I made it I am now officially an ex smoker - yippee!!

Thanks. I still get the odd twinge and think about it but that is all. Most of the time I am fine. I think it is worst when my stress or pain levels are high but the hardest thing was stopping myself snacking instead of a smoke. I gained 6 kilos and it is hard to lose. I can understand being addicted to diet pepsi but at least it is diet so it cannot put on weight. I have a thing about nuts and peanut butter and I have to resist that as well.

Yes I found the habit much harder to break than the nicotine addiction. I was over the addiction the first week but the habit, especially of smoking after meals or at the computer were much harder to break. I think I have them under control now but I still get an odd twinge at the computer when I think about it but that is as far as it gets. I will never start again because I have had my health warning and I am not going to waste it.

Thank you. You are correct that in the end it is just will power. There are lots of aids on the market that can help people cut down but they are not good at helping stop for good. My partner tried them and he has cut down but not quit. I just stopped when faced with the health issue. I had been meaning to quit for a while and I had cut back but I needed something to give me that extra incentive to just stop altogether. Now I am glad. I will not start ever again.

No they are not curable. Diseases like emphysema are very nasty but many people do not realise they have them until it is too late.

Well I am glad because you'll be healthier and live longer, and that should always happen to people as enjoyable as you. Lung diseases, caused by smoking or not tend to be terrible and painful and I don't think any of them at the bad end are curable, are they?

Ha they will get no tax out of me any more. I am fairly proud of myself though and I keep encouraging my partner to quit as well. I know it is much harder for him as he has tried so many things to quit and has not managed it yet. For me it was health and faced with the risks that were absolute, no you might get emphysema but you will get it, then I had to make a choice and I was fairly ill with the bronchitis I did not want to get the really bad one.

Well I am pleased that you have massively reduced that risk. Well done. You should be VERY proud of yourself.

There's something that didn't go up in smoke. Thank you for the BR Sharra. X

The only way to give up smoking is to want to. It is will power in the end. You are young and see no ill effects yet but you are doing harm. I started smoking when I was about 20 and I gave it up in my mid twenties because I got sick and they started banning smoking in the work place. I smoked the whole time I was a student. I quit for 20 odd years and then got involved with smokers again and started again. By now I was late 40's and 4 years later I start to get sick. Bronchitis. My doctor says give up or it will get worse and turn into the killer emphysema. I gave up. I will not start again. That gave me the will power I needed to quit. You see it as a fun thing to do and you do not notice any health problems at your age so you have no reason to quit. Your choice. I put my health first in the end and yes I still have thoughts about lighting up but I will not do it.

ahaan.. but i guess it would have been a difficult thing to do. I smoke around 15 a day usually but sometimes it goes to even 25. The thing is that i am living a student life abroad without my parents or anyone. When i was at home i dont use to smoke because my parents dint knew that i smoke. But here there is no one who can stop me or whom i am scared of to smoke in front of. I am trying to decrease it, and i hope i will end up smoking sooon...

Well thanks for your advice, i will try quiting it as soon as I can. Because you know that obiviously in this age we dont think much about the after effects of smoking but later it causes alot of problems. I think i have to deeply think over to leave smoking and i hope that i will be able to do that. thanks once again. take care! happy mylottting

Yes mommyboo a connection. Grandpa_lash is the light of my life. There are many times when I think his love and sense of humour has saved me from going under when everything seems to be falling apart.

Aha... a connection? In my own opinion, everybody has their own will power. You cannot cause someone to make anything hard for you, so people who gripe about being tempted just don't have much will power lol. My MIL smokes and she complained about people telling her to quit. Now I didn't allow her to smoke around my baby but I DID tell her it was her decision whether she wanted to quit or not, and it wasn't my job to say anything nor really anybody else's. I am sure she is still smoking but it's up to her, know what I mean? She never told me she wanted to quit, just that other people had told her she should .

Well it was a health decision I faced. I either quit or risked emphysema and I did not want to get that deadly disease.

That si really not too late of a decision. Many refused to accept that and end up having the disease for life. Another thing you should be thinking about is Lung cancer which is increasingly going higher in number if cases worldwide. This can be a a very traitorous disease because it sometimes pop out of nowhere.

Thanks. It is heading on to 4 months now and yes I still count the time although I do not give in to the impulses. Mine was more habit that addition but I was addicted to the habit.

Thank you. I have managed 4 months now and it is getting easier. I only have bad thoughts now when my pain levels are a bit high. However, I will never go back to it because I value my health too much and I have had my health warning.

Thanks. Not starting is the best thing you can do. When you are young you do not get the bad effects but once you hit 40's, 50's then your body is not able to cope so well. I will never smoke again as the risk to my lungs is now too high.

I wish you all the best with that. I hope you succeed.

Thanks a lot. I was not a heavy smoker but I had a real problem with habit that was very hard to break. I still think of them but I am being very good.

Thank you I am working very hard on it and I while I still have pangs I am not going back ever. I know in time I will not even think about it.

Ah my nephew had asthma but that does not stop him smoking. He is very silly. I gave up to protect my lungs because I could not breathe properly.

i've known people who have asthma and yet they still smoke... but it so good that you were able to quit...

I am feeling quite good about it. I have quit for nearly 5 months now but I still get the desire every now and then. It is getting easier but the habit is the hardest thing to break. I still have not managed to get my partner to quit but his smoking has dropped very low now.

Thank you. I am trying very hard to never smoke again. I have learned my lesson and I know it is bad for me. The trouble is I liked smoking, so it was very hard to give up something I liked. However I am staying true to this because my health was at risk.

Thank you. It does take a lot of determination and a lot of will power but I think I am through the worst of it now and I will never go back.

Good point. My partner is trying to give up but it is hard. In the end it comes down to will power to hang on until you can get over both the nicotine addiction and the habit addiction.

Yes it was and still is a big challenge but it gets easier every day. The longer I am off them the easier it gets.