Stop Smoking Support Thread
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Random thoughts:
It takes an average of 6 to 9 attempts before a smoker stays quit, so never beat yourself up--just consider your attempt as a "practice run". Write down what helped you in different times and what didn't work. Look at what caused the slip back to smoking and figure out new ways of dealing with the situation. There is no failure until you stop trying all together. Quitting smoking if often the hardest thing that a person does--it requires a lot of work to finally be successful but it can be done. Often times people will relapse and think a cessation medication didn't work--but often the medication did what it was supposed to do--take the edge off and move you from survival mode to willpower and the relapse is often related to behaviors--just needing one more tool in your tool box instead of starting from scratch.
The most common side effects of Chantix are nausea and vivid or strange dreams. Taking it with food helps the nausea and often the dreams only last for a short period of time and then stop. Using the nicotine patch at night can cause the same thing. If the dreams are a problem, take the second pill earlier in the day and for some people just once a day in the morning works well too and will stop the dreams. A very few people will get an allergic reaction (skin rash or swelling of face, mouth etc) but that can happen with any medication. The "scary" side effects are extremely rare--but if you're concerned, tell your family members to watch you for any really strange behavior and keep in touch with your doctor especially if there is any history of mental health issues or other substance and/or alcohol abuse. I believe that many with mental health/substance/alcohol issues--smoke as a way to self-medicate--a way of getting nicotine and maybe should be on Nicotine Replacement (and maybe at high doseages) for the rest of their life--using nicotine as a medication. I think more research needs to be done with this approach. But the nicotine is not what's going to do the damage, it's the other 7000 chemicals (new statistic from Dec. 2010 Surgeon Generals report).
For any "newbies" (or anyone on this list for that matter), my offer of a free copy of my "workbook" is still open. No strings, just some ideas to help you along the journey to becoming smokefree. Have a joyous day. VJ
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Even the tobacco companies are against stores selling cigarettes one at a time--because then there is no warning label. The warning label is a defense the tobacco companies use to make the smoker take the blame for smoking instead of them selling an addictive substance.
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VJ thanks you so much for the validation. My DSIL and I were discussing our stop-smoking efforts this weekend (I stopped cold-turkey on my own 9/28 and my DSIL quit via hypnosis in November). My only problem with admitting that it takes multiple times to be successful in quitting is that I'm able to twist it around in my mind and I'm afraid it will become too easy for me to slip up. So far I haven't. I've heard that this addiction is as bad, if not worse, than heroin.
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I'm in the same boat as a bunch of you - always meaning to quit, setting the date - and then inexplicably driving to the same gas station on the way to work to pick up smokes. I feel like an idiot- I have survived so much and these Marlborough Lights have so much power over me. I feel like a slave to them. I quit for about a year after diagnosis - through tx - radiation and then a particularly bad day at a horrible job and I was back......., I want freedom too - I want to be around when I get my first grandbaby, really for so many things. I just get so stressed and turn into a psycho bitch - I need help - desperately - Ellie
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((((Dutchy))))),
So glad to hear you breezed through and that, so far, your revisions are what you'd hope for!!! Did they give you any idea of what your new date will be for nipples? Is that then the final surgery?
Rest and take care of yourself!!
Jennifer
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Sweet and Laurie,
VJ said it so much better than I EVER could. The only failure is to stop trying! Each time you try, and slip, you gain knowledge about what did and didn't work for YOU. As she said, consider these attempts to be your "practice runs". As you gain that knowledge about yourself, it WILL increase your chance for success in the long run (kind of like adding tools to a tool box).
Each attempt also becomes less scary... You've been there done that and know what to expect, so that fear factor is gone.
It really does now become about wanting to quit more than you want to smoke (SO HARD in the beginning) AND having a the right plan for you in place based on all that you've learned about YOU from previous attempts!!
Sweet, you are still doing chemo... Not an easy time to quit! When the time is right, you will do it (hopefully WITH your daughter)!
Laurie, I DO believe you will do this... Just the difference in your posts from when you first posted here until now is remarkable. You seem to have so much more confidence that you CAN do this!!!
And, yes, I did laugh at buying the cashier a pack so you could just have a couple!! I would think it made for a good story for her to tell when she got home from work!
Do a bit of re-grouping and in, the meantime, I hope you both will stick around!!!
We said in the very beginning that this thread is for people in ALL stages of quitting... Just entertaining the thought is a very valid, and very important, stage!
I'm going to re-post the quit date list soon. Do you both want to be removed or should we maybe start a section for those "Getting a plan in place" or "Thinking about it"?
You can let me know, either here or via PM.....
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Jan,
Boy, oh boy, you aren't kidding! I need to move!!!
This winter has been just so strange and we are getting buried by this one.... Six inches last night (and a very sore back this morning) with another Six inches predicted for tonight and, if you believe the reports, another FOOT tomorrow.... UNBELIEVABLE!!!
May be time to check out real estate in topsail.....
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Welcome Ellie1959!!
I must say I am impressed!! You quit for the entire time you were going through treatment! That is the hardest time of all to quit and you did it! I did not even try until several months AFTER treatment.
You have taken a great first step by posting here! The ladies here are a really caring bunch, offering very good advice AND and have all been where you are now!
As a good first step, I would recommend reading back a ways in this thread... See what worked and didn't for the ladies here. Also, VJ has made available her workbook to anyone on this thread! LOTS of information on how to get started there!
You ARE NOT an idiot.... This, as you know, is a tough beast to slay but, it CAN be done!!!
PS... I could have been psycho-bitch's twin for the first few days when I quit but, IT DID GET BETTER!
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O2B,
Individual cigarettes for 10 cents each??!! That would be a pack, at most, $2.00.... My how things have changed! Although when I first started, cigarettes were 40 cents a pack and widely available in vending machines like a pack of gum.... I'm not sure but I don't think we have those vending machines anymore here in NY, at least not that I have noticed lately...
Someone, here said (and yes, once again I can't recall who!) "one cigarette is too many and 1,000 is not enough" or something to that effect.... Thought that was REALLY good!
I know I am not one who can "dabble" in smoking... kind of an all or nothin' kind of person so I know I just can't go there!! Don't regret my decision in the least!
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I'm with O2B. One puff and I am done. It took this many quits for me to figure that out but Iget it now.
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Seaside, thank you so much for all your kind words and support, you are so very sweet. I laughed a little when you said how much better I sound now. When I first started posting here I said, I am usually a very positive person. I am. But when I came to this thread I was about as low as I could get. I think it's a combination of having the surgery behind me and yes....smoking. But, I told my husband I am planning on calling my Dr next week and seeing about getting a prescription for the Chantex. I should Pm Vj and get her work book first though.
But It is my hopes that in the next month I will try again. It's funny but I have spent most of the last three years smoke free. I have had two babies and two surgeries so if I do the math- out of the last 3 1/2 years Ive not smoked for...about 29 of those months. There are a lot of up sides to not smoking, the freedom of it, not thinking about it. But his time I need to quit for me, not a Dr, not a baby, not because I have to. I think I am almost there...
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Jennifer, Im recovering from TX this week, but you can list me as "getting my plan in order" I see my Dr next thursday for the Chantex.
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Laurie,
Now that I think of it... YES, you did say you were normally a very upbeat person and I DO see that in you now... VERY interesting take on that the surgery is behind you (so the stress is less) AND you are now back to smoking (so probably feeling much less withdrawal discomfort and feeling MORE yourself). That is really something that I never thought of before! Although, not smoking will feel more like YOU after some time passes!
I had completely forgotten that you had said you quit for both of your pregnancies! You know what, with 29 months without smoking during the last 3 1/2 years... I think you actually have MORE time quit than most of us here!!!
Get that prescription for Chantix during your scheduled DR appointment. Even if all you do is stick it on your refrigerator (which is where mine is still today) it will be good for a year after when it is written and that way, IF you decide the time is right for you to try to quit, you can just go and fill the prescription and begin. You won't have to go through the hassle of getting an appointment scheduled, get your prescription, fill the prescription, etc....
You are on the right track.... Your have proven you CAN do it! Now it's a matter of wanting to FOR YOU!!
We will be here for you!!
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Sweet,
I hope that tonight finds you feeling as well as possible!
I will definitely put you as getting a plan in place.... I really hate to remove anyone from the list completely because I think we ALL have helped each other to get to the place we are today and would really hate for anyone's contribution to not be recognised!
Happened to have the TV on today in the late afternoon and caught Oprah for the first time in months... She interviewed the Idol judges.... Thought of you!
Hope your healing from this treatment passes easily!
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Sweet and Laurie: All in good time. I'm sure you will do this when the time is right for YOU! But please don't stop coming here to see us.
I've had a terrible craving week for some reason...go figure!! I keep saying, I'd love to have a cigarette! BUT I have no intention of doing so.
Jan
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Jan,
Sometimes I go through certain spells like that, where just out of the blue, I keep thinking I could go for a cigarette!
Supposedly it may be that you are experiencing something that is a "first" since quitting smoking.. Could be something as subtle as a change in season or it could be something really obvious....
Stay tough.. It will pass!!
Jennifer
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it's sad to know I have put myself through quitting 4 times in 3 1/2 years. Every time I say, I will never go through that again. Thank God it's behind me. It only took a few months after each pregnancy where I would finally get out of the house and go out with friends, after a glass (or two) of wine think, "why not? I'de love a cigarette, and it's just tonight..." Well it's never one and I always gradually go back to them. I have a brother who is an alcoholic, he has been sober for 7 years and I think smoking for me is like alcohol for him, there is no such thing as just one. I hope next time is different.
Ok- Idol! I so love the new panel and how the mood is so different this season. And tonight- well that 23 year old cowboy was the highlight of the show...wow!
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Laurie,
You said, "I hope next time is different."
I Do believe it will be!! I THINK the next try is THE ONE for you!!
I, too, LOVE the new panel of Idol judges... Before this year, I really don't think I could have watched this early in the season... I am happy so far with the show AND the kinder judging!!!
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Hi Ladies, I got to see my breasts today for the first time since I got the lifts. They are much firmer but shaped more like flat footballs. I hope they start to look more like breasts. My abdominal incision is healing well and love it that the fat pouches, dog ears, are gone. Not doing so great on not smoking and plan to make a plan to stop for me in the near future. Not smoking like I was but still giviing in to the beast. Hope ya all are doing well.
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{{{LAURIE, DUTCHY AND SWEET}}}}}} You will do it when the time is right for you. We are here for you!
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I 2nd what Barbara says....you will do this in your own time (((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))) to y'all. Stay strong.
Dutchy: I'm very happy your had your surgery and it is behind you and you are healing well!
Jan
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Thanks Jan and Barb, I am so happy with my tummy and breasts need a little more healing and then touch ups but the worst is behind me.
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Dutchi- I am so glad everything is going well and you are happy with the results! You may be smoking again, and so am I, but to be positive, at least we did what we needed to do for our surgeries, right!? Not to mention that we both planing on trying again so we haven't given up. I like to call it re-grouping
I hope everyone had a great day!
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I've quit smoking for at least 3 months (once for a year) 9 times before I was finally successfully at staying quit. Once I really got serious, it still took me 3 years to finally quit (and another year before I knew for sure I would never smoke again, I had relapsed so many times, I wasn't sure I could make it).
I really wish I had stayed quit the first time instead of relapsing so much but quitting is a journey and not a one time step. Celebrate each time you have even 1 less cigarette because it's just one step closer towards the final goal. In any process of obtaining a goal, we think it needs to be a straight line between where we are and where we want to go but often the path meanders all over the place. We think we're off track because our goal is no longer in sight and some times we think we're going backwards, yet keep your goal in mind and don't give up. Edison was asked if he felt like a failure after conducting 1000 experiments to create a light bulb--his answer--No--I just found 1000 ways it didn't work until I found the one way that it did work.
I remember my last "out of the blue" craving. I had already starting doing cessation workshops, so I was able to back track it and figure out where it came from but sometimes, we just don't know what triggered it. Like having a tape cassette in our head and somebody just pushed "play". I always encourage my clients to have an ICE plan (In case of Emergency). Most people just want to rely on willpower alone but nicotine as such a stranglehold on the survival part of our brain that willpower isn't enough. There are only 2 things we can do--change our behavior and change the way we think--so when that "out of the blue" craving comes up, if we have an ICE plan, we already know what we can do or what to think to chase the "blues" away.
It's not easy quitting but having cancer isn't easy either. All we can do is whatever we can and are willing to do at the moment. This is no right or wrong way on this journey but it helps to listen to that voice within--what is it that we really need at the moment--it's not the cigarette but what the cigarette represents--sometimes that is relief from pain or stress, sometimes a way to celebrate or reward ourselves and sometimes we don't know why--we just want one (often that is our survival instinct talking to us).
Just my 2 cents for today. VJ
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VJ, It was so beautifully said and what you said gives me hope. I am really pushing myself not to have any cigarettes but when I finally cannot handle the craving I give in. This morning I found myself smoking like I use to and I told myself that this is not what you want and have only had one since then.
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thanks Evelyn! It's a tough fight but it can be won. good luck!
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Things here have been very quiet lately! I hope it's because everyone is doing well!!
I just realized that I missed some quit-aversaries!!!
Barbara.... 8 MONTHS!!!!!
dsgirl... 2 MONTHS!!!
Linda603... 3 MONTHS!!!
O2B.. 1 YEAR and 9 MONTHS!!!!!
Congrats to you ALL!!!!!!
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Dutchy,
There is ALWAYS hope!!!
You WILL quit when the time is right for YOU! In the meantime, I hope you stick around here! I know I would miss hearing from you!!
Jennifer
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OK.... Here is the latest roll call... Hopefully I have the updates right!
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Laurie08 - Regrouping and getting a plan in place
Sweetaerobabe - Regrouping and getting a plan in place
Dutchy - Regrouping and getting a plan in place
karen333 - Jan 16, 2011 quit date
chabba - Jan 11, 2011 quit date
dsgirl - Dec 3, 2010 quit date
Kitchenwitch - Nov 30, 2010 quit date
Linda603 - Nov 4, 2010 quit date
kal_1865 - Sept 28, 2010 quit date
jan508 - Sept 20, 2010 quit date
LadyinBama - Aug 10, 2010 quit date
BarbaraA - June 2, 2010 quit date
SeasideMemories - Jan 18, 2010 quit date
o2bhealthy - May 5, 2009 quit date
1Athena1 - April 27, 2009 quit date
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Ok Seaside Memories you can add Malleme to the list. 2/6/11
I have been listening to all the advice and encouragement and honestly was embarassed I had not fully quit sooner. although I think I have tried everything chantix,etc. I quit for weeks than go back. I think because a dx of cancer felt for me like I already had given up to much of myself. I wanted my one vice that was my choice that I could control. What has made the difference for me is realizing from an article I read that smoking chemically changes your brain and how it functions and that's why it is so hard especially for women to quit smoking.
Smoking is controling me. not me having control. Well simply I'm not for anything cancer or smoking to control my thoughts, emotions and stress. God alone chooses my destiny and I control my happiness till that time when he calls me. I was really mad that the cig makers have put over 7000 chemicals to keep a smoker coming back. Where are the regulations ???
I don't know why that coupled with the constant encouragement you great women have constantly showed to those who fall off the wagon that I honestly feel this time is it for me.
Has my sister always says, " get the monkey off you back" smoking is my monkey but not anymore.
I will say I'm using the nicotine patch and they must have gotten better cuz I don't have a craving. Just need to keep busy. And my husband is still smoking but I noticed when he saw me not smoking he too didn't smoke.
Ladies you are the best support and you are making a difference can't thank you enough,
Sincerely, Malleme
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