smoking?

Sue, Grannypiper's post above is worth re reading, excellent advice. I did more or less the same tho my date was the following week! I was a serial smoker but knew it was my health at stake. I just didn't buy any more. If you buy them you know you're going to smoke them. If you can get over not going to a counter to buy them you know you're really giving up, not just trying. For me it was amazingly easy once I'd truly made my mind up. There are absolutely no positives in smoking but many benefits in giving up as you know. Now there are very very occasional times when I think one might be nice but no way - couldn't stand smelling of them any more! Apart from that and more importantly, I realised after many attempts to give up that I'm a nicoholic - if I had one filth stick I'd be back on them & that is truly never going to happen. Really lovely perfume costs less than smoking, that's a bonus! You will love not smoking, you CAN do it and I wish you well.

I forgot to say sue1169, I found my failure to give up very depressing! Everyone around me was giving up, so what was so wrong with me that I couldn't do it? I would also advise against using anything at all that says 'willpower required. ' I was off the planet when they were giving out willpower. For me, ' 'willpower required' means that you will suffer unbearable cravings and probably either end up crying, throwing stuff around and then finally having a cigarette!

E cigarettes are now proving to cause as many problems as tobacco, and soon they will be banned in public places as the vapour is harmful. Hypnosis is one of the best ways to stop completely. I have helped hundreds in the last 16 years. Not 100% of course, nothing is, but if take some responsibility yourself with the sessions, it can work brilliantly. Find yourself a really good therapist. Look on National Council for Hypnotherapy. Talk to the therapist first and make sure you like what they say before booking.

Hi sue1169, I have an ego battery and I use 18 strength nicotine liquid. The idea is that you start on a high strength nicotine level to satisfy the cravings and then you can reduce the level until you get to zero strength. I am not at that stage yet but maybe one day I will wean myself off it completely! You can buy a starter kit ( and buy the liquid separately) or buy the batteries and cartomizers ( the top bit that holds the liquid and screws onto the battery) separately. I get mine on Amazon. There are some great ecig forums for lots of advice and for me it has really worked. Good luck with it! As I said, I was a complete failure with all the other methods.

My father stopped smoking at the age of 76, having been a 40-a-day man for around 60 years. He said if he had known how easy it would be, he would have stopped many years ago, he just didn't think it would be possible. When I stopped in 1977, I crocheted. In fact, I crocheted so much, I ended up spending more on crochet cotton than I had on cigarettes! Nearly 40 years later, I still have many of the items I made then, and a friend recently told me that she still has a set of dressing-table mats I made for her during that time ☺

I have had an e-cig for a long time, but just never got round to using it.
I decided last week to make a proper go of it, so as a long-term smoker, I didn't want to pressure myself, so have started to just replace some of my cigarettes with an e-cig instead. I also keep a notepad and mark down each 'real' cigarette, as I want to get down to ten a day (yesterday I had 12, tut tut) to start with. I work from home, and even though I never smoke indoors, it has been too easy to go outside for a quick smoke.
I am happy to say that e-cigs are the best thing ever for cutting down/giving up. It is always sat on my desk and I take it with me, when watching TV etc.
Anyway, it is working for me. When I feel ready, I shall drop down from ten a day to even less!

I stopped by reading Alan Carr's book, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. It's very hard because it's an addiction. Good luck.

Try hypnotherapy or acupuncture. A friend who was a smoker for 30 years managed to stop using hypnotherapy.

Have you looked at the NHS Choices website - there is a great deal of good advice and help on there. I don't smoke but I've looked round the website and I'm using it to try to reduce by risk of Diabetes - good luck with your quest.

Firstly sorry Antonia for mis typed name.and thank you.all three of you for goodvsound advice...45yr habit is a fight now...but i will win.? and its good to know i can come on gransnet for back up/advice etc....

Three years since I had my last cigarette, too. My health and bank balance are much improved as are the smell of my house and clothes! Like Antonia it was ecigs that worked for me. My advice would be 1) Don't go for the ones that look like real cigarettes - they are expensive and disappointing. 2) Visit a "vape shop" and ask the staff for advice about what kit to try. They will be delighted to help, in my experience.

Sue, now is not the time, you are clearly not in the right frame of mind. Set yourself a date in the future maybe 3rd or 4th of January after all the festivities( try thr night before your bin day, have your last cig just before midnight then throw every lighter cig and ashtray in the bin) and start telling yourself that is the day you are giving up and starting a new lie. Every time you light up tell your self this and every morning as you wake tell your self you only have x number of months then weeks then days. In the mean time only smoke half the cig and stop having one when you are on the phone, straight after eating and as soon as you wake. Start smoking outside if you dont already and dont wear a coat as that will mean you will be freezing and wont enjoy the cig. Go on Sue, you can do it , if i can and my DH can give up his 80 a day anyone can.

Oh thanks Aonia.I will!! Which sort do you use..dont know where to start so many of them!

Hi sue1169, please try an e cig. I honestly thought that nothing would stop me smoking. I had tried several times, all dismal failures, until I tried the ecigs. They really do satisfy the cravings, as nothing else can. For me nothing worked, not the gum, not the patches, I tried the lot and felt such a failure as other people around me managed to stop, but I just couldn't do it. For a few months the I was on both the real cigarettes and the ecigs, and then one morning I tried the ecig instead of the real one, and from then on it was quite easy. It is coming up to 3 years now since I last had a real cigarette and honestly I don't miss them. If a hopeless case like me can do it them so can you. Please give them a try!