Giving up...

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Fi_W

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Smoking...

I have a rare autoimmune condition, which means that I have to take medication to surpress my immune system, which in turn leaves me vulnerable to infections and unable to fight them off properly. I have had two severe chest infections in the last month, both times I have had to have strong antibiotics and a course of steroids to clear the infections. I now have yet another chest infection and a kidney infection, and after another trip to the docs today, yet more antibiotics and steroids. I'm fed up of feeling ill all the time, and I am loosing far too much time from work.

So...although I can't do much about the autoimmune thing, there are things I can do to help myself, the main one being giving up smoking. I have tried before but failed miserably, but this time I have to do it.

I was wondering if anyone has recently (or not) given up, and has any advice tips or anything? I've heard the patches/gum things are not that good, and I'd rather not go down that road unless I have to, but I have no willpower whatsoever, so any advice/help would be very welcome.

Thanks for listening...

Fi
 
Hi Fi,
So sorry to have missed you at Focus. I expected to bump into you but we never did!
I can relate on the auto immune, can make life awkward at times but luckily for me one vice I dont have is the dreaded weed.
My son has given up several times using different methods, the Alan Carr book helped him a lot and he is now starting to try the patches this week.
His willpower seems good until he meets up with friends for weekends out then he bows to peer pressure, and we start the whole cycle again!
Wish I had some pearls of wisdom offer to help you quit, hope someone does.
Good luck. :hug:
 
have a look on this site www.snyderhealth.com for health tips and there's loads of links to other related sites that maybe of use to you. Good Luck with giving up, its a good decision!
 
If you really want to give up you will.

When i quit i never set a date or had any help from patches or owt, i just quit.
Got up one morning and thought as i lit up a fag and coughed, "WTF am i doing this for?" And just quit.
Destroyed my fags and went for it, to see if i could do it. And to my surprise i found it alot easier than i thought because it was what i 'really' wanted.
The 'habit' of smoking is far worse of an addiction than the drugs in fags.
getting in my car, after meals and out with friends etc was the hardest times as they were times i smoked regular.
After the first 3 weeks it gets so much easier to do and dont be tempted with having a few puffs or the odd fag or two, thats not quitting.

Good luck with it anyway. just give it your best shot, you can do it!!
 
Will power is the tough bit. I stopped 25 ish years ago pretty much overnight (with a few short lapses over the next couple of years) but cigarette smoke can still catch in my nose and make me think must have... even now.

Theroretically it should be easier for you since there are far fewer places you can smoke these days.

Tips? Don't tell yourself I'm not smoking anymore, just say "no, not just now" when you find yourself wanting one.
When you find yourself wanting a fag think of the things about smoking that disgust you, there will be some that help you say no, not just now.

Put the last clothes you wore in a smoky place away in a bag and when you've been clean for a few days go smell it, you will think yeugh!
 
brummie said:
If you really want to give up you will.

When i quit i never set a date or had any help from patches or owt, i just quit.
Got up one morning and thought as i lit up a fag and coughed, "WTF am i doing this for?" And just quit.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much how it happened for me too, lit up on the way to work one morning and thought god this is disgusting and threw them away.
 
Let me say straight off, that I smoke. I have given it up a couple of times, once for nearly 18 months and it never bothered me at all. On that occasion I just really wanted to give up which is all the motivation you need.

Nicotine is about ten times more addictive than heroin, but the withdrawal symptoms are actually virtually nil - we make them far worse in our head by thinking about it.

If you really want to do it -you will. You have good health reasons for wanting to - but you can give yourself extra motivation by earmarking some of that wasted money on a camera body, lens, or something else you'd really like.

Why did I start again? I stupidly started to have the odd fag in the social situation - at the pub etc. which is all you need to backslide. :shrug:

Good luck - but just do it. :thumbs:
 
CT said:
Let me say straight off, that I smoke
Click to expand...

Really? Wondered where the UFO thread came from ;)

Me too - gave up between New Year 2005 and the Ashes series 2005. After 6 months i should have had it licked, but the usual happened; pubs, cricket stress, etc. Going to give it another go following my birthday this year; I do need a specific date to aim for - thats just the way my mind works.

I'm then going to put away the money i save and put it towards a 1Ds MKII for when it's replacement comes out.

Good luck, its not easy, but as Brummie said earlier, it the habit thats the problem, not the nicotine withdrawal. :thumbs:
 
Allen Carr - The EasyWay To Stop Smoking.

Less than a tenner at Amazon.
I quit by reading that book in 2003, and that particular copy has done, I think about 7 people so far, and is currently being read by person number 8.
 
I had my last cig on 25th jan not long after joining this forum, i think will-power and gum have helped but i think success is mainly due to the fact that my sides are so sore from laughing at certain members threads and posts (no names) that i couldn't smoke if i wanted.

Seriously i havn't felt this good for years.

Good luck:thumbs:

Mitch
 
I had an extra incentive as I quite the day I found out I was pregnant. Im guessing you don't want to go to that extreme. I also found that I just changed my life a little. I always had a cigarette after a meal so I started up cross stitch and did that instead. I smoked when I went to bars I gave that up (well ok the pregnancy thing helped there too) for the first few weeks just to get out of the hapbit. And I also cleaned my entire house and car floor to ceiling got rid of all ashtrays and washed everything even the clothes. Who wants to make it smelly after you've gone through all that hard work. I also agree putting smoky clothes in a bag then smelling a few days later really does a trick!
 
Good luck with quitting smoking. I quit cold turkey years ago, I was sick as well and could barely breath at the time. Had a son and "just" pregnant for my daughter. It seemed stupid to carry on so I wanted to quit. My hubby quit on the patch at that same time, but has been smoking on and off since, which I think is even worse for your heart. Today he is a smoker..:( just quit cold turkey and do it!

Only get one time around, seems silly to shorten it when it doesn't have to be.

Jewel
 
I gave up smoking Marlboro Reds about 6 years ago.
Cold Turkey overnight, It is tough and hard work but I did it without patches or gum.

Good advice has been given already.
Don't tell a soul, becuase they'll only tempt.
I allow myself an occasional cigar now, 2005 ashes being one of those rare occasions :)
 
Marcel said:
Allen Carr - The EasyWay To Stop Smoking.

Less than a tenner at Amazon.
I quit by reading that book in 2003, and that particular copy has done, I think about 7 people so far, and is currently being read by person number 8.
Click to expand...

I stopped smoking 12 years ago after reading that book just once! Believe me I was a heavy smoker, all my friends said I'd never give up and were amazed when I did with very little problem. From the last one I put out I've never lit another cigarette, or been even remotly tempted to. The book just gets into your head and completely changes the way you look at the whole smoking "thing".

How ever you choose to do it, good luck Fi! It's easier than you think if you can believe it's what you want
 
Thanks loads everyone for your words of encouragement. I'm feeling much more positive than I was this morning.
 
Steep said:
Put the last clothes you wore in a smoky place away in a bag and when you've been clean for a few days go smell it, you will think yeugh!
Click to expand...

I've never even tried a cigarette so can't give advice on quitting.

What i can do though is endorse just how foul smoking smells to those of us not in the habit. We went to a nice looking pub (which actually wasn't so nice inside) for lunch the other day. Only about 4 or 5 people smoking in the room but it was very unpleasant and when back home our clothes stank meaning we had to change.

John (Dark Star) does not smoke either and came to see us the other day after visiting briefly with a smoker friend. He had walked here on a breezy day and he still smelled of smoke as he walked in the door!

I grew up in a smoking household and often watched TV from the floor to get below the smoke level! My father paid the price of smoking. Seeing someone go through lung cancer would be enough to make anyone quit - not a good way to go.
 
If you don't have any will power you have no chance. I gave it up 3 years ago for 18 months - went cold turkey but after a week I was O.K. I stupidly smoked one cigarette and that was me of again.
My sister was prescribed Zyban by her G.P. but they turned her into a virtual zombie after a week.
My partner tried prescribed patches and they were working but you have got to follow the instructions and when you go for more at the chemist they test your blood and won't give you any more if you have lapsed.
 
I gave up in the late 80's and all it needed was to me to avoid places where I habitually smoked (at the time I lived in a non-smoking household which required me to go in the garden to have a fag - easy to not bother in the mid-winter with it pee-ing with rain) - so no pub for 6 months either. I was also in training for a particularly strenuous course (SCBC at Brecon - 16 weeks of pain) and was running 10 miles a day, which helped. I substituted jaffa cakes for fags and went through 3 packs a day (the running helped with that as well), but I was consuming about 5 times my normal calorific intake for the duration of the run-up to SCBC anyway so it wasn't a drama.

I would say that you have to not want to smoke - as opposed to wanting to give up. If you still want a fag, you'll always go back to them in the end.
The idea of smoking now revolts me so much that I cannot imagine how I did it for so long.
 
Well, I've survived my first 24 hours without a ciggie...I'm quite proud of myself really :)
 
Fi_W said:
Well, I've survived my first 24 hours without a ciggie...I'm quite proud of myself really :)
Click to expand...

So you should be too. Its the first step and probably one of the best decisions you'll ever make. :clap:
 
Marcel said:
Allen Carr - The EasyWay To Stop Smoking.

Less than a tenner at Amazon.
I quit by reading that book in 2003, and that particular copy has done, I think about 7 people so far, and is currently being read by person number 8.
Click to expand...


I agree with this - I have bought it for about 10 people since I stopped - 70% success rate
 
Hi I suffer with Bronchiectasis so I also suffer with regular chest infection so I know how it feels.
Anyway best of luck giving up.
Chris
 
I gave up smoking June 01 2004 at the age of 51. I bought a Paul McKenna CD 'Stop Smoking For Good'. I smoked 2 cigars in the first month, then I stopped altogether, and I've never smoked again. I just don't feel the need for it any more. If you want to stop, you can. Good luck , you'll do it :thumbs:

Mike
 
I can help you. I'll stand over you with a loaded revolver and tell you that if you light a fag I'll shoot you. Smoking Kills and all that...

Bet you don't light up.
 
Arkady said:
I can help you. I'll stand over you with a loaded revolver and tell you that if you light a fag I'll shoot you. Smoking Kills and all that...

Bet you don't light up.
Click to expand...

Damn right I won't...

Thanks for your very kind offer Arkady, but I think I'll pass on that one, if you don't mind :)

Tell you what tho, at 11.30 am this morning it'll have been 2 days since I had a fag, and I am feeling so much better already, in fact, I've been off work with a severe chest infection since last Thursday, thought I would be off all week, but I feel that well this morning, I'm going back today.

But thanks to everyone for all your encouragement. It really has helped, probably more than you know.

I'll pop back here every now and then and let you all know how I'm getting on. One things for certain tho, I've never felt more determined than I do now to kick this habit for good.
 
YOu should really take all that money your savign and put it aside at the end of the month go out and treat yourself... Whatever a treat is to you whether it be camera stuff or a massage. You deserve it.
 
Quite - a mate of mine and his Mrs both kicked at the same time and saved about £300 a month as a result.
Paid for some good holidays since.
 
Top job Fi, keep it up! :thumbs:
 
Excellent. You're over the hardest bit.

Dont forget, today is National No Smoking Day too.
 
Indeed, you don't give up, because there's nothing to give up...You're quitting smoking :D

Peter, have you read the Allen Carr book too? ;)
 
I mentioned it on the last page. I've Read it, and spread the word. When friends say they are trying to quit I offer to buy them the book on the condition that they read it - I've bought about 10 copies and I reckon it has worked on 70% of them . It is an amazing psychological read...
 
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