I started smoking when I was about 16, and as probably as every else thinks, I thought there was no way I was going to get addicted to them, but I was wrong. I am glad to saw I have now managed to stay cigarette free for the last 2 years, but that was after near on 15 years of on and off attempts to quit smoking.

The first method I tried was going cold turkey and use my own willpower. Naturally for any of the methods you use to stop smoking they all need a certain level of willpower, but going cold turkey and succeeding is probably the hardest way I found to try and stop smoking. The first couple of days were a nightmare and doubly hard if you have to deal or live with other people who still smoke. At this point I started looking at other alternatives to stopping.

I first real success was with Nicotine Replacement Patches, they really did stop me wanting a cigarette, and it really was just getting over the mental withdrawal of my body expecting to have a cigarette after a meal or having a drink. Each time you stepped down to a lower strength I did get a small twinge for a cigarette, but this soon passed. The main problem I found was with them disturbing my sleep and in the end I had to start removing them a couple of hours before bedtime or I would end up having crazy dreams after spending ages trying to get to sleep. I lasted a couple of years but then made the mistake of thinking just one wouldn’t harm me, and I was on the slippery slope again.

For my next attempt a work colleague suggested I read Allan Carrs Easy Way to quit smoking. I have to admit I was sceptible, but after spending 4 hours reading the book on a sunny afternoon, I had become a non smoker. They way it works is very clever as it changes the way you think about cigarettes and at some point during the book you really do start to panic as you realise you are about to quit, I did actually have a friend who stopped reading at that point. I would highly recommend it as an option to try. Again I stopped for a couple of years, until I broke the golden rule of Allan Carr and tried a cigarette, and I was hooked again. The book doesn’t seem to work as well the second time around, I also tried the audio book but it worked for a couple of days and I was back smoking.

I really didn’t want to smoke, I was hiding or trying to hide it from my girlfriend and I just hated the way I felt. So I started with Nicotine replacement tabs this time and they started to work, I knew I had the willpower and within a couple of months I had managed to quit.

Now you may be thinking it’s coming up on the 2 years again when am I going to start again, and I say never, I really don’t want to fall for the cigarette trap again. What it has shown me is that if you do fall off the wagon, don’t give up, just try again and again and you will succeed in your quest to become smoke free.