smoking?

I found it helpful if I kept my hands busy and my mind occupied. I knit for children, charity and lots more besides. I also made greetings cards which I still indulge in at times. If possible change your usual routine too. It all helps to stop you thinking about cigs and don't keep any in the house.

I'm in the same boat. I've tried a few times and failed. I'm begining to realise that the thought of stopping is worse than the actual stopping and I'm about to have another try. Good luck.

sue1169 (and anyone else reading this for encouragement!) I smoked for 50 years and gave up 3 years ago next month. I'd tried willpower and various NHS suggestions but did not succeed till I tried e-cigs. I bought a disposable one that looked like a real cigarette so I had something in my hand and that was that. Actually preferred it to a real one. No more harmful tobacco, no smell and no mucky ashtrays to wash

The brand I saw in the shop display was this one and you can get them from a lot of chemists as well as some supermarkets and online. Much more discreet too than the ones that look like a kazoo and envelope you in clouds of vapour Other brands are also available, as they say on tv!

I smoked 40 a day for over 30 years. When I found out my first grandson was expected I just stopped! Cold turkey! I shook for 3 days like a junkie and felt so ill. But I am so glad I stopped. You can't smoke round children, its just not fair. If I can stop , anyone can!!

I tried all the usual methods. Patches gave me a rash, gum, lozenges, tabs and spray gave me heartburn.
Tried vaping but that made me cough and gave me a stinking headache.
Finally went to my doctor and started on Champix. I didn't have any nightmares or vivid dreams but my doctor advised taking the evening tablet at about six o'clock and that would stop the risk of the dreams. Not everybody gets them anyway.
I'm now ten weeks into a twelve week course and after 49 years on the fags and many failed attempts to give upI hardly ever think of them. If you don't have success with vaping I strongly recommend seeing your doctor. It does involve fort nightly visits to the nurse to see how you're getting on and to check your carbon monoxide levels and to give any advice and support you may need. Good luck.

Has your doctor's surgery got a 'Smoking Cessation Clinic?' It sounds pretentious but actually mine helped me to stop smoking nine years ago. There are dedicated staff to advise you and keep you motivated. I used patches and managed to stop over a six month course. I smoked at least twenty a day and was completely addicted. The patches are on prescription which is cheaper than buying them . Good luck with stopping. Wanting to stop is the first step.

Oh thank you.ALL of you? just read thro every single reply and had a weep.felt like i wanted to be in a room with you all and soak up all your advice/experiences!!I have taken on board snippets from each of you and have set my day for Friday(personal reason)...i will keep reading your replies during my quit!! AND i will post updates on my progress...thank you friends☺

I really hope you can do it. It is hard, my husband and i both smoked and we gave up a few years ago and feel so much better for it. Even more so when i got a message last week from my youngest son to say his partner had found her mother dead in bed at the age of 63. She had suffered with COPD and was on an oxygen machine at home, but still refused to give up the fags!!!!

DH has a principle thst he won't smoke except on National No Smoking Day and Stoptober, just because he refuses to be told what to do!

I have used Champix successfully to give up smoking twice but for various reasons started again . Didn't help that late DH smoked & found it difficult to quit.

I really should give up again but I'm not in the right frame of mind at the moment although I don't smoke indoors or in the car. I am down to between 3 & 5 a day.

I do use e-cigs indoors but it's mainly for something to hold but does help with cravings - maybe some day soon I'll give up totally just not yet

Good luck giving up

I started smoking at the age of sixteen, which was a shock to everyone, including me! My dad smoked and I was always complaining about the smell and it making me cough, so why on earth I started smoking is anyone's guess!
I was a 40 a day girl until I was thirty four years old, when DS came home from school aged five and asked me to stop smoking "because it's dangerous and I don't want you to die mummy"! I promised him that I'd stop after the weekend, and I did, I just went cold turkey, no such things as e-cigs in 1992!
I had to do it, because if you make a promise to a five year old child, you have to keep it!
So, sue1169, promise a small person that you'll never smoke again. You won't be able to live with the guilt if you let them down!

Smoked from age of 15 until I was 58 2 years ago. One afternoon I dozed of on sofa after work,when I woke I couldn't get my breath I ended up in AE and diagnosed with COPD otherwise healthy and not over weight.No sign of this coming on just happened out of the blue,apparently it's common if you have smoked for over 20 years. I always enjoyed a cigarette and wasn't even a heavy smoker 8/10 a day, I wish I had given up all those times that I'd said "thats it I want to stop."Of course I've not touched one since and now very much regret being a smoker. Amazing how a scare like that can make you stop so suddenly with no desire to touch it again. Luckily I'm healthy and even tho I have copd it doesn't affect my life. Good luck take each hour at a time and start by breaking one habit at a time go for a walk after dinner instead of lighting up.

My daughter stopped with hypnotherapy. She was quite a heavy smoker and tried patches, twice, to no avail. However, a friend of mine went to a hypnotherapist to cure her of her fear of heights as she wanted to walk to the top of Machu Pichu. It worked. As she also did hypnosis to stop smoking I suggested my daughter see go to her. My daughter told her she didn't think it would work on her but the therapist said all you need is to really want to stop, which she did. It cost £150, about 3 years ago, and she had one session, the therapist said if it didn't work she would give her another session free. Much to my daughter's amazement it worked and she hasn't had a cigarette since. The best £150 she's ever spent. See if you can get a recommendation from your area.

Following two bad chesty colds about 18 months ago, I gave up smoking. These days I use an e cigarette occasionally, and they do help to keep me on track.

Hope you manage to give up smoking, best wishes.

I, like Disgruntled gave up smoking (after 30 odd years) by reading Allen Carr's book, 'Easy way to give up Smoking'. The best £7 I ever spent! I've never tried an e-cig and I know they're less harmful than a cigarette but I do know someone who has used one for about 8 years now - she's never overcome her addiction to nicotine. My recommendation would be to have a go at the book first.

I smoked cigarettes for over 50 years, then was told by a specialist at the hospital that I should give up or risk mouth cancer as I had a white patch. I attended the local Smokefree Clinic (run by the local NHS Community Health and Care Trust and was given various options which I could try. I decided on the course of Champix tablets which could be used in conjunction with an e-cigarette. I had 3 further visits to the Clinic on a 1-to-1 basis with an Adviser. I have now not had a cigarette since the beginning of July, I have finished the tablets and am smoking an e-cigarette. I have managed this despite the fact that my husband smokes like a chimney and have also been in company with several friends smoking. I have to say I would LIKE a normal cigarette, but don't have desperate cravings. Go on, give it a go! Good luck.

I gave up smoking when I was pregnant years ago. No e cigs then but am wondering if all the posters above who talk about e cig s are still using them or whether they are just an interim measure.?

At the smoking cessation clinic they said it was not important that I come off e-cigs as there is very little harm in these. The main thing was that I had stopped poisoning myself with normal cigarettes.

I had a good reason to stop as I had just met my DH. He asked me the day we met if I was a smoker and I said, "Not any more," because I really wanted to see him again and I knew he was a non-smoker.

I had read somewhere that it takes three weeks to change a habit so kept telling myself that it wasn't such a long time and that I could do it. It worked for me. That was eight years ago.

All the best with your efforts sue1169. It isn't easy but it really is worth it!

I smoked 20 to 30 a day for about 40 years. I tried hypnotherapy and patches but still went back to smoking. Then 5 and a half years ago I read Allen Carr's book, the easy way to stop smoking. I didn't expect it to work but was fascinated by the excellent reviews of people who had stopped smoking after reading it. I read it on my Kindle and didn't tell anyone so was under no pressure. Believe me, no-one could have been more surprised than I was myself when I stubbed out that last cigarette and realised that was it. I've never wanted another cigarette! And that's the beauty of this method. I had/have absolutely no cravings. My family were amazed. I'm still not sure how it works. Definitely psychological and the realisation that the addiction is not as bad as its made out to be. Whatever works for you sue1169 I wish you all the best in your determination to become a non smoker!

Just stop.

Wish were that easy AmMaz?

After smoking for 40 years I finally made a firm decision to stop when the law about smoking in public places was passed - I was determined not to be the saddo standing outside a restaurant in the freezing cold/pouring rain just to feed my addiction! So I fixed a date early in 2007 to quit.
What I'd always found hardest was waking up on the day I'd promised to quit, knowing I couldn't have a cigarette with my early morning cuppa. It meant I started the day on a total downer instead of the positive frame of mind I so needed in order to quit. So.... I decided that on my chosen day I would get up, have my cuppa and enjoy my last cigarette. And then quit. It worked. I haven't smoked since. And if I'm perfectly honest, it really wasn't difficult. I realised that the hardest thing is making that absolute commitment to stop. Once you have that level of determination, really have it, then the rest is much easier than you think.

sue1169 I know just how you feel. Over the years I've given up dozens of times. I am not smoking at the moment but unfortunately if I'm under severe stress or am particularly upset about something, I know I can so easily start up again.

Don't be too discouraged. There's nothing to stop you having another go. Even if you only give up intermittently it gives your body a little bit of a rest and maybe one day you'll be able to give up for good.

sue just wanted to wish you good luck for tomorrow, as it's the first day of your tobacco-free life Don't beat yourself up if it doesn't go as well as you hope. It won't mean you've failed, just that it wasn't the right time for you, so do it the next day.

I think Indinana's suggestion of stopping after your first cigarette of the day is a good one. Also I know lots of people advise telling friends and family that you're going to stop at a certain time but I found it easier not to tell anyone I'd stopped, there's less pressure on you that way. It was actually 2 weeks before my son noticed!