Yes, another thing guys, start an exercise programme if you haven't already. Great stuff, no matter how sore you get. :D

My dad gave up a few years ago after about 30 years with it. He just decided one day "Thats enough" and gave it up. Didnt need patches or anything like that. Just strength of will.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, believe you can, and you will. Doubt you could and you wont ever.

I've always found it strange that some people can struggle with stoping smoking and others can quit without much hassle at all.

My last cigarette was the 25th of August last year after 36 years of smoking 1 to 2 packs a day, and i'm finally getting to the point i don't think about having one all the time. I'd be happy to help ya in any way i can.

I've struggled with it for a long time and I can't explain why, but this time around, it has just happened. I think maybe this time I'm worried about my health like I've never worried about it before. Who knows? Just as long as I stay off the bloody things, I don't care.

Your a good 'un August, thanks. I don't know how to play this thread, I'm not a medic or psychologist or anything, but I figured just collecting people's experience and advice might help. Just hearing from someone who still hasn't smoked 6 months down the line is a real boost. I've found the biggest problem is to believe that giving it up is possible. the more people that say that, the easier it is to believe it. Power to you (and me :D )

Hi, I was a smoker for over 40 years & developed quite a harsh cough, I went to the docs & he said I was in the early stages of emphysema, he carried on to say that if I didn't quit soon (within 2 years), I would die a slow death gasping for air!:oops:
He said I had 2 choices:
1) Give up smoking and gain some of the damaged cells.
2) Die a slow death.
I chose the first option!:lol:
That was about 12 years ago & I suppose the shock was the best thing that made it easy for me to give up, it takes about 6 months for the cravings to subside and after a couple of years the thought of smoke is repulsive, never go back, and certainly feel great now, and no more coughing or wheezing, I could easily say that that doctor saved my life!:yep:

Good luck with giving up, I watched my gandmother suffer due to smoking. She would run out of puff without doing anything stressful. That was a good reason for me to keep clear!

Here in Australia there is a help line you can ring, and they'll even ring you to see how your going. Is there anything similar in the UK that you could use?:hmm:

The trouble with stopping smoking is not just stopping per se, its having the discipline to stick to it while your body clears itself out.

I personally would never go back to it, if you put a gun to my head and said "here smoke" I would say "just pull the trigger because your gun will kill me quicker and with less pain than them cigarettes will" its a very dirty habit. Its also a LOT easier to start smoking than I think I gave credit to.

I can full well understand the addictiveness of it, and how some people literally struggle like hell to stop, or can't be fussed to go through the process for whatever reason.

Anyway I'm glad I got it behind me. It could have stunted my growth. It still can stunt a mans growth if you carry on.;)

If smoking did stunt my growth, im glad it did, im 191cm (6'3")tall as it is and i started smoking at 10.

There are all sorts of help in the UK for poeople wanting to pack it in, but as I've discovered, you have to really want to do it, deep inside. No amount of health warnings, graphic pictures etc have ever made want to give up, however, feeling progressively less healthy, as I have over the last couple of years, has done the trick, I think. Don't want to go back there again.

I have stopped smoking cigarettes about two years ago. I have been smoking for 12 years at that moment about half a pack per day. I didn't smoke at home - only at work. I didn't smoke right at the working place - every time I had to go out. So one cold november day I have caught a flu. I took some "Coldrex" and went to work. Sitting in the office I mechanically wanted to have a cigarette but then a sudden thought came to my mind: " Hey man! What the hell are you doing? - you are ill and a cigarette won't help you to become well". And I decided to postpone my cigarette for a time when I would be quite well. Couple of days since then I have quite recovered but strangely I haven't found any desire to smoke a cigarette. I do not have it since then... I also didn't have any need in chewing something instead of smoking or in permanent holding a pen in hands instead of a cigarette :) One thing I still allow myself about tobacco is smoking my nice Dunhill pipe once a two or three months (and practically never during winter).

Best Regards!

Isn't it amazing how everyone has a different experience when they decide to stop smoking. Different reasons, different circumstances.
Cheers Dmitry,
Ha здоровье:up:

I'm attempting to quit. It is very hard. Started smoking when I was 14 and I'm now 42. I do not know how many knocks on the head I need to stop....I have had three collapsed lungs. But, as of the first of the year I have been wheening myself off of them. I buy crappy cigarettes that taste bad....therefore, the thought of one is not as appealing as the brand I liked smoking. So, I'm down to 8-10 a day as opposed an entire pack of 20. It is without a doubt one of the hardest thing to kick. Ease of purchase and nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs out there. With the tide turning on smoking to be unacceptable out in public and the taxes per pack raising every other day....not a wonder I did not quit sooner.

How strange - I am not a smoker and never have been, but I've had similar dreams. I often smoke in my dreams - and wake up feeling like a total traitor about it. Strangely enough, this makes no sense since in my waking life I've never been in any way tempted to start smoking at all and I can't so much as stand the smell of it. :dead:

Good luck to you! I wish I could offer some advice, but I guess it's far too late for me to say "just don't start". Hope you make it! :)