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Well it's now over 6 months since I gave up smoking 30/40 per day and there have been plenty of times that I've wanted one, we've had troubles that have made me feel like starting smoking again but I didn't. Today I feel like I could eat a cigarette but I also know that I've come this far and if I pick up a cigarette then the past 6 months would have been for nothing. My GP has finally classed me as an ex-smoker - my doctor will never consider me as a non smoker to him and my medical records I will always be an ex-smoker which I can totally understand. Not all days feel like today, there are more days that I don't think about smoking at all now than those that I do, and feeling like I want one is a rare occurrence these days. I had tried all sorts in the past to stop smoking and some of them can be a brilliant aid but I always failed. For me in the end it was as simple as deciding that I wanted to stop for my own reasons (grandchildren) and not because others were telling me that I should or that I felt as though I should but because I really wanted to.
5 posters
Think I've cracked it but .......
Helen- Dandy Owner
- Posts : 6837
Join date : 2011-06-12
mike- Dandy Owner
- Posts : 5172
Join date : 2011-06-12
Age : 75
Location : north east lincs
Helen wrote:Well it's now over 6 months since I gave up smoking 30/40 per day and there have been plenty of times that I've wanted one, we've had troubles that have made me feel like starting smoking again but I didn't. Today I feel like I could eat a cigarette but I also know that I've come this far and if I pick up a cigarette then the past 6 months would have been for nothing. My GP has finally classed me as an ex-smoker - my doctor will never consider me as a non smoker to him and my medical records I will always be an ex-smoker which I can totally understand. Not all days feel like today, there are more days that I don't think about smoking at all now than those that I do, and feeling like I want one is a rare occurrence these days. I had tried all sorts in the past to stop smoking and some of them can be a brilliant aid but I always failed. For me in the end it was as simple as deciding that I wanted to stop for my own reasons (grandchildren) and not because others were telling me that I should or that I felt as though I should but because I really wanted to.
navver- Posts : 1006
Join date : 2013-01-03
Well done Helen. Amazing what grandchildren can do for you isn't it. My wife has given up as well following us becoming grandparents. All these years of many really good reasons to give up all ignored until the little fella came along.
I gave up 42 years ago and can honestly say I really don't have any craving for one any more, so it does pass. I did have a cigar at Christmas after giving up the first time and that was fatal. I was back on them for 2 years. For quite a while I had to get up and do something every time I had the craving. I couldn't go to the pub or sit at the table after a meal. It was the only way for me and there were no patches or any other help of any kind then. Friends all did their best to get me back on 'em as well as there was no real social pressure to give up.
I gave up 42 years ago and can honestly say I really don't have any craving for one any more, so it does pass. I did have a cigar at Christmas after giving up the first time and that was fatal. I was back on them for 2 years. For quite a while I had to get up and do something every time I had the craving. I couldn't go to the pub or sit at the table after a meal. It was the only way for me and there were no patches or any other help of any kind then. Friends all did their best to get me back on 'em as well as there was no real social pressure to give up.
peridot- Dandy Admin
- Posts : 545
Join date : 2012-09-01
Location : Newport
That's fantastic news Helen - well done indeed 
Since the early days you hadn't mentioned anything and I was wondering how you were doing.
I've heard it said that there's no such thing as an ex-smoker... just a smoker who chooses not to and there's a lot of truth in that. I was only ever a 'social smoker' or so I liked to kid myself. After a number of times finding myself becoming very sociable for long periods of time and finding it ever more difficult to cut back I knocked them on the head.
It's been a long time since then, but I still find myself in situations where the craving returns as strong as ever. I think it's the fact that it's as much a psychological addiction as it is a physical one that makes it so difficult.
You have it cracked now though, and good on you - that gorgeous girl will be as proud of you as you are of her
Since the early days you hadn't mentioned anything and I was wondering how you were doing.
I've heard it said that there's no such thing as an ex-smoker... just a smoker who chooses not to and there's a lot of truth in that. I was only ever a 'social smoker' or so I liked to kid myself. After a number of times finding myself becoming very sociable for long periods of time and finding it ever more difficult to cut back I knocked them on the head.
It's been a long time since then, but I still find myself in situations where the craving returns as strong as ever. I think it's the fact that it's as much a psychological addiction as it is a physical one that makes it so difficult.
You have it cracked now though, and good on you - that gorgeous girl will be as proud of you as you are of her
markv- Posts : 8
Join date : 2013-03-18
Age : 60
Location : Sunderland
Well done, Helen!
I know what you're going through as I have just given up my 40-a-day habit. I can't deny that it's bloody difficult but seeing my grandbairns every day makes it all worthwhile.
Keep up the good work!
I know what you're going through as I have just given up my 40-a-day habit. I can't deny that it's bloody difficult but seeing my grandbairns every day makes it all worthwhile.
Keep up the good work!
Helen- Dandy Owner
- Posts : 6837
Join date : 2011-06-12
You can do it Mark, it's so lovely not to have to go outside when the kids are around ....... you get lots more time with them and that's just the beginning. Almost £15 per day soon adds up, I opened a savings account just for my cigarette money and I now have almost £3000 in there 
the first weeks money bought my husband a lovely new rather extravagant tool box on wheels so we can easily move it out of the way when pulling the Dandy out of the garage 
we used the cash to buy something that we wouldn't normally splash out on to show for my efforts for the first few weeks but I ran out of things I really wanted and ended up buying a useless chocolate melting pot that will never get used 
the first weeks money bought my husband a lovely new rather extravagant tool box on wheels so we can easily move it out of the way when pulling the Dandy out of the garage we used the cash to buy something that we wouldn't normally splash out on to show for my efforts for the first few weeks but I ran out of things I really wanted and ended up buying a useless chocolate melting pot that will never get used