Hello everyone
I'm going to be attempting to quit smoking again soon but I'm not sure which way to go about it. Part of me wants to go cold turkey without the use of any patches etc but I'm also a bit worried by going solo because it's obviously going to be tough on the body.
It would also be helpfull if someone who has quit for sometime now how long their withdrawal symptoms lasted, especially the uncomfortable nights of sleep. I know everyone is different when it comes to withdrawal so anyone who would say they suffered the worst symptoms then it would be good to hear your story.
Thank you in advance for any advice, stories etc etc.
I have found it depends of your frame of mind.. never start to stop smoking if you are in or close to a stressfull situation.. it will make it worse.
I gave up when I was in hospital before xmas.. but due to the situation and everyone worried it had a reverse effect.. I was worrying because everyone else was worrying.. so I started again, luckily.. I have managed to cut down, hopefully once I am in a better situation I will be able to conquer this and give up altogether. Yahhhhhhhhhhh.... lol...
My OH went 'cold turkey' on the 10 Sept 1992. He was 46 and had been smoking since he was 10 (20+ per day from the age of 16). The sight of his then 6 year old daughter watching him through a window, sobbing pitifully, with tears cascading down her face, was enough to make him think 'enough' (he was sitting in the garden - hot summer evening, G&T in one hand, fag in the other). He had been wanting to give up for years. He never smoked around our children or in the house - confining it to workplace and social events, or out walking alone.
Our daughter had a friend whose mother had died recently, and the kids had all been told she got sick because she smoked cigarettes. She was convinced that her daddy was going to now die - it took days to convince her otherwise, but to his credit, once he told her "I'll never do it again" he never did. He is now 63 and healthy as a horse and oh, so pleased he gave up. Also, we have had some wonderful holidays on the money he saved not feeding his habit!
His brother and sister have both died since he gave up, both of smoking related diseases - even his brothers dog died of lung disease.
If you need help, start here - www.smokefree.nhs.uk
Without looking it up, when it comes to quitting smoking willpower alone has about a 5% success rate, patches have about a 7% success rate but not often using just one course of patches. In other words, the patches are pretty pointless and some people have allergic reactions to them.
If you're worried about withdrawal symptoms then look into EFT, Acupuncture or Hypnotherapy/NLP. I haven't seen success rates from scientific research for EFT as it wasn't included in the smoking cessation studies I've read but I know it works well with habits and addictions. Acupuncture came out at (if I remember correctly) 28% and hypnotherapy at 80% so they're both a long way off from patches.
I stopped smoking 6 years ago and went cold turkey. It's hard at first but does get easier as time goes by.
I think it's also important to know within yourself that one smoke will make you a smoker again.
I've since learned since giving up smoking I've damaged my lungs and if I hadn't given up, my lungs would have deteriated very rapidly. Fortunately they are not expected to get any worse now, but I do have to use an inhaler.
Myarka.
This is the reason why I'm not sure about using patches Bannick because I've tried them before and the effects were still strong enough to make me feel like I wasn't even wearing a patch.
I think the toughest thing for me is the voice in your head that keeps urging, tempting you to have another one, the force is strong on that one but also its not knowing how long to expect the symptoms to last for, from personal experience of giving up a few years ago I can remember after 6 weeks it was still tough going and that was with patches on. I can even remember going to bed one night quite drunk and then waking up a couple hrs later to use the toilet and when I got back into bed I started trying to roll up one of my patches that was on the floor, I must have been half asleep because my girl woke up and was like 'what are you doing Alex,don't you remember you've given up smoking' and I said something stupid before throwing it back on the floor and falling back to sleep. I thought that was quite funny really but it just goes to show how much the sub-conscious wants it and if it cant get it whilst your awake it'll try when your asleep lol..maybe I need to call a Priest in or something 🙂
I quit 5 years ago and I used the patches. I got them on presciption via Smoking Cessation Counsellor at our surgery. I had never tried to quit before and was completely determined to do it. It was my choice to quit and I wanted to stop well ahead of the smoking (in public places) ban.
It was the best thing I ever did. Smoking is a very stupid thing to do and I used to do dumb things like go to yoga, come out and light up!!:eek::D I've always liked walking and cycling and again, I'd have the ciggies with me. I've also always tried to cook healthy foods from scratch and eat a varied diet but when you think about it, what good is all that when you're puffing away?:o
What I will say is that I followed the NRT patches plan EXACTLY. I know a lot of people who get cocky after a few days on the patches and just try doing without them and fail. The patches wean you off nicotine gradually and I have honestly never looked back.
It wasn't easy but once you're through the first few days it gets better. You need to treat yourself to things with your savings, stay positive and you will get there.
I used to use this site a lot
everybody is in the same boat on there and you'll get tons of support on the discussion boards (which range from People on Day 1 to people 5 years+). Best of luck and hope this helps.:)
After over 30 years of smoking suddenly for no reason at all (the time must of been right) I decided to give up smoking nearly 4 years ago. I had hypnotherapy and got to admit at times it wasn't easy but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Even managed to cope 3 months later when I had a breakdown, now that surprised a lot of people but I didn't even think about smoking during that time. Ok there are times when I really fancy a quick puff but that feeling is gone in 30 seconds and know that I'll never even think of trying to smoke one again.
Didn't want to use the patches because they put toxic's into your body just like smoking does. Hypnotherapy can be expensive depends where you live but when you add up how much smoking costs, need I say more.
Good luck and don't forget there is help from everyone on Healthypages.
Cis
I have usefully quit smoking after 10 years of heavy joyfully smoking going cold turkey. I have tried patches and they never worked on me, in fact I just became addicted in the parches. It takes 3 weeks for you stop carving for a smoke, just hang on for 3 weeks and you will be fine after.
Save yourself money and don’t buy in any snake oil remedy sellers.
Oh and there is something no one tells you: you can seriously get ill after quitting so be careful.
Is just no joyful way, just accept the pain it will all eventually fade away.
You know now that I look back I can’t even believe I used to smoke back then.
My fist attempt of quitting was cold turkey lasted for 2 years, then I started again for 6 months. At my last quit I spent 3 weeks blissfully drunk at home and it worked. And here I am another 2 years lately asking myself weather is there any point in quitting, I personally know 80 years old people smoking and being healthy, isn‘t that annoying?. You can’t do this, you can’t do that what is the purpose of life if I have to take all pleasures away. If I die tomorrow in an stupid accident I will sure be annoyed I have quite all this smoking for nothing.
And the depression you get for quitting smoking is so bad is unbelievable, is like your whole family died or something. On the positive side it goes away and as I said I can’t believe I used to be a smoker.
And now another thing that annoys me is this annoying militants telling you about all this wonderful improvements that happened to you after you quite: whiter teeth, breathing better, better skin… well none of this things happened to me.
Sorry I can’t paint things prettier for you!
After over 30 years of smoking suddenly for no reason at all (the time must of been right) I decided to give up smoking nearly 4 years ago. I had hypnotherapy and got to admit at times it wasn't easy but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Even managed to cope 3 months later when I had a breakdown, now that surprised a lot of people but I didn't even think about smoking during that time. Ok there are times when I really fancy a quick puff but that feeling is gone in 30 seconds and know that I'll never even think of trying to smoke one again.
Didn't want to use the patches because they put toxic's into your body just like smoking does. Hypnotherapy can be expensive depends where you live but when you add up how much smoking costs, need I say more.
Good luck and don't forget there is help from everyone on Healthypages.
Cis
When you've spent all your adult life smoking, a few more weeks on patches is hardly likely to make much difference. You are weaned off the nicotine, which really is a LOT less than you would get in a cig. After that you are FREE of this terrible addiction.
Several people on my course are smokers and I hate it when I am working with any of them because the smell is quite overpowering, especially if they've just been on a smoke-break outside. I have posted about this before because I do think it's important that anybody in the "health" business should not be a smoker.
I used to go to a beauty therapist and she was a smoker. As soon as she opened her door you could smell it and she always blamed it on her woodburner.:):)
Hello everyone
I'm going to be attempting to quit smoking again soon but I'm not sure which way to go about it. Part of me wants to go cold turkey without the use of any patches etc but I'm also a bit worried by going solo because it's obviously going to be tough on the body.
It would also be helpfull if someone who has quit for sometime now how long their withdrawal symptoms lasted, especially the uncomfortable nights of sleep. I know everyone is different when it comes to withdrawal so anyone who would say they suffered the worst symptoms then it would be good to hear your story.
Thank you in advance for any advice, stories etc etc.
I stopped smoking using nothing but will power. I smoked 40 a day at one point. I did not use patches, because why would I go from one crutch to another?
And that's what patches are... crutches. The reality is, the nicotine is out of your system in a very short time. Patches play on a person's need to have something, anything, to bolster their lack of willpower.
If you cannot break the habit on your own, you will never truly break it, and breaking it starts in your head, not in your body.
but I do have to use an inhaler.
Myarka.
Me too... as a direct result of smoking. My mum died from lung cancer. And trust me, being witness to that is enough to put you off cancer sticks forever!
Hi
For me it was "cold turkey", I had literally tried everything else, including patches
This is how i did it,
One day at a time ( when going to bed at night , i said great another day a non smoker)
Think of all the positive aspects of being smoke free ( there are no negatives)
You'll be healthier
You'll have more money
You wont smell of smoke ( didnt realise i did until i quit)
At first it feels like you've lost your best friend, but believe me it passes, for me the hardest part looking back, was making the decision to quit. Smoke free for five years now
Its never as hard as you think, and it can be done, truly i loved my ciggie
Best of luck
Draíocht
I stopped smoking using nothing but will power. I smoked 40 a day at one point. I did not use patches, because why would I go from one crutch to another?
And that's what patches are... crutches. The reality is, the nicotine is out of your system in a very short time. Patches play on a person's need to have something, anything, to bolster their lack of willpower.
If you cannot break the habit on your own, you will never truly break it, and breaking it starts in your head, not in your body.
Many, many people have quit using patches Lemonelemi. I know people who have been quit for years after using patches having tried to go Cold Turkey (unsuccessfully) previously.
Anything you use to help you conquer your addiction to nicotine is a "crutch" as you call it. Whether it's sweets, coffee, fruit, chewing gum or patches. You only use patches for a few weeks and then you can throw away your "crutch.";)
If you use patches you still need willpower in abundance. There are people who will still try and smoke wearing their patches and even peel them off, have a cig and slap it back on again!!:D:D
Rest assured that after 5 years my head well and truly knows that I will never smoke again. Since I quit I have lost a couple of immediate family, had a son who nearly died and had family members and friends diagnosed with life threatening illnesses. I am pleased to report that I never once thought about smoking so I know that my "crutch" worked for me.
We're all different and whether you quit with CT, NRT, hypnotherapy or any other method, it doesn't really matter. The main thing is that you quit.;)
The reason I disliked patches when I tried them is because it felt like I was putting off the inevitable, the last set of patches, the smallest ones are only a teeny amount of nicotine but they are still some nicotine so I found when the course came to an end the withdrawl symptoms began in the same way they would have if I had gone cold turkey and it was a very deflating feeling becuase the course of patches was 16 weeks and I figured at the end I would feel better but actually felt worse.
EFT works for quitting smoking.
Love
Rebecca x