Side effects of quitting smoknig

Due to the tax rise on cigarettes, i am going to stop smoking. I tried this before and i became incredibly irritable and inpatient. This was whilst i was in a pretty stressful time in my life, so that most probably played a huge part in that.


What are the most common side effects that you have experienced? I have been smoking since 2005.

Being able to taste food

Since I quit smoking in 2001 my body hasn't had to deal with so many toxins and has been thanking me with far less severe hangovers. Now to try reducing my alcohol intake...


BTW, I didn't experience increased appetite or weight gain when I gave up (cold turkey); actually I wasn't aware of any side-effect - apart from feeling healthier and richer. Go for it!

Thanks Beer Monster. I'm doing okay right now, i have considerably cut down. Alcohol is my ticket to a cig though. That's the hard part, going for a beer after work and watching colleagues smoke with a drink in hand. That's when i cave in and have one. Also, doesn't particularly help that it seems to be a joke among other smoker buddies.

When I gave up 13 years ago I also gave up coffee at the same time. After 6 months I was cracking up so I went back to coffee but I am still of the cigs. I now limit my coffee to one mug a day except on day off when I abstain. Beer is a big problem to cut down on especially now that some of the China beers are so cheap $55/case of 24 cans!!!

$55 for 24 cans!!


I'm going to find it especially tricky this w/end with 7's coming up but i am determined to stop, i have considerably cut down recently. I really do reckon i will have the snacking problem though once i completely stop.

Kingway, Hui Quan, Ocean get them from a local drinks shop not supermarkets

After smoking since the age of 12 (I'm now 60), I gave up in 2000. I used to smoke up to 80 cigarettes a day when I was young but became an intermittent smoker in the latter years, only smoking on a night out in the pub when the smell of the cigarette smoke used to call me back. For me the smoking ban in restaurants and then pubs made it easier to stay off the cigarettes.


I don't think there is any magic "cure". You either want to give up or you don't, and it comes down to willpower in the end. A catalyst may be someone you fancy telling you that you stink of cigarettes (as smokers do), or seeing someone near and dear to you die of a smoking-related illness. Side-effects - I'm not convinced that weight gain is one, just because you can taste food again. I'm sure that's more to do with comfort-eating and yet another willpower issue. Grouchiness, well that's something for you and those around you to put up with for a short time, if it manifests itself.


Good luck to anyone trying to quit. I don't have a moment's regret at giving up (or stopping as they say), especially as the world is turning against smokers big time. I grew up in an age when it was considered macho to smoke, and maybe it still is in the minds of the schoolchildren I (upsettingly) see doing the same as I used to do. But I feel positively and indecently healthy these days, despite my rapidly advancing years.


Booze? Well that's another issue again!

Yes, so true - beer and fags (in the British sense of the word) tend to naturally go hand-in-hand so when I first quit smoking I definitely had the feeling something was missing. Rather like that old UK ad for Rich Tea biscuits, my motto was "A drink's too wet without a cigarette". But that sense of deprivation can definitely be conquered and nowadays I don't miss smoking at all and am never tempted, despite living with a heavy smoker.


How're you getting on, Brad-C?