I know its only one day and the withdrawals haven't really kicked in yet but I've only ever gone 24 hours off cigs once before I think, maybe twice. The only down side is that music doesn't really hit as well without the cigs any more, I used to smoke while listening to songs but now that I'm not smoking it feels really dull listening to music. Well anyways I'll see if I can go for another day and then another
Thank fuck for that
Wait till you can actually taste food properly as well. It's great.
Or shite, depending on who's cooking.
Yer ma
Read Allan Carr's book easy way to quit smoking. The chemical addiction is very subtle, it's the psychological dependency that makes it hard to quit. I read it in late 2019 and haven't had a single smoke since then.
Seconded, I read it the day after I quit smoking and it made it so much easier.
Addiction is a desperate demon pleading for their life. Over the next 28 days, you are going to have it throw everything at you to feed its habit. That current quit smoking ad with your man having that creep following him about trying to get him to smoke is quite an accurate description. I promise you, you will feel so much better once you've kicked the habit, and if I can do it, so can you. Best of luck.
Wait till you walk past a garden and can smell the flowers from a distance. You picked a good time of year for it
Wait till you realise how much better your favourite food tastes without your taste buds being dulled by nicotine. Beir Búa
Goes both ways tho. When my father gave up the fags ended up hating some things he would've liked/loved before
Watched a video from a fella talking about his addiction. How it's such a strange phenomenon that worms it's way into every aspect of your life.
Before he started drinking he loved movies, music, dancing. Everything. And as his addiction took hold he slowly convinced himself that he only loved these lifelong passions when he was drinking.
And his biggest fear in giving up the drink was that he'd lose these other things. These wonderful experiences would be dull and tiresome by comparison.
And for the briefest time they were duller. But then all at once everything was somehow even better than he remembered. Colours were more vibrant, music was sultry, food exquisite. He said he cried the first time he had a lasagna post-drink.
All this to say - that voice is a liar. It slowly dulls and twists the things you care about so it all revolves around the substance. It's so slow you don't notice it. But coming off it - that's the experience to strive for. When the world snaps back into focus.
And that “voice” comes in your own voice :(
That’s actually a lovely way to put it.
This.... I still blaze but have packed the cigs in, very rarely smoke them, and I achieved this by installing a true awareness that the craving of a cigarette lasts a few minutes at most. [Beginning in your vestibular] Those inner voices will guilt & trip, or reward you in cognition, as long as you crumble to the whim. Get over the many upcoming periods of several minute cravings, and you've cracked it 🙏
Good for you, I was 25 a day from 13 to 41, 3 yrs off them…..a lot easier than you think, I guarantee you…..there won’t be hard times, only, fuck it, nah, don‘t need that toxic poison no more……keep on keepin on
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19d
Did the seminar 25 years ago. Never felt the need to smoke again.
Yes, I found a big gulp of water helped with the cravings.
I was 60 a day. hang tough, it'll get easier, youre just focused on their absence right now, that will pass, get something to chew, I liked toffeees but over did those too :)
60 a day? That's a lot, would you have one every 10 minutes?
I would chain smoke at times but I also would get through them much faster than those around me, on a fag break if easily do two to their one
For how long did you keep the habit of smoking 60 a day? I couldn't even smoke a full pack a day back when I was a smoker without feeling terrible the next day
A very long time, started smoking when I was maybe 10, I'd smoke as many as I could afford. I've quit nearly 20 years now so maybe 10 years at that rate , minimum 20 a day but I'd be counting them to see how to ration them if I'd only 20, 40 would do me but 60 was grand.
That's just the habit shouting in your brain because you associate listening to music with smoking.
Stick at it. Quitting smoking is without doubt the best thing I ever did, I'm off them years and honestly forget I ever smoked.
It's incredible when you're off then a while and you start to realise just how addicted, physically and mentally, you really were to nicotine
Honestly it's true, there used to be a time where I never smoked and never had a problem without them, seems the cravings are lying to me
Cigarettes are without doubt, one of the greatest tricks ever played on the human mind.
Stay strong; fuck cigarettes
Best thing you could do for yourself. Smokes are the worst.
Vapes are worse..
Let's just agree that they're both incredibly stupid
Vapes are not worse though. I personally know someone (40 years smoker) who has switched to vaping 3 months ago and has much improved lung function. No more coughing fits in the morning or nasty chest infections.
Vapes were a godsend for me to get over the initial hump when quitting. Smoked heavy for 15 years and tried to quit several times. Found NRT shite for taking the edge off but firstly using a vape to break the mental habit of "going" for a cigarette and tapering down the nicotine slowly starting with 20, pretty quickly moving down to 10mg, then 6, 3 and 0.
The effects are unknown are the moment but the general consensus is not good . Kudos on kicking the fags but try and talk your friend into kicking the vape as well .
The current census is that they’re a lot better than cigarettes. If you have smoked or vape you will be able to tell yourself that one is without a doubt causing more respiratory problems .
They are only supposed to be used for a short time to wean yourself off the cigarettes. However, we don't know the dull effective, and those who are studying them are warning the chances they also cause cancer is at practically 100%.
Vapes are not worse and we know plenty of the effects. They are not healthy, but they are a much better option than regular cigarettes
Are they, though? We don't have enough data to make such a claim about long-term use.
Vapes have been around for over a decade. Should we wait 35 years longer to state the obvious? Cigarettes are worse, neither option is healthy. That's it.
We have hundreds of years of data on cigarettes. Missed the important part there, the studies that have been conducted to date are indicating that vaoes are indeed as bad a cigarettes.
Please provide said studies then, as well as who financed them :)
There was a study released last week that said you were pretty much guaranteed to get cancer off them..
Can you send a link or point me to where this study can be found?
Thanks! Will be interesting to see the actual published research from RCSI but the outcome doesn't look good for sure
The actual published reseach is already available. I scanned through the study looking for the actual rankings of vape flavours as that was what the study was doing using AI to predict what compounds were formed from different flavours.
Aside from saying that fruit/candy/dessert flavour were the worst, I didn't see anything talking about the likelihood of cancer. And I'm not saying those compounds don't cause cancer either, just that is not what the the paper is about.
so are the rankings of the flavours based on the number of breakdown products? or the potential toxicity of the breakdown products?
That's good for them, but the long term effects will be just as bad
Speaking as someone in this field this is highly unlikely to be true
What field?
Since their introduction, the amount of companies selling vapes has exploded, all in conpetion with each other, trying to find ways to cuts overheads and maximise profits. Most will look at cheaper, inferior ingredients.
As well as you're inhaling chemical vapour into yourself, how is that in any way, not terrible for you?
Biochemistry - cancer metabolism.
And compared to burning something, the combustion which is known to produce a massive array of carcinogenic chemicals and drive the buildup of arterial plaques and has a vast array of evidence of its deadliness, and then inhaling that smoke - vaporising water and using it to inhale your chief addicting agent along with flavourings is just not that dangerous.
Main reason is that vapes just don't need to burn as hot or as long as a smoke does to get the job done. You also don't really have the fuel you'd need to make anything really nasty in the time it takes to take a puff.
Edit: every breath you take you inhale chemical vapour. If you ever cook at a gas stove you've polluted your lungs significantly more than you do when you vape.
Its not water that's being vaporized though, it's a mix of highly concentrated chemicals as well as water.
Theres no limg term research on the effects cos the medium hasn't existed long enough.
Let's see in 5-10.yrs
Yeah but do you know what those chemicals are and how hot you'd have to make them to change them into something legitimately toxic? If you don't even know what I'm talking about then you're just speculating with no evidence.
It is pretty obvious from a biology perspective whether smoking or vaping are worse for your health. If you have to do one or the other, vape. Don't listen to guys like this.
There is no evidence for long term vaping effects, so to say its 'better' than smoking, is objectively incorrect, as there is no evidence otherwise.
Neither are good, coming from a smoker
Good luck friend. I'm off 3.5 years now. Those first 2 weeks take a lot of will power and breaking of habits. But you really do see a difference and that's enough to keep you going. The first time i went into the local shop and didn't even think about buying smokes or having to stop myself automatically adding it to the order, that was when i realised i'd won the battle.
I've heard the first 7 to 10 days are bad with the withdrawls but after that it's a mental game? Stick with it.
Get the calculator out and see how much extra cash you have day in day out without them! And you can do now with all that extra cash.
I've heard the Alan Carr book is very good too, both the smoking one and the drinking one.
My idea is the pain feels good if the reward is greater than both the pain of the withdrawal and the benefit of not withdrawing. So in my mind it makes the pain feel a lot less, almost like I'm appreciative of it
I never smoked but I drank. A lot. Off it eight or nine years now I think. You won't regret it. Stick with it. Enjoy your healthier body and bank account.
HSE smoking cessation service now offer free nicotine replacement products, so if cold turkey doesn't work, keep trying. 3 years off them here. Good luck.
Well done keep it up
Good luck! Stick with it. I was a 40 a day addict and tried so many times to give up. Now I'm off them for 10 years and SO much happier (and financially better off!).
I can't imagine what 40 a day would do to the wallet. Fair play.
You don’t have to imagine, it’s a very easy calculation.
Is it?
First day of never smoking again. This is the new normal.
I’m on day 16 . What really helping is the stop smoking timeline on why quit.com https://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Benefits_Time_Table.html Good luck , the benefits of smoking are immense . I’m already feeling them , everything is a bit easier , sleeping better , etc. all the best
Not smoking is the normal state for a person. Smoking is abnormal. Keep reminding yourself to be normal.
15 days off them today, from 30 a day. It's not easy, but I'm using the Nicorette patches and Nicorette inhaler.
I've given them up twice before, once for 4 years, and again for 3 years. Hopefully I'll stay off them this time.
Good luck with it 👍
Good luck to you too, you're much farther along than me, shout back to me what you see at the end of the road !
Stay focused on the end goal, any doubts, remember, once the addiction is gone, and it will go, then you'll not need to smoke again, ever.
Any withdrawal is temporary.
Good Luck
The brain is a funny thing . It’s addicted to nicotine and will do anything to get it . This includes making you feel you can’t enjoy music without it . You have to be strong and force yourself to give it a go . 3 months was my barrier . Edit: life is so much better without cigarettes. All that money to enjoy maybe 1 cigarette per day if you’re lucky - the rest was just something to do with your hands during the day
I know how you feel! I used to enjoy smoking and reading. It got harder to read after I quit. But then it was also a smoke with a coffee, a smoke with a pint, a smoke while driving, a smoke while walking etc. 🤣
Oh yeah I relate to the smoke while walking part so much, you would never have caught me walking without a stick. I went for a walk at like 3 am and honestly it was the first time in a while where I've went the whole long way around town without puffing anything
Yeah it's a strange feeling! Are you using anything to quit? I read one of Allen Carrs stop smoking books and it really clicked with me after 2 or 3 failed attempts.
I have my own little philosophy thsts helping me honestly
That's great! Best of luck with it!
Thank you :)
After many, many attempts, I quit smoking.
A couple of tips:
You may fail, but if you do, don't be discouraged. Each time you try to quit, it gets much easier. Dealing with cravings is a skill you need to learn, and it takes practice.
There are two stages to quitting. The initial detox and then the long-term quiting.
Initial detox is actually quite short. It takes 3 to 4 days for the nicotine to mostly leave your body. These are when the nicotine cravings are most intense, but after this point, it will be much easier. Being aware of that will help.
But more important is the long-term quiting. This could potentially take months. For a long time, you won't crave cigarettes on a physical level, but you will still want them on a psychological and emotional level. Cigarettes will seem "nice" for the longest time, and you will want time. But, once enough time has passed, cigarettes will become disgusting, and you will hate the smell and taste (this is how non smokers experience them, btw). For me, that took about 3 months off all nicotine.
Next very important thing to consider is quitters flu. 5 to 7 days after you quitting you will begin to experience the worst flu of your life. You will have coughing, sniffles, headache, even fever. This is caused by your body beginning to heal from smoking and will be more severe the longer you have been smoking. It is very unpleasant and unfortunately is almost instantly cured by smoking. But you just have to push through, it will last 3 or 4 days.
Last to consider is all the nicotine replacement you can take. For me chewing gum helped. Just be aware that this will prolong each stage of the process.
So good luck my friend. I hope this works out for you. Hopefully it will be a quit process. But don't worry of its not. It took me years to quit smoking bur once you finally do it is totally worth it.
This is brilliant advice. I'm happy to hear you quit, and didn't give up :)
Well done on your decision and good luck.
I’ve never smoked myself, but my husband was a big smoker. He started very young, and would smoke like a chimney. I never bugged him too much, but I always made it known that I was concerned for his health (as I’ve lost a loved one to lung cancer).
Anyway, one day he just decided to quit. He used a disposable e-cig for a little while, only when he REALLY felt the urge to smoke. But, he’s been off them completely for around two years now, couldn’t be happier.
Also, my Nan smoked too. She too started young, around 13? And smoked a lot for yeaarrsss. She decided to quit cold turkey one day in her 60s, and that was that. And we thought she’d never quit, especially since it’d been a habit for so long. Her breathing improved dramatically and she seemed healthier/happier in general.
So, it’s very possible. And you’ll get that feeling back when listening to music and everything, don’t worry.
Best of luck with it.
I believe a helpful trick is to get one of those sealed money tins and pop in the money every day that you would have spent on the cigs.
Open after a year, and get yourself a holiday with the cash!
Have you tried joint replacement therapy?
I kid, keep it up. Can be done.
If only I had a plug eh 😂
12 years off them now and delighted I stopped when I did. Not pretending it’s easy all the time but it does get easier. Well done op!
I'm an ex-smoker myself, I'm off them about 14–15 years and i smoked for 7 and a half years. I remember the first time i tried to give them up i only got to four days and went back on them but the next time i tried i got to five days and since i passed my previous record by a day i just kept going and here i am now and i'm free and thankful.
I did it cold turkey because i always thought that getting nicotine from any other source keeps to addicted. Never thought i'd do it, but yet here i am.
I'd never go back, and all cravings are gone. I remember the time it coincided with me having a blocked nose and hearing and feeling like shit! 😆 Keep at it and by this time next year, and you'll be free and no longer addicted.
Damn well done. Its bloody difficult but possible. The cravings go away eventually.
There's various helplines and online assistance if you need help with it but you have done the most difficult first step and decided to quit. Without that none of the rest of it works. Please let us know how you are doing every so often. We are rooting for you.
That's all it takes, "another day and then another". It's a good mindset to have. Give each fresh new day that same energy when it comes to your commitment to not smoking. Yeah, once the withdrawal really kicks in it'll get harder, but that's for another day. Today you deal with whatever the process brings you and leave tomorrow until tomorrow.
Best of luck. It'll be the best decision you've ever made. And btw, the music thing will return, probably in a slightly different way, but it will. I was the same with films and TV shows when I quit the weed for a good while after but it came back.
Saw your posts on the smoking age thread yesterday and really wish you all the best.
I hope you start seeing a difference both physically and financially very quickly!
Good for you buddy, be strong! This is only the start of it!
I myself was smoking from 12 to 24 and it took me about a year to stop smoking completely, and another year to stop dreaming about lighting one up.
I'm more than a decade off them now and couldn't be happier about that.
It's not that music doesn't hit the same. It was never the music hitting. It was the dopamine from the smokes.
Once your reward centre has adjusted to the lack of nicotine, you'll start to enjoy things again. Just take it a day at a time and keep busy.
I've been on and off smoking for quite a while now. Know how you feel but rest assured that music will still sound amazing. You might just feel like something is missing for a little while, but that goes away.
One tip I have is, if you really start struggling or cave in, look into nicotine pouches. They've helped me before as they allow you to get used to not having the whole smoking ritual but without also dealing with nicotine withdrawal.
If you can do it without, that would be much better as the pouches themselves can also become a hard habit to kick - as I have learned. But they are much less damaging to the body and as long as you only use them for a week or so and taper off, you should be grand.
Best of luck 🤞
music doesn't really hit as well without the cigs any more
This is bollocks. So is "pints won't be the same without a gasper", or "I need a smoke with my tea/coffee to get started in the morning."
Complete shite. Everything is better without cigarettes.
You will be coughing up some rare shit in the shower (at least I did). Looking at that toxic brown crap coming out of your lungs is a bit of an eye opener.
The physical cravings only last a few minutes. Take your mind off smokes when they hit, do something else that will require your focus while they pass. They will be back, but there will be longer and longer between them, until one day they never come back. It doesn't take that long, you can do it.
I used Chantix to help, and I also used the gum while flying transatlantic. It was supposed to be mint flavoured, but really it tasted like Margaret Thatcher had shat in my mouth. That helped kick the habit too, that gum was so poxy.
Then you can enjoy a few pints without having to stand outside with the other lepers. You can get on a plane without having to huff five in a row before going through security. Three hour film? No problem to you, champ! You can visit museums without wondering where the nearest exit is, for when you have to suck the tobacco dick. And you can finally eat food without it tasting like you just shoved your tongue up someone's arsehole before taking a bite.
Listen to some totally different music. There’s loads of really fantastic experimental stuff out there worth listening to. Everything is going to change for while before it settles down again. You may as well embrace it. Giving up is worth it. I’m off the smokes 2 years.
When I went off smoking, when I'd want a cigarette I'd go out, cycle fast around the road circling where I was working, come back in and drink a glass of water, and the craving would have gone.
Go on San. Show us what your made off!
First 3 days are a real chore after that it gets easier.
Good luck and stick with it. I'd recommend writing down your motivations and reasons why you want to not smoke. Try to bottle that determination you have right now so that when the habit tries its best to convince you to smoke again, you can remind yourself of your reasons.
And look forward too. Think of the money you will save and the benefits in the long run. I kept telling myself there are no reasons to smoke but lots of reasons not to smoke.
Yeah it's funny because that's exactly what im doing, it's hard but I keep reminding myself of the reason I want to quit, it makes the pain of quitting seem insignificant
Just keep remembering that no matter how hard it gets, the benefits always outweigh the reasons to smoke.
My advice, nicotine patches. I used them for about 3 days until I had gotten out of the habit of having a cig. They really help take the edge off. Currently a year and a half off them.
Fair play keep it going 👏
I done really well last year for a while, I didn't go back smoking cigarettes tho just gardening. My tips, DONT BUY THE BREATHLACE, it's a piece of shit. DO use nicotine patches, they work brilliantly. DO watch neuroscience videos on dopamine and nicotine, this here really gives you facts of what your up against. You paying to poison yourself. Your being scammed by yourself smoking. Best a luck well done brother or sister I didn't get ur user name, you got this.
About 7 months off them, best decision I've ever made and will never pick up another one.
Your general health and breathing will thank you!
Write the number of days without smokes on your hand, new number every day. Honestly, it's very good to help you through the first 30 days or so.
Think of the cravings as your body healing and getting used to being healthy
Think of how happy your beautiful lungs will feel to finally start breathing clean air.
Just hold firm it’s not a day at first, it’s multiple times throughout the day, survive them they pass quickly and don’t put another cigarette in your mouth. You’re going to be healthier and wealthier when this is done. Best of luck buddy
There's lots of positive advice on here and best of luck, I hope it works. What worked for me was thinking of the most unhealthy looking, repulsive person you know that smokes, and not wanting to be anything like them. Find whatever works for you and roll with it
Honestly a lot of the advice is really good, a lot of it is what I've already thought of independently so it further validates my strategy, it's nice to be validated like that, more hopeful because of it
If you want to stop smoking, not miss them and not have any of the brain washing that X and y are not good without smoking read this book or get the audiobook or do a class.
Stopped smoking last year, best thing I've done. First three days were pretty tough, then it eased up. First two weeks I had the worst cravings. Nowadays it's great, I barely remember smoking, and only very occasionally have a craving. They are very manageable.
I can breathe better, food tastes better, my sense of smell is infinitely better.
Best of luck! Can you give us an update tomorrow maybe, see how you're doing?
I'm smoking since I was about 12, 43 now. I think it's time for me to give up too.
Sure buddy I will do
Good luck also with you kicking it too, you can surely do it, you'll he rewarded with a new, more fresh life that you haven't had in decades. Really rooting for you my man
"One source claims that for every 6 years you smoked, it takes 1 year to remove that amount of tar from your respiratory system.
This means it would take 6 years for the body to remove tar from the lungs of a person who has smoked for 36 years"
thats would only make it about 5 years in your case. if you stop today then when you are 48 your lungs will be squeaky clean :p put the date in your calendar!
Make it your first day as a non smoker as opposed to being off them. I was "off" them for seven years and went back on for ten months. Then became a non smoker. 23 years ago
I don't smoke and I've never heard of the music thing. Is this true?? Perhaps other smokers, current or ex, can enlighten me
Best of luck buddy, you’ve got a tough road ahead but it’ll be worth it!
I am 6 months off, i lost an uncle to cancer and my ma says "i quit at 35" your 36. So after 2 years of almost quitting i said yeah nah im doing this and just putting up with being pissy for 5 days. Realising a simple chemical was making me this mad about not having it made me stick with it, nothing is controlling me, im now back in the gym and swimming.
This is brilliantly said. You are in control now.
Glad you're living your best life now.
If you like a few drinks, may need to quit that for a month or two. Anytime I have known people to go back smoking it was always after a few drinks
It's also important to not just give up if you do fall back. When I quit, I had an evening in the pub when I relapsed. The next day someone said to me you are not a smoker again, you just fell off the wagon. It would have been very easy just to think I had failed and gone back to smoking. Thankfully the cravings were a fair bit easier to deal with the second time.
The urges come in waves, the waves get further apart over time. Good luck, one of the best things I’ve done.
Every time you get a craving just remember, that is your body killing an addiction.
Every time you get tempted go outside by yourself and take a dozen really deep lungfuls of fresh air, just as you would have when you smoked.
The deep breathing you did while smoking is still a useful relaxation exercise but healthier with just air. You’ll be surprised how much that 5 mins break and breathing help.
Would highly recommend Quit Smoking by Alan Carr! Only thing that worked for me
Fair play, it's actually very easy to stop smoking, you put out your last cig and now you have stopped smoking! The bit that is a bit harder is staying off them, but once you realise the actual cravings is never more than a slightly dull anxious feeling and your able to bull through it with ignorance then you'll be flying! If you can make a few hours with the dull craving feeling then what's another few hours or another day, it will never feel any worse than that, just less and less over time.
I get what your saying about music, I was the same and was a very social smoker, I enjoyed the craic and laughs with other smokers and when I was quitting I thought how am I ever going to have any craic again until after you've quit you realise that you enjoyed those moments in the smoking area or chilling with an album on and a beer in spite of the fags, not because of them!
Stay of the vapes too if possible, they're harder to quit and keep you hooked into the smoking mindset, and stay off the junk food, it won't scratch that itch so no point to it!
Good luck
I've been off and on the cigs for most of my teenage years and 20s. Finally kicked it on New years Eve 2018. Best decision I've ever made. I couldn't live with the disappointment of failing again. It actually outweighed my craving for them. Basically, if you keep trying eventually, you will stop killing yourself.
Oh yeah I know for a fact that I'll be super disappointed if I smoke even just one more, I really don't want tk deal with that tbh, nit after all this time
Get matcha green tea. Sounds a bit hippy, but it actually helps to clear your system and speed up the withdrawal process
Ex smoker here - my trick was to just leave them for nights out. I’m not banning myself from them, I’m just leaving them as a treat for another time.
Spoiler alert: I haven’t smoked in a loooong time, because they taste like ass and kill your throat after a night out
One thing that really helped me was this tip from a psychology teacher: When offered a cigarette, or if you're explaining to friends what you're doing etc., don't say "I'm trying to quit" or "I'm off them".
Instead say "I don't smoke" or "I'm a non-smoker". It helps switch your mindset. Helped me anyway, fwiw.
Spend some money you will save from cigs on high quality headphones and take the time to really listen to the music.
I have Sony WH1000XM4s so I'm already there 😂
You'll do this.
You've got this! I quit for real 5 years ago after several failed attempts. It is hard but so worth it. Here is a chart that helped motivate me about what happens to your body when you quit. https://www.dailysabah.com/life/2020/02/05/what-happens-to-your-body-after-you-quit-smoking-a-timeline
It takes a year to forget. All the 365.24 days, one by one. Focus and be firm. GL!
You got this! You can do it!
After failing a few times I switched to a pipe. It was much easier to quit the pipe.
Fill a container with stake cigarette butts, and stick the lid on. Make a deal with yourself that no matter what else before you give in and have another fag you have to open that lid and deeply inhale the truly disgusting smell of those auld cigarettes... A erosion therapy, Marlboro style.
I’m going into my third week of being off cigarette’s, I’m doing it with the hse as I need accountability. I tried doing coke turkey so many times and failed miserably. I’m so glad to say I did two weeks with patches and inhalers and now I’ve decided to come off the patches (against advice to be fair) I’m pretty pleased with myself.
Best of luck!
That's miles better than me anyways, good for you honestly, I hope that one day you'll be able to forget how lkng you've been clean because you've been off them for so long
Just think - in a month you could be the cigarette version of the guy who posts in here every month "Im the fat fu*k who asked about losing weight - im now down 50lbs"
😂😂😂yeah I see him all the time actually, it's all because of this one thread that I was in the other day, everyone convinced me to quit from there
Each time you used to smoke is a seperate habit. After food, with a coffee, listening to music, etc.
Keep that in mind when a craving rears. It'll pass, they always do. Each habit has to be broken separately. I was a year off then I sat in a beer garden with a cider. Bam hit with a craving and hadn't had one in ages.
Honestly, if you happen to have the money just go for patches and wean yourself off. It basically allows you to skip the whole low mood part of quitting.
Good luck.
Best of luck!
It's all in the head, I used to be in an awful way when I used to quit but when you realise that the addiction isn't that strong, and most of the "withdrawls" are just your own brain panicing or whatever. Alan carrs book goes over all of that and you see the addiction for how it is, I kept smoking after I read the book but I'm nearly a month off them and I've no cravings, if I do ever get small ones I'm okay after a minute, but after the first 3 days of quitting it's so easy as long as you don't make it hard on yourself by expecting horrible withdrawals or as another comment here said about the lies that we tell ourself such as "music not being as good". I find everything so much more enjoyable after I quit and I don't smell and look like an ashtray.
Good for you mate im 6 months in and I promise it does get a little easier.
I'm also an ex smoker, took me years to successfully give them up but I'm off them about 10 years now.
Breaking through the first couple of weeks is the hardest but it gets easier as time goes by. There will come a day soon when your daily habits and every facet of your life will no longer involve that filthy useless habit and you'll be completely free from its grip. And that's a wonderful feeling that you can look forward to now.
All that will pass in time. You'll find lots of good things will come from quiting, fatter wallet, better smell and taste just being a few. I used a non nicotine vape when I quit until I realized all cravings were gone and chucked it out. A friend found eating sweets when she had a craving helped. Good luck.
Yeah I'm only a day in and the coughing and excessive clearing of my throats has gone down already
I have up in 2010. Was difficult, and the addiction never went away. But it became easier to not smoke.i probably smoked a few hundred since. I recently started again and quit after month using the pouches Now I'm working on giving them up
I have up in 2010. Was difficult, and the addiction never went away. But it became easier to not smoke.i probably smoked a few hundred since. I recently started again and quit after month using the pouches Now I'm working on giving them up
Good on ya for quitting, off them 4 years myself. The best advice I can give is just don't use any substitutes and continue going cold turkey. It's a shitty first month but after that, it really gets a lot better.
Seriously, read that Allan Carr Easyway To Stop Smoking book. It’ll make everything so much easier.
Susan Hepburn - Stop smoking in one hour
Got me off them and never craved them again. Best few pound you’ll ever spend. Just a book and cd you listen to.
I got 4 heavy smokers off them for good with this
Keep going lad, you got this! 🙌🏻
If you end up relapsing (no judgement, i relapsed several times before i quit for good), try switching to rollies, itll limit your intake, if youre already on rollies ask around your mates see if they have some dried up leftover tobac kicking about you can subsist off.
The way I ended up kicking the habit for good was the latter, just making the smokes rancid enough for it not to be worth it most of the time
One day at a time pal.
What are you going to do whilst driving? was my problem. Now I just text and drive.
Forbidden full self driving
Good luck! 5 years off the horrible things.
i get the bordem. i find it hard to just sit there and listen to music. usually im reading or programming, or if i have none of that to do then i fire up no mans sky which is a great "game" where youre not doing much so it doesnt take away your concentration on the music as much.
maybe one of the colouring books for grown ups or just doodling in a notebook might be something to keep your mind off smoking?
I've tried white knuckling it a few times in the past and ended up cracking. This time around I've just tried to cut it down as much as possible over a longer period of time. Had a couple when I was drinking but then just went back to not smoking. Seems to be working better for me than cold turkey in the sense I've not damn near lost my mind in the process like in previous attempts.
It will feel so much better in a few days. It will feel even better in a few weeks. Once you get a month out you'll wonder how you put up with your lungs being so much less than they could be.
good luck, and thanks for sharing
Best of luck!!! I'll be hopefully joining you in 2 weeks 🤞😅
Congrats! You can do it for sure. I've been off the smokes for a week and a half now and I feel so much better and full of energy. First 3 days is a bit mad, after that gets a bit easier and so on. Hope you succeed my friend. Goodluck.
I smoked 2-3 packs a day for 20 years and was very addicted to nicotine. I'd wake up in the middle of the night just to get a nicotine fix. I tried many times to quit, but finally found a strategy that worked for me and I haven't smoked in 30 years.
The trick for me was to personify the addiction into the character Freddie Krueger from the horror movies. I imagined that Freddie would lean over my shoulder and whisper in my ear that if I didn't have a cigarette he'd get smaller and smaller and eventually die. He kept urging me to smoke, but I learned to hate Freddie with a passion. My biggest goal was to watch him diminish and die. My hate for Freddie was real and intense and I took pleasure in watching him fade away and die. He's gone now and so is my addition. Freddie will never return.
BTW, Irish traditional music is my passion and I enjoy it as much now as I did as a smoker.
I’m 2 months post quitting, and literally the best way for me to get through it is just do one more day. I don’t think about it long term, I just think about getting through the day with no smokes and then they just accumulate
The only down side is that music doesn't really hit as well without the cigs any more, I used to smoke while listening to songs but now that I'm not smoking it feels really dull listening to music.
That's the nicotine addition talking. Just replace that thought with a statistically increased lifespan!
Best of luck.
I'm 48 hours into quitting ,I've found avoiding triggers helps like drinking coffee in the morning,also eating a butter croissant whenever I get a bad craving which is twice a day,avoiding alcohol helps too good luck o.p may we both break free from them🙏
its those first three days that are the hardest. your body still craves the nicotine. it will pass. your brain on the other hand will crave them possibly for years. the urge to smoke will lessen but never really go away.
as for enjoying music, perhaps tying in another pleasure seeking activity while listening is what you need.
Wait till the smell of smoke off other people nearly makes you sick It's hard to believe I smelled like that
over a month off them myself. so much happier & healthier, so much easier to breathe. totally worth it. best of luck 🤞
Thanks man, it's my second day today, doesn't seem so bad now 😂
Am a happy smoker the taste is GREAT nothing like it
Oh you don't have to tell me again, taste is fucking phenomenal
You just can't have the first one..
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I used to listen to that voice, it would tell me films aren’t going to be as good reading books are shite without a smoke going for walks forget about it. That voice disappears you will enjoy music even more after you kick the habit.