you break the habitual and ritual nature of smoking
5. getting proper advice and support increases your chances significantly
6. Consider Champix which is known to control withdrawal symptoms in about two thirds of patients
7. Make sure you tell everyone you know that you are stopping and ask for their support
8. Do things you find pleasurable to raise your serotonin levels as that is what smoking does so when you stop you will likely suffer a drop in mood and feel depressed - exercise, fresh air, social interaction, get a massage, something thrilling like a trip to a theme park, a speedboat/motorbike/horse/quad bike/go-kart ride or similar, eat delicious food at a top eatery whether it be the best fish and chips or Michelin 3 star and so on - will help keep your brain happy and stop you feeling like turning to the ciggies as a crutch for your mood (Champix also helps as it raises serotonin levels)

there is a lot of useful advice, help, support and medication out there, make the commitment and be aware of what is going on in the process 

good luck

Whenever you fancy a smoke go and put your face right up to a full ashtray and breath in. It would make me gag and put me off wanting one.

Or find something that effects your gag reflex and heighten your imagination to imagine this and relate it to putting a ciggy in your mouth.  I would imagine every ciggy had been near dog sh1t. Sounds strange but day by day it worked. It`s a bit like self hypnosis.

i stopped a decade ago.


i'd suggest that about 99% of the "enjoyable" cigarettes smoked are enjoyed because they stop the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

it's tricky to fully appreciate, but once you do, I think it no longer has any hold over you.

you wont need gum, e-cigs, champix, or any other crutch if you accept this.

the problem with any substitution for nicotine is that reinforces the idea that you present state needs remedying, whereas not smoking itself is the remedy. getting a positive mental association with the feeling of nicotine withdrawal is how you quit for good and with ease.


that's basically Allen Carr in 5 sentences. but his book needs to be long to ram the point home.

flu.

I was laid up for nearly a week. Not booze no cigs felt like death warmed up.

Just about pulled myself together now. Not lit a cig up yet, well nearly but started coughing my guts up so dumped it.
Not had a drink either.

Out of the face of adversity and all that.

"see a smoking cessation counsellor"

Yet another state sponsored non-job.

After endless failed attempts to quit I bought some capsules called Nicobrevin, used to be sold in a tin. 

I started the course one night before I went to bed and the next day the craving had gone, the intense craving never came back.
The course lasted a month.

They certainly worked for me.

Ive posted on this subject before. I used Champix. To cut a long story short, i really wanted to stop, you have to feel the same, if you dont really want to stop you wont.

It worked for me.

Joined: 01 Jun 05 | Topic/replies: 10,045 | Blogger: Java's blog
"see a smoking cessation counsellor"

Yet another state sponsored non-job.



like you know anything about it you ignorant twunt, probably an obese northern, Star reading BNP voter if I guess right

ok..here goes,this wont be for everyone but i am now in my early 60s and i had smoked from the age of 12,(bike sheds,peer pressure).6 years ago i decided to quit after previous failed attempts.I was a heavy smoker (40 a day)and was determined to give up so i bought a carton of 200 and vowed that when they were gone that would be the last.never had one since. i can now breath properly and   sleep lying on my back,something which i couldnt do previously.so keep persevering,you will eventualy quit.

I've smoked since i was 13 & i still can't see how people can smoke 40 per day it's just insane .. but well done for quitting leazes !

Most people i know who have quit have just done it.  No patches or gum or psychiatrists.. Similar to studyforms method.  Have also heard some people say that you should always keep ciggies in your house so they are always there if you want them, if you can still avoid them in those circumstances you know youve beaten it.

I've got an e-cig and haven't had a normal smoke for two years now. I can see the argument that it swaps one addiction for another but it tastes nicer, it's cheaper and it's healthier...

Gave it up 25 years ago and never smoked since. Had previously failed three times before by attenpting to cut down gradually - ok until you have a bad day.

IMO Pick a day when you want to give up. Do not go anywhere for a few days where you know you will face temptation eg  pub etc After a few days it gets easier.

Everything action  prior to it happening comes from you Subconscious mind.ex you wouldnt be watching a race today and  suddenly leap up during the race to smoke.

It sends you a message telling you I fancy a ****,go and have one now This message will almost probably be the same each time.

What you have to do is change the result of the same message.ie when you next have the thought.it now equals something else.not smoking.

It could for example be, if you were in.maybe go and drink a glass of water.if you were out,maybe start singing a favourite song to yourself.or see in your minds eye  a certain image.

When I applied this method.for some reason I was given the image of a large black X.it never failed. As soon as I tried to tempt myself to have one.it just kept coming back, and the feeling of wanting to smoke just stopped immediately.

That was just over 2 years ago (47 yrs)

This method WILL Work.

* = ****

ffs..smoking

Tried cold turkey and patches but no good.
Then found the Nicorette inhalator which worked well. Not smoked for 12 years now and no desire to.

dying is the most popular method btw.

You have to want to quit.

My best mate's dad as a kid was a prominent doctor who was licensed to give heroin addicts clean smack, theory is that the addicts that quit 'choose' to quit of their own accord. ie get sick of all the associated crap. 
IMO the same with ciggies.

I read Dr Carr's Easy Way, get it on Ebay.

Just made me want to **** it off for good.

- You have to work at liking smoking
- Smokers are never relaxed
- You are thinking about the next cigarette before you finish the current one

Give it a go, the physical cravings are nowt to the habit breaking issue.

In two months you'll smell a smoker and realise how disgusting it is.

Good, luck.

I havnt had a cigarette for ten months and its the best thing i have ever done. Ive got a shop, and all i get all day is people smoking outside and then coming in and buying 20 more, stinks awful and to think i used to pay 50 quid a week to be like that.

""see a smoking cessation counsellor"
Yet another state sponsored non-job.
like you know anything about it you ignorant twunt, probably an obese northern, Star reading BNP voter if I guess right "

Doubt a Northerner would be complaining about taxpayer draining wastes of space like yourself to be fair.  In some cities that is all they have.

my aunty was allowed to throw a bowl of cold water over my uncle every time she caught him smoking.


Unfortunately he died of pneumonia.

I'm also trying to stop - after numerous failed attempts - and wish you the best of luck.  In fact, I have logged on Betfair for the first time in months as a show of solidarity!

My 'rules' this time are:

1.  Focus on the present day - ie. don't worry about not having one for x days, x weeks, just don't have one today...(and repeat every day, obviously)

2.  Do something where I feel the benefit of not smoking quite quickly - in my case, play more sport

3.  Drink less for a while to avoid the alcohol related cigarette (and reduced mental strength that comes from being drunk)

4.  Recognise that I will always be 'a smoker' even if I don't smoke, so banish any thoughts of 'one drag will be ok' because it won't...Any weakness and I will be back to square one

5.  If I need a patch or some other 'treatment' then so be it - if it helps, it's way better than smoking

Some useful points on this thread too - I like the idea of using an unpleasant mental image when I think of a cigarette.  The AC book is also good, but the chap who summarised it earlier pretty much nailed the content in a few lines.

I also saw an interesting article by that bell end Russell Brand in The Guardian the other day - was on about smack addiction, but some of it rang true for me in terms of the cigarettes.

I'm not sure if I will finally kick the habit or not, but there's an ad on Aussie TV now (I live in Australia), saying 'never give up giving up' which made sense to me.

One day at a time...

Good luck to the both of us and anyone else trying to quit.

I gave up a year ago on non smoking day after eventually reading that Alan Carr book. At the end of the day you'll only succeed if you really want to give up, you can't force yourself to do something you don't want to. I thought the Carr book was good cos it focus's on the mechanics rather than trying to shock, one of the things I remember is driving past a pub in the pissing rain and seeing some poor sod on his own trying to get those quick last drags off his cigarette and realising I wasn't any different.

I just went cold turkey and apart from days 3/4, which were nightmares, it wasn't that hard, the physical cravings were gone after a week despite me having smoked for the previous 20 odd years. After that it's pretty much a mental game of trying to get your mind to dissociate certain things with smoking , not so much by avoiding them but facing them to replace those associations with something new although I did avoid  the pub for maybe a month. Only wish I'd done it years ago , feel much better for it and don't feel like some leper having to sit in my garage every time i wanted a smoke. If you really want to stop it isn't that hard but unless you've reached that point you probably haven't got much chance of succeeding tbh.