How to quit smoking?

I got bronchitis. Couldn't breathe easily for a week and certainly couldn't smoke. When I recovered, I thought, I've done a week of cold turkey, it would be stupid to start again,
So take it a day at a time, after a week say to yourself what I did :-)
And my ex never did give up, so I still had to live with the smell.

www.amazon.co.uk/Kick-Stop-Smoking-Five-Days/dp/0722515235?tag=gransnetforum-21

Giving up smoking is really mostly in the mind, so if you put your mind to it you will succeed. I stopped by telling myself that, once I'd finished the pack I had, that would be it. However I left the final cigarette in the packet and always told myself that I had 'just one more cigarette to go' before I finally stopped. I never smoked that cigarette and it is still in the packet in the cupboard many years later. That was my trick, but I'm sure you will come up with your own to help you fool your mindset and help you to quit. On the other hand, a friend of mine had tried many times (unsuccessfully) to stop smoking and told me it was impossible ... then she was diagnosed with lung cancer and quit immediately. Amazing, eh? A classic case of needs must when the Devil drives!

I think that’s a good idea Esmeralda, I kept a packet of cigarettes on the mantelpiece for years, because I felt panicky if I thought I couldn’t get my hands on one easily, never opened it though

I smoked for around 25 years and gave up, cold turkey. However, I had already developed asthma, which is now chronic asthma. I did have a lot more breath when I gave up and started walking after meals so that I wasn’t tempted to smoke. The smell of E-cigs (vaping), also affects my asthma and makes me breathless. Swansea university has suggested that vaping can also cause damage to the lungs, tests are still continuing to discover the true damage they cause. However, for some people vaping seems to help them get off the cigarettes, but you need to get away from the vaping, too. Good luck in giving up.

I smoked for years and wouldn't entertain the idea of stopping, until a close relative had a stroke and the hospital told us the cause was more than likely because he smoked.
I decided that I would be the worst stroke patient ever, in fact it scared me to death and I gave up in one day.
I had one session of hypnotherapy and it helped a lot, I still needed a degree of will power for the first couple of days but after that I felt like a non-smoker.
I would say that one of the stupidest things I did in my life, was to smoke and one of the best things I did was to stop smoking.

When DH stopped (40 years ago) he began by putting off the first ciggie of the day until ten am. He did that for a couple of months then pushed the time back to noon, after a few more weeks it was two pm, then five pm, then 8pm. After a little while there didn't seem any point lighting up at that time so he hasn't smoked since.

This is the NHS advice information
www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/nhs-stop-smoking-services-help-you-quit/

I smoked for 40 years and I smoked heavily. My dh & I gave up together. I didn’t think I would do it but gave it a try. that was 11 years ago. I did it with the help of the local pharmacy who ran a stop smoking clinic. I used one of those little nicotine inhalers and patches. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be (I’d never tried to stop before). I was in very good health when I stopped. I gained a couple of stone in weight which was good as I’d always been on the skinny side. A year after I stopped I was diagnosed with COPD & Emphysema. I’m 65 now and my lungs only work at 45% and if I needed surgery I wouldn’t be able to tolerate a general anaesthetic. I lead a happy but limited life, love my garden and my family, life is good but oh how I wish I’d looked after my lungs. It really is not nice when I’m struggling to get my breath after going upstairs - very frightening when you can’t breathe. If I get a cold it will lead to a chest infection which requires steroids and antibiotics immediately to prevent pneumonia or worse. Just stop please. The best thing is that seeing how it has affected me has made my children into non smokers. If I smoked again now it would kill me very quickly!! Not just lung cancer but all these nasty chronic diseases will get you. For some reason, women are more at risk than men, my dh has fared better than me and is able to care for me when needed. Good luck and just stop. ?

My DD tried to give up smoking and used all the patches, gum etc. but nothing worked. Somebody suggested hypnosis. I recommended a lady who had cured my friend's fear of heights (she was going to Machu Picchu and wanted to walk around it). My DD went and the hypnotist asked if she really wanted to give up, which she did, but DD she didn't think it would work. That didn't matter, apparently, but you did have to want to give up. The hypnotist offered another session if it didn't work but had never had anybody take it up. This was about 3 year's ago and she has never smoked since. For £150, which is what she paid, it's certainly worth a try.

I smoked for years and stopped almost 20 years ago with the help of patches.
The thing to remember is this ~ you are not giving anything up but gaining a whole world of freedom. Good luck, it is really worth it.

I finally gave up 5 years ago after 40 years by vaping - which I then found easy to give up

Another supporter of Champix, i tried everything including hypnosis, patches, gum, sprays, i went on a course with my GPs clinic i stopped before the course finished and still have 2 packets of Champix left
The money i saved was put in a separate bank account and the more i saved the more glad i was that i had given up
Also had no side effects

My trick was to see how long I could go without a cigarette, rather than the dreaded finality of telling myself I could never have another one.

So far I've managed to go over 15 years .

Good luck Lisa. Half the battle, I believe, is making the commitment to yourself. Once you've done that it is much easier to go without than you think it will be.

I gave up years ago - I wrote a list of all the reasons not to smoke and there was only one reason why I did - I am a nicotine addict! And then I smoked my last fag, getting through hour by hour, kept busy, went out and got through a day. The next day I drank a glass of water every time I wanted to light up, went to bed early and got through another 24 hours until finally I got through 26 years. Now cigarette smells makes me feel sick and gives me a headache.

My Mother was a smoker. When she died, I wanted to keep some of her beautiful curtains. After three washes or dry cleaning where appropriate they still retained the smell albeit much less. Result? Charity shop. I guess the nicotine must have integrated the weave somehow. Don't know. I use public transport regularly and, when seating permits, I always move when a smoker sits nearby. I try to do this with sensitivity as I do believe smokers are unaware of how awful they sometimes smell because they are right in the midst of it constantly. I take my hat off to all those people who have managed to quit the habit because I do believe any addiction is a curse of sorts. Well done to all of you and good luck to those who are in the throes of trying. Maybe need to consider how much time I am wasting on this iPad?!!! Happily, not much in the good weather long daylight but...winter? Mmmmm......!

I smoked till I was 34, about 15 per day and never lapsed once I stopped. I remember sitting opposite a man at work who had a no smoking please sign on the wall beside his desk which I completely disregarded as you could smoke at work back then. I wish I could meet him again and apologise profusely. I find smoking and everything associated with it to be utterly vile. Nobody in my extended family smoke.

mrswoo has it right, it is a new world of freedom.

After smoking for 55 years I went to my GP clinic. They were brilliant & I smoked my last cigarette 8 weeks later. I still occasionally fancy a smoke when I sit down with a coffee but as there is none in the house it soon wears off once I'm busy again. Definitely start with your doctors. Good luck.

Become an ex smoker. www.becomeanex.org
This website was a lifesaver when I quit smoking 2 years ago after 45 years of smoking. I still log into the site daily for support and encouragement. The people have become best (cyber) buddies. It is a social site, welcoming, supportive, interesting, hilarious and informative.

Oh I shall go on there Bree19..have followed all the replies with great interest (and envy) as am still struggling..still keep turning back to the cigs...so cross with myself..

Brief help by a doctor (such as when a doctor takes 10 minutes or less to give a patient advice and assistance about quitting)

Individual, group, or telephone counseling
Behavioral therapies (such as training in problem solving)
Treatments with more person-to-person contact and more intensity (such as more or longer counseling sessions)
Programs to deliver treatments using mobile phones
Medications for quitting that have been found to be effective include the following:
Nicotine replacement products
Over-the-counter (nicotine patch [which is also available by prescription], gum, lozenge)
Prescription (nicotine patch, inhaler, nasal spray)
Prescription non-nicotine medications: bupron , varenicline tartrate (Champix)

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Reported

As firstwayforward says hypnotherapy can work but you have really got to want to do it. Not just think you ought to.
I married a man who hated smoking. His will helped me.