Quit Smoking - D Day has arrived.

I smoked for 25 years and i have quit now for 7 months.

December 26th 9:03pm was my last cigarette.
Wasn't a big moment was it lol for me to remember the time
and the date lol.

If youre a quitter or Ex Smoker then maybe we can help others quit too.
That's if they want to quit.
As I found lots of help and patches out there.
You don't have to attend classes etc.

Its not the end of the world if it doesn't work this time
you can always try again.

But its not for everyone, so if its not your thing to
quit please respect the quitters in this topic please.

My mum is an NHS health advisor and one of he roles is to help people quit smoking.

So if people need information or advice, I can ask her, ill also ask her for details of the relevant agencies and organisations etc to contact to gain help and support.

christ, 25 years?! you dont look a day over 20 mate


Good look to those who are quitting

The lad next door to me is a builder
and i was surprised to hear that on his building site
they now have a designated smoking area under a sheet out side.
No more smoking just anywhere.

They started this a week early and its given him
the incentive to quit.

The cheek of some people. - joe

Iv been smoking since i was 16 (5 years) I would like to quit as i spend far to much money on fags/Baccy but i find it hard every time i try, I just end up chewing some poor persons head off

i always had chuds (gum) to hand and this helped me when i stopped

National None Smoking day 12th march or this Wednesday.

Good luck if your going to give them up

I might give it a good go.....

go on fella... actually no don't keep smoking, EVERYONE SMOKE MORE AND MORE FAGS!!!

I cba with higher fuel and living taxes lol.

smoking.. well i only smoke when i'm fuked and have them available

gf hates it and to be honest so do i... i just get a cravin for it when i'm pissed...

dont know how to overcome without cutting out drink as well...

dont get pissed or chew gum when u wanna tab or lick an ashtray. all three can be done in any order and all are effective, especially licking the inards of an ashtray

am going to give it ago even more important now i got a daughter plus more mone for car

good luck lad

thanks mate fingers crossed

i quit quittin jus end up angry at the wrong people,but good luck to those who have will power!

lol i no that feeling mate am the same i quite for 4 weeks then done me in after i had a few drinks so needed a smoke well gutted with my self

I've tried to give up more times than I can count. Been a smoker for 22 years. Finally went to the Practice Nurse and got Champix - wish I'd gone ages ago!!!

Not smoked for 2 weeks now. Not been as narky as I was on the patches (baccy stuck to the sticky & tasted like crap when you lit it - maybe I was using them wrong). I think "really want a cig" and it's like the thought floats into my head then floats right out.

If anyone's really serious about giving up ask for the Champix. It's fantastic!

Aceritz and Sanchez are both in the process of quitting with Champix - I belive its been over 2 months now....

If You knew aceritz, how much he smoked, and what he was like without a ciggy, then you would see what a wonder drug it is

I can vouch for that. I was 40 a day at one point and nobody spoke to me or looked at me when I gave up - I was

- is a mild description for Aceritz, and could be used to describe him being hungry or slightly tired.

He was far more volitile without a smoke

Just for future reference, in case it happens - what do I do after "doing the do" now I have given up smoking?? Do I call thee other party a taxi earlier or offer them a beverage perhaps?

You could try eating a banana - very good for replenishing energy stocks. Please do not try to smoke the banana.

I see. I tried smoking banana skins when I was a teenager - just made my tongue curved and slippy What if I don't have a banana in the house?? Should we perhaps continue this in general chit chat

I would say keep a bowl of fruit by your bed just in case. Carrot sticks even...

Yes - nothing to do with quitting any more.

quit with champix, it work very well for me and aceritz, also i might add join a gym or take up some form of regular hobby to help suppress the craving

I've already given up with the Champix - just over 7 weeks now. It was just a general query really. A new hobby may be just the ticket I have a cunning plan mwahhhhh ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa

smoking is bad ummkay!!

I don't smoke anymore and sometimes things that are bad for you are oh so much fun and goooooooooooooooooooood!!!!

You could collect haunted dolls:
Haunted Dolly

NO, NO and erm NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! That's just wrong!!

Erm.....ok then.

Stamp Collecting?

Lepidopterist?
Entomologist?

Hey I'd be good in a pub quiz

I've been reading about Champix and am going to give it a try.
How are you guys getting on - all still stopped.
I've got an appointment 21st for my first session and am hoping they will give me a prescription. I read that Wirral is well below it's targets for people stopping.
Does anyone know if Fender Way HC will issue Champix?

It will be 11 weeks on Friday for me Just tell them that you have tried everything - patches, lozenges, inhalator etc and they should give you it.

It's not for everyone - it's made quite a few of my friends sick as dogs but if you stick with it, it tends to wear off. I had a piece of toast just after mine and the nausea soon went.

Hope that helps

If not, feel free to ask away!

Well done you - congratulations.
I've been reading a forum (all 100+ pages!) and several on there say you must take the tablets after food or else you feel very ill.
Fingers crossed!

I've been a quitter for 2 years now!
was a heavy smoker on 40 a day!!
I quit due to being rushed to hospital for a op and was so ill i couldn't smoke even if i wanted to lol
but i was on patches before i got takin in.
I found they worked for me!

congrats to you!

Bloody hell that's a lot of pages!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

And thanks for the congrats - it's worth it, feel much better for it!!

I quit smoking for the seventh and final time back in April. I had smoked on and off for about twenty years i suppose.

I tried everything from hypnosis to cold turkey but i think what made the difference this time was that I went to my local doctors and saw the nurse there and she put me on the patches. They were strong at first and I did have a few sleepless nights because i was told to wear them over night because i was one of those ppl that had to smoke as soon as i opened my eyes lol. I wont pretend it was a walkover but because i had been desperate to give up for some years and because i developed asthma i realised it was time.

I hope this helps someone to decide and i would be happy to answer any questions

Well done you!!

This is my 4th time giving up, but I really wanted to give up this time and I think that is the difference. The other times it was because I was being pressured to give up. I'd been a smoker for 24 yrs, averaging 20-40 a day.

The only good thing about smoking was that it got me up and about after the hystericalectomy - I'd have stayed in bed until they discharged me otherwise because it hurt like hell

I tried the patches too but they were not strong enough and gave me horrific nightmares. Cold turkey just took me too close to comitting murder I don't think there is a right or wrong way - it's just a matter of finding what is right for you and don't see a setback as failure!

i used to do a lot of running and then came smoking. want to stop but any smoker will tell you how hard it is

I have to go - give my apologies to the Queen

Well done PJ

Must be getting on for 4 months for me now - cold turkey :Grin:

cold turkey hey....impressive

Very similar here. 12 years ago I was in hozzy for near 2 weeks. Used to see the guy opposite sneaking down to the smoking room dragging his drip trolly and thought how daft that was. I decided "no more" and have stayed with that. No patches or anything - just gave it up. Funny thing is that for the next year or so I ALWAYS kept an open pack in the drawer next to me at work - as a sort of "reminder of the temptation". In the house I still have a few unopened cartons of 200. After 12 years they must be a bit stale by now I guess.

Snod

Kudos to you Stuy You did it the hard way!

Kudos to you too Snod!!! I'd have given up once they were all gone. I don't have a single one in the house. I don't mind people smoking here, I just spray like a demon after they leave I guess I just feel guilty if I ask them not to smoke here

Its strange, when I stopped, I used to hate people smoking round me, now it doesnt bother me anymore, and just reminds me of how glad I am that I stopped, and the smell it leaves.

I put perfume on my sleeves now because if someone sits next to me on the bus or a train and they've been smoking, it makes me gip so I sniff the perfume instead.

It just makes me feel bad because I used to smell like that

Its cool to hear other ppls stories of how they gave up. I had a carton of cigarettes for ages and i still have a lighter in the car lol and just keep forgetting to chuck it out. I think i thought about how many times i had failed so i kept all the stuff around because of the amount of times in the past i had thrown out all my lighters etc lol. I do feel a bit miffed now if someone lights up in my airspace lol but it doesnt make me want a smoke. I was so desperate to give up i would have done anything, within reason lol. But spent many hours crying and wondering why it was so hard to give up when the answer was within me all along.

I think I may get a few funny looks if I did that

Seriously I know what you mean. The smell of stale smoke on other people is now a real off-put and I would go out of my way to avoid having to put up with it. My son used to moan (justifiably) about the "stinky" customers he had to serve at the supermarket checkout.

Snod

Were you robbing the fags from a corner shop before you smoked them?

You usually find that reformed smokers are the worst when it comes to telling others that they shouldn't smoke. Bit hypocritical.

Well done to those that have. I gave up on the 1st of August and suck on those lozenge thingys. Trouble is I am addicted to them now. I see a nice lady at my GP's who encourages me but can only give me prescriptions for twelve weeks. Given the price of those things over the counter, if the Government really wanted you to give up they would let you have prescriptions until you no longer needed them.

Forty something years of smoking, wonder how much money I spent in that time? Don't try and work it out as in the latter part I was on the contraband stuff and rolled my own.

I personally don't care if someone smokes or not - it's their choice.

Well done with giving up Morseman - it's not easy by any stretch of the imagination.

I dread to think of how much money I've spent over the years, and what I could have done with that money. Hindsight is such a wonderful thing

even the big man gave up!

I have a cousin that's spending more on the lozenge thingys than she ever did on ciggies lol. . .

I packed in over well almost 2 years ago now.
And i don't mind smokers at all
Mainly because i was one.

As i have said I gave up 2 years ago and dont mind smokers at all
all my family and most of my friends smoke

i was a 40 a day man for more years than i care to remember, quit 18 months ago using the patches. best thing i've ever done. if i can do it, anyone can!

I got my Champix pills just before Christmas and have now not smoked for 17days!

I used my champix pills 8 months ago, been 'clean' 'dry' since. Best things ever, I dont know why the NHS isnt ramming them down smokers throats !!!!!

They're great aren't they!!!
I brought loads of ciggies back from my holiday in November so I'm trying to find someone still smoking that will buy them off me

that would depend on what they are and what price you want for them !!!!!

They're Benson & Hedges @ £30 / 200. The going rate I believe is £35.

i am on day 10 of champix and feel like a bag off s**t ,having trouble keeping my eyes open ion between wanting to throw up lol and still smoking more than ever!!!!

Have a piece of toast or something similar about 5 mins after you take the champix - works for me. Failing that, a ginger nut biscuit as ginger is good for nausea.

Buy Nicotine patches.

Stick one on each eye and you'll never find ya ciggies!

are these champix supposed to make fags taste horrible or something cos there are not working...day 11 and forty a day,mind you the sickness has not happened today.

Either that or just knock the cravings out. Worked for me I'm in the process of washing everything that can be washed as I can smell the smoke on everything!! It knocks me sick I had to move to another seat on the bus because someone sat in front of me that had just had a cig and I was nearly sick down his back

i will carry on for a few more weeks in the hope that i am not immune to champix....lol

It's weird the way it creeps up on you. I smoked normally up to day 13 when I only smoked half the normal 20 a day. Day 14 I lit one in the morning put it out half way through and that was it.
I was soooo convinced it wouldn't work for me but it did - after nearly 40 years of smoking!
Good luck

Giving up smoking is one of the easiest things i ever did, i only smoked for 7 years but i gave up in jan/feb this year, i had that awful flu that was going round which kept me bed ridden for quite litrally 2 weeks, i figured it was in my intrests to stop, didnt use any aids at all apart from extra chewies. i just found if had a chewie when i needed a fag it helped loads.

then the hard part is actually when youve given up

sleep pattern gets fooked up
lungs start to hurt from coughing up so much shit
headaches
eating all the time

but its definatly worth it its been 4 months now and i feel my lungs are well on the road to recovery, i started running when i gave up, i litrally couldnt run 100 yards without having to stop. now im runnning 3 miles quite comfotably.

If you decide to give up, stick with it

oh and the extra money you have is unreal! ive been putting the £5 a day i would of spent on fags into a savings account theres about £800 in there so far which im planning on using for a holiday.

right.... after smoking for 15 years, and trying loads of things to quit smoking, and failing, I turned to hypnotherapy... and it worked..

http://www.hypnotherapy-wirral.com/

she's incredible, took about an hour, and I got the session burned to a CD to use again, should the need arise.... without a doubt the easiest way of quitting smoking, it DOES take some willpower, but not very much at all, I havent had a need to smoke since, just the occasional 'ahhh, that was a nice meal, could do with a smoke now', and then I realise, that I wanted to quit smoking ages ago, and the thought just goes from my mind in an instant... its amazing and I'd recommend it to ANYONE wanting to quit.

oh yeah, and I love the smell of people smoking now, so I got to achieve my ambition to never be one of those horrible ex-smokers who passionately hates smokers....


result!

I gave up in Jan 2005 and it was my stubborness and will power that got me through it.

Give up because you want to.

quick update....have not touched a fag since 11.30 pm on tuesday and feeling fine....go champix!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!! Well done you

Told you it would sneak up on you!
Well done and keep up the good work

weird thing is that i still really want a fag but dont seem to care if i dont get one...if you know what i mean.thanks for all your support

I know exactly what you mean - it's more of a fleeting thought that is quickly forgotten. I've still got 3 cigs here but they will stay in the box. They've been there for a couple of weeks now

As for the support - that's what Wiki's for

8 days now and not even thinking about smoking much at all now,not even with the missus still smoking right next to me,just does not bother me,these tablets are great..

I got that fed up reading about the dangers of smoking, i gave up reading.

They're bloody brilliant aren't they???
Don't get complacent, it's still early yet but once the weeks start stacking up you feel dead chuffed!

Well Done you!

I felt like one at about 2am but that soon passed. I didn't realise until about 3 hours ago that I've not had any tablets for 3 days I've had one now and will have the other later. Just over 4 weeks now with one blip when I was out was hammered and was offered one. Felt like someone had shat in my mouth the next morning though

Jac
I thought you'd given up months ago?

I had but then a couple of things happened and I started again. Back off them now though doll

Ah!
Well done you.
x

Ta x

9 weeks off the fags..want to stop taking these champix ..did any one else stop them early.sick of feeling sick in the mornings.

Are you still taking 2 a day?
I cut down to 1 a day at around 10 weeks then half at 11 weeks. I kept forgetting to take the half so stopped completely.
Well done to the 9 weeks. I hit the 6 month mile stone a couple of weeks ago

yep still on 2 a day,but think i will start doing one day soon.

I failed again I'll give it one more shot I think

ha ha so you did, i forgot you were not ment to be smoking lol

That's 10 lashes deducted from your quota!!

You were encouraging me - I was drunk and weak and unable to control myself around you

Tsk!

He can be very persuasive you know Lynn

You don't need to pose to be persuasive Andy

lol, I htought yu'd like it none the less!

keep working on the 6 pack Andy

Im am, the dam thing keeps looking like a keg though ;(

that'll be the booze and fags you keep throwing at it

Ive been smoke free 6 months myself now and its like ive never smoked, my blood oxygen levels are 100% and my blood pressure is bang on perfect.

best thing i ever done.

you'll go back....they all go back lol

Good luck to all who are making the effort. I was a 100 a day smoker, I was getting them duty free. However, once the missus was expecting and the warnings had been put about that it was bad for tiny infants (this was 28 years ago) I went cold turkey, with a 200 pack in the cupboard. It was hard but I knew I had to do it for the sake of my daughter to be. Everybody said that if I could do it then anyone could. Several others succeeded. We had a sort of self help group to encourage each other. The upshot was though that my daughter started smoking herself when she was a youngster. Me? I am still off them. Success to your elbow.

Ive heaqd champion x is good? Makes fags make you feel sick.
Anyone give them a go?

If you mean Champix Rude then yes they do make you feel sick, then you just taste nothing and the craving goes totally. I'm on them for the third time now, but this time I want to give up for me, not because of the money

By now I have usually had about 10 but so far I've had 4 - they're kicking in again

I'm satisfied that by this time next week I'll be a non smoker again (also may stop certain people nagging me )

Where's your will power lass? You've got to want to pack up and then just do it. Easy for an ex-smoker to say.

Yes, i meant champix. Lol. Well done you!!
Im thinking of giving them a try-does food taste bad too?

ooh get you mr smug! Lol

Ah come on Rudy, I was just saying and trying to be positive and helpful. At least my lungs are not hanging there like a pair of manx kippers now so I have to try and help.

Ex-smokers are always the worst

Rude
I did it with Champix - nearly 8 months now.I always siad that if they made a tablet that would make me stop with little effort then I would take it - they did so I did!!!!
One tip - my Drs wouldn't give them to me until I'd gone through the Nictoine Replacement therapy course. I expected to be greeted like the prodigal daughter when I went and asked for the tablets. When they wouldn't give them to me, I nearly fell at the first fence! I was soooo upset having made the decision after nearly 40 years. I'm glad I stuck with it though.
I highly recommend them.

Thanks v much. At least now i know what to expect. I'd have been gutted trekking up the docs only to get patches! Ive tryed them but not in the proper way- one time i ran out of fags and used a patch to take the edge off til i cud get fresh supply in.
I think it will be champix or nothing. I hate feeling sick.
Well done to you tho. 40 years wow!! Ive done 24 years.
Yikes! Just worked that out and im shocked.

Rude.
I just played the waiting game with the NRT. I went every week and told them what they wanted to hear. I know it's wrong but to me, the end justified the means. After 8 weeks I got my Champix!
As for the feeling sick - Most people can control it by drinking loads of water when you take the tablets and that seems to mask it.
You think 24 years is a shock - in the 7.5 months I have not spent £1155 on ciggies!!!!!!

Now thats a sickening thought-the amount of money spent on smokes.
Have you saved it? Plan to do anything nice? Or was the money just 'swallowed up' in the housekeeping or whatever?

Not saved as such but the end of the month seems to come sooner

No need to ask if I saved, 100 a day it's a no brainer. Keep thinking of packing in the ale but the company is too good. The way prices are going now though........?????

I'm in the process of trying to give up, i've tried before and failed!but my Dr says i have to try because my cholestrel is high,and that i am at high risk of a heart attack or stroke within the next 10yrs, so as you can guess that has frightened me!! in the last 2 days i have cut down to 2/3 a day, but it's so hard not to have one, i can't stop just like that, i have to cut down and go longer and longer in between, i think i am doing well seeing as i was on 15/20 a day, and i rolled my own cos it was cheaper!
any hints or tips? how did you get over the cravings?

Although I gave up with the help of Champix but I still got cravings. I don't like mints but do like cough candy and pear drops - these sweets helped enormously whenever I had a craving. Some people say that a glass of water helps.
My biggest tip would be that when you get a craving - don't sit there thinking about it. Get up and do something to take your mind off it.
Good Luck

It is hard, remember I once tried cigars instead of cigs so as to smoke less and ended up having a fag between King Eddies (duty free again). I must have been the ultimate addict. Get a support group going. We did and and the penalty for smoking was that we had to take the others out for a proper meal, with wives. All this because the missus was having a nipper. I packed in and it was only years later I found the others had cheated and smoked. I didn't care because being a tight b.......d it had worked for me, I was frightened of spending so much money on others.

Just getting treatment for pulminory something or other, a legacy of smoking and I gave up 28 years ago. Don't know what the score is yet but please.........give up now!

COPD? No - its not a nice thing to end up with later in life.

Unfortunately, if you smoke, its waiting for you at some point or other. Even if you've given up a while ago, sometimes the damage is already done.

COPD

Imagine what state I'd be in if I hadn't given up though, shudder at the thought.

Well...been to Dr today and saw the nurse there and i've got patch's and inhaler, i've got a 12wk course on them, so wish me luck everyone! i start Sunday!!
chris.

Good luck, Whats the inhaler for?

it's a substitute for a cigarette, when you get a really bad craving you can use it instead of a cigarette.

I thought it was patches or inhaler, not both at the same time.

Why start on Sunday? No time like the present & all that. In fact sod it. I'm gunna pack the ale in from Monday. What can the doctor prescribe if I get a craving for a pint? Any ideas?

Good Luck Chris!
It's 8 months tomorrow for me

I had to pack the ale in, i was throwing punches at Mrs Bert and missing.

Been for my pulminory thingy today. Blowing into tubes, getting an inhaler then blowing again. My wind is better than the nurse who administered the tests so I might not be as bad as I thought, except that she used to smoke too so it isn't a good bench mark. Can't see the Doc for the proper diagnosis until 16th next month, the week after my big reunion blow out. It gets better and better, she always says I have an excuse for being knackered. She's married to a Liverpool lad so knows where we are coming from.

Fingers crossed then
xx

Not 'alf, Softy. Can be a bit blase at times but when push comes to shove it doesn't pay to sit around thinking about it too much, just got to get on with it hope you get a result. Bugger.

Friday I had a spiro thingy (blow test) and the doc told me that my lungs are clear and giving up smoking has finally shown benefit. I am only breathing 4 years out of kilter, like a 71 yr old instead of a 67 yr old but she said otherwise I would be breathing like a 90 year old, so it is a big plus for me. Anyway, just to let peeps know that you do get the benefits eventually. At this rate I might see 68 out.

Great news. Keep up the good work

I've finally seen the light but not because I wanted to - because of a massive health scare this week. Not been that frightened for a long long time and don't want to go through anything like that again so the fags have gone!!

Whole lifestyle change is afoot - I'm dreading my best mate coming back from holiday as I know I'm in for a mahoooooosive lecture but I know it's only because he loves me

I've already had "that look" off Snooze

Good luck Wench and everyone else thats trying to give up. I gave up just over 5 years ago so I know how bloody difficult it is. It took me several attempts but it is well worth it in the end. Think of £££££££ you will save too!.

well it's 5wks since i quit now, and i have'nt had one ciggy since!!

Wench,
it was a health scare that did it for me too!i feel better for it, i can walk now and not get out of breath.

good luck anyway.

Good luck wench. Hope youre ok.

I smoked for 20yrs and quit.
Its having the mind over matter.

I used the free service from the chemist over 6 months
and it took away all that will power / cold turkey.
For me it made it easier than i thought.

Good Luck i'm sure you will do it

Good to see others having a go, hoped my missive would give a bit of encouragement. Giving up does provide huge benefits. Good to see everyone backing each other up.

I packed in the ciggies in Jan 2005. It does get easier as time goes by. Just stick in there.

Not giving up the ale though. No bleedin' chance. I like my ale. It's my special friend.

Spoken like a true gent Paul. Oi loiks moi pint too. Got to go to a Xmas bash though where it is £3.80 a pint, that's a bit ott to me but got to go. Still, with packing in the fags I suppose I can afford a one off.