Smoking - Please Help !!

weejean

Hi Everyone

I need some good advice on stopping smoking. I would like to stop before my surgery due to the health risks but am really struggling because to be honest I really enjoy smoking. I would like to hear of your experiences of stopping smoking or any advice that may help at all. Thanks in advance xx

Ankyspond

Hi,

I don't smoke and don't have any good ideas apart from put the money you would spend on cigarettes in a tin and save it and then splash out on something lovely for yourself. Good luck with it in really hope you can do it, I know many people who have stopped and all of them feel much better.

Good luck. Xxx

bubbles

Oh Jean, it is so difficult. I smoke and like you, I enjoy it so much. I wish I didn't. The fear is always the BIG day, when you stop. I am not much help really, but I do smoke less, now that I never smoke in the house, or anyone's house for that matter. Even if it is pouring, I go outside. It cuts you down, at least by half. Worth trying, as a start..................Wishing you every success. XXX Bubbles

julie47

Morning weejean

I don't smoke and never have but my dad did so I do realize how difficult it is to stop.

Other than patches and I know the doc can give you tablets to help, the only other thing is like my dad ....will power. :???:
(sorry if that sounds a bit harsh)

The suggestion ankyspond has given is a good incentive...putting your money in a tin and save up for something special.

I wish you luck and keep us up to date with your progress.

Juliepf x

elnafinn

Hi Jean

I appreciate how difficult it is for you, having been through all that and it is so much better all round, not smoking. I did it with nothing to help me except pure willpower.

In hospital, when you are asked that question, do you smoke and how many a day and they always must add some on, because most people would not tell the medics the truth. I remember the looks given me, when I said yes. Now it is great to be a nonsmoker in every sense of the word. It is bliss.

You have to really want to stop or it will not work. I wish you well with it and if you succeed you will be so proud of yourself, have more cash in your purse and feel much healthier and not be thinking when out and about, when and where can I next light up!

I now hate the smell of the smoke and can smell it when others cannot I am so sensitive to it. In the early days of giving up, I used to inhale deeply when passing someone with a ciggie!!

Elna x

buster152

I used to smoke 60 a day, have been stopped almost 1 year now, what i did was just say this is the last when i went to bed, and ive never had one since yes it was hard at times, really hard but as has already been said you need 2 things (1) want to stop!!!! lots of people say they do but probably only about half really do (2) willpower, you need to find other things to do say if you were like most smokers having 1 after a meal, then do the washing up for example instead, it does get easier as time goes by i even sit in places where people do smoke and dont even get urges anymore,
and on the plus side with the money i saved i have booked a 2 week holiday for the family and upgraded the tv so yes packing it up has other advantages apart from health

dreamdaisy

I smoke, but not that often. A packet of twenty will last me about a month, my favourites are Gitanes and one reason for the slow rate of consumption is that it is getting harder to get to the only tobacconist in town that sells them: that and the price too! I am lucky in that I can start and stop at will, so I think that stopping for good is not too far away now. It was a solace and comfort from the pain, but as usual arthritis is denying me even that.

My mate Steve (a dedicated smoker of a good twenty years plus) recently changed jobs and decided to give up. He now sucks on one of those electronic cigarretes: it glows, somehow generates a fake smoke, it does give you a nicotine hit but without all the nasty side products caused by the burning of tobacco. He is even using that less and less - and you can use it in pubs and restaurants too. He swears by it. I wish you well in your endeavours. DD

lilyflower

I don't smoke myself and never have so can't really help, but wishing you lots of luck trying to give up. I know its very hard as my daughter is also trying and she is struggling. Willpower and determination is the key.
Good Luck ,Jackie

skezier

Hi Jean,

Oh thats not an easy one..... I started young, very young actually and except for 15 months in the middle have smoked ever since.....

Decided to try and give up, went to the docs and was given some tablets call Champix or something like that.

Nearly did it .....

Was down to 5 a day then the mare got terribly ill, the foal died, my father became ill, he died and well back to as before cus stressed out my head etc.

Fact s though the pills worked! They really did and if it hadn't been this dump of c*** that suddenly fell in on me I think I would have done it.

The patches work for light smokers but if your not one of those the best thing to do is see the smoking nurse who makes you breath into a machine and then decides how much help you need.

Good luck flower and fingers crossed you do it. Cris x

sugarbuttie

I used the Champix tablets from the GP & I smoked from being 15 (except when preggers when the smell made me sick). I gave up last Feb (2010) when I was 36.

Champix work in a really strange way...you keep smoking at first but gradually cigarettes do 'nothing' for you. To me, they tasted like celery!!! You gradually get no buzz at all so you can't be bothered in the end.

It was the only thing that worked for me. You still need willpower after the tablets...even now (17 months **** free) I crave one a few times a week. You just have to think about something else & it goes after few mins. I think smoking will always be 'in me'. A bloke I know started again at a funeral after 9 years abstinence.

You can get Champix free of charge by phoning the Stop Smoking helpline (or whatever it is called) or seeing your GP.

Good luck. It's hard but worth it!!!

keldi

Like you I am trying to give up smoking - and it is not easy. My approach to it was to tell everyone one that I had given up. My stubborn nature and that fact that I don't like to let anyone down or lose face has helped me a lot. I feel that I can not go back on my word having told everyone that I have given up. I am however no angel and in 5 days since giving up I have had 2 cigarettes. I had these on the quite when I felt sure that nobody would see me and I had time to freshen my breath. I felt like a naughty school girl having a crafty **** behind the bike sheds :roll: I can honestly say that the guilt took away all the pleasure of having a cigarette and I did not enjoy them at all.

Be strong and get lots of support. We can compare notes if it helps.

Diane

weejean

Hi Everyone

Thanks for all the support, It is much needed and very appreciated

Anky, I will definately put the money I save aside and treat myself to something nice, probably something new to wear.

Bubbles that is a really good idea about not smoking in the house, I never smoke when I visit non-smokers and it doesnt really bother me. I will give that a try and believe me I wont smoke much as I live in Scotland and it rains all the time and I dont want to get wet.

Julie, thanks for your support and I will dig deep to find the will power that I need.

Elna, well done on being able to stop smoking with will power alone. I always hate when the doctors ask that question about how many you smoke and the disapproving looks you get. I know I will feel much healthier when I stop as I am beginning to get out of breath easily and it is the smoking that is causing it.

Buster, wow 60 a day is a lot so good for you on stopping and keeping it that way. I really do want to stop as I can feel the bad effects and also hate the yellow teeth and fingers. I really hope you have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the new telly.

DD, you must be very strong willed to be able to stop and start, I wish I could be like you and not so weak, I really struggle to give up things I enjoy but I know I have to this time so that my recovery from my Op will be better. I have one of those Nicorette inhaler things which is a white plastic thing that gives you some nicotine so that should help.

Lilyflower, thanks for your support and I wish your daughter the best of luck on giving up.

Skezier, well done on giving it a try and I am sure you would have succeeded if it werent for all the terrible things going on in your life. I am the same at times, I get all hyped up and start doing so well, then something happens to stress me out and I immediately start smoking again. I started to smoke when I was 14 and it is such a big part of my life but hopefully I will kick the habit this time.

Sugarbuttie, well done on giving up. I am going to my local pharmacy on Wednesday as they a stop smoking service and I am sure they will find the best thing to help me quit. I agree that smoking will always be a part of me but I would like to think of it as a memory of something I used to do.

Diane, thats a really good way of forcing yourself to give up. I am like that as well and wouldnt want my friends/family to think that I couldnt do it. My son is always asking me to quit smoking and I have promised him that I will try my best so I will feel guilty if I dont give it my best shot. I laughed at you having a sneaky **** and have done this many times myself. I will keep in touch with you as we both try to kick the habit and hopefully we can support each other enough to succeed.

dreamdaisy

I'm not strong-willed, weejean, it's just an odd thing with me that I am not fussed if I don't smoke and not fussed if I do. I only had one Gitanes left at the time of the ortho lost letter debacle so I decided to save it. Still haven't had it. It's going to be foul now, it's about six weeks old! DD

skezier

Hi Jean,

Champix... Its really good and it would have worked a I was down to 5 and that was day 8 so there was almost another week to go...

I think the stress side is the real problem .....

We were silly to start eh and I was a lot younger than that so its many years......

See the smoking nurse at your gp's and they will help you as much as they can to quit.

Let us know how it goes. Cris x

constable

Hi Jean

Go to your docs, they can prescribe tablets. You take them for 2 weeks then stop, I did it for my op and it worked, even though I was scared I just didn't want one. Only trouble was as soon as I got out I started again. I am going back to my doctors to get some more soon, I love smoking and it keeps the stress at a better level for.

Let us know how you get on.


Karen xx

caterina57

I am a smoker too - the only one in my family and my circle of friends. I am treated like a leper!

I have tried to stop and am currently cutting down in the hope I can stop - I suppose that the only real way is will power.

Good luck to all of you trying to stop! I will try too

Cath