[gerr60]

The aides do not help because they play with your brain , the only way to stop is stop simple, tell yourself and others you dont smoke and try to avoid tempting situations, days turn into weeks then months then you are on your way.

[ejm]

Originally Posted by gerr60

The aides do not help because they play with your brain , the only way to stop is stop simple, tell yourself and others you dont smoke and try to avoid tempting situations, days turn into weeks then months then you are on your way.

They help a lot of people. It really doesn't matter if people use something to help them quit. It is the quitting and staying off them that is the important thing. I gave up smoking 3 years in October. I used the Nicotine patches for 6 weeks then nothing. Yes it was an aid, an aid that helped me overcome the cravings in the beginning and enabled me to reach a point where I could understand and overcome the addiction. Horses for courses.

[liblob]

I stopped 4 years ago with the tablets Champix, couldn't believe how easy it was and I was a heavy smoker. I know Champix doesn't suit everyone and some Doctors don't like prescribing them.

[Raquello]

Hi Franglais

I smoked for 12 and a half years..I wasn't a heavy smoker - just liked a cigarette first thing in the morning...2 at lunch and a couple before going home from work. My friends were always telling me to quit and I said 'when I no longer enjoy smoking then I will stop....not because someone has told me too' (typical stubborn Capricorn!!)

On July 15th 2010 I had just finished a ciggie before going back to lunch and all of a sudden I started to feel dizzy and sick and ended up lying on the training room floor. I decided there and then I wasn't going to smoke again and I havent touched one since! (I wish I could same the same for wine!!)

I'm a very 'all or nothing' person and if I decide to do something then thats it. I didnt use any patches or gum just stubborness!

I wish you all the luck in the world....it's not easy giving up nicotine but if you want to give up then you've already won the battle.

[DaisyBill]

I stopped over 7 years ago [I was a heavy smoker of 20- 40/day, for 30 years on and off].
I used nicotine patches for around 8 weeks, then nothing. I did miss smoking for about 4 months, then I started to really enjoy being a non smoker.
I think aids do work but you also have to have the mental will power.
The most important thing for me was never to have 'just the one'. Even now I find the smell of someone else smoking tempting, and I know if I ever did have one my addiction would eventually take over again.

[Abriel]

what's so great about this allen carr book? Hubby's working up to quitting, but he's vile when he tries to stop. Is it worth buying it for him?

[Hotgossip]

Originally Posted by gerr60

The aides do not help because they play with your brain , the only way to stop is stop simple, tell yourself and others you dont smoke and try to avoid tempting situations, days turn into weeks then months then you are on your way.

Rubbish! You only use them for a few weeks and you are very gradually weaned off them. It works - myself and thousands of others are testament to that.

Because it is so gradual you get right down to the lowest patch and I actually cut my patches in half for the last week and told myself that there was such a tiny amount of nicotine in them that it wasn't worth bothering with. I have never looked back.

[Hotgossip]

Originally Posted by Abriel

what's so great about this allen carr book? Hubby's working up to quitting, but he's vile when he tries to stop. Is it worth buying it for him?

The book is good. I came across it after I'd quit a few months.
Even though he is not a fan of NRT and prefers people to go cold turkey, a lot of his ideas on quitting are excellent. It's a bit repetitive but I guess that's why it works.

[Mookyboy]

I gave up 3 years ago after smoking 20 a day for just over 20 years. I'd been seriously thinking about giving up for the last year or two, and then developed a bought of bronchitis which meant I had could hardly breath, let alone smoke, for well over a week,so I thought it was time to give up.

I did it cold turkey and although in the short term it wasn't easy (at all), day by day it got better, and I'd never now go back. I do still occasionally think about smoking and wonder if I do fancy a cigarette, but it's more of an urge like when you fancy having a curry or a pint of beer, and easily dismissable.

[PinkPetunia]

Originally Posted by Hotgossip

The book is good. I came across it after I'd quit a few months.
Even though he is not a fan of NRT and prefers people to go cold turkey, a lot of his ideas on quitting are excellent. It's a bit repetitive but I guess that's why it works.

I think its a form of hypnosis .I read the book then went to the day seminar and they are similar in the constant repetition .They day was brilliant too, a drumming in of points over and over .
I was a dedicated smoker , couldnt be without them , would panic if I had non etc .I walked out of the seminar and never touched another one .

[Tackomacko]

Originally Posted by gerr60

The aides do not help because they play with your brain , the only way to stop is stop simple, tell yourself and others you dont smoke and try to avoid tempting situations, days turn into weeks then months then you are on your way.

the aides helped me, A LOT

[Taomi]

My boyfriend is trying to give up at the moment and doing really well. The worst time for him is when he is out drinking with his mates so he is avoiding that, which I feel bad about as I don't want him to have to change his life.

He said he has always wanted to give up but he is doing this for me as I really really hate smoking and everything about it.

Anyway, I have never heard of this book but it sounds good and worth a buy. Do you think he would be offended? I'm asking from a smoker/giver upper point of view as obviously I know my boyfriend and that he would never tell me he was. The last thing I'd want to give him is more pressure

[lea_uk]

My mam quit with Champix 2 a and half years ago. She had no problems, apart from some strange dreams. But they don't work and aren't suitable for everyone.

[PopRocket]

I'm on my 3rd attempt at quitting. So far i've lasted 2 weeks exactly but i think i'm in a better frame of mind to succeed this time *fingers crossed*

[RAINBOWGIRL22]

Originally Posted by Abriel

what's so great about this allen carr book? Hubby's working up to quitting, but he's vile when he tries to stop. Is it worth buying it for him?

As I say I had it for 18 months before I got round to reading it BUT when I did it was mindblowing (although totally obvious as well if that makes sense)

The book looks at why people struggle to stop ["the fear"] and why there really is nothing to be afraid of. It is repetitive in a way, but the crux of what is being said is true.

You gain absolutely nothing by being a smoker. This theme is retiterated time and time again throughout the book with numerous examples.

Your hubby may not read it this time but it is well worth having a copy??

It resonated so much with me and I was surprised as I didn't even "want" to stop smoking

[FearFactor]

Originally Posted by RAINBOWGIRL22

I was a smoker for 15 years (10 a day, double that if I was at the pub )

Don't view it as "giving up" that implies you are missing out on something - you are not!

OP, start to look at it as stopping smoking

I am an Allen Carr success story. I read his book in one sitting on 8th May 2011 and I've never had another smoke.

I've never had any cravings, any wobbles or any moments of feeling crabby / moody. I just stopped....

Something in my mind just clicked and that was it.

It did take me 18 months to actually get round to reading the book but seriously that man knew his shit.

Read it.... today

I've had the book for about 18 months too, and not read it yet! Feeling kind of like I'm ready to give up now, don't like the thought of my baby growing up with a mummy who smokes.....eeuughh
Plus I've got a cough at the moment. Perhaps it's time to bite the bullet.

[jumpingjacflash]

I gave up in January using an inhalator. Fabulous - gave me the "throat hit" I craved, took the edge off the nicotine withdrawal and was something to do with the hands. I worried a little that I'd be addicted to the inhalator but gradually I just stopped using it, it just happened naturally.

Aids DO work for some people - I couldn't have done it cold turkey. Everyone is different. The freedom of being a non-smoker is great. I look back on my years as a smoker and get an image in my head of a dog ceaselessly chasing it's tail. Breaking free of that compulsion is fantastic.

[hollybuddy]

I smoked 20-40 a day for 15 years and gave up overnight after reading the Allen Carr book. Just like that. No cravings, no mood swings, nothing. I wasn't even sure I wanted to give up at the time but was curious about this book I had heard so much about. I think I almost wanted to prove it couldn't work! It's been 6 years now and I've never looked back.

[RAINBOWGIRL22]

Originally Posted by FearFactor

I've had the book for about 18 months too, and not read it yet! Feeling kind of like I'm ready to give up now, don't like the thought of my baby growing up with a mummy who smokes.....eeuughh
Plus I've got a cough at the moment. Perhaps it's time to bite the bullet.

I read it when I found out I was pregnant the first time, I went on to miscarry but never went back to the fags..I am very proud that not only did I stop but I went through a very difficult time very soon after stopping and never went back to my old ways.

Try it, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain (Allen Carr says that a lot LOL)

[Hotgossip]

Originally Posted by jumpingjacflash

I gave up in January using an inhalator. Fabulous - gave me the "throat hit" I craved, took the edge off the nicotine withdrawal and was something to do with the hands. I worried a little that I'd be addicted to the inhalator but gradually I just stopped using it, it just happened naturally.

Aids DO work for some people - I couldn't have done it cold turkey. Everyone is different. The freedom of being a non-smoker is great. I look back on my years as a smoker and get an image in my head of a dog ceaselessly chasing it's tail. Breaking free of that compulsion is fantastic.

Excellent point which I 100% agree with. I would have walked through snow covered hills at night to get to a place to buy fags if I was running low. I was totally addicted. Now I am free.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I could live without fags. I am much more relaxed, smell & look better, have some spare cash and am far healthier than I was years ago. I wish I'd done it years ago to be honest.

When I am in an environment where there are smokers chomping at the bit to get a fag, I feel so good because I am just chilled out. They scuttle out of pubs, airports, public places just to get their fix and I was one of them once.

[PinkPetunia]

Originally Posted by Hotgossip

Excellent point which I 100% agree with. I would have walked through snow covered hills at night to get to a place to buy fags if I was running low. I was totally addicted. Now I am free.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I could live without fags. I am much more relaxed, smell & look better, have some spare cash and am far healthier than I was years ago. I wish I'd done it years ago to be honest.

When I am in an environment where there are smokers chomping at the bit to get a fag, I feel so good because I am just chilled out. They scuttle out of pubs, airports, public places just to get their fix and I was one of them once.

You could be me !! My thoughts exactly . I see people now and look and say "Thank God I dont smoke anymore "
I could not go to bed one time if I knew there was no cigerettes for the morning .
Now I feel so free of the hold they had on me .

[Tree-Of-Life]

Exercise is the key. Particularly swimming.

[Taomi]

Originally Posted by Hotgossip

Excellent point which I 100% agree with. I would have walked through snow covered hills at night to get to a place to buy fags if I was running low. I was totally addicted. Now I am free.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I could live without fags. I am much more relaxed, smell & look better, have some spare cash and am far healthier than I was years ago. I wish I'd done it years ago to be honest.

When I am in an environment where there are smokers chomping at the bit to get a fag, I feel so good because I am just chilled out. They scuttle out of pubs, airports, public places just to get their fix and I was one of them once.

Was it the book that did it for you?

Still debating whether to buy my boyfriend it

[doffer]

Smoked at least 20 a day for 30 years. Read The Nicotine Trick by Neil Casey on 3rd Jan 2010 and haven't touched one since. No cravings or mood swings. Don't even think about 'em.

[terryfc81]

I had to be in an environment for 3 days that prohibited me smoking. After the 3 days passed by i made the decision to quit smoking. The first 3 week was the hardest but it is alright. i still crave a smoke everyday but it is not as bad as it was. i think it is all about will power