I quit a few years back.
It seems like I am a little different to many as I didn't use anything. I just decided I wanted to stop and stopped.
It really surprised me as I had attempted to pack in before (a few times) and failed miserably. This time, though, it was like my body had somehow flipped a switch and bam! - not touched a cigarette since. I have the odd craving, usually when I walk past a pub with the smokers outside, and also if I am stressed or upset but thankfully I have managed to overcome them. As the time has passed it has become easier to say no.
Someone once told me the key to coping with cravings is to resist each one with every fibre of your being because the actual 'craving' only lasts a few seconds. If you can just keep saying no for those few seconds where you are on the brink of having a smoke, you can and will overcome them.
I have thought about my own experience for some time, and I think the main difference was intent. This last time I really wanted to stop because I realised I was no longer enjoying it and having been smoking since I was a young lad I was genuinely starting to wonder if I would soon become a 1 in 3 statistic. Whereas before I was attempting to quit because it was "the right thing to do". So I think this time around there was perhaps an element of fear driving my resolve.
Another element that I believe has an impact on success is the company you keep. If you have a social life where smoking is popular, and you have friends that still smoke I think it is harder to quit. For me personally, I have felt that some smokers are quite selfish in that they try and tempt you into having another even though they know you are trying to quit. I just think it makes them feel less bad about their own situation if they can have someone with which to share their frustration of not being able to quit themselves.
I think another important element in my last attempt is my two best friends are now people I only see a few times a year due to me/them moving away for one reason or another. Additionally, they also decided to quit too - which helped as there was support there and strangely a bit of competition. Nobody wanted to be the first to crack!!
I wish the best of luck to anyone trying to quit. My own experience though has led me to believe that mental attitude is perhaps the most important. It is my belief that someone has to really want to quit, not quit because they think they should or because the doctor says so - but because deep down in their own hearts they want the change. For my one best friend, the catalyst to that was the birth of his first child. The idea that he might not be there to walk his daughter down the aisle made him assess his own priorities. The 'what if' questions suddenly started to have far more mavity in his own mind and that reinforced his resolve.
For my other best friend it was the realisation that he had an addiction. He always thought he could pick up and drop smoking as he pleased but he realised that actually he was addicted to cigarettes and he didn't like the control they started to have on his life. His mentality towards them was as if they were somehow bullying him, and he hates bullies. Mentally he went on the attack and fought with them like they were an enemy. This strengthened his resolve.
Obviously everyone is different, but for us three best friends, we each found something or some way to mentally fight the addiction and as far as I know we have all stayed off cigarettes for some time now. I am 3 years clean, and my two friends are 2.5 years clean. I know for others I know it has been a choice between buying cigarettes and feeding their baby, so for most sane people it is a no brainer. Others it has been losing a job and trying to make ends meet - cut backs have to be made. Another tip I was given was to try to disassociate smoking with activities that make you feel good. Going to the pub for a pint, or eating out etc etc. In the initial weeks, try and avoid these kinds of activities. Try and alter your routine so that the usual circumstances in which you smoke are avoided where possible.
Whatever the reasons you have or the techniques you use, it can be done - but my advice is to go cold turkey, otherwise you are just playing at it and confusing your body. My father quit a 60 a day addiction at the click of his fingers. He was ill in bed for a week because it was like coming off heroin, but he fought it and has never smoked since.
I would say don't waste your money on nicotine replacement, the only weapon you need is your will power!
Just my 2p worth anyway
Good luck to all!!
