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Hi There

I've never attempted to give up smoking, sorry, I can't offer you any tips. But, from what friends have told me, who have succeeded, you do need lots of willpower.

Anyway, good luck, I hope you manage to stick to your guns

dont listen to my tips hun i have given up giving good luck to you

there,

I think it will help if you do some kind of sport exercise. I did for me any way.

thanks guys i know its going to be hard but i need to do it going in for an op very soon so its in my best interest to stop i cant do much exercise at the moment as its my spine that is the problem

I have never smoked in my life so don't really know any ideas to help you.

Maybe if you keep thinking positive thoughts of how much money you'll be saving and how soon you won't smell like an ashtray and how much good it will be for your health it will inspire you to carry on trying to quit

The only tips I have are filter tips on the end of my ciggy's, sorry.

I gave up nearly five years ago and it was the single most important thing I have ever done.
My first few attempts were half hearted really and whatever angle I tried never seemed to work.
My final solution was to enroll with my local NHS quit smokng group. You sign up for it and attend one day a week with up to 20 others and you all actively encourage each other to make a start to pack up the fags. Each week you are given questionaires to answer, and you'll get random Carbon Monoxide tests to see that you are not having the odd sly ciggie. The group tutor will also give you various tips and aids which may assist you in your quest. One thing I tried was the drug "Zyban" which is a kind of a mild sedative designed to take the edge off of your jitters when things get tough. Overall though I think with the help of the group (possibly the Zyban) and self determination, I won through.

The first year is the difficult part as much will remind you to want to feed your habit, such as being in the pub, watching friends smoke etc etc. The actual nicotine addiction is a minor hurdle. When you smoke your last cigarette, virtually all traces of nicotine will disperse from your blood within 48 hours, and your lungs will start to clear. As each month passes your breathing will become less laboured. It's only the reminder of the pleasures of smoking that will get you started again. Prove to yourself that you are stronger than that.

I'm not a fan of micotine patches as they feed the short term addiction that is the first hurdle to cross. A Hypnotherapist friend of mine who specialises in smoking cessation (I didn't use him) said something amusing to me with regards to Nicotine patches:
"If you were an alcoholic you wouldn't cover yourself in alcohol patches in an effort to give up....would you?...you would seek guidance and councelling to give up your addiction".
The NHS quit smoking groups are the best cost effective way of giving up. (They are free). Of course, if you really don't want to.....you never will, and we know the consequences don't we. I watched a friend die of lung cancer. I know i'll never smoke again.

Hope this has been of some use to you

Steve

Hi i know how you feel, every time you want to smoke have a cup of coffee, and i kept on unopened pack of 10 in the cupboard in case i started panicking for a ciggie. But other than that, try to do something with you hands, i found that the worst when i was trying to quit. I went cold turkey, it was one of the hardest things i had to do, get past the first few days and you will start to feel great, i have now not been smoking for about five years, and i feel great becasue of it

I smoked right from school days...so thats about 36yrs of lung abuse. And hey presto I now have COPD....(Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) And apart from coughing my guts up every morning and my chest being as tight as a ducks arse...My body decided to make my mind up for me. I hope this helps.

Not had a fag since the 1st of May this year...and the coughing scenario has now ceased and my breathing is not as laboured anymore....Damage limitation!! Mmmmm. My health will limit the things I can and can't do....and my quality of life will never improve...but on the other hand!.....should'nt get any worse either....touch wood.

Good luck...you can do it.

Gaz.

Hi and well done Jinty

Strange as it may sound, I found that completely changing my whole routine was key, instead of having my normal cup of coffee, have tea or fruit juice in the morning....also I kept busy (house was spotless lol) and I used the Paul McKenna book with the hypnosis cd.....

Hope it gives you some help an' orrabest wi it

Hi Jinty72,

Last night when i was surfing the web i saw there was a site called Nicotine Anonymous maybe if u google that it will give u help.

I stopted smoking years ago for about a year or two i found it hard but when i was in work nobody smoked so that helped. I did foolishly start again.

My pals stopted by using Champex tablets ive never tried them but i know that a lot of it is willpower too.

why dont you go swimmimg and have a sauna then you will being doing something positive to feel good im still smoking and would luv ta stop but i just keep making excuses i wish you luck.

Never in a month of Sunday's....I enjoy my hemp ciggies wayyyyyyy too much...

me neither mum says it will stop me growing and im 6ft 4

Hi, I stopped smoking last Monday, using patches and also mint lozenges, really helps to stop the cravings. Good Luck

i just stopped but had to keep my fingers busy i found suck lollies or chewing gum thats all i did

Jinty

I sympathise with what you have ahead of you - stopping smoking is difficult - but only for the first few days.

I stopped smoking years ago (20 years ago). It took me 18 months to make a proper attempt at it, and I did it, not through willpower, but through changing my attitude towards it. There's a book 'Easy Way to Stop Smoking' and that helped to the trick. If you don't get your head around it, then all you're doing is convincing yourself that you're missing out on something, which is NOT the case. The withdrawal part physically only takes about a week, more or less. I didn't crave anything after 2 days.

However, 15 years later, I was going through a very stressful time at work and I came home one day and found an open pack of ciggies in my teen's blazer pocket. I took one - smoked and coughed for about 10 mins, then took another What a div! Can't believe I did it. Now I'm back smoking and need to stop because it makes me cough, smell of smoke, poor. But I know I can do it and will use the same approach as last time. The weak part is finding excuses why this week is 'not a good week to quit' - who am I kidding.

Good luck, and good luck with your op.

This thread was made May 2008 wonder if the OP ever did manage to quit smoking Looks like we'll never know has her profile has gone.

no more jointy for jinty .........

Maybe she gave up on the forums and decided to concentrate on her smoking efforts instead