Reading posts on here, from people who have quit for as little as three days to those who have quit for three months plus, everyone seems to "hate" the smell of cigarettes, or at least find it repulsive...
I, on the other hand, have to confess I still love the smell of cigarette smoke as I pass people smoking in the street:eek:
I'm 99% sure I won't smoke again, but I'm "resigned" to it rather than feeling euphoric about it... I quit under my own volition so I don't feel I've been forced into something I didn't want to do...
I guess I'd probably feel more excited about having quit if I could put my hand on some tangible benefit. After 5 weeks I just don't feel any different:mad: Sure, my bank manager's happier but that's all!! Maybe it's because I smoked for so long? But then there are others, a few, on the forum who have smoked for as long as I have...
nicky
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nickywalton
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This stuff is all so personal ...but it sounds to me as though it would be wise to watch out for that. Somewhere in there, maybe, is a little voice saying:
"Boo hoo, you made me stop doing something I love"
I can also find the odd wiff of cigarette smoke drifting on the wind quite pleasant, but I don't crave it...do you? Also, I guess what most people are talking about is the smell after coming back from going out and being in a smokey place...or in a room..or on someone when they come back from a smoke outside. I notice nowadays when my son comes back in from a smoke how awful it smells.
Nic is so sneaky. I think the Allen Carr devotees have it right when they say you have to get clear that there's NOTHING about smoking that EVER gave you ANYTHING. The one thing different about my quit this time..and what gives me hope that this will be 'it' now, is the fact that I have managed to stay in touch with that original feeling/choice..."That's enough, this is a horrible habit"..Thanks in large part to this forum, I'm convinced.
You've done so well to get this far. Root out any lingering attachment now, while the going is easy!
I know what you mean Nicky. I dont like the smell of them on someone after a smoke or any other stale smoke smell. But a waft from a lit cig still smells kind of nice to me. But then again so does cigar smoke. And the smell of petrol, cut grass etc, but I have no urge to 'sample' any of those, so it doesnt worry me particularly that I like the smell. Its just one of those things.
I Think I know what you mean Nicky i was a smoker for almost 34 years. I dont like the smell of smoke much, But cant say i feel over the moon about stopping. My purse is much better. I wanted to stop smoking and can honestly say i dont crave I do think i could have a fag now some times but it passes. Dont even think i am making sense now. but I think i know where your coming from. but today i feel ok so i will not smoke HEHE. Linda xxxx
I've read AC too and in some part have used it in my quit along with other books... I don't feel deprived as I made the choice to quit myself for my reasons...
Just intrigued that I really love the smell of cigarettes..admittedly not stale smoke as in left-over on peoples clothes etc...just wondered if there were others with same feelings...
SV...like the an**ogy!!:cool: And I agree, I love the smell but it doesn't actually make me wanna smoke...
John...I too never thought I smelt of cigs-everyone always said I was a "clean" smoker?!?!...now I've quit I'm sure I did as I can smell a smoker from thirty paces!!!:rolleyes:
Maybe, with luck, this just means I won't become a total pain-in-the ar*e ex-smoker who condemns those who still smoke??? And we've all come across them in our day...
looks like we all still like the smell of fresh cig smoke, just the stale stuff thats revolting. A few years ago a friend said to me ' you get bathed, wash hair, perfume and clean clothes - then u have a fag and ruin it all' didnt knw what she meant - then.................
Seeing as it was the stink which made me stop smoking in the first place, it's fair to say that like everyone else, I hate the stench of stale smoke/fag ends (and really always did).
Although I find myself following the odd smoker down the street to get a good whiff, interestingly (perhaps) I only find a very small sub-set of fresh fag smoke enchanting in that way.
More interestingly still, I can't stand the smell of my old brand (Richmonds) at all. But I can recognise a Dunhill from 50 paces and still love them - Dunhills are the fags on which I built my addiction 25+ years ago and I only moved from them about 5 years ago because of price and availability.
As for the lurking stench, I go to my local cinema a lot (3+ times a week) and until the legal ban last year, I would have the occasional smoke in one of the loos and somehow managed to convince myself that the loo smells were enough to overpower the stench of the fag I'd just smoked, and that nobody would be any the wiser. Since I stopped smoking, I find myself smiling when I walk past the loos after someone's had a crafty fag in there - how on earth did I think it was anything but completely obvious?
I smoked my last cigarette 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 3 Days, 6 hours and 46 minutes ago. (Two days short of eight weeks!) I have £445.11 that I haven't spent on 1,899 cigarettes (but have spent £300 of that on gym membership) and saved 6 Days, 14 hours and 15 minutes of my life.
i think youve been very lucky cg, i have craves (still), i sometimes miss smoking, but i do believe its my mind playing bloody tricks on me! i cant want the nicotine after nearly 4months (is that right cword?!) but i miss something, but its getting less and less.
i suppose after years of sticking something in my gob, ive got to miss it a little bit!
i hope in a months time, i feel like you do. xxxxxxxx
thanks to everyone who's responded - and I have to say it makes me feel a WHOLE lot better to know that I'm not the only one who enjoys the odd waft of smoke coming my way from other smokers...I have always loathed the smell of old smoke in pubs or smoking rooms in hotels...
so, good to know I'm not stark staring bonkers, or if I am, I'm not alone
Well yes actually i do believe we were victims in the sense that we chose to smoke for whatever reason but then we became victims when Old Nic set in and stopped us from stopping
Does anyone agree with my logic? lol
i think i agree with your logic, i dont think victim is the right word, whats another better word ?
Well yes actually i do believe we were victims in the sense that we chose to smoke for whatever reason but then we became victims when Old Nic set in and stopped us from stopping
Does anyone agree with my logic? lol
I agree with you, all those times I was forced to endure torture between cigarettes like the cinema, the train, inside non smoking shopping centres having a nice meal in a restaurant. All that was getting in the way of me having a stinkin, cancer causing cigarette.
Does anyone seriously believe I chose to be like that? To actually sit at my brothers wedding (every part of me twitching) wondering when it would be over so I could get outside (in the rain) and suck the life out of a cancerstick?
I didn't choose to smoke, I was forced to smoke because I was addicted to nicotine and too terrified to stop because there were ads like the NRT ones that actually stated 'Giving-up is Never Easy!'. I mean, Dear God what does that do to the mind of a desperate nicotine junkie? Not only did i loath myself for doing it, but I hated myself for not being able to stop. I 'wanted' a cigarette but as soon as I got one I would wonder what was so fabulous about it. Why did I have to stand out in the rain in my new dress with my salon gorgeous hair? I had the choice, the choice of staying warm and dry and miserable -OR- standing out in the rain and getting my blood/nicotine ratio sorted out so I could feel normal for 20 minutes.
We do however have the choice of ending that cycle. I personally found it torture and sometimes I feel bad when I see a smoker, esp one wearing a school uniform. I look at them and think they look pitiful, they are technically wearing tight shoes to get the feeling of relief when they take them off!
Must agree that the smell of a lit cigarette is still appealing, I don't think that will ever go away, but the smell of someone who has just smoked a cigarette (the stale smell) and a dirty ashtray are absolutley rancid and put me right off.
I must admit a couple of weeks ago i would have agreed with you , but not anymore. I think that ciggies only smell nice when you fancy having one, i.e. maybe when you are experiencing a craving.
In the first few days of giving up i used to go outside with the girl that sits next to me at work just so i could smell the smoke.
As the weeks passed i had less and less desire to do that. Now i am completely free of that i don't feel the need to do it at all.
Everyone, however, seems to have different views on this , but thought i would share mine :confused:
I have now been smoke free for 1 Month, 6 Days, 18 hours, 49 minutes and 56 seconds (36 days). I have saved £102.87 by not smoking 441 cigarettes. Life saved 1 Day, 12 hours and 45 minutes . Quit Date: 13/04/2008 21:40
Good to bring this topic back and see how the same people are feeling about it now Princess.
Personally I found the smell just 'ok' at the start of my quit but now it tickles and irritates my nose. I found after a week or so that I seemed to have an allergy and I wasn't wafting it as a smug ex-smoker but because it was making me uncomfortable. Funny how the body reacts differently to those things in such a short space of time.
i'm pretty sure i'm not having a crave when i enjoy other peoples smoke as i walk past them in the street...I don't seek them out...just like the smell!! Rarely think of cigarettes these days...at last, hooray!!!
however, i HATE the smell of "old" smoke!! Was in hosp last week & one of the catering assistants came in2 my room reeking of fags - it was vile...was mortified to have to admit to myself i must have smelled like that for years :mad:
Occasionally, when someone lights up near me, I'm like the Bisto Kid, loving the smell but so glad I've not got one in my mouth :eek:
Other times, when someone lights up near me, I'm coughing and spluttering, wafting my hand in front of my screwed up face "Ooooo, get that smoke away from me!" :eek:
But I am always repulsed by the smell of stale smoke, especially when you walk up to someone, and just know they've had a fag.
One other thing....... don't you think it looks very strange to see someone put a cigarette in their mouth and light it? I know I did it for 30 years......but now it just looks absolutely ridiculous to me!!!!!
Its interesting how everyone seems to have different reactions after a while.
I can understand it though. I can't say that I find it completely disgusting now.. i just don't feel the need to go and stand next to someone that smokes, which is probably related to my cravings dissapearing.
Im pretty sure that I still have more cravings to come..who knows i might then join the passive smoking crowd again for a bit
To be honest i would rather do that than pick up another ciggie and light it.
PS i completely agree.. looks really weird when i see peeps with fags in their mouth now.. ewwwwwwwwwwwww :eek:
PrincessM
I have now been smoke free for 1 Month, 1 Week, 11 hours, 46 minutes and 30 seconds (37 days). I have saved £104.85 by not smoking 449 cigarettes. Life saved 1 Day, 13 hours and 25 minutes . Quit Date: 13/04/2008 21:40
Can't smell anyfink at mo -got a code up my dose and all bunged up. Also got the usual coff to go with it so don't make me larf as I'll end up choking.
To get back to original post - I also cannot stand stale smoke. When my OH smokes in the kitchen it doesn't bother me at first, it does afterwards though which is probably why I get the urges. As soon as he has finished though I throw the tabs in the bin and wash the ashtray.
I still find fresh smoke appealing, and stale smoke worse than ever, on a kind of related/unrealted note, I am noticing a lot of smokers around recently. I walk across Manchester to work everyday and I seem to end up behind more and more smokers, every other person seems to be lit up.
Now this isnt me just noticing it, there genuinley seems to be more smokers about, now I wondered if anyone else has noticed this?
Yes - every time I turn a corner or go to the shops. Have you also noticed how many butt ends peeps leave in the gutter. I get the Park & Ride in York and was amazed at how many there were. Never noticed before and probably contributed to them at some point.
They are everywhere aren't they. I was behind a mini road sweeper last night going home, and at the back where the vents were it was gushing out the stench of stale cigs, it made me feel a bit sick, had to move left quick sharp before I gagged.
I've noticed increased number fag ends lying around..kinda assumed just cos of ban but thinking bout it that's been in force sooo long can't just be that..guess we notice them more as ex-smokers?!? Maybe same goes for noticing people smoking in the street..but DO agree there huge numbers of them!!!
What I don't understand is why there aren't more "ashtrays" provided outside buildings...lets face it, you aren't gonna stop smokers smoking by pretending they don't exist!!! And it would keep the non-smokers happy to limit the litter...
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Have yet to clean the thing ggrrr 
I want a cigarette!!!!
Stuck between a cigarette and a hard place!
Just had last cigarette
