Finished my last fag at about 4pm yesterday. I'm now armed with lots of nicotine chewing gum. The gum is good stuff, it takes the edge off your weak moments. No problems up to now except a close call at the petrol station this morning when the fag counter was calling to me. A pack of 10 in the car for occasional use wouldn't hurt would it? I managed to resist the temptation.

Preparation was done yesterday by removing all smoking associated items from the house; ash trays, odd cigarettes in a packet, I even dealt with dog ends in the bin by chucking water over them to make them unusable.

No problems up to now with comfort eating, when I get the urge I just grab a piece of chewing gum.

As a 30ish a day smoker I would normally be on my second pack of tabs since yesterday so wealth counter is +£10.

Edit: over the last couple of hours I've developed a cough, this is apparently the lungs purging themselves.

I'm off for a tab break.


Mmmmm, nicotine flavour.

I might quit again soon like.

I've done it loads of times up to now so I must be well practised.

Stick at it this time you tvvat!!!

You've had more false dawns than Norway.

Why not just empty the bin you lazy fookah!
Or are you talking about the wheelie bin in the street outside?

Go for it Mr I. After 20 years as a smoker & "giving up" about 6 times a year (for no more than a day at a time usually) I haven't had one this year (well, except on New Year's Day cos I was out on the lash). Hard work at first, patches helped, depends how strong your motivation is in those first few weeks, especially when you have a pint or two.

Over time you will notice the craving disappearing. Every 20 mins at first, maybe once an hour after a couple of months & slowly decreasing in frequency as you stick with it.

A month or two ago, i actually thought to myself "bloody hell, it's ages since I had a craving", but it took that 8 or 9 months to get to that stage.

happily I haven't become a sanctimonious git (well, no more than usual). Nothing worse than a holier-than-thou ex-smoker & was determined not to become one.

I don't think the odd craving will ever totally go, that's the nature of addiction, but stick with it, common sense says it has to be worth it in the end.

How are you getting on Mr I?

I've just had my lunch and am now off for my post food smoke.

Have you eaten yet?

Still no critical moments but the cough is getting worse. I think the chewing gum is better than patches because it gives you a quick burst of nicotine (as well as heartburn). Yes Mr R, I have eaten which was quickly followed by half a tab of gum. As Mr Spliff says, the craving are coming every half hour or so but when you're busy you don't notice them so much.

I'm quietly confident that I'll survive this, sure the cravings are alive and kicking but I've yet to get the stage that I want to to run off to the shops for 20 tabs. Mr Head, yes I was talking about the wheelie bin. I don't think I would stoop so low as to go raking through the wheelie bin but why take the chance.

All of a sudden I'm glad theres a smoking ban because you don't get the smell of smoke wafting over.

stick with it John .. I was up to 60+ a day when I was 22 (smoked for 5 years) then one day said enough is enough.. never looked back... so stay with it.

You'll probably be coughing up greenies for a couple of days, then you'll start to feel mega healthy. Your sense of taste and smell will return, and you'll be over the worst of it. Keep it up!

I almost chain smoked when I was on the computer, a couple of weeks ago I was doing some computer work in the kitchen which lasted from about 8am until 11pm. As I opened my FOURTH pack of 20 I thought shiit................ this is getting serious. That was the crunch moment.

The cravings start to subside and don't last as long after a couple of weeks. The method I used was to do something else whenever I got a craving. Sounds too simple but really works.

The more you talk/write/think about smoking, the more you want one and the more likely you are to have one. Keep your mind occupied with other things and gradually you crave the tabs less and less.

What are tabs?

How much is a packet in the UK these days?
They were half the price here when I first arrived but now they're something like 5 euros. Surely they're not 7 quid in the UK?

I think they are around 5 and a half quid for twenty Mr Head

Indeed they are which is more like 8 euros.

Hang on in there. No pain no gain. You've got to go through it but very minute without a fag is a minute gained., Don't throw away the effort you've put in so far.

Must say I'm doing very poorly at giving up drinking