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kizzy
Bronze Member
Scotland
228 Posts |
 Posted - 27 May 2008 : 9:50:40 PM
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Hey,
Recently I've had some serious wake up calls  that have caused me to re-evaluate my lifestyle. The first change I am trying to make is quitting smoking, with little success unfortunately. I can manage a couple of days and then a soon as the slightest thing upsets me, or when I am stressed the first thing I do is reach for the cigs plus my flatmates smoke, and socially it is very hard!
I find a cup of tea and mints helps, but after a drink my self control is seriously impeded! Luckily I am young and hopefully little damage has been done, but I seriously want to quit before it does long term damage 
Anyone got any tips, motivation? I'm writing this with one in my hand, oh dear, but with exams at the moment, it is one of the few things that keeps me sane 
Thanks
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rosyw
Platinum Member
England
3756 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2008 : 10:00:29 PM
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All I can say is keep trying - I have been trying to quit for years  also have one in my hand as I type the longer you keep doing it the harder it is Socially it is easier NOT to smoke these days, why not enlist you flatmates help, get them to quit with you I know everyone says you need will power, but I always say it's "won't" power you need, and what most 'non smokers' fail to realise is that tobacco is THE most addictive substance, it is easier to get off heroin that fags but you must keep trying, it might take a long time, but I'm sure it MUST be possible Good Luck |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2008 : 10:12:46 PM
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Smoking makes you stink - every non smoker around you can smell you. Everyone in an enclosed space will know that you are a smoker. I think that smokers really don't realise how much it makes them stink. I don't mean covering up stinky breath with mints. The smoke itself permeates into your clothing and stays there.
Does that help  . |
    
Hampshire |
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AmyJE
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
96 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2008 : 10:18:11 PM
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| I've tried to quit sooooo many times, and I know this sounds a bit lame, but the best thing I have found to help me cut down is just to go places where you can't smoke!! Swimming (think its actually impossible!), bowling, cinema? Especially if you are with a group of people you don't really think about it... well maybe a little bit. |
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2008 : 10:21:08 PM
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Kizzy, I used to smoke heavily I tried everything to give up and never could until one day in my thirties, I woke up one morning and said to myself this is my life, this is the only one I have, if I dont take charge of it I am going to loose it, I realized I was a slave to the evil weed, it controlled me, everytime I went to answer the phone I had to light up, everytime I had a drink, tea or coffee it had to be with a cigerette, and I thought this was not going to take my life! I had 18 left in the packet, I put them in my glove compartment in my car, and started day one of the rest of my life , and that was the last time I ever touched a cigerette, that was in 1976. If I can do it , YOU can do it, take charge of your own life and get on with the rest of your life without the chain around your neck, good luck I know you will find the strength |
   
www.dreamfield-arabians.com |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2008 : 10:23:04 PM
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Kizzy - I hope you realise that my post is very tongue in cheek!
I'm a bit sensitive about smoking at the moment - read my thread saying 'Really upset my in-laws' post for the reason why! |
Hampshire |
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kizzy
Bronze Member
Scotland
228 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2008 : 10:37:12 PM
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Dodgy internet connection has just deleted my past 2 replies arrgh!
gosh Vera yes i understood, but totally agree aswell, heard it from my ex daily!
Lindylou, very impresssive, I will take inspiration, and try partaking in smoker unfriendly activites!
Guess I just have to take repsonsibility and stop making excuses, aah so easy to say, not so easy to put into action! |
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saraht
Silver Member
England
414 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2008 : 11:00:00 PM
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Hi Kizzy, I think the most important thing is not to stop trying. If it doesn't work this time, work out the REAL reasons it didn't (not the excuses!!!) You need to be honest with yourself as to why you still smoke.
I smoked 20-40 a day for ages, I tried all sorts but if the truth was known I actually still enjoyed smoking and didn't really want to stop.
I was at a really wet miserable show a couple of years ago trying to get a lighter to work when I realised how blooming stupid it was to be so dependant on nicotine.
Basically I grew up! No offence to anyone else but that was how I can best describe it. I had got alot of stop smoking skills from the NHS workshops (they also provide prescriptions for nicotine replacements) and used liquorice flavoured nicotine gum (it is foul and gives you heart burn so you only use it if you have too) and haven't had a cigarette since.
There have been occasions when I would have dearly loved one - Daughter rolling her Land Rover, the threat of being made redundant etc but she would have killed me for one and I wouldn't have been able to afford it for the other.
One fact to get you started. You only need three cigarettes a day to feed your addiction ALL the others are habit.
Get your self to a stop smoking group - like weight watchers for smokers. Don't beat yourself up if you don't succeed this time but keep trying. Good luck |
 Bramble 'darli  Birdy  Zirrus  Poppy |
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bridie
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2395 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2008 : 11:18:03 PM
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Go to your GP and ask him for a course of Zyban. It worked for me and I was a 40 a day smoker.
They work by depressing the part of your brain that craves a ciggy.
Zyban was originally used as an anti-depressant and it was noted that people taking them just stopped smoking.
my GP told me to take them for 2 weeks then decide on a day to give up.....it worked
Also do a chart of how much you spend daily on fags......tick off every day to see how much you have saved, its a great encouragement.
After just a few days your sense of smell will change....buy a really nice smelling shampoo and sniff your hair I spent 6 months with my hair tuched under my nose as I loved the smell.
When you give up put your smoking clothes in a plastic bag and seal the top.......when you want a ciggy open the bag and see how your clothes stink, really they do.
GOOD LUCK you can do it.
Mandy |
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Evie
Platinum Member
England
3513 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2008 : 01:02:37 AM
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I started smoking when I was 15, I wasn't ever a really big smoker I guess, more a social smoker and would get through four packets of 20 in a week usually, then when I was 23 I had been hanging around with a group of people who all smoked and we also smoked weed as well (naughty!!) but they weren't the kind of people I really wanted to be hanging around with and after a few bad situations occurred including being in a car accident where one of these people crashed my car head first into a tree at 60 mph (!!) I decided, like Lynda, that I had to take control of my life as I only have one life (I especially realised this as my Mum had died at the very young age of 47 two years before) so decided to get rid of the bad things in my life which meant I stopped hanging round with this group of 'friends' and I gave up smoking.
Everyone here has made some good points, especially about how smelly smoking is! The say the worse anti-smoker is an ex-smoker, don't know if this is true in everyone's case, but it is in mine!! I really hate smoking now and hate going to smoky places - unfortunately smoking is still allowed indoors here :( I am hoping the government is going to ban it soon! |
Bristol |
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jaybird
Gold Member
France
1192 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2008 : 08:11:24 AM
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Hi Kizzy
I went on Zyban eight years ago, gave up smoking and can honestly say the smell makes me feel sick now, I would never smoke again but just to give myself satisfaction I calculate how much I have saved from the TAX MAN and it's fantastic.
Do ask your Dr's not all will give it by prescription as it is an expensive drug also it does not work for everybody but most do give up.
Good luck
Beryl |
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Suelin
Platinum Member
England
2514 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2008 : 09:40:13 AM
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| Echoing everything previously said. I have never smoked but my OH gave up nearly 2 years ago with the help of a book called how to stop smoking which he found helpful also he had a huge amount of help and support from the GP who gave him some niquitin tablets as a replacer to begin with which he used off and on for quite a few months but has nothing now . He feels very much better for not smoking as well. Keep trying you can do it if you really want to. |
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NUTTER
Platinum Member
England
2452 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2008 : 12:50:45 PM
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Hmmmm its very difficult as i am also a smoker but sadly i do enjoy!!! them cigars more so!!!
The thread running at the moment pictures of your partners i went to put one on... but every photo that is on my computor of my oh he has a fag in his mouth whether he be driving boat.. kyacking in the middle of the sea!!whatever fag in mouth or hand!!
To be honest it looks terrible and yes i agree with others we do smell
The only good thing that has come out of the smoking ban is i have met some really nice up market people in the smoking areas of restaurants bars of all ages!!!!
So it goes to show as in anything its all classes
A few weeks ago i had a party and the smokers outside were all DOCTORS so it made me feel better that they were all p*** as myself and we shared cigars!!!
But its also getting to the stage myself and oh really must try and give up also as i really do now begrudge the cost!! also now limited when buying cheap the amount we bring back into the country
So i think we all need to give up by thinking about the amount of money we will all be saving..
I know for my husband and i it would be approx £300 a month
Thats a lot of money to spend on hobbies and other luxuries.
Maybe we should start a thread and date and all go for it ?
As we would be able to support one another.
Edited to say i have a carrier bag full of patches and fag inhalor things from where i have had tries under the doctor and nurse!!!
and it cost a fortune as obvously you have to pay ..well my doctors you do. |
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Edited by - NUTTER on 28 May 2008 12:52:58 PM |
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Geena
Platinum Member
England
1510 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2008 : 1:31:38 PM
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Kissy, I used to be a social stress smoker. That ment when I was playing darts or got stressed out. I gave up 5years ago. My way was a bit unorthadox, I would give up for as long as possible and when I fancied a fag I would get the really cheap or strong ones and sooner than expected I started to hate smoking
When you give up it is so much better, no more stinky clothes, having to brush your teeth or chew gum all the time, you can tast food better and it saves you money to spend on your horses of course |
  
Zebedee |
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basbob
Gold Member
France
1356 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2008 : 10:08:00 PM
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| Kissy, I gave up 2 years and 5 months age. (I could tell you to the day!). It's bloody hard and I had help from a book by Alan Carr. He makes you feel it is all a bit of a farce. Do try as it worked for me and I was a 20 plus a day smoker! |
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kizzy
Bronze Member
Scotland
228 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2008 : 06:25:33 AM
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| Thank you for all the motivation. I've got my last exam today and two cigs left, one for before and one after. Then thats it, no more excuses! I have saved this thread for inspiration not top give up when I'm feeling tempted! |
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jaybird
Gold Member
France
1192 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2008 : 07:52:37 AM
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Hi Kizzy
Just a footnote to this, I think I have said before, go to Holland & Barrat and buy a packet of herbal cigarettes, they are disgusting, but when the urge to reach for a ciggi gets too much light one up you will wonder why you ever smoked.
Good luck
Beryl |
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Pixie
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
6586 Posts |
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2008 : 10:34:55 AM
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Can I just add, it not only makes you smell, gives you cancer, but friend of mine who started smoking the same time as I did, could not give it up, she looks really old before here years, ( you would not think we were the same age if we stood together ) she has emphsema, cronic broncitis, a bad heart, has spent years in and out of hospital often being taken in the middle of the night not able to breath, she admits its the scarriest thing to lay in a hospital bed listening to someone dying in the next bed, yet she STILL cant give up.
That is how the drug gets you ,harder than heron to kick, but it can be done, and I think the only way is cold turkey, you may suffer horrible pangs, and it wont be easy, but because its not easy it will give you more incentive to not ever go back, because the feeling is so horrible. there is always a light at the end of the tunnel to look forward to, seeing your grand children growing up, feeling a sense of achievment, feeling good in the morning instead of crap, breathing in the summer air with all the scents that summer holds and not feeling like coughing your lungs up. I can think of hundreds of reasons not to smoke and I cant think of one reason TO smoke. as for stress, it acually makes you MORE stressed, ( I always hear people say I cant give it up just now I have too much stress going on I will do it when the time is right,) they are deluding themselves there is never going to be a better time than right now , pull up your big girls pants and get on with it !
Ps after a few weeks it gets easier and easier and after a while you will HATE the smell so much ! |
www.dreamfield-arabians.com |
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AmyJE
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
96 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2008 : 4:27:41 PM
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Has anyone else worn nicotine patches around horses? I used to the last time I was trying to give up and the arabs knew I was wearing one!
They would smell through my jumper and start licking my arm and just generally be very interested. Really look me a while to realise what they where doing, didn't think they would know?!
Anyone else had strange experiences with them? |
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mummypat
Bronze Member
England
187 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2008 : 5:35:58 PM
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| I too, like a lot of others have smoked for years finally after Lynda kept nagging me to stop, I did it cold turkey,, but i started during the war, when food was rationed, and it kept the hunger away, but today there is so much choice of food [you wont get fat] its just a bad habit and as they all say a smelly one. maybe you think were nagging , but that helps too so keep going were all with you good luck, |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2008 : 6:57:35 PM
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| You could try sending Pauline a PM. She runs classes for giving up smoking with the NHS. I'm sure she won't mind.... |
Hampshire |
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mittens
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2109 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2008 : 7:57:42 PM
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| Hi Kizzy, I gave up for 7 weeks but the second my Dad died I reached for the fags again! I promised myself I'd smoke only up until the funeral but 2 months on I'm still chuffing away. Everybody commented on how much younger I looked after even only a week of quitting (I'm 34)and my crows feel vanished. Now they are back and without makeup I look terribly grey around the gills and my chest feels tight again. I managed to get drunk and not succumb to the dreaded tobacco, but now I feel that I can't stop again. SO, I'm going to cut out ciggies AND booze and get my life in order. I thunk that the cigs calmed me down but I still get as stressed as ever so it's pointless smoking, and yes, you will stink. I treated myself to a new perfume and it smelt so much nucer on a fag free body!!! Keep us all up to speed on how you do. Get patches!! |
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2008 : 9:06:27 PM
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MIttens I do hope you manage to give up, bless you, keep trying, you have got the urge to do it, so you will just like Kizzy , why not sit down and work out how much you spend in a month on cigs, then take that money and buy yourself a treat, better still work out how much saved a year and really treat yourself, have a holiday and say to yourself "my good health paid for this", remember what it was like before cigs? you didnt have the craving then did you? and it will be the same again once it is out of your system, but it will take longer than 7 weeks to get it right out, remember how hard it was to give it up for those 7 weeks and then think , I dont want to go through that again only to fail so I am going to quitt for GOOD this time |
www.dreamfield-arabians.com |
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arabic
Platinum Member
England
4562 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2008 : 9:39:13 PM
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Well done kizzy!!!! Great decision!!!! Dont forget tho that you are "giving up" a minor blip is excuseable as long as you put it behind you and try again. When you havent had any blips for quite some time, then you can congratulate yourself - then you will have "given up".
Dont for goodness sake make my mistake and spend half a lifetime smoking and giving up. I gave up for 10 years once and took it up again like a fool. No more though, I have finished with that game and stopped 5/6 years ago.
Good luck, stay determined and prove to yourself you have will power.
Sandie |
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Loopylou
Junior Member
United Kingdom
39 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2008 : 9:48:07 PM
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KEEP TRYING!!!!
Gave up when i was 21 and found the easiest way was to not tell anyone and then they didnt make a big thing of it.
GOOD LUCK |
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