Given up smoking....

[StellaGirl]

I have given up smoking! Actually I stopped in November but having not given in to temptation can now say I am en ex-smoker with confidence.
The strange thing is I didnt plan it. One morning and afternoon I smoked about 10 and then just stopped, just like that. No patches, no gum, nothing.
So I am feeling quite pleased with myself and thought I would share it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[paul_lomax]

Well done! But don't get complacent! I quit for 6 months once but started again after a particulary stressful month /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

But I quit again, and I think I'm fairly safe to call myself an ex-smoker now since it's been 18 months since I last had a cigarette. I can hang around with smokers without a problem, even in the pub.

Had the occassional cigar though, maybe once every couple of months, but they don't count /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[muminator]

Good for you, Stella!


I do truly understand how tough it can be to give up.

If you could bottle whatever you have that helped you, I'd buy a couple of crates for my 18yr old son. They think they're completely invincible at that age.

Anyway, well done.

Sue

 

[Stemar]

Congratulations & welcome to the club!

From experience, there are two things to beware of.

1. The desire for a puff can come out of the blue even years later. It's not hard to resist, but does take a little willpower, especially when well lubricated!

2. You now have the right to be self-righteous about those who still smoke. Enjoy it, but remember it's easy to go over the line into becoming a p.i.t.a. Doing so can give you more pleasure than you ever got from the weed/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif, but shouldn't be indulged in too often, or you may find yourself alone at the bar/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif!

 

[paul_lomax]

Agree completely.

Once a smoker, always a smoker. Same reason people aren't called 'ex-alcoholics' - they're 'recovering alcoholics' for life!

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Well done StellaGirl.....

I gave up on Sunday evening last week... so almost a week as a non smoker.....

Its fair to say that this has been a tough week..... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[paul_lomax]

But I can safely say 'ex-smoker' for the purposes of insurance /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Which reminds me, I think I'll get about a tenner a month off my mortgage protection insurace now...

 

[StellaGirl]

I have a confession....this is the second time I have given up. Strangely enough I only started smoking again last time when I started sailing!
This time I plan to stop for good.....

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Second time.... blimey.... I've tried giving up dozens of times.... this is the longest I've ever managed though... and this time i'm determined..... the £250 a month i'll save is the difference between the boat I really want, and something a little less perfect.....

plus, I caught my 6 yr old pretending to smoke with a straw... that did it for me.... what on earth was I doing?

 

[Cornishman]

Congratulations, and if it's any encouragement to you I gave up ciggies 40 years ago. I smoked a pipe for about 20 years, gave that up and then took up cigars for about 5 years. Haven't smoked a thing except other people's for 15 years now and have not felt that "urge" yet that some talk of but I do appreciate the good clean air.

 

[Joe_Cole]

It's nearly 20years since I gave up. I had smoked 40 to 60 a day for years. I had also given up many times. I can't stand the smell of smoke now, but I also know that I could very easily end up smoking again.

As others have said. Once a smoker always a smoker. You may have stopped, you may no longer be smoking, but you are a long way from being an ex-smoker yet. Congratulations on what you have done so far but in my experience the hardest part is the second 6 months. It's at that stage that the temptation to have "just one" is at it's greatest.

Stick with it!

 

[snowleopard]

i'll endorse joe's comments 100%. i gave up 20 years ago after smoking 40+ a day. it was a good 5 years before i considered myself a non-smoker rather than an ex-smoker. the first time i gave up i reckoned i'd cracked it after 6 months and thought i'd be ok having the odd one in the pub etc. big mistake- in a fortnight i was back up to 40 a day.

next time around i ran out on my way home from work and didn't stop to buy any more but just stopped.

i haven't wanted one for a good 10 years but strangely i still occasionally dream that i've started again!

 

[paul_lomax]

Very familiar tales...

I believe it was Mark Twain who said "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times."

 

[charon]

Well done! Watch the craving doesn't sneak up on you in stressfull times.
I stopped in 1982 (60 a day and a pipe) and bought a house with what I saved. Mind you, it took me about 3 months to stop screaming. Stick with it.

Godfrey

 

[doca]

Congratulations. Plan your next cruise to Ireland, a smoke free heaven.

 

[Ohdrat]

Congratulations.. but as said above you can be "hi-jacked" by the Nicotine at any point in the future.. personally am looking forward to our total ban in public places..

Was at a Tsunami benefit after Hogmanay which was most of the day and evening.. got very smokey in there, next day I was hacking like a chain smoker.. worst of it was I found the best thing to tame the hacking was a rollie.. but I've stopped again.

 

[daveking]

Well done, be proud. I gave up 4 years ago and can't stand the smell anymore
regards
Dave

 

[paul_lomax]

That's the problem - whenever you get a bit of a cough, you know in the back of your mind that a fag will 'fix it'... (ie keep it down)

Oh, and after about 3 months of non-smoking, you start coughing up the crap in your lungs. And you really want to smoke to make it 'better'.

 

[muminator]

..and watch the booze, Stella. I gave up over 20 years ago, but if I have "one over the eight", I can still be tempted. Big mistake...wake up next morning with a mouth like an old ashtray. Not worth it, believe me.


Sue

 

[snowleopard]

[ QUOTE ]
can't stand the smell anymore

[/ QUOTE ]

leaves you thinking "yuk, did i used to smell like that?"