Nine quid a pack just to give myself a cough. Two left in the box and that's it, no more.
Cold Turkey is going to be a massive test of willpower, have I got what it takes?
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Hope so
I had a long walk with friends today and at the pub before we caught the train home a decent pint cost me £3.30.
If soft drinks weren’t so expensive I’d go t total
£9. Pack of 20 ? You’re joking surely. As a non smoker I thought they were about £2 pack. Heck.
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It's hard. Really hard. I went cold turkey from 60 a day about 15 years ago.
It was a long, hard and difficult process.
There's no easy answer beyond just not smoking.
Up to week 6 was awful. Then it was ok. Then it was really hard at about 6 months. And then it got steadily mire acceptable.
The health change was pretty quick. A couple of weeks and the cough had already decreased.
I wish you the very best of luck and all the encouragement ñossible.
It *is* worth it.
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Cheers.
From a logical point of view it's a piece of P, I've just got to stop going into shops and buying them. I know it is harder than that in reality, but the cough was starting to get on my nerves and even as a light smoker (11-12 a day) it's costing me £35 a week and that rises faster than inflation with every budget. That's eighteen hundred over the twelve months which is a serious bit of wedge whichever way you look at it.
I'm lucky in that none of the people I see on a daily basis are smokers, all having been at one time but quit. A mate gave up a month ago and said afterwards that it had been costing him a hundred a week! That's one very decent new car being set alight..
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It is a piece of p now, started at 14, and gave a 40 a day marlboro habit the kick overnight 36 years later. Pubs were a bit tricky, a pint and a fag went hand in hand, but now smokers are ostracised, it's even easier to give up
They were a fiver a pack when I gave them the elbow
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>> It is a piece of p now, started at 14, and gave a 40 a
>> day marlboro habit the kick overnight 36 years later. Pubs were a bit tricky, a
>> pint and a fag went hand in hand, but now smokers are ostracised, it's even
>> easier to give up
>>
>> They were a fiver a pack when I gave them the elbow
>>
You're quite right in that respect. I gave up for eighteen months in the early nineties, but back then smokers were all around you. But that's all changed now, if you light up or pop outside for a cigarette you get a mixture of disgusted or amused looks and it can feel quite embarrassing.
Just stubbed out my last one, and I am convincing myself that rather than suffering a deprivation I am in the process of a liberation, free from the damn things at last. I WILL do this.
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I stopped smoking late 60s when the children were born. "I didn't think it was what a father should do!" Pompous, me?
The time I really missed cigarettes - and cigars - was when I was at a function where there would be after dinner speeches. That was a long time before it was out of my system.
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Circumstances were such that yesterday I was with a few dog friends, quaffing ice tinkling white wine spritzers in the sun. One of them lit up, and I nicked a marlboro off them.
My first and probably the only of this year, I can take it or leave it.
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>>My first and probably the only of this year, I can take it or leave it
Stronger than me. I can not.
Many times the only thing that stops me having a cigarette is that I have not had a cigarette and it'd be a huge defeat to have one.
If I did have a cigarette, there would be no emotional barrier to my second one. Or my 100th.
I'd love to have a birthday cigar, or a Christmas cigar etc. etc. But if I did then I'd be on my second pack of Marlboro by this time tomorrow.
A pity, but there you are. I envy you the will power.
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>..I was with a few dog friends, quaffing ice tinkling white wine spritzers in the sun.
>One of them lit up, and I nicked a marlboro off them.
I have emailed the RSPCA.
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S'ok, they were beagles, thats what they are bred for.
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Whatever works for you.
One strange thing for me, I don't really know why I gave up. I know all the reasons that I should have given up, and why I am happy that I did, but I truly have no idea of what pushed me over the line into trying.
I relied heavily on patches and chewing gum. They didn't make me want a cigarette less, they didn't even compensate for not having a cigarette. But what they did do was suppress the withdrawal and enable me still to concentrate and get through the day without murdering anyone.
My other issue is that it was, for many years, my habit to have a coffee and a cigarette as I pondered a work issue. Typically walking around the car park. Somebody suggested I substituted apples. It worked very well but damn I got through a lot of apples.
If you're going to give up, then give up. If you're not then don't torture yourself with 4 weeks unpleasant abstinence.
One thing that worked for me, and I'm being quite serious, is that I told everybody I met that I was giving up and I was not going to fail. I made sure I was vocal about how I would succeed, despite skepticism from many.
I hate to fail. I hate especially to fail when I've said I was going to succeed. But more than anything I detest having to deal with others gloating over my failure, or even just noticing it with a knowing look or an "I told you so".
That kept me going over a couple of difficult moments.
In the end there's no right, wrong, good or bad way to do it. Whatever works for you. But if you can crack it, it brings smugness, a sense of achievement, and an end of the frustration of being told where and when you can smoke and having to worry about where you go.
Ultimately it comes down to simply wanting to stop smoking more than you want to have another cigarette.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Sun 15 Sep 19 at 22:14
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I loved smoking, every single one of them. I guess it must have affected my health, but I never really noticed any ill effects at the time.
Giving up was hard, really hard, but I just decided to do it and I’m pretty strong willed I suppose. Didn’t bother with patches or other placebos.
Have been known to have the odd one since, parties, Christmas etc, but never been tempted to go back to it.
Just tell yourself that you’re not an ex-smoker, but a non-smoker now.
Good luck and remember, the cravings pass.
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My father in law had a heart attack a few years back. He was rushed into hospital and, once stabilised, was interviewed by a doctor along these lines -
Are you a smoker?
I was but I gave it up.
Ah good, when did you quit?
In the ambulance on the way here.
A heart attack is not to be recommended as a smoking cure but he never had another fag and is still going strong fifteen or so years later. He has better health and more cash and, best of all, he has seen five grandchildren grow up.
Giving up is tough but focussing on the right benefits for you will help you through it.
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In a similar vein... I am currently restoring a 1929 motorbike. It was my Grandad's and has been off the road since 1953 - when he was knocked off it on the way home from his Friend's garage. At the time he was a pretty heavy smoker, and his routine was to light up when he set off from the garage. When he came to on the road he asked the policeman in attendance if there was a lit fag lying about - PC confirmed he couldn't see anything. Grandad was convinced that he'd swallowed the lit cigarette - and never smoked again! Bit of a drastic way to give up, mind you...
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I stopped in 2013, and stupidly started again last year. I used the Allen Carr Easyway book, and found it surprisingly easy to stop. It was mildly uncomfortable for a couple of days, and that was it. Within a week, I wasn't thinking about it more than a couple of times a day. Within a month, it was like I'd never smoked.
But, smoking is one of those things that never goes away, however easy you think it is to stop. I fell foul of this false sense of security last year.
I was having an absolute git of a day at work, and after a particularly unpleasant meeting, I went outside for some air. Bumped into a colleague who I get on really well with who was going for a smoke. Before I realised what I was doing, I'd ponced one off him and had half smoked it. And that was it. 20 a day again.
The thing with smoking that I have learned is that I either smoke or I don't. There isn't a half way house, the odd one now and again, at a party or whatever. It takes just one to make you fall face first off the wagon. In my case, it had been 5 years. I was long past the point of nicotine addiction. I wasn't moody, grumpy, and to be honest, had reached the point where I didn't even like the smell of it any more. I could go out and drink beer without being tempted. I could eat a big meal and not be tempted. I'd not had anything even approaching a craving for years. But there was clearly something hardwired in my brain somewhere that although dormant, had never really gone away. And it bit me on the backside.
I bought 400 back from Spain a week or so ago, and made a pact with the wife (30 a day from 14 to 30, stopped cold turkey when she fell pregnant with eldest (now 14) and has never gone back to it) and kids (who are very disappointed) that once these are gone, I'm packing it in again. Going to re-read the book as well.
What I can say for sure is that I functioned perfectly well for 5 years without cigarettes, had more money in my pocket, and felt healthier. The thing I really remember is how amazing food tasted after just a few days of stopping.
Last edited by: DP on Mon 16 Sep 19 at 10:53
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Giving up is probably the best thing anyone can do for their health's sake. I gave up because it as making me feel ill - dizzy and a bit nauseated. That was about 42years ago but too late: I now suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - shortage of breath and a semi-permanent coating of thick phlegm at the back of my throat, making speech difficult.
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Apart from trying just a few fags as a teenager i am a non smoker in a non smoking household so it is a little difficult to imagine the cold turkey.
I had to suffer passive smoking for many years and in later years ask SWMBO on arrival home to change after a day in the office with a chain smoker.
I still to this day have to distance myself from smokers in a check out queue or crowded event.
From what I observe, smoking is more than just the inhaling, stimulation thing.
The whole buying, unwrapping the packet, touching lips is part of it.
What to do with your hands now that all those events have ceased ?
>>The thing I really remember is how amazing food tasted after just a few days of stopping.
This new found pleasure if not restrained can lead to initial weight gain so beware.
My best wishes to all who are kicking the habit.
Today's environment should make things just a little easier to get off the habit.
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>> I bought 400 back from Spain a week or so ago, and made a pact
Absolutely the very worse way of giving up.
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I have a friend who gave up more than 30 years ago. He admitted at the time, and I can relate to this as an ex-addict, that one of his irrational fears was being without cigarettes available even if he had no intention of smoking.
He bought and kept a full unopened packet which he still has to this day. It comforted him just to know that he had some, but he has never opened it. Of course, the contents would be unsmokable now, but somehow it still helps him in a psychologically twisted sort of a way.
As I said above, I didn't use any placebos but I did ( still do occasionally ) when a bit stressed, just squeeze a small plastic ball in my hand. One of those you get with a bat and ball set for the beach. I keep it in the door pocket in my car or in my coat pocket. Can't tell you why it helps, but it works for me. Cheaper and healthier than chewing gum or munching on mints.
And sure, you can get all the "playing with my balls" jokes lined up if you want!
I too was Marlboro Reds bloke, nearly £12 a pack now.
I can't say I never lapse, had one on the beach in France this summer and had one last Christmas at a do. Really enjoyed them too. But I'll not go back to smoking regularly.
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12 quid! Clucking bell, I feel guilty about the one i nicked now, 60p worth.
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Makes you think eh? Imagine you were still knocking down a couple of packs a day and times that by 365...
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It's an expensive hobby now. Twenty years ago if you went past a school at chucking out time every other kid would be lighting up as they cleared to gates. Very rare you see anyone of school age smoking now, apart from the increased health awareness they can't afford it.
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None of my 19 year old son's male mates smoke, and nor does he, but a significant number of the girls their age do, maybe a form of weight control, wouldn't like to say. Shame though.
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I really wish you good luck with this.
I'm on my 3 period of quitting. One lasted 7 years. At that time Mrs FC smoked so they were always about. She quit and became a 4 hour marathon runner although age related knees are knocking that on the head.
The kids had been lecturing me constantly about giving up and deep down I knew it was right but nagging wont persuade you. You have to convince yourself. I really enjoyed smoking (if you can call it enjoyment).
For ease, £10 a packet - that's £300 a month - that's £3600 a year. Not an insignificant amount of coin by any stretch. I only worked 3 days a week towards the end and the monthly spend was 1/3rd of take home, give or take. I was considering finishing my second career and when the income reductions are considered the gain from stopping smoking was a 'no-brainer'
It stinks and once you become a non-smoker you realise how bad it was.
It became a reward system, 'Ill just finish this and have a fag'
So having decided quitting ought to be undertaken then the question was, 'When?'
The kids 21st was to be celebrated in Munich so I armed myself with patches and a mint spray. The chewing gum makes me want to vomit.
The day arrived. I had my last cigarette of my English sourced brand, the last in the packet, after breakfast outside the hotel. The rest is history as they say.
I never used the patches. They are still in a cupboard and are probably out of date. The spray sufficed. Although it could give you massive burping sessions particularly after a meal but I suppose it took my mind off sparking up. :)
I still wandered out occasionally and engaged with my smoker 'mates' but never really felt the urge. Just occasionally I really do get a craving but I busy myself and it soon passes.
Its really about breaking the routines that you have somehow. I do subscribe to the camp of if I just have one or a cigar I've failed and might as well have not bothered.
So its 2 years this October but a few pounds heavier - 14 of the pesky things :(
But £7200 better off :) That's motorbike changing money.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Mon 16 Sep 19 at 17:53
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Stopped smoking 15 years ago. (rounding for simplicity)
3 packs x £10 x 365 days x 15 years = £165,000
Scary money.
Not that money was the motivation, but in hindsight it makes the idea of continued smoking very, very stupid.
One of many bullets dodged, I guess.
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Haven't t smoked all my life so that makes me £770,000 better of then. Wonder where the money went?
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I can't say I ever really started smoking. I tried probably 2 cigarettes in my life, didn't really get anything from it or see what all the fuss was about.
I do remember something my dad said to me when I was about 8 years old or so, he said even a smoker who only had a few a day would spend that much money by the time they got to retirement they could have bought a brand new Mercedes in cash. At that time we had a series of leaky Fords, MB were something that millionaires bought new not normal people. I remember thinking at even that age how hugely expensive it must be to smoke. I guess that left a lasting impression as I still remember it now.
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I actually recall now what two of the tipping points for quitting was and the pictures now printed on packets highlights these:
1. Issues with teeth and gums
2. I developed a cataract in one eye. Now sorted.
It was probably the cataract that tipped it in the end - so they weren't bull manuring after all :(
Last edited by: Fullchat on Mon 16 Sep 19 at 20:58
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>>
>> >> I bought 400 back from Spain a week or so ago, and made a
>> pact
>>
>> Absolutely the very worse way of giving up.
>>
Not really. I bought them, and then made the call (rather than the other way around). I've done it before and can do it again.
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>> Not really. I bought them, and then made the call (rather than the other way
>> around). I've done it before and can do it again.
Its still kicking the can down the road. brexit ring a bell?
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May sound daft but when I was giving up, I found the best way to deal with the "cravings" was to go into the kitchen and run my hands under the cold tap for about a minute, it seemed to make my brain realise that you can't smoke with wet hands, and the craving disappeared!
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I'm with Mark, I don't want to even try one after stopping 5 years ago as I'm concerned I might go straight back to 20+ a day.
I stopped because I wanted to stop work early and I couldn't afford to while smoking. I had a cupboard full of duty free amassed over a number of trips and I said when i run out of them, that's it.
That took quite some months (not because I slowed though), and ended up that I was stopping on the Sunday two or three days before Christmas Day (and I was still working, till the march after). The lady at the smoking clinic said not to do it then as it would be mega difficult, but my mind was set and I didn't want any more excuses so that's what I did. I didn't even use the patches and stuff she gave me, or the rather pricey vape thing I'd bought.
Maybe because my motivation was so strong I actually found it much easier than expected, partly because as Zero said it was easier when not everyone around you in the pub was still smoking.
there are times when I momentarily fancy one but it's not a lasting feeling. I've just come back from a few days in Cornwall staying with walkers, and we went for a fairly hilly 5 mile walk on Dartmoor which I don't think I'd have been able to complete 5 years ago. it's sure worth doing it, so good luck!!
!"!
btw Fullchat - you have to EARN that £3.6k a year so it's more like £5k before tax...!!
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" btw Fullchat - you have to EARN that £3.6k a year so it's more like £5k before tax...!! "
Good point well made :) I just look at it as money available, or not, in the wallet.
You do notice far fewer trips to the hole in the wall.
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Apologies re my ignorance of the cost of cigarettes. In hindsight, thinking they were about £2 a pack of 20 was really stupid on my part, but as I never give them a glance in Duty Free, nor see the prices in other retail outlets, it was pure guesswork.
I’m fortunate that I started smoking at a very early age. About 8/9 yo. Obviously not seriously, but I remember vending machines on the way to Junior School. By the time I was 12 I’d graduated onto cigarillos....Henri Wintermans perhaps, even the odd pipe, purely for effect. Incredibly immature. Then I went through a snuff phase. By 15 I’d discovered beer and smoking was forgotten about, never to be revisited.
A lucky escape, although I drink more than is recommended, although rarely to excess and never to ‘staggering drunk’ proportions. I never ever drink at home, purely socially in various locals early doors, and quite happily go t total when on frequent activity holidays such as trail walking, skiing etc.
As No FMR said, I tell friends who are on these trips that I’ll be t total for the duration and would hate them to think I havent the willpower.
Good luck to anyone trying to kick the habit. I was fortunate, in a perverse kind of way, starting to smoke at such a young age, the odd sneaky fag each day, then quitting by my early teens.
Last edited by: legacylad on Tue 17 Sep 19 at 23:14
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>>You do notice far fewer trips to the hole in the wall.
That was very noticeable to me. From the cash machine most days to once a week.
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>> >>
>> That was very noticeable to me. From the cash machine most days to once a
>> week.
>>
And you'd be surprised how many of the smaller shops no longer accept card payments for cigarettes. The profit margin on a packet is now so small that the card charge almost wipes it out.
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>> And you'd be surprised how many of the smaller shops no longer accept card payments
>> for cigarettes.
Not surprised by that but not something I've seen. Then, as a non smoker, I'd need to see a sign or witness shopkeeper's refusal/reluctance.
Getting cash is becoming more problematic by the week as cash machines are disappearing at an increasing rate:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49730367
Most rapid decline is in less well off areas.
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Cash machine death is inevitable in a cashless society.
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>> Cash machine death is inevitable in a cashless society.
You and I are members of the cashless society and revel in it. There's a goodly chunk of the population for whom it won't be happening any time soon and they're the ones losing access to ATMs.
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I'm afraid economic growth is dependent on technological advances, and that can't be held back by being anchored to the lowest denominator. Cruel but necessary, as the luddites found out
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>> www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49730367
>>
>> Most rapid decline is in less well off areas.
>>
>>
If we assume that less well off areas use more % cash for transactions yet atms are disappearing fastest there. Can we assume well off areas are static or loosing them at a far lower rate yet use cash less?
If so it's a rather odd situation.
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>> If so it's a rather odd situation.
AIUI decline is worst in secondary/tertiary shopping sites such as those associated with sixties social housing. Shops that housed them are shutting down and providers are reluctant to provide standalones. Footfall is low and transactions less frequent than say those that are holes in wall at banks etc in town centres. Low value withdrawals too.
There are still lots around (say) market square in Northampton, probably approaching a dozen mostly in walls of banks etc. Quite a few gone though in last ten years.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 18 Sep 19 at 12:53
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Another reason for the decline in cash machines :S
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-47216789
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Both my parents smoked. Around 1955 I was on my bicycle and ran over a woodbine packet. It was full, so took it home and gave it to my mum. She died of lung cancer at 50 and I guess I contributed to her death.
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>> How's it going, RO'R?
>>
I was afraid somebody would ask that.
*Hangs head in shame*
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Please keep trying for your own health!
Try patches, e-cigs etc.
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From past experience substitutes don't work, they just enforce the addiction. I've just bought a copy of Alan Carr's book which worked for me when I gave up before, and also worked for the person I passed it on to.
I've scheduled the weekend coming to start reading it again (You've got to be in the right frame of mind and right now I'm too P'd off).
I'm down, but I'll bounce.
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Sounds that you need a bit of help
Hope this of use
www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/lifestyle/why-is-smoking-addictive/
"If you want to stop smoking, see your GP, who can refer you to an NHS Stop Smoking support service.
These services offer the best support for people who want to give up smoking.
Studies show that you're up to 4 times more likely to quit smoking if you do it through the NHS.
NHS Stop Smoking programmes can provide stop smoking treatments like nicotine patches and gum, or medicine treatments, to help you stop smoking for free on prescription.
They also provide counselling, support and advice.
Find your nearest NHS Stop Smoking service on the NHS Smokefree website or call the Smokefree national helpline on 0300 123 1044 (England only) to speak to a trained adviser."
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Yes, do keep trying. Don't end up with COPD like me, coughing and spluttering throughout the day, fighting to clear a thick curtain of phlegm in my throat before I can speak - and mostly only croaking after that.
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>> Yes, do keep trying.
I second that, RO'R. I'm ashamed to say that I smoked for years. To try and stop, I used willpower, read Alan Carr's book, went to a hypnotist and had acupuncture. They all worked, but not for long. Eventually a chest X-ray, which had to be repeated twice, scared me enough to try again.
I bought a hynosis CD and listened to it in bed every night for a week, whilst my partner was away. It seemed to have failed, but, when she returned, she asked to listen to it. I lay beside her in bed, not taking any notice, until she said "Okay, I've heard enough". In the morning, however, I didn't want a cigarette and things moved on from there.
Hypnosis sounds a bit silly, but the principle is quite simple. The aim is to make you so relaxed that the inner negative voice (telling you that you can't stop smoking) is silenced and you can hear a positive message instead.
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A Week of Hell Coming Up - legacylad
