Stopping smoking (off topic)

[Candy Custard]

Stillgoing... have ditched patches and the e-cig now too

[Bones]

Good stuff Candy - keep it up!

I have a friend stopping tomorrow too - hope she can do as well

[Candy Custard]

Ah good luck to them!

I haven't taken the easiest route really (ditching all nicotine asap rather than weaning off) but it's still do-able... I was on 40 a day so if I can anyone can!

[Bones]

I will maybe have to show her your post if she starts to struggle - the following hours explaining this site should keep her mind occupied for a bit, if nothing else!

[Candy Custard]

Haha!!

The main thing to remember is that it's the nicotine addiction itself that creates the feelings of stress and discomfort that the act of smoking relieves. All you do is put the craving off for a while if you smoke. That's why smoking feels rewarding sometimes because it relieves these symptoms.

But non smokers don't have these symptoms and stress all the time and neither do those who have quit and who have all the nicotine out of their body. So it's worth persevering with!

Hope that makes sense.

lmao @ explaining this site... maybe copy and paste into an email

[Bones]

Yes, it does make sense - she was actually explaining that to me earlier. I guess its good that she understands that too as if you are able to rationalise it like that, it will hopefully be easier.

copy, paste, email - hmm, yes - thats probably the best idea

[snake]

First up, well done Candy on your success so far.

You've got me on my pet topic here. I was a smoker for 20 years, up to around 20-30 a day at my best/worst.

Judging by your last post Candy, you've read the book Mike N suggested, and got its message. Allen Carr's Easy Way. A friend of mine recommended it and 8 years on I'm still a happy ex-smoker.

As you said, the trick is understanding that you've been duped into thinking that smoking brings pleasure, whereas, in fact, the pleasure comes from the feeling of relief when your craving for nicotine is assuaged. I like the 'mind fuck' nature of the book, that it changes your preception of smoking, rather than just scaring you with health statistics etc.

I could talk at length about this, suffice to say, the day I finished reading the book, I KNEW I had smoked my last cigarette. I was out at the pub with my friends in the following days and even though some of them were smoking, I didn't feel the slightest urge to smoke, in fact the only danger was boring them with my new found 'wisdom'.

If anyone reading this is even slightly interested in stopping smoking then you could do a lot worse than spend a few quid on this book.

ps. I'm not working on commission or this book or anything, it just worked for me.

Well done again Candy, its hard if you're doing this alone, but you're not! You've got (at the very least) my support and everyone here too I'm sure will support you too. Keep up the good work - two fingers to big tobacco!

[Candy Custard]

If anyone is interested it's available free as a PDF online. Just a quick google of Allen Carr easyway PDF and there you go!

snake yes indeed i have all that burned into my brain now - and there's just no way that now I'm free I'll ever do it again.

[Squelch]

Well done Candy...keep it up

[Candy Custard]

I've lost count now... I think it's ten days. I don't even think about it any more!

[SimonW]

Well done...and think of the money you''ll saved, not just on the ciggies, but on cleaning and decorating, dry-cleaning, etc. My cousin's a decorator and he can tell a house where people smoke by the tar and filth on paintwork and wallpaper....and think of their lungs! (Just be careful not to make too much mess when wamming!)

[boxster]

Keep it going, Candy!

[Trouso]

Keep it up, Candy! It's really tough.

I felt smoking 'defined' me as a young adult so when I gave up a 40 a day habit a decade ago at the age of 30, due to a serious throat infection, I felt bereft.

The key thing is you've got to really want to give up, for a start. Then, unfortunately, it's maintaining will power. I think the nicotine addiction thing is overplayed, or nicotine replacements would 100% work (very lucrative for pharmaceutical industry!). Experts say the nicotine is out of your system in a matter of days, anyway. In my opinion, it's mostly psychological. (I don't crave nicotine - I crave cigarettes!)

In short, you've got to create a convincing 'story' for yourself - and that's entirely personal.

What's worked best for me personally (and I've lapsed at times over the years, but very rarely) has been not to think of it as 'giving up' or thinking I'm 'never going to have one again' - that's too dreary and depressing. The best approach for me is to say, "I like cigarettes and I can smoke - but I choose not to have one right now" and to have total control over whether I decide to do it or not. It sounds a bit too simple - but I believe it's the truth and really the only thing that actually works.

I now don't do it. Ever (but I always know I can if I want to).

Incidentally, I bought an e-cigarette kit last year and quite enjoyed using this once or twice when in a social situation (something to do with your hands), but there is a growing lobby to stop even these, some establishments even choosing to ban the use of them on their premises, many people being suspicious of the harmless water vapour emanating from them (?). A bit too much trouble, really.

[Candy Custard]

Hi trouso, thanks

I'm having no problem at all - it's fine.

I know nicotine itself is what causes the majority of, and the worst of the hideous withdrawal (feels of major stress, bereft, etc)

Once it's out of your system, you don't experience those things.

So I will not be putting any nicotine back into my body via any method... patches, cigs, e-cigs... I'm nicotine free, withdrawal free and I like it that way

As someone else said to me basically when you smoke, each cigarette you have is just relieving the withdrawal.

If you short circuit the system by getting rid of nicotine altogether, you break the withdrawal/relief cycle.

it's just a case of braving it out through the initial days of withdrawal. I used patches for a couple of days just to buffer it a little bit.

[snake]

love it Candy. love how much you GET the easyway approach. no will power needed, just brain power!