Kicking the Habit

[William_Montgomery]

The time has finally come to kick the smokes once and for all. A week or so in and I feel physically much better. Starting to spot the mental trickery and mind games involved.

Any ex-smokers out there? How long has it been?

Any pearls of wisdom from experience?

 

[Pattree]

I don’t smoke but my wife smoked heavily in the early years of our marriage.

She wanted a pet rabbit and I said that we couldn’t afford one.
If she stopped smoking could she?
Ah but if you start again what do we do with the rabbit?

In her late twenties, having smoked since she was 18; she finished the pack that she had and hasn’t smoked since.
(I’m not telling her age but I’m 78.)
[Ed+ A voice in my ear is saying that she was a child bride ]

So:
Be clear - no more smoking of anything.

Have a motivation. If not a pet rabbit, a gymnastics target or a distance to run run, a peak to bag.

For the first few months try and avoid places where you can smoke or be offered a cigarette. That was hard as in those days people smoked at their desks.

Don’t try and taper off. Just do it and suffer for a while.

(fyi. This isn’t my list.)

 

[Chris]

The time has finally come to kick the smokes once and for all. A week or so in and I feel physically much better. Starting to spot the mental trickery and mind games involved.

Any ex-smokers out there? How long has it been?

Any pearls of wisdom from experience?

About 5 years for me.

I found that having a ‘thing’ to do whenever I had the temptation helped. Idle hand syndrome sort of thing. Whether this was chewing some gum, doing some pressups or anything that felt like a ‘thing’ I was doing. A good portion of my addiction was to the habit and ritual of it all, especially when I smoked rollies.

This timeline was helpful, too. Getting to the short term milestones and going “Hey, I am actually now in much better shape than I was just a few days/weeks ago”.



Remembering when I wanted a cigarette, that actually I didn’t want a cigarette. Some huge corporation wanted me to have a cigarette, and was trying to keep me hooked by selling me an addictive substance they knew would probably kill me just for their own profit, just as they’ve killed millions of others for their own profit with no remorse.

You’re a week in, so past the worst, and your brain might occasionally seem to be telling you that you want a smoke, but that’s actually just the addiction in its dying throes. It means you’re winning, well done.

You’ll notice the gaps between cravings get longer and longer. Then one day you’ll go “I haven’t even thought about a cigarette in weeks.”

 

[Damascus]

1983, just quit, said no more and didn’t. The hard bit was going to the pub, cig n pint was the hardest, just made for each other.

 

[lou1661]

It's been a good while for me now, 15ish years. Have I given up smoking nope, Im just not smoking at the moment. I found for me that gave me less pressure as I hadn't actually stopped. do I still get cravings? yes do I miss it, yes! have I fallen off the wagon, very occasionally. but not enough to pick it up again. Strangely the triggers for me are in the outdoors, being out it the wet cold rain or actually any brew stop!

Louis

 

[Kepis]

Gave up around 20 years ago, hardest thing i found was breaking the habit of habit, by that i mean, when driving to work for instance i used to have a couple of smokes and always sparked up in the same places on my journey every day, the day then came where i had given up but needed to break the habit of lighting up at these spots, it was hard on the first day, on the second day, i didn't even think about it - habit broken, ive never looked back.

 

[William_Montgomery]

I found that having a ‘thing’ to do whenever I had the temptation helped. Idle hand syndrome sort of thing. Whether this was chewing some gum, doing some pressups or anything that felt like a ‘thing’ I was doing. A good portion of my addiction was to the habit and ritual of it all, especially when I smoked rollies.

Likewise, rollies. And I think you've highlighted an important part of it, the ritual.
Good idea with keeping busy. I've recently picked up my skipping rope again, so, though it wasn't by design, it's been quite good getting back into that at the same time.

 

[William_Montgomery]

Don’t try and taper off. Just do it and suffer for a while.

That's the best way, for me at least. I don't think it does me any favours, drawing this type of thing out.

 

[William_Montgomery]

Strangely the triggers for me are in the outdoors, being out it the wet cold rain or actually any brew stop!

I can relate to that. It goes pretty well with those quiet moments. I think sitting around a campfire will take some getting used to for me.

 

[oldtimer]

I stopped smoking forty years ago. Because the nature of my job I could not smoke at work so the before and after work smokes were precious. The craving at these times of day were the most difficult to overcome. I dealt with these times by finding some displacement activity. After a year all cravings had gone.

Remember the line from a Bond movie? "Giving up smoking is easy, I've done it hundreds of times. "

 

[lou1661]

I can relate to that. It goes pretty well with those quiet moments. I think sitting around a campfire will take some getting used to for me.

Once you start it's not too bad, things that you can't control give the biggest issues, for me its traumatic events at work, they often cause a bit of a wobble.

 

[dwardo]

Humbly suggest you read "The only way to stop smoking" By Allen Carr.

No, not the comedian

I suffered all the various methods of quitting over the years then read this guys very short book.
I was 20+ minimum a day for about 20 years and as soon as I had finished the book I was done with smoking.

It isn't magic or some secret subliminal programming, instead it just explains how clever a chemical nicotine really is.

You can find it on amazon for probably less than a pack of 20 cigs these days

 

[Pattree]

How much are they these days?
There must be some financial incentive isn’t there?

Save it for a treat?

 

[Silverclaws2]

14 years, just to quit the vape now.

It's not just about the nicotine, in fact it's less a lot less about that these days, it's about the time out, the meditative space and the hand/mouth connection. I know so because am running 0% nicotine.

 

[Seagull]

My last bowl of baccy was over 16 years ago...a pipe smoker for 35 years, about 1.5 ounces per week.

Fair to say that I had very much under estimated just how much a grip the habit/addiction really had of me.
So it took a lot of sheer will-power and a lot of diversionary engagement to fight against it.

Gradually I realised I wasn't continually thinking about my nagging need.
Over time, these gratifying little intervals got longer, days turned into weeks, weeks into months , each milestone afforded a self congratulation. an affirmation that I could indeed achieve what I had set out to do.

I do recall being very pleased that I didn't at any time feel the need for a self-help book or the need of a substitute.......though I got to enjoy the act of eating my food a lot more, rather than gobbling the meal as fast as poss, so as to get to the highlight of the post prandial pipe.

Ceeg

 

[crosslandkelly]

About 12 years ago I had a very bad case of the flu, it knocked me out for almost 2 weeks. During that time I couldn't smoke, even if I had wanted to. When I had recovered, I found I no longer had the cravings for nicotine, so just stopped.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I have never smoked regularly but my wife did when I met her back in the early 80s. Only a packet day a day but still. The only thing which stopped her was getting pregnant & that was 32 years ago. She hasn't touched a fag since, so there's your solution.
I don't know what the cost is up there in the Northlands but down here in the Devil's furnace, they average 12.50 euros (£11 ?) a packet. That would be nearly 90 euros a week, could do the weekly shopping for that.

 

[Falstaff]

Humbly suggest you read "The only way to stop smoking" By Allen Carr.

I did the guaranteed money-back Allen Carr course, needed the included refresh once, but now clear for over 12 years. (Couldn't tell you actually how long ) It works!!

1 physical thing - it takes about a month for the nicotine drug to leave your system, other than that it's just a habit like scratching your nose (or other part of your anatomy)
1 mental thing - don't count how long since you gave up, write the date down somewhere for posterity and forget it. - it's irrelevant, you don't smoke - why keep count of something you don't do?

It's not a case of "now I don't smoke." - you are a non-smoker, end of.

 

[Falstaff]

PS - Well done for quitting.

 

[ijohnson]

I also used the Allen Carr method (though I think it was the Easy Way book) after numerous failed attempts using gum and inhalators. This was before vapes were available. Been stopped 15 years now and don't miss it at all.
I remember when I was about 18 or 19 chatting with a friends mum who had stopped and she said she always missed it. That frightened me a bit because it must be pretty horrible to feel you are constantly using your will-power to deny yourself something you want to do. Thankfully I do not suffer from that.

My advice is as follows.

Don't use any substitutes (vapes, gums, patches etc).

Don't make it easy to give in to the temptation. Throw away all fags, ashtrays, lighters. Make it hard to start smoking again.

Remember when you stub out your last fag you are a non-smoker already. It is up to you if you start again.

Don't be too disheartened if you do start again. Just accept it and prepare to have another go soon. On the one hand there is no point trying to wait until life is perfect with no stress before you stop, but on the other if you know you have trigger events coming up then trying to stop before them might just be setting yourself up for failure. But if you do fail, it's no biggie. don't beat yourself up or resign yourself to always failing.

And if you do start again, go and buy one of the Allen Carr books. https://www.allencarr.com/