I read somewhere that once the nicotine is out of your bloodstream you’ve halved your battle, and as some someone who has given up an IV meth habit before I have found this to be true..

the first 72 hours is physiological…. the rest is just willpower, determination and motivation

just try not to get too cocky when you think that you’ve won the battle

thanks for the support by the way 🙂

I’ve a twelve hour race next July… I really don’t wanna quit in the first few hours

just try not to get too cocky when you think that you’ve won the battle

Wise words. That was my undoing in my thirties. At 42 I quit and didn’t look back. Someone claimed it takes 5 years to really get it out of your system (whatever that means) but about 2 years later I felt completely free and indifferent to tobacco and reaping the physical benefits at that time of life was great.

At 48 I wish I’d quit a lot sooner, especially having started at the same age you did.

Well done, I gave up cigarettes 25yrs ago and and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done 😀 Just don’t become one of those boring self righteous evangelical anti smoking ex smokers. Remember live and let live, smokers are human to.

Monde’s post says it all.

I was a really heavy smoker….. God I loved smoking….

I bought a good Ecig about a year and a half ago, and like Monde have slowly been dropping the nicotine levels, and will continue to do so until I get to zero%. It is a really, really, easy way to give up. I still have a few real cigarettes if I am steamboats or go on holiday or something, but I always say to myself I will never ever start smoking the real ones again full time, which I haven’t. Christ if I can do it anyone can. Jolly good luck.

Of course giving up cold turkey is better, but IF you or anyone else reading this decides to try the E-cig route DO NOT come down the nicotine levels too quickly. I made this mistake and was back on the real ones for a brief period.

yunki – Member
I’m 43 years old.. Have smoked since I was 9

You might shite yourself if you try to stop instantly after smoking for so long if your will power is not strong enough.

But then you can have one cigarette just to clam yourself down … or two.

I am not sure why it is so difficult to give up. Several months ago (may be six) I used to smoke nearly 75g (50g and 25g) of tobacco a month then one day I just stopped smoking. I still have 88g (50g and 38g (EU size)) of backup tobacco in my drawer.

I did not take any nicotine preventive stuff but was switching between smoking tobacco and pipe one month before I stopped. The taste was awful when I switched between pipe and tobacco so awful that it put me off smoking entirely. I did try to smoke but I simply could not get back the nice taste so eventually I just stopped.

No cold turkey etc just feel very disgusted with the poor tobacco taste. Coz I did not enjoy it anymore … arrgghh …

Ya, I did try E-cig several months before that but it was so bad I binned it … the taste was shiter but then I bought all my e-juice from PoundShop …

Good luck chaps. Coming up on 9 years stopped for me, and like a lot of others I’d ‘stopped’ before (more than once!). Meeting someone who wanted kids did the trick for me, focused the mind somewhat. It’s hard, but it is something that’s pretty easy to break down into little bits – 1 missed fag at a time, each one gets a little easier.

I like your style though yunki, cold turkey with the edges smoothed off 😉

It was a piece of piss for me as I’d got to a point where I hated it; sounds like you’ve got a real desire to shake it off too.

That’s the key. You have to have reached the point where you really want to stop smoking.
If you haven’t reached that point yet it’ll be hard. If you have, it’s easy!

Mine was cold turkey with the edges smoothed off, my family were eating nice food all holiday, and I had wine to drink. I think that can definitely help.

Good luck! Go get your teeth cleaned at the dentists. It feels great, gets rid of all the stains and crap and is another reason to not start again.

Heavy smokers I’ve known that have stopped successfully have just made a spur of the moment decision.

Those who planned it have always failed i.e. I will stop at 5pm tomorrow night etc

OP as a motivator- in a little over 10yrs time if you keep smoking you are faced with poor general health 100%, cancer on the horizon, if you live longer an oxygen bottle maybe etc.

What made me quit (I smoked Captain full strength, Galoise and LuckyStrike) was annual chest infections. My GP spent some time with me explaining these infections would become a more regular and longer occurance that are harder to shake off. Maybe one day I’ll wake up realising I’ve got 3months to live.

I stopped immediately. Upto that point I felt I was invicible, would live forever and two fingers upto the uncool and non fast living crowd who were sad and past it.

I’d tried patches, gum, everything. All kept me on nicotine.

Nowadays smokers look like tragic addicts. We all know how deliberating it is so when you see someone with a fag you think k ‘weak person’. Smoking is associated with bad parents, bad diet, poor education, bad teeth, low IQ and poor outlook.

Sorry all true.

Woke up this morning feeeling tip top.. looked out the window from my bed thinking yep.. I’m an ex smoker, a non smoker ‘what’s the big deal?’

Now an hour and a half later, I’m feeling rather unhappy… I’ve not had my first ciggy of the day..

So what’s going on here, scientifically speaking?

As my other half was keen to point out, I’m not exposing myself to nicotine, carbon monoxide, cyanide etc and therefor not restricting oxygen to my body..
This feeling is actually elation.. My cells are receiving more oxygen than usual and it’s a very alien feeling that I don’t associate with sitting around at this time of day..

I’m not withdrawing at all!! I’m powering up! 🙂 🙂

Good luck Yunki. One day at a time as they say. 🙂

Keep going, one hour at a time.

So what’s going on here, scientifically speaking?

It’s in your head, no science.
Keep the positive thoughts, there is no physical craving now, no matter how much your head tells you there is.
You have a story and a reason why you’ve given up, keep running this through the mind.
You are a non-smoker now.
Well done.

Addictions suck.

I feel the same about junk food. Was tough and had cravings.

You can beat it Yunkior replace it with a less damaging habit.

Best wishes.

It’s in your head, no science.

errr… I dunno about that

As my other half ( a healthcare professional) was keen to point out, I’m not exposing myself to my regular massive morning dose of nicotine, carbon monoxide, cyanide etc and therefor not restricting oxygen to my body..
This feeling is actually elation.. My cells are receiving more oxygen than usual at this time of day and it’s a very alien feeling that I don’t associate with sitting around as I wake up and ponderously go about my morning routine..

I’m not withdrawing.. I’m powering up, and my mind is finding that confusing

I’ll be grand by the way.. and thanks for all the support

I think most people have some sort of situation where they are most comfortable smoking and when you can’t smoke in those situations it can be hard. For me it was going out to the pub, the wetness of the drink counteracted the dryness of the smoking and vice versa, so when I stopped it was hard going out for a drink as I felt something was missing.

Some people like smoking after food, or with a coffee. The first cig of the day is a shared experience for all smokers though!!

people still smoke 😯

This one small thing your doing is the start of the new fitter, stronger you.
https://youtu.be/I33u_EHLI3w.

There’s a timeline of benefits here, this kept me going at times!

https://www.nhs.uk/smokefree/why-quit/what-happens-when-you-quit

And good luck, keep going, it will get easier 🙂

Good luck Yunki. I was a heavy smoker for 15 years…(16-30 yrs old)..have given up for past ten years and for me biggest reward is the fact I don’t have that constant nagging internally that I’m doing something bad for me..didn’t stop me needing a (very scary) lung cancer test a few months ago because I had unexplained cough*..good luck…

*turned out is was due to using the turbo in a dusty garage!!

Some people like smoking after food, or with a coffee. The first cig of the day is a shared experience for all smokers though!!

I feel quite liberated by the fact that when I wake up, I’m not immediately compelled to be stood outside the back door. I now have a much more leisurely morning routine that isn’t being dictated to me by my addiction. Well… one of them. Still a caffeine addict, mind 🙂

I’ll echo what other people have said. If you’ve genuinely reached the point where you say to yourself “you know what? I’ve ****ing had enough of this!” then you’re laughing!

If not, then you’re wasting your time

Good luck

just stay on the wagon. that’s all you have to do.
well done for stopping. 8)

OP keep going. Nicotine is highly addictive. It’s science reinforced by habit and routine forming.

Good luck.

Heavy smokers I’ve known that have stopped successfully have just made a spur of the moment decision.

Those who planned it have always failed i.e. I will stop at 5pm tomorrow night etc
agreed. strong will to better yourself and not be a slave to something so poisonous is all you should need. after a few failed attempts for money reasons etc, one day i too just decided no more. real liberating feeling, i just knew that would be the last fag id ever have and its been true.
and i too say no to ecigs/vaping. its frustrating watching my wife who’s been off the fags for years still addicted to little ‘false fags’ and vapes. feel like shaking her and telling her how easy it is and stop being such a tit, but as pointed out earlier, nobody likes an evangelical ex smoker.

As my other half ( a healthcare professional) was keen to point out, I’m not exposing myself to my regular massive morning dose of nicotine, carbon monoxide, cyanide etc and therefor not restricting oxygen to my body..

With all due respect I wouldn’t listen to a healthcre professional on matters of smoking. It’s GPs, in general, who put people off quitting by telling them how hard it is to quit.
You’re better off listening to those, like many above, who have successfully quit. They are the voices of experience and much better qualified. 😉

are you one of those ‘science must fall’ers? 😉

No, just some fella who put a ciggy out about 15-20 years ago, has never picked one up since and not once had a craving, or more importantly a regret.
I must be special if I avoided the sciency bit. There’s a reason you started smoking and the same reason will help you quit.
Understand it you must. 😀
I’m not special, the physical addiction is minute compared to the mental thing.

The way I finally quit was by being distracted. Had tried and failed for two years. Went travelling and stopped instantly without even thinking about it. Mad hey. I was too busy having time of my lfe and away from my normal environment. Good insight into how behaviours are formed and upheld…

How much are fags these days? They were 70p when I first “gave up”, but £5.05 when I stopped.

I dunno how much a box of 20 is these days… about a tenner maybe?

I buy my roll-ups in £3 pouches which makes it seem a bit more reasonable..

Anyway… I’ll give a wee report on the day so far

Took a valium this morning, popped into town to grab some food and a few beers to restock the fridge.. all good (I noticed that riding on valium leads to increased risk taking though…. food for thought)

The day was panning out nicely so even though I have 5 days off, I thought that I would get a bit of work done (I enjoy my job)

Sadly though.. mrs yunki came home at lunch time to say that her ex husband had been up to his old tricks… spouting the same incoherent pseudo buddhism that he always uses to cover his guilt and insecurity about his having an affair while she had cancer…

apparently, he’s moving house and us asking very considerately for her dog cage back cos we’re getting a pup is just a symptom of her unforgiving and materialistic obsessions.. she needs to grow spiritually apparently so that she can transcend such trivialities

He then spouted some quasi intellectual collection of words that made no sense whatsoever but sounded sort of like something a dodgy sex offending guru might say to a really vulnerable person looking for guidance

So my chilled out arvo of maybe doing some breathing exercises and getting some work done has turned into a noisy and impotent expression of rage that I can’t go and remove the philandering, narcissistic, gym bunny, ex husband’s teeth with a hammer..

this is my soundtrack and it is being brought to you by 10mg diazepam tablets and cobra beer

And that ladies and gentlemen is why it makes a lot of sense for certain people in certain circumstances to plan their quitting smoking date very carefully 🙂

I’m glad for my neigbours that it’s saturday

I know… I KNOW the guy needs a hug but………….. I hope he’s reading this

Is this level of irritation normal for someone giving up nicotine?

Shit happens.

Are you using the Valium to help you stop smoking or do you take them anyway?

ith all due respect I wouldn’t listen to a healthcre professional on matters of smoking

so are you almost saying that maybe smoking isn’t as bad as people think? Is it just scaremongering by those nutbag GPs?

Are you using the Valium to help you stop smoking or do you take them anyway?

I’m using them as a one off treat to help me enjoy the next few days with minimal anxiety, stress and soul searching

Good luck with stopping. Took me several goes. I smoked for about 20 yrs and been off them for nearly 20 now.

For me what worked was cold turkey. I’d tried patches, lozenges etc. Just prolonged the pain. Vaping wasn’t around then. Possibly a better substitute as it replaces some of the aspects of smoking to some extent and is much less harmful. Better stopping completely of course.

Accept you’ll feel shit for a week For me I got physical withdrawal symptoms for a few days. Light headedness, pains in arms.

I found Allen Carr’s stop smoking book worth a read though I didn’t follow his method. From the book I took the idea of telling myself that withdrawal symptoms were a good thing because it was my body getting back to normal.

I started jogging the same week I gave up – replacing one habit with another. An easy way to see and measure the health benefits from giving up.

In one respect stopping might be easier now. I smoked most at the pub which are of course non smoking now.

Even years later I remember the time I was sitting eating my lunch and realised someone was peeling an orange at the other end of the room because my sense of smell had come back. And you will find smokers do stink of stale smoke.

Aim for a treat.

A smoking pal was admiring my new car, I said that he should get an Alfa as he was always going on about them.

He replied with a comment that he could afford one, I retorted with ‘bollocks, course you can. A packet was about £5 and he got through 10 packets a week. He stopped smoking and after a while bought a 156 2.5, then changed it for a Breda 3.2. All paid for by not smoking.

Quitting smoking is easy I’ve done it loads of times 😉

Seriously though there is no trick just have to not want to do it anymore

I haven’t read the whole tread but my advice, which was given to me, was to treat the craving like a toddler which was about to do something dangerous, like run into the road or poke an electrical socket.
Internally and strongly “NO! Don’t do that” and them move on to something else.
It worked quite well.