[Closed] Lost count.... but trying to give up smokes, again.

I'm guessing you're not based in the UK, as you're using $$?
If you are, drop me an email.

You're certainly on the right tracks. Realizing you need to stop is the biggest hurdle. Now it's about finding the right support, advice and treatment to assist you.

Have you tried vaping or other NRT treatment?

Nah not keen on vaping tbh

Patches give me uber weirdly surreal dreams

Tried Champix twice but think I ceased too soon - was like "hey I've stopped" but didn't last long.

NRT mints seem to be working for me. I've never believed in hypnotherapy etc.

Yeah, I'm in Oz. Pack of 20 Marlboro Gold is about $25 from a supermarket and 30+ from a petrol station.

Everyone is different, and responds to different methods, but when I stopped, I basically sat down one evening with a notepad and wrote down pluses and minuses for smoking, and kept looking at that whenever I felt the need, helped no end. I also avoided drink and social events for a bit too, as I'm pretty weak willed at the best of times, never mind with a beer.

I didn't bother with patches and stuff, no reason really, just didn't think I'd need them IIRC. Tbh the biggest reason was that I had applied for another job that paid around 50% more, but they had a drug testing scheme, so I had to kick the weed really, and so kicking the fags made sense too.

Best of luck, it isn't easy, but that was 20 years ago, and I haven't been tempted since, maybe it's just the lack of exposure now due to the smoking ban, but I find the smell of a smoker pretty repulsive now*...

Though oddly, still quite like the smell of a pipe or cigar!

Keep going fella! You'll feel so much better for it

I'm nearly 3 years off them now. Still vaping, but hey.

If you need any motivation, then do what I did. Put the money you would have spent on fags to one side. In less than a year of non-smoking, the money that would have gone to Benson and Hedges bought this instead...

[img] [/img]

maybe it's just the lack of exposure now due to the smoking ban, but I find the smell of a smoker pretty repulsive now*...

I'm the same. I now find the smell of second-hand smoke absolutely gopping!

I'm optimistic this time. But I've said that before.

I've had 2 colleagues badgering me (both clin psych's) in a nice way. "Oh wouldn't it be nice to see your daughter grow up, and walk her down the aisle when she gets married?"

I'm certainly the minority at work. Not the usual crew, hanging out with the smoking bosses, getting the gossip and inside info. hehe

Cheers Binners

Has quitting smoking affected anyone's mental health? Preferably in a positive way?

A vape pen arrived in the post this morning; I'm gonna give it a better go than last time.....

One thing that really helps me is using the money - $30 or £11 or whatever- and buying something else as a treat instead.

I'm not sure whether this counts as mental health, but certainly on the 'not feeling like a mug' front, I no longer have a little voice at the back of my head dictating my daily routine

So when I'm sat with people in the pub having a conversation, it no longer says to me "Oi! Dickhead! Isn't it time for you to go and stand in the car park in the rain for ten minutes? Off you trot then!”

It's very liberating 😀

One thing I've found is that in a group of smokers, once a few start vaping and pack in the fags, the rest soon follow. All my mates used to smoke, now not one of them does.

As smokers, we all absolutely hate being nagged about packing in smoking and having our own self-destructive stupidity pointed out to us. but if you just switch on to the e-cigs, with no big drama, then technically you're sort of still smoking, and therefore not a deserter. Its just easier. So it works.

I see they're prescribing e-cig stuff to pack in smoking now. Good. Its by far the most effective method

I have just finished a pack of tabs this morning and I've now broken out my e-cig to have another go at giving up. I'm going to do what binners said and bung the money in a pot to go towards bike funds.

Cheers Binners.

TBH, alot of my mates have quit, some still go outside for a vape when I go for a ciggy though.

Part of it is a social crutch for me though, just go outside for five minutes on my own to chill out when in a hot sweaty pub.

I've read about people feeling "empowered" by the fact they've given up. I'm hoping there'll be some noticeable health benefits in terms of feeling more energetic, especially when cycling etc. But then I had a google w/regards to smoking and depression/anxiety which is something I suffer with (or at least especially this time of year).

Now it's gone grim and wet, probably best to have a go at quitting as I won't be spending my Friday nights in a pub beer garden tanning roll ups with a mate!

Might start putting twenty quid a week in a pot instead (so I can buy some coke for the social occasions 😉

6 months or so clear.

To anyone going the vape route - get a good one. Get one that you can change the settings on. Dial it in so it hits the spot. Lotta people go for the cheap supermarket vape option, and they're shit so they dont keep using them.

I have also given up nearly 6 months now.

I still have my emergency tobacco (50g pack) around and the vaping kit.

I just gave up because I refused to be controlled by the craving.

I can smoke a pack of 25g tobacco in 5 days easily and most of my tobacco are 50g pack from Germany ... 😆

It's all in the mind as far as I am concerned.

Mind you I do enjoy smoking but I thought it is also a luxury I can do without. 😛

I still have my emergency tobacco (50g pack)

Does not make any sense when typed before -

I refused to be controlled by the craving

Good luck Matt and David, and anyone else packing in. I've never looked back. But I know it's not bloody easy. I smoked for the best part of 30 years. It was a similar thread on here that made me think 'I've had enough of this!', so please keep coming back with progress reports, or just to shout into the void! 🙂

Do put the money away, so you can see it building up, until you're well into decent new bike territory.

I'd also echo what gingerbllr said.... if you're vaping, go into a good shop, have a chat with them, try a few, and treat yourself to a decent one! They're great!

Best of luck you lot

roll up a $50 note and smoke it.

Last time I had a tab was Jan 4th this year, I'd read Binners' threads for years on this subject and the one around that time poked the decision in to me.

I've been vaping the past 10 months and it's great, zero obvious health benefits, but I don't smell and so much cheaper. Plus I can still take fag breaks!

If you do go the vape route, as has been said try a few and get one you like. You don't have to splash out too much £30-£40 will get you a decent piece of kit (mod and tank), and the liquid can be had stupidly cheap online (I like Rejuiced).

My brother did the same as you, binners. He gave up smoking, and used the savings to fund his new Tarn together with a Marley he bought for his wife.

Nice one all. 8)

I packed fags in 6 years ago now. I don't think i could have done it without the e-cigs.
I haven't touched a cigarette in all that time and i reckon i've saved around £15,000.
I did a lung function test 30 years ago and the doc was disappointed with the results and put it down to smoking, i tried another test 6 months ago and it was off the scale for my age,doc reckoned i had the lung power of a 30yr old non-smoker.
I'm still vaping,but hey-ho i'll take my chances - fags were gonna kill me anyway.

I stopped years ago. Very difficult. I had stopped and started a few times but it was always after a few beers when I caved in.

How I did it was a cold turkey/nictorette method.

I got the weakest strength gum I could, then I waited until I was absolutely gagging for a smoke, then I would chew some gum. The nicotine hit would ease the cravings. After a couple of weeks, I even enjoyed the flavour of the gum, even though this was back in the day when the stuff tasted vile. That's when I realised the trick that the smoking was pulling on me. My brain was just happy to get it's fix, after about 4 weeks, switched to normal gum and it worked.

Good luck, it's not easy.

When I gave up, nights out drinking were my biggest downfall. I found patches way too strong, so on a night out I would take a patch cut into small squares, sticking one on when I felt the need. I'd chew on cocktail sticks to keep my hands busy and at the end of the night take all the patches off.

I'm glad vaping wasn't a thing back then otherwise i'f never have got the nicotine out my system.

In the meantime, I leased a new car with the money I was saving, therefore knowing that if I started smoking again I would be brassic!

It worked and I haven't smoked for 10yrs, but I still miss it, I actually like the smell and I'm pretty sure I could quickly get addicted again if I let myself!!

One great advantage is being liberated from physically having to buy tabs, working out in the morning if there are enough left for the day or stopping at the shop on the way home from work or just nipping out specially. What a pain it was!

Ten years stopped next March after probably 20 years of smoking. In my life I've done some effing stupid stuff, and smoking is the only thing I regret. Keep at it everyone, it genuinely does get easier and easier. Cold turkey for me, but I like to suffer 😈

As for improving mental health, stopping turned me in to an absolute health nazi for a bit, so maybe not in the short term 😉

In the meantime, I leased a new car with the money I was saving,

Who from?

Did you put it your name or your mates?

it took bloody ages to finally kick the habit, I ended up working out what my spend on fags every month was and then rather than saving money and eventually buying a shiny bike, i bought the bike first.
A: there was no sodding way I could then afford fags and
B: every time I got all aggro i'd go for a ride on the shiny toy and chill the flip out

gobuchul - Member
In the meantime, I leased a new car with the money I was saving,
Who from?

Did you put it your name or your mates?

Eh? Seems a bit of an odd question to ask?

Eh? Seems a bit of an odd question to ask?

On any other day yes it would be, but today isn't any other day.

On any other day yes it would be, but today isn't any other day.

Indeed...

[img] [/img]

I've been out on my bike, what have I missed!?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/legal-advice-please-cancelling-a-new-car-dispute

See the website in this thread 🙂

Jesus Christ!! Well it made my train journey home fly by and I'm only 7 pages in.......!

Good luck OP and others quitting at the moment. Try this: picture in your head yourself in the future as an OAP. Will you still be smoking? If not, when between now and then will you stop? Sounds a bit daft and it's only a little thing, but it worked well for me!
RM.

Well, I caved this morning and cadged one off one of the lads at work, but I now have a weekend where I should be able to just not even think about having one.

Has quitting smoking affected anyone's mental health? Preferably in a positive way?

Well bugger me. Turns out Friday evening and a few whisky's and I'm all like "well I could just nip out and buy 20". Fark I'd love a smoke now. Must resist!!!!!! (It would involve finding lights for my bike, coat, gloves, lighter and a trip to the garage). Strange that a few beers wasn't a problem but a few Scotch's are.

It dependswhat your triggers are. I struggled after i’d Had a nice meal. It just seemed natural to sit back and light up.

Take the cravings away by mentally speccing up the build of the bike you’re going to buy yourself with all the money you’ve not spanked on fags 😀

As my dad said "It's easy to give up smoking, I've done it hundreds of times"

people still smoke?

Helpful

It's actually remarkably easy once you've made the decision. The trick is to [b]stick [/b]to that decision.

I'm afraid you'll be never one of those lucky bastards that enjoys a fag with a few pints at the pub. They're some weird breed. If you get all hedonistic and fancy a 'good old days' evening of some wine/beer/meths and a fag to top it off, you'll be a smoker again within the week.

However, be prepared to get fat, fast. I put on a stone in a week without compensating with food. That was the worse part 🙂

Keep at it OP. Quitting drinking at the same time and altering my daily routine is what enabled me to quit. My willpower dissolved as soon as alcohol became involved.

You’re bang on bear! If I decided to have a fag while out for a beer tonight, i’d Be back on 20 a day from tomorrow onwards. It only took me 30 years and 6,743 attempts to pack in to make me fully appreciate this fact!

I am also a proper fat bastard having replaced fags with crisps and pies. I’m having a beer at the moment and i’ve just Eaten a massive bag of peanuts! Standard!

Just polished off a big bag of kettle chips too. I literally inhaled them. I never used to when I smoked. Hey ho! The climbs on tomorrow’s ride are easier even when full of kettle chips, having not smoked a full pack of B&H though!

Everything’s relative 🙂

Will be 9 years in Feb for me.

I was a very early adopter of e-cigs, in 2008 when they were witchcraft and actually looked like cigarettes.

Did the trick though. Stick at it!

2 weeks tomorrow 🙂

Think Ive spent a bit on nicotene mints.... But hey. Beat the temptations a few times now. (Marvin Gaye's not impressed).

I gave up about 10 years ago, then slipped in to a low level habit again, just evenings and social smoking. I then stopped about 7 years ago due to the wife and since then I haven't smoked, except for when drinking, if i'm doing any sustained drinking I tell myself I won't but 5 mins later i'm there on it.

I wish I had the will power to stop that.

Incidentally I only smoke when drinking if the Mrs isn't there.

Well done Aphex. Keep on keeping on!

Hows the new bike fund looking? 😀

Well done.

It's amazing what the triggers can be. For me it was a BBQ. I'd been tipsy before but something about having friends around, a few beers and watching the embers die away.

Perhaps fortunately, the cigarette I did have had me hurling my guts up for 20 minutes.

2 things that held me back giving up were 1) I was very fit despite smoking 2) living in The Philippines, 20 Marlborough cost less than 40p. I kept going though.

It gets easier and easier.

After 7 (ish) years, I genuinely never miss it. Any temptation is a fraction of a second and easily overcome.

Bike fund is good.... $300 in the kitty. Need my forks and shock servicing and some new pads and discs. Maybe a new 2.6 front tyre to try out.

Good luck, it's not easy. I was lucky in my timing, got together with Mrs Pondo 10 years ago and gave up on valentines on our second date (not, I hasten to add, under any pressure from her, she never brought it up), and it was the summer the smoking ban came in so all of a sudden no-one was smoking at work or in pubs any more. Didn't vape or do patches (my rehabilitation was powered by love :D), I just relied on a little zenny mantra - all I had to do to give up was never smoke again. Time has made it seem easier than it was, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Keep going, giver uppers - you won’t regret it!

I gave up nearly 6 years ago by reading Allan Carr’s Easyway - basically neurolinguistic programming, but my god it worked. I never miss it. I never have cravings. I can stand next to someone who is smoking a rolly and enjoy the smell, but I’m never tempted.

Giving up was the best thing I ever did, hands down.

4 weeks now!

Well done!!!

That's a great achievement, I know I'm 12 years off the cigarettes now and the first few weeks were a nightmare. Word to the wise though, beware of complacency. I was surprised how many times in the first 12 months a little voice would say "Oh well, you've cracked it now. I suppose that the odd one won't hurt now and again." Funny thing nicotine addiction.

As an aside, I also checked out the Ling's cars as linked above. Wow. Just wow.

In to my last week on Champix today. It's literally amazing - as in I could not believe how well it worked. Three days in to quitting I was on a big night out - the type where I'd be buying a second 20 deck from the barman at 3am - and I wasn't fussed about smoking in the slightest. It was like flicking a switch and suddenly feeling the same as a non-smoker must do.

I actually forgot to take it the other day and I didn't notice, so quietly optimistic for next week when the course is finished.

Has the Champix done the trick then?

14 years ago for me now and I was a heavy smoker ..I needed a strong reason to do so as I enjoyed them too much ..
That came in the form of my son when on his christening day and as an older dad I realised that I wouldn't be around for him too long if I didn't quit ..
Cold turkey for me..gave half a pack away and haven't had one since.

Just over six months for me. Decided to try a vape and haven’t looked back. Still outside with the smokers but feel a hundred times better. Made me re-evaluate a number of other self-destructive habits I’d fallen into as well.

11 years now for me. Just smoked my last fag on Friday 13th October 06.
I found i couldn't ride up a hill near me without retching. Within 2 weeks i was riding up ok, still hard work though due to the steepness.

Always get the odd craving but now don't really think about. Can't give up beer though...and don't want to