# If you are an ex smoker, how did you go about quitting the habit?



## Manonabike (23 Apr 2012)

I personally tried several times and on one occasion I was nearly there, so much so that I felt I could handle one cigarette without wanting to smoke again.... WRONG!!!!

The last time I tried it was very different to all the others. I tried a new machine at the gym without knowing how to use it properly and I trapped a nerve on my back. The thing is that I didn't know that so the symptoms I was getting ( similar to angina ) I associated with the pressure I was under at work. Anyway, I ended up in hospital and I spent a week there going through tests etc. eventually the docs figured out what happened.

The day I came home my wife showed me my last packet of cigarettes and said "what do I do with these?" I replied, a bit hesitant , "throw them away!!!" From that day I used two tactics to help me quit the habit. Firstly I needed to set my target and this time I just said "my target is not to smoke today, tomorrow is another day but today I will not smoke" also whenever I was dying for a fag I brought to my head the image of my wife crying when the doc was telling me I needed to stop smoking. It took me 8 long months to feel confident about needing a cigarette ever again. 15 years since then 


What's your story?


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## subaqua (23 Apr 2012)

that" becky taylor " advert. my eldest daughter said to me she wasn't afraid of anything except me dying from smoking. that was the last thing in a series of smaller events that led upto me properly stopping.

I needed to be ready to give up and before that i don't think i was


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## compo (23 Apr 2012)

I tried for over 20 years, will power, hypnosis, nicotine replacement, you name it I tried it......unsuccessfully.
Nearly 5 years ago I joined a NHS quit group and was prescribed Champix. That stuff rocks. A few days and I was a non smoker, no pangs, no withdrawal and no desire to smoke. I have been smoke free ever since.


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## Peteaud (23 Apr 2012)

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/diary-of-a-smoker.92703/

Had enough of smoking and needed to get fit.

Started with the mouth squirter, then sheer pig headed "i will not smoke"


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## Fab Foodie (23 Apr 2012)

Zyban. More people have quit and stayed quit this way than any other I know.


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## col (23 Apr 2012)

My wife has been off the fags for 15 days now, hasnt used anything just said no. Her sister is on some tablets but dont know which ones they are, and she is still smoking, but its only been a few days on them yet. Iv got the chewing gum 4mg ones to give it a go when I get the nads to go to work without any fags.


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## alans (23 Apr 2012)

I stopped,cold turkey, the day my wife was diagnosed with cancer.


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## guitarpete247 (23 Apr 2012)

I gave up for 2 1/2 years about 15 years ago. I had a cough and started to cough blood. I went to Doc's who got my in for a bronchoscopy within a week. It turned out to be nothing more than a damaged blood vessel from my cough, but enough to make me take stock and stop. Unfortunately 2 1/2 years on and stress at work and going to pub with several smokers and I was back on the weed.

This time the GF and I gave up together. Coupled with not wanting granddaughters to see us smoke is incentive enough to keep us off the habit. On holiday she has been tempted a couple of times but I've kept her from fags. I'm sure if I ever got the temptation she'd do the same for me. Us stopping has meant that GF's DIL never started again after her 2nd daughter like she did after her 1st. I also kept a tally of the money I saved. I was spending £50 a week, £200 a month, £2600 a year. _So where's my carbon bike?_  Been smoke free now for 2 years last Feb.

For anyone out there trying to give up. Don't weaken. Take it one hour, then one day, then one week and then one month at a time. Before long you'll be able to class yourself as a non smoker.


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## bicyclos (23 Apr 2012)

I gave up on my 40th birthday(12yrs ago)sold the car and bought a bike and equiptment with the money and got back into cycling. I was really concerned with my health back then with running out of breath without running, coughing and sore throat all the time. For me it was time to stop. You have got to be determined and want to stop. The nicotine and crap that you have built up in your body does not want you to stop and thats why you crave. In time the craving will ease but a lot of it is up to you to do the rest. What do you love the most, cancer sticks or your health?


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## subaqua (23 Apr 2012)

Fab Foodie said:


> Zyban. More people have quit and stayed quit this way than any other I know.


 
i was advised against zyban as it has contraindicators for diving . which i was doing regularly when i was wanting to give up


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## MossCommuter (23 Apr 2012)

Nicorette Quickmist; some people can't get on with the scratchy sensation on the back of the throat but as a Marlboro, Golden Virginia and Henry Wintermans Slim panatella smoker I kind of liked it.


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## Peteaud (23 Apr 2012)

MossCommuter said:


> Nicorette Quickmist; some people can't get on with the scratchy sensation on the back of the throat but as a Marlboro, Golden Virginia and Henry Wintermans Slim panatella smoker I kind of liked it.


 
I used that for my 1st week, it made me hiccup but it did help.

Tasted vile.


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## The Brewer (23 Apr 2012)

Similar to others and tried most things to kick the weed and found theres just one cure, will power.

Still don't know why but I just decided last June I was going to quit on July 1st. I totally changed all my habbits and for the first month bearly used the PC or drank coffee. The dog lost lots weight with all walks he went on and I dusted off the Tesco mountain bike in the shed.
Goals and rewards I think are important, so I treated myself for being smoke free for a month with a Carrera road bike


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## MossCommuter (23 Apr 2012)

Peteaud said:


> I used that for my 1st week, it made me hiccup but it did help.
> 
> Tasted vile.


Oh, gaaawd, yeah, I forgot about the hiccups and burps.


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## broomwagon (23 Apr 2012)

I just decided to suddenly stop in early '87. It's the best thing I ever did, I couldn't do what I do now if I'd carried on, ie cycling, fell walking, (Yorks 3 Peaks this thursday, 20 odd miles), I have an active outdoor job working in the countryside too and I thank my lucky stars every morning because I enjoy going to work. I watch the lads in work where I go for my dinner, and they're outside every 5 minutes for a fag, you can't have a long conversation with them, they get out of breath and start coughing and spluttering. Poor feckers


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## ufkacbln (23 Apr 2012)

Crashed a Mountain Bike!

Mid 80's, fractures of Skull, Ribs, Collarbone, Pelvis and Hip.... After three weeks in bed went down to the NAAFI for a fag and it tasted awful, so decided that was it.


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## Hacienda71 (23 Apr 2012)

I did it cold turkey stylee. I had used patches etc in the past but always went back. 
I think being in the right state of mind and thinking about my nearest and dearest was what worked for me.


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## Norm (23 Apr 2012)

I didn't quit, I'm no quitter, I just decided to stop back in 1989.

I've smoked a bit since then, most recently for about 3 months in 2009, but I've never had a problem with them because Istop when I decide to stop, and I never quit.


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## Trevrev (24 Apr 2012)

I read the Alan Carr book. Worked for me.


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## vickster (24 Apr 2012)

Allan Carr for me too, oh and the fact it is a foul habit with no benefits whatsoever...


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## MattHB (24 Apr 2012)

I quit 14 years ago now. And I just stopped right out. I waited until I had about the worst cold I was likely to get, as that masked the withdrawal effects. Once I got to a week the physical weirdness that my body was going through (dizziness mainly) became a sort of self study which sort of depersonalised the whole thing. It also shocked me so much as to the hold it had over me it gave me lots of motivation to carry on.

Its whatever works for you though.


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## GetAGrip (24 Apr 2012)

What ever works for you is the way to go! For me, I always failed the challenge using any 'aids', seemed too obsessive somehow. I found the most important thing was TIMING! and more importantly .... my timing, not other peoples.
I finally stopped in June last year cold turkey. Didn't tell anyone (hated being constantly checked on with some folks just waiting for me to fail). Walked and cycled loads. I even kept my packet of cigs in exactly the same place and only chucked them out when I was comfortable to get on with life without them.
It's still a subject that I'm unable to have a discussion about with family and friends even though I can't say I think about smoking much now.
Oh, and I gave myself regular treats at the LBS


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## tonyg52 (24 Apr 2012)

Quit cold turkey over twenty years ago. Required just one major lifestyle change had to break the association of smoking with booze. Didn’t drink for over 5 years, best thing I ever did.


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## Moodyman (24 Apr 2012)

My motivation came from becomming a father.

Also, I became quite zealous when I looked into the history of the tobacco industry and how they tried to suppress medical research.


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## numbnuts (24 Apr 2012)

I was getting out of breath, so one morning I looked at my tobacco tin and said “I don't need you any more” and that was it, two weeks later I was diagnosed with emphysema


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## dongo (24 Apr 2012)

Decided to sort myself out a couple of years ago - finally got to the point where I really wanted to do it rather than just thinking it was a good idea. Stopped smoking, lost over 4 stones, cut back on the drinking, took up cycling and running, learnt to swim. I still bite my fingernails though, just can't seem to sort that one out. All just took willpower and determination.


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## ColinJ (24 Apr 2012)

I went to an all night party in my 20s, drank a lot of beer, smoked 60 B&H (and a few other things ...), got about 10 minutes sleep, went home on a beautiful summer day feeling like death, collapsed on my bed, wheezing and coughing, saying 'never again', watched the men's singles final from Wimbledon, realised that those superb athletes were young men about the same age as me, decided that killing myself with bad habits at such a young age wasn't smart, and so ... gave up smoking! I decided not to do it any more, and so I didn't.


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## Cush (24 Apr 2012)

When the government put them up to 50p a packet, it was either the future wife or the fags, maybe the fags would have been cheaper in the long run!!


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (24 Apr 2012)

Decided after nearly 8 years that I'd had enough. Started on the patch course and actually stopped it early. 4weeks on 20mg 2 on 15mg and 1 on 10mg

Will be 3 years in July :O


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## Den1966 (24 Apr 2012)

i was a weekend smoker , get a pack after 3/4 pints , it took my mother getting lung cancer to make me stop ..


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## youngoldbloke (25 Apr 2012)

Fear. The requirement to be a non smoker before my first angioplasty - needed as as a result of smoking, absolutely no doubt. 19 years ago. Don't cut down, STOP NOW. You will die earlier than you should otherwise.


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## Andrew_Culture (25 Apr 2012)

Alan Carr and a bout of the flu got me off a very long habit, then getting into cycling again got me off the occasional one (unless very tipsy). The last big challenge was wanting one after coming off stage (not as grand as it sounds), but I tried half a rollie a few weeks back and it just plain HURT.


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## citybabe (28 Apr 2012)

Just willpower - 14 years ago now
And also the fact that I had a chest infection and the colour of the stuff I was coughing up was enough to stop me. I was only 26 at the time


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## paulw1969 (28 Apr 2012)

Read Allan Carrs first book twice, set a date (Jan 6th) after 20 years plus of 20 plus a day.......found it ridiculously easy.....the book helped focus my thoughts as to why i no longer wanted to smoke (had been wanting to be free for a few years.....there were always excuses) and i would recommend the book to anyone who seriously wants to be free of the weed
See Peteaud's thread for more details


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## Andrew_Culture (28 Apr 2012)

One small problem with the Alan Carr book was that I'd quit habitually smoking before reading it, so the chapters that tell you to smoke while you're reading them...


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## Peteaud (28 Apr 2012)

paulw1969 said:


> Read Allan Carrs first book twice, set a date (Jan 6th) after 20 years plus of 20 plus a day.......found it ridiculously easy.....the book helped focus my thoughts as to why i no longer wanted to smoke (had been wanting to be free for a few years.....there were always excuses) and i would recommend the book to anyone who seriously wants to be free of the weed
> See Peteaud's thread for more details


 
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/diary-of-a-smoker.92703/post-1815970


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## paulw1969 (28 Apr 2012)

Andrew_Culture said:


> One small problem with the Alan Carr book was that I'd quit habitually smoking before reading it, so the chapters that tell you to smoke while you're reading them...


 
but he does add not to start smoking again if you have already stopped.........anyone who does start again is looking for any excuse

Seriously though, i think the book can help anyone. And i know i keep on about it......but it does work....a colleague has just stopped by using it after i nagged him to finish it (he recommended it to me in the first place after friends/relatives recommended it to him).


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## Andrew_Culture (29 Apr 2012)

Ha, nail + head + well aimed kinetic thrust = your post!


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## jjc89 (29 Apr 2012)

I'm still young but I had been smoking on and off since I was around 17/18 until one day I realised I had been doing it for nigh on 5 years. After a few stuttering starts and stops I managed to give up for around 3 months, was going to the gym 5 times a week (+ at least 45 mins cardio a day) and eating the most calorie restricted diet. Then I went on holiday to Barcelona that summer and smoked like a chimney and have been on and off since. That was last summer. Again I made the decision to quit cold turkey and it has worked so far, the only problem is on nights out, especially when drinking. For example the whole of last week I didn't have one fag, then last night I went to a few bars and smoked 10. I suppose you could call me a social smoker, I do enjoy a fag with a drink that's the annoying thing. Plus literally EVERY one of my friends smokes so yeah, it's tough. I think since going cold turkey isn't really working with the drinking I'll need to wean it down from 10 to 5 to 3 to 2 to 1 to 0 over time. Or drink less(but then again I only drink one night a week) or get new friends, ha.


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## Albert (2 May 2012)

I hads a heart attack. Stopped smoking and took up cycling - simples


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## Punt1971 (3 May 2012)

3rd January 2001 was the day I had my last cigarette after many years of smoking heavily, 40+ per day. I timed it so my first day back at work after the new year would be my first non-smoking day. I didn't make a big deal about it either, I just got on with it. I did however make the office non-smoking much to the annoyance of others, management perk!

I didn't use patches or gum but I did use one of them inhilator things but without the cartridges. The hardest part was after a meal and that's where the inhilator really helped, habitually I wanted to put something in my mouth (!) and this filled the gap a cigarette left.

Overall, I didn't find it too difficult at all. If only I could stop over-eating as easily!


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## 172traindriver (3 May 2012)

I had got up to probably 30 a day, got a new job (ie current one) and during the medical which was very stringent the BUPA doctor gave me the lecture. Anyway his words stuck, I went and saw my GP he gave me patches. 
I smoked my last couple of cigarettes that were in the packet and thought to myself start with the patches in the morning.
The next morning came but I never used the patches and have never smoked since. That was nearly 10 years ago 
We moved house 3 years ago and whilst getting all the junk together, I came across the patches and threw them away as they were no longer needed.
It wasn't as hard to stop as I would have thought, just will power and a kick up the a**e.
Best thing I ever did!!!!!!


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## Andrew_Culture (3 May 2012)

Since getting properly into cycling I still want the occasional ciggie, but if I have one it hurts like hell. So I won't smoke now because it hurts, easy!


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## Andrew_Culture (3 May 2012)

Oh, and becoming a dad kinda sealed the deal, I mean, staying alive is no longer selfish act!


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## PJ79LIZARD (8 May 2012)

I used the inhaler and started this cycling malarkey. My motivation was simple, I was very unfit, every time I was climbing the walls for a fag I would get the bike out and ride till I felt sick, which wasn't far back then. I certainly didn't want a fag when I got back home! And I just repeated that scenario, each month I cycled further and slowly but surely my fitness increased. Now I cycle 6 out of 7 days a week. Spend way more money on bikes and gear than I ever did on fags, but I feel great, fitter than I've ever been in my life. Best thing I ever did.


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## Linford (8 May 2012)

Cold turkey and Victory V-s from 20 a day when I was 20


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## I <3 BMC (23 May 2012)

Allen carr "the only way to stop smoking book" it really does work if you easily brain washed like me


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## Mushroomgodmat (25 May 2012)

Everyone's different but for me it went like this...

Tried quiting about 3 times, my heart was not in it and I managed a smoke free day or two. Then, after a night out, smoked myself silly (30-40cigs) got drunk, got very drunk. Woke up next morning feeling crap, not wanting a cigarette, threw what cigerettes I had left down the toilet, never smoked again.

Once I had decided that I was going to quit, I committed fully and never looked back. It took me about 10 years, but once I decided I found quiting very easy. I didn't cut down, I didn't use patches...I just woke up one day and stopped.

Then many years later, bought a bike, now fitter than iv ever been


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## Willo (29 May 2012)

I gave up a good few years back but remember it being v.tough. Finally cracked it when we had a health roadshow at work with a counsellor on helping folk quit. On hearing about my several failed attempts she suggested giving up gradually. I started with losing the first smoke of the day, none before lunch etc. until I was down to when I went out for a drink. That was the toughest nut to crack with a few lapses but I slowly got there in the end. The difficulty in giving up showed me how addictive it is. Listening to my dad trying to breathe reminds me of the alternative!


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## Boris Bajic (29 May 2012)

I gave up about 20 years ago, because we were expecting our first child.

It was a little hard, but nothing like the dramas you hear people talking about.

There were no patches, no substitutes in those days. 

I was advised that when offered a smoke I should say "No thanks, I don't smoke". Every time you say that, it sounds more credible.

I was also told not to speak or think of 'giving up'. On reflection, it is an unusual verb to use for something positive.

The truth is that you will find yourself wanting a smoke. Ignore the desire. It will diminish. 

I know many people who've told me three days into stopping that their system is 100% unbeatable. The next time I see them, they're smoking. 

Similarly, patches and the like have their proponents but I don't see the point or the need.

Accept that it won't be easy and make up your mind to do it. Every day after about day four is easier.

I know nobody who regrets stopping being a smoker.

I do not know an elderly or middle-aged smoker who is pleased to be one.


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## Peteaud (29 May 2012)

[QUOTE 1868883, member: 9609"]If you stop smoking when you are healthy, how long is it until the risks of heart desease and cancer fall to the same levels of someone who has never smoked?
The only couple of articles that I have managed to find sort of suggest 10 - 15 years - which is quite good as I have now been stopped 16½ years. (smoked 30 a day for 17 years)

Another interesting stat on smoking came from some heart specialist being interviewed on the radio, who suggests, as a rule smokers run into major health problems after about 250,000 cigarettes. That does sound a lot, however my habit of 30 a day for 17 years adds up to a colossal 186,000. (so hopefully I stopped in time)[/quote]


Most aticles i found mentioned 15 years


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## palinurus (29 May 2012)

Willo said:


> I gave up a good few years back but remember it being v.tough. Finally cracked it when we had a health roadshow at work with a counsellor on helping folk quit. On hearing about my several failed attempts she suggested giving up gradually. I started with losing the first smoke of the day, none before lunch etc. until I was down to when I went out for a drink.


 
That's how I did it. It took a long time, didn't stick completely at first, but subsequently if I fell off the wagon it was pretty easy to get back on as the habit was weakened a fair bit. That method just suited me somehow.


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## e-rider (29 May 2012)

I tried loads of times before I managed to do it for good - it's been 7 years now and no looking back. All the hard work is done in the first 2 weeks. After that it's just a case of never trying it again - ever!!!

I am fairly fat now though whereas before I quit I was skinny, so try not to replace smoking with more food right from the start as this is a bad habit to develop.


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## The Brewer (29 May 2012)

Could I have a little vent of my spleen 

Works crap, Mrs B is ill and isn't getting better, the kids want stuff I've never heard of never mind could afford and I past the newsagents and thought about stopping and buying just ten fags

I was good but have had a similar thoughts too frequently recently.

Great Manchester ride is next week and is keeping me going, just having a bad spell and all will be good soon


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## paulw1969 (29 May 2012)

The Brewer said:


> Could I have a little vent of my spleen
> 
> Works crap, Mrs B is ill and isn't getting better, the kids want stuff I've never heard of never mind could afford and I past the newsagents and thought about stopping and buying just ten fags
> 
> ...


 
nowt wrong with a little venting hang in there.....things will get better and having a fag wont help anything


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## Sara_H (29 May 2012)

Trevrev said:


> I read the Alan Carr book. Worked for me.


 I've never smoked, but used the Alan Carr book to give up drinking - about half way through I absolutely didn't want to drink ever again. Haven't touched a drop in five months and don't want to.


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## dave r (29 May 2012)

I quit in 1977, I was having a lot of problems with coughs and colds at the time, I had a bad cold and didn't smoke for several days, when I was feeling better and wanted a fag I decided that as I hadn't smoked for days I wouldn't start again and that was that, I put my baccy tin on the mantle piece and left it there, it was still there a few years later when I moved out so I took it with me and put it in a cupboard, I've still got the tin in a cupboard somewhere.


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## 2wd (29 May 2012)

I bought an Audi 90

Had the choice of keeping up the repayments or lighting up

Never smoked a fag after buying the Audi


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## tyred (30 May 2012)

Currently on the phone to Audi dealer to book a test drive...


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## Broughtonblue (5 Jun 2012)

when i met my girlfriend (now my wife) 28 years ago, she gave me the choice of her or the fags. i looked at her body and the size of her parents house and realised it was an easy choice. not touched one since!!


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## col (15 Dec 2012)

I used those ecigs, still do. Made stopping very easy.


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## Andrew_Culture (15 Dec 2012)

I got the flu!


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## compo (15 Dec 2012)

I was single and looking for companionship using an online dating site. So many of the ladies specified they wanted a non smoker which was the real spur for me to quit and join the NHS quit group. It worked. I have been with my wife nearly 5 years and very happily married to her for three.


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## Drago (15 Dec 2012)

I wound down over a few days, then stopped dead. Lots of coffee and gum, but in the end it wasn't too hard.

You gotta really, really want to do it though otherwise it simply won't work. Chemically its more addictive than some class A drugs, so without an iron will you may as well not bother.


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## Deleted member 23692 (15 Dec 2012)

I just decided it was the right time to stop, so did so and went cold turkey. In all honesty it was a lot easier than I thought, and the cravings no where as bad I'd imagined they'd be. Being surrounded by non-smokers really helped though as there was zero peer pressure to 'just have one'

That was over 4 years ago.. but I know that I could very easily start again at any time... It's just my stubbornness that prevent me form doing so


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## nik6158 (15 Dec 2012)

Today is my first day as a non smoker and i'm determined to stick to it this time promising myself a new bike next year as a reward


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## germanicdogman (15 Dec 2012)

col said:


> I used those ecigs, still do. Made stopping very easy.


i got one last Saturday and have only smoke one real cig since .
going to get the lower strength carts and cut down that way


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## Peteaud (15 Dec 2012)

Well nearly 1 year ago i posted this.

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/diary-of-a-smoker.92703/

To those who are thinking of quiting, it does get easier.

Good luck


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## screenman (15 Dec 2012)

I had shock treatment, well I found out my girlfriend who is now my wife was expecting, I packed up that day and have not smoked since. I was only 18 at the time and had been smoking heavily since the age of 14 so not too long.


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## User6179 (15 Dec 2012)

Cold turkey 4 years ago, if your determined you will do it!


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## Nebulous (16 Dec 2012)

[QUOTE 1868883, member: 9609"]If you stop smoking when you are healthy, how long is it until the risks of heart desease and cancer fall to the same levels of someone who has never smoked?
The only couple of articles that I have managed to find sort of suggest 10 - 15 years - which is quite good as I have now been stopped 16½ years. (smoked 30 a day for 17 years)
[/quote]

Old thread - and just found this but ................. the bad news is your risk will never completely fall to the level of a person who has never smoked.
The good news though is that it falls quite dramatically compared with if you had continued smoking.


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## gbb (16 Dec 2012)

Like peteaud , I stopped almost a year ago after a relapse of three years smoking after 20 years off the weed. It was as hard to stop then as it was the first time. Started with nicorette ciggie thing you put cartridges in, but they were' nt really making it easy so went cold turkey after about 5 days.
The first week was murder, second week was hard but it all got easier after that. I still think I'd like a drag now, but won't.

And cycling a a lot less painfull on the lungs now.


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## smokeysmoo (16 Dec 2012)

When I eventually stopped about 12 years ago patches were the only artificial assistance aid available, and I used them to great success.

I've had a couple of minor relapses, the most recent being just last month following a personal matter.

TBH I don't think the deep desire will ever completely leave me, but as long as I know I can knock it on the head quickly, (as I have done again now), when and if I do have another relapse I can live with that.


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## Psyclist (16 Dec 2012)

smokeysmoo said:


> I've had a couple of minor relapses, the most recent being just last month following a personal matter.


 
+1, I'm smoking again due to a personal matter too. I've been smoking for 4 months now. I'm trying to do the same as I did before, smoke like I want, then gradually cut down from four then down to one, then go cold turkey. That's how I did it before.

Moral is, don't let the pressure of life make you start again. Sometimes it's hard, but fight the cravings.

Next time it happens, I'm just going to MTFU and not give in.


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## Peteaud (16 Dec 2012)

Ive not smoked for almost a year.

The other week i could taste a cigar, it must have been in my head but it seemed real.

Weird.


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## smokeysmoo (16 Dec 2012)

Psyclist said:


> Next time it happens, I'm just going to MTFU and not give in.


Easier said than done, but you know that anyway.

My trouble is I love the smell of a freshly lit one, I even like the taste, (at first anyway), but I hate the smell on my hands, lips and clothes afterwards.

Now if they made fags that made you smell of Lynx 

I'm joking. I need to find a new emotional crutch so I don't relapse again.


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## smokeysmoo (16 Dec 2012)

Peteaud said:


> Ive not smoked for almost a year.
> 
> The other week i could taste a cigar, it must have been in my head but it seemed real.
> 
> Weird.


I might appoint you my new emotional crutch Pete 

I can remember following your quitting thread and egging you on, huge well done Pal


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## Peteaud (16 Dec 2012)

smokeysmoo said:


> I might appoint you my new emotional crutch Pete
> 
> I can remember following your quitting thread and egging you on, huge well done Pal


 
Cheers.


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## Linford (16 Dec 2012)

I've been nagging my very good mate (and best man) for the last 25 years to stop smoking (he is 48). I know he has been ill, and has lost his voice over the last couple of months or so, but I bumped into him this afternoon, and he told me he is likely to lose his voice completely and permanently when he goes for another op on his throat in the new year.
It is either that or he ignores it and the tumour kills him by (I assume) suffocation.
This is what you could possible look forward to if you carry on smoking. 
It's all a bit $hit really


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## derrick (16 Dec 2012)

Have a heart attack, that's what stopped me, six months without a fag.
And shortly after the other half stopped so all good.


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## adamangler (16 Dec 2012)

I'm 31. Stopped at 27, smoked for 13 years. There's no easy way to do it.just pure will power. 
It's the hardest thing I've ever done. Climbing the walls. The key is really 
Wanting to stop, not just because you think you should or someone
Else asks you to. You've got to take each day one at a time. Get thru 
Each hour. To non smokers it may sound daft. But it is very very hard.


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## Chris-H (16 Dec 2012)

I smoked for 31 years,desperatly wanted to give up but could'nt break the habit.I contracted the Norovirus illness nearly 3 years ago and never smoked since,if anyone has had that they'll know what just the thought of anything going down your throat does.Best thing to happen to me in a long time.


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## rosski (17 Dec 2012)

I stopped through lack of money and pig headedness. The cravings seemed to come in waves. The further i got into not smoking the further apart the peeks of the craving were. The trick for me was to distract myself with chewing gum every time the craving came. After the first 2-3 weeks it got easier. I havnt smoked in 7 years and quit the chewing gum habit too. Good luck anyone who is quitting


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## Andrew_Culture (17 Dec 2012)

It's such a dumb drug, I haven't smoked habitually for years but still fancy smoking.

I went to a music festival a couple of weekends ago and decided I would smoke, in much the same way I might decide to drink red wine. This was my first weekend away without any parental responsibilities so I decided to get it all done at once. I had no interest in the mushrooms, weed or MDMA doing the rounds, all I wanted was nice rollies.

After recovering from the shock that 25g of Golden Virgina is now £7.99! I smoked myself silly all Friday night, partly spurred on by some 'Polish milk' some Polish fellas gave us. But my god I felt BAD the next day, my throat was stripped bare, my lungs were full of razors, my mouth was like a mummy's armpit, my head was in another county being trampled on by surly rhinos. I swear it was the smoking that did it; I don't think I was all that drunk, in fact I was chalet dad looking after my drunk friends?

Smoking. Bad.

But would I do it again....


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## monkeylc (12 Feb 2013)

Thats it.....
Woke up this morning and thought, F**k It! I'm not doing this anymore. 

So after 23 years of smoking roll-ups I've quit as from today.

I feel like crap


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## monkeylc (12 Feb 2013)

Broughtonblue said:


> when i met my girlfriend (now my wife) 28 years ago, she gave me the choice of her or the fags. i looked at her body and the size of her ************* and realised it was an easy choice. not touched one since!!


 
thought you going to say size of something else then  ,thats how it reads mate


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## Peteaud (13 Feb 2013)

monkeylc said:


> Thats it.....
> Woke up this morning and thought, F**k It! I'm not doing this anymore.
> 
> So after 23 years of smoking roll-ups I've quit as from today.
> ...


 
Ive been off the weed for over 13 months now, i feel great.

Keep at it, you will feel crap at first, but it gets better


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## goo_mason (13 Feb 2013)

I quit 9 years ago after smoking for 18 years, starting at the age of 18! Realised that unless I stopped by my 36th birthday later that year, I'd have been smoking for half of my life. Having a daughter who would turn 4 that year helped me too. My ex has a chronic health condition, and is likely to die much younger than she should, so I wanted to do everything to make sure I was still around & healthy for my daughter when she was older.

I'd actaually started to prepare to quit for 6 months beforehand - telling everyone that I was stopping on the 4th January once the festive season was over and I was back at work. I think that helped - got me into the right mindset by the time the date came. (I'd failed to quit numerous times over the years before that, mainly because I made a last-minute decision and then wasn't mentally prepared to see it through).

Come the 3rd Jan 2004, I had my last fag before bed and threw everything else out - rolling baccy, Rizlas, lighters and ashtrays. Haven't smoked since, found it pretty easy to get through the initial cravings with a packet of string mints, and haven't had a single urge to have one in the past 9 years.

Good luck!


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## monkeylc (13 Feb 2013)

still off them  , the cravings last night were intense! 
felt very strange going into the kitchen last night to roll one.....(i didn't) But if you spend the last 23 years having a smoke before bedtime you end up moving like a robot.....
Plus all the people at work that do smoke now come in after having one and absolutely stink! my sense of smell has gone very strange?.

...........on to the next day


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## Panter (13 Feb 2013)

monkeylc said:


> still off them  , the cravings last night were intense!
> felt very strange going into the kitchen last night to roll one.....(i didn't) But if you spend the last 23 years having a smoke before bedtime you end up moving like a robot.....
> Plus all the people at work that do smoke now come in after having one and absolutely stink! my sense of smell has gone very strange?.
> 
> ...........on to the next day


 
Well done, good luck! Day 10 for me today, been bouncing off the walls for the last week 

Some very useful stuff here: http://whyquit.com/


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## Chris Norton (13 Feb 2013)

Your cycling will get easier without the crap in your lungs. 

Keep at it.


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