Shopping & Style1 min ago
Giving Up Smoking.
57 Answers
After 55 years of B & H, Consulate, Silk Cut, Golden Virginia and Old Holborn (and a year or two of Black Cavendish pipe tobacco, not to mention years of home-grown cannabis) I stopped smoking mid-December. My smoker's cough and my wheezing and my gasping for breath whenever I manage to turn over in bed have all disappeared. I have started using Nordic Spirit nicotine pouches (non-tobacco sachets tucked up inside my upper gums) and they seem to be keeping me off the inhalation. Anybody else managed to stop smoking without strong will-power?
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We put the money we would have spent on fags every day, at 40 a day each it soon added up. Kept us motivated and every time we see the current price (how much? shock) we do a happy dance. Paid for a new kitchen and a damned good holiday in no time, then paid our mortgage off early.
Apart from the money, the house needed cleaning much less often, no sticky windows or yellowing frames. Wallpaper and paintwork stays clean.
We smell better, we breathe better and people no longer tut at us.
Apart from the money, the house needed cleaning much less often, no sticky windows or yellowing frames. Wallpaper and paintwork stays clean.
We smell better, we breathe better and people no longer tut at us.
That's quite a feat after smoking for so long - well done. I used to smoke about three or four roll-ups a day, but gave up several years ago when they stopped selling the small packets of tobacco, and I couldn't afford the big ones which would have turned to dust before I'd got halfway through them.
How anybody affords to smoke cigarettes now is beyond me. When waiting to pay for my paper the other Saturday morning, the person in front of me asked the person behind the counter for 40 Benson and Hedges.
"£27 please"
After they left I had to ask 'did I just hear that correctly - £13.50 for 20 cigarettes? 'Oh yes' came the cheery reply. Unbelievable!
How anybody affords to smoke cigarettes now is beyond me. When waiting to pay for my paper the other Saturday morning, the person in front of me asked the person behind the counter for 40 Benson and Hedges.
"£27 please"
After they left I had to ask 'did I just hear that correctly - £13.50 for 20 cigarettes? 'Oh yes' came the cheery reply. Unbelievable!
Gave up in 2009 (smoked for 37 years)
Used to say "if you didn't want to give the habit up you wouldn't" !!
Not true. I could've smoked for Scotland. I was good at it. Only gave them up because I was trekking the Himalayas to Everest Base Camp, and I said I would give cigarettes up six month before the trek.
Promised myself I would start again once the trek was over !! That was nearly 14 years ago. Still off the cigarettes, and never likely to start again.
Used to say "if you didn't want to give the habit up you wouldn't" !!
Not true. I could've smoked for Scotland. I was good at it. Only gave them up because I was trekking the Himalayas to Everest Base Camp, and I said I would give cigarettes up six month before the trek.
Promised myself I would start again once the trek was over !! That was nearly 14 years ago. Still off the cigarettes, and never likely to start again.
Strangely, when i packed in (Oct 9th 2009) i never got the withdrawal symptoms. Not even when i was surrounded by smokers. I'd also smoked for around 40 years - started when i was 12ish.
When i was in the hospital, they gave me nicotine patches but i kept forgetting to put them on, often until late afternoon. In the end, i realised i didn't need them.
When i was in the hospital, they gave me nicotine patches but i kept forgetting to put them on, often until late afternoon. In the end, i realised i didn't need them.
Atheist; I packed it in several years ago without any aids other than will-power, if I hadn't I'd probably not still be around annoying you. Any way you do it it's tough.
What you have to do is think in threes; getting through 3 days, then 3 weeks, 3 months & surprisingly, 3 years (there's always a temptation to think "Now I'm cured, one wont matter").
For a while avoid the things which you associate with having a cigarette, instead of having that mid-morning coffee, drink a glass of water instead.
It's less difficult if you can share your suffering. If you have a friend who has undergone it, talk to them about it, perhaps phone them up , (they wont mind) tell them how hard it is & ask what it was like for them.
Once you get through those first 3 weeks you will start to feel so proud of yourself.
Best of luck!
What you have to do is think in threes; getting through 3 days, then 3 weeks, 3 months & surprisingly, 3 years (there's always a temptation to think "Now I'm cured, one wont matter").
For a while avoid the things which you associate with having a cigarette, instead of having that mid-morning coffee, drink a glass of water instead.
It's less difficult if you can share your suffering. If you have a friend who has undergone it, talk to them about it, perhaps phone them up , (they wont mind) tell them how hard it is & ask what it was like for them.
Once you get through those first 3 weeks you will start to feel so proud of yourself.
Best of luck!
Redman did it, cold turkey too the day he was given his cancer diagnosis, it gave him the chance of life extending surgery. He said the most important thing is the change in how you see yourself, not as an ex smoker but as a non smoker, when he was told the cancer had come back I said I wouldn't say anything if he wanted to restart to help with the stress... He told me they were not going to steal a single day more from him. Good luck, and remember the reasons why you gave up, whenever you feel you need to strengthen your already considerable willpower.
I stopped 15 months ago with no help at all, unless you count feeling really ill. Annoyingly I had 800 duty free cigs at the time!! I'd smoked for 50 odd years too and enjoyed it. I was so tempted to start again when I felt better but managed to resist and have not smoked since. Hang on in there you can do it
I just stopped smoking when I moved in with the captive. He detests smoking so it would have been a deal breaker.
I had a puff recently at my mum's house and it was like smoking again for the very first time - boy did it hurt my chest!
I only ever smoked 2 or 3 a day and not until the evening.
When I walk past someone now I can't bear the smell of it.
I had a puff recently at my mum's house and it was like smoking again for the very first time - boy did it hurt my chest!
I only ever smoked 2 or 3 a day and not until the evening.
When I walk past someone now I can't bear the smell of it.
So many romantic stories here about life-changing moments. I haven't had a fag since last time. The nicotine sachets keep me from freaking out. I'm using weaker ones and hoping that the nicotine craving will diminish.
Thank god the cannabis withdrawal was easy - it's not physically addictive, just fun to use.
Thank god the cannabis withdrawal was easy - it's not physically addictive, just fun to use.
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