Lived Experience Forum

[petrichor]

Hi @JamR 

We can both do this 🙂

Maybe you're struggling now but I'm so glad you're sharing this with me, there's no shame, we're trying to make a change and I think to quit smoking is a massive change. I've been on the stop start roller coaster ever since I started smoking after my long break, around 10 years too. I won't give up quitting 😊

We've both quit before. It took me years as well and a many failed attempts until I stopped.

Back then one of the patch companies had a little 12 week booklet which I used (many times over until I finally managed to get through the first 3 months). Nicorette has an envelope at the pharmacy now that's for free and there's quit smoking help & diary in there too. It's for free. I started that today.

I've read Alan Carr years ago and it did help then. I don't think you necessarily need to follow the book in detail. Whenever I read about quitting smoking I have the urge to smoke so yep, I smoked a lot when I read it. 

There's an app called 'smoke free' and I like how it guides me through the preparation to stop and keeps me accountable when I stop, showing all the benefits etc. it hasn't been foolproof but I read my reasons and add to them as I go. 

I'm in the for me most triggering environment at the moment and I hadn't smoked for a couple of weeks before, but started again. I'll be in the same environment for the next few weeks and think if I can stay smoke free here, I can stay smoke free anywhere. 

What was your most helpful strategy when you stopped smoking before? I realised back then that contrary to the advise to change behaviours and avoid situations, to continue what I used to do and just not smoke. I continued to be in my smoking circles and just didn't smoke. I felt lonely before when I stopped smoking and smoking is a huge social connection factor for me. 

Hope to stay in touch with you 🙂

[petrichor]

@JamR 

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/guide-to-a-smoke-free-life.pdf

Every cigarette you don't smoke is doing you good

[JamR]

Hi @petrichor 

Thank you for that! 

I think things that helped before was having some healthy habits that I'd started to develop. One time it was meditation. After a couple of months somehow smoking dissipated. I remember feeling uncertain as to how I quit that time, because it didn't seem hard. I actually started again that time after about a year, when some tough exams had finished, and I was also out of my more usual meditation routine. Then I stopped meditating... partly because I felt bad that I had started smoking again.

There was another time I was in a meditation group and quit for about 2 weeks, but started when I got home again and was in my old environment.

A time after that, I quit because I literally didn't have enough money. I just couldn't afford it. I also wanted to quit. That lasted about a year as well. Because I was in a new environment, that made it a little easier.

The last time I quit because of my first and only bout in my life so far, of what seemed like the flu. I was so sick that I couldn't smoke. That was when I made the calendar, an idea I got from Don Tolman. I just crossed off each day I didn't smoke. Each day I just said I had to last for a month, and then I'd be fine. After a month, I really did feel I'd lost the urge to smoke, and felt a lot better. That time I knew (from previous experience) that if I just had one, that was what would get me. So I just kept at it. I even had a few nightmares in the first few years, that I had just had one cigarette, and started again... then was so glad to wake up and realise I was still a non-smoker.

Over those 10 years, a couple of times I noticed only slight urges to smoke that would come on about a week after being exposed to passive smoke. I would just notice that - and it was easy to ignore.... especially since I didn't have any cigarettes around.

The few months before the time I quit for 10 years, I had been reading Allen Carr's book, and trying to eat healthier... and thinking about quitting. So having the flu and no cigarettes for a couple of days was a good starter.

I guess I've been doing that! I've been eating healthier, and have lost some weight (need to lose more belly fat though!)

This time... for the past couple of years, I keep on saying I'm quitting at the end of a packet. Now I've got a bad habit of saying that I've quit ... but then I seem to give in so easily! 

Maybe I need to quit while I've still got cigarettes available. The thought of giving in and buying a whole new packet is awful, and seems to set me back. There's a part of me saying I wish I could just buy one cigarette at a time. Right now, I have nearly a whole packet I bought this morning. A part of me just wants to throw it out. But then will I go and buy another packet tomorrow or the next day? It could get expensive. 

Coffee, is one of the strong associations I have as well. Just feeling bad about some life situations does it as well. I smoke when I feel bad about things, it's like a "well, things are this bad, I may as well smoke". 

I can't believe I'm writing all this stuff about cigarettes! They're awful. 

Having written all of this... my current decision is to put that packet in a hard to reach place (which somehow makes me feel a little better but I'm cautious that it kinda makes them seem special - maybe be careful with the place I choose??), and then if I feel like having one, say ...

Instead I could drink some water.

Instead I could meditate.

Instead I could go for a walk.

Instead I could make a nice herbal tea.

Instead I could have a shower.

Instead I could read stuff about being healthy

Instead I could watch YouTube video about eating healthy or healthy lifestyle.

Instead I could tidy up and clean.

And I'll draw up a calendar and put it on the wall. 30 days. 

I'm a bit scared of setting a date. What do I do leading up to that date? How far in the future? I'll have to smoke till then? I want to quit now. But I'm not prepared. But I don't need to prepare... I've had practice at this. Even when I've prepared I've failed. That time I quit for 10 years, I wasn't prepared, I was just feeling so unwell... 

I feel unwell now from cigarettes. Not as sick as back then. But I want to feel better. To smell better!

So I'm acting on that now. 

Ok... have tossed the cigarettes up behind stuff in a very high wardrobe. It would take me about 5-10 minutes and a lot of bother to reach them.... I'd have to get the step ladder out, and pull down all the stuff in front of them. I'm not even sure where they landed. 

Ok... I've made up a calendar of 30 days. 

I actually feel a little better right now. Quite excited and looking forward to crossing off my first day tomorrow at this time. My last cigarette was around 2 hours ago when I got home (which is what I have tended to do when I have a packet going)... but I'm going to time it from chucking that packet of cigarettes into a hard-to-reach-place. I'm also quite pleased that I wasn't tempted to have a cigarette before doing that as well. 

[BPDSurvivor]

Good on you @JamR  and @petrichor !

 I'm cheering on both of you!

[JamR]

@BPDSurvivor Thank you! I appreciate that.

[petrichor]

Wow @JamR 

That's amazing and a great strategy!

Congratulations to both us new non smokers, or better say ex smokers. I understand what you said about dreaming to have had a smoke! I think I had them all along. I needed to quit 100% too and when I had my first smoke after all that time, it led as predicted back into smoking... in my 20s I once packed my 'last' cigarette (or so I thought) into a test vial and put my quit smoking date on it, I never smoked it but eventually binned it.

I'm impressed by your healthy coping strategies, I've been drinking hot chocolate all afternoon and now have a sugar hit. I gathered it would be nice to celebrate with hot chocolate 😊 I didn't really think about other strategies. Thanks for sharing yours. I'm adding square breathing to your list. And I will make a calendar to cross the days off, I haven't made one of those since high school when I counted down the days for the next term break!

I've thrown many packets in the bin attempting to stop smoking and it did become a very expensive habit. But I know myself too well to keep them in the same room. I used to walk in the middle of the night through snow blizzards to buy smokes.

I'll catch up with you tomorrow, I'm off to bed now and we can see how our first smoke free morning coffee goes. Sleep well 🙂

[petrichor]

Thank you @BPDSurvivor 

You're a wonderful supporter 🙂

[JamR]

Hey all, especially @petrichor 

Hope everyone is going well. Sharing an update!

So first of all, I had a busy week at work, then I found it a bit tricky logging back in here as a community member, so sorry for my absence!

With the giving up smoking part... Hope anyone else doing this is going well!

I had trouble lasting 24 hours at first, and have now decided that keeping any cigs within reach is a mistake for me as well!

So then, as I started to run out on my last packet, (hehe desperate feelings as I realised I just couldn't/wouldn't buy anymore!) I looked around for ways to deal with it and I found some hypnosis and affirmation-style things to listen to on Youtube.

One of the hypnosis sessions took me back to when I was a child and had my first drag. Would you believe I was only 7 years old! I asked my parents if I could try one of their burning cigarettes. They kinda laughed and said go ahead... maybe thinking that will cure her for life.... I remember when I had a drag that it didn't taste good, but I thought I could "tolerate" it. Hmmmmmm...

I don't know if going over early memories has helped at all, as I didn't give up immediately, but the next day I had my Covid vaccine booked, and a review of all my last blood tests I'd ordered from last week. I was hoping they would be worse because the doctor said I was pretty good considering my age etc... and that my lipid profile had improved since last time....

Nevertheless, like I hoped, the covid vaccine made me feel unwell. This was an extra incentive not to smoke after I ran out later that day. For my last cigarette, I made sure I tuned in to how disgusting it tasted... and how it negatively affected my breathing, then got into bed as I felt more and more unwell. 

I've continued to listen to affirmations on Youtube since then and a variety of those hypnosis sessions.

So the result is that I have now gone over 48 hours without a puff (the longest since I was last a "non-smoker" or an "ex-smoker" for 10 years.... about 3 years ago) and I feel pretty good. (except for some of the left-over covid vaccine after-effects).

I am going to keep listening to more of those youtube videos with the affirmations, just in case they're the magic.... I've got one more day of being at home. 

Hope anyone else doing this is persisting as well, and getting results. 

[TAB]

Hi @JamR @petrichor @rivergal  I hadnt been looking at my quit app for a while, started looking for milestones again recently its like Day 1179 today ..lolz ..

Best Wishes to you all

[Rhye]

@TAB its day 1179 for you today?? That's huge, congrats!