[Closed] Quitting smoking

I quit my job. Not suggesting you do that but it worked for me. The enforced poverty, the change of routine (trigger points), the reduced work stress, the realisation that without an income stream I had to give up all the non-essential things I was spending my money on.  It's absolutely the best thing you can do with your life. Better than getting a new job, better than further education, better than having kids or a new girlfriend. It's the best investment in your life that you can make. But there's no magic potion. YOU have to WANT to give it up. After the first two weeks of being smoke free you'll find it easier and then eventually you may wonder what all the fuss was about and, it's a start that you deplore it when you're ill.

Its very easy. Don't light cigarettes and put them in you mouth.

I know this sounds like a glib remark but it's not. Think about it, how difficult is it not to do it. When you get a craving just think all I have to do is not move your hand. You will have done many more difficult things that day, like riding up the climb or treating a patient, or even brushing your teeth.

In a few weeks not doing something will feel like you haven't done it all along.

If cost is the only reason you want to give up, I’m not sure you’ll succeed. I wanted to give up for the sake of my health, which was much more persuasive. Here’s how I did it: I was up to about 40 per day while travelling around India and likely dodgy counterfeit cigarettes too. I’d smoked since I was 15. On the flight back from India I decided I wasn’t going to smoke any more. So I simply didn’t buy any more cigarettes or smoke them. It’s the willpower technique. The physical craving passed in a couple of weeks. Any time I felt a psychological temptation I relished beating it. I still chew pens though. In my opinion, patches, gum, hypnosis etc are no substitute for willpower. But you have to want to give up for good.

I know I need to give up, because I'd more than likely be able to come off my blood pressure medication.

I could easily pay off next years holiday with cash rather than sticking it on my credit card.

I don't even no why I started, I absolutely despised it through school and College.

You can do it but you have to want it...(I think!)

I’m now into week 6 after 20 odd years of on/ off smoking.  I feel hugely better for having done it - so much better than I expected to.

The worst is I hope over - I’ve tried in the past without much success (for short periods) but feel pretty solid this time.

For me the hardest thing has been breaking the habitual behaviour that goes with it - there are particular moments where I would always light up, but I found if I got through those moments the cravings would fade quite quickly.  Also I made a point of going out boozing quite quickly as I knew that would be a tricky one, and if I could get through that stress point I’d probably be OK.

Good luck it has been well worth it for me.

Get a vaper thing, it gives you a physical sensation & activity for your mind and body. I used one with some really low nicotine content for a few weeks...then got bored with that and just stopped, if you really want to stop you will.

Good luck op. I'd been stopping & starting again for about 5 years prior to finally stopping for good in 2007 (20 years a smoker) when my partner and i were trying to start a family. I found it helped to have a pack at hand, knowing that if I wanted one, i could have one but also a kind of focus point - a bit of I'm going to beat you!' I just did cold turkey, shit for a few days but no other habit to wean off afterwards!

It really is a case of just not smoking. Break the cycle, take a book to work and read instead of going for a fag.  Have a chat instead of a fag. Remember, the physical addiction is actually very short lived, you've just got to break the habit and learn a different behaviour 🙂

You can do it!

I have set the date of 22nd of November

Theres your problem right there. That statement means you don’t want to do it. People I know that have quite haven’t set dates in the future because they always come up with another excuse.

The nicotine patch plus gum/inhaler.  Start with the patch that most closely matches how many cigarettes you smoke.  Gum or inhaler to deal with the cravings.  You've done the right thing by setting a target date.  I'm sure there are resources you can access if you need help - try your GP or local health authority, they sometimes have helplines you help you deal with the really intense cravings.  Good luck.

No patches, no replacement  therapy.

no vape

use will power. Start today, clear out all of the parafanalia.

Treat the craving like a small child about to walk in front of a moving car.

NO! Stop!

Keep it quick, and sharp. And move straight on.  Don’t  Alow yourself the opportunity to have a discussion about it with yourself.

Also, try some relaxation techniques, get a podcast or something. It helped me loads.

Just stop, it's not hard if you really actually want to.

I made a list of pros and cons of smoking, to look at if I had a wobble, never needed it tbh,  and I'm really shit at the willpower thing!.

Don’t light cigarettes and put them in you mouth.

This really.  It's only ever 'the next' cigarette you have to concentrate on not having, the rest takes care of itself.  Don't think about it as quitting for the rest of your life, just focus on that.

I used patches, worked a treat for me. Just helps level out some of the chemical cravings and if you get them through your doc then you need to tell someone with a clean conscience once every couple of weeks that you still haven't smoked. That being said the physical side of it goes away very quickly and it's the habits you have to break. Change your routine up at the same time you quit and you won't notice it so much. Cycle instead of taking the bus, or go out for lunch instead of taking sandwiches. But like everyone says its willpower, keep in mind all the positives of quitting and treat it like a challenge that you can be proud of yourself for overcoming. You don't want to be controlled by (another) addiction!

What FunkyDunc says.

If you want to stop, stop now, This minute.

Surely a date in the future is just building yourself up for failure.

I tried unsuccessfully a few times before giving champix tablets a try (a friend had good results with them) and finding things much easier to manage.

I think the tablets can have some nasty side effects for some people but I didn’t seem to get any. After taking the tablets for a week or so the nicotine from the cigarettes just stopped working so from then in it was much easier to stop as the cravings were removed from the process and I just needed to find something to occupy my time with instead. Does mean a trip to the doctors to get the tablets but the person helping out was very reasonable and not preachy at all.

Go cold turkey! I tried patches,  but you're not getting the nicotine out of your system that way. I cut down from 15-20 a day to 5 or less.  Then walking to work one day with a cold and a really sore throat,  I got half way through a tab and just thought "what am I doing!?" That was my last smoke.

As with a lot of people, nights out/drinking were hard. I did use patches here.  I cut them up into tiny squares and stuck one on when I got a craving. Then I'd chew on tooth picks to have something to fiddle with.  By the end of a night I'd have a load of bits of patch stuck to my arm but always took them off before going to bed.

Probably not smoked for about ten years now,  but I do still get occasional cravings and I do still miss it.  But I know how crap it would make me feel and how much it would cost me if I took it up again!

Actually also just taking it a day at a time is really helpful.  When I first gave up the thought of never having another cigarette was depressing, but it becomes quite the opposite quite quickly.

Theres your problem right there. That statement means you don’t want to do it. People I know that have quite haven’t set dates in the future because they always come up with another excuse.

Have to admit, those,words were pretty much my exact thoughts on reading the OP.  This build-up to a date is at warning sign.

Quitting is hard.   I  started smoking at 13.5 years old on a Scout camp.  Went through the 80s, 90s, noughties and teens with a fag in my gob.   Of course there have been times when I 'cut down', even times when I thought I'd quit (for a whole six months), and there have been times when it was literally a couple of rollies a day, which lulled me into a sense of 'I hardly smoke' - when in actuality even that very thin chain is still the shackle.

My story:

1. The 6 month quit - about 10 years ago I read a book called The Nicotine Trick (Neil Casey).  I put a day aside, 'locked' myself in bedroom and requested I wasnt disturbed.  I read it cover to cover.  Put the elastic band on my wrist (with th a book's advice - you slap the band when you want a cigarette), allowed myself a couple of cigarettes (again as permauthor's advice) over the next few weeks.  Then stopped smoking.  For around 6 months.  Can't remember what started me again.  The book IMO was very good.  Informative, and it made sense.  The 'trick' of nicotine (once learned)  made me angry, rebellious even against it's control and power over my will, not  to mention my health.

Ironic that the act of smoking is viewed through youthful eyes as 'rebellion'.  And now here I am rebelling against nicotine's power over me.

2. October 2018.  Still smoking.  No excuses, but I do identify stresses and many events in life over the last decade which have taken a personal toll.  So slowly, inexorably, my smoking habit (once recommenced) has also increased proportionally.  But the clear motovator for me to quit are those two words.  'No excuses'.  Drop the 'but'.  Drop the butt.  Don't pick it up.  Don't light another.  Do something else.

About five weeks ago I lay in bed to to sleep and Mrs Rider asked 'did you hear that?'  Of course I heard that.  It was a small, regular, high-pitched wheezing noise emanating from yours truly.   I  felt shame.  I'd bren aware of it for a while now.  So now Mrs Rider heard it.  She has so many life-limiting and progressive health problems that have taken away much of her independence, and none of them are self-inflicted.  Yet here am I sucking on cancer sticks that we can ill-afford, and my comparatively decent health is the one thing we can both rely on to get us through.  £60 pcm is a fortune to us right now, and has been since the 2008 financial crisis and her disability.  OK, so I was re-rolling the longer nubs, so I smoked every last bit of that baccy.  Waste-not, want not.   But, but , but.  More pathetic excuses.  She actually encourages me to continue smoking, but to cut back as it is a 'small pleasure'.  I subconsciously begin to rebel.  But in a different way.

So about four weeks ago I went for a short MTB ride with a riding pal (oddly enough the only one of my local friends who also smokes), and we had a quick pint and the customary fag on the terrace.

I realised I was nearly out of baccy.  He'd just returned from Spain with a few pouches duty-free and offered me one for a giveaway price.  It would have halved our spending on baccy over the next month.  I gratefully refused.  I knew I wanted to quit.  It wasn't even a plan.  It was a mix of shame, fear for health, hatred of dependency.  And I was tired of fighting the urges to smoke.  I had never really 'allowed' myself to smoke without the guilt. Weirdly, if I quit, that fight would be over.  It was a rational move.

So how did I quit?  I didn't buy any more tobacco.  And I refuse tobacco if offered to me.  So it's only four weeks or so since I quit.  And it's not easy.  My moods have been up and down, manic even.  I've been sometimes over-emotional, and sometimes cold as a dead fish.

I needed something to fight the urge.  To sublimate.  First I decided on biking.  If I crave a cigarette I jump on the single-speed and do lap around the block.  It helps.  I also needed something less disruptive as I used to smoke in my workshop amd didnt really want to have to quit production and get the bike out just to quell a five minute craving.  I remembered I'd purchased some push-up bars (rotating ones) as some kind of micro-gym.  So if working and get the craving I drop and do ten press ups.  Except today it's up to twenty.  Even five press-ups were a struggle three weeks ago.  I have more control over my life.  It feels good.   Not like smoking felt 'good'.  It's different.  Remember I smoked for nearly 40 years.

I'm feeling better.  My (recovering) sense of smell has been assaulted this autumn.  Amazing.  The shame I felt/feel is gradually melting away.  And now I have to do the same with food.  If  quitting, guard fiercely against 'replacement' habits.  Be sure that cramming in crap foods doesn't replace the prior nicotine addiction.  I'm restarting lane swimming tonight.  Little by little.  Increase gently.  Do not become addicted to replacement stimulants be they food, fitness or whatever.  And the cold-turkey lasts about week to a month IME.  After that it gets easier.  It's getting easier.  A 'mind-fog' is lifting too.  Smoking does quite a lot of weird subliminal shit to you that you only begin to appreciate after quitting.

Your mileage may vary.    But it's your body, and your budget.  Do what you want and how you want.  Smoke how you want, or quit how you want.

'I like smoking, but ...'

'I would quit, but...

Drop the 'but'.  You'll gain respect and empowerment.  No 'luck' required.

As already suggested, don't set a date.  When you want to stop, just stop.

I've tried and failed a couple of times - but have been fag free for a few years now (I've stopped counting on purpose).  I used an e-cig at first but only for a couple of weeks - I felt it was important to break the whole habit/routine thing of holding a cig, etc.  I kept the e-cig for a few months in case I had any cravings, but ultimately just threw it away when I felt it was no longer needed.

I just stopped early in the new year, just some random day.  It was tough at first but the cravings soon go.  I still get the very occasional urge now, but it soon passes.

It's easier than you think - don't be scared to give it a go!  And good luck 🙂

+1 for Champix.

Took me 10 years to give up, trying all sorts of help.  Tried Hypnotherapy on my 30th birthday.  It worked for a while, but only on "straights" (Benson & Hedges).  Working night shift about 6months later and a colleague walked past with a Golden Virginia hand rolled, and that was it.  Smoked rollies for the next 8 years.

Was then given Champix and apart from wanting to occasionally bury the family under the patio, they worked.  3 month course of tablets, and after 3 weeks the need/want to smoke just disappeared.  Make sure you continue the course!  A small amount of willpower is required after the 3 months, but it's easy.

Still skint tho, all my money now goes on bikes...

Good luck with giving up OP.

I smoked for about 20 years and it took me many times to finally give up about 8 years ago.

When I finally stopped I went cold turkey and by that time I really hated everything about smoking, so I found it fairly easy.

Be prepared for the cravings when you stop, but also take heart from the fact that they do not last forever.  Just say to yourself "this too shall pass".  They can make you feel unpleasant, but no-one every died from a craving.

Change your routine when giving up.  My two favourite smokes were first thing in the morning and after dinner.  So, what I did was force myself to have breakfast with my son at the time I would have a smoke and after dinner I would go and have a snooze.

I did put on about half a stone when I gave up, but lost it within a year.

I read somewhere that smoking is roughly as bad for you as carrying an extra 3 stone on your body, so a temporary half stone was nothing in comparison.

Good luck again and I hope that you successfully manage to kick the habit.

Get the 'easy way to stop smoking' book. Read it. Let it do it's thing. It's a lot more straightforward than you can see right now. The book gives you the tools to look at it the right way. You don't need luck, you're not giving anything up, you're stopping a destructive habit. Once you've stopped, stay on the wagon. That's it.

I stopped many years ago, back in the 90's.

It was very, very hard.

What worked for me was nicotine gum. I was on 30 - 40 cigs a day.

When I looked at the gum in the chemists, it suggested I get the strongest strength and chew about 12 a day.

**** that I thought, that's just like for like,

I got the weakest strength and only chewed it when the cravings were at their strongest. Started out on about 3 or 4 a day.

It tasted disgusting at first but after a couple of weeks I actually enjoyed the flavour. That's when I realised, you don't really enjoy smoking, it's your brain rewarding you for giving it nicotine. Knew I had it wacked then.

I was down to chewing about 3 half pieces of gum a day, after about 6 weeks. Then changed to normal gum and habitually chewed that for about 12 months.

Don't let anyone tell you it's easy. It wasn't for me, still one of the most difficult things I have ever done.

Good luck.

*edit.  (And apologies for the characteristic walloftext brain-dump/confessional)

£60 a month is a fortune to us

Actually was £30-40 a month, ie between two or three x 30g pouches of tobacco.  And not 'a fortune', but a relative fortune.  Certainly life-changing.  Don't know where £60 figure came from.  Oh...

OP  - £60 a week?  Holy crap.   That's commitment.

I've gone to the Vapourmatron. Not the perfect solution but I have found it to be a huge step in the right direction with regards to how I feel health and fitness wise.

I do feel a bit of guilt as I found transition so easy as I haven't really given anything up. I am still a nicotine addict.

That said, the only 'active' chemical is the Nicotine. When my Vapourmatron broke I was back on the rollies for a couple of days. The difference was incredible. I immediately noticed / felt the other chemical affects of the smoke borne chemcials.

You don't have to make it a performance art either. It turns out the people that vape and create enormous clouds of vapour are actually only attention seeking knob ends.

It cost me about £40 to get set up. and a small bottle of vape oil is about a fiver.

I have noticed an improvement in the pocket too.

I know a few people who have effectively used this as a way out and no longer vape or smoke.

You don't have to beat yourself up and go cold turkey.

I stopped by setting a date about a week in the future. On the appointed day I stopped. It worked only because I WANTED to stop. Really WANTED to. I had tried several time previously but because I didn't WANT to stop it never worked. When I really WANTED to stop I succeeded.

Forget vaping, patches etc., you are just passing the addiction elsewhere. If you really want to stop, you will.

Good Luck.

My sole reason for quitting is the cost

What about living longer? My Uncle just died at 67 within 5 months of realising he had lung cancer. He quit smoking 20 years ago.

i opened this and was expecting lots of different methods, but have been heartened to see a lot of people suggesting will power, and pooh-poohing the 'only want to quit for money' and 'ill set a date for the future'.

i was a smoker from the age of around 10 :-/, started at primary school up until early 20's.  then i just decided i wanted to stop.  i used my brain really, and as has been mentioned above, i dont mean that to sound glib, or easy (altho it was for me when i got my head around it).

i looked at other people smoking and thought they dont look cool, which lets face it is why most of us start in the first place, probably at school.  i was conscious of putting a fag to my mouth,  looking at other people thinking theyre not watching me, they dont care what im doing, they dont think i look cool, why am i putting this stick of tobacco up to my lips and breathing in a load of sh1t? why?? im only doing it cos i always do, it costs me money, it harms my health, i dont look cool or hard, in fact im a bit of a loser doing it.

i just knew that was it for me, id never have another fag again, and i havent (now 54).  i get how hard it is, especially if youre using champix, or vaping, or slowly cutting down.  but it frustrates me that if someone tells me theyre struggling to pack it in and they cant, that they dont just listen to me and stop there and then 😀  just dont ever put one to your mouth again!  its liberating making that decision, its a biggie.  a life-changer (literally).

DO IT!  good luck.

It's one of those things where the desire to stop has to be greater than the desire to smoke. Once that happens you just wake up one morning and say **** it, I'm stopping today.

I used to smoke 40 a day. I'd have a constant cough. Couldn't put in any serious effort on the bike without having to stop and remove some tar from my lungs. It's pretty disgusting really.

For a long time I set dates, and I planned times when I wasn't at work (mainly because my concentration levels dropped to an almost vegetative state if I didn't smoke for a few hours). In the end I just did it at work and ploughed through it. Once a week was done and the symptoms began to recede a little, I knew it would be stupid to go back. After a month I was just so happy that I no longer wanted to smoke. Like a prisoner being freed, I had no desire to go back. By that time I was actually really comfortable being around smokers and would even roll them cigarettes with no desire to have one myself.

The experience is going to vary from person to person however. A casual smoker for example, is unlikely to have that same experience, because they are still under the illusion they enjoy smoking and get some kind of benefit from it.

I can understand each perspective, because after a good few years off, I have somewhat become that occasional, casual, social smoker... It stays occasional because I still absolutely refuse to go back to where I was, but the second you try it again it grabs you, and creates the illusion that you want it, as opposed to it wanting you. It makes you think you're doing it out of choice for your own benefit. It's a very bizarre thing.

I found that if you are surrounded by people who also smoke it is mighty difficult to stop. I was in a relationship and my ex smoked 20 a day, with no intention to ever give up, and I smoked about 10 a day or up to 20 on a night out.

I wanted to stop several times, it lasted for a few weeks, months, but it was all too easy to start again as she always had them around the house. Then we separated and I met another girl who is a non-smoker.

One night I ran out of cigarettes, so before I went to bed I just told myself "don't buy another pack tomorrow morning and see how long you can last". That was 8 years ago, I have not smoked since.

I agree with the above, picking a date in the future is not a good idea, the best time to do it is RIGHT NOW.

Do it, you'll look back years from now and be happy and proud.

Chewing gum tastes disgusting and I never tried patches, but IMO nothing replaces good old fashioned willpower. You have to want it. But if you really want it then you'll succeed.

Me and Lyanda were giving up together. She was looking at vapes, i tried them before but didn't work for me, i just couldn't get on with them. I was down to about 5 a day with a view to stop within a couple of weeks, at the time. Literally overnight, for reasons known to all I think, I went straight back up to about 30 a day, more than i had ever smoked. But i didn't know what else to do.

As the past few months have gone by, I am back down to 12-15 a day. It has always been roll your own. Expense aside, I do want to stop. But at the moment I know i wouldn't be able to. Hopefully I will have the strength and ability to stop at some point. Last time I stopped I went cold turkey and it worked. Can't remember why I started again, i really wish I hadn't though.

It's simple if you really want to stop. Impossible if you don't!

I stopped 9 years ago pretty much by accident. I had a few weeks in bed with a bad chest infection and couldn't even get up never mind the thought of trying to smoke. Luckily I had no smokes left around the house as I must have finished them just before getting ill. When I was fit enough to get up out of bed and go out for first time I automatically went to buy some then thought to myself why would I do that, I am not stupid am I, then why do a stupid thing? Never had a single puff since then and I smoked 20-40 a day upto that point, hadn't even tried to give up before either, I actually enjoyed smoking. I suppose if I never had the 3 weeks in bed to unwittingly get it out of my system I would still be at it.

Nicotine patches. You only need two.

Stick one over each eye and you won’t be able to find your fags.

Get the ‘easy way to stop smoking’ book.

Alan Carr or something isnt it? I found it helpful.

Vaping for me. I am a weak-willed creature, and also like to punctuate my work day with 5 mins away from my desk talking with the amokers- best place to get any company gossip.

2 years since I last bought my own fags, and I've been at the point where drunk cigarettes taste vile for quite some time.

Yeah, just make sure it’s the right Alan Carr otherwise you could well end up smoking a lot more. 😀

Alan Carr’s book worked for me too, it’s. A very easy read but more importantly he gets your head in the right place before you stop and that is they key

Another one for Allen Carr. I haven’t smoked in over 6 years now and don’t even miss it!

Here’s the link to make it even easier for you:

Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking: The Guide to Stop For Good https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1405923318/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BY14BbW4R34RX

It is less than £7 - so you haven’t even got anything to loose really, have you?

In your favour, you really want to give up, OP, so I think your chance of success with the book is even higher

using vapes to give up is easy, I've done it about 6 times! 😆

seriously though, it is easy and 100 time better for you with vapes.

2 things you need to know though.

One is that going from fags to vapes is actually a slight shock to your throat, you will cough for the first few hours while you get used to the vapes.

Secondly, vapes are just a substitute for smoking, so it's incredibly easy to back on the fags particularly during a heavy bevvy session. Trick really should be to go on to vapes then quite the vapes. which i suspect, I haven't done it yet, it is easier to chuck.

ultimately its all in your brain though if you want to chuck it you will.

AS above - wanting to stop. Unless you want to you won't.

I found Allen Carr's book useful. I think it was him that suggested looking at withdrawal symptoms as a plus not a negative - view them as your body fighting it's way back to normal.

I really do want to quit, it's the disappointment in my Mum's face that gets me when I spark up. And knowing what she went through with my Step Dad who passed away from lung cancer and brain Mets at 56 year old.

Vapes I've tried before, but they make me cough.

I find caffeine more addictive, coming off that was hardwork. Banging headaches, foul mood, nausea.

Booze was easy, I just stopped, used to drink 6/7 pints every night Monday to Thursday then obliterated on Saturday.

Now I only have two pints Christmas, new year, my birthday and maybe on holiday. But I drink stuff that I like the taste of.

For me asthma has meant I’d smoke for a while then stop them feel better and start again in a bit of a loop. You’d think struggling to breath would make it very easy to never do it again but actually my fear of dentists and what smoking does to your teeth swung it for me.

Go to a pub with some middle aged and older smokers and take a look at their teeth. Think about that toothache, the whirr of the drill and the crunching of a tooth extraction.

That's a good point, I hate dentists. Never had a filling, but a scale and polish is enough to get my heart racing.

I think you have to reach some sort of tipping point that pushes you into the right mind-frame. Unfortunately i'm not quite there yet.

A number of years ago i thought i was on the right path - and if you don't really want to give up, but want to cut down and save some money it's worth a try - i was really hard on myself and clock-watched -

Nothing before 10

1 at 10

1 at 12

1 at 14

1 at 16

1 at 18

1 at 20

1 at 22

nothing after 22.

Good god you are fully aware of what time it is at any point of any day, but one found it doable.

I managed to knock the pre-pm one on the head to bring it down to six per day, and lived this way for approaching a year, then ****ed it up completely for reasons that aren't worth going into. I wish i'd just kept going with the above regime when i compare it with where i am now, but there you are.

I'm going to be a lot harder on myself next time, but i'm cutting myself a bit of slack now because the only realistic option for me next time is cold turkey.

I Have to agree with what others have said about you starting on the wrong foot. I tried to quit in a similar way, time after time, and failed

I’ve now not had a cig for coming on 4 years. After nearly 30 years of 20 a day.

i didn’t set a date. I got to the point where I genuinely said “**** it! I’m done with this shit!”. Until you reach that point, and you really mean it, you’re on a hiding to nothing. Doomed from the outset.

I got an e-cig and that did it for me. Still do the coffee and a fag thing in the morning,except it’s not a fag. Still do the fag after a meal thing. Except it’s not a fag. You get the picture

What I did do .... and you NEED to do this.... is put the money I would have been spending on fags into a pot and in well under a year I bought a rather nice Cannondale Trigger. So I’m going out riding on a lovely bit of kit that represents what I would have spent stood outside the pub in the rain

and i’m Now the very worst thing in the world. A born again non smoker. When someone comes back in after going out for a cig I think the smell is absolutely gopping! Really minging!

you’ll get there. Best of luck. It really is genuinely liberating

I haven’t read through the posts so im sure plenty of people have already recommended e cigs. Im 40 years old and have smoked since i was 12. Over the years i have tried everything from patches, gum, the alan carr book etc but the only thing that has actually worked for me is the e-cig. I have been smoke free now for 11 months. I enjoy the taste, still get my nicotine fix, it doesn’t smell, i dont cough up flem in the mornings any more and I haven’t had to break habits which was always the hardest part... i can still smoke after eating, when i drink etc. Ive no doubt that e-cigs come with there own health issues which im sure we will find out about in time but you can be sure that it’s nothing compared to the health risks that come with smoking tobacco! I hope you find something that works for you.

My Step Daughters boyfriend works for a E Cig company so I can get him to pick one up for me.

I really really want a Triban Rc500 road bike so by the 11th January I'd be able to buy one.  And after 35 weeks that's £1956 that's enough to pay holiday off and have some extra spends on holiday.

A Work colleague quit smoking last year and spent 6 months on a e cig and has now banished that and is happy.

My health will improve massively, my bank account will look healthier and my clothes won't stink.

And I'll be able to ditch the blood pressure tablets.

I'll get online and get a vape ordered. My Missus still smokes but she wants to give up also.

She has cut down massively, from 20-30 rollies a day to about 7. I'm on posh fags at £8 a pack.

If your OH still smokes it might make it difficult.

There are a few things which have been shown to improve your chances of quitting.  First off realise that most people are not successful the first time.  If that happens to you, don't let it discourage you from trying again.  Use the time between now and your quit date to figure out when you smoke, what makes you want to smoke and any events or setting s where you smoke more.  Figure out ways to deal with those situations.

If money is your motivator, 2 things have been shown to work.  1 take an amount of money, not enough to bankrupt you but enough to hurt.  That's your stake.  If you have a cigarette you lose it (pick a charity, give it to your mum, whatever) 2 get a jar.  Every time you go however long a pack would last you put the cost of a pack in the jar.  If you manage to stay quit for about 8 weeks - the common threshold for success, you get the stake and the jar. Enjoy whatever you buy with it.

Nicotine interferes with caffeine processing.  However much caffeine you take in now you'll want to cut it in half as you go off the nicotine.  After the 8 weeks or so you can gradually increase it back.

Nicotine affects you chemically and psychologically.  Willpower helps.  Nicotine is more chemically addictive than most hard drugs.  The replacement methods (patch etc) increase your odds of success by 50-70% by helping with the chemical side.

OP - good luck. Ive never smoked, hated it all my life so i know i cant really comment .. but it does sound like you need to just drop it all of a sudden.

my ex boss did this after years of smoking and he managed..friday he smoked sat he didnt. and he's lasted and now hates the things!

All the best, your health will love you for it!

I quit when they put those horrible pictures on the box. Not sure how long ago that was now ?

Stopped cold turkey and didn’t look back. One of my mates was really struggling to quit and pissing him off was my motivation.

Not sure I was addicted to be honest.

I know I need to quit, because it's making me gag in the morning, and when I got colds in the past they would be gone in 3-5 days. Now it's taking nearly three weeks get rid of the phlegm cough.

Honestly wish I'd never started, I despised it in my teens. I started because it wound my ex up, then progressed into social smoking, then into a full blown habbit in 2009.

Just don't want to quit and end up boozing again either.

I don't know if this helps, but I shall tell you how I did it in case it does.
It was a few years ago. Before e-cigs.

The main point is to decide to do it. No matter how many goes it takes.

It took me a few goes and about 6 months to do it, but I haven't had one since.

I was on 20 Camel a day. So I thought 'how hard can it be'?
So I cold turkied it.
That lasted about a week.
A month later had another go but with some patches, managed a couple of weeks.

By then I worked out that it wasn't as easy as I expected it to be.
So, I set a plan. It involved a few different aspects to be prepped.

I started to cut down while preparing. Even one less a day makes it slightly easier to give up.
I realised that the patches that were available were not as high in nicotine as I was consuming.
The habit is quite a thing. So I planned to not go to the pub for a fair while. Remove myself from those environments.

Then I started.
Changed my routine. So, for example, instead of getting up and having a ciggy, I did a few light weights. (This moved on to cycling to work)
Found stuff I enjoyed eating. To treat myself. Nice snacks are WAY cheaper than ciggies. I can always lose weight once stopped smoking. Also some nice fruit juices and squashes. Stock up on these beforehand. You need no excuses.
Doesn't matter if you spend more than you would smoking in the short term on things like patches snacks swimming etc, it is worth it in the end.
Set yourself a target (which you have already done) financially. It is a free bike. How cool is that?
I used to make an effort to make sure that I went and got cash out and lined it up on a shelf every day that I would have spent on smokes. You could set aside an account and transfer it across. But do it every day. It is quite a good one I found.

Then, I hit the patches, would go for walks to distract myself. Whatever you find to take your mind off it. Exercise, games, whatever. Then, in the early stages, when I was on the patches and the urge got HUGE, I would pop a nicotine mint as well.

So, things then had a progression. I found I needed the mints less and less, then I could reduce the dosage of the patch. The money was building up quickly and I was getting fitter (if a little tubbier).

OH, and I tricked my mind into thinking if I had a cigarette while wearing a patch, I would die.
🙂 Silly, but it helped. Then I made sure I ALWAYS had a patch on.

At the very beginning though, I decided that this was IT. Whatever it took, I needed to stop this stupid, stinky, unhealthy, expensive habit. So, when I failed the first time, it was a case of 'OK, how do I make this work?'

Think of yourself as a non smoker.

Warn your friends and family.

JUST DO IT!!!!

You will be SO pleased when you have done it.
Then never ever ever have another one.
I hear so many people fail because of that.

I think my last one was about 18 years ago.

I wish you well.

Still cold turkey since Mid-late October. Just promised self to stopped buying it, near-empty baccy-pouch, worked out I smoked last one or two after a bike ride to pub, then quit. Didn't want to set a 'date'because even that seemed like handing too much significance to the filthy gaspers.