Kicking the Habit

[demented dale]

I am 8 and half years clean of the filth. I was the heaviest smoker I have ever come across in all my life. I too read the Allen Carr book. It would have been no good for me to ;give up; the very statement is indicative of sacrificing a pleasure. It is pure drug addiction and that book unravels all the disinformation and rubbish that we all believe. It is the best thing I have ever done and I do not miss it one bit. Read the book William and join us happy non smokers xxx

 

[Chris]

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

Interestingly I can smoke a pipe without any cravings, and do so every couple of months. Or more often at a Moot, but never found it difficult to put down again. I don't inhale it though, and for me that was a big part of the cigarette smoking 'feeling'.

Then again, I would not recommend trying this if you're trying to kick the addiction to cigarettes. I think if I'd done it closer to quitting, I'd have just transferred the habit to new apparatus.

 

[demented dale]

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?

You can still read the Allen Carr book wether you have stopped or not. It will reinforce what you are doing and make it easier. x

 

[William_Montgomery]

Appreciate the replies on this. It's good to hear how you all went about it.
Also, good job to the lot of you who packed it in.

 

[Paul_B]

Can I just say to all of you who have given up the baccy, well done!! To WM who is in the early stages of giving up I say you are doing the right thing and have made the first step to a healthy outcome in life (potentially at least). I wish you all success in the world.

BTW my dad was in his mid 60s and got told if he didn't give up he could be dead pretty quickly. He went to the GP with a pain in his leg and th GP referred him straight away to hospital (not even A&E but straight into a ward). He had his last cigar going in because he did not know why he was sent in there. He then got a diagnosis of a clot in his leg due to smoking and lifestyle (probably diet and smoking as he was active at work). He went back in a month later for a bypass but his last cigar was when he went in to get told what the issue with his leg pain was.

I think that was impressive to give up without realising he was. OR in truth he gave up on hearing that smoking could kill him in weeks due to the clot (I think that was what my Mum told me about what he was told) but his last was an hour before. I think most have the last one after deciding to quit. A last farewell to the baccy! Anyway he is now in his 80s so at least 16 years since he quit.

Another relative who gave up was my paternal grandad. He had the same strength as my Dad did for quitting. He went into hospital around the time my Dad was a very young child to have a section of his lungs removed due to smoking. He went in a chain smoker and came out a non-smoker and lived for another 40 or 50 years without a single smoke. I guess that was where my Dad got his willpower to quit from.

I do not know whether these tales help but I think it is a strength of character to quit such an addiction and I think it is always good to support those who do it and commend those who have done it and kept it up.

PS the increase in use of vapes and the medical profession not condemning vaping like smoking also winds me up. IMHO it should be treated as tobacco smoking in society and promoting quitting them too. Plus only plain flavours and low nicotine too.

 

[slaine_23]

The Alan Carr books are grand as far as it goes, as are all the props like gum, getting that weird ear piercing etc. but really hard to beat brute force and ignorance and sweating it out. In my humble experience it was breaking the back of the first smoke of the day and moving from anything prerolled/prepared to hand rolled.
Good luck, it’s worth the effort!

 

[gibson 175]

i was a heavy smoker. stopped 2002. my GP surgery had a 'stop smoking' nurse who helped. it also coincided with smoking being banned in pubs i vaguelly remember. The main thing that swung it was living in a non smoking house and not associating with smokers (on previous attempts to stop i had been sharing a house with smokers which I think made it impossible to stop) first 6 months was hard but then someone reminded me that the craving only lasts a few seconds and that comment was also a light bulb moment.

 

[British Red]

I found that when the consultant looks at you and says

It's cancer. Again

It concentrates the mind wonderfully.

25 years off it now

 

[William_Montgomery]

I found that when the consultant looks at you and says



It concentrates the mind wonderfully.

25 years off it now

Indeed, I can imagine that's a pretty sobering experience. And one that certainly puts things into perspective.

Congrats on the 25 years.

 

[Nice65]

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

Sensible advice that, applies to drinkers that start with the low alcohol stuff. If you don’t want to get wet, keep away from puddles. I know a girl who won’t even have a wine glass in her house.

I have another friend who kept his last pack of tobacco and would curse it daily, every time he walked past have a swear at it. I said he’d have ‘one of those days’ at some point and roll a fag, and sure enough it was like a boozer having a bottle of Johnny Walker on the side, he did. Bad day at work, row with the wife, night in the car = f*** it moment.

Another mate, used to be Angst on here, did the same and has been fine, and dealt with more than his fair share of life’s setbacks.

I’m lucky in I’ve never been an addicted smoker. I have a pipe and a tin of nice tobacco, smoke a pipe about once or twice a year. Used to smoke a few rollies a day, usually at the pub with a pint but rarely more than a couple.

Definitely get rid of anything that triggers any thought of smoking, even if people think you’re mad, every single association has to go.

 

[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?

How are you getting on?

 

[plastic-ninja]

20 odd years for me now.
Not sure why I decided to quit but I think the important thing was that I decided, rather than my partner asking me to stop, or my friends complaining about me smoking all the time.
Someone gave me a packet of those nicotine patches & I tried one but it made me feel light headed so never had a second.
I did find that it helped if I avoided places which I associated with smoking. Just changed my drinking habits and spent more time with the family to disassociate.
Never really had a problem with cravings although I had smoked 20-40 a day for 25 years or so.
Good luck.

 

[William_Montgomery]

How are you getting on?

Yeah, getting on well Chris, thanks for asking.

Still quit and I don't foresee myself starting up again. Feel like the decision has been made and that's that.

Certainly felt some cravings at times, generally they just passed by, though some were more persistent. I just take a step back and look at the whole thing as objectively as possible, think about what I want long-term.

Work and home life have both been pretty busy, so I think that's helped.

Feel better in the mornings, noticed that.

I think I'll always carry a lighter in my pocket though.

 

[Chris]

Yeah, getting on well Chris, thanks for asking.

Still quit and I don't foresee myself starting up again. Feel like the decision has been made and that's that.

Certainly felt some cravings at times, generally they just passed by, though some were more persistent. I just take a step back and look at the whole thing as objectively as possible, think about what I want long-term.

Work and home life have both been pretty busy, so I think that's helped.

Feel better in the mornings, noticed that.

I think I'll always carry a lighter in my pocket though.

Amazing, well done. Well past the hardest part now.

Saves a few quid as well.