First and foremost the most important thing is to stop smoking. It does not matter how you stop, cold turkey, NRT, Champix what matters is you do and you can. Many brainwash themselves into thinking thay can not stop. They say "I would love to stop smoking but I can't" or "I could never stop smoking".
I mentioned to a smoker buying cigarettes the other day that I had stopped they said "that's great I wish I could".
There is a long road ahead and for some this can be a very difficult road. I get so annoyed when I hear people say the first three days are the worst, there's many out there know that is not true. I'm sorry if I disillusion you but this is rubbish, the first three days is the time it is said it takes for nicotine to clear your body. After that your body has been so used to having nicotine it tells you in no uncertain manner it wants it back and you are going to give me it. This is why so many give in and start to smoke again. I have been told it is harder to come off nicotine than it is to come off heroine or alcohol. Let's face it you are and always will be a nicotine addict, like it or not that's what you are. If you can face up to that reality then you will be half way to stopping smoking. Many stoppers think well I've managed to go 6 months without a fag I can have one then just stop again. WELL NO YOU CAN NOT!!! as I said you are an addict and once an addict you are always an addict. If you take one puff you will start smoking again.
Okay the excuses, you have gone maybe a few weeks or more or less without smoking. You then find yourself wanting to smoke, you will believe me. So let's find a reason others will understand and you're sure they will forgive you for starting again. You have a fall out with your boyfriend, girlfriend, other half something drastic happens or you may make out it's drastic enough to start smoking again. I will give you some examples that happened to me which I could have used as an excuse to start smoking again. My sister died, I had a court case in which I was accused of fraud (not true) but went on for over a year. Then my daughter was having big problems all okay now, next my brother died. There were other smaller things I could have used as excuses and you will find yourself trying to find some excuse.
Next the "Triggers" the times you would have smoked, driving your car, waiting for some one, at the pub, these are the times you have to watch out for.
I'm a driving instructor so my trigger was between pupils, I had to have a cigarette. If I had time to spare and when I didn't I would rather have a fag than my lunch.
Yes it is a long hard road but it goes in stages, you'll have some very steep hills to climb. Sometimes it will be a level road and then you will get the times when it is downhill all the way. Having said it is a long road I can assure you at the end of that road it is fantastic. Good things happen along the way your sense of smell and taste returns. You start to feel you have more energy, you breath better. When walking you find you can walk further even up hills, you can run again when before you could only walk.
You start to find an inner happiness because you are achieving something you never though you could. You will feel very proud of yourself and rightly so. I used to go into my bed at night and smile and say to myself well done that's another day".
I don't like when I hear people saying oh the first few days are the worst. These are obviously people who have not smoked or they have been stopped for so long they don't remember what it was like. You also get the ones who bless them try to help by saying this because they are trying to help you stop.
I had been stopped two weeks and I felt so proud thinking that's it I've stopped. I mentioned this to a friend and said to her that's the worst over with. She looked at me with sorrow in her eyes and said "Jack I'm sorry but you have a long way to go" and she was right.
But now every minute, every second of fighting this dam drug has been worth it. If you offered me a million pounds to smoke again I would say no I will not give this up for anything.
So the long and the short of it is, it's a long hard road and you want to give in. Don't! fight it all the way you will get there and have what I have now...........happiness as a none smoker.
I smoked for 52 years and stopped cold turkey If I can anyone can. I have now not smoke over 9,000 cigarettes and saved myself over £3,000.
Happy happy Jack
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Well done happy Jack & thanks for your post. I agree that yes, the first 3 days are physically hard but not so hard as the mentally challenged ones that follow! I find myself so full of courage & determination in those first few days, it's the latter days that are the hardest.
I agree that when you are in 'the right place' even all those things that we think would send us running straight back to the fags doesn't actually happen.
I had quit in my 'darkest time' & didn't think of ever smoking again, sadly that happened much later :mad:
You have had to go through so much during the time of your quit but you have managed to stay on the straight & narrow which proves it can be done.
Well done to you Jack & heres to many, many smoke free days for you
i love your post and agree with almost all of it i am not as far as u in my quit yet but i will be one day so will feel all the later things further down the line into my quit
people cant beleive i have quit as i was a very dependant smoker they are shocked i am still quit and that keeps me going along with lots of other reasons
i feel like a new person that i am getting to know and starting to really like as i was so so used to old smoking me it was hard to get used to new me for a while
you know this non smoking Boo is a great person she doesnt stress hardly at all she is happier she definately doesnt smell unlike her smelly smoking friends who almost make me heave, she spends hours and hours with the kids without secret fag breaks, she doesnt plan her life around cigarettes anymore. wats not to like lol
I've been wondering how to say this without deterring the new quitters, but you put it really well Jack.
It IS a long hard road. A habit of many years in the making isn't undone in a few days, and the quit is an ongoing thing. I think people often feel that once they are free of nicotene that should be it, they should be free, and when they find themselves still 'suffering' they might be tempted to give up, to think that they can't do it.
But it can be done. You are living proof.
Stick with the quit, new quitters. Don't expect miracles. Understand the addiction, nurture the quit, don't let anything break it. Slowly but surely the fog clears and it gets easier and easier. And the rewards are HUGE.
Jack, much of what you say is I'm sure not only true, but also excellent advice and comes from your own experience.
I have to say though that at this early stage of my quit I found it both depressing a tiny bit demotivating. Perhaps part of your intent was to gird our loins and warn those of us many many months behind you. I'm afraid it hasn't quite worked that way for me.
I am under no illusions that I am an addict and that it is a long road ahead, but I am now feeling a bit lectured at.
Sorry and I do appreciate how much and how well you have done.
Please do not feel demotivated or depressed from Jacks post. I know from experience that is not what he meant it to be.
I have always found it harder further into a quit than the early days which is what he was getting at and agree with personally.
We are all different and that may not be the way it happens for you. Despite the fact it may or not be like that for you or me he has got through it as well as coping with other emotional issues.
Take heart from the fact that Jack has found it more difficult in the latter than early days with all the other emotional things to boot. What he is saying is if I can .................
I won't let it get to me but so much of this forum has the advice 'one day at a time' - which is how I personally am getting through - to suddenly be told that it's going top get harder is demotivating.
In effect what Jack's post says to me is:
'So you think it's hard early on, well you're wrong it's nowhere near as hard as later'.
I don't want to hear that right now. I don't expect fluffiness and lies, but I don't want to hear negativity either, which is how I find his post!
I understand where you are coming from. In the early days we have to take it one day at a time as small steps are easier to achieve. Each small step leads to a giant leap.
I think Jack is not saying it gets harder, it doesn't. Nothing is as hard as those first few days getting over the physical effects of quitting. What I think he means is that after you have got over the initial, hardest, physical part of the quit at some later stage the mental 'I can have one' etc phase can kick in. We are all so full of strength & fight at the beginning of a quit that this new fight, if it happens can bite you on the bum :rolleyes:
I am sure it is not meant as being negative just a heads up if you should cross that phase. Hard to put feeling into words sometimes.
I am sure you will carry on brilliantly in your quit. People post things here all the time we do or do not experience. I thought I was weird as I did not cough my lungs up when I quit when everyone else seemed to. Weird since I have COPD & thought they would be more than willing to get rid of all the muck I had subjected them to :eek:
I won't let it get to me but so much of this forum has the advice 'one day at a time' - which is how I personally am getting through - to suddenly be told that it's going top get harder is demotivating.
In effect what Jack's post says to me is:
'So you think it's hard early on, well you're wrong it's nowhere near as hard as later'.
I don't want to hear that right now. I don't expect fluffiness and lies, but I don't want to hear negativity either, which is how I find his post!
Sorry, just my take on the post!
Dale
Hi Dale, I was about to go to bed and I saw your reply. You are correct the hardest part of your quit is at the start because one of the biggest decisions you will ever make is to quit and then it is one day at a time. Please don't apoligise it's maybe me who should say sorry.
You are taking it one day at a time and you are doing brilliant no one can take that away. Yes one day at a time, I started with 6 hours had a cig then went another 6 hours and had my last one at 10 pm. The next day it was see if I can get to a certain time without one which led to 24 hours and then another day and that's what happened to me. Like you it was then one day at a time and yes the more days the easier it gets to say no.
You can imagine how I felt when I got told after two weeks I still had a long way to go. I think what I'm trying to tell you all is yes it is hard but the reward at the end is absolutely worth it. I think I'm trying to let you know what to expect and what stages you will go through so you are ready for it.
I'm very sorry if I have made it more difficult for you that is never my intention.
I am finding it easier and easier, and I certainly do NOT want to get complacent (and I've always been aware that that is a major danger later on).
I do think there needs to be warnings for what could happen but maybe there could be an area on the forum for those a bit further down the line, that those of under say 3 months can't see or get into?
That way the more experienced could caution those quitters who are falling into the potential complacency trap?
I don't know maybe that wouldn't work either. Whatever ! Late at night and I'm tired!!
I think everyone has their view about quitting.... it's such a personal process. Some quit and never give it a second thought, others spent months and months healing and learning to function as non smokers.
For what it's worth, my 2 cents worth on the subject.... the toughest part is making the decision to quit.... the first few days can be so difficult..... then the every day hits and I feel that's the last difficult part.... learning to get on with it. All parts equally challenging in their own ways and all giving many the reason to throw in the towel. Dale, I don't think it will get harder! I think it won't get harder than it is right now and if you can make it now, you can make it tomorrow and in time it will get ridiculously easy and that's when you will yell at the top of your lungs 'damn this is so great, I'm free'
You are doing GREAT.... all of you on here are! Keep on truckin xxx bella
My God, at last someone speaks the truth about quitting....
It's NOT all plain sailing and even now, after being 1 year quit, I still struggle sometimes and to be perfectly honest I don't feel any better than I did when I smoked. BUT that doesn't mean I'm going back to it, cos I know I probably would never be able to quit again.
I hate it too when some of my friends say, "Oh, your one year quit now, you've got it cracked"...but boy have I not got it cracked - I still have to work at it every day.
Let's not beat around the bush about quitting, it IS hard work and your post sums it up completely.
I agree Karri that it might be a bit harsh to hear and Dale was right in pointing that out. But the reply that Jack gave to Dale was completely spot on. Yes, probably those first 3 days are the most difficult and life changing onese to go through... making the decision to quit and sticking with it is no easy task! It's one minute, hour and day at a time.
However, there are so many people that get past the first 3 days then go 'what the h3ll, why don't I feel like a non-smoker?' and then decide to go back to smoking because they think it's not worth it.
I think what Jack was trying to point out is that after the 3 days you might encounter many many situations that will make you crave... that you shouldn't think that just because you get past 3 days bad situations won't make you want to smoke. This may seem obvious but I think a lot of people think it'll 'all be ok' after 3 days.
I agree Karri that it might be a bit harsh to hear and Dale was right in pointing that out. But the reply that Jack gave to Dale was completely spot on. Yes, probably those first 3 days are the most difficult and life changing onese to go through... making the decision to quit and sticking with it is no easy task! It's one minute, hour and day at a time.
However, there are so many people that get past the first 3 days then go 'what the h3ll, why don't I feel like a non-smoker?' and then decide to go back to smoking because they think it's not worth it.
I think what Jack was trying to point out is that after the 3 days you might encounter many many situations that will make you crave... that you shouldn't think that just because you get past 3 days bad situations won't make you want to smoke. This may seem obvious but I think a lot of people think it'll 'all be ok' after 3 days.
If the point of the post was to try to get people past the first 3 days then it's certainly lost on me how it does that. It does the reverse, it says that it's still going to be hard!
I am demotivated by the post precisely because I'm not finding it all that hard at the moment. I'm keeping going in the sure and certain knowledge that it is good for me and I am already finding positives in my body and mind. I, personally have no intention of ever smoking again - simples!
BUT, I don't want to know that it's still hard a year or 15 months or whatever down the road. It maybe stupid of me, it maybe head-in-the-sand of me, but with only a few weeks under my belt I do not want to be told that the going will get tough and continue to be tough.
I know I will have moments when I desperately want to smoke - you only have to be on this forum for a few days to realise that, as you see people coming on here who have quit for several months and then relapse. I can work out for myself that there maybe tough times ahead. But I find it demotivating to be told categorigally that it's going to be tough.
As Karri points out, all of you who are agreeing with Jack are the ones who have got an awful lot further than me. You can all sit back and nod in agreement that 'yup, it's been tough but we're managing it'. Well (and I don't mean this sarcastically) that's fantastic for you. But you know what, I'm not there yet and I need encouragement not demotivation.
At least I'm in week 5 and a bit. For those who are still fighting through the first few days it must be even harder to read that it carries on being tough.
JACK: This is not aimed at you. Your reply was lovely and I thank you for it.
Please do bother Nikki, shame you deleted your post
I'd of hated to have read posts wrapping it all up and presenting a quit as easy journey with no hot spots to possibly look for along the way. All personal experiences are valid, just some more to the owner and not others.
I read posts that coincided with my time of quit and many many posts ahead. To have been blocked from reading ahead would have been ..... just plain fecking daft. I read posts with a lot of sense, I also read a lot of guff.
I enjoyed cheery picking what I felt relevant and suited my own quit and peculiarities.
I had no desire to quit. Dental treatment pushed me into my quit. Grudgingly I knew and accepted that I needed to stop for 8 weeks. Slowly both desire AND education made me realise the sense in continuing. Education, common sense and knowing I don't want to go through all that shit again, helps me maintain my quit
Desire alone wouldn't have done it for me .... in fact it had no initial part.
Each to their own
Bacon butties with mushroom and fried egg, chocolate and wine are what I desire. Eat/drink it gone …. desire goes.
I can work out for myself that there maybe tough times ahead.
Some poeple can't and I think that wasn't the point.
Not all people struggle in the beginning - Look at Allen Carr, he thoroughly enjoyed quitting, and I also know some other people who have as well. The struggle is not in the craves later on but in the complacency. When people relapse after a few months it's not because they really really 'want' one... it's because they've forgotten that they can't just have one.
Maybe the problem here is that this message shouldn't be aimed at people thinking about quitting because it can be demoralising and I know I told myself some fibs just to get myself through the days at times.
As Pol said - each to their own. I think Jack's post was more of a warning than a step-by-step prediction of what happens when you quit. You might find the first days the hardest, you might not. But there are people that honestly think that once you get past the first 3 days you become a non-smoker (believe me, I work with many of them). It's important that people know that in many cases that's not true.
I do congratulate and send the biggest high-five to all of those who have got through their first 3 days though, this is by no means easy and I would never want to go through them again.
Jack has aired his beliefs and I'm sure that someone out there will empathize with them.
It doesn't matter how surreal someone's choice of quit method is we all feel a little uncomfortable openly ridiculing something that clearly worked for someone else!
Toes do get trodden on with this quitting lark and it's almost impossible to discuss the procedure without alienating a percentage of members.
If I was asked to comment I'd say day 1 was the worst and it got easier day by day. Because I learnt why I smoked early on I've never had a fleeting thought to smoke since.
I'd have to disagree with most of Jack's understandings but, if it keeps him off the smokes then it's fine by me!
Next the "Triggers" the times you would have smoked, driving your car, waiting for some one, at the pub, these are the times you have to watch out for.
I'm a driving instructor so my trigger was between pupils, I had to have a cigarette. If I had time to spare and when I didn't I would rather have a fag than my lunch.
Yes it is a long hard road but it goes in stages, you'll have some very steep hills to climb. Sometimes it will be a level road and then you will get the times when it is downhill all the way. Having said it is a long road I can assure you at the end of that road it is fantastic. Good things happen along the way your sense of smell and taste returns.
I don't like when I hear people saying oh the first few days are the worst. These are obviously people who have not smoked or they have been stopped for so long they don't remember what it was like. You also get the ones who bless them try to help by saying this because they are trying to help you stop.
I had been stopped two weeks and I felt so proud thinking that's it I've stopped. I mentioned this to a friend and said to her that's the worst over with. She looked at me with sorrow in her eyes and said "Jack I'm sorry but you have a long way to go" and she was right.So the long and the short of it is, it's a long hard road and you want to give in. Don't! fight it all the way you will get there and have what I have now...........happiness as a none smoker.
Don't be deterred by what Jack has said, just be aware that from time to time, you will get a crave, in my opinion the craves eased after the first week, the first few days I couldn't even think straight - I was in a haze of withdrawal.
Stick with the quit, new quitters. Don't expect miracles. Understand the addiction, nurture the quit, don't let anything break it. Slowly but surely the fog clears and it gets easier and easier. And the rewards are HUGE.
Well said Hells, the initial stages are the worst, after which it's the continuing realignment that can be a challenge forsome more than others. Bare in mind ever having to start from day 1 again, it worked for me it might for you.
You can imagine how I felt when I got told after two weeks I still had a long way to go. I think what I'm trying to tell you all is yes it is hard but the reward at the end is absolutely worth it. I think I'm trying to let you know what to expect and what stages you will go through so you are ready for it.
I'm very sorry if I have made it more difficult for you that is never my intention.
Please don't give in you are doing great.
Jack
If you've done the first few days things get easier, with each challenge faced and conquered, you'll never have that particular crave again. Read some of the stuff in people's signatures.
Good luck all and remember it is worth it and each crave is smaller and smaller.
Another interesting thread! My 2p is slightly different.
I would say there are 'hot spots' along the way but I actually believe that they are not 'crave' hotspots' but more like 'finding yourself again' hotspots. The journey of quitting after that first few days seemed to me to be very much about finding out who you are as a non smoker and finding out new ways to deal with cirmcumstances as a non smoker.
There were very few times I personally had 'craves like I did in the begining'. A good example is the first time I played Tomb raider! I had to kill a bear and normally i'd get all het up and go and smoke with the game on pause. Just playing the game without the smoke bit made me desperate to smoke but it was not a crave, just a trigger. Now I just shout and swear alot at the console and eat chocolate.
I would hate anyone to think its a long struggle though. I personally think its as hard as you want to make it. If you go into it thinking you'll still be wishing for a fag 12-18 months down the line then you probably will.
Another interesting thread! My 2p is slightly different.
I would say there are 'hot spots' along the way but I actually believe that they are not 'crave' hotspots' but more like 'finding yourself again' hotspots. The journey of quitting after that first few days seemed to me to be very much about finding out who you are as a non smoker and finding out new ways to deal with cirmcumstances as a non smoker.
There were very few times I personally had 'craves like I did in the begining'. A good example is the first time I played Tomb raider! I had to kill a bear and normally i'd get all het up and go and smoke with the game on pause. Just playing the game without the smoke bit made me desperate to smoke but it was not a crave, just a trigger. Now I just shout and swear alot at the console and eat chocolate.
I would hate anyone to think its a long struggle though. I personally think its as hard as you want to make it. If you go into it thinking you'll still be wishing for a fag 12-18 months down the line then you probably will.
A great ****ogy Fiona, this my head can deal with!! Thanks
This forum is for expressing our opinions and what Jack has said is his opinion, and he is entitled to think it and write it on hear and whether we choose to read it or agree with it is also up to the individual, some will and some want agree but that’s what makes it so interesting, isn’t it??.
I think that if only the beginning of a quit was hard there wouldn’t be any one on here that would ever smoke again, no one would slip or blip because if you check on those that have sadly fallen at some hurdle or other it is not always in the first few days but further along, I think that being forewarned is being forearmed, if the time it took to quit was 3 days or there abouts that would be great but if you check back to a year + ago you will see that some of the posts on then when I and others were trying our best to start on day one also said the same thing and I am sure that a lot of you when you reach the milestone of one year will at some point think the same, because I read and read some more I knew it was going to be hard and here I am quit for good, do I feel cocky to be a year + quit you bet I do, was it hard you bet it was, do I want to do it again you bet I don’t, so yes every one keep reminding me it was hard, that way I hopefully will never smoke again and hopefully neither will you.
If its easy for you to quit that is fantastic but if its not then at least you will know that you can still do it because others that have gone before you have also struggled and still quit and are so glad they did.
My unintelligable ramble sorry folks, who woke me up from my dormancy
"Nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so."
Good a start as any, actually a bloody good starting comment if you αnαlyse the statement.
Entering late into the discussion I think that if something is posted on a public forum then its open for comment. People will post and agree in their comments, disagree, or post solely to raise their post count.
It seems to me that Jack has posted his experience of quitting smoking and offered it up as a universal quitting method - one size fits all. Sure there are generic nuggets of info and those are the important pieces to focus upon. But making value statements such as we are always gonna be nicotine addicts one smoke away from relapse, isn't really helpful...nor valuable. We just need to search 'blipping' on this site and note the evidence to the contrary. Or that it's a long hard road....because for some it isn't and again plenty have posted in those terms.
Other than the 'read, read, read' mantra the other salient piece of information circulating currently is that 'all roads lead to Rome' were we recognize that each of us has a different experience whether markedly or slightly, it differs.
There is a brief way to sum up which is that the first 3 days may be difficult and thereafter the psychological battle begins which is for you as an individual...
"Nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so."
It seems to me that Jack has posted his experience of quitting smoking and offered it up as a universal quitting method - one size fits all.
No this not what I have done.
Just a few weeks ago my son who is 18 and I flew down to birmingham. My son has not flown since he was 3 so before the flight I tried to explain what it was going to be like because he was frightened of flying. I explained what the take of would be like, what it would be like when we were up there and what the landing would be like. Why? so he would have some idea what to expect.
Why I wrote this thread was not in any way to discourage newbies but to try and give them an idea of what's ahead. To help them understand what they are going through and tried to keep it basic. No this was not my experiences of stopping smoking but some of it is the experiences of others on here.
As far as telling your kids life is sh*te I have always tried to tell my kids what's ahead of them good or bad. Again why? so they have some idea as to what to expect as they go through life, so they can be prepared for what will be thrown at them.
This is what I was trying to do here prepare you all for what hurdles you will come across so you may be able to deal with them as they come along.
It is different for everyone it could be weeks it could be 3 months but if you keep at it some day you will easily be able to say no when you get the thought of smoking.
I don't think of smoking now and I don't think I'm something special, I'm lucky I got there. There are many before me are and there will be many after me you lot included will become none smokers. Just determination, will power and self belief.
I used to be on these forums and I believe I helped alot of people to stop smoking. the posts are still on here. I left the forum for reasons that were stupid and would have returned sooner but it did not accept my password. I had to get this sorted but unfortunately there was a breakdown in communication.
I am sorry if what I have said hurts but guys they say the truth always hurts. But I did not intend it to hurts and for that I apoligise.
I only wanted to help as the heading of this says "Help to stop"
Just a few weeks ago my son who is 18 and I flew down to birmingham. My son has not flown since he was 3 so before the flight I tried to explain what it was going to be like because he was frightened of flying. I explained what the take of would be like, what it would be like when we were up there and what the landing would be like. Why? so he would have some idea what to expect.
Aye Jack, but you used your experience of flying to explain to your lad. It's the same with your original post.
The way you clothed up your original post made some heavy statements and plainly that rubbed readers...and they commented one way or another. If one makes value statements and readers don't see themselves in them then they will comment.
Your motives are honourable but we oldies shouldn't nursemaid newbies. Let them be adults who have originally got themselves into smoking and adults who get themselves out because you are guaranteed that they will not have the exact same hurdles you had.
We can all say Bloody cant we???? will not know till I press the send button will I, if you are right I want be pleased r12.imgfast.net/users/1212/... thought we could sorry Mods just checking it out in the name of investigation. Bloody Bloody
The forum's mods are making us all look like prudes for putting asterisks in and Cav gets to say ****yse! ... I think it's cos he secretly knows who the mods are... do tell!
The forum's mods are making us all look like prudes for putting asterisks in and Cav gets to say ****yse! ... I think it's cos he secretly knows who the mods are... do tell!
I'm sorry they will never tell. I first came on here over a year ago and it was mod 1, mod 2 and so on. you have more chance of breaking into Fort Knox than finding out who the mods are. (Now crawling) I think it my be better that way (stops crawling):D
Nic told me, but in doing so Stuart had to do a stoopid dance
Actually I believe that dance had something (or everything) to do with entry to the Penthouse, but never mind.
As for being able to type αnαlyse yes I did tell you. It also means that we are amongst the few that could start a thread about a cαnαl in Scυnthorpe.
FWIW I found the beginning of the quit hardest as it was the point at which I would have been most likely to fail. The reason for this is that I was facing both physical and mental withdrawal and I didn't have the knowledge needed to face it down. After I'd been quit for about 3 weeks I'd done my reading and knew what was going on and while there were trials, triggers and tests I was able to rationalise them in a way that I couldn't in the 1st week.
Yes even as I approach the 3 year mark there can be the occasional nagging voice saying this would be so much easier if you had a smoke but its nothing but a passing fancy and since I spent half of my live using smoking as a crutch when times were tough its hardly surprising that old memories kick in occasionally.
FWIW I found the beginning of the quit hardest as it was the point at which I would have been most likely to fail. The reason for this is that I was facing both physical and mental withdrawal and I didn't have the knowledge needed to face it down. After I'd been quit for about 3 weeks I'd done my reading and knew what was going on and while there were trials, triggers and tests I was able to rationalise them in a way that I couldn't in the 1st week.
Yes even as I approach the 3 year mark there can be the occasional nagging voice saying this would be so much easier if you had a smoke but its nothing but a passing fancy and since I spent half of my live using smoking as a crutch when times were tough its hardly surprising that old memories kick in occasionally.
Of course YMMV (your mileage may vary)
Thanks Nic for putting a post on here that is somewhat relevant to the thread.
I noticed that there were some old hands popping up on this thread and it would have been nice if it had been hi Jack and not hijack.
Jack
Hi Jack
I for one would like to sincerely appologise for Karri and Dale's poor behaviour.
Apparently, like most women they are easily distracted, and have a nose for childish pranks.
I am sure all forum members will endeavor to keep a closer eye on them in the future!
First and foremost the most important thing is to stop smoking. It does not matter how you stop, cold turkey, NRT, Champix what matters is you do and you can. Many brainwash themselves into thinking thay can not stop. They say "I would love to stop smoking but I can't" or "I could never stop smoking".
I mentioned to a smoker buying cigarettes the other day that I had stopped they said "that's great I wish I could".
There is a long road ahead and for some this can be a very difficult road. I get so annoyed when I hear people say the first three days are the worst, there's many out there know that is not true. I'm sorry if I disillusion you but this is rubbish, the first three days is the time it is said it takes for nicotine to clear your body. After that your body has been so used to having nicotine it tells you in no uncertain manner it wants it back and you are going to give me it. This is why so many give in and start to smoke again. I have been told it is harder to come off nicotine than it is to come off heroine or alcohol. Let's face it you are and always will be a nicotine addict, like it or not that's what you are. If you can face up to that reality then you will be half way to stopping smoking. Many stoppers think well I've managed to go 6 months without a fag I can have one then just stop again. WELL NO YOU CAN NOT!!! as I said you are an addict and once an addict you are always an addict. If you take one puff you will start smoking again.
Okay the excuses, you have gone maybe a few weeks or more or less without smoking. You then find yourself wanting to smoke, you will believe me. So let's find a reason others will understand and you're sure they will forgive you for starting again. You have a fall out with your boyfriend, girlfriend, other half something drastic happens or you may make out it's drastic enough to start smoking again. I will give you some examples that happened to me which I could have used as an excuse to start smoking again. My sister died, I had a court case in which I was accused of fraud (not true) but went on for over a year. Then my daughter was having big problems all okay now, next my brother died. There were other smaller things I could have used as excuses and you will find yourself trying to find some excuse.
Next the "Triggers" the times you would have smoked, driving your car, waiting for some one, at the pub, these are the times you have to watch out for.
I'm a driving instructor so my trigger was between pupils, I had to have a cigarette. If I had time to spare and when I didn't I would rather have a fag than my lunch.
Yes it is a long hard road but it goes in stages, you'll have some very steep hills to climb. Sometimes it will be a level road and then you will get the times when it is downhill all the way. Having said it is a long road I can assure you at the end of that road it is fantastic. Good things happen along the way your sense of smell and taste returns. You start to feel you have more energy, you breath better. When walking you find you can walk further even up hills, you can run again when before you could only walk.
You start to find an inner happiness because you are achieving something you never though you could. You will feel very proud of yourself and rightly so. I used to go into my bed at night and smile and say to myself well done that's another day".
I don't like when I hear people saying oh the first few days are the worst. These are obviously people who have not smoked or they have been stopped for so long they don't remember what it was like. You also get the ones who bless them try to help by saying this because they are trying to help you stop.
I had been stopped two weeks and I felt so proud thinking that's it I've stopped. I mentioned this to a friend and said to her that's the worst over with. She looked at me with sorrow in her eyes and said "Jack I'm sorry but you have a long way to go" and she was right.
But now every minute, every second of fighting this dam drug has been worth it. If you offered me a million pounds to smoke again I would say no I will not give this up for anything.
So the long and the short of it is, it's a long hard road and you want to give in. Don't! fight it all the way you will get there and have what I have now...........happiness as a none smoker.
I smoked for 52 years and stopped cold turkey If I can anyone can. I have now not smoke over 9,000 cigarettes and saved myself over £3,000.
Happy happy Jack
Hi Jack, I have just started the process of quiting. I am on Champix just on day 6 and my quit day is day 12. However, I decided at 1p.m. to try and not have another cig today and it is now 6 p.m. WOW!
Anyhow, I found this site and think it's great for someone like me who is just starting to know there are other people going or who have gone through it. I found your post very touching. Personally I did not even focus on the fact that it will get tougher. I focused on the unfortunate things that touched your life, that you so openly shared with us.
This got me to thinking that if you can go through all that and not go back to the stress "crutch" then I can do it.
Hope you don't mind but I plan on printing your post and putting it up to remind me that things could be worse, I shouldn't complain and no need to reach for the cig if I get stressed!!
Hi Valian, isn't it funny I put posts and threads on here and sometimes I feel I kill a thread stone dead. This is because often I'll answer a post and it stops at me.
I think I'm not going to bother any more then someone like yourself comes along. You added a post and suddenly it all becomes worth it again.
You remind me of me when I started I went a few days on champix, stopped taking it then went a few hours without smoking. I going to copy my first post on here as I don't want to write it all again you will see why you remind me of my quit:
Hi, I'm Jack and I don't know where to introduce myself so I thought I'll just jump in here as I have not smoked now for over three weeks.
I am 63 and I have smoked since I was 11. I had my last cig at 10pm on 2nd Dec. I never thought I could go 3 hours never mind 3 weeks and 5 days, yep day 26. Just briefly I want to tell you what happened.
I'm a Driving instructor of 30 years and when my pupils were away on test I found myself smoking one after the other just to pass time or must grab a fag between lessons. On 2nd dec I had 5 driving test one after the other which meant I was standing doing nothing for ages. I decided I would try not to smoke and went from 9.30am through to 3.30pm without smoking 6 hours. I went to have another one at 4.10pm and put it out after a couple of puffs then thought I wonder if I can go another 6 hours which I did 10pm that night. That's when I had my last one because the next day I kept setting myself another target time getting to it and then going to the next one until 10pm. I had gone 24 hours and I decided to take one day at a time from there.
Now? well yes I am going through some days where I could scream and kill for a fag. But I still have the cigs in my pocket from the day I stopped and I feel great with myself this will be the biggest thing I have ever done for myself in my life. And perhaps, I'll have a longer life.
I hope this story is not too long but what I have found has helped me is telling people, even people I don't know. When they say well done it makes me feel so proud I want to tell the world.proud
As you can see you have went 5 hours and that is tremendous by any standard. It's very important not to tell yourself you must not have a giggy but your stopping day is day 12. I know this may seem a bit counterproductive but it does make it easier if you are thinking I'm going to keep going as long as I can wituot smoking.
Yes please do print this so you can read it, you brought tears to my eyes just now because if I can help just one person to stop smoking it will make it all worthwhile.
A big well done and remember we are all here to help. We have quit and could simply think what the heck and disappear, well many of us can't we need to help.
If I had started to smoke again when these things happened to me would they have not happened? No I would still have had to deal with them, only I would have added another problem. I would have been smoking again.
Hi Valian, isn't it funny I put posts and threads on here and sometimes I feel I kill a thread stone dead. This is because often I'll answer a post and it stops at me.
I think I'm not going to bother any more then someone like yourself comes along. You added a post and suddenly it all becomes worth it again.
Hi Jack
You are so wrong to feel as if you kill a thread, and it makes me so sad that you even feel vaguely like that.
You make so much sense and often bring such a calming and sensible view to an otherwise frenetic and sometimes chaotic thread that theres no need to carry on with the thread.
I for one love your posts. They are some of the most thoughtful and incisive ones on here. I love the fact that you think about what others may need and post a new thread accordingly.
Please keep posting and know that you are, for me at least, a hugely important part of this whole forum.
Please keep posting and know that you are, for me at least, a hugely important part of this whole forum.
Dale
Dale..........thank you that's all I need to know I'll keep trying and as I said if just one person stops smoking because of me I will be extremely happy.
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Newbie - Still trying to quit smoking 
Trying to get the motivation to quit AGAIN!
