Member Advice on Giving Up Smoking

Stopping smoking that is. And writing about it. I have spent some time reading other people's experiences of stopping smoking and i thought that I would add my two penn'orth in. The more experiences you read about the more likely you are to find someone who feels the same as you. Well it would have helped me to know more about other people's experiences when I was giving up. so here goes: I smoked for fifteen years, 30 a day, through pregnancy, in the rain, on the beach, in the bath, on the loo, full of a cold, during a bout of bronchitis, you name it. I was utterly determined to have my daily ... more

Along with 28% of teenagers in the UK, I had my first cigarette before the age of 11. I already knew what cigarette smoking tasted like, having had the occasional puff on lit cigarettes left burning in ashtrays over the years, but I wanted to experience the feeling of smoking proper. I wanted to hold one between my fingers the way I'd seen adults do; I wanted to casually inhale, remove the cigarette from between my painted lips and exhale in a sophisticated manner that'd make me look grown-up and worldly-wise. What I did that fated day, 32 years ago, is without any doubt, my biggest regret in ... more

“I don’t WANT to quit smoking. I LIKE smoking.” How many times have you heard that litany? If you are a smoker, how many times have you said it yourself? But think…is it true? I’ve been smoking since I was 20 (how stupid was I – I started when I was old enough to know better). In the past year, I’ve been smoking around 40 a day. I can smoke in the office. I smoked in the pub. I smoked at home. I smoked in the car. I smoked anywhere I could. I smoked my last cigarette at 8.30pm GMT on 30 January 2004. I am now into day 40 of my first (and hopefully last) attempt at quitting smoking. I DO get ... more

♥♥ Giving up smoking! ♥♥ I'm not going to give you one of those 'Quitting smoking was the best thing I did' reports, although it probably was. I'm not your typical ex-smoker - I'm in my very early twenties, so I don't even really feel old enough to be an ex-smoker!! I had however been a smoker for six years. I therefore grew up smoking, started my first part time job as a smoker, and started (and finished) college as a smoker. I also started my current job as a smoker! ♥♥ Why did I start? ♥♥ I really don't know why I started smoking. I just did ... more

I was eleven years old when I took my first ‘drag’ of a fag. Eleven years old fancy that. I can remember the day so clearly, I was in the park with my cousin who was three years older than me and who I though was so grown up. I watched with fascination as she took out a packet of Players no ten, popped one into her mouth and lit it with a match. She blew out the smoke in a huge grey cloud, coughed slightly and passed it to me. ‘Go on try it.’ So, not wanting to appear a wimp I put the little white stick to my mouth and took a huge drag on it’. Immediately I started to splutter and choke as the ... more