Anyone got any advice or suggestions to help a 20+ year nicotine addict kick the habit? I am really struggling at the moment with even starting to quit, yet I have what should be the perfect reason to quit. Thanks to a change in personal circumstances I am now in a position to start planning and prepping and then finally to take 'the big trip'.

Even if I did nothing else but stop smoking and put the money from the smoking to one side I would easily be able to save in excess of £3000 per year, add on to that 3G's the money that could also be saved using normal saving methods and the dream is so close to becoming a reality. Yet somehow that isn't enough, I always find myself thinking, oh I'll stop next week, next month, whenever, and I just have visions of myself sat at home 4 years from now puffing away on the evil weed thinking "If only I had stopped 4 years ago, I could have been half way around the world now".

Anyone got any advice? I have pretty much tried everything I can think of, from hypnotherapy (quit for 2 days), NRT (stopped for about 6 months then started again, pillock!), Champix, Alan Carr's Easyway.......Tried them all with varying degrees of success, and yet for whatever reason I keep coming back to the weed.

Hi there,

It's taken me five years + to quit, and probably over 50 serious attempts. Like you I had smoked 20 years plus. Still I am an addict!

It's a terrible addiction, and it remains forever as far as I can see.

There is nothing I can give you to make it easier, but it can be done - by an average low will powered guy (like me). But you just have to realize that the process is long, and everytime you go back to smoking it's not over, it's just another set back. Try and make each set back last less each time, and slowly, but surely you will move to the position I am in now ... the set backs are only every six months or so, and never last longer than a day ....


JUST KEEP TRYING is what I am trying to say. Thats the only way.

I like to exercise like crazy when I am in withdrawal - this helps me escape the fog for a while, and of course you see the benefit. it also cancels out the chocolate bars you reward yourself with.

I used patches, but only to get me through a couple of days that I knew would be tough, say I'd been smoking at the weekend, and knew Monday at the office would be hard - I'd use patches until Thursday, and then try and get back on it.

This is just a brain dump by someone who recognizes what you are going through.

Good luck! And remember you never fail at giving up, just get back on that horse!

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Ollie

www.jollyfollies.com

Land's End to Sydney 2009

My advice would be don't go around the world - I always smoke tenfold more when travelling -cheap fags, new people to meet and drink with, policemen and guards to bribe and chat with, environments where you are allowed (or encouraged) to smoke. It's a recipe for disaster!

On a more constructive note, have you tried the e-cigarettes? I found them pretty satisfying, as you get the feeling of smoking, as well as the drug hit. The only problem is, they are nearly as expensive as smoking, and I'm not sure you can get them on the NHS.

As a stop gap, maybe you could switch from smoking straights, to smoking roll-ups to save money. I know it's not a long term answer, but it could be a short term fix to save cash.

I would probably rather give up eating to save that cash, but each to their own!

Good luck mate, and remember that it's a long process, each time you try it's another step along the road to quitting. Each time you relapse, it's not a failure, just a minor setback along that road.

Birdy


(Oh, in the time I took to post that, Ollie said most of my important points. Bugger. Damn my slow fingers.)

Hi i stopped smoking with "champix". My Doc was gave me this medicin. after 4 weeks i was a free man! i was smoking for 12 years. in november 2010 is it 3 years ago...

steve

LOL - I know that feeling, and to be honest that's one of the reasons why I am soooo desperate to stop, just can't believe that I am so hooked on fags that I would probably (if forced) find it easier to starve myself for a few days every week rather than stop smoking (fortunately I don't have to make that choice, but I have no doubt I would choose fags over food every time).

I just can't believe that I can't somehow manage to use the idea of saving to travel to help me stop (I know I could save and still smoke, but the idea of stopping and using the money saved to travel should make it easier, and build up the old bankroll quicker).

I may have to go the Trainspotting route and nail myself up inside a room with a bucket and lots of chicken soup for a few weeks

Well, step one is achieved, you actually want to give up and that is the most important for whatever reason. Mine was because I was sick of spitting up lung oysters after 25 years smoking. The last half of that was rollies, with no filters, so that was straight crap going down.

Anyway, in 2001, I used Zyban, which has some negative effects on some people, it was free via our Aussie health system and I can tell you, it was amazing that after only a few days I was not even feeling the urge to smoke, but I kept up the full course until the end. I never suffered from any of the documented side effects

I have on occasion thought I could do with a smoke, then after about 1 second thinking about it, said, bugger it, I can do without.

I think thee is a newer one on the market now, it may be that Champix stuff mentioned above, I would get a check up with your doctor, and see if that will work for you.

Stuff I would never use.

Patches, I was trying to give up nicotine, I had no need of a substitute

Chewing gum, for ****s sake, that should be enjoyable, don't try this, yuck!!!

Anyway, Zyban worked for me and a few others I have met over the years, but I have also met quite a few who did it cold turkey, they have to be tough people!

Good luck, but you have a world ride to make it worthwhile, and a healthy body to boot

Cheers
TravellingStrom

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www.travellingstrom.com

I smoked a pack a day for ten years. To be honest, I think the most important factor in quitting succesfully is really wanting to quit.

I quit cold turkey after a mountaineering trip to the alps. I realised very suddenly, with the help of the altitude, the terrible damage smoking was doing to me. I didn't use any special patches or gum, I just quit.

To be honest, nicotene replacement is of limited effectiveness, as you naturally get over physical nicotene addiction quite quickly (a few days). The thing that is really difficult is the psychological addiction - how good is that first tab after dinner, with a pint, or on a mountain top etc? That's the thing you really miss, and some people miss it for years.

Everyone is different, but for me the way was quite simple. I made an absolute commitment to myself NEVER to have a SINGLE cigarette ever again as long as I lived. And, ten years down the line, I haven't and by now, I know I nwever will.

What always seems to trip people up is getting a bit drunk one friday and thinking 'what the hell' or going to a wedding, or having something bad happen to them. And, hey presto, Johnny is a smoker again...

Good luck. It's one of the best things I ever did, hope it will be for you too.

Matt

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

PS - If it helps, I now find the smell of cigarettes revolting and have no desire to smoke again. For me this took about 6 months.

Matt

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Give this book a read, it's very famous for helping people stop smoking (and it's free in pdf form):

Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking (Download free PDF E-Book) | Joga sveikatai

I quit 7 years ago after smoking the best part of 2 packs a day for 40 years.
I decided I would stop on my 55th birthday. I went to a Stones concert in Twickenham and on the way home, stopped at a motorway services, had a fag and a cup of coffee. Left my fags and lighter on the table and walked away.

Nicotine is only active in your brain for about 5-8 days. the rest is pure ASSOCIATION. finish a meal, have a ciggy. Get off your bike/car, have a ciggy. Find the reasons why you light up. Normally if you resist this urge for 10-20 second, it will go away for maybe 30 mins. Have a drink of water instead or a sugar-free sweet - don't want to be a fat bastard do you!

These intervals will get longer. After a month I was mostly OK.
I now have ONE cigarette, every 5 years on my birthday. They taste like shit but I like it Only 3 years to go till the next one

Do NOT get sucked into the nicotine patches/gum or dummy ciggy... you are supposed to be giving them up!!

ANYONE can do it. You just need to want to.

John

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Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

I'm 2 months nicotine free. After doing a small amount of research before my stop date it seemed to me that the cold turkey was the only way to go. Also just one drag and bang the nicotine receptors kick back in and you're back to square one!
I had smoked a pack a day for 30 years. After 2 months I feel a little better but still have cravings and I'm sure they will continue for a long time to come but as said above I will never smoke again and I'm sort of playing a weird game with myself over it.
Durning the first 2 weeks I kept trying to find information on when my head would be clear, as if one morning I would wake up like someone who had never smoked, now I know that will never happen and I'm always going to be an ex-smoker, this is something you have to live with, the other option is going back to smoking.


Cheers
Pete

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Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand 2016
Buenos Aires to NYC 2012-2013: www.facebook.com/curryhunt
India and back 2009-2010:

Hi Pete,

First off, I think you are dead right - this is the best way to go about it. It's the 'oh, one can't hurt' that gets people back into smoking again.

Secondly though, I'd argue with your last point. I don't feel like an ex-smoker. I feel like someone who doesn't smoke, has no desire to smoke and finds cigarette smoke foul. i.e. - I feel like a 'non-smoker'!

I know this doesn't happen for everyone, but it does for some -I'm a case in point!

__________________
http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Matt Here's to you being right, I looking forward to being a non smoker rather than an ex smoker.

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Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand 2016
Buenos Aires to NYC 2012-2013: www.facebook.com/curryhunt
India and back 2009-2010:

I don't have many practical suggestions I'm afraid, other than to second what's already been said about wanting to stop.

I quit 6 months ago after 20-odd years. Not my first attempt by any means, I once stopped for 18 months only to fall for the "I'll just have the one" foolishness. 2 weeks later I was back on 30 a day...

As has also been said, the biggest hurdle is pyschological. If you can vary your routine to avoid the situations you associate with smoking as much as possible, that can help initially, and also keep busy, distract yourself, anything to take your mind off it.

I actually found, like a lot of things, that the thought of giving up was worse than the reality.

As for the savings, maybe try putting the cash away every day/week in a jar labeled "Big Trip Fund", where it's tangible and you can see it grow. A nice feeling of achievment when you go to the bank to pay it in, no..?

Just keep at and you'll get there if you really want to.

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Beware the dark, mechanical bird.

My head seems to work differently to many perhaps. I've never smoked, but my mum and dad both have all my life. Both of them talk about trying to stop all the time. Heart failure made my dad stop a few years ago for a fortnight. His lung collapsing six weeks ago made him stop for as long as he was in Intensive Care.

Redboots post above fits my way of thinking the best.

Or, to quote Yoda, talking about raising an Xwing from the swamp if I remember;

Do or do not. There is no TRY.

Redboots decided to quit and did. My Dad keeps talking about trying to and continues to keep trying. Not stopping. As long as he continues to try society and his girlfriend keep off his back as he's doing the right thing. Its kinda obvious his health could be better, but he likes to smoke. Trying to quit allows him to keep doing smoking.

Read the above posts and most who use the word trying havn't stopped, or took ages doing it.

Stop now.