Given up smoking

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Comments

  • Again I don't know the details of the study but ultimately even if one method gets the best stats in a well constructed (ie unbiased) piece of research, doesn't mean that it will be the best method for a particular individual
  • both sides of the debate have big flaws - one has to decide who to believe in the end. Some of the NHS counselling was very good, some was carp IME - it was like "the official line" and accompanying cliches was spouted at me, when I challenged what was said I felt like a bully coz they could not answer. The questions I give were simple.

    cannot blame individual therapists -they just follow the party line. Wonder what the results would be if they compared NRT methods and NHS counselling with other counselling and therapy and say hypnosis?

    Of course the counselling that you get alonside NRT would be worse on its own as far a s success is concerned. The mistake is to assume that all counselling is the same with the same focus. I think that is where the confusion in figures lie.
  • yes quite - it's too easy to get sucked in by the headline news whereas perhaps there's reasons behind this - one of the reason why it's important to look at the design of any study
  • we agree - I was always taught to ask about who did it, for whom, what is there started point, what is include and what is not.

    I do all that but ultimately my best guide appears to be my own experiences of methods -which argument does it back up?

  • lol

    remember when I finally stopped and found it really easy -tother 1/2 coz of what she was led to believe(she aint a smoker) really thought it was gonna be hell and I cashed in on it saying -"ooh aint I done well -I'll have to have this treat or that treat":O)) Did not need owt really:O))
  • She basically said what you said a few months back though Hoose - I can rememebr people telling you it was easy but you had to have the right mindset to do it and stuff and you wouldn't believe it then :-)

  • yip bear I got confused coz had found it easy a lot lately but when i went on patches and started to doubt what I believed I struggled at the time you mentioned. Our belief system has a lot to do with it.
  • Hello :) Thanks Hoose for the links. I'll go an have a read. Just back from Race For Life Edinburgh and it was fab! The weather was good, infact a little too warm I would say, but it was a lovely morning. Hoose I'm with you on the belief system idea. Are you familiar with NLP? It's something I'm interested in because it's to do with the way we think. As you said, if you believe it's tough to do, then it will be tough to do. Anyway, a lovely friend has offered to make me a late lunch, so I'm off for the afternoon and will catch up soon. Bye for now.
  • enjoy your lunch karen:O))

    come across NLP but not expert on it.
  • Congratulations Karen! Just been and looked at your profile - you really have turned your life around in the last 2 years - good for you. Hope lunch has left you well fuelled & you're not too stiff tomorrow.
  • Wicked DWicked D ✭✭✭
    Hi all - raced in Woodhall Spa 10k today got a time of 50mins 20secs NOT a pb (21 secs out) it was hot even though course was flat so it was painful at times just to keep going and my lungs where put under pressure for quite sometime, why do I mention this on a giving up smoking thread???? because I'm an EX smoker WHO 2 or 3 years ago (forgot date i stopped) there's NO chance i would have got under 1 hour let alone nearly under 50 mins (next time maybe)

    I beat loads of younger runners and older ones, i also know i'll get faster even if I'm getting older, I love being a non smoker and if i can help any of you guys who are struggling to stop i will, best advice.........run flat out for a mile (smokers if you can) and see how your breathing is, stop smoking for a couple or 3 and you'll see a difference.

    I'm doing the sea bank marathon next sunday so i'll be back then to tell ya how i feel after it

    its tough to stop but the benefits are GREAT
  • Well done Karen!! I will aim to run my first RFL on the 24th!!

    Can't contemplate a 10K yet WD!!! That's fast!!! Not even sure my treadmill goes that speed!!! I hope to enter and carry on training for more races to keep on the straight and narrow path of a reformed smoker!!!

    Must check out NLP - think I need help if there is any hope of doing 10K in just over 50 mins!!!
  • Get out on the roads JJ07! You don't want to be stuck in on a treadmill in this weather! You're not a hamster!!!
  • Hi Colonel -the reason I bought the treadmill was to get to a point where I wouldn't look like a complete moron on the street!!

    Also so I would actually get off my backside and run if nothing else - the local gym was happily taking a dd but I failed to make an appearance regularly!

    Think I'm getting there now and can run for a good ten mins before I give in to my legs! Reading more forums the general concensus is that the road is the place to be and must admit the scenery is getting a little boring - I keep noticing dust and cobwebs!!!

    Will be confident enough to face the public soon!!!

    Not quite sure if the public is ready for me!!!
  • The world IS ready for you!

    The road is definitely the place to be or a nice park or some woodland would be even better!

    Don't worry about what other people think. There's no shame in getting off your backside and doing something positive.

    Being a bit self-conscious is good anyway - it will make you run further!
  • I was more worried about the gathering crowd as I collapsed! It's a small town! Someone is bound to know me and I will regain conciousness to howling laughter from an old school adversary! Well I hope some people would gather and not just walk by thinking I'd been at the wine or something!

    Nice park by the river so will give it a go.

    Since posting here I've been thinking about routes etc. I have the week off and could at least walk some to see how far.

    Oh no - now I'm thinking about scary hills! Me and the treadmill haven't done hills!

  • Hello and thank you for the well done messages and encouragement :) Got to agree that running outdoors is the best. I had a lovely lunch and evening and I'm feeling inspired to start training for a 10k.
    It's fabulous that there are so many ex smokers on here and I hope it provides encouragement for others. My Dad is 64 and he quit smoking in 1967. He regularly runs 10k and cycles and is a very positive influence one me. I suppose the older I get, the more I consider my mobility in later life. I want to stay as fit as I can for as long as I can and putting the fags down was my first step. I'm still carrying a few extra pounds, but I'm not too concerned about that. I take regular exercise and I have a balanced diet, so I'm more concerned with my health in a holistic way I suppose. One encouragement to stay quit is that my skin is so much more healthy, clear and less dry. At 40 I'm keen to keep the years off too :)
  • well done you lot.


    Coming clean now so dodging the bullets.


    I lapsed some time back and went to the clinic ain on Saturday, felt fine until yesterday then slipped again having sufferred awful rages. Tbh -I am at a loss on what to do about it. Daft really -me promoting a way of stopping that is onlt the best so far for me but like every other method has failed me yet again.

    .........

    so there you are.
  • sorry about that had to say it.

    When you cannot face another failure and start becoming obsessed with smoking and stopping -you are rock bottom. When you have COPD and still end up back on them - you are rock bottom.When you have tried everything and still on them you are rock bottom.

    NEVER EVER EVER PICK ANOTHER CIGARETTE UP - PLEASE !!! they are evil and the grip they have gets tighter. My runs are suffering on the physical side(sometimes just cnnot keep it up) and on the mental side -having failed yet again and lost all hope(where I am now).

    Knowledge aint enough on its own nor is willpower, patches Allen Carr or anything.

    you cannot play games lwith it like I did -there is only one winner.

    remember N.O.P.E -Not One Puff Ever.

    Rock bottom aint the place to be.


    Enjoy your freedom and NEVER let go of it.


    I apologise for my obsessive posting -just don't like seeing people slide in my direction.

    Good luck all!!!
  • Hi

    I am new here and want to say that I am going to make my millionth attemp at stopping smoking today and starting running too. Like HG -I have tried it all but have to do it now.

    any advice would be welcome.

    NC
  • i'm not able to say which methods are better than others - nor is it a debate i personally find all that helpful as talking to lots of ex-smokers seems to show that lots of different things work - it just depends on the person. so this is just what has worked for me.

    after years of trying and failing on cold turkey or NRT methods i sought out a hypnotherapy/NLP practitioner. one session left me with no cravings and no wish to smoke again. 6 months later despite not having any cravings in the meantime i thought i'd try "just one" - you know - just to see what it was like. to be fair the therapist i'd seen had warned me about this. but i hadn't listened - at least not well enough. the following day i was back on 20+ a day.

    a couple of months later - just before my 30th birthday - i was ready to try again. this time i read the allen carr book. i put my cigarette out at the end and was a non-smoker. and i have been ever since (over 3 years now). there have been occasional cravings. none of them have lasted more than a couple of minutes. i haven't had any in the last 18(?) months. i've never gone near a cigarette again.

    since then i've run a marathon (2 in fact), taken up triathlon and completed an ironman. but more importantly my life is no longer ruled by cigarettes, by the fear of running out of them on a night out or the worry about when i'll be able to get out of a meeting or the worry about the disappointment on my parents face when i nip out to the back garden for one during a visit.

    its been a very liberating experience.
  • anyway - after all that! big well dones to all of you giving up at the moment.

    hoose - sorry to hear you have fallen off the wagon again. hope you find your light at the end of the tunnel eventually.
  • Well done M - I wish my switch would have lasted like yours and yes I am really believing that debate over method(obsession in my case) is not helpful. I am jealous of those who do it perminently. I don't know what it is like to be not dominated by cigarettes -my life is when on them and off them. My other 1/2 has seen me stop and fail numerous times and the look on her face hurts deeply:O(


    I'd give anything to be where you are now.

    No Chance -please please find it in you to do it and stay stopped.

    hoose
  • I will try again today -cannot accept life as a smoker at all.

    thanks M:O))
  • Well done Karen and Wicked D. Beautiful day for it.
    Good luck NoChance.Todays a new day Hoose. Its just a slip. You'll get there.
    I have found from numerous practice attempts at quitting that each time i've slipped up i've learnt a little more about myself and methods of managing the giving up process.
    I have explored NRT, hypnotherapy, Allen Carr and numerous books like "No Ordinary Moments" by Dan Millman author of "Way of the Peaceful Warrior".
    No one way has been right for me but the accumulation of knowledge has given me the tools, attitude and belief that I can get this monkey of my back.
    My last smoke was on Monday last week. This weekend I ran 5 miles along my local canal and then did a 10 mile hike yesterday. For the first time in 20 years I could smell the countryside and my lunch afterwards was far more tasty.
  • well done moo -it is a voyage of self discovery I reckon. Being in my game I thought I'd be more aware than most -ah!! That theory is down the pan. Started my quit mter at 8:50 this morning.
  • quit meter may help (and its free) as it tells you how much life and money you have saved -lets see:O)
  • Hoose, i know how u feel, the failure is horrendous but don't beat yourself up about it. Try to let go of the guilt and just take things one day at a time. You will do it eventually!

    JJ07, I too live in a small town and haven't done much exercise for years, and at 15 st me running is not the prettiest sight lol, but you have to bite the bullet sometime. Run somewhere pretty quiet, and know that you are doing something to improve your health and wellbeing. Its only the 1st time that's hard.
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