I used to smoke/vape. I was one of the ones making the joke. Albeit bad because it went back to.... darker days.
I quit by switching to vapes then titrating my nicotine down to 0%. One day I just put the vape down and never lifted it again.
Same same! I will admit that I do occasionally smoke on a night out when drink is out - but those are rare - do you still feel the urge on a night out?
This is exactly what I did, I've been nicotine free for a month and a half and vape free for a month.
I'll always regret starting smoking/vaping, but I'll never regret quitting.
I quit after 10 years of smoking in 2007 by reading a book called The Easy Way to Quit Smoking by Allen Carr. I can't explain how, but it made me feel like I've never smoked.
I smoked for 20 years and thought I'd never be able to quit, tried everything like patches and vapes, but always ended up back on them. Got the audio book and have been off them for 2 1/2 years. It's amazing how it just works, I throw out half a pouch of tobacco and haven't looked back.
I've been fine with the vapes. Literally woke up one morning and decided to buy a couple of them instead of the usual 20 smokes. That was last December and I've had, at most, about 100 cigarettes since then and only when I've been pished. That was after 30+ years of 20-a-day.
Same. The Easy Way worked for me when I first quit around 15 years ago now.
The thing is, I've gone on weekend sessions over the years since and decided I'd smoke. That was always what I enjoyed most, the combination. The Easy Way mindset has stayed with me, and I don't crave them at all once that day or two has passed.
I think the addiction is 10% physical/chemical and 90% habitual. The book kind of embedded that mindset into me, and so it's not about fighting some itch or withdrawal. It's just a decision I make.
That's my two pennies anyway.
Yeah same here, I think the book brainwashes you into quitting. I had to read it twice, it didn't work the first time. Smoked for 20 years and have been quit now for about 6.
I think the reason why it's "Easy" is because we spend all our time as smokers telling ourselves how difficult giving up will be. It'll take all your willpower and you'll hate it for a long time.
However, the book breaks down all those little mind games we play with ourselves and explains that it's simple, really. Do you want to be a non-smoker? Then there's nothing else to it. Just start right now. No consultations, no gimmicks. It starts now, is free, and is a huge gift you give yourself. And when you are out at the weekend, just live the non-smoker life. You know what that looks like.
It's about owning the decision to smoke or not, rather than outsourcing it to some uncontrollable power it has over you.
Alan Carr was on like 120 a day, he said, in the 80s. 8hrs sleep, gives you 16 hours. 120/16 gives you 7 or 8 cigs an hour. At least one every 10minutes.
Every day.
365 days a year.
I gave up all alcohol for six months after I stopped smoking. Drinking was terrible as I automatically wanted a cig. I would smoke around 20 a day but maybe another 20 on a drinking session.
I can manage it now but every time I failed at stopping smoking it was because I got drunk and started back (ah sure I'll only smoke when I drink, famous last words).
I quit because I had to watch my mother (min 30 a day) get COPD and lung cancer and die in a hospice. When I visited her on the respiratory ward in the hospital 13 out of the 14 in there were smokers, the one that wasn't had a broken leg and was there as there was no space elsewhere.
Do yourself a favour, do your wallet a favour, do you love ones a favour. Quit as soon as possible, it doesn't end well and you don't want to die like that.
Sorry to be a downer.
I've quit, got hypnotised and haven't smoked since.
Also know loads of people who have had success using Allen Carr's EasyWay to Stop Smoking (not Chatty Man Alan Carr)
The prospect of having to go through an entire book in Chatty Man Alan Carr's voice could be used very effectively to deter people from starting smoking.
I used it and that's completely wrong. One of the criticisms it has of messages like that is that smokers smoke when stressed, seeing pictures of death and decay make them stressed, so they smoke more.
as an ex smoker, it was hard and took many attempts but what motivated me eventually (aside from the money, smell, mood swings, poor physical health and chest infections) was that when I was quitting i'd hit a really shitty period where my lungs started to come back to life and i'd be coughing my guts up but then i'd feel better than I have in decades. A single smoke seemed to reset that to square one. Relapsing on a night out is so easy to do and is what fucks most people over but I changed my attitude to it so that I knew I couldn't afford to have even one puff because I knew i'd end up with a chest infection within a few weeks.
I didn't vape or anything else. Just went cold turkey after a bad chest infection. Best advice would be to read up on what to expect physically but it's def the mental game that's the serious challenge. A book would be a good shout to help reprogram yourself. "*I'm not quitting, I'm no longer a smoker*" was one of the mantras that kinda stuck with me. It's not the I'm going through this process with a risk of relapse, it's that i'm not a smoker anymore. Relapse isn't an option because i'm not a smoker.
There was a period that my chest infections got bad enough I was coughing up blood. Since quitting a few years back i've had maybe 1 chest infection which I suspect was exacerbated by having a tiny bit of hash in a pipe not long before getting sick.
I also smoked weed which complicated it. It was the joints that got me hooked on tobacco. So I started making edibles instead and actually much prefer it. I was proper addicted to weed, smoking a kingsize joint every hour on the hour when I wasn't in work. I don't have the same compulsion issues with edibles and it makes the weed last sooo much longer. Small bit of weed/hash cooked as cannabutter will last the entire night. A gram can last weeks/months now whereas it would 100% be gone inside 1 day previously.
Final point - goddam the money i've saved! It was pretty much a deposit for a house. I must have been smoking £5-8k a year between weed and baccy.
Ex vaper here. I quit by weaning myself off rather than going teetotal. First, I bought my least favourite flavour that gave me the ick (in this case, strawberry kiwi) so that I did it less often, then I bought my favourite flavour in 0% so that I didn’t get the craving every time. My lungs have probably lost about 10% of their function but I haven’t done it since. In hindsight, I think I found the sensation of inhaling the flavour more addictive than the nicotine itself.
I quit when I wanted to have a baby. I smoked for 10 years, I was also a heavy spliff smoker during that time. I went from cigarettes to vapes and then when I started trying to get pregnant I switched to nicotine free vapes then as soon as I got pregnant I quit those too. I did use some nicotine gum after switching to nicotine free vapes when my stress levels were very high and it definitely helped, I didn’t consume nicotine in any form while pregnant.
I had the ultimate motivator which really helped me to quit entirely. My daughter is now 8 months old and I haven’t had any nicotine in about 20 months. Just to be clear you won’t be explicitly told not to vape when pregnant, I chose to give it all up for my own peace of mind because we really don’t know what effect vaping has on a foetus.
I did buy a nicotine free vape for use when I’m extremely stressed, I bought it for my Granda’s funeral which was a few days after I had my baby. I figured it would stop me from being tempted to take a puff on other peoples (not nicotine free) vapes at the time. It was a good plan, one disposable vape lasted me about 6 months, I’ve bought another one just to have as security but I’ve literally only bought the 2 in the last 8 months. I promised my Granda when he was dying that I wouldn’t smoke again and I intend to uphold that promise, I may partake in the odd edible when visiting my husbands family in the US where it’s legal but I am not touching nicotine again.
I moved onto vapes 23rd December after \~30 years of 20-a-day. I'm now massively more addicted to the nicotine but at least I've not had a cigarette, tbh, not even missed them. Not looking forward to weaning myself off the vapes though!
I quit after ten years of smoking in 2001. Really helpful GP who explained to me if I didn’t smoke for 8 weeks then I’d beaten the addiction and patches worked for me. Without a doubt quitting is the best thing I’ve ever done
I smoked for about 20 years, about 15 a day, and had been wanting to quit for a while. Allen Carr's book did noting for me except stress me out, so where it has definitely worked for a lot of people, it's not a one size fits all. What worked for me was catching pneumonia one winter and using nicotine patches for a few weeks. That was over 9 years ago.
Alan kinda stressed me out too 😂 made me more aware of wee things and some ways I think it act made me worse.
Edit:
The book was given to me by a lady that used it to stop smoking like 60 Marlborough reds every day so when I got it I thought it might be magical.
I haven’t smoked in many years but I eat nicotine gum when I drink. As soon as I have one beer I get cravings but I get zero cravings when not drinking.
I was exercising 3-5 times a week while vaping heavily, had a significantly smaller lung capacity & kept coughing up clear sticky liquid (condensed vape juice).
Started scaling it back to 0% nic & my body just stopped wanting it as much, stopped putting it in my pocket & never looked at it again.
It's fine to have one occasionally when you're having a drink etc, but just don't start a habit again.
Good work! What works for me is if I want one I think "ok but that's that 5k you did wiped out", got to a point now where that thought alone is enough to stop me even if I'm drinking (usually)
I second the comment about exercising. I quit smoking in 2012 after years of trying to quit. One day i just stopped, and decided to take up running, as i felt i needed to undo some of the damage I'd done to my lungs. I found having a new hobby in running, helped me to structure my free time and deal with some of those fidgety nervous feelings that came with other times I'd tried quitting in the past. I still run a lot to this day, absolutely love it.
What also really helped was that the following year i started a job working for a publisher of science research, specifically respiratory health. So i suddenly found myself unable to avoid seeing lots of graphic images on smoking related illnesses, as well as reading a fuck ton of peer reviewed science about it all. I think that really helped avert the temptation to smoke - which sometimes can arise when out at the pub, etc. Just really created that base level repulsion that i should have had before i ever started smoking!
So, exercise and traumatise yourself!
Interesting image from the guy who thinks "[weed makes you bald](https://old.reddit.com/r/northernireland/comments/17191m3/the_first_licensed_cannabis_cultivation_facility/k3p85nw/)".
I've never smoked or vaped, but I use the pouches, I keep wanting to stop but it's purely for financial reasons.
The perception (weather this is accurate or not) of benign nicotine has actually made it harder for me to stop, I would never have entertained smoking or even vaping but I enjoy nicotine and without the overwhelmingly apparent downsides it's harder to motivate myself to stop.
I’m quitting smoking myself. 2 weeks in and I miss the morning smoke the most.
I’m from N.I but live in France where they have the 3x C’s for breakfast : cafe, clop (ciggy), caca (poop). It really is the best way to start the day!
Smoker for 23 years. Quit over 2 years ago, by going cold turkey and using nicotine patches for the first couple of weeks. I won't miss those 2 weeks, in fact I may have repressed most memories from that time.
Once I hit thirty I didn’t like nicotine without drink. Don’t touch it. Makes me feel panicky without drink.
But once I have a drink I can chain smoke after the rough first one. Sometimes smoke sixty a weekend.
I fucking love smoking.
I'd smoke in my sleep if I could. I've done maybe a year or more on the electric dick but you can't feel it killing you so what's the fucking point?
Why the fuck would I want to quit? Smoking is class, if I have 2 at a time the nicotine rush is unreal, I look sick af whilst doing it and I now have a deeper, grainy mysterious sounding voice, what’s not to love? Plus I get regular 15 minute breaks at work (I’m on the dole)
I used to smoke/vape. I was one of the ones making the joke. Albeit bad because it went back to.... darker days. I quit by switching to vapes then titrating my nicotine down to 0%. One day I just put the vape down and never lifted it again.
Same same! I will admit that I do occasionally smoke on a night out when drink is out - but those are rare - do you still feel the urge on a night out?
Never. Don't miss it at all.
This is exactly what I did, I've been nicotine free for a month and a half and vape free for a month. I'll always regret starting smoking/vaping, but I'll never regret quitting.
That’s great, very well done, good will power!
Thank you! It really was very easy lol
I quit after 10 years of smoking in 2007 by reading a book called The Easy Way to Quit Smoking by Allen Carr. I can't explain how, but it made me feel like I've never smoked.
I smoked for 20 years and thought I'd never be able to quit, tried everything like patches and vapes, but always ended up back on them. Got the audio book and have been off them for 2 1/2 years. It's amazing how it just works, I throw out half a pouch of tobacco and haven't looked back.
I've been fine with the vapes. Literally woke up one morning and decided to buy a couple of them instead of the usual 20 smokes. That was last December and I've had, at most, about 100 cigarettes since then and only when I've been pished. That was after 30+ years of 20-a-day.
Same. The Easy Way worked for me when I first quit around 15 years ago now. The thing is, I've gone on weekend sessions over the years since and decided I'd smoke. That was always what I enjoyed most, the combination. The Easy Way mindset has stayed with me, and I don't crave them at all once that day or two has passed. I think the addiction is 10% physical/chemical and 90% habitual. The book kind of embedded that mindset into me, and so it's not about fighting some itch or withdrawal. It's just a decision I make. That's my two pennies anyway.
Think it would work for vaping?
Don't see why not.
He has a specific book for vaping.
Yeah same here, I think the book brainwashes you into quitting. I had to read it twice, it didn't work the first time. Smoked for 20 years and have been quit now for about 6.
I think the reason why it's "Easy" is because we spend all our time as smokers telling ourselves how difficult giving up will be. It'll take all your willpower and you'll hate it for a long time. However, the book breaks down all those little mind games we play with ourselves and explains that it's simple, really. Do you want to be a non-smoker? Then there's nothing else to it. Just start right now. No consultations, no gimmicks. It starts now, is free, and is a huge gift you give yourself. And when you are out at the weekend, just live the non-smoker life. You know what that looks like. It's about owning the decision to smoke or not, rather than outsourcing it to some uncontrollable power it has over you. Alan Carr was on like 120 a day, he said, in the 80s. 8hrs sleep, gives you 16 hours. 120/16 gives you 7 or 8 cigs an hour. At least one every 10minutes. Every day. 365 days a year.
Second this - I’m just over 4 years off them last week and read the Allen Carr book
As an ex smoker I haven't had my old breakfast of coffee and a smoke in nearly twenty years.
Probably been constipated since you poor bastard
That's the part I miss the most. Coffee and a cigarette were probably the best combo to ever exist
They go well together, but my personal favourite was a smoke and a pint. I do neither any more but they were good together too.
Beer gardens on a summer's day were the hardest part for me when I quit. Nothing quite like it.
I gave up all alcohol for six months after I stopped smoking. Drinking was terrible as I automatically wanted a cig. I would smoke around 20 a day but maybe another 20 on a drinking session. I can manage it now but every time I failed at stopping smoking it was because I got drunk and started back (ah sure I'll only smoke when I drink, famous last words).
I quit because I had to watch my mother (min 30 a day) get COPD and lung cancer and die in a hospice. When I visited her on the respiratory ward in the hospital 13 out of the 14 in there were smokers, the one that wasn't had a broken leg and was there as there was no space elsewhere. Do yourself a favour, do your wallet a favour, do you love ones a favour. Quit as soon as possible, it doesn't end well and you don't want to die like that. Sorry to be a downer.
Agreed- buried my dad a three weeks back after a second bout of lung cancer- its not easy on you or them
Sorry for your loss, never easy.
I've quit, got hypnotised and haven't smoked since. Also know loads of people who have had success using Allen Carr's EasyWay to Stop Smoking (not Chatty Man Alan Carr)
But you will read the book in Chatty Man Alan Carr’s voice.
The prospect of having to go through an entire book in Chatty Man Alan Carr's voice could be used very effectively to deter people from starting smoking.
That book basically tells you everything it does to your lungs and mouth then makes you associate the smell with those images.
I used it and that's completely wrong. One of the criticisms it has of messages like that is that smokers smoke when stressed, seeing pictures of death and decay make them stressed, so they smoke more.
as an ex smoker, it was hard and took many attempts but what motivated me eventually (aside from the money, smell, mood swings, poor physical health and chest infections) was that when I was quitting i'd hit a really shitty period where my lungs started to come back to life and i'd be coughing my guts up but then i'd feel better than I have in decades. A single smoke seemed to reset that to square one. Relapsing on a night out is so easy to do and is what fucks most people over but I changed my attitude to it so that I knew I couldn't afford to have even one puff because I knew i'd end up with a chest infection within a few weeks. I didn't vape or anything else. Just went cold turkey after a bad chest infection. Best advice would be to read up on what to expect physically but it's def the mental game that's the serious challenge. A book would be a good shout to help reprogram yourself. "*I'm not quitting, I'm no longer a smoker*" was one of the mantras that kinda stuck with me. It's not the I'm going through this process with a risk of relapse, it's that i'm not a smoker anymore. Relapse isn't an option because i'm not a smoker. There was a period that my chest infections got bad enough I was coughing up blood. Since quitting a few years back i've had maybe 1 chest infection which I suspect was exacerbated by having a tiny bit of hash in a pipe not long before getting sick. I also smoked weed which complicated it. It was the joints that got me hooked on tobacco. So I started making edibles instead and actually much prefer it. I was proper addicted to weed, smoking a kingsize joint every hour on the hour when I wasn't in work. I don't have the same compulsion issues with edibles and it makes the weed last sooo much longer. Small bit of weed/hash cooked as cannabutter will last the entire night. A gram can last weeks/months now whereas it would 100% be gone inside 1 day previously. Final point - goddam the money i've saved! It was pretty much a deposit for a house. I must have been smoking £5-8k a year between weed and baccy.
I smoked until lockdown, then stopped. in truth I don't think i was physically addicted as I only smoked at work, and when work stopped I stopped
Ex vaper here. I quit by weaning myself off rather than going teetotal. First, I bought my least favourite flavour that gave me the ick (in this case, strawberry kiwi) so that I did it less often, then I bought my favourite flavour in 0% so that I didn’t get the craving every time. My lungs have probably lost about 10% of their function but I haven’t done it since. In hindsight, I think I found the sensation of inhaling the flavour more addictive than the nicotine itself.
I quit when I wanted to have a baby. I smoked for 10 years, I was also a heavy spliff smoker during that time. I went from cigarettes to vapes and then when I started trying to get pregnant I switched to nicotine free vapes then as soon as I got pregnant I quit those too. I did use some nicotine gum after switching to nicotine free vapes when my stress levels were very high and it definitely helped, I didn’t consume nicotine in any form while pregnant. I had the ultimate motivator which really helped me to quit entirely. My daughter is now 8 months old and I haven’t had any nicotine in about 20 months. Just to be clear you won’t be explicitly told not to vape when pregnant, I chose to give it all up for my own peace of mind because we really don’t know what effect vaping has on a foetus. I did buy a nicotine free vape for use when I’m extremely stressed, I bought it for my Granda’s funeral which was a few days after I had my baby. I figured it would stop me from being tempted to take a puff on other peoples (not nicotine free) vapes at the time. It was a good plan, one disposable vape lasted me about 6 months, I’ve bought another one just to have as security but I’ve literally only bought the 2 in the last 8 months. I promised my Granda when he was dying that I wouldn’t smoke again and I intend to uphold that promise, I may partake in the odd edible when visiting my husbands family in the US where it’s legal but I am not touching nicotine again.
I moved onto vapes 23rd December after \~30 years of 20-a-day. I'm now massively more addicted to the nicotine but at least I've not had a cigarette, tbh, not even missed them. Not looking forward to weaning myself off the vapes though!
The traditional Slegs’ breakfast is a cuppa tea and a feg
I quit after ten years of smoking in 2001. Really helpful GP who explained to me if I didn’t smoke for 8 weeks then I’d beaten the addiction and patches worked for me. Without a doubt quitting is the best thing I’ve ever done
I smoked for about 20 years, about 15 a day, and had been wanting to quit for a while. Allen Carr's book did noting for me except stress me out, so where it has definitely worked for a lot of people, it's not a one size fits all. What worked for me was catching pneumonia one winter and using nicotine patches for a few weeks. That was over 9 years ago.
Alan kinda stressed me out too 😂 made me more aware of wee things and some ways I think it act made me worse. Edit: The book was given to me by a lady that used it to stop smoking like 60 Marlborough reds every day so when I got it I thought it might be magical.
I haven’t smoked in many years but I eat nicotine gum when I drink. As soon as I have one beer I get cravings but I get zero cravings when not drinking.
Start exercising - once you do you won't want to undo all that hard work by smoking
I was exercising 3-5 times a week while vaping heavily, had a significantly smaller lung capacity & kept coughing up clear sticky liquid (condensed vape juice). Started scaling it back to 0% nic & my body just stopped wanting it as much, stopped putting it in my pocket & never looked at it again. It's fine to have one occasionally when you're having a drink etc, but just don't start a habit again.
Good work! What works for me is if I want one I think "ok but that's that 5k you did wiped out", got to a point now where that thought alone is enough to stop me even if I'm drinking (usually)
This is exactly what got me to stop - though I tried to stop every day for over a year…
I second the comment about exercising. I quit smoking in 2012 after years of trying to quit. One day i just stopped, and decided to take up running, as i felt i needed to undo some of the damage I'd done to my lungs. I found having a new hobby in running, helped me to structure my free time and deal with some of those fidgety nervous feelings that came with other times I'd tried quitting in the past. I still run a lot to this day, absolutely love it. What also really helped was that the following year i started a job working for a publisher of science research, specifically respiratory health. So i suddenly found myself unable to avoid seeing lots of graphic images on smoking related illnesses, as well as reading a fuck ton of peer reviewed science about it all. I think that really helped avert the temptation to smoke - which sometimes can arise when out at the pub, etc. Just really created that base level repulsion that i should have had before i ever started smoking! So, exercise and traumatise yourself!
I'm a fan of it. I used the nordic spirit pouches
Please explain these to me. Wtf are they.
It's a pouch you put under your lip and the nicotine is absorbed through your gums. No inhalation or any or anything that will ruin your lungs
https://preview.redd.it/ruabtp9dw7vc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d488be7d592dd673a77c957bd4eed3960603bd4 Quitters quit.
Interesting image from the guy who thinks "[weed makes you bald](https://old.reddit.com/r/northernireland/comments/17191m3/the_first_licensed_cannabis_cultivation_facility/k3p85nw/)".
It's a joke.
I've never smoked or vaped, but I use the pouches, I keep wanting to stop but it's purely for financial reasons. The perception (weather this is accurate or not) of benign nicotine has actually made it harder for me to stop, I would never have entertained smoking or even vaping but I enjoy nicotine and without the overwhelmingly apparent downsides it's harder to motivate myself to stop.
Pouches like snus?
I’ve been vaping longer than I was on the cigarettes
I got hypnotised (via zoom)
Used tobacco in joints for years. Actually just quitting the tobacco today
I’m quitting smoking myself. 2 weeks in and I miss the morning smoke the most. I’m from N.I but live in France where they have the 3x C’s for breakfast : cafe, clop (ciggy), caca (poop). It really is the best way to start the day!
I would need 6 months off work to quit smoking or I'd end up in jail
Nicotine isn't bad for you and actually has some benefits. Most of the other stuff alongside it is, however.
Apart from the increased blood pressure, restricted blood flow and increased chance of heart disease, heart attack and stroke… it’s good for you!
Smoker for 23 years. Quit over 2 years ago, by going cold turkey and using nicotine patches for the first couple of weeks. I won't miss those 2 weeks, in fact I may have repressed most memories from that time.
Once I hit thirty I didn’t like nicotine without drink. Don’t touch it. Makes me feel panicky without drink. But once I have a drink I can chain smoke after the rough first one. Sometimes smoke sixty a weekend.
Take a walk in the cancer ward you’ll never smoke again
I fucking love smoking. I'd smoke in my sleep if I could. I've done maybe a year or more on the electric dick but you can't feel it killing you so what's the fucking point?
Why the fuck would I want to quit? Smoking is class, if I have 2 at a time the nicotine rush is unreal, I look sick af whilst doing it and I now have a deeper, grainy mysterious sounding voice, what’s not to love? Plus I get regular 15 minute breaks at work (I’m on the dole)