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Stopping smoking


NorfolkAYA
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Yes after several failed attempts, I set a date in my mind as to when I’d stop and did ,went cold turkey biggest problem was keeping my hands occupied and that was about 20 years ago and still off of them ( couldn’t afford to smoke these days anyhow ) a mate gave up by using gums and sprays and the way he went thru them it would have been cheaper to smoke 

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Hi AYA

Here is the link to NHS smoking support cessation services that may help, you can be referred by your gp or you can self refer. Under the present Covid climate smoking cessation services are not seeing face 2 face however, they can offer telephone consultation advice at present. I would recommend cessation services, many patients who use these services have successfully halted smoking long term who otherwise had been unable to achieve cessation alone.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/nhs-stop-smoking-services-help-you-quit/

atb

7diaw

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I went cold turkey after smoking 20 a day for almost 10 years. I stood in the car park at work having a tab and just thought this is ****, screwed up the rest of the pack and threw them in the bin. The first thing I noticed was my sense of taste and smell coming back.

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Been off cigs now for 18 months nearly.

Was smoking (20 a day +) for 50 odd years and could not go much more than a day without. Cost of cigs and obviously health reasons made me start vaping and never looked back since son got me a vape pen, started on low nicotine and reduced the nicotine gradually, now on nicotine free.

Seems to me the hand to mouth action is now the habit i need to control/reduce.

Will try to reduce the vaping now.

Edited by Good shot?
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Yes, at the start of the covid thing, 27th March to be exact.

I did a 48 hour fast at the same time. Nothing but black coffee and water. I think that may have  helped simply because it removed the desire for the after meal smoke.

As Sam Triple mentioned occupying your hands is one of the tough things. You might want to find something to fiddle with. I have some poker chips that I almost constantly play with now.

Maybe try and stay away from things you really associate with smoking. I found that after a few beers I would start to really fancy a smoke so I cut down drinking for the first month or so.

I honestly didn't find it that bad once I'd made the decision to quit, but you have to really want to. I had packets of tobacco and cigars laying around and was never really that tempted. Kept them for a couple of weeks just in case I lapsed and eventually flogged them to my neighbour.

Worst part for me was absolutely horrific insomnia. For about 2 weeks I couldn't get more than about 3 hours sleep in any single session. Probably not helped by the lockdown but it does seem to be quite a common issue.

Just treat it as one day at a time. Once you've gone past one day, one, week etc you can just tell yourself you've come this far and it's stupid to waste the effort you've made. It is worth it.

Good luck.

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Well done for taking the first step, deciding you want to give up for yourself and doing it is the hardest part and you have done that.

I used to get up every morning and tell the cigs to 'FRO - you are not going to get me again' - just in my mind - a strange thing to do I admit but I found it helped to start the day off right.

I then also became an expert on all the economy ranges of wine gums from the different supermarkets, as said earlier cheaper to smoke in the short term but a hell of a saving in the long term.

Keep as busy as you can - get every project that you have been putting off done and plan some new ones

Finally decide what new toy you are going to treat yourself to after 6 months of giving up - after all you will have a few quid saved by then - once you get there decide on the next 'reward' after say a year and so on until you feel like you do not need the incentive any more.

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I did cold turkey 11 years ago this Feb just gone and never looked back.

What worked for me was to focus on how slipping up would have undone all the little moments of temptation I had resisted.  A day became a week, which became a month, so the level of investment I would have squandered for the sake of a moments weakness grew and grew.

Also, I think it's a bad idea to make a huge deal of it.  I've seen people make all sorts of elaborate commitments to friend and family, online etc and then blow it.  I believe that is because in their heart they knew they would fail and were trying to build in a last ditch means to avoid it when the time came rather than making a genuine decision at the beginning.

Do it for you, be accountable only to you, and make no excuses to yourself.  Good luck.

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You’re on a sound basis as you used the term ‘stopping’ rather than ‘giving up’, which sounds like you’re making a sacrifice, which you’re not.
Now you’ve made the decision to stop, just rejoice that you’re at last free.
Don’t wait for that euphoric moment you think is going to come when the realisation hits you that you’ve done it, cos it doesn’t exist. Just get on with your life and be happy. 

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As zapp says - plan to go without for a couple of days then think about the times you have beaten the craving over those days - you really want to waste them? The cravings will get less and less but avoid situations where you normally stop and smoke.I gave up first attempt after 30+ years of 40 ish Marlboro/day - consultant simply said stop - or die.

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Well done. 10 years this September for me. Went from 40/60 cigs a day to zero. Health wise it’s the bet thing I ever did. If you have a family get the mind set that by stopping you will not be letting them down by making yourself I’ll or worse. Harsh I know but it worked for me after all my other attempts had filed. Good luck

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1 hour ago, bruno22rf said:

As zapp says - plan to go without for a couple of days then think about the times you have beaten the craving over those days - you really want to waste them? The cravings will get less and less but avoid situations where you normally stop and smoke.I gave up first attempt after 30+ years of 40 ish Marlboro/day - consultant simply said stop - or die.

40 Marlies, that's hardcore!

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1 hour ago, Scully said:

You’re on a sound basis as you used the term ‘stopping’ rather than ‘giving up’, which sounds like you’re making a sacrifice, which you’re not.
Now you’ve made the decision to stop, just rejoice that you’re at last free.

Don’t wait for that euphoric moment you think is going to come when the realisation hits you that you’ve done it, cos it doesn’t exist. Just get on with your life and be happy. 

Exactly ! your doing yourself a huge favour. not depriving yourself, rejoice in your independence [ I stopped rollies 15yrs ago and never looked back]

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I quit twenty-six years ago from forty or so a day down to zero. Senior Service. Untipped as I'd the belief that it was the stuff in the filter that aggravated the harm the tobacco did you. Daft silly belief I guess now.

But "cold turkey" that's the key. Stop totally and throw away all the paraphenalia the ash trays and etc.. I simply got fed up of drivig to find a working cash machine to get cash to then buy cigarettes from a all night petrol station. As way back then there were no card or chip 'n pin machines. And instead started on the small Galaxy chocolate bars.

So the caution is do not start on using sweets as a substitute. It's almost as bad for your health long term as what you just quit! I'm glad I stopped. One of my Flemish drivers I worked with in France rolled his own cigarettes for the ten years I knew him from 2006 to 2016. He now has mouth cancer.

Edited by enfieldspares
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4 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

40 ish Marlboro/day.

I, too, was that man. Then, in early 1985, a friend I'd known since 1969 had testicular cancer. He had never smoked. I paid him a visit. I will always remember his words "I envy you. You saw your kids grow up. I will never have that privilege". It was the trigger I needed. Cold turkey straight away. He was buried in May 1985. I have not smoked since.

Good luck. Well worth the journey.

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29 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

Used to keep them in the fridge then break off the filter before smoking......really hit the back of your throat, some Yank I knew taught me to do it this way.

That's a new one on me. Marlborough Reds I presume? They were my chosen brand too before I went onto roll ups.

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I smoked all sorts for 60 years. Sat in some stinking desert when a box of customs confiscations dropped in - you never knew what Sobranie Cocktail, State Express 555, you name them, they could be in there. In more pleasant surroundings they were just tax free unless there was a nearby PX when a box of 50 King Edwards was just a few pence. Eventually, I had a TIA. Stopped before I stopped dead. Easy.

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5 minutes ago, wymberley said:

I smoked all sorts for 60 years. Sat in some stinking desert when a box of customs confiscations dropped in - you never knew what Sobranie Cocktail, State Express 555, you name them, they could be in there. In more pleasant surroundings they were just tax free unless there was a nearby PX when a box of 50 King Edwards was just a few pence. Eventually, I had a TIA. Stopped before I stopped dead. Easy.

A schoolmate was in submarines his entire Navy career, he would bring me packets of cigarettes they were issued at the time. You needed a good Elastoplast on the back of your neck to get a good drag off one of them! 😀

I’d smoke anything back then.

Bloody awful drug; occasionally I dream I’ve started smoking again, it’s such a relief when I wake to discover it was just a dream. 

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I quit in 2006 after smoking 25 a day for 20 years.

Find a substitute. You'll need something to occupy your cravings. I sucked on Refreshers every morning to cut the cravings which really helped because i dont have a sweet tooth and i got a sugar rush.

Week later i started on patches...which preventing me murdering work colleagues. 

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