Has anyone sucessfully given up smoking?

Question

I really would like to give up smoking. Im 24 and have been smoking since starting secondary school so about 13 years now. I have a 14 month old son and I would absolutely hate for him to start smoking when he got older. I dont smoke in my house obviously so my smoking isnt affecting his health as such but I think by me giving up, it would be better for everyone in the long run. I have such rubbish will power so I cant ever see myself giving up - people give up all the time though and I envy them!!

Answer 1

try reading Allen Carr books on giving up smoking-they are a good preparation for actually giving up-good luck

Answer 2

Yes. I gave up 14 months ago using nicerete clear 24 hour patchs. I found them very good. used them for ten weeks. Used to smoke 25 a day for 16 years. Never in a million years did i think i'd ever give up when i smoked, but i did!

Answer 3

Yes, I have successfully given up three times in the last 10 years. It's quite easy you just need motivation and willpower.

Answer 4

I am fed up with all this pathetic no will power nonsense if you want to do it just bloody do it and stop looking for excuses to fail. do or do not its that simple...one decision to stick to stubbornly. I did it ...so can you. Now GET ON WITH IT.

Answer 5

i gave it up and u can too just keep thinking of black lungs

Answer 6

Yes, from 30 a day to nothing, cold turkey in 1983, and I still think about it and dream about it.  I have no willpower but I have a lot of arrogance in the sense that I would not allow myself to be beaten by a rolled-up wad of burning vegetation.  Frankly, I thought I was better than that and so are you.

OK, to be honest, I didn't tell myself I'd given up, just that I was not smoking for now but that I would allow myself have a cigarette if I got desperate enough and was willing to admit that I was weaker than stinking stick of toxic fumes.  If I felt like that, I would kind of tell myself I would have the cigarette in an hour's time if I still felt that way.  When the hour was up, I might stretch it for another hour.  Hours stretched to days, days to weeks and 22 years later, I am still a nicotine addict who is just not smoking at present but who now finds it painless resist.  I even kept cigarettes and a lighter with me for 3 months.

Your body will use every trick in the book to get you smoking again - headaches, cramps, dizziness, despair.  I just had to recognise that I had a kind of parasite in my mind whose sole purpose was to trick me into smoking again.  Luckily the parasite gets weaker and easier to resist, especially if you keep sipping water, keep your hands occupied, keep your mind busy by doing things and change your routine so the old 'f*g break' no longer exists.

Like the advert says "YOU ARE WORTH IT !" and don't let anyone or anything tell you otherwise.

Answer 7

I did two years ago with Zyban from the stop smoking clinic.

Answer 8

Yes my dad has successfully given up smoking.

It took him a lot of willpower to do it but he did it!!!! :D

Think of it in the long run: what will benefit you???

your son will be happy and healthy

you will be happy and healthy

and you will feel a lot better!!!

so you can do it!!

hope this helps! :D

Answer 9

when I woke up on my birthday in 1999 I suddenly decided to quit. No planning went into it, but thankfully my wife,who also smoked, decided to join me. I had been a die-hard smoker - rolling my own without a filter. I admit that the first two weeks were difficult and I did eat more during that time, it was well worth the effort.

It can be done - but the truth is, it can only be done if you are determined. Forget patches and pills or any other crutch. These simply divert the craving to something else. You must simply NOT SMOKE. It will be worth it in the long term. Health improves, wealth improves and you won't smell like an ashtray any more. Go for it!!

Best of luck.

Answer 10

Two words: Chantix. Hey, wait, that's only one!

Answer 11

I gave up by using CHAMPIX 15 weeks ago, I gave smoking up 2 weeks after starting the tablets as agreed with the doctor. This seems to be important, as if to get the stuff into your system I guess. I smoked for 42 years and never thought I would stop so I was really sceptical but at the end of that 2 weeks I was beginning to not want a ciggie. I had no cravings as I have in the past when I have tried, no mood swings and no needing to eat more. A couple of times I wanted a smoke so I didn't go to the shops and be tempted. The only side effect I got was I took my tablets at 8am and 8pm, after the 8am tab I would have the most terrible stomach cramps. So I took them at 11 am and 11 pm and the problem stopped. I went to my Nurse after 6 weeks and was told my lungs were clear and that I had no trace of Carbon Monoxide  in me . Then last week I saw my Doctor and he said my blood pressure is correct (the 1st time in 6 years) and that my weight was the same as when I started . Today I have the last 2 weeks tabs unopened , I dont smoke, and I feel so much better. These tablets are a complete miracle. Sorry its so long but I wanted to tell you and I hope you stick with it, good luck.

Answer 12

I started smoking when I was twelve, stopped when I was sixteen, started again when I was seventeen, and stopped when I got pregnant with my son. I am now your age and other than a one month relapse during an issue with my boy's father I have been without cigarretes for almost two years. Did you know that even though you aren't smoking around your child you still manage to transfer alot of those poisonous chemicals to him from your clothing after you've smoked and go to hold him. Think about that. I couldn't stand the thought of hurting my boy. I'm sure you feel the same about yours. If you can't quit for yourself try quitting for your baby. It worked for me.  

Answer 13

Yes I did and even now I get tempted occasionally, but knowing the benefits and what I can do with the money to help others keeps me off that dreaded treadmill.

Answer 14

i dont want to sound like a hypocrit or anything cause i gave up for 5 years before and started again,  now i have gave up again this time for over a year... the circumstances this time are different, i thought i had tongue cancer, it really scared me into stopping so im being hopeful that i will stay off them for good.

my advice to you is try harder you will overcome it and good luck.

Answer 15

I did it 8 years ago.

I smoked 40+ cigs a day.

I hate to say it but I went cold turkey. It was like walking over broken glass for about 5 weeks. But it was well worth it.  

Answer 16

I stopped smoking six years ago. I had smoked for 20 years!

I had been smoking 'roll ups' for about eight years and I went out one saturday night and got really legless and the next morning I felt so unwell I couldn't face a cig and I went all day without one, I went to work the day after and did without all morning and I thought I would try to last the day which I did. I havn't smoked since.

I think the fact that I smoke roll ups helped because there isn't the additives in the tobacco that is in proper cigarettes. These additives are there to keep you hooked.

If you manage to stop and get tempted into starting again just remind yourself how you stink to non-smokers. I can smell smokers as they approach me and it is VILE! You have no idea how bad you stink as a smoker until you stop.

Answer 17

Hi there, after smoking for 12 years, I finally quit. My motivation was similar to yours. I had just become engaged to a wonderful man (now husband) and it occurred to me that if I kept smoking that there was a possibility that I would die of cancer and leave him all alone. So with my desire to live a long and happy life just to enjoy this wonderful man, I quit.

http://whyquit.com/ really helped me stick to my resolve. I also stayed away from coffee and alcohol and other smokers for a couple of months. It's been four years and I've had slip-ups (every year at the Christmas party after a couple of cocktails) but the next day I feel so gross about it, the thought of picking up a cigarette repulses me.

Now I can't stand to be around cigarette smoke, it makes me cough and choke up. I have occasional urges for a cigarette when I'm stressd out or after a drink, but then I remember how gross they taste to me now and I don't do it.

Good luck to you, I know you can do it! Your son will really benefit from it, too. : )

Edit: I also learned to knit that week to keep my hands busy.

Answer 18

i gave up 5 years ago.i used everything,patches,those cigarette things and it worked ,the first 2 weeks are hard but try it when you are going on holiday

Answer 19

Yes. I stopped about 6 years ago, having smoked since I was 14. I was a heavy smoker when I stopped by using the Alan Carr method ('Easy way to stop smoking'.)  I know a good few people who have tried the book and most of them succeeded. It seems to work better for heavy smokers who have more to gain than light smokers.

A few years previous I had tried nicotine substitution but as soon as I tried to wean myself off the gum, I went back on the smokes. The book really explains why substitution is simply prolonging the agony of addiction and the adverts for such products play on the smokers' fears.

The book slashed all my beliefs about smoking - e.g. that I enjoyed it, that non-smokers had cravings etc etc. The first couple of weeks were hard, but not as hard as the first couple of weeks when I had tried the nicorette.

To help me through the first weeks I wrote down and referrred to the points Alan Carr made that struck me the most:

*Non-smokers don't get cravings, smokers do.

*each cigarette causes the cravings for the next one.

*You are not 'giving up' anything as that implies a loss of something good. You are stopping something harmful.

*You are one cigarette away from being a smoker so whatever you do don't have that first one. (this one helps in moments of weakness when you think you can get away with just one little smoke.)

*the 'hit' that you get from the first drag of a cigarette is like the relief you get when you take off a tight pair of shoes. Why keep wearing the shoes???

*You only get about 7 seconds of real 'enjoyment' out of each cigarette you smoke.

*nicotine leaves the body in 3 days!!

These are only a few points that really helped me. The book itself explains all these points and much more in great depth. It's very persuasive and it works! I've never had that first ciggy. Cravings only lasted a few days and then I got the odd pang over the first couple of months and that's it.

Stopping was the best thing I ever did. The best thing about stopping is not just the healthier life, the extra cash etc but the freedom from addiction. I no longer need to check where and when i can get my next hit and i no longer need to check I have plenty of cigs on me at all times.

Good luck!

Oh and by the way, ZINC suppliments can help with the first few days when you are withdrawing. I nibbled on pumkin seeds as a natural source of zinc and for something to do instead of smoking. They even tasted a bit like cigs!

Go for it! I'm sure you can do it.

Answer 20

The best thing to give up is wanting to give up so you are half way there. set yourself a date and stick to it. I found the puffers really helped - by nicotinell.