To All New Members

[nsd_user663_3356]

WOW!!

I have just had a wee look and since the 20th December we have had 66 new members. (Great to know you are not alone in making the choice to stop smoking isn't it)

That is an amazing amount of people who have joined and what is even better is all but 19 of them have posted.

Hopefully most of the new people will be successful with their quits.

A wee bit of advice from a relative oldie now :rolleyes: and one who is now very secure with my quit........

This can be done.!!

Yes it is a long road and the first few days can appear to be daunting, with the thought of reaching 1 month, or 3 or 6 or even a year, at times, seeming almost impossible. But let me assure you that YOU can do it!!!!

One day at a time, then one week etc etc.

Most of the longer term members here will probably agree that one of the main things which helped with their quit is knowledge. That is why you will see so many with links to various other websites (e.g. whyquit and woofmang etc. in their signatures.) People have put them there for a reason. To make it easy for you to access those sites and to learn from the massive amounts of information on them. I found whyquit to be a great resource, full of information and advice on quitting (particularly Cold Turkey Quitting). And Woofmang has some wonderfully inspirational stories, about quitting and overcoming the various stages of quitting.

The first few days of any quit are generally the hardest but, with a bit of knowledge they can be a lot easier to handle than if you try to quit without really knowing what to expect. Most people expect it to be really tough and that the cravings are terrible. While the first few days can be quite hard they will not "hurt" you. You will not "die" if you dont have a cigarette and to be honest, yes the cravings will happen, but if you know what to expect and how to deal with them, believe me, they are quite easy to deal with. that is where education comes in.

People will all use various methods to help start their quit, some with greater degrees of success than others. These include, Cold Turkey, Books (e.g. Allen carr, Neil Casey), various forms of NRT and Drugs like Zyban and Champix, but to be honest there is no miracle cure which will make you "stop in a blink". These aids can make the first few days or even weeks a bit easier to handle. BUT, what will help in the LONGER term, for when these aids have "run their course" is the fact that you have educated yourself on quitting and know what to expect and also how to deal with it.

It will take some effort from you. You will need to do a bit of work to help yourself. But reading and reading and reading to gain knowledge has got to be worth it in the long run.

One last thing. Craving is a very strong word, which brings to mind that it is hard to overcome. Whilst in the first few days you may get the odd "craving", what you will mostly experience is a feeling. A feeling that there is something missing, or a slightly empty feeling. That is all it is, a feeling, NOT a craving. And when it is reduced to a feeling, then it is easier to deal with. Also do not try to hide from these moments. Expect them and while they are happening, think about them. How do you feel?, how long does it last etc. This will help you for the next time one of these feelings happen and before long, they will only happen every few days, then weeks then it will be months between each "feeling " that you would like a cigarette.

Sorry this is so long winded but as a new quitter it is good to have some ideas as to what to expect and how you can help yourself along the road to what we all want and that is to be a non smoker..

Good luck and good reading!!!!

[nsd_user663_3816]

Really informative post for newbies like me and people that maybe are just thinking about it. Wow 66 people thats alot of people quitting.

Thank you

Denise

xx

[nsd_user663_3853]

Thanks for the post, John. In the past when trying to quit, I've never had this sort of knowledge and advice available. But this time, having that knowledge and advice and the support and encouragement will allow me (and others) to make a much more committed effort to quitting. And this time it'll be for good!

Rich

[nsd_user663_3738]

wow...66 new members ..dont just look at the fourm..get posting,dont be shy..we are all here for you all....im 58 days quit,and its all thanks to this site ,and the great people that s here,,when you feel a crave coming on just post on here ,,there is always some one here to help..just read and read and get all the info you can..it gets easeier as you go on...you have made the choise not to smoke ,and are half way there,,,give it your best shot...as i say you all keep the faith tony

[nsd_user663_3849]

Thanks John - some really helpful advice for us new quitters! I do agree that knowledge is a great thing but so is this forum! Just reading other people's experiences helps us to see what we might have to expect. It is also a great distraction from those feelings that there is something missing in our lives. In fact, I'm becoming addicted to this forum! Aaargh!

I feel so confident that I won't ever need a ciggie again and it's thanks to reading threads like this!

Day 5 done!

I am so looking forward to reaching the 1 week milestone!