Quitting Cigarettes

[Notmegov]

I have never found quitting hard, have done 3 times all for 2 years plus each go. It's the staying quit I find hard.

The night is dark and full of terrors.

 

[Papercut]

Raboner - apparently the first two weeks are tough - a bit like anything really but smoking is a massive intense addiction so its tougher I think.

I smoke and it is a nasty habit. That first cig in the morning is brilliant or with a cup of coffee or after dinner. The biggest issue though is when you go out for a drink. I think to successfully quit for a few weeks you need to stay away from the bars and pubs etc and even to an extent having a drink and then slowly ease back in to it.

See that's where I never had a problem. Both nicotene and alcohol stimulate the same part of the brain (so I'm led to believe) so you can do one or the other (or both).

Fag with brekkie, coffee, time-out, dinner, bar, blah blah. You need to break the connections to be able to succeed. There is no real connection just a habitual one.

 

[johnola]

Smoking tobacco is such a bizarre thing to do, good luck kicking the habit.

 

[raboner]

Raboner - apparently the first two weeks are tough - a bit like anything really but smoking is a massive intense addiction so its tougher I think.

I smoke and it is a nasty habit. That first cig in the morning is brilliant or with a cup of coffee or after dinner. The biggest issue though is when you go out for a drink. I think to successfully quit for a few weeks you need to stay away from the bars and pubs etc and even to an extent having a drink and then slowly ease back in to it.

cheers mate. your advice is what i am planning to put in place great minds and all that...

it's now onto day four and i'm doing ok. i think the fact that i appear to be getting a pretty nasty cold / flu is helping.. just gotta keep pushing through.

every time i have a coffee is agony though.

 

[AuroRaman]

20+ a day man for about 12 years. Woke up one day last October and decided I didn't want to smoke anymore. I had a wobble over a stag weekend in May but other than that, nothing.

If you WANT to quit, rather than feel you have to, it will be a piece of tinkle.

 

[Aldo]

cheers mate. your advice is what i am planning to put in place great minds and all that...

it's now onto day four and i'm doing ok. i think the fact that i appear to be getting a pretty nasty cold / flu is helping.. just gotta keep pushing through.

every time i have a coffee is agony though.

There's one of the problems...association.
Every time you have a coffee you think "cigarette", you associate the two in your mind.
So change that, drink something else.
Similarly, I used to smoke a cigarette at certain points of my journey to work, I didn't realise until I was giving up. These were "habit" cigarettes, didn't really want or need one, just lit up because I always did at those points. So I changed my journey for a while and the association was gone

Also, oddly what helped me was breath fresh spray...if I wanted a cigarette I sprayed the back of my throat with a minty breath freshener spray and the urge went away.

 

[DHSF]

There's one of the problems...association.
Every time you have a coffee you think "cigarette", you associate the two in your mind.
So change that, drink something else.
Similarly, I used to smoke a cigarette at certain points of my journey to work, I didn't realise until I was giving up. These were "habit" cigarettes, didn't really want or need one, just lit up because I always did at those points. So I changed my journey for a while and the association was gone

Also, oddly what helped me was breath fresh spray...if I wanted a cigarette I sprayed the back of my throat with a minty breath freshener spray and the urge went away.

Thats what I was trying to get at and totally agree with you - its breaking that link.

Its a bit like a break up from a girl you have been seeing for 15 years. You used to do everything together the problem is whilst you can substitute one girl with another (not the exact girl) you cant really do that with cigs.

I guess thats why I suggested you not go to bars for a while to try to forget the linkage, or drink coffee in doors rather than out doors to prevent you from smoking etc. Its little things like that.

I would suggest electronic cigs but it will just make you want a real cig in my viewpoint.

 

[nnm0989]

cold turkey.. it's almost the end of day two and i am officially a nervous wreck, sweaty palms, twitchy, fidgety, distracted..

how long is this brick going to take?

One of the best products that I have ever come across to quit smoking is Nicorette Gum and I believe in that product because today with the help of that I used Nicorette Gum that allowed me to actively control on how much nicotine I used & when I used it.
I used Low Strength 2mg Gum: Since it was suitable for me, I use to smoke approx 12 cigarettes a day.
And so with the 12 Week Nicotine Replacement Plan of Nicorette I quit smoking. Today it’s been almost more than 6months and I don't get any cravings.
Thanks and Cheers to Nicorette and its Quit smoking Products.
http://www.nicorette.in/cut-down-to-stop/4-steps-to-cutting-down
Regards,
Neil

 

[DHSF]

Gonna quit tomorrow - after around 14 years of smoking - I will be quitting from tomorrow.

Any advice from others who smoked and successfully quit would be appreciated.

Under no illusions that it will be the toughest thing ill have had to do but also, I suppose, the most rewarding.

 

[scaramanga]

Gonna quit tomorrow - after around 14 years of smoking - I will be quitting from tomorrow.

Any advice from others who smoked and successfully quit would be appreciated.

Under no illusions that it will be the toughest thing ill have had to do but also, I suppose, the most rewarding.

I used Champix and it worked a treat. Give it a try.

 

[the fox in the box]

Thats what I was trying to get at and totally agree with you - its breaking that link.

Its a bit like a break up from a girl you have been seeing for 15 years. You used to do everything together the problem is whilst you can substitute one girl with another (not the exact girl) you cant really do that with cigs.

I guess thats why I suggested you not go to bars for a while to try to forget the linkage, or drink coffee in doors rather than out doors to prevent you from smoking etc. Its little things like that.

I would suggest electronic cigs but it will just make you want a real cig in my viewpoint.

I would disagree, the Mrs and I quit regular cigs as a new years resolution. We have had one slip up all year, a very stressful house move. Other than that we have puffed away on our E-cigs with no desire to turn back to them.

We have also gone from 30mg of nictine to 10mg in this time. We stick to the more fruity flavours as these help us to take the association away.


but saying that its what works best for you.

 

[NickTB]

This.
I gave up a 40 a day habit of 20 odd years with champix. That was 4 years ago and I haven't looked back

Now 5 years

 

[vkn17]

cold turkey.. it's almost the end of day two and i am officially a nervous wreck, sweaty palms, twitchy, fidgety, distracted..

how long is this **** going to take?

Hang in there dude, it is definitely doable. I did it January 1st and haven't smoked since. First 2 weeks are bad, then it gets a lot easier. My tactics were that every time I was craving a smoke really bad I went out for a run and while running and barely being able to breathe I would repeatedly tell myself: "Do you still want to smoke now?". Worked for me. Good luck.

 

[DHSF]

Now 5 years

Yours and Fox in the Box are inspirations. Ok I ****ed up today haha - I do think it was poorly planned i.e. I decided on a saturday to quit on a monday. I want to go cold turkey but I want to maximise the chances of quitting so ill use Scaras or yours - Champix or FiBs - E-Cigs.

 

[Rock Strongo]

I've been using snus for 15 years, never had any desire to quit because it's amazingly delicious, until one day I woke up and decided enough is enough.
That was 88 days ago (I've got an app telling me to keep up the good work, champ). The cravings are still there, especially in the evenings, but you get by, one day at a time.

 

[NickTB]

Yours and Fox in the Box are inspirations. Ok I ****ed up today haha - I do think it was poorly planned i.e. I decided on a Saturday to quit on a Monday. I want to go cold turkey but I want to maximize the chances of quitting so ill use Scaras or yours - Champix or FiBs - E-Cigs.

Do it when you're ready. Nothing will work unless you have the will to give up. I was on 40 per day for years and decided enough was enough. The Champix supplements your willpower

 

[Lily White]

On the 29th of this month I will have been given up a year. last November I had pneumonia and it scared the **** out of me, worrying that if I slept flat I would stop breathing, barely being able to talk etc. When the antibiotics started kicking in I went out and bought an ecig. I started on the 15mg (i think it was) 10motives using 1 cartridge a day and currently have a 7mg nicare cartridge which I have had for 6 weeks. I have my ecig as like a comfort I suppose as I barely touch it now.
I have had some serious stress recently but I haven't gone back to smoking.

 

[LutonSpurs]

I would disagree, the Mrs and I quit regular cigs as a new years resolution. We have had one slip up all year, a very stressful house move. Other than that we have puffed away on our E-cigs with no desire to turn back to them.

We have also gone from 30mg of nictine to 10mg in this time. We stick to the more fruity flavours as these help us to take the association away.


but saying that its what works best for you.

Which e-cigs do you use mate?

 

[Boonie]

I gave up with niccobrevin, found it worked really well.

http://www.burstingwithhealth.co.uk/pack-info/nicobrevin.html

 

[DHSF]

Do it when you're ready. Nothing will work unless you have the will to give up. I was on 40 per day for years and decided enough was enough. The Champix supplements your willpower

I agree will power is the most essential ingredient to successful quitting. I have the desire and willpower and enough is enough - but like you say I think I want to maximise the chances of quitting by merely supplementing it so ill wait and buy some champix this week.