I have smoked since I was thirteen and am now fifty seven. I have every reason to give up having had a heart attack and minor stroke plus I have FH.
Smoking is an addiction and is the first and last thing I do each day. I have little desire or willpower to give up but know I must. Yes I am aware of all the reasons why I should stop but given the above HOW is the question. Your constructive comments please...
Health? Money? Family? Risk to others?
I stopped just saying no to smoking, people cannot understand how can one do this? WILL POWER!
One life, short life may be, think of other benefits in life.
Constructive comments please, I am afraid I have none.
Smoking is an addiction. Really?
Would you like me to stop for you?
There's no excuse these days. If you lack willpower then get serious with patches, gum, spray or even those ridiculous electronic cigarettes.
Sorry my friend, but with your litany of woes and '...little desire or willpower to give up...' all you are likely to get here is a dose of tough love.
You may not like it, but the above is constructive!
By the way I am an ex-smoker who went cold turkey.
As an ex-smoker all I can tell you is that it IS possible. What did it for me was managing to persuade myself that I wasn't giving something up but working to get something positive right now. i found it hard to convince myself about the longer term benefits so every time I had a desire to smoke I concentrated on not having stinky clothes, bad breath and wasting money. And you will shortly realise that you really do stink - I can now smell a smoker from about 50 feet away and am appalled that I was like that once. And the difficult bit was over in 2 days! So just try it out for a couple of days.
Smoking is more addictive than cocaine, fact! As with any addiction the first thing you wake up to is the desire for a fix. Maybe I'm making excuses and just need to take action. Thanks for your comments
Action beats excuses hands down!
Hi Clericus, I smoked for 24 years and could never go longer than 3 hours without a cigarette. Like you it was the first and last thing I did each day. I had tried going cold turkey several times but never managed a whole day. Having asthma and suffering from repeated chest infections, I decided that I would have to give up. I used nicotine patches which I would put on while in bed with my eyes shut in the morning. I would then get up about ten minutes later. The patches seemed to work for me. After about ten days we were snowed in and I couldn't get to the shops to buy more, so I kept the same one on for several days. It was then I realised that I didn't really need them any more and the rest is history. I have been stopped now for 22 years. I think a lot of my difficulties in stopping were all in my head. Good luck.
You need to be told the cold hard truth. SMOKING DOES KILL. I have lost many friends and relatives who have died because of smoking related diseases. I smoked 40 a day until I gave up completely 30 years ago. I used anti- smoking tablets which are not around these days, but there are lots of other aids on the market and you will need WILL POWER. You will feel the effect immediately you give up, not to mention the extra money in your pocket. I really don't know how people can afford to smoke these days with cigarettes nearly £10 a packet.
Very true Hans! I roll my own so is cheaper but still £16 a week.
Will power and desire I lack, hence I haven't given up.
Action required and the comments are helping.
I also started smoking when i was 13 als and finally gave up smoking because they told me i had to because it was not good for my diabetes they just diagnosed. I was 59. One week later i had a heart attack and died 5 times and was brought back and here i am today. I did not want to die and even though its thought to be hard to give up I had no problem after that. It was all the motivation i needed. It broke my heart to see my sons being trooped in to see their father on his death bed all because i wanted a fag. 40 a day is not a good way and rolling your own only has one benefit and that is being cheaper.
Sure it take will power but it also take a will to want to do it. You have come on here and told us all that you are a wimp with no will power so you have faced your demon in front of us all. Now just get on with it and i can assure you you will not regret it.
Hi Clericus
Have you tried patches or any other form of substitution?
Like you I found none of the above worked, absolutely no will power at all.
My GP recommended I try Champix pills ( not sure if name right) I took them ( one a day) whilst continuing to smoke, then by the 11th day I didn't want a cigarette, it actually made me feel ill thinking about smoking. Not sure how it works but it seems it alters something in the brain to make you no longer want to smoke.
Champix was derived from an anti depressant which when given to patients who smoked with depression it stopped them smoking, so it was by chance that this drug was found to help smokers give up.
I really think it's worth a try as in my book it's a miracle anti smoking pill.
Good luck, I know exactly how you feel.
Thank you all, thought this post would get a reaction which was what I needed. 15 a day isn't a lot to smoke but today I haven't taken cigs out with me. Aim for 10 a day by next week, 5 the week after then STOP. You are an inspiring lot.
Have heard of Champix and will talk to GP
After smoking for 45 years I gave up by reading "The only way to stop smoking" by Allen Carr. I had had several failures before using nicotine gum, patches etc, but that's just changing one addiction for another. My husband has been taking nicotine lozenges for seven years! I have now been an ex-smoker for six and a half years. Good luck.
Hello Clericus
Similar boat to you..... I had to give up but don't think I would have been able to maintain it long term. I have used E-cigs , not the little cheap ones but a proper big one -they are not ridiculous as one ignorant poster said. One GP thinks they are so good he has opened up a shop next to his surgery selling them. I have been stopped for 18 months now and saved over £3000. Breathing is much better and I no longer suffer chest infections. Really recommend them. Best of luck.
Hi Clericus. Nicotine is an extremely addictive drug. I felt utterly powerless over my addiction – it was the first and last thing I did every day. I tried various attempts at quitting but I finally stopped completely 12 years ago through attending a 12-stop recovery programme: Nicotine Anonymous. I once could not imagine a life without cigarettes, but it was the best thing I ever did – and I now never think about them. Unfortunately, such meetings are very few and far between in the UK. As you say, nicotine is more addictive than cocaine, and yet we wouldn’t question a cocaine or heroin addict attending a 12-step programme – even though nicotine is just as addictive and kills many more thousands of people every year.
You can google for a local meeting, but as I say, I think there are just a handful of weekly meetings in the UK at the moment. Good luck.
Wow, good feedback. Have just plugged an e cigarette in to charge. Will try to stop on my own and talk to my GP. Will keep you posted.
The best thing I ever did? giving up stinky filthy smoking!
you really can be smelt yards away!!!
and, your clothes will always stink.
no amount of sweets,chewy,mouthwash will ever get rid of the pong until you stop.
oh,
you may say that you can't smell "the pong" but, everyone near you can smell that pong..
that was the main reason I seriously gave up smoking,
you don't have to stay outside when you "fancy a fag"
you can sit with family and friends without them turning up their noses because of the "pong"
your wardrobe and your home will no longer smell either!
I wish my Friends had given up smoking when I did?
they were stubborn.
I ended up with C.O.P.D.! Consultant told me that my FRIENDS were to blame!
I had been surrounded by smokers for years.....
I used just WILLPOWER and nothing else...not easy...determination will get you through it....
GOOD LUCK !
In fairness I never smoke indoors so don't have the pong, but I see what you mean.
The last two days I've cut down to 11 cigs from 15-18 a day. I aim to be on 10 daily by next Wednesday!
Thanks for your comment.
Just another thought!
have you noticed how your WHITE walls and ceilings have gone yellow?
I really DID want to stop smoking....
that is the total reason you need to have....
I saved 2 cigarettes...
a month later?
I threw them out.
Good Luck !!!
Hi clericus, go on to another community quit support. It helped me. I had lung cancer and then a heart attack. Being a non smoker can be done. There is section on quit support called myquit story. If you do go on have a look at my quit story, titled thank you quit support.
Telling people they smell just makes them feel bad about themselves. To make a positive change you need to draw on your strengths and self esteem, e.g. how you have successfully overcome adversity in the past. You might also think about what you are going to do instead of smoking, as smoking has filled a lot of your time and thoughts and is linked to your responses to events throughout your day. Find a replacement activity, preferably something you enjoy and will benefit from, but probably not food or you may end up with another problem!!
Your family loves you and they surely want you to live longer. And do it for yourself as well. Stand with your decision to quit smoking to never feel the pain of its negative effects. There are other things you can do to avoid it of course. Get more physical, join activities like sports. It's one way to beat your cravings for cigarette. There are therapies too that can help you.
Could you please explain to me how smoking is related to cholesterol?
Can smoking increase cholesterol?
Thanks.
Husband wants to stop his statins
How long does it take 4 pains to wear of after stopping statins?
Does the Qrisk stop doctors bothering to really talk to patients, or even really looking at them?
How long after stopping Crestor did it take for severe groin and shoulder pain to go away?
Have been on 40mg statins for 3 year, my cholesterol dropped from 7 down to 5. a year later I stopped them, because I felt fit.
