Why??! And WHat??!!

[nsd_user663_3602]

Oh dear, I thought the forum is looking a little empty today, so I would start a thread asking what personal thing/s was it that made you finaally quit, and What point was the moment that you were finally able to make it happen?

I will start:

The constant fears of cancer, and doing a recording session and my voice not being up to it due to smoking, AND that feeling after chain smoking all night at a party and waking up the next morning with a mouth like an ashtray and my throught feeling horrible and getting heart palpitations!:eek:, made me quit,

A day where I had chain smoked, and I wanted to quit so much I poured my brand new pouch of tobacco in the river! ( I live on a boat) |The penny dropped and I thought If I am not happy after smoking 50 ciggarettes then i will never be happy! I havn't smoked since

Please share your stories with me too,

xx

sachmo

[NicFirth 10 Years Smoke Free]

I was taking part in a discussion about smoking and doing martial arts on a martial arts forum. Me and a couple of people were defending why we smoked and how it didn't really affect our training. I even likened it to high altitude training :eek:

I wrote a long reply, but before I pressed submit I read through it and could see that actually I was in denial and writing cr@p. I then scrolled through my previous posts and had a moment of clarity. I could not believe what I had been saying and could not understand why I wanted to continue smoking.

I re-typed my reply and said to the anti-smokers I was going to quit! That was on the 16th July and set a quit day of the 18th. However, I finished the pack I was smoking at 1:26 pm on the 17th and made the decision that I wasn't going to buy any more. Not one puff since.

I had registered here for a previous short lived attempt and I thought I would check back and see if I could get a bit of help, advice and support or just a have a place to vent.

1500 posts later I think this time it is my quit is permanent, but I am determined to stay focused. I think that keeping the fact that I am quit in the forefront of my mind with copious posts is important. I can not let myself fail after all the advice I have given out and continue to do, the humiliation would be unbearable. :rolleyes:

[nsd_user663_3282]

Good thread Sachmo. I kinda of guessed that you'd be a singer given your user name.

I'd had numerous attempts to stop all with varying degrees of success but none obviously giving me a sustained quit. Back in 2002 I had a major health wake up call. But still I would crash and burn in my quits. This was getting to be beyond a joke; if I continued smoking I'd never see retirement.

So last year I spent a good few months thinking about it all and enjoying being a smoker - basically taking the stress off a bit. I set my quit date 3 months before and had a concrete plan worked out. But the most important parts, if truth be known, was that I know I'm very stubborn on occasion and care how my friends and family think about me.

There you go...I harnessed embarrassment and stubborn-ness into my perfect quitting tool

[nsd_user663_3554]

I wanted to get some control back into my life.

Smoking controlled me like all of us I guess and

I was tired of spending money just to kill myself

slowly.My father quit smoking at 40 and lived another

42 years as a non smoker.I quit later than him but hope

to live as long at least.

Very good post Sachmo,makes you think...

[nsd_user663_2524]

Hi Sachmo, it was about this time last year that l had a health scare. It started off as feeling poorly with a bad cough. After a course of antibiotics,the cough gradually improved, but my breathing got steadily worse, resulting in paramedics being called out, as by this time, l was hardly able to breathe at all. It was the worried looks on the faces of my husband and 2 sons at the sight of the wife and mother - who had always been disgustingly healthy - with an oxygen mask clamped to her face that did it for me. :eek:

I was admitted to hospital, just before last Christmas, and after various tests over the coming months, was diagnosed with COPD.

I had my last cigarette at 8.30pm on 31st December 2007, and have not had a single puff since.

Love Josie XXX

[nsd_user663_3707]

hi sashmo........i too am a singer so that was the main reason what inspired me to quit.... i got so tired of not being able to breathe properly .........i also got a really tight chest when doing sport and felt as though my chest was going to burst when climbing hills...........:eek:.........the fags had to go.........the irony was i went to see a hypnotherapist ( £ 120.00 !! )...as soon as i got out of his office,( two hours later) the first thing i wanted was a fag !! i was so disappointed that it hadnt worked and got so cross with myself for 'wasting' all that money that out of sheer y mindedness i wasnt going to cave in..so i kinda went cold turkey i guess...(.although the hypno may have helped at some deeper level )

im also quite vain so decided what was the point on spending a fortune on skincare when i smoked 30fags a day............ive been quit 6wks now and my skin looks loads better...........

my two boys also d me smoking so that was another reason. thanks for inspiring me to put the reasons down.........it keeps on reafirming its the best decision ive ever made for myself...........carol-anne xx

[Hope48]

Hi

Its something that has bothered me for a few years, its been a nag every time I had a cigarette.

In simple terms I got "The Fear" My mother who was also a smoker but like me was not a heavy smoker was diagnosed with Emphysema,she had actually given up 3 years prior to her diagnoses but she gave up too late,Shes 77 and had smoked since she was 14,A long time!!

I also would make excuses for my addiction,I am very much into keeping fit and I really did try to tell myself that my little habit was nothing,I could get away with it!lol

I was thinking as an addict,I know that now,I feel fitter than I have ever done,I will never touch another cigarette again.

[nsd_user663_3687]

its hard to really pin point a specific reason that i quit this time. just years of trying and not suceeding took its toll. i had quit so many times and always ended up back on the them and one day back in october, i just suddenly thought sod it - i need to stop and i need to stop properly ie. do it without the NRT to get away from it totally (no offence to anyone who uses NRT - its just not for me)

so did all the research found out about champix, called the no smoking clinic and the rest is history as they say

id prepared myself for weeks of misery and cravings etc but it really hasnt been like that at all

[Tomatpots 10 Years Smoke Free]

Plain and simple,....to try and extend my life.

I have been thinking about giving up since 1983 and nearly a year ago I finally got around to it:eek::eek:

[nsd_user663_3712]

I have been thinking about how to answer this since I saw the thread started a couple of days ago & I think I have the answer now

I had not tried to quit before - I think I was too frightened of failing so I didn't bother trying.

I also wasn't thinking of quiting now. I drove myself to the out of hours GP one Saturday because I had a pain under my ribs that was getting progressivly worse. I was admitted to hospital with suspected pancreatitis, however this turned out to be pneumonia

The pain was excrutiating and I was drip fed antibiotics and oxygen as I was surviving on 25% of normal lung capacity due to the fluid that had built up in my lungs.

When they had cured the infection the consultant said I could go home so long as I promised I would not be exposed to any smoke as I still had 50% of my lungs covered in fluid & it would just aggrevate it.

I had not smoked in hospital and had refused their offers of patches or other NRT and then I had to promise I would not smoke when I went home. At that point I panicked because I hit all the familiar triggers associated with smoking. I knew however I had a golden opportunity to give up having already passed the killer first two weeks without realising it. Thankfully I found this forum and I was convinced that I may not get another opportunity like this.

So I started my search for reasons to stay a non-smoker - and in a way I am still trying to answer that question, even though I have now been quit for 5 weeks.

I return to work on a part time basis on the 1st December and I'm sure I will be asked the question "so what made you give up?" as I was a determined smoker - I liked being a rebel :rolleyes: not conforming, whatever you want to call it.......So I'd better find an answer for all those patronising non-smokers at work soon

[nsd_user663_3602]

Wow

You guys are all amazing!!!

[nsd_user663_3614]

I was speaking to my partner at the start of september and i was explaining to him that i wasn't getting the "buzz"off my fags anymore so i was gonna try and give up as i didn't see the point on spending over a tenner a day on fags when i could put it in a jar and at the end of the week if i hadn't smoked i would spend that money on something i wanted :cool: so anyway that was over 12 weeks ago now and i think it was the best decission i ever made :D.

Tracey x

[nsd_user663_3707]

well done you,............ tenner a day is a huge saving..wow , bet you have saved almost a grand.......did you put it in the jar ? ....what a fab achievement......

[nsd_user663_3633]

I have been desperately trying to quit since my partner became pregnant with our now 2 1/2 year old boy. She quit as soon as she became pregnant and I have been trying almost constantly getting very stressed about it.

He was the straw that broke the camels back, after my own experiences with my Father dying when I was only 13 - I was determined that I will not do that to him if at all possible.

I am just so happy that after trying every "method" known to man that I stumbled onto this place while on Champix.

I owe this place a great deal.

[nsd_user663_3707]

and us to you stuart !! thank you x

[nsd_user663_3762]

Hi

Wow! Fantastic.

My reasons were definitely health related, followed by looks and money, then the social stigma.

I was so fed up of feeling really guilty and dirty when I lit up, with the burden of cancer hanging over my head. I felt so sapped of energy and when I gave up in early Oct the dark cloud lifted and wow, did I feel great on the patches for a couple of weeks. Stimulant ahoy! If I went on dates, it was such a hassle pretending I didn't smoke and having to rely on NRT to get through the night.:rolleyes:

I have given up before but got hooked on the NRT - unsurprising since I was on the 21mg patch 24 hours AND the nasal spray every 30 minutes! Surprised I didn't keel over from a heart attack:eek:

Something is v different this time. The NHS group meetings were fantastic - the support really helped. Also, it's been so much easier - no pain. Not complacent though. I am terrified of having one 'accidentally' if pissed. I know how easy it is to have 'just one'.

Have had depression from it, but I still don't miss smoking and don't want a fag at all.

I think I am well on my way to beating it as I have switched to the 7mg, took the patch off at night and, after 3 hours of being awake, have had not cravings in spite of not having put one on yet. I only remembered when I logged on to this site.

Ooh , this is an epic post! Soz.

[nsd_user663_1733]

Amy

Its a lovely post and you sound much better than you did a few days ago. You go girl. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[nsd_user663_1733]

welcome Jim

this is a good place to have a chat some good people here all doing the same thing.Hope to get to know you if you stick around. xxx

[nsd_user663_3762]

Amy

Its a lovely post and you sound much better than you did a few days ago. You go girl. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks Linda!

I hope you're doing well too. Must learn to get email notifications on this!xxx