Hello lovely people.
I smoke and I hate it, I really want to stop and have tried everything from hypnosis to patches but I can't stop. I'm embarrassed as a therapist and I go to bed every night feeling rotten that I've given in to the addiction again.
Can anyone offer any help or advice please?
Find an EFT practitioner - I saw a smoker quit in front of my eyes during a group session in April of last year - he was taken through the tapping sequence over a period of about 35 minutes - and he hasn't touched a cigarette since!
Hello lovely people.
I smoke and I hate it, I really want to stop and have tried everything from hypnosis to patches but I can't stop. I'm embarrassed as a therapist and I go to bed every night feeling rotten that I've given in to the addiction again.
Can anyone offer any help or advice please?
Hello Urban_Hippy,
Just to let you know I've moved your thread over to the <a class="go2wpf-bbcode" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="Addictions">Addictions forum where, if you click that link to the index page, you'll find a number of threads on the subject of smoking and giving it up.
Good luck with stopping!
Holistic
Healthypages Moderator
hello you.
DONT GIVE UP GIVING UP!! thats the main thing. it took me 2 years from wanting to give up, and by the end of last year i was at my wits end bcos i hated it. it stank everything out, made my skin look grotty and just made my chest tighten up certain times. my inner voice would say, 'nah you dont want it', but then the other voice who was used to it and saw it as the familiar thing to do would make me give in, at which point id light up, but really not like it. come new year, it just left me. and i havent touched it since cos i hated it that much. i reckon you'll do it when you've properly had enough of it and really hate it. i can see you already want to give up quite bad so like i said keep that attitude! good luck and hope this helps a little. 🙂
Dee
Find an EFT practitioner - I saw a smoker quit in front of my eyes during a group session in April of last year - he was taken through the tapping sequence over a period of about 35 minutes - and he hasn't touched a cigarette since!
Agree, EFT could be very effective here - either with help of practitioner or on your own; I suggest you apply it for all of the following:
* physical cravings/ withdrawal symptoms
* any triggers for smoking that you identify (there will be quite a few - situations, places, times of the day, sights, sounds, certain people, etc)
* the memory of having a cigarette for the first time AND memory of deciding to be a smoker (they could be same or different)
* any beliefs you have about smoking and what it means / what it meant to you when you first started (e.g. it's a comfort, a treat, a reliable friend, a sign of being "grown-up", "rebellion", being part of something bigger etc, etc)
* any everyday stresses and strains that would typically have you reaching for the cigarette
* any emotions of regret and guilt of having smoked for a long time and wasting your money, health etc.
* any fears/doubts about your ability to cope without a cigarette
There may be more, but this should be a fairly solid start if you decide to try it!
Good luck
Masha
Thank you all, EFT is next on my list! Dee it did help thanks, and well done you!
I really want to stop and have tried everything from hypnosis to patches
Do or do not - there is no try!
Don't feel guilty if you give in. Take things hour by hour. Don't let yourself fall into the trap of having a cigarette and therefore seeing the opportunity to label yourself a failure - you'll just go out of your way to make sure you smoke the rest of the pack because you justify you've already failed!
What helped me strangely enough was having a pack in my handbag at all times which I knew I could help myself to if I wanted one! Knowing they were there and that I could smoke if I wanted to gave me the strength to hold off each time I had a craving and I managed to go 4 months before I caved in. Then I decided I wanted one so did! It tasted vile and it was the last one I smoked! That was a year ago 🙂
Being in the hospital with last week and seeing the people with lung problems and having chatted with them and family members they were mostly smoking related and some had given up recently.I am now starting EFT for cessation as this has frightened me.I know it works and thanks Masha B for the tips as I was a little unsure on the set up phrases for this.
Everybody's different - it took me 5 years of giving up and then starting again, sometimes even after 12 months I would start again. But each time I gave up I would notice how much better I felt in the mornings (no more horrible coughing and choking) and eventually the reality of just *how* bad smoking made me feel, physically, became clearer to me.
Something that may or may not be hellpful: if smoking makes you feel bad about yourself, maybe that's part of the addiction. I'm not being flippant, this is a serious point: some people are addicted to things and feel bad about it because they need to feel bad about themselves... and it's easier to feel bad about yourself for smoking than for whatever the real reason is.... This may not resonate for you, I just wondered if it might?
Good luck - you will get there!
x
I give up smoking 6 years ago last Monday. I didn't get any formal help but the things that helped me were:
- Realising smoking only exists for the tobacco companies profit.
- Realising that smoking is my responsibility to give up
- Breaking the hand/social habit of smoking, I found the nicotine addiction easier to break.
- Stop thinking about smoking, if smoke thoughts came into my head, do something else, or think about licking out a dirty ashtray.
- Reward milestones with a treat - 1 week, 1 month, 6 months and a year.
I knew I would be tempted to eat snacks, so I avoided that by replacing a smoke with either a glass of water or cuppa. On my desk at work, I had a pair of chop sticks, and would practice picking things up with them when I wanted a smoke. Lots of distraction, both physical and mental help break the habit. Finally I took up karate and found out that being puffed out as a none smoker in actually pleasurable, not like the smoking days when was the pits.
HTH,
Myarka.
Something that may or may not be hellpful: if smoking makes you feel bad about yourself, maybe that's part of the addiction. I'm not being flippant, this is a serious point: some people are addicted to things and feel bad about it because they need to feel bad about themselves... and it's easier to feel bad about yourself for smoking than for whatever the real reason is.... This may not resonate for you, I just wondered if it might?
Good luck - you will get there!
x
Hi Bay, yes you're right there, I've been thinking about this too... I do see it as a form of self harm, I know the dangers....
On a lighter note, I want to thank everyone for their comments also.
KVDP - not sure if you were being insightful or sarcastic, I'm guessing a bit of both. 😉
It's been very reassuring others here have given up, thank you for the tips myarka.
Oddly the day after I posted this my other half said he wants to stop smoking also.
Our quit day is Monday... I might use this thread as a diary.
Wish me luck!
I've posted before about how I gave up: I was diagnosed with a lung disease (pulmonary fibrosis) and told that I had the beginnings of emphysema also. Funnily enough it was really easy to give up after that! So please don't wait till it gets to that point with you. I had smoked all my life and had tried many times to stop. I honestly thought it wasn't possible but now I've been smoke free for seven and a half years and I love it. Knowing that I don't smell any more, that I have saved loads and loads of money and that I am free of being a slave to the demon nicotine. Honestly, it's just wonderful. Good luck for Monday. So much easier if you do it together....
xxx
Thank you for your post Sunanda, the scare tactics on the packets don't work, but it hits home to hear people's stories.
x
Do or do not - there is no try!
couldnt agree more,
theres no short cuts or miracle drugs to help you,
its will power plain and simple,
i did it eleven months ago,
yes it was hard for the first three days but after that it was plain sailing,
all these patches and eft ect are just a way of making money,
its yo that has to stop,
so STOP