tocevoD

I think we've all threw a quit away at some point. That's why we post on here, to share experiences like that. It's all about how fast we get back on the train. Make it a small blip and get straight back on. I had a habit of reading my Allen Carr book when I made a blip in the past. You need something to remind you why you quit in the 1st place. Keep fighting the good fight.

I'm now 5months and 11hrs in on my tracker. Still getting random thoughts. Wouldn't say it was every day. I can't even remember the timescale between them. I'm around smokers in work. They don't bother me now, I pity them after observing their habits and how much they need the nicotine without even knowing it. I am using them without them even knowing it for my own fight. I was one of them so the thought of having to feed the habit again is my fuel. The thing is I can feel my stress levels rising at times. I think we all get it. We have stress levels and the adrenaline rises. I actually think my rising streets levels and adrenaline rising is prompting me towards the ciggies. Maybe the brain is sending the signal as I would have had a ciggie in the past in the same situaition. Maybe its one of my final hurdles. Not to feed it in this type of situation. Looks like it's going to be a battle for life. Will the thoughts ever go? To anyone who is a few years into their quit, do they ever completely go?

I've been demonising it in my head for the last 4 and a bit months. Pitying smokers and seeing how hopelessly addicted they are. You take a step back and see it for what it is. I've had smokers say to me "I'm gonna pack in soon, yeah I think I'll do it after my holiday." Stuff like that. They see you have packed in and think they can just do it by snapping their fingers. Then you look at them and they're trying to cram in every ciggie they can, when they can. It's a hopeless and fruitless addiction. You gain nothing from it and lose everything. Health, wealth and relationships all badly affected.

They are the most selfish of people. Being a non smoker you see it for what it is. They want to smoke where they want. If they are in the passenger seat of your car sometimes they'll ask if they can have a ciggie, erm no not under any circumstances I don't want my car stinking of your stupid habit. It's just all consuming for them and they think they can impose it upon you if you give them an inch.

If you've demonised smoking enough in your own brain then it ends up easy to be around people smoking. You end up laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. When you see them running back and forth to their safe haven to have a ciggie. When you see the panic when they can't find their ciggies. The kids laughing at them when they hide away so the kids don't see them having one. I'm only at day 80 but I find myself laughing at the smokers now. There's a lad in work. When I quit he said he was going on holiday and when he gets back he was going to quit. He's still smoking. The first fight is with the brain. Win that small battle at the start and you're on your way. You need to demonise the act of smoking.

Their business is in getting youngsters addicted to nicotine no matter what the delivery method. Kids should be educated in schools about why they should avoid nicotine at all costs. Health and wealth severely impacted

When you pack in and stand back you realise how utterly selfish it all is. We have all been there. They feel like they should be allowed to smoke anywhere. As I say, we have been on that side aswell. You only see that perspective knowingly when you pack in. Such a selfish act being a smoker.

Yeah feeling better Jillar. I think last night was the initial big one. I think it was because I knew my son was going home yesterday so I had my brain taking that as a signal to smoke again a few days ago. The build upto yesterday had started a few days ago as I say. I feel better today because the urge to go and get a packet was batted away. It was strong, I must say. I'd had a few beers so there's the trigger. That's twice now after beers that its been batted away so maybe can take that as a positive? Reading up on the effects of nicotine on the brain at the moment so basically know that the body is craving increased dopamine levels that it would get from nicotine. It's not getting fed. Haha.

Went out Friday 18th August and got through that massive hurdle after not smoking for near on 50 days. These last couple of days have been my biggest urges though. For the reason I don't know. Since Saturday 19th I've had my 7yo son staying with me and these last couple of days he's sent me a bit round the bend. He's going away with his mum and bro tomorrow Monday 28th. I'm back in work Tuesday 29th so may go back the gym after work. The gym and eating well focuses me even more. I'm just a little worried with these urges, they've been pretty strong. I think my resilience to the thoughts is stronger now. Is this just a challenge? The dying dopamine levels through nicotine inaction? Must keep up the fight. Nicotine is the enemy in all its forms.

Hurdle cleared. Happy days. Onwards and upwards.

I'm now at day 46 of my full on quit. In the past I've done a 5 year quit but accepted I would smoke on social occasions. This quit is the end all quit. The forever quit. I've had my times in the last 46 days where I have had small urges associated with situations where I used to smoke. Tonight I am in the major associated situation. I'm going out for a drink with friends around a music gig. This was where I would have smoked in the past. This is the severing of it for me. I will not smoke tonight. The smell, the cost, the wheezing, the hiding away, the 46 days accomplished. None of it is worth breaking just to introduce nicotine into my system again. I have resisted all NRT because I know the addiction is in in the nicotine and being a former smoker if I use NRT then it will always lead back to smoking. I will keep the strength I have built up already to ease me through tonight's final goal. I have called it the first big hurdle. In all honesty it could be called the last big hurdle.

It's weird but I'm enjoying the odd crave I get each day. It's only 2 or 3 times a day but I'm enjoying batting them away. What is more concerning is imagining future situations and asking myself if I will smoke then. That was always my drawback. I had a quit for about 4 or 5 years and it ended because I started romanticising going out with friends and allowing myself one or two as a treat. At the moment I'm asking myself if would smoke in tragic situations involving myself or family members. It doesn't seem normal at all but this is how ingrained this thing is.

4 weeks in. Feeling good. Looking at smokers as victims rather than anything to be desired. Still getting thoughts but they're not strong thoughts. Thoughts that are easily batted away. The money saved is really bizarre. I was having, on average, 16 a day. My savings as displayed on the app I use for 4 weeks packed in is over £270. That is money back in my pocket rather than giving it to some faceless tobacco company employee or giving it to government taxes. No brainer isn't it.

I read something a while back that said that governments and tobacco companies were looking at ways, for decades, how they could lose the need for cigarettes specifically. A way for people to ingest nicotine and stay addicted without the need to smoke a cigarette. It looks like they are onto a winner with these vape machines. The amount of children I see and hear of who are basically addicted to them is grotesque. Schools are having to send out warnings to parents of the dangers because they know how many kids are using them. This needs to be addressed by governments but they won't do nothing. There will be initial lip service for a while because they want this addiction to get a firm hold in the community first and don't want anything to get in the way of that. It's absolutely horrible. I fear that everyone using them now is a guinea pig and we will start to see the problems they cause years down the line. Much the same as we did with smoking.

Still getting urges but I'd say I'm on the low end of the amount of them. Seeing the urges as just thoughts at the moment. I'd say I think about them 2 or 3 times a day. It's pretty easy to bat them away at the moment with the benefits being felt in other parts of my life. I bought Nicotine gum when I originally started this thread, and when I originally meant to pack it in in March. The gum is still there but I don't want to take any of it because I actually feel like I don't need it and I don't want to have nicotine in my body at this point and definitely not in the future. From previous experience the gun makes me feel as bad as I do when I was smoking. I used to suffer strong anxiety straight after and during a ciggie and I'd get the same feeling from the gum. I feel confident this time. Feeling good.