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[Ajrana]

How do I quit smoking quit cold turkey once before lasted five years never lost the urge picked it up again three years ago now I can't seem to stop

[monky Administrator 35 Months Winner]

Aup Ajrana, welcome to this lovely quit site

Ajrana, for one thing, I've found out that you really have to want to quit to quit You say that you went cold turkey last time, just wandering if you have tried any form of nicotine replacements this time ?

Pete

[Briarwood Administrator LONG TERM WINNER]

Hi Ajrana, welcome to quit support. It's hard to stop and as I'm finding out - it's hard to stay stopped. You quit before, so you know you can do it

What really helps me stay quit is this site and knowing I never ever want to go through this all over again

There is lots of help and advice on here for you, so really you have to decide if you want to go cold turkey again, or use NRT

We will help you all the way x

[yoghurtweaver 1 YEAR WINNER]

Hey Ajrana, well done for taking the first step and reaching out! You obviously want to quit, but are you sure you want to go cold turkey? For me the biggest help has been support, I used champix for the first month but then I stopped that but I kept going to an evening quit support group, which was the biggest help for me, talking about it with other people who understand what you're going through. Similar thing with this site which is really supportive and friendly. I would recommend talking to your doctor because even if you don't want NRT (patches, gum etc.) or champix or similar, they could probably set you up with a support group in your area, and it's been proven that you're waaay more likely to succeed with support from others! above all good luck and remember if you've done it before, you can do it again! x

[roneo]

OK you quit for 5 years, so you know it's do-able. Sadly our memory has rose coloured glasses & only recalls how much you enjoyed smoking & completely forgets what motivated you to quit. I had the same experience. Quit for 15 years &, in a moment of madness started again. It took 20 years & several quit attempts to get me to where I am at present.

So,........... I'm a fan of cold turkey, having tried Zyban, NRTs, hypnosis, Champix with varying degrees of success, but relapsing on each occasion. Whatever works for you. But I reckon you need to have your reason for quitting tattooed on your forehead so you'll never forget. In some respects, quitting is easy. Just don't smoke. Starting again is also easy & that's the real challenge.

[droopyJ]

Hi Ajrana and welcome to this quit site 5 years quit is a fair old time to be quit. I quit before with cold turkey but only managed a year before I started again.... I reckon that was about 8 years ago... this time I used patches and so far so good....

But I don't think I would have got far without this support site. Every time I have cravings I come on here and they all put me straight

[Pinkiezoom 26 Months Winner]

Hi well done on choosing to quit, if you are thinking of going cold turnkey, read a book called "easyway" by Allan Carr, its very good for those people going cold turnkey, and also he encourages you not to quit until you have finished the book too! i thought it would be a bunch of rubbish, but actually some of the things he said really stick in your head! Might be worth a look hun x

[Briarwood Administrator LONG TERM WINNER in reply to Pinkiezoom]

Hi Pinkie, yeah I downloaded the book in PDF form and read most of it, it's free that way and I was too mean to buy it

The only reason I did it was coz the Doc told me to

But it's actually interesting reading anyway, pity I couldn't do it

I honestly think without the ecig, I wouldn't have done it x

[beardy_chris in reply to Briarwood]

Yeah - I did the same thing (read the PDF). Some of it was good but I, too, probably would have really struggled without the e-cig (even at low nicotine levels).

What it reinforces is that quitting is mostly a mental struggle and not a chemical one (at least that's how I interpreted it). If that is the case, then it made me feel "I can do it" - which was a different way of looking at it. Before reading it, I'd taken on board all the stuff about nicotine being harder to quit than heroin. I don't know what the truth is but I'd rather think "I can do this".

[Briarwood Administrator LONG TERM WINNER in reply to beardy_chris]

Yeah your right Chris, we can do it

I defo is mental anyway x