No! I am not selling all my steamers :o
I hope this thread will not cause folks to pour scorn and derision on me for having no willpower, but as Phil Hendry's layout thread is based on how he funds his modelling from having given up the weed, are there any ex smokers or would be ex smokers out there who have successfully given up smoking/want to know how best to do it.
I have been smoking for 45 years and would like to bin the habit due to the obvious cost and health implications.
I have tried the nicotine patches but to be honest the side effects were so bad, I'd rather smoke :worried:
I'm sure non smokers will say "Huh - no will power", and I guess they're right but it ain't as easy as that :-[
Never smoked, never will ... but was in a smoking household (probably why I never did it myself !).
When my Dad gave it up, he got a quarter of boiled sweets & just had one of those instead of a fag ... Just make sure you exercise if you do this ! Especially if you're on a 40-a-day habit :D OTOH, my Mum just gave up overnight ... of course, being in hospital for a month & then palliative care for another 3 , both environments being non-smoking, probably helped !!!
good luck....
every 50 ciggies is roughly one new waggon give or take 20 either way.
every 300 ciggies is roughly a new loco.....
Good luck, I found to stop, and now been stopped for 9 years and 3 months and 19 days, that it takes some planning, decide when to stop, and do it. I found having a drink of water whenever I felt like smoking helps, makes you pee alot but not fattening. The craving does subside after a while and becomes manageable. Good luck again and keep at it.
Regards
Geoff
Damn right giving up ain't easy.
I smoked from mid-teens right up to around four years ago (about 40 years in total) when I seriously started to try and give up. I had good days when it felt so easy not to light up and then bad days when I just chain smoked.
I tried patches - felt ill.
I tried hypnotherapy - lasted three days.
I tried chewing gum - worked out it was costing more than the damn fags did and I didn't like the taste.
So how did I manage it. Cold turkey, a lot of support from the missus and having the willpower to say " I just don't want one now. I'll wait a bit"
As I was working in a supermarket on nights I think it helped as it meant I didn't go outside at 1 in the morning just to have a fag at tea break/lunch/whatever and by the time I was gagging, and about to give in, it was too late as we had to be back on shift.
I did find that after a while thinking/saying " I just don't want one now. I'll wait a bit" and then having a short drink of water became a reasonably easy and a "normal" response. Don't let me fool you though - there were still times I could have killed for a smoke. Even now some 3 years on as "non-smoker" there are days when I think " I fancy a smoke". So I say it again to myself " " I just don't want one now. I'll wait a bit" have a drink and the feeling passes. I suppose I've just replaced one habit with a better one.
Unfortunately, I think for all us "seasoned smokers" the temptation never goes completely and until you've been there you have no idea how hard it can be. I know people who quit years ago and are still chewing gum or "smoking" their pens.
It's hard work and we all have to find our own method. This worked for me, but there's no guarantee.
Quote from: newportnobby on April 19, 2013, 01:26:29 PMI hope this thread will not cause folks to pour scorn and derision on me for having no willpower, but as Phil Hendry's layout thread is based on how he funds his modelling from having given up the weed,
Oh no it isn't!!! ??? I've never smoked!
Way, way back when I was a PhD student, one of the other lads in the lab smoked. It was amazing the jobs he could do, with a fag held between two fingers - jobs I'd struggle to do using all my fingers. Anyway, one Monday his missus rang in before he arrived, told us he'd given up, and that we were to beat the life out of him if he lit up. He came in looking even more pale, drawn, and ill than usual, and told us he'd given up. He never had another to my knowledge. Cold turkey and sheer willpower - backed up by the threat of physical violence from us or his missus!
You can do it - it just takes guts.
Hi Mick,
After using the weed for 48 years I decided enough was enough and went to the quacks where I was offered various options to help me stop.
I chose to go on a course of Champix, a drug which dulls the part of the brain that craves nicotine.
I must stress that unless you really really want to stop this drug won't work. It has some fairly well documented side effects, I suffered a bit of sickness after taking the tablet and had some sleep deprivation and crazy dreams but it soon goes away.
I have been smoke free for nearly 10 months now and won't smoke again. I was on 30 a day and loved smoking and never thought I could stop but I have to say the benefits are many,health, financial, not smelling of smoke and so on.
Whatever you decide to use I wish you well and it really does get easier,
Regards,
Rob.
QuoteQuote from: Phil Hendry on April 19, 2013, 02:12:07 PM
Quote from: newportnobby on April 19, 2013, 01:26:29 PMI hope this thread will not cause folks to pour scorn and derision on me for having no willpower, but as Phil Hendry's layout thread is based on how he funds his modelling from having given up the weed,
Oh no it isn't!!! ??? I've never smoked!
I think you may have meant dodger112958 not Phil
Like others I enjoyed smoking for 40-50 years until I developed emphysema and was told that my lungs were at the equivalent age of a non smoking person of 137 years old :uneasy:
I was sometime later rushed into hospital after I had collapsed out shopping. ::) I gave up smoking at that instant and a 7 week stay in hospital did the trick.
Whether I could have given up without that hospital stay or not I dont know but Ive never regret giving it up then
Mick fight it and quit before it finishes you off
I found patches OK but very itchy and unpleasant, so went onto the Nicotine gum, which was great. Sone of the new ones actually taste quite good and not at all faggy. Thein lay the problem, as I became hooked on the gum instead of the cigs :no:
When my wife told me that the gum actually smelt pretty horrible and didn't do anything for my breath, I knocked it on the head there and then. After a day or two, the cravings pretty much went away (still get the occasional pang) and I'm back to normal now (though put on a couple of trouser sizes).
Good luck!! :D
Hi Nobby,
I think it is me you are referring to, giving up smoking to fund my layout. I am now on day 23 without a fag or in my case a roll of baccy. I am using a 'Nicolite' electronic cigarette (available from a chemist) started with the high strength refills. I used two a day to begin with, after a week it dropped to one a day. A week ago I changed to low strength refills, found no difference at all, I now only use it occasionally, after a meal usually or when I have a can or two on an evening.
I, like many on here, tried patches and various other options, none worked because I didn't really want to quit. Now I am ready to quit, I made the decision and so am finding it easier and as you can see from my Ashdon thread I have something to show for my cash, instead of a full ashtray.
Nobby, only you know if you want to stop or are really ready to stop, but believe me I can taste the food I eat for the first time in 44 years, I don't have that cough in the morning anymore or nicotine stained fingers and I,and my clothes, don't smell of smoke.
It would be really nice to have someone else who is giving up to give mutual support to and from, it wouldn't make you or I feel so alone with the problem.
Good luck
Ian
Hi Nobby
After 20 plus a day for 45 years I finally managed to give it up at the turn of the century after several attempts. It worked mainly by giving myself a manageable and meaningful target, so it's definitely worth persevering!
I gave up on my daughters birthday in early January 2000 used patches and ate a pack or two of Wurthers Originals each day (never eaten one since) and said I would be of the weed by my wife's birthday in early May.
It wasn't easy but I managed it and both the ladies in my life said it was a great (extra) birthday present for them.
Maybe linking it to something else thats important to you would help?
Regards
Ray
Mick,
Go for it mate, go on give 'em up mate, you'll feel heaps better.
I gave up when the smoking ban came in, but being a truck driver at the time, it wasn't easy. I used the Patches but also Extra Strong mints, so, as Adam has already alluded to, I also put on a few pounds.
The hardest habit to break is the habit itself, I found I had certain markers in the day when I had a smoke, like walking to work, Inspecting the wagon, doing my paperwork, then setting off, so that's 4 fags in the first hour of the day :o :o . Then I would have the next one when I reached the Motorway, 20 mins later etc. etc. When I got to my tipping point, I'd tip my load then have another fag whilst doing my vehicle paperwork, then another one on setting off and the cycle would start again, there would also be markers in my journeys when I'd have a smoke. These habits are the hardest things to break because they are psychological, you don't want/need a smoke, you just say to yourself "I usually have a smoke about now" and 'BOOM the old cravings fire up, you know what I'm having cravings right now, writing this, for a fag, but I've been stopped long enough to fight them.
I will admit the hardest part is when you're out drinking with the lads, even now if we are going to a bbq, I'll take those small cigars with me and have a couple of those, but only if I have them, if I forget to take any with me, "oh well never mind" and I just have another beer instead :D :D
So go speak with your GP, and he'll put you in touch with the NHS Stop Smoking team, who are brilliant and will help you every step of the way, but the most important thing is you have to want to give up.
Above all mate, good luck and stick the £5 or whatever it costs these days, into a jar and watch the money mount up.
Cheers
Neal.
I gave up 5 months ago after smoking for 45 years. You have to want to give up but the best way is to visit your GP surgery and join a no smoking program. At least the nicotine replacement devices are on perscrtption.
Dodger
All the people I know who are trying to give up are using those electronic substitute cigarettes and all seem to be progressing well even a close friend who's tried to pack up 3 or 4 times before without success is even managing to not use the real ones.
Go for it Mick, you won't regret it in the end, I packed up 35 years ago (30/40 a day) and haven't regretted it since and spent what I've saved on giving me the lovely life I now have. :thumbsup:
Hi Mick. I have never been a smoker, but i have been chocoholic (dont laugh, really i have). I gave up the chocolate but i have no will power and it was hard.
Baccy is a much worse addiction, so you have my sympathy.
Cutting nicotine out is likely to slow your metabolism, so watch what you eat as you give up.
I worked on an anti-nicotine vaccine a few years ago. It didn't work because there is as much 'habit' as there is addiction. The fake ciggies are supposed to help both aspects so well worth a try and wean off gradually.
One thing that really is supposed to help (based on the results from the vaccine clinical trials) is cognitive behavioural therapy. Might be worth looking into, if you can afford it and if you want to go the touchy feely route.
Good luck with it and just take it one day at a time.
If it is any consolation, I smoked both pipe and cigarettes and various substances until 1982.
IT IS difficult to stop BUT, hopefully you have your family to back you up if you need a drag.
You might need counselling, you might need a substitute, it is better for you mentally if you concentrate on giving up without these aids it will strengthen your resolve to continue.
I and many others understand only too well the trauma but if you feel the urge to smoke do something about it, do something that will occupy your mind AND your hands.
You have a lovely family and they deserve to have Daddy around a lot longer than poison inhaled will allow!
Contact your friends, that is what we are here for!!!
Regards Peter.
Severe bronchitis was my incentive.
Couldn't hardly breathe let alone smoke for best part of a fortnight. Felt better so went for the cigs. Yuk!
A week later I was still walking around with a pack in my pocket but couldn't smoke one. Boss said I'd never give up, but I did and haven't had a cigarette, cigar or pipe for more than 10 years.
Despite all the years tobacco free, I'm still addicted >:D so am very grateful that the no smoking rule came into force in so many places.
Good luck Mick; it's hard but it is do-able and you'll then have loads of dosh to spend on N gauge kit! Much better than waiting for bronchitis!
Dave G
Quote from: petercharlesfagg on April 19, 2013, 06:15:07 PM
and various substances.
Does that count? In that case, I stand corrected. I have been an occasional smoker... :bounce:
I prefer the home made brownies... Never mind the chewing gum, maybe that is the cure, Mick??? :laugh3:
Quote from: daveg on April 19, 2013, 06:26:32 PM
so am very grateful that the no smoking rule came into force in so many places.
That's a good point... it is much harder not to smoke in a pub if everyone else around you is lighting up, and who wants to have to put their drink down and go outside just to have a puff? That has got to help.
I remember walking into the Hobgoblin in Reading the week after the ban and commented how different it was in there without the smoke. The guy next to me at the bar says " You got a def-wish or summink, mate?" You could certainly tell the nicotine shortage was taking its toll.
Hi, Mick
Like "Robmag", I was offered Champix and it worked for me - there are side effects but the only one I experienced was the vivid dreams, mostly of a sexual nature!
What really helped was a weekly "Stop Smoking" clinic at the local health centre - just talking with others in the same boat helped to stiffen the willpower. The drug and the support took the edge off for long enough for me to realise that I didn't need nicotine!
SWMBO stopped at the same time so we could support and encourage each other. We've both been stopped for 4 years now, and what we saved paid for a cruise to celebrate my 60th birthday and our 25th anniversary!
Like others here, I'd advise you to do it - you know it makes sense. Don't try it alone - you'll get plenty of support from friends and family ... and that includes your friends on here.
Go for it, and good luck. We're all rootin' for you.
Rgds,
Alex
The wife gave up the fags and she was on tender hooks for about 6 months, she never used any of those patches or false cigs she just bit the bullet and finished with them, I think its been over 15 years now and she is better for it, you never hear her coughing her guts up no more and she feels a lot better for it, I would say to you is if you have a soft touch for sweets then chew on them to keep that urge away,it will not be easy but I tip my hat to you and wish you well giving up them money burning drugs.
My parents decided to give up, after many years of smoking. They were sitting in the living room, puffing away, and I had a bad cough, and was choking on their smoke. After a very brief discussion, they decided to stop and, rather than stopping after the last one in the packet, they actually threw their half full packets on the fire (followed by my dad's pipes). They never smoked again - real will power.
Good luck Mick, I am sure you will succeed
Mick, the most sensible advice you are getting from this thread is the bit about YOU HAVE GOT TO WANT TO GIVE UP. Once you are sure on that then any substitute can be used to get you through the first month, whether that be patches, gum, sweets or glasses of water. Then it's down to will power and achieving small staging posts onto your eventual target. My method for giving up was shock therapy! My wife had a heart attack brought on by smoking. She survived it and I gave up smoking the next day, for her health and mine. Still have the occasional nicotine craving, even after three years, but trust me, life is more important. When your ready to quit go for it. Also let the forum know, that way you are made accountable to your fellow modellers but also, if you have a bad day, you can get the support that you need as well. You know it makes sense.
Quote from: newportnobby on April 19, 2013, 01:26:29 PM
I hope this thread will not cause folks to pour scorn and derision on me for having no willpower ...
I'm sure non smokers will say "Huh - no will power", and I guess they're right but it ain't as easy as that :-[
Well Mick, as a life-long non-smoker who's never even tried the stuff (can a miniature bonfire in a paper tube really taste good? :sick2: ) I can honestly say . . .
I would NEVER deride anyone who at least tries to give up, taking that decision alone is to be applauded :thumbsup:
Been some good suggestions so far to help you but only you will know what is workable for YOU. One of our RS club members gave up using the same psychological approach as 'trainsdownunder' suggested, convincing yourself that you're not actually quitting for good, just that you're CHOOSING not to have one right now, saves you from the "fright" of having to do without something you have come to rely on ;) Every day that he didn't have to buy a new pack he put the money in a jar - amazing how quick he saved up for lots of shiny performance bits for his car :D
Talking of addictions . . .
Quote from: Mustermark on April 19, 2013, 06:07:37 PM
. . . but i have been chocoholic (dont laugh, really i have). I gave up the chocolate but i have no will power and it was hard.
Oh dear :-[ Me too Mark, and it is just as much an addiction as smoking, temporarily relying on the feelgood factor it gives you. Could still eat it every day easily (and lots! I used to eat 200g bars like sensible people eat biscuits :worried: ), but I severely limit myself to 'occasionally' and it's getting easier since I've lost over two stone in the past two years from generally eating healthily :thumbsup:
One final thing to say Mick: If you try and don't succeed, don't see it as a personal failure, just that whatever method didn't work. Never give up giving up :beers:
Paul
Strewth :o
Just logged on and seen there were 25 replies. A big :thankyousign: to everyone for your supportive words. I will get there, I am sure. It's very true that at present I don't feel a huge urge to give up as I only smoke about 14 a day (I know that's 14 too many) and can afford it money wise. However, I am taking early retirement in 7 weeks time and will have to live off savings for the next 5 years so I won't be able to afford it then. My Mum packed up 20 years ago and still says she could take a smoke off me any time :worried:
Twice I have tried the patches but. like i say, the side effects were grim. Vivid weird dreams (sadly not sexual :() were just the thin end of the wedge. Tomorrow I will be buying one of the electric thingies and see if I can get on with that.
Most humble apolgies for confusing Phil with Dodger. I hope no offence was caused :-[
To anyone else considering giving up smoking, I hope this thread can help and encourage you to do it too. It's a vile habit with serious consequences.
Thanks again - I'll keep you posted.
Great news Mick, I gave smoking up on Boxing Day 1985 after smoking for 30 years, I must give the credit to my ex missus as she nagged me to death until I gave it up, co patches, no doctors just a cranky woman, I am afraid being nagged to death is not one of my stronger points so that put paid to the fags.
I found sucking or chewing XXXX strong Peppermints helped quite a bit when I stopped, every time I felt like a fag I shoved a peppermint in my gob.
I have a lot to thank Barbara for as I know she saved my life, had I continued smoking 50 a day I would not be sitting in front of my computer now, I have never looked back except for wondering why I spent so much money of smokes and wondered why in the hell I smoked in the first place.
You can do it Mick, it seems many of us on the forum have kicked the habit so any time you need encouragement give us a yell.
Go for it Mick,
I have tried and failed several times.
The last time I survived 4 weeks and then cracked due to a family bereavement.
Tried the electronic ones and was going great guns till I lost the charger.
Patches, and all the other stuff that the doctors tried caused allergic reactions.
I have now been smoking for 47 years and would like to stop but will power is not my strong point on this.
Booze is a different story can take it or leave it. Have even been known to throw away a half drunk glass of my favorite tipple (Uncle Jack would turn in his grave) because I did not feel like finishing it.
Now I know I'm on the road to wrack and ruin, as I've just eaten half a 200g bar of chocolate and am finishing off a couple of fingers of Southern Comfort before retiring to my pit :-[
:help:
Quote from: newportnobby on April 20, 2013, 11:04:56 PM
Now I know I'm on the road to wrack and ruin, as I've just eaten half a 200g bar of chocolate :help:
Amateur :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing:
Hi Mick,
I had been a heavy smoker for over 40 years but with living overseas they were always cheap (£15 for a carton of 200) so there was no real incentive to quit. Came back to the Uk last August and the price of fags was a huge shock so, as my wife was also a smoker, we gave up together and tried the electronic cigarettes.
They work ! No Tar or other nasties, just nicotine, glycerine and water in the cartridges. You start off with full strength cartridges and gradually reduce the nicotine level until you get to the Zero Nicotine cartridges. Then it's just a case of breaking the habit of having something in your hand.
Hi Mick
Did you manage to get one of the electronic things? If so, how are you getting on with it? Some of my colleagues use them and they report that they are a good substitute but they don't seem to be any closer to kicking them so I think you must need to be strict about reducing the dosages.
Best of luck with giving up smoking, even if you don't succeed this time, there's always next time.
Hi Mike
I packed up last October after smoking for over 55 years so it can be done but it aint easy.
My advice, get yourself a Buddy preferably someone who gives up at the same time as you. Think
about it and set a date and get mentally prepared, do not keep any fags around and keep away
from people who are smoking and places that might remind you that you need a smoke. You do
not need patches gum or any other crap,..you will be aiming to clear the filth out of your body not
add to it. It's nearly 7 months now and I would love to have a fag but it will do me no good at all
and only bring the smoking of the next fag a bit closer. One word describes smokers nicely,
"Stupid" That included me not long ago but no more. Good luck Mike and if you pack up and
want some back up send me a PM
Cheers
John
Thanks again to everyone for their support :thankyousign:
I've bought one of the electronic cigs (£20 :o) and will be charging it up for use at work during the week. (Can you get the refills easily enough?)
In the meantime this weekend I have been using the "I'll have one later" method and have cut down by about 40%. They are even starting to taste bloody awful so that's a start :thumbsup:
Hi Nobby,
Having read most if not all thread can I throw in thrupence?
Smoking since 1961 age 11yrs - the big(ger) boys at the new school I was going to did it and I guess I wanted to fit in!
41yrs later I'm still smoking, though not as much now, pre-rolling has just gone out of supply so I'm utilising my many pipes, again, not a lot, just now and then - but ......................... they way to give up, me thinks is to be positive and express things only in the positive - yes you have to want to give up, but decide what you want to give up - is it the expense? the health? the smell? (it really does stink, especially on the breath) or beat the dependence, call it addiction.
Are you addicted habitualised to the 'something to do with the fingers' or the taste, or what? It really is worth thinking about this, and then deciding.
Replacement therapy such as patches is all very well but only ever puts off the real issue, why you want to cease smoking - and I personally would not make a negative decision to give up!
Suggesting you always have a packet of cigs to hand might sound stupid but this way you'll always and forever have a choice whether to smoke one or not - choice!
Whenever the idea, notion or urge enters your mind, just say to yourself, I'll have one later - this is positive.
Just allow 'later' to arrive ......... later, or putting it negatively, never arrive.
Once, driving to Budapest I inadvertently adopted this, chewing gum, just regular Orbit saw 40 fags outlive the long journey, without effort!
Also, during one 'I don't go out with smokers' relationship spate of not smoking I piled five one pound coins on a shelf in my office for each day I didn't buy a packet - ended up with nearly £3,000!
What difference to you would £7 per day, piled up over a month to £210 make to your N Gauge layout, train trips budget or other treat!
As one above has said, do drink water, at least 2 pints a day as this will definitely keep the weight from landing, and also assist in getting weight off - it's important or your weight gain will cause far more problems than some tar and chemicals!
So, don't give up, just have one later - because no one can deny you this, the choice is yours.
Regards
David
Quote from: newportnobby on April 21, 2013, 10:33:54 AM
Thanks again to everyone for their support :thankyousign:
I've bought one of the electronic cigs (£20 :o) and will be charging it up for use at work during the week. (Can you get the refills easily enough?)
In the meantime this weekend I have been using the "I'll have one later" method and have cut down by about 40%. They are even starting to taste bloody awful so that's a start :thumbsup:
Good going Mick
You'll get there :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Well done Mick, great news :claphappy:
Sodding nicotine - it's 52 years since I started smoking, sorry, my mistake.
Quote from: newportnobby on April 21, 2013, 10:33:54 AM
Thanks again to everyone for their support :thankyousign:
I've bought one of the electronic cigs (£20 :o) and will be charging it up for use at work during the week. (Can you get the refills easily enough?)
In the meantime this weekend I have been using the "I'll have one later" method and have cut down by about 40%. They are even starting to taste bloody awful so that's a start :thumbsup:
Hi Mike
How did it go today then ? It would be nice to hear that instead of torturing your self by cutting
down by 40% ,you have now cut down by 100% and started to show them Nicotine Demons who the boss is.
The blighters wont give up without a fight so like Re Beginner advises #36 you need to act positive. There is
loads of support on here for you so what do you say ? I say it aint gonna be easy but you can do it,if you try.
Good luck
John
You might consider rolling your own cigarettes. You may find that the ritual of rolling the cigarette is all you need to break the tedium of the task that drives you to smoking. Roll-ups can sit in an ash tray for ever so you will not need a fresh cigarette when you feel the need. Of course, none of this is about giving up smoking but it will help you to cut down significantly.
What you should not do is to set a date to give up (New Year's Day being very popular). This is a recipe for failure; stop when you feel ready.
What you should do is to put aside the money you would otherwise have spent on tobacco and when you feel a moment of weakness, sit on the floor and count it. Overcome the moment and you can use some of that money to treat yourself; you won't need permission to acquire some of that new Grafar stuff coming out this year!
Hi Mick,
Apart from the bit about counting your new found wealth I would totally ignore Jellicoe's advise - I seem to think that you USED to roll your own anyway. Moving to another form of tar and nicotine is not the answer and for me and many others setting a date to stop worked just fine.
Hope it's going ok, like I said previously having been a smoker for 48 years I never thought I could do it and it's now 10 months without one.
Keep the faith
Rob.
Out on business in the company car today so ciggies at a minimum - went out with 20, came back with 15. Only 1 tonight. It helps it's weeing down as for many years now I have not smoked in the house (don't want the stink and the staining :no:)
Quote from: Jellicoe on April 22, 2013, 06:03:43 PM
You might consider rolling your own cigarettes. You may find that the ritual of rolling the cigarette is all you need to break the tedium of the task that drives you to smoking. Roll-ups can sit in an ash tray for ever so you will not need a fresh cigarette when you feel the need. Of course, none of this is about giving up smoking but it will help you to cut down significantly.
Sorry, but that's not going to help me as over the years I have smoked roll ups, pipe, cigars etc.
I even tried herbal cigarettes but they were like smoking a bonfire :sick2:
So far the "I'll have one later" is winning hands down ;D
Quote from: newportnobby on April 22, 2013, 08:07:14 PM
. . . over the years I have smoked roll ups, pipe , . . .
Disturbing mental images of Mick in a deerstalker with a Calabash Pipe hanging from his gob :goggleeyes:
Well done so far Mick, keep up the good work :thumbsup:
Paul