Did LOL at Sonic the Hedgehog, haha.
I must admit I'm still a bit wary of e-cigs to be honest. Lots of them are owned by the big tobacco companies and having worked in tobacco control and seen the extent these companies go to preserve their profits regardless of the consequences, that does'nt sit well with me. But I don't doubt they are not as bad as smoking so if it works for you then go ahead, thats the lesser of two evils. My main problem with them is they are not designed to get you to quit nicotine, its just a substitute. I'd like to think people get bored of them and give them up too but I'm not so sure, and fear you're as much a slave to them as you are a ciggies.
I went cold turkey which was probably harder than it could have been. The first 6 weeks I found the worst, after 3 months I felt I may be able to actually do it forever, but in truth it was a year before I was totally sure I'd kicked it and would never go back. It had such a hold on my subconscious that I was still smoking in my dreams for about 6 months after quitting.
In terms of tips for those quitting, its such a habit forming thing (DOH! state the obvious) and you get into the routine. There are ones that you really miss, the 1st one of the day and the one after evening meals were very tempting times, but the hardest for me was when out drinking in pubs (you could still smoke in pubs when I quit). In fact I remember on my 2nd day of quitting I was visited by an old school friend who I'd not seen for ages, he was a smoker and we went out and got proper s**tfaced together. It was bloody hard but I managed to resist the temptation all night and I insisted he chuffed away like normal. That stayed with me throughout the hard times, I always thought back to that night and told myself if I could abstain then, at my weakest, I could do it long term. Its important not to say 'I'll just have one or two', this is letting yourself of the hook, cigarettes hunt in packs, where there's 1 you'll find more
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During the early stages it was all about distraction for me, anything to break my smoking routine, sit ups, press ups, crosswords, computer games, whatever floats your boat, just keep busy, it does get easier I promise. And cleaning, blimey my flat was never as clean as it was in those early months and has'nt been as clean since
. In fact as you note exercise in general is good as when you're out of breath you tend not to fancy a ciggie, oh the irony
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Other things that may help are if you used to have a ciggie with your morning cup of tea for example, change this routine slightly, initially try changing to grapefruit juice or something (makes cigs taste horrible) walk round the garden, just find something else to fill that 5 minutes, sometimes just the change of routine makes the cravings less.
Every time you get a craving remind yourself why you're doing it. Some people like to keep a picture of loved ones to hand, children/partners etc. Quitting will absolutely give you more time with them, want to throw that away? If you cave in you won't be able to afford that bike/holiday/other thing that you want and deserve, etc etc
Also I used to occasionally viist the COPD ward in hospital where I worked. You probably won't be allowed to wander in there to have a look, but I can assure you most of them in there were because of smoking and just seeing them and their struggles was enough to scare the bejesus out of anybody. The nurses there used to say if you wanted to know what it was like, you know the lids of a Bic pen, the ones that now have a hole in the top (they didnt in olden days) close your mouth around the larger end of that and put a peg on your nose, then try running up some stairs or doing some mild exercise and ensure you do all your breathing through the pen lid, you'd be amazed how even gentle activities get you gasping for breath quickly, and being out of breath can cause real panic, now imagine being like that all the time, its terrifying.
I got a bit carried away there, I've just read that back, sorry if it sounds a bit cheesy and overdramatic, I'm just passionate about this area thats all. Without doubt the best type of smoker is an ex-smoker
. If only they'd stop banging on about hey? It reminds me of the joke how can you tell if someone has a new iphone/is a vegan?.....Oh don't worry they'll tell you
but I'm blaming this on my brain being oxygen starved for those years I smoked.
