smoking?

Thank you, Alima; most encouraging! I do suffer from depression anyway but I'll watch out to see if the tablets make it worse. Being a "non smoker" would cheer me up!

E cig everytime . I tried so many times with different methods , patches , gum, cold turkey, herbal cigs . Bought an ecig 2 years ago and have never touched a ciggy since . Contrary to what the tobacco companies are putting about , they are 99% less harmful than smoking . Good luck x

DH managed to give up using Champix, had his last ciggy the day of Will's wedding and never looked back. I tried at the same time and they were working for me but I had the side effect of depression. Frightened me but as soon as I stopped I was fine. Cannot remember how far into the course I was, sometimes think I should have carried on. Go for it wot, just be mindful of possible side effects and go back to whoever prescribed them if you need to. A lot of people have been successful with them. Good luck.

Has anyone tried Champix? Just prescribed them today. Starting them on Tuesday.

sue1169, please do yourself a favour and get an ecig! If is literally the only thing that had worked for me. It will be 3 years in January since I last had a cigarette and there were absolutely no cravings! I know that people say it is still an addiction and I agree with that, but you will see, your sense of smell improves, your food tastes better; I could go on.
I also know that giving up the ecigs is easier than giving up smoking. You don't get the intense cravings that you do with cigs. (Admittedly I haven't done it yet but I do plan to). Good luck to you, you will get there!

Yes it is GwannyAnnee. Hows it going with you? Good I hope!!...

What a lovely reason to quit Sue.

Aww again thank you ALL!! Re New Year well off to Dubai late Jan for the birth of my daughters first baby(8th grandchild) Im staying for a while to help out..so def need to be smokefree by then!!...Am going to do it ?

sue1169 we are only a few weeks away from the New Year tell yourself YOU WILL NOT SMOKE IN 2017

Sue1169, just stop beating yourself up when you don't manage to stop, you WILL one day. I smoked for over 40 years and managed it, eventually. I just loved smoking and really didn't want to stop, it was only my family and money that made me take a good look at what I was doing, that was seven years ago.

Yes, I could start again tomorrow, but I won't and nor will you when you finally find something to give you that extra pressure to stop, I wish I knew what that magic thing was, but you will find it one day. The first one in the morning was the hardest, there was a time when I couldn't imagine not having it and that was my excuse not to stop. How stupid.

How did I do it? I set a date, bought some herbal cigarettes and mixed them with normal cigarettes and didn't know which I was going to pick out of the packet. I did that for a fortnight by which time I hated the taste of both types and then went cold turkey. Worked for me, but everyone has their own story to tell.

We are all rooting for you, don't despair, you will achieve it because you want to and you also know you have a whole army of gransnetters behind you. Good luck

When i actually manage to stop I will let you all know.truly will!! So fed up of myself.....?

This is a hard one. I have tried using Alan Carr method and nicotine patches and failed. I refuse to use an e-cig... (my thoughts)just swapping one addiction for another. To be honest...I like smoking. My husband used e-cigs and had limited success. He is back on cigarettes again. I think you have to REALLY WANT to give up, as others have said, set a date in the new year, and try going "cold turkey". I wish you all the best, you are making the RIGHT decision just talking about it is motivating. Let us know how you are getting on. :-)

Ah yes rubylady you've just reminded me. I used to spend so much money on tobacco that when I became a non smoker I treated myself to my first new laptop a couple of months later.
Also, the tipping point for me I think was being told that I had early signs of macular degeneration. When I read that smoking can be a major cause it scared me, even though I'd seen all the evidence of what it was doing to the rest of my body. Your eyesight is so precious.
Having said that I didn't think I'd be able to do it. The fact that the Allen Carr book worked still amazes me.
I remember doing the unthinkable - going to work for the day without any cigarettes on me and NOT feeling panicky.

C'mon ladies, you can do this! You are strong independent women, you have got through some really tough things in your lives and now it is time to think of yourselves and your own health for the future. Stub out that cigarette and take a deep breath. Say to yourself that this is the first day of your freedom. Do it now.

In the Allen Carr book, he likens your lungs to the bowl of a smokers old pipe, where all the slutchy sticky tobacco slime has collected over the years. You want rid of this in your lungs, right? You want your aveoli to be free of all that crap and to move about freely to make your lungs work as they should. You want to smell fresh, of scent, perfume, soap, gorgeousness. You want your breath to be less like the bottom of a bird cage and more like Snow White when the birds are helping her clean up. So come on girls, get out your brooms now, clean out those lungs and make Christmas 2016 your first smoke free Christmas!

And in doing so, you can save the ciggie money and buy yourself something beautiful to treat your new re-invented self!

Hi Sue, hope things are going well.

I quit (again) last night. I'm doing patches again via the pharmacy's programme where I will attend each week to collect them and a tube of nicotine mints and have a breathaliser test.

Like you, the mornings and daytime in general are the hardest for me so I decided this time to smoke until just after tea time, when I was snuggled up on the couch. I still had a slight panic this morning but not nearly as bad.

I've taken out another genealogy subscription to give me something to focus on. Maybe you could try throwing yourself into a hobby that distracts your mind?

I must try and get a hold of that Allen Carr book that others are talking about, I hear it's really good, have you read it?

I am really rooting for you Sue, we can do this x

Two years ago we were having our grandaughter to stay......we decided after 40 yrs it was going to be a smoke free zone. We both got hypnotherapy cost about 600 for both.....my thoughts were we cannot go back on them till we gained the money back....
Neither of us has had any desire or longing for a cigarette..should have done it years ago....it was so easy.

Haha nothing like a good rant rubylady?!! Yes i do drive?

Sue, I stopped a couple of guys while out looking at cars the other day, they were from another showroom. One of the guys had a vape thingy in his hand and I asked him how it was going. He said he was doing well, then the other guy, only young showed me his cigarette and said that he wasn't! He did say that he had a new baby and stresses. I told him that he would always have stresses but smoking wouldn't really help them. In fact, since quitting I have become calmer in one respect. Anyway, after a lot of ear bashing about how his wife had devoted nine months to giving life to his child, I said it was his turn to step up and stop smoking, if only for the sake of being around to see his child grow up. He agreed with me and said he was going to try. He was only 23 as it turned out and I told him he didn't want to end up like me in another 30 years, not being able to breathe, going for motobility cars.

After I had drove off, I was chuckling to myself. I shouldn't really go around preaching to innocent young men. He was probably really looking forward to going for his cigarette, having five minutes away from work and this mad women turns up in her car and gives him a lecture on his way of life! Poor chap. I need to rein it in, but I seem to be getting worse as I get older.

I shouted at a guy at B & Q the other day as I took some paint back. He wanted my postcode, followed by my house number. I protested but he insisted they needed it for the refund. I was fuming at them having data about me which I wanted to keep private. Anyway, I asked for a manager and she said I could have refused and he would have had to accept it. I said I refused but got told I couldn't. Then I told her to train her staff better. She came back and told me that only guide dogs were allowed in the store as I had took my doggie in her pram for me to hold on to and walk better. She didn't ask me to leave though. I'm going to get thrown out of somewhere soon!

I hope you are well, and just keep trying. Do you drive? X

You need a strategy; when did you light up?
with a drink? - have a few carrot batons, celery pieces etc to crunch (you could have peanuts but they are fattening!)
First thing in the morning - do the shower/teeth clean routine
After lunch? have a little stroll outside if possible
If someone smokes around you, just notice the smell and think that you don't want to smell like that

Know that the three month mark is the difficult bit when your resolve wavers and be strong!

Thank you All! I need this forum..I truly do...?

ruby is right - do not have that first cigarette.

If you've had a shower, are wearing clean clothes, nice fresh mouth why ruin all that with the smell of smoke?

Also second using hypnotherapy ( qualified in that area myself) You will have invested time and money and the outcomes are usually positive.

Sue, just start over with the giving up, I am so willing you to succeed, smoking related diseases are horrible. Positive thoughts always succeed more than negative so how about saying to yourself " I am a non smoker" and if offered a cigarette " not for me thank you, I don't smoke" Really, really wishing you success with this.

It's like a bad lover, one you keep going back to even though you know it isn't doing you any good. Be strong. X

Sue Please do not have that first cigarette at all in the morning. I found that if I cleaned my teeth instead of lighting up, it made me do something with my hands and made me feel better through smelling fresher instead of smelling of tobacco.

I've been free now for just over two years and I don't miss it a jot. I say free because it had me in it's grip, panicking if I hadn't got any, wondering where money was coming from to get some, going without something else to afford tobacco. It was horrendous when I think back and knowing now how I used to smell. If I get into a taxi and the driver is a smoker it stinks. I can't wait to get out.

I had to just quit, just like that. I was struggling to breathe. If I had taken another drag I dread to think what would happen. So out went the cigarette and never another one. I can't say that I didn't crave one at first, because I did, I even had the taste in my mouth for a good while but I used the teeth cleaning trick. Don't use mints or chewing gum, go and clean your teeth. By the time you have finished the craving has passed and you can go on to find something to do to take your mind off the beast trying to lure you back in.

Just keep trying. I tried for ages before I finally stopped. Make November your stopping month, don't worry about not doing it last month, the important thing is to stop and not ruin your health and not to give the government all that money in tax. Plus your purse will thank you, I can't believe how much I can treat myself now to other things. Keep posting, that is the key. Good luck, I will keep seeing how you are doing. X