Need tips here people. I know most say quit cold turkey. Can do that. The problem is when sitting with friends who smoke, or going for a drink. The craving is stronger than. How to do it? Help.

AbFab's 10 tips to quit smoking in 10 days

I've found that a nicotine patch really works (I use them when flying back to the States). What's nice about them is that, unlike the nicotine gum or whatever, the patch gives you a steady dose -- so you never really even get a craving.

Hmm.

I should probably try them here at home. I also want to quit.

I wish you the best of luck!

I was a hardcore smoker for 10 years and this book helped me quit effortlessly: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-S.../dp/1845290674

It only works if you are a full on smoker and not just a social smoker though.

Good luck!

I did it cold turkey, I just didn't want to substitute cigarettes with patches or gum.

What I found difficult was to overcome some habits: I had to stop talking to sisters and friends on the phone and read the newspapers for a while, until I got used to not smoking. A drink was out of the question for a few weeks too...

I hope you find a way that works for you. Good luck.

I smoked for 15 years on and off. Tried various ways of stopping but always re started.....until I read Easy Way by Alan Carr and I stopped and have not smoked for 10 years! I would recommend this book to all those wanting to quit, for me and also friends that I told about it, it worked wonders.
You can download the book as a pdf free from the internet.

Good luck!

WillpowerWoke up one morning ,ask myself do I need this crap stoped cold turkey,never smoked a single cigarette again .About 40 years back You can do it

Nicotine patches, are excellent but you need to follow the programme.
Also if you can buy them in the UK, save a fortune.

Yes, i did the same... but i didnt change any of my routine. Even now, i still go outside with smokers sometimes. . .
I recommend it to everyone! I had a fear that if i got drunk id foolishly smoke (like i did before... quitting using patches) BUT even drunk id the willpower not to light up...

Best of luck, it honest to god will be one of the best decisions of your entire life!

Oh and many of my friends are usuing the electric cigarette... they recommend it.

One guy went from 30 a day to maybe 2 every 3 days. . . . So, i think it might be an idea.

Personally, because it has nicotine in it i could never use it. ( Im a believer we are Nicotine addicts so need to quit the drug and not replace it..... with the same drug lol )

Hook up with this member ...... they'll be a great inspiration.

P.S. I stopped after well over 30yrs. - just stopped - and used will power when I was amongst other smokers.

You need a "mantra"

mine was "i can smoke but just not now"
Worked for more than 8 years now

Other "mantras" I know are:
"Do I really want to start from zero again?"
"Do I really need it?"

Just find your sentence you can use in times of need...

Good luck!

We are all experts lol

Cold turkey worked for the best for me. And pictures of smokers who looked older than their age helped when the cigarettes tempted me.

It was irritating that something had that much control over me, good luck with quitting the habit.

Another little tip (Which i found very usefull...)

Instead of looking at smokers and feeling envious... look at them with PITY. Realise how lucky you are to no longer be stood in the cold puffing.... and how nice it is not to plan your entire day around smoking. . . I know that may seem far fetched but its surprisingly true!

I found this nifty little app which calculated the. U ber of cigarettes not smoked and money saved as well as minutes of life saved. Scratch the latter, but thinking of the number of cigaterettes not smoked had me silly with competitive spirit. Also, I got bronchitis as apparently the lungs regenerate faster than the tar comes off the lungs -conveniently painful!

20 a day equals on average 10 years less life expectancy.

Yes, there are doubtless smokers who reached 100. I know 3 who didn't make 60. Saddest thing of all is, it's not a quick death, but a long and demeaning decline that can take years...

I am on my 6th month without cigarettes and I can tell you honestly that the first month is the hardest an after that it gets easier. I noticed the health benefits very quickly which helped to spur me on (like being able to walk up stairs without getting out of breath )

Also I counted the financial cost of smoking and saved what I would spend on cigarettes each week, this adds up surprisingly quickly. I now look at my new running shoes, coffee machine, flight to the UK and PS3 with glee. Look what I can buy when I don't smoke!

Good luck and keep at it!

I'm very much, and always have been, an occasional, or social, if you prefer (although I don't) smoker, and, maybe because of the way my body works, have never been able to understand 'addiction' to cigarettes. Sure, the social triggers, habits and practices that make me feel like smoking will initiate a 'flash the tabs" moment, but equally if I'm with a group of non-smokers I'll usually desist - indeed it's unlikely that I'd have any with me in the first place.

But the effect of current attitudes towards smoking, and the concept of addiction, very much force people into an all-or-nothing scenario. I tend to more compare it with drinking, and although I know there are people (my own father for one) who cannot control their drinking if (or when) they once start, the vast majority of people control themselves and limit their intake to whatever they feel sensible, either because they don't want to get out of control and make fools of themselves, or they're driving, or they don't want to suffer the morning-after feeling, or for whatever reason.

The point is that if you can control if, when, and how much you drink, why not take the same approach to smoking? I wouldn't dream of smoking first thing in the morning, just as I wouldn't want a drink. Either of them _may_ be pleasurable, regardless of the time and place, but just as I know that having a wee dram before heading off to work is a bad thing, and have no desire to do so, so can I avoid the desire to smoke at what I would consider inappropriate times.

I'm not advocating that people don't try to give up completely, but that by taking a slightly more relaxed attitude, for example allowing oneself a couple of smokes on a night out, one may be able to reduce the smoking intake to a tiny proportion without the constant battle of willpower that seems to defeat so many. More importantly one must not feel that one cigarette is as bad as a whole pack. Just because you might have the odd one now and again must not lead to a feeling that you've failed, but should be a reminder of how much you've succeeded, in only having the one and not caving in and going back to old habits.

My father was a chain smoker for over 18 years and on the first day in 1991 he completely quit. I was very young then to understand the difficulty. Recently, I asked him how he did it. He told me starting of Dec 1990 he reduced gradually and on the 1st he went on to become a non smoker. He also said he pinned up several articles related to the ill effects of smoking in his office desk such a way it instilled some fear.