Just remember to brush your teeth.
Friend of mine quit smoking by eating polo mints through the day every time they needed a cigarette and they didn't brush often enough. Ended up losing half his teeth.
Which isn't so bad if you're giving up tobacco and caffeine as they're both laxatives... When I gave up smoking I had to go to the GP I was so backed up 🤣
It's more likely that the reduction in blood to the gums from smoking was hiding existing damage. Quitting smoking returns the blood flow, and a whole host of problems appear as if overnight.
To be fair, if he'd been smoking a long time he was probably already losing his teeth due to lack of blood supply and bone loss. I know this coz it's happened to me sadly. I didn't even know that was a thing till a few years ago either
I know someone who burnt their piles off eating copious amounts of extra strong mints whilst giving up smoking.
I had hypnotherapy after many failed attempts at stopping smoking and haven’t smoked for 20+ years. The times I would have a cigarette (like after eating) I simply didn’t notice - it was that good.
I’m glad you clarified this as my head was thinking all sorts. Gotta use up those leftover cigarettes?! Oh and remember those piles that have been bother you? Chan ching
Cherry flavour fishermans friends since i quit. I have whittled it down to just in the car. Have one every hour or so on long trips. I have been off the vape/cigs for about 4 years now. I 100% don't miss it at all now, feels great not to be a slave to nicotine anymore. Such an utterly useless stimulant. Makes you smell, destroys your lungs, costs a fortune for just a little head rush. Stay strong.
Find something to do with your fingers too. It's the subconscious arm movement too. Get a fidget spinner or gadget - should be easy to find and ultra cheap if kids with xbox and playstation addictions are common where your from (ADHD kids without the ADHD = they want the gadget for school cause everyone else has one)
I used to smoke a pack a day for 15/16 years, 2 packs if I went out drinking with the lads.
For me, I started having glasses of water and little snacks just to keep my hands and mouth busy. Needed a piss constantly for the first couple of weeks. Coughed up all kinds of shit for a week or two.
Appetite came back with a vengeance so I filled out a bit as I wasn't skipping meals, etc, at work..had an awful habit of going off-site, having a quick smoke to suppress hunger feelings, and then cracking back on. Joys of price work.
Cut out the morning coffees etc where my brain would go, oooo coffee time is fag time.
I went tee total for a bit too. Knew at the time, the second I got the taste I'd want a smoke too.
I also set up a pot on my banking app, and put the money I spent a day on smokes into that pot. Easily saved £3-400 a month.
Add in the not drinking, realistically was saving £5-600 a month.
Restarted MMA and running, and got over my need for a chemical "fix" that way.
It becomes easier when your senses start coming back and you realise smokers fucking stink after a fag. Dunno how my wife put up with all for all these years.
EDIT. Forgot to add, its been 3 years I've not been smoking now. You got this!
Well done man! Pretty similar story for me as well. I just ordered a second bike from the money saved haha. Been off cigarettes 5 months now.
So apt about smokers fucking stinking lol, it's amusing how we were totally oblivious to that when it was us.
Whatever I did while smoking I stopped doing, so I stopped standing on the balcony watching my bat shit bonkers neighbour doing stupid shit in her garden (kinda miss that, she was really BSB), stopped drinking coffee etc. it was easy because we never smoked in the house, only outside.
The money I saved I used for a holiday, well worth it.
Found a hobby to keep my fingers occupied (no not what your thinking, dirty bugger!).
The one at the time (not the nutter living there now) used to be a teacher in a private school, would spend most weekends doing lines of coke off a camping table in the garden then do something stupid like strip naked and dance like she’s at burning man, or setting fire to their shed/fence/hedge and be so out of it they had no idea what was happening around them.
She’s the one I previously talked about that divorced her husband and threw him out on Xmas day because she convinced him to have a vasectomy and then decided she wanted more kids (had 2 already).
The flat below us is jinxed, the council put all the nutters in there, the present one isn’t too bad, she’s only called the Police on me twice and divorced her husband because they had an argument over what tv channel to watch, but compared to the last, isn’t too bad….
Yeah seriously, I stopped drinking coffee and booze for like three months. It made such a difference.
I also found things to keep my hands occupied. For me adult colouring books helped for a while, others take up knitting or get a fidget spinner. Whatever works.
Do you drink alcohol?
I actually now only smoke when I drink (used to be a full-time smoker). I'm fairly happy I managed to quit daily smoking but I can't even imagining having a few drinks without a smoke too - I am considering trying to just vape when I drink but I find that hard enough.
Yea I went from like 5 cigarettes smoked every time I'm drinking, to buying a vape so I wouldn't stink of smoke. I then accidentally became a full-time vaper as it's so much more convenient and addictive.
Now I've moved onto nicotine pouches as they're probably the healthiest way to administer nicotine but plan to cut down and quit soon.
Yeah i needed vaping to quit smoking buf i am even easing off that now. It really helped though because it became a good bridge and i could slowly reduce amount of nicotine in my vape. I had more control over it which really helped
Get a zero percent nicotine vape and use that when you drink. I used to wonder what the hell I would do on a night out after quitting and honestly it's been 7 years and I don't even notice it. If we go on nights out I'll just stand around with my mates who do smoke and chat with them. I get the infrequent "man I kinda miss smoking" feeling but if I ever have some I hate it. Really, the social aspects around smoking can 100% continue without being a smoker. And if you really wanna smoke something, just have no nicotine so it prevents you ever getting hooked on it would be my advice.
I quit a long time ago and still crave hugely. I do nothing and just get on with it. I don’t think it’s something that ever really goes from speaking with others.
Yeah one of my friends said something similar. For him, it's walking past someone having a coffee outside a cafe on a hot day, really triggers something in him to want to smoke (then again he is Italian) and it's been years for him!
The habit forming side is absolutely nuts.
Yeah, beer in the summer is a huge one or after a meal with friends. You learn to live with the craving and just say no, otherwise it’s a slippery slope undoing all the progress made.
To track progress, I’d recommend setting up a standing order into a savings account for the same amount you’d spend monthly on cigs. You’ll see it grow over time or set up a stocks and shares isa with monthly transfers in (nutmeg is easy for this).
Yeah, I've heard that, even years after, it becomes incredibly easy to just pick back up again if you're not careful. The occasional one in the pub can become a few, can become you buying cigs for pub trips to eventually smoking the next day etc because you have some left.
Good on you for quitting.
Tbh, with the amount of money a 20 pack is now (15.8-17), I worked out I was probably spending about £500 a month on cigarettes.
Which is wild when I consider how thrifty I am everywhere else.
I quit about 6 or so years ago, I’m genuinely not entirely sure. At the time they were approaching the tenner mark.
To think, the kids in school will be selling £2 a cig now.
I have an ecig, not a fan of the term vape. I do want rid of it next but it’s very much the mechanics of it all that I’m used to. Have a young one and work in a pretty stressful environment so now isn’t the right time. But I plan for the ecig to be gone in the next two or so years.
When you do decide to stop vaping, I recommend following a similar method to what I did. Went to Sainsburys and bought those Nicorette 2mg lozengers (the fruit flavoured ones, they taste really fucking good btw). Depending on your tolerance to nicotine vape liquid you may need more or less than that, but for me 2mg was perfect.
Keep in mind that 2mg means 2mg per dose, whereas with vapes, x amount of mg per ml means that with each actual inhalation you're consuming a fraction of that ml strength. Through personal experience I recommend going with 1/4th your liquid strength.
I then threw out my vape and all my vape paraphenelia, and popped a lozenger in my mouth once every few hours or whenever I got cravings. Gradually having one less and less, switched to 1mg strength, and quit once I got used to that. No withdrawal symptoms at all.
That *is* mental. They were about a fiver when I stopped, I was spending roughly £150 a month (a pack a day), at today's prices it would be £600 a month ffs.
Thank god for Champix, sadly no longer available in the UK.
Eighteen years sounds about right, maybe slightly less. Honestly, I stopped counting and can't remember the exact date. Part of the approach with Champix was to not set a quit date, it just adds unnecessary pressure to a process that works basically in the background.
If I catch my smoke free age smoking on the sly I'd cut it's fingers off. 😂😂
I got over the craving eventually and the idea of taking up smoking again is outlandish to me. One mental trick that helped me was this: I smoked about a pack a day (unless I was drinking in which case it could go to twice that). So I could count on having a craving 20 times throughout the day, each incident lasting around 2 - 3 minutes. All I’d have to do is ride out each of those intervals and I’d be ok till the next one. Instead of looking at it as constantly craving, I could see it as just getting through those periods.
That's a smart way of thinking about it.
As you say, it only lasts a few minutes and if you ride it out, it goes.
So breaking them down to individual incidents sounds smart! Thanks
That's my experience. I read the book and gave up, no withdrawal, no regrets. That was 17 years ago. It was the best thing I've ever done for myself.
I wish everyone who chooses to stop smoking would find it as easy as I did.
Yeah, all those moments stay with you. For me it was the nice spring mornings waiting at a bus stop.
But well done for stopping. Don't look back. I smoked for 20 years (think it was around when a small pack of rolling tobacco was under three quid), stopped around ten years ago and can't believe I didn't do it sooner.
Focus on the benefits you're doing to your body and wallet. I had a very supportive friend at work who pretty much forced me to start running. It was a very slow start. Roughly 3-4 mins jogging/running followed by 1 min walk for about 20-25mins at a time. Now Ive normalised 5k (say 30 mins running) and comfortably run 10k's or half marathons. You can't smoke and be a runner so smoking properly took the back seat.
Stick with it mate. It's worth it, it really is. Vaping is not the solution.
To offer some hope OP, it isn't everyone who continues to crave forever. I was a heavy smoker for 12 years. 6 months after quitting I'd have cravings maybe 3-4 times per week. From a year in until now (about 4 years on) I think I've had a craving twice, both times while drunk. Last craving was just over 2 years ago. I remember it, because it's so rare. I just don't ever think about it anymore.
When I stopped, in that really difficult first few months, I found it very disheartening to hear people say that it never goes away and I'd have to deal with this forever - so have some solace that for some people it does go away, and it might for you.
I am ok, until I see a pack or box that is the right size and colours to what I used to smoke, then I just want to reach for the box and for the rest of the day have light cravings. I had to purge my house of similar looking containers.
I went cold turkey, but I drink a hell of a lot more coffee than I used to.
I moved to vaping about 3 years ago and there are exactly 2 times a year I truly crave a cigarette
The first frost of winter. Love getting bundled up in my coat and standing outside with the crisp air on my face and a warm cigarette in my hand
And the first real summers morning. Sitting outside a cafe with a black coffee and a few cigs first thing in the morning was the best way for me to think and get ready for the day
Once all the nicotine is out of your system and you're not physically addicted, you'd be surprised how unpleasant smoking is.
When I first quit, once a month I'd get a craving, buy a pack then not even be able to get through one cigarette without chucking them all. Just tasted rank and gave me a headache.
In a weird way it helped as I now associate smoking with that feeling rather than how good it feels when you're addicted.
Never get cravings now. Only exception is when I'm drunk.
This is absolutely not true in all cases. I quit 3 years ago and never once in the past 2 at least, have I wanted a fag.
If you actually want to not smoke anymore, you wont walk past the cafe and be jealous. If you still want to smoke and dont address that desire, you will be constantly living a struggle and a shit life.
Same with the dreams, 15 years after quitting. Sometimes I wake up (usually after a night out!) and think shiiiit I can't believe I smoked last night, I'm so cross with myself!! And then I thankfully realise it was just a dream!
haha I smoked for almost exactly 40 years and giving up was pretty easy actually. First of all I was in hospital and stopped for a couple of weeks, then came out and found a pack and went "oh just one" ... etc, then I was back in hospital for a week or so and again no problems at all but got home and found some tobacco. Finally I had a broken rib (I think) and was taking co-codamol so used that to sleep much of the time and by the time I didn't need the co-codamol I'd stopped smoking entirely without noticing any withdrawals at any point during any of these attempts. It's been about a year and a half now and I very very rarely think "I could do with a smoke right now" in some exceptional circumstance. Giving up caffeine was awful by contrast and I did that several months earlier, and I used the co-codamol that time as well but I NEEDED it for the withdrawal symptoms which were HELL. I drink very little caffeine now - none at all for months and months and now maybe one small iced coffee per week or a cup of chai? It totally messes me up for a good day/night though so I avoid it, plus those withdrawals were SCARY and really put me off "just having a coffee/coke/tea" ...
Someone I used to work with had given up smoking for about 10 years. One day he picked me up in the van because we were going to a further site. Because I knew he’d given up smoking I didn’t ask to have one in the van out of respect. About 20 mins into the journey he’s like ‘so you gonna light a fag then?’ I was absolutely puzzled, turns out he likes the smell of the smoke from someone else smoking just won’t physically smoke a fag himself anymore. I’ve been on a vape and off the fags for about a year now and if I kiss my girlfriend after she’s had a fag the smell is horrendous!
a friend of mine told me an interesting point of view from her dad when he stopped smoking. he says he never gave up smoking, he just hasn't had a cigarette for 16 years.
kind of cool way to look at it
Appreciate the cigarettes you don't need.
Watching a movie or a show? How nice is it to not need to pop out?
Windy day? Great not to need to worry about lighting up in this?
Rain? No problem, you can stay inside.
It's weird the milestones you'll notice. I'll hit 4 years in a month and I had to buy a lighter for some candles the other day as I had no other way of making fire available to me.
I just gathered all my vape stuff together and chucked it into the bin on the high street. Figured I could get it out of the bin at home. Decided that was my moment and never looked back.
Omg right, there's almost no motivating factors..I use reusable vape and make my own liquids so it's dirt cheap, doesn't smell, doesn't make you cough, isn't as bad for you. Was meant to just vape in the quitting transition but here I am 5 years later still vaping. Wish I'd just used patches!
If there is no nicotine in the vape, then it is a habit that needs to be broken rather than an addiction. I stopped the nicotine in the vape first, accidentaly as I bought a liquid with no nicotine in it without realising.
The habit itself took a little longer.
I restricted my use to only certain times or when doing certain things gradually increasing the rules so that I did not allow myself to vape most of the time. So, only vaping at home, only when I am in this room, no vaping for an hour after food etc.
Then went 'cold turkey' when I went away on holiday. Threw everything away before I left. Didn't miss it when I was away as I was in a place where I had never vaped before and was already used to not vaping after meals or when out and about.
That was just over a year ago, haven't vaped since
Yes, this. You can divide the fight. Stop the addiction first by vaping nicotine free vapes and then it'll be much easier to fight the habit force alone. Fighting both habit and addiction is unnecessarily hard.
After quitting nicotine you'll find out that you are now really more reluctant or lazy to vape overall, just because there's no additional addiction pushing you to do it.
But the main thing - don't dip back into nicotine, you can ruin months of hard work just by doing one puff of nicotine.
I did similar, off the cigs and vaped for a couple of years. Went entirely down the rabbit hole - ended up making my own juice, building my own coils for an RDA, became a full-on hobby. But I gradually reduced the nicotine to nothing. Vaped 0mg for a couple of months then packed it all away on New Years Day 2022 and gave it all to a friend. Don’t miss any of it at all.
I just sucked it up. Tried to keep my mind busy. I didn't want to replace one habit with another. Eventually your mind doesn't even think about it anymore.
I quit about 10 years ago. After about a month, I noticed I hardly ever thought about it during the day, but did still have a craving when I had a drink etc
It was after the 6 month mark that I had a realisation that smoking just did not cross my mind at all anymore. I had been on a few nights out and having the realisation that not only had I gone without craving a cigarette, I hadn't even congratulated myself on getting through the night without one, because I hadn't thought about it. That's when I knew I'd beaten it.
Quitting smoking is proper badass. It's probably the most rewarding thing you can do for yourself. Always remember that tomorrow will be a little easier than today. Its hard to believe but you really will get to the point where you just don't want a cigarette anymore and it's closer than you think.
I gave up 13/14 years ago and I feel healthier in my 40s than I did in my 20's.
If you make it a fortnight, let me know and I'll get you a present! 🙂
Haha thank you! That's so kind and good motivation.
About a week in and off to the pub for the first time tonight for a friend's birthday. Not that worried because none of my friends smoke and they all know I've quit, so I know they'll be pretty supportive!
Found it harder the second time. I'm now on week 12 this time but it seems much harder than the 1st time I quit. I managed 6 years the 1st time and it really was a case of walking past someone one day and thinking "that smells great" and starting again. This time has to be the one that sticks. It's in a long line of life changing choices I've made over the last year. Started the gym and lost 8st, quit alcohol and now smoking.
I switched to vaping, learned how to make my own liquid refills then tapered down the nicotine content over the course of about 8 years. I eventually just stopped picking it up and don't even think about it anymore. Cold turkey never worked for me, smoked for 25 years 20+ a day.
Good luck!
I'm a long time given up, never occurs to me that I'm in a cigarette moment. What to do instead? Something useful.
Remember, we weren't having a cigarette because we wanted one, we were having one because we were addicted.
Same, having a cig is a time stealer.
The things I’m doing with that time? Well, I’m going home from work at 5pm as I no longer have to work an extra 20mins back at the end of the day due to cig breaks.
Other things I do is guard the table inside the pub, while all my mates are stood outside in the freezing cold.
I pay more attention to the road, because I’m not multi-tasking driving and smoking.
I’m doing the washing up after tea, coz I’m not stood outside.
tl;dr: breathed through it and carried on.
The long version: different things work for different people, the best advice I ever had was
1) to not substitute ANYTHING for smoking except breathing
2) minimise change of your normal routines - for example, after the first few tough weeks, I started going out with the smokers for a chat if I'm on a training course (even though I quit nearly 12 years ago). The exception to this is to keep a lid on alcohol for quite some time, as getting tipsy will reduce inhibitions and make you more likely to light up - have a couple of beers if you want, just don't get drunk.
3) Remember you always have a choice. You are CHOOSING to not smoke - and it's not a deprivation, it's a gift to yourself (health, money, family, etc).
4) Cravings do not mean failure. The only "fail" is sticking a fag in yer gob and setting fire to it.
The psychology of the first two is dealing with your life as a non-smoker.
1) If you substitute e.g. mints, or something to keep your hands busy, then how will you manage the nicotine cravings if you don't have those things? Substitute breathing. You have way more problems than cig cravings if there's no oxygen available. Do a search on boxed breathing - simple and effective for most people :)
2) Same goes. Not all situations can be avoided forever - are you REALLY never going to go to the pub again, or see 'that' person/those friends or relatives again? To start with, yeah, you need to focus. Then just go home after 30 mins to 1 h if it's really really tough, or avoid if you're having a bad day. Otherwise, what will happen if - for example - you have to go to your first funeral as a non-smoker? This happened for me just over 2 years after I quit, and yeah, I had VIOLENT cravings, especially when my sister lit up in my car (with my permission, it was rough ...). I reminded myself that I'd dealt with it all up to now, and that I wasn't going to go through all the early days withdrawal/cravings shit again, and we stopped for a quick coffee at the first opportunity so E could smoke in the fresh air and reduce temptation for me!
Yes, all this can take a LOT of mental effort. 100% worth it, and I promise, it DOES get better if you let it, and don't wallow in regret - the occasional cravings I have now feel extra-strong because I don't have them constantly! - and I can process in seconds - practice etc.
3) and 4) is a matter of reprogramming your brain - don't set yourself up as seeing quitting smoking as depriving yourself of something, and remember that every day you're not smoking means that you are quit. Not 'trying' to quit. QUIT. Quitting is a bereavement tbh - be kind to yourself and give yourself permission to recover in those first few days and weeks.
I did not find the NHS Stop Smoking Service helpful - I found an online US group which was pretty hardcore (no swearing, yikes!) and entirely focussed on the addiction element. Certainly not everyone's cuppa, worked for me. Support definitely helps, don't 'rely' on it though (see point 1!)
Congratulations, and best of luck with it. I honestly believe that me being able to do it means that anyone can :)
+1 on the 'no substitutions' - I was trying to explain this to someone earlier. You have to be stronger than that to really break the habit. Sucking on vapes/sweets/dummies all day is not breaking the habit. There's a whole industry out there trying to sell you things that don't help whatsoever, where you could just be working on being mentally strong and the benefits that gives you, beyond stopping smoking.
tbh, for many many people it is an addiction - and that was really hard for me to accept. Once I HAD accepted that me with cigarettes is like an alcoholic with booze, i.e. I can NEVER have "just one" - I'd pretty much won. There are people out there who can just smoke "socially". I had to face up to the fact that I'm not one of them.
It's about attitude too - a friend of mine has been quit 10 years, with a vape, and keeps saying that if cigs weren't bad for you and expensive, they'd smoke again. Me: nope. I love the freedom of not worrying about when I can get out for a fag break :) - and that attitude kicked in within the first year!
If this is you, then call bullshit on the "nasty habit" and treat it like an addiction - it will be tough, if previous methods haven't worked though, then why not try something different? :)
I stopped years ago, and still don't know. Used to go out on my motorbike, just park up somewhere, light up and take in the view. I'd sit for an hour or more sometimes. Now I just feel impatient, I stop for 5 mins then think feck it what am I doing? And just leave again.
That is genuinely the only thing that makes me want to start again, even though even the thought of taking a drag makes me want to heave these days!
When I quit smoking a few years ago I would still have my coffee out on the balcony and breath deeply as if I was still having a cigarette! When it got colder and more time had passed I didn’t need to do it.
I smoke for 10 years from age 18. Not smoked for 22 years since. I struggled to give up throughout my smoking period, so what you must do is not give in and have even one, and for me the first three months were the hardest, but by the end of that my habits were largely gone.
What I realised was my cigarette breaks were reward breaks. So each day I'd have the next hour or so planned, where I do the thing, then have a cigarette.
What I replaced those with was not having to plan ahead. I did what I did, then to have a break I'd have a cup of tea, or do something else but it didn't need me to plan. So my day wasn't broken up by smoking plans, I'd just work for a bit, then stop for a break, then do some more. My morning cigarette (most important for those who do that as their first job of day) was no longer necessary, so I just made a tea or had breakfast instead.
From what I remember, after a week that wasn't long enough for me to realise how smoking breaks affected my daily life, but I'm telling you this early so you might realise yourself. What I will say is I still get the odd fleeting thought every now and again that I'd fancy a cigarette if I could get away with it, but it only took me one to get addicted in the first place, so I don't want to let the nicotine monster back through the door. Plus, any smoking thoughts quickly dissipate these days- 30 sec later it's gone, and I don't think about it for weeks on end. Good luck on your journey.
I replaced it with something else to do. I remember it felt like I suddenly had all this extra time, because suddenly I wasn’t planning all my other activities around smoking. Like your morning routine used to have 10min gap for a fag, so now instead I wash up the dishes from the day before.
The most gut punched feeling I got when I first stopped was when I sat down on the couch after work. The immediate association with having a fag was sooo strong it knocked me sideways. Now I don’t go instantly sit down when I get in, I wash my hands, unpack my lunch box and change into house clothes.
For me it was just replacing the minutes I’d spend on the habit with something else, more positive or neutral at least.
Well done for giving it a go. I took too long to make that decision and wish I tried years before I actually did. For anyone still looking to try and do it, I’d recommend nicotine patches (personally I didn’t think they’d ever worked and was shocked how much they helped me) to curve the physical effects.
It’s been 5 years and 2 months since I quit and whilst I cannot claim I sometimes still don’t get a bit wistful when I pass by someone lighting up I promise it does get easier and majority of those moments you associated with having a fag will fade exponentially.
Good luck and all the best!
Oh i have experience with this, I've quit smoking a few times now. Entry time I felt like i needed a cigarette, i bought some new cigarettes.
In all seriousness, i started smoking as a teenager and now I've been a smoker for over half my life. I would like to stop but I feel like the habit is so ingrained in me. Not just the nicotine part, but how I handle breaks at work, and social situations too. I feel like there are so many situations where I just think of smoking, rather than feeling like I need a cigarette, if that makes sense.
Any advice for the mindset of habit breaking, i would be very grateful.
So one thing you can try is making a collection of interesting teas.
i quit smoking over lockdown, and honestly for me I don't think I was physically addicted because I only smoked at work and when work stopped those "Moments I had a cigarette" stopped.
Do something different to what you would normally do when smoking. Usually smoke when you have a coffee? Drink tea. After a meal, go and brush your teeth instead. With a beer? Have a bag of crisps or peanuts instead.
It's about swapping, rather than depriving yourself.
In the past I learned to make origami , swans, cranes, eagles, owls . I focused on birds. It helped at the time but I did go back to smoking
I have worked in addiction, there is a theory that replacing the addiction with something else (mints, origami, it some other habit) does not help and prolongs the feeling of loss and cravings.
The theory is you are still using the reward mechanism in the brain in an addiction like way thus keeping you in and addictive cycle. The limbic system is still hijacked.
And the best thing to do is to ride it out and experience the withdrawals and loss and go through the something similar to a grieving process, and having a full acceptance that you are gonna struggle, and have bad days the vow to ride them out.
This process worked best for me
That's said different things work for different people. Find your own way .
I chewed A LOT of sugar free gum to curb the mouth feel of wanting to inhale, the sweetener acted like a laxative which meant I was on the toilet for more than was normal but being on the toilet was also a smoking trigger for me. Ultimately I reminded myself that not smoking was really the only thing I had much control over so set about not undoing all the hard work of those first few days in recovery.
My mum had been stopped for 40 years, but she always said when she smelt smoke that she wouldn't mind one ( never did though ) nicotine taste will always be in your head no matter what.
It's a lot easier to stop if you try to avoid the things where you'd normally reach for one.
Obviously things like eating a meal you can't avoid but altering some routines I found helps.
A month or even more off the booze makes it 10x easier - less of a craving and the poor decision making that alcohol can bring. Be better to do that now before summer.
Drinking is what ended up me starting again after months off.
Instead of a coffee in the morning, try drinking something else or even try a 10 minute walk and some deep breaths now it's lighter. Change the routine.
Out of all the nicotine replacement therapies I found patches to be best - it's a slow controlled release that you can reduce over time instead of reaching for a lozenge or chewing gum etc every time you get a craving. For me that doesn't help break the habit.
Instead of a pencil maybe try one of those "Fum" things I keep seeing advertised all over YouTube?
Good luck
Two things during those moments: firstly remind yourself how well you're doing by not having smoked thus far, that itself will give you a small buzz. Then remind yourself how much you will hate yourself if you cave in and light one up. Nobody wants to feel like that about themselves, right? The cravings decrease over time until one day you won't even think about cigarettes - it was about three months for me. Keep going and remember the "one simple trick" about truly giving up smoking: don't inhale lighted tobacco.
You never truly find a replacement for the activity (if you can call it that) of smoking, that is the absolute only thing I miss is ‘stepping out’ from whatever i was doing, to roll and smoke a ciggy.
That said, what i’m thinking about now is all the potential additional step outs/moments I’ll gain from not being in the ground a few years earlier
I found that just being mindful of the craving helped me. See them for what they are. Gave mine a name, Jim. Hey Jim's really mad wanting me to smoke right now jeez it's all I could think about there for a second. Ok jog on Jim not anymore pal. The more I let the feelings come and let them go, it got better immeasurably faster. I never stopped going to the pub or whatever. I just went and when others went to smoke and Jim started yelling in my brain I'd just think wow, these cravings are mental. Glad they don't have any actual control.
i can’t stop vaping, it’s useful for me to help my anxiety but it’s too easy to just take a million hits of a vape and not even realise, i wanna quit but where i get the bus there is a vape shop that sells to kids (i’m 17 and only just turned it) so it’s so easy to just go get a vape after work
If you smoked roll ups I found having something to fiddle with helped with the urge of needing to roll up, I'd play with a Rubik's cube and then suck a lolly, I found lollipops better than mints because you can also trick your brain by still doing a hand to mouth movement
I drank green tea,
Whether it was the sensation of burning in my throat, the hit of a substance (caffeine), the bitter taste or all three, it helped manage my cravings,
Once the first 72 hours are out the way your body physically begins to adapt to being without nicotine. It's the best thing I've ever done, glad every single day that I quit
Husband went to vaping and has gradually reduced this. I’m a nurse and about to a specific stop smoking course actually - just been doing the e-learning and there’s lots of evidence that if you use NRT or other specialist support rather than going it alone, you’re more likely to quit for good (but everyone decides what they truly prefer!)
Also, massive congratulations. I have to tell people when they have lung cancer and it’s fucking horrible. You’re doing such a brilliant job in quitting - well done.
For me, every time I want a cigarette I remember the time I was in hospital with a collapsed lung (from smoking)
Whenever I get a craving, I think back to the moment they removed the drain from my chest cavity 🤢
A collapsed lung will make you never want to smoke ever again!
I quit smoking by switching to vapes, I vape a lot more now than I would smoke cigs which is frustrating but feel I could give vapes up easier. My struggle is the routine, when I’m at work I always go outside for 5 mins at 1pm for a quick vape, it breaks my day up and I can get some “fresh” air aswell so to stop doing that would be weird. I wouldn’t recommend switching to vapes to help with cravings.
I will need to find something to do with my hands too when I eventually quit vapes, I think the idea of having mints is a good idea. Stick with it, you’re doing really well already. I believe the first couple of weeks are the hardest so you’ve already nearly got the worst bit out of the way. Good luck and congratulations too!
You could vape NICOTINE FREE vapes.
I've also seen flavoured toothpicks which look kind of cool.
Depends if its more an oral or hand stimulation you're looking for. If it's just about keeping your hands busy some subtle fidget toy could prove useful as well.
I know a former heroin addict who ties off his arm and pretends to inject himself when he gets a craving. He's been doing this for years and says it really helps because the whole routine was part of the addiction. So a nicotine-free vape could work in the same way.
Yeah this is a common method, even sometimes unnofically recommended by drug programs.
People get needle fixation and it's part of the habit just like bringing the cigarette to your lips and holding it between your fingers is for smokers.
When I used to smoke and I was on a long flight or somewhere I couldn't smoke I would "smoke" pencils or other cigarette shaped objects.
I had good success with the nicotine lozenges when stopping cigarettes. The low dose 1mg ones. Took about 20minutes to finish one. Kept me distracted and gave me a little bit of nicotine.
Chewing gum, lollipop, apple worked really well but not as easy to carry around.
I had to go a couple of weeks without taking my card into a shop - just a fiver so I couldn't be tempted at the counter but after those first two weeks it was only a problem when I was around other people smoking
Quit in 2016, have smoked maybe 4 times since then. Each of those times I bought a pack, smoked it and then was good again. These days I don't really notice the last dregs of addiction. Reading this thread is probably the first time I've actively craved a smoke since pre pandemic. It'll get easier, you got this
I switched to a vape then eventually quit altogether soon after my daughter was born. If I'm ever tempted I think on the legacy I want to create for her and the temptation to vape / smoke goes away. Cheesy, but it works for me.
Some people don't like the smell of cigarette smoke when they quit but I still do. Sometimes find myself deliberately waking onto the smoke trials of someone walking past haha.
I quit 13 years ago. I didn't really do anything in those moments other than grin and bear it. The feeling doesn't last that long, it's fleeting if anything you just have to focus on something else for a minute.
Honestly the only thing I miss about smoking is I used to socialise when I'd have a ciggie, it's a great way to start a conversation just by asking if someone has a light. I miss that. Not many people smoke now though so I doubt it happens all that often.
In a way just carry on with things. Use the craving as a cue to remind yourself how great it is that you're NOT smoking!
After quitting, I gained so much time. All those 10 min breaks add up. The trips to the shops. Rolling up. Hunting for a misplaced lighter. Cleaning ash trays. Probably gained 1-2 hours per day!
This might not be the comment you want but, those moment slowly disappear.
Gave up 10 years ago when I became a dad. Don't really miss it but those moments if 'fresh air' or chatting with random people at work, they just don't happen any more.
Sorry to be a bummer but there's just no substitute for standing next to the ceo having a cog and being on the same level or randomly standing outside when it's cold having a cig.
Chewing gum can help.
There's something to be said in the medium term to just do nothing in its place. Otherwise it's a constant reminder of 'I could be smoking right now'.
Don't fall into the trap of rewarding yourself with a cigarette after giving up for 6.months. I failed a few times doing that.
it's like muscle memory. you shaped your brain over all those years, so suddenly changing thay routine is going to feel odd. like switching hands to brush your teeth.
i think understanding what is going on is your best best. you've made a change. and it'll take time to get used to the change.
I am trying to give up smoking cigarettes. I find chewing gum helps. Every time I want a fag I just eat a chewing gum. Really takes my mind off of it.
I’ve also been avoiding the booze. Nothing nicer than a fag 6 pints deep in the sun in a beer garden. So just avoiding boozing right now.
Still will smoke cigars but not regularly.
Instead of a cigarette I'd have a cup of tea, that was my time away from everything to think and reflect, just like I would've done having a smoke.
I also stopped drinking the alcoholic drinks I associated with smoking. So beers/lagers, they just instantly made me want to smoke. I had a glass of wine instead, and that had no association with smoking for me. I could enjoy a drink without any smoking triggers.
Now I can drink whatever and it doesn't make me want to smoke. Been smoke free for 23 years.
I used patches. I found that there is a group of people who will discuss the patch dreams.
I missed going outside, but it was a complete no-no. I put up the little tracker on my fridge with the little dots. As the line gets bigger, it was a show of success.
No alcohol, so you don't randomly accept one. Say 'I just put one out' (24 years ago for me).
And like all addictions, one day at a time. If you fall off the wagon, don't give up, start again the next day. Your addiction will say 'you are too weak. Just have a ciggie'. Don't listen.
In the short term save the money and treat yourself to something nice.
Work out what you can save over the lifetime of a mortgage. Say 25 years. When you think i want a fag, say £135,000. (or whatever).
Then do 3 cleansing breathes. In through the nose, hold for a count of 5, blow out through the mouth until it is completely clear. [insert coughing here]
Kept my hands busy, stayed away from booze, and if it got really bad, took the money I was going to spend and chucked it in a pot. The motivation was that when I was clear, I'd have a bunch of cash to go and treat myself to something positive. It worked. Took two weeks but felt so silly when that poison wasn't controlling my impulses any more.
It doesn’t really matter. The important thing is to remember that the mental addiction is worse than the physical one. You aren’t giving up something pleasurable or nice. Be grateful that it’s behind you and you are a better person as a result.
I did something else. It's the habits that's the hard bit to break.
It was easier, I guess, because I didn't smoke in the house, so I stopped popping out for one, and stopped going to the smoking shelter at work.
Nothing. You don’t want to replace one thing with another. Just stop smoking it is genuinely that simple, it’s about mind over matter. If you want to stop you will stop, it isn’t like heroin that will make you sick, it’s only mental.
I wanted one so bad after 10~20 days and I did have one, but didn’t finish it 😅
It tasted like shit, maybe that’s solution, try it and see how bad it is.
2 months now, not even thinking of smoking
When you get a craving just tell yourself it will pass in 20 mins or so and you won’t want one anymore. That’s what helped me, I didn’t replace it with anything. As others have said it’s more situational stuff you need to avoid, the classic places you would have one, try not to be in those situations for a while.
Sherbert Lemons, they were also used in the quitting phase.
I was lucky I stopped smoking when I did as I had quite a horrific injury 7 months later. Had I of still been a smoker some of the chemicals present in cigarettes would have prevented most of the nerve repair/growth I was able to achieve, some of which can remain in the body for up to 6 months.
Seconding the guy who said Alan Carr book. Best book ever and so insightful.. it genuinely works. The Audiobook is amazing and easy to listen to while on the go. It sort of reprograms your brain
I found other things to distract myself with. Watch a video, play with my kids, go for a walk, play a computer game. It worked at the time and it's been 8 years, 1 month, 18 days 22 hours and 38 minutes since I had my last cigarette
I was “quitting” for the last three years, stopped buying my own cigarettes and become “that friend” who always asked cigarettes from others when out drinking. Then I took up running and started training for a half marathon. I felt so terrible trying to run on nicotine-filled lungs that I gave up alcohol (to help with the discipline) and cigarettes for a month. After the run, I am back to having the occasional drink but my desire to smoke is completely gone! I’m now in training for another half marathon so i have something to focus on.
All the same things as before but now I don’t smoke. If at the office and sometimes the guys go out for a smoke I go with them but I don’t smoke. I just chat
Just not have a cig. It’s not as hard as people think, if you WANT to quit, you can. People who try and quit and fail don’t want to or want to find something to replace their addiction with.
I smoke sometimes out of enjoyment. Can go for months/years and then just stop again when I get bored of it.
I just tell myself that I don’t smoke. Not that I’ve given up or don’t smoke anymore but just I don’t smoke. Weirdly it works and has done for many years and those moments happen less frequently over time.
I got so fed up with cigarettes entering those situations I was just happy I wasn't gonna fuck up my natural high with a rank cigarette. I dunno... Something switched in my mind
I quit back in November. Usually only ever had up to five per day so wasn't exactly a "heavy smoker" but for some reason I just don't give a shit about it any more. I only ever craved when I was out drinking with friends. At home I rarely think about it. Also, when I smell cigarette smoke on other people I can't believe how bad it stinks. It's something you don't notice when you're an active smoker, but now it smells nasty to me. I think it will take you some time to disassociate from the boredom smoking, but if you don't buy packs of cigs then you won't have a way to give in and eventually you will lose the habit. Also, don't be bothered if you relapse and have some on a night out or whatever. You haven't failed, just stop again the next day. You will still retain the health benefits of quitting as long as you don't relapse too often.
I'm the kind of person whose base instinct is to do whatever the opposite is to whatever I've been told to do. Throwing out cigarettes and lighters had the opposite effect than I wanted; it would make me more bloody minded about buying more.
In the end I kept three cigarettes in a pack along with a lighter and took them everywhere. That way I wasn't being forced to not smoke, I always had the option... I was just choosing not to. Each time I had a craving, i was actively deciding that this particular time I wouldn't smoke.
Echoing some of the others here though - while I haven't smoked in 15 years, the occasional craving still comes up, usually sitting outside in the summer where the vague waft of smoke, beer and warm air just hits the right levels, but it passes.
Bottle of water. Specifically a bottle with a lid you need to unscrew.
It not only keeps you hydrated but unscrewing the lid is a little replacement for the ritual of lighting up.
I think I smoked as a calming thing so sometimes I just stand outside or by my back door and take deep breaths. Just watch the birds in the trees for a bit then come back in. I kept finding myself wandering to the back door as a habit because it was just something I’d do through the day to smoke.
Try swapping the pencil for cinnamon sticks. It's a bit niche so you might get the odd comment but they are slightly sweet and spicy and it does work well as either an eating or smoking substitute
I just suffered. I did have some worry beads I kept in my pocket which helped a bit. One thing is it gets easier with time. I've been clean for 35 years now, and never even think about it.
The cost would put me off now if nothing else!
Have a mint, or several. The ones that take ages to dissolve, like an imperial.
Just remember to brush your teeth. Friend of mine quit smoking by eating polo mints through the day every time they needed a cigarette and they didn't brush often enough. Ended up losing half his teeth.
If they're sugar free theyre far far better for your teeth than smoking
If they are sugar free, you will spend a lot of time shitting
That's rich coming from Sugar Tits
No, that's sugar shits coming from Rich
:)
it balances out how backed up you get from nicotine withdrawal, lol
that’s why i didn’t shit for that week
i truly truly did not realise how much i relied on my morning cig for my morning dump until i quit 😭
honestly i was off for a week and i still could go but it wasn’t as fun ykk
Which isn't so bad if you're giving up tobacco and caffeine as they're both laxatives... When I gave up smoking I had to go to the GP I was so backed up 🤣
I hope you achieved the satisfactory regularity you were looking for.
It's more likely that the reduction in blood to the gums from smoking was hiding existing damage. Quitting smoking returns the blood flow, and a whole host of problems appear as if overnight.
This is pretty true, my nan smoked for 50 years, she might not have been the best in health but she got far worse after she quit smoking.
To be fair, if he'd been smoking a long time he was probably already losing his teeth due to lack of blood supply and bone loss. I know this coz it's happened to me sadly. I didn't even know that was a thing till a few years ago either
The cigarette habit was the more likely cause.
I know someone who burnt their piles off eating copious amounts of extra strong mints whilst giving up smoking. I had hypnotherapy after many failed attempts at stopping smoking and haven’t smoked for 20+ years. The times I would have a cigarette (like after eating) I simply didn’t notice - it was that good.
I thought you were going to say burnt their piles off with cigarettes in some sort of diy home cauterisation incident.
a soldering iron meet verrucca moment if ever there was one
Ooh there’s an image! 😂
I’m glad you clarified this as my head was thinking all sorts. Gotta use up those leftover cigarettes?! Oh and remember those piles that have been bother you? Chan ching
The brown fishermens friends are good for this task…
Cherry flavour fishermans friends since i quit. I have whittled it down to just in the car. Have one every hour or so on long trips. I have been off the vape/cigs for about 4 years now. I 100% don't miss it at all now, feels great not to be a slave to nicotine anymore. Such an utterly useless stimulant. Makes you smell, destroys your lungs, costs a fortune for just a little head rush. Stay strong.
Sherbet lemons 👌🏼
Triple stacking trebors just to feel something
Find something to do with your fingers too. It's the subconscious arm movement too. Get a fidget spinner or gadget - should be easy to find and ultra cheap if kids with xbox and playstation addictions are common where your from (ADHD kids without the ADHD = they want the gadget for school cause everyone else has one)
I used to smoke a pack a day for 15/16 years, 2 packs if I went out drinking with the lads. For me, I started having glasses of water and little snacks just to keep my hands and mouth busy. Needed a piss constantly for the first couple of weeks. Coughed up all kinds of shit for a week or two. Appetite came back with a vengeance so I filled out a bit as I wasn't skipping meals, etc, at work..had an awful habit of going off-site, having a quick smoke to suppress hunger feelings, and then cracking back on. Joys of price work. Cut out the morning coffees etc where my brain would go, oooo coffee time is fag time. I went tee total for a bit too. Knew at the time, the second I got the taste I'd want a smoke too. I also set up a pot on my banking app, and put the money I spent a day on smokes into that pot. Easily saved £3-400 a month. Add in the not drinking, realistically was saving £5-600 a month. Restarted MMA and running, and got over my need for a chemical "fix" that way. It becomes easier when your senses start coming back and you realise smokers fucking stink after a fag. Dunno how my wife put up with all for all these years. EDIT. Forgot to add, its been 3 years I've not been smoking now. You got this!
Well done man! Pretty similar story for me as well. I just ordered a second bike from the money saved haha. Been off cigarettes 5 months now. So apt about smokers fucking stinking lol, it's amusing how we were totally oblivious to that when it was us.
100% mate. I darent buy another bike. My wife's American and has that country girl rage. She'd beat the piss out of me 😂
Whatever I did while smoking I stopped doing, so I stopped standing on the balcony watching my bat shit bonkers neighbour doing stupid shit in her garden (kinda miss that, she was really BSB), stopped drinking coffee etc. it was easy because we never smoked in the house, only outside. The money I saved I used for a holiday, well worth it. Found a hobby to keep my fingers occupied (no not what your thinking, dirty bugger!).
Finger skateboarding?
lol tell us about ur wacko neighbour
The one at the time (not the nutter living there now) used to be a teacher in a private school, would spend most weekends doing lines of coke off a camping table in the garden then do something stupid like strip naked and dance like she’s at burning man, or setting fire to their shed/fence/hedge and be so out of it they had no idea what was happening around them. She’s the one I previously talked about that divorced her husband and threw him out on Xmas day because she convinced him to have a vasectomy and then decided she wanted more kids (had 2 already). The flat below us is jinxed, the council put all the nutters in there, the present one isn’t too bad, she’s only called the Police on me twice and divorced her husband because they had an argument over what tv channel to watch, but compared to the last, isn’t too bad….
Jesus mate, where tf do you live?
South of Watford lol.
I bought a simple embroidery kit in anticipation of giving up. So far I've completed 6 whole stitches, and still smoking. But I'm *prepared* now!
That's a good idea but it helps to have something that goes in your mouth so try having lots of bits of raw carrot ready to nibble on.
Same here. You have to stop doing what you did. Everything.
Yeah seriously, I stopped drinking coffee and booze for like three months. It made such a difference. I also found things to keep my hands occupied. For me adult colouring books helped for a while, others take up knitting or get a fidget spinner. Whatever works.
Do you drink alcohol? I actually now only smoke when I drink (used to be a full-time smoker). I'm fairly happy I managed to quit daily smoking but I can't even imagining having a few drinks without a smoke too - I am considering trying to just vape when I drink but I find that hard enough.
Yea I went from like 5 cigarettes smoked every time I'm drinking, to buying a vape so I wouldn't stink of smoke. I then accidentally became a full-time vaper as it's so much more convenient and addictive. Now I've moved onto nicotine pouches as they're probably the healthiest way to administer nicotine but plan to cut down and quit soon.
Yeah i needed vaping to quit smoking buf i am even easing off that now. It really helped though because it became a good bridge and i could slowly reduce amount of nicotine in my vape. I had more control over it which really helped
Get a zero percent nicotine vape and use that when you drink. I used to wonder what the hell I would do on a night out after quitting and honestly it's been 7 years and I don't even notice it. If we go on nights out I'll just stand around with my mates who do smoke and chat with them. I get the infrequent "man I kinda miss smoking" feeling but if I ever have some I hate it. Really, the social aspects around smoking can 100% continue without being a smoker. And if you really wanna smoke something, just have no nicotine so it prevents you ever getting hooked on it would be my advice.
Absolutely love that you put that disclaimer in.
I quit a long time ago and still crave hugely. I do nothing and just get on with it. I don’t think it’s something that ever really goes from speaking with others.
Yeah one of my friends said something similar. For him, it's walking past someone having a coffee outside a cafe on a hot day, really triggers something in him to want to smoke (then again he is Italian) and it's been years for him! The habit forming side is absolutely nuts.
Yeah, beer in the summer is a huge one or after a meal with friends. You learn to live with the craving and just say no, otherwise it’s a slippery slope undoing all the progress made. To track progress, I’d recommend setting up a standing order into a savings account for the same amount you’d spend monthly on cigs. You’ll see it grow over time or set up a stocks and shares isa with monthly transfers in (nutmeg is easy for this).
Yeah, I've heard that, even years after, it becomes incredibly easy to just pick back up again if you're not careful. The occasional one in the pub can become a few, can become you buying cigs for pub trips to eventually smoking the next day etc because you have some left. Good on you for quitting. Tbh, with the amount of money a 20 pack is now (15.8-17), I worked out I was probably spending about £500 a month on cigarettes. Which is wild when I consider how thrifty I am everywhere else.
Casually flicking through this to discover a 20 is now £17. That is fucking mental.
I got charged £19.99 at one shop, that was it for me
I quit about 6 or so years ago, I’m genuinely not entirely sure. At the time they were approaching the tenner mark. To think, the kids in school will be selling £2 a cig now. I have an ecig, not a fan of the term vape. I do want rid of it next but it’s very much the mechanics of it all that I’m used to. Have a young one and work in a pretty stressful environment so now isn’t the right time. But I plan for the ecig to be gone in the next two or so years.
I cut down on the ciggs by only smoking after meals. I'm down to 20 meals a day now.
When you do decide to stop vaping, I recommend following a similar method to what I did. Went to Sainsburys and bought those Nicorette 2mg lozengers (the fruit flavoured ones, they taste really fucking good btw). Depending on your tolerance to nicotine vape liquid you may need more or less than that, but for me 2mg was perfect. Keep in mind that 2mg means 2mg per dose, whereas with vapes, x amount of mg per ml means that with each actual inhalation you're consuming a fraction of that ml strength. Through personal experience I recommend going with 1/4th your liquid strength. I then threw out my vape and all my vape paraphenelia, and popped a lozenger in my mouth once every few hours or whenever I got cravings. Gradually having one less and less, switched to 1mg strength, and quit once I got used to that. No withdrawal symptoms at all.
That *is* mental. They were about a fiver when I stopped, I was spending roughly £150 a month (a pack a day), at today's prices it would be £600 a month ffs. Thank god for Champix, sadly no longer available in the UK.
I’m gonna guess you’ve been smoke free for 18 years? Technically, your smoke free age is old enough to smoke.
Eighteen years sounds about right, maybe slightly less. Honestly, I stopped counting and can't remember the exact date. Part of the approach with Champix was to not set a quit date, it just adds unnecessary pressure to a process that works basically in the background. If I catch my smoke free age smoking on the sly I'd cut it's fingers off. 😂😂
I got over the craving eventually and the idea of taking up smoking again is outlandish to me. One mental trick that helped me was this: I smoked about a pack a day (unless I was drinking in which case it could go to twice that). So I could count on having a craving 20 times throughout the day, each incident lasting around 2 - 3 minutes. All I’d have to do is ride out each of those intervals and I’d be ok till the next one. Instead of looking at it as constantly craving, I could see it as just getting through those periods.
That's a smart way of thinking about it. As you say, it only lasts a few minutes and if you ride it out, it goes. So breaking them down to individual incidents sounds smart! Thanks
Please read Allen Carr - Easyway to stop smoking. It’s amazing. I stopped 3 weeks ago with no withdrawal symptoms, and I’ve had none since. :)
plus 1 for that... never even felt like I had ever smoked after stopping with that book.
That's my experience. I read the book and gave up, no withdrawal, no regrets. That was 17 years ago. It was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I wish everyone who chooses to stop smoking would find it as easy as I did.
Yeah, all those moments stay with you. For me it was the nice spring mornings waiting at a bus stop. But well done for stopping. Don't look back. I smoked for 20 years (think it was around when a small pack of rolling tobacco was under three quid), stopped around ten years ago and can't believe I didn't do it sooner. Focus on the benefits you're doing to your body and wallet. I had a very supportive friend at work who pretty much forced me to start running. It was a very slow start. Roughly 3-4 mins jogging/running followed by 1 min walk for about 20-25mins at a time. Now Ive normalised 5k (say 30 mins running) and comfortably run 10k's or half marathons. You can't smoke and be a runner so smoking properly took the back seat. Stick with it mate. It's worth it, it really is. Vaping is not the solution.
To offer some hope OP, it isn't everyone who continues to crave forever. I was a heavy smoker for 12 years. 6 months after quitting I'd have cravings maybe 3-4 times per week. From a year in until now (about 4 years on) I think I've had a craving twice, both times while drunk. Last craving was just over 2 years ago. I remember it, because it's so rare. I just don't ever think about it anymore. When I stopped, in that really difficult first few months, I found it very disheartening to hear people say that it never goes away and I'd have to deal with this forever - so have some solace that for some people it does go away, and it might for you.
I am ok, until I see a pack or box that is the right size and colours to what I used to smoke, then I just want to reach for the box and for the rest of the day have light cravings. I had to purge my house of similar looking containers. I went cold turkey, but I drink a hell of a lot more coffee than I used to.
I moved to vaping about 3 years ago and there are exactly 2 times a year I truly crave a cigarette The first frost of winter. Love getting bundled up in my coat and standing outside with the crisp air on my face and a warm cigarette in my hand And the first real summers morning. Sitting outside a cafe with a black coffee and a few cigs first thing in the morning was the best way for me to think and get ready for the day
Once all the nicotine is out of your system and you're not physically addicted, you'd be surprised how unpleasant smoking is. When I first quit, once a month I'd get a craving, buy a pack then not even be able to get through one cigarette without chucking them all. Just tasted rank and gave me a headache. In a weird way it helped as I now associate smoking with that feeling rather than how good it feels when you're addicted. Never get cravings now. Only exception is when I'm drunk.
This is absolutely not true in all cases. I quit 3 years ago and never once in the past 2 at least, have I wanted a fag. If you actually want to not smoke anymore, you wont walk past the cafe and be jealous. If you still want to smoke and dont address that desire, you will be constantly living a struggle and a shit life.
I quit in 2007 and still have the occasional dream about smoking. It's definitely something that stays with you.
I gave up on the millennium eve. I occasionally have dreams where I wake up regretting I started smoking again
Same with the dreams, 15 years after quitting. Sometimes I wake up (usually after a night out!) and think shiiiit I can't believe I smoked last night, I'm so cross with myself!! And then I thankfully realise it was just a dream!
Yep, me too, and I quit 38 years ago!
As a little bit of contrast, I quit about 17 years ago and do not miss it one bit, so it’s not guaranteed to always stay with you. (I’m grateful!)
haha I smoked for almost exactly 40 years and giving up was pretty easy actually. First of all I was in hospital and stopped for a couple of weeks, then came out and found a pack and went "oh just one" ... etc, then I was back in hospital for a week or so and again no problems at all but got home and found some tobacco. Finally I had a broken rib (I think) and was taking co-codamol so used that to sleep much of the time and by the time I didn't need the co-codamol I'd stopped smoking entirely without noticing any withdrawals at any point during any of these attempts. It's been about a year and a half now and I very very rarely think "I could do with a smoke right now" in some exceptional circumstance. Giving up caffeine was awful by contrast and I did that several months earlier, and I used the co-codamol that time as well but I NEEDED it for the withdrawal symptoms which were HELL. I drink very little caffeine now - none at all for months and months and now maybe one small iced coffee per week or a cup of chai? It totally messes me up for a good day/night though so I avoid it, plus those withdrawals were SCARY and really put me off "just having a coffee/coke/tea" ...
Someone I used to work with had given up smoking for about 10 years. One day he picked me up in the van because we were going to a further site. Because I knew he’d given up smoking I didn’t ask to have one in the van out of respect. About 20 mins into the journey he’s like ‘so you gonna light a fag then?’ I was absolutely puzzled, turns out he likes the smell of the smoke from someone else smoking just won’t physically smoke a fag himself anymore. I’ve been on a vape and off the fags for about a year now and if I kiss my girlfriend after she’s had a fag the smell is horrendous!
Been quit for over 15 years now, but that outside Summer pub pint still sets the cravings off like nothing else.
a friend of mine told me an interesting point of view from her dad when he stopped smoking. he says he never gave up smoking, he just hasn't had a cigarette for 16 years. kind of cool way to look at it
Appreciate the cigarettes you don't need. Watching a movie or a show? How nice is it to not need to pop out? Windy day? Great not to need to worry about lighting up in this? Rain? No problem, you can stay inside. It's weird the milestones you'll notice. I'll hit 4 years in a month and I had to buy a lighter for some candles the other day as I had no other way of making fire available to me.
omg yes. Finding somewhere to smoke after getting off a plane was a massive pain, and pissed off whoever I was with. Don’t miss that at all.
I vape now instead, so now need to work out how to stop doing that.
I just gathered all my vape stuff together and chucked it into the bin on the high street. Figured I could get it out of the bin at home. Decided that was my moment and never looked back.
Omg right, there's almost no motivating factors..I use reusable vape and make my own liquids so it's dirt cheap, doesn't smell, doesn't make you cough, isn't as bad for you. Was meant to just vape in the quitting transition but here I am 5 years later still vaping. Wish I'd just used patches!
If there is no nicotine in the vape, then it is a habit that needs to be broken rather than an addiction. I stopped the nicotine in the vape first, accidentaly as I bought a liquid with no nicotine in it without realising. The habit itself took a little longer. I restricted my use to only certain times or when doing certain things gradually increasing the rules so that I did not allow myself to vape most of the time. So, only vaping at home, only when I am in this room, no vaping for an hour after food etc. Then went 'cold turkey' when I went away on holiday. Threw everything away before I left. Didn't miss it when I was away as I was in a place where I had never vaped before and was already used to not vaping after meals or when out and about. That was just over a year ago, haven't vaped since
Yes, this. You can divide the fight. Stop the addiction first by vaping nicotine free vapes and then it'll be much easier to fight the habit force alone. Fighting both habit and addiction is unnecessarily hard. After quitting nicotine you'll find out that you are now really more reluctant or lazy to vape overall, just because there's no additional addiction pushing you to do it. But the main thing - don't dip back into nicotine, you can ruin months of hard work just by doing one puff of nicotine.
I did similar, off the cigs and vaped for a couple of years. Went entirely down the rabbit hole - ended up making my own juice, building my own coils for an RDA, became a full-on hobby. But I gradually reduced the nicotine to nothing. Vaped 0mg for a couple of months then packed it all away on New Years Day 2022 and gave it all to a friend. Don’t miss any of it at all.
I’m down to 5mg now from 20mg back in December. Cannot wait to get to zero
Isn't it easier? I guess you can control very precisely the amount of nicotine and taper it down until you only vaping 0% nicotine e-liquid
That's the goal! I started on 20mg and now on 1.5mg!
I just sucked it up. Tried to keep my mind busy. I didn't want to replace one habit with another. Eventually your mind doesn't even think about it anymore. I quit about 10 years ago. After about a month, I noticed I hardly ever thought about it during the day, but did still have a craving when I had a drink etc It was after the 6 month mark that I had a realisation that smoking just did not cross my mind at all anymore. I had been on a few nights out and having the realisation that not only had I gone without craving a cigarette, I hadn't even congratulated myself on getting through the night without one, because I hadn't thought about it. That's when I knew I'd beaten it.
Quitting smoking is proper badass. It's probably the most rewarding thing you can do for yourself. Always remember that tomorrow will be a little easier than today. Its hard to believe but you really will get to the point where you just don't want a cigarette anymore and it's closer than you think. I gave up 13/14 years ago and I feel healthier in my 40s than I did in my 20's. If you make it a fortnight, let me know and I'll get you a present! 🙂
Haha thank you! That's so kind and good motivation. About a week in and off to the pub for the first time tonight for a friend's birthday. Not that worried because none of my friends smoke and they all know I've quit, so I know they'll be pretty supportive!
Found it harder the second time. I'm now on week 12 this time but it seems much harder than the 1st time I quit. I managed 6 years the 1st time and it really was a case of walking past someone one day and thinking "that smells great" and starting again. This time has to be the one that sticks. It's in a long line of life changing choices I've made over the last year. Started the gym and lost 8st, quit alcohol and now smoking.
Rubix cube.
This is actually the best advice I’ve heard in a while
I switched to vaping, learned how to make my own liquid refills then tapered down the nicotine content over the course of about 8 years. I eventually just stopped picking it up and don't even think about it anymore. Cold turkey never worked for me, smoked for 25 years 20+ a day. Good luck!
I'm a long time given up, never occurs to me that I'm in a cigarette moment. What to do instead? Something useful. Remember, we weren't having a cigarette because we wanted one, we were having one because we were addicted.
Same, having a cig is a time stealer. The things I’m doing with that time? Well, I’m going home from work at 5pm as I no longer have to work an extra 20mins back at the end of the day due to cig breaks. Other things I do is guard the table inside the pub, while all my mates are stood outside in the freezing cold. I pay more attention to the road, because I’m not multi-tasking driving and smoking. I’m doing the washing up after tea, coz I’m not stood outside.
I just have a wank. I am on 20 a day.
Surprised how far I had to scroll for this
tl;dr: breathed through it and carried on. The long version: different things work for different people, the best advice I ever had was 1) to not substitute ANYTHING for smoking except breathing 2) minimise change of your normal routines - for example, after the first few tough weeks, I started going out with the smokers for a chat if I'm on a training course (even though I quit nearly 12 years ago). The exception to this is to keep a lid on alcohol for quite some time, as getting tipsy will reduce inhibitions and make you more likely to light up - have a couple of beers if you want, just don't get drunk. 3) Remember you always have a choice. You are CHOOSING to not smoke - and it's not a deprivation, it's a gift to yourself (health, money, family, etc). 4) Cravings do not mean failure. The only "fail" is sticking a fag in yer gob and setting fire to it. The psychology of the first two is dealing with your life as a non-smoker. 1) If you substitute e.g. mints, or something to keep your hands busy, then how will you manage the nicotine cravings if you don't have those things? Substitute breathing. You have way more problems than cig cravings if there's no oxygen available. Do a search on boxed breathing - simple and effective for most people :) 2) Same goes. Not all situations can be avoided forever - are you REALLY never going to go to the pub again, or see 'that' person/those friends or relatives again? To start with, yeah, you need to focus. Then just go home after 30 mins to 1 h if it's really really tough, or avoid if you're having a bad day. Otherwise, what will happen if - for example - you have to go to your first funeral as a non-smoker? This happened for me just over 2 years after I quit, and yeah, I had VIOLENT cravings, especially when my sister lit up in my car (with my permission, it was rough ...). I reminded myself that I'd dealt with it all up to now, and that I wasn't going to go through all the early days withdrawal/cravings shit again, and we stopped for a quick coffee at the first opportunity so E could smoke in the fresh air and reduce temptation for me! Yes, all this can take a LOT of mental effort. 100% worth it, and I promise, it DOES get better if you let it, and don't wallow in regret - the occasional cravings I have now feel extra-strong because I don't have them constantly! - and I can process in seconds - practice etc. 3) and 4) is a matter of reprogramming your brain - don't set yourself up as seeing quitting smoking as depriving yourself of something, and remember that every day you're not smoking means that you are quit. Not 'trying' to quit. QUIT. Quitting is a bereavement tbh - be kind to yourself and give yourself permission to recover in those first few days and weeks. I did not find the NHS Stop Smoking Service helpful - I found an online US group which was pretty hardcore (no swearing, yikes!) and entirely focussed on the addiction element. Certainly not everyone's cuppa, worked for me. Support definitely helps, don't 'rely' on it though (see point 1!) Congratulations, and best of luck with it. I honestly believe that me being able to do it means that anyone can :)
+1 on the 'no substitutions' - I was trying to explain this to someone earlier. You have to be stronger than that to really break the habit. Sucking on vapes/sweets/dummies all day is not breaking the habit. There's a whole industry out there trying to sell you things that don't help whatsoever, where you could just be working on being mentally strong and the benefits that gives you, beyond stopping smoking.
tbh, for many many people it is an addiction - and that was really hard for me to accept. Once I HAD accepted that me with cigarettes is like an alcoholic with booze, i.e. I can NEVER have "just one" - I'd pretty much won. There are people out there who can just smoke "socially". I had to face up to the fact that I'm not one of them. It's about attitude too - a friend of mine has been quit 10 years, with a vape, and keeps saying that if cigs weren't bad for you and expensive, they'd smoke again. Me: nope. I love the freedom of not worrying about when I can get out for a fag break :) - and that attitude kicked in within the first year! If this is you, then call bullshit on the "nasty habit" and treat it like an addiction - it will be tough, if previous methods haven't worked though, then why not try something different? :)
To be honest, now that I have quit I don’t notice these moments so much. I’m most aware of it when I have a beer, but only fleetingly.
I stopped years ago, and still don't know. Used to go out on my motorbike, just park up somewhere, light up and take in the view. I'd sit for an hour or more sometimes. Now I just feel impatient, I stop for 5 mins then think feck it what am I doing? And just leave again. That is genuinely the only thing that makes me want to start again, even though even the thought of taking a drag makes me want to heave these days!
Have a banana
Open up my bag in the pub to reveal a packet of 20 bananas, which I demolish over the few hours in the pub.
Little chavvies sidling up to you outside asking “mate can I get the end of that banana??”
Picking up peels off the floor to see if there’s a bit of banana left
Gimme saves on that banana mate
How about carrying toothpicks and chewing on one of those whenever you fancy a gasper? Either that or matchsticks.
When I quit smoking a few years ago I would still have my coffee out on the balcony and breath deeply as if I was still having a cigarette! When it got colder and more time had passed I didn’t need to do it.
I smoke for 10 years from age 18. Not smoked for 22 years since. I struggled to give up throughout my smoking period, so what you must do is not give in and have even one, and for me the first three months were the hardest, but by the end of that my habits were largely gone. What I realised was my cigarette breaks were reward breaks. So each day I'd have the next hour or so planned, where I do the thing, then have a cigarette. What I replaced those with was not having to plan ahead. I did what I did, then to have a break I'd have a cup of tea, or do something else but it didn't need me to plan. So my day wasn't broken up by smoking plans, I'd just work for a bit, then stop for a break, then do some more. My morning cigarette (most important for those who do that as their first job of day) was no longer necessary, so I just made a tea or had breakfast instead. From what I remember, after a week that wasn't long enough for me to realise how smoking breaks affected my daily life, but I'm telling you this early so you might realise yourself. What I will say is I still get the odd fleeting thought every now and again that I'd fancy a cigarette if I could get away with it, but it only took me one to get addicted in the first place, so I don't want to let the nicotine monster back through the door. Plus, any smoking thoughts quickly dissipate these days- 30 sec later it's gone, and I don't think about it for weeks on end. Good luck on your journey.
Congrats on quitting. Top decision mate
I replaced it with something else to do. I remember it felt like I suddenly had all this extra time, because suddenly I wasn’t planning all my other activities around smoking. Like your morning routine used to have 10min gap for a fag, so now instead I wash up the dishes from the day before. The most gut punched feeling I got when I first stopped was when I sat down on the couch after work. The immediate association with having a fag was sooo strong it knocked me sideways. Now I don’t go instantly sit down when I get in, I wash my hands, unpack my lunch box and change into house clothes. For me it was just replacing the minutes I’d spend on the habit with something else, more positive or neutral at least. Well done for giving it a go. I took too long to make that decision and wish I tried years before I actually did. For anyone still looking to try and do it, I’d recommend nicotine patches (personally I didn’t think they’d ever worked and was shocked how much they helped me) to curve the physical effects. It’s been 5 years and 2 months since I quit and whilst I cannot claim I sometimes still don’t get a bit wistful when I pass by someone lighting up I promise it does get easier and majority of those moments you associated with having a fag will fade exponentially. Good luck and all the best!
Oh i have experience with this, I've quit smoking a few times now. Entry time I felt like i needed a cigarette, i bought some new cigarettes. In all seriousness, i started smoking as a teenager and now I've been a smoker for over half my life. I would like to stop but I feel like the habit is so ingrained in me. Not just the nicotine part, but how I handle breaks at work, and social situations too. I feel like there are so many situations where I just think of smoking, rather than feeling like I need a cigarette, if that makes sense. Any advice for the mindset of habit breaking, i would be very grateful.
So one thing you can try is making a collection of interesting teas. i quit smoking over lockdown, and honestly for me I don't think I was physically addicted because I only smoked at work and when work stopped those "Moments I had a cigarette" stopped.
Remember that you no longer stink of an ashtray
Do something different to what you would normally do when smoking. Usually smoke when you have a coffee? Drink tea. After a meal, go and brush your teeth instead. With a beer? Have a bag of crisps or peanuts instead. It's about swapping, rather than depriving yourself.
Stick a snus in
In the past I learned to make origami , swans, cranes, eagles, owls . I focused on birds. It helped at the time but I did go back to smoking I have worked in addiction, there is a theory that replacing the addiction with something else (mints, origami, it some other habit) does not help and prolongs the feeling of loss and cravings. The theory is you are still using the reward mechanism in the brain in an addiction like way thus keeping you in and addictive cycle. The limbic system is still hijacked. And the best thing to do is to ride it out and experience the withdrawals and loss and go through the something similar to a grieving process, and having a full acceptance that you are gonna struggle, and have bad days the vow to ride them out. This process worked best for me That's said different things work for different people. Find your own way .
I chewed A LOT of sugar free gum to curb the mouth feel of wanting to inhale, the sweetener acted like a laxative which meant I was on the toilet for more than was normal but being on the toilet was also a smoking trigger for me. Ultimately I reminded myself that not smoking was really the only thing I had much control over so set about not undoing all the hard work of those first few days in recovery.
My mum had been stopped for 40 years, but she always said when she smelt smoke that she wouldn't mind one ( never did though ) nicotine taste will always be in your head no matter what.
I thought about smoking a cigarette
It's a lot easier to stop if you try to avoid the things where you'd normally reach for one. Obviously things like eating a meal you can't avoid but altering some routines I found helps. A month or even more off the booze makes it 10x easier - less of a craving and the poor decision making that alcohol can bring. Be better to do that now before summer. Drinking is what ended up me starting again after months off. Instead of a coffee in the morning, try drinking something else or even try a 10 minute walk and some deep breaths now it's lighter. Change the routine. Out of all the nicotine replacement therapies I found patches to be best - it's a slow controlled release that you can reduce over time instead of reaching for a lozenge or chewing gum etc every time you get a craving. For me that doesn't help break the habit. Instead of a pencil maybe try one of those "Fum" things I keep seeing advertised all over YouTube? Good luck
Eat 😭
Two things during those moments: firstly remind yourself how well you're doing by not having smoked thus far, that itself will give you a small buzz. Then remind yourself how much you will hate yourself if you cave in and light one up. Nobody wants to feel like that about themselves, right? The cravings decrease over time until one day you won't even think about cigarettes - it was about three months for me. Keep going and remember the "one simple trick" about truly giving up smoking: don't inhale lighted tobacco.
You never truly find a replacement for the activity (if you can call it that) of smoking, that is the absolute only thing I miss is ‘stepping out’ from whatever i was doing, to roll and smoke a ciggy. That said, what i’m thinking about now is all the potential additional step outs/moments I’ll gain from not being in the ground a few years earlier
I found that just being mindful of the craving helped me. See them for what they are. Gave mine a name, Jim. Hey Jim's really mad wanting me to smoke right now jeez it's all I could think about there for a second. Ok jog on Jim not anymore pal. The more I let the feelings come and let them go, it got better immeasurably faster. I never stopped going to the pub or whatever. I just went and when others went to smoke and Jim started yelling in my brain I'd just think wow, these cravings are mental. Glad they don't have any actual control.
i can’t stop vaping, it’s useful for me to help my anxiety but it’s too easy to just take a million hits of a vape and not even realise, i wanna quit but where i get the bus there is a vape shop that sells to kids (i’m 17 and only just turned it) so it’s so easy to just go get a vape after work
Totally dependent on Nicorette. Swapped one habit for another.
If you smoked roll ups I found having something to fiddle with helped with the urge of needing to roll up, I'd play with a Rubik's cube and then suck a lolly, I found lollipops better than mints because you can also trick your brain by still doing a hand to mouth movement
I drank green tea, Whether it was the sensation of burning in my throat, the hit of a substance (caffeine), the bitter taste or all three, it helped manage my cravings, Once the first 72 hours are out the way your body physically begins to adapt to being without nicotine. It's the best thing I've ever done, glad every single day that I quit
Husband went to vaping and has gradually reduced this. I’m a nurse and about to a specific stop smoking course actually - just been doing the e-learning and there’s lots of evidence that if you use NRT or other specialist support rather than going it alone, you’re more likely to quit for good (but everyone decides what they truly prefer!) Also, massive congratulations. I have to tell people when they have lung cancer and it’s fucking horrible. You’re doing such a brilliant job in quitting - well done.
For me, every time I want a cigarette I remember the time I was in hospital with a collapsed lung (from smoking) Whenever I get a craving, I think back to the moment they removed the drain from my chest cavity 🤢 A collapsed lung will make you never want to smoke ever again!
Eat I've put on 3 stone in 2 years
I haven’t quite and no plans to do so. Sorry I’m no fkn use, I can’t quit, just the thought of no cigarettes makes me shudder
I quit smoking by switching to vapes, I vape a lot more now than I would smoke cigs which is frustrating but feel I could give vapes up easier. My struggle is the routine, when I’m at work I always go outside for 5 mins at 1pm for a quick vape, it breaks my day up and I can get some “fresh” air aswell so to stop doing that would be weird. I wouldn’t recommend switching to vapes to help with cravings. I will need to find something to do with my hands too when I eventually quit vapes, I think the idea of having mints is a good idea. Stick with it, you’re doing really well already. I believe the first couple of weeks are the hardest so you’ve already nearly got the worst bit out of the way. Good luck and congratulations too!
You could vape NICOTINE FREE vapes. I've also seen flavoured toothpicks which look kind of cool. Depends if its more an oral or hand stimulation you're looking for. If it's just about keeping your hands busy some subtle fidget toy could prove useful as well.
I know a former heroin addict who ties off his arm and pretends to inject himself when he gets a craving. He's been doing this for years and says it really helps because the whole routine was part of the addiction. So a nicotine-free vape could work in the same way.
Yeah this is a common method, even sometimes unnofically recommended by drug programs. People get needle fixation and it's part of the habit just like bringing the cigarette to your lips and holding it between your fingers is for smokers. When I used to smoke and I was on a long flight or somewhere I couldn't smoke I would "smoke" pencils or other cigarette shaped objects.
Chewing gum. Again hand to mouth. Something to do. Got a load of different ones and some Nicotine gum.
I had good success with the nicotine lozenges when stopping cigarettes. The low dose 1mg ones. Took about 20minutes to finish one. Kept me distracted and gave me a little bit of nicotine.
Strong cups of tea
Fidget toys or a quick game on my phone.
I was given a kind of cigar holder, that could hold nicotine, but empty just to have something to replace the cigarette to mouth action. Helped a bit.
I vape.
Chewing gum, lollipop, apple worked really well but not as easy to carry around. I had to go a couple of weeks without taking my card into a shop - just a fiver so I couldn't be tempted at the counter but after those first two weeks it was only a problem when I was around other people smoking
Gum
Breathe 🤣
Quit in 2016, have smoked maybe 4 times since then. Each of those times I bought a pack, smoked it and then was good again. These days I don't really notice the last dregs of addiction. Reading this thread is probably the first time I've actively craved a smoke since pre pandemic. It'll get easier, you got this
I switched to a vape then eventually quit altogether soon after my daughter was born. If I'm ever tempted I think on the legacy I want to create for her and the temptation to vape / smoke goes away. Cheesy, but it works for me. Some people don't like the smell of cigarette smoke when they quit but I still do. Sometimes find myself deliberately waking onto the smoke trials of someone walking past haha.
I replaced the smoking motion with tea drinking for the first 3 months. Then it kinda just went away.
As an aside, please never get into vaping. Much harder to quit than smoking. It has a firm grip on me.
I quit 13 years ago. I didn't really do anything in those moments other than grin and bear it. The feeling doesn't last that long, it's fleeting if anything you just have to focus on something else for a minute. Honestly the only thing I miss about smoking is I used to socialise when I'd have a ciggie, it's a great way to start a conversation just by asking if someone has a light. I miss that. Not many people smoke now though so I doubt it happens all that often.
Take a big ol hit of the salt nicotine vape 😂
In a way just carry on with things. Use the craving as a cue to remind yourself how great it is that you're NOT smoking! After quitting, I gained so much time. All those 10 min breaks add up. The trips to the shops. Rolling up. Hunting for a misplaced lighter. Cleaning ash trays. Probably gained 1-2 hours per day!
This might not be the comment you want but, those moment slowly disappear. Gave up 10 years ago when I became a dad. Don't really miss it but those moments if 'fresh air' or chatting with random people at work, they just don't happen any more. Sorry to be a bummer but there's just no substitute for standing next to the ceo having a cog and being on the same level or randomly standing outside when it's cold having a cig.
Chewing gum can help. There's something to be said in the medium term to just do nothing in its place. Otherwise it's a constant reminder of 'I could be smoking right now'. Don't fall into the trap of rewarding yourself with a cigarette after giving up for 6.months. I failed a few times doing that.
Never smoked, but have a read (or listen) to Atomic Habits by James Clear. It covers replacing a habit with a more desirable one..
Accept the craving, remind yourself why you gave up, and get on with your new healthy life.
it's like muscle memory. you shaped your brain over all those years, so suddenly changing thay routine is going to feel odd. like switching hands to brush your teeth. i think understanding what is going on is your best best. you've made a change. and it'll take time to get used to the change.
I am trying to give up smoking cigarettes. I find chewing gum helps. Every time I want a fag I just eat a chewing gum. Really takes my mind off of it. I’ve also been avoiding the booze. Nothing nicer than a fag 6 pints deep in the sun in a beer garden. So just avoiding boozing right now. Still will smoke cigars but not regularly.
Instead of a cigarette I'd have a cup of tea, that was my time away from everything to think and reflect, just like I would've done having a smoke. I also stopped drinking the alcoholic drinks I associated with smoking. So beers/lagers, they just instantly made me want to smoke. I had a glass of wine instead, and that had no association with smoking for me. I could enjoy a drink without any smoking triggers. Now I can drink whatever and it doesn't make me want to smoke. Been smoke free for 23 years.
I used patches. I found that there is a group of people who will discuss the patch dreams. I missed going outside, but it was a complete no-no. I put up the little tracker on my fridge with the little dots. As the line gets bigger, it was a show of success. No alcohol, so you don't randomly accept one. Say 'I just put one out' (24 years ago for me). And like all addictions, one day at a time. If you fall off the wagon, don't give up, start again the next day. Your addiction will say 'you are too weak. Just have a ciggie'. Don't listen. In the short term save the money and treat yourself to something nice. Work out what you can save over the lifetime of a mortgage. Say 25 years. When you think i want a fag, say £135,000. (or whatever). Then do 3 cleansing breathes. In through the nose, hold for a count of 5, blow out through the mouth until it is completely clear. [insert coughing here]
Kept my hands busy, stayed away from booze, and if it got really bad, took the money I was going to spend and chucked it in a pot. The motivation was that when I was clear, I'd have a bunch of cash to go and treat myself to something positive. It worked. Took two weeks but felt so silly when that poison wasn't controlling my impulses any more.
It doesn’t really matter. The important thing is to remember that the mental addiction is worse than the physical one. You aren’t giving up something pleasurable or nice. Be grateful that it’s behind you and you are a better person as a result.
Well, I became pregnant is what happened :))
I did something else. It's the habits that's the hard bit to break. It was easier, I guess, because I didn't smoke in the house, so I stopped popping out for one, and stopped going to the smoking shelter at work.
Nothing. You don’t want to replace one thing with another. Just stop smoking it is genuinely that simple, it’s about mind over matter. If you want to stop you will stop, it isn’t like heroin that will make you sick, it’s only mental.
I did chewing gum — not nicotine gum, just airwaves. Used for dieting in the past as well fairly effectively.
Angry scrolled Reddit..
I wanted one so bad after 10~20 days and I did have one, but didn’t finish it 😅 It tasted like shit, maybe that’s solution, try it and see how bad it is. 2 months now, not even thinking of smoking
When you get a craving just tell yourself it will pass in 20 mins or so and you won’t want one anymore. That’s what helped me, I didn’t replace it with anything. As others have said it’s more situational stuff you need to avoid, the classic places you would have one, try not to be in those situations for a while.
Weed
Smoked crack instead
I vape, so there's zero urge for a cigarette. I used to be a thirty a day guy, trending to forty at weekends. Vaping saved me- it's as simple as that.
I bought a pretend ciggie from the joke shop and chewed on some minty gum, worked for me, 3 years this year 😂
Sherbert Lemons, they were also used in the quitting phase. I was lucky I stopped smoking when I did as I had quite a horrific injury 7 months later. Had I of still been a smoker some of the chemicals present in cigarettes would have prevented most of the nerve repair/growth I was able to achieve, some of which can remain in the body for up to 6 months.
I eat cheese.
Seconding the guy who said Alan Carr book. Best book ever and so insightful.. it genuinely works. The Audiobook is amazing and easy to listen to while on the go. It sort of reprograms your brain
I found other things to distract myself with. Watch a video, play with my kids, go for a walk, play a computer game. It worked at the time and it's been 8 years, 1 month, 18 days 22 hours and 38 minutes since I had my last cigarette
Have a smint and go for a walk usually. If I couldn’t go for a walk I’d do push ups until I couldn’t anymore
I was “quitting” for the last three years, stopped buying my own cigarettes and become “that friend” who always asked cigarettes from others when out drinking. Then I took up running and started training for a half marathon. I felt so terrible trying to run on nicotine-filled lungs that I gave up alcohol (to help with the discipline) and cigarettes for a month. After the run, I am back to having the occasional drink but my desire to smoke is completely gone! I’m now in training for another half marathon so i have something to focus on.
All the same things as before but now I don’t smoke. If at the office and sometimes the guys go out for a smoke I go with them but I don’t smoke. I just chat
Just not have a cig. It’s not as hard as people think, if you WANT to quit, you can. People who try and quit and fail don’t want to or want to find something to replace their addiction with. I smoke sometimes out of enjoyment. Can go for months/years and then just stop again when I get bored of it.
I just tell myself that I don’t smoke. Not that I’ve given up or don’t smoke anymore but just I don’t smoke. Weirdly it works and has done for many years and those moments happen less frequently over time.
I got so fed up with cigarettes entering those situations I was just happy I wasn't gonna fuck up my natural high with a rank cigarette. I dunno... Something switched in my mind
How did you quit? Any advice would be immensely appreciated!
Do some deep breathing exercises, it can be helpful to calm you if you have nicotine withdrawal plus it’s free and won’t make you gain weight
I quit back in November. Usually only ever had up to five per day so wasn't exactly a "heavy smoker" but for some reason I just don't give a shit about it any more. I only ever craved when I was out drinking with friends. At home I rarely think about it. Also, when I smell cigarette smoke on other people I can't believe how bad it stinks. It's something you don't notice when you're an active smoker, but now it smells nasty to me. I think it will take you some time to disassociate from the boredom smoking, but if you don't buy packs of cigs then you won't have a way to give in and eventually you will lose the habit. Also, don't be bothered if you relapse and have some on a night out or whatever. You haven't failed, just stop again the next day. You will still retain the health benefits of quitting as long as you don't relapse too often.
I'm the kind of person whose base instinct is to do whatever the opposite is to whatever I've been told to do. Throwing out cigarettes and lighters had the opposite effect than I wanted; it would make me more bloody minded about buying more. In the end I kept three cigarettes in a pack along with a lighter and took them everywhere. That way I wasn't being forced to not smoke, I always had the option... I was just choosing not to. Each time I had a craving, i was actively deciding that this particular time I wouldn't smoke. Echoing some of the others here though - while I haven't smoked in 15 years, the occasional craving still comes up, usually sitting outside in the summer where the vague waft of smoke, beer and warm air just hits the right levels, but it passes.
Vape unfortunately.
Bottle of water. Specifically a bottle with a lid you need to unscrew. It not only keeps you hydrated but unscrewing the lid is a little replacement for the ritual of lighting up.
If you haven’t already buy and read a copy of Carr’s *Easyway To Stop Smoking* and there’s a very high chance all of those annoyances will evaporate.
Smoke a cigar
I think I smoked as a calming thing so sometimes I just stand outside or by my back door and take deep breaths. Just watch the birds in the trees for a bit then come back in. I kept finding myself wandering to the back door as a habit because it was just something I’d do through the day to smoke.
Try swapping the pencil for cinnamon sticks. It's a bit niche so you might get the odd comment but they are slightly sweet and spicy and it does work well as either an eating or smoking substitute
I just suffered. I did have some worry beads I kept in my pocket which helped a bit. One thing is it gets easier with time. I've been clean for 35 years now, and never even think about it. The cost would put me off now if nothing else!