Stop Smoking Support Thread
Comments
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Avefenix - welcome. You've come to a place where no one judges - because we've all been there. I too used Chantix for my "last" quit and had no problems. Others swear by the patch or gum or ... Glad you got the book from VJS. Lots of great ideas.
One of the most useful things for me was on-line support late at night when I couldn't go for a walk and was desperate for a smoke. There were lots of blogs that helped me to feel like I wasn't alone and it was REALLY hard for most everyone, not just me. Unlike my ex-DH who just put them down and said 'no more' when the price reached $0.25 pack. Yup - twenty-five cents.
This site is full of inspiration and helpful tips. Also I feel that I've made some great friends who really do understand. If you try & it doesn't work, try again. There are no failues - only attempts. We will never "yell" at you.
Hopeful that you don't have bad SEs with the Tamox.
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mkn86 - Welcome. Glad you have been following along. I haunted many 'quit' sites w/o ever posting but felt at home here. Congrats - one month down!!!
Good that your chemo is done. Hopefully surgery will be easy. Yes cancer adds to our daily stress and it would be so easy to start again. I quit 3-1/2 years before I was diagnosed with BC. For many years I could tell everyone how many hours & minutes I'd gone w/o a smoke. Interesting thing was that I promised myself and all my friends that if I was ever diagnosed with a life threatening condition or disease, the first thing I would do was buy a pack of cigarettes. Somehow I didn't think about it in the mad rush to get this "thing" out of my body. I often thought about having a smoke, but truly forgot my promise to buy a pack until one day a friend said - how come you didn't start smoking again. Whew boy was it lucky that I forgot.
I will always be a smoker. That will never change. I'm just a smoker who is not smoking. And haven't since 7/11/07. Hoping I can continue to hold on. It truly does get easier as time goes by.
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Avefenix,
I did not do chemo or radiation either .. just had mas/recon.. I also decided not to do Tamox ... I am wishing you well and hopefully no Se...
mkn86 .. welcome .. glad you stopped by .. this is my fav place for support ...
Hi Bosom , VJ , Judi , Minus , April ... I miss you all ... hope everyone is doing well.. I am back on track and doing great ...
xoxoxoxo
Lisamarie
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Yay LisaMarie for back on track!!!
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thank you for the warm welcome
i was already at 5-8 sticks per day at the time of diagnosis. i would quit and then come back and didn’t really give myself a hard time about it.
But i think this time i will need to make sure that stopping lasts longer than usual. the longest time for me was around 8 months. i wouldget the urger to smoke and just think “yeah i can smoke later
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New on here. Having a rough time quitting smoking. You would think with all the hard things that I have been through that I could do this right? I feel stupid going to my doctor and saying that I'm still smoking.
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Hi katie, and welcome to Breastcancer.org!
We know it's tough, but that's why it's great you found us! This is a great support group, and we're right there with you, cheering you on!
Please come back often, engage fully, and get the support you need. We're all here for you.
Looking forward to hearing more from you soon!
--The Mods
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Katie - welcome. We hear you girl. It's not easy. If you read through some of these pages, there are lots of ideas and tips. Find one of the posts from VJ. She has offered her book free of charge to BCO members on this thread.
Where are you in your treatment process? When you get a chance, go to 'my profile' and fill in your information. Quit suggestions may be different if you're still in active treatment. For example I swear by Chantix, but it probably wouldn't work with chemo.
mkn - thinking about you as you set new goals.
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Hi Katie ,
Welcome .. yes quitting smoking can always be a journey .. don't beat yourself up as everyone of us has taken our own paths and found what helps to quit .. As for me I used Chantix and quit for 3 years , then I moved to Las Vegas to care for my mom and got overwhelmed and smoked for a couple months and now I am back on track not smoking ... I was very sad and mad when I picked one up after 3 years .. but now I am back on track .. If you would have told me I ever would be a non smoker , I would never have believed ... This group offers so much .. there is a lot of support and love here .. you can PM me anytime ...
Hi to all of you Beautiful ladies .... Minus , VJ, Bosom, Judi , April...
Another day has come and I choose not to smoke and to be free...
xoxoxoxo
LIsamarie
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Just an update on my daughter. She’s 3 weeks out from her dmx with tissue expanders “NOT SMOKING” and healing beautifully. I am back to smoking more than I should and every now and then she wants a cigarette and I tell her “NOt today Satan” and try to make light of it. Sometimes she’s handles it ok other times she isn’t a happy camper. In the end I pray she’ll appreciate the fact that it was for her own good and recovery.
Bad news however she had 2/2 nodes come back positive so Radiation is a must. Which hit me hard for some reason more than any other treatments she’s already endured.
As for smoking, I’m thinking now my anxiety is better after seeing my PCP NP and her freaking out over my BP and shaking and me throwing up from it all in her office, I am really considering the Chantix route just because I do need to quit.
I hope you all are doing well and hanging tough! Blessings
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I am just missing everyone .. where are you all ... hugs
Lisamarie
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Funny coincidence LisaMarie - we must be psychic. I woke up this morning determined to post. How is your Mom? How is your job? Is your life getting any more settled? I know you must miss your kiddos.
I've been working in the yard trying to get all the plants that froze cleaned up & the bushes trimmed & etc. Yard work is one of those times that I really want to sit & have a cigarette after working several hours. Also have a new toilet - whoo hoo. Sounds weird to be excited but having the extra 2" in height really makes a difference. Not to mention that my son came & installed it and actually stayed for 3 days doing 'honey-dos'.
April - are you checking in at all? Hope you are OK. And Bosum? And...
Sammi - did you try the Chantix?
Happy Spring tomorrow!!!
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Hi all. Good to hear everyone is doing well.
Minus, so happy you got to hang out with your boy. Lisamarie, glad you are back on track with no smokes. SimplySammi, daughter can never even have one cig. That was my downfall years ago and again after I quit for 8 weeks for my surgery. In the meantime you keep trying to quit or cut back. I had been down to 8-10/day but when life gets cruel I run to my ciggies. I am currently very stressed and back to a pack or more. I am thinking this will need be an all or nothing venture as this cutting back isn't playing out as I had hoped.
I would try Chantix but I told my insurance company that I quit smoking and am afraid for them to know otherwise.
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Wow - this thread is definitely taking a break.
Talked to a neighbor about Chantix yesterday. He wants to quit but said Chantix made him angry. I countered that the entire process of quitting makes us angry - so weigh how much is the drug & how much is your conflicted emotions about quitting. And still makes me angry sometimes even though I'm 10+ years out. Not a month goes by that I would like to have a smoke. The thoughts aren't "urgent" and they pass quickly, but still.
I will always be a smoker. Just one who is not smoking.
I'm going to San Francisco tomorrow for a few days. I REALLY need to see the ocean. The Pacific that is - with the crashing pounding waves, and not the pond of brown water in Galveston. I plan to eat a lot of Dungeness Crab if I can find it. And Sourdough Bread. The bus is $1.00 for seniors with transfers that will last all day. Needless to say I have lots of adventures planned. I will have dinner with my DS and his girl two nights, but their place is too small for guests. No extra bedroom, and one bath is too small for me at my age. I'm staying in a 'motel' that looks like a 1950s motor court, if any of you ever took road trips when you were little.
Hope those of you who were working on quitting were successful. Or if not, I hope you aren't beating yourselves up. It will come when you're ready.
Not Broken - hope you'll have fun with your Mom.
LisaMarie - is Vegas & the job getting any better? How's your Mom? Will you kiddos come to see you out there?
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Hello ladies!!
Ok Minus, that explains the reference to California on the other thread. Hope everyone is doing well. Hugs to all my peeps. I had my 5 year smoke free anniversary on April 20th btw! Still smoke free...for now
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April - HOORAY and congrats. I still hope you will come back to one thread or the other and tell us about your new job & how your life is going.
And Lisa Marie?? And Not Broken?? And everyone else?? I still have hopes for Judi checking in one day.
My support to anyone who is still trying to quit. your time will come. I quit once to go on a Caribbean cruise on a private sail boat. The trip of a lifetime!!! (except I was a royal bitch) Stayed quit for 2 years. Oops.
My congratulations to any of you who are still making it.
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Well... It will be a month Friday since any posts on this thread. I miss the notes & friendships & easy camaraderie. I know many of us have moved on with our lives. I just HATE to lose people - like Judi is just gone somewhere between the wilds of Canada and Florida. April? Val? LisaMarie? NeverBroken (oops - Freudian slip, but the NEVER is true). All the others who helped us get through many nights?
I will see my MO the end of the month and maybe I will be released to once a year appointments instead of every 6 months. My blood work looks good to me, but I didn't go to any med school except Google. I did check back with a new pulmonologist since the one I used during chemo is not dean of some med school in Florida. They did a full PFT test & compared with the one done 4 years ago. (how I dislike sitting in that glass box & puffing & blowing on that tube). The condition of my lungs is apparently improved some, but I still have mild COPD. Well - what did I expect after smoking for 40 years. Apparently lungs do gradually stop working as well as we age, whether we smoke or not. His recommendations were amusing - try not to get pneumonia (as if) - so stay away from day care centers, take lots of Vit C, get lots of exercise, and last but not least...don't start smoking again.
Hope everyone is well - smoking or not.
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Minus
Im still here check in from time to time for updating post . I have several appts at the end of July so I understand the dread. Between all the Dr appts and the heat of the South July just sucks
I hope all you test come back good and yea don't start smoking again,. I continue to struggle with them evil little suckers, one day good, 3days bad so the struggle continues. How did you finally quit, how long did it take you to finally give them up.
Hope all goes well
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HoneyBeaw - I quit several times, as I expect we all have. Once for two years because I had the chance to go on a 3 week sailboat trip in the Carribean but couldn't smoke on the boat. Unfortunately even that didn't last. Although looking back it was humorous that for 6 months I stretched the kitchen phone cord out into the garage & told myself I wouldn't smoke in the house.
I finally quit because I ended up with osteopenia and my research discovered that smoking & carbonated sodas are really bad for bones. I still joke about which was harder - the smokes or the cokes. But I really didn't want to be stuck in a rehab home with a broken hip - which often leads to 'warehousing' older women due to lack of successful recovery. That scared me more than cancer or COPD. So I started with baby steps.
I quit smoking in the house. After two weeks, I quit smoking in my car. So now I'm limited to the porch. I started 'mainlining' sunflower seeds - hand to mouth, insert seed, crack shell, hand to mouth remove shell & chew seed. And repeat. My ashtrays were overflowing with the shells. I also started swinging out of the house & walking around the block whenever I wanted a smoke. I chewed a LOT of gum. So another two weeks later, I started taking Chantix, the first week of which you just taper off the smokes. I took it for a couple weeks but didn't feel the need to build up to the strongest level & never renewed the RX.
In the meantime, I had my carpets shampooed and my drapes & furniture steam cleaned. I washed every bit of clothing in the drawers & closets - or took it to the cleaners if necessary. So now I had a fair amount of money invested in succeeding. I joined Curves and started working out on their circult every day. I had to identify my personal triggers (and we all have different things) I had to quit drinking for most of a year. And I had to quit reading the morning paper with a cup of coffee - instead I quit coffee & read the paper while eating lunch. Talking on the phone was a trigger for me. Sitting in my favorite chair & reading was a trigger for me - actually quit reading books for several months. For heaven's sake, I even lit a cigarette before I got out of bed every morning. I had to quit hanging out with a number of friends for a couple of months - many of my friends still smoked and we had groups that met outside our offices to smoke together.
Honestly - I only cheated twice. One time was early on before I had completely stopped when I got stuck in a massive traffic jam & had a smoke in my car. One time was two or three years after my last smoke. I was standing with a friend in her back yard and she had to go answer the phone & told me to hold her cigarette. I have to admit to one puff. Dangerous. I KNEW that I could never take one puff again. Luckily she came back out & I didn't tell her. But it's a worse addiction than heroin for me. I CAN NOT EVER have a puff.
At first it was really hard. Then tempting. Then it would cross my mind how nice a smoke would be. Those moments got fewer & further apart. Now after 11 years next month, I really don't want one, but still... I will always be a smoker - just one who is not smoking.
We all know how hard it is. No way around the stress & anguish. I feel fortunate that I didn't have to attempt quitting at the same time as negotiating breast cancer. I can't imagine how I would have managed. That said, it's so much easier if your husband or partner doesn't smoke. And you can't very well banish grown children who smoke from your life. Just like LisaMarie doesn't have any choice with her Mother's smoking.
Vent whenever you want to. I still try to check in to BCO every day and this is pegged to my favorites. Hopefully others will chime in with their tips.
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HoneyBeaw - or anyone else who is struggling with quitting - look back a page & read VJSL's posts. If you send her a PM, she will send you some great literature that can help.
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Hello all, I am new to bc and am meeting surgeon in a couple days. I think I can handle any kind of treatment they want to throw at me but giving up my smokes while doing it might be a deal breaker. I am going to read this thread from here and go backward. Glad to find some other smokers here.
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chikita - welcome. But sorry you have to be here. Enjoy the read & we'll all answer any questions.
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I made through the day today without have a smoke! So freakin proud of myself. At first I was going to put a patch on but then decided to tough it out to see how bad the withdrawal would be. I picked up a "clean cigarette" vape a couple weeks ago with 0 mg of nicotine. I have been using that all day with various flavors as the cravings come and go. So far so good. Hoping tomorrow will go as well. I have a whole bag of tricks I can use in case I need a little nic substitute. Wish me luck. My hardest time is in the am drinking coffee and whenever on the phone.
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Great day Chikita. Congrats. Yup, you'll have to change up those triggers. I actually had to give up morning coffee for awhile & substitute a walk around the block. Good luck tomorrow.
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I made through day 2! Feeling encouraged at this point. Boy I sure miss the little buggers at those certain times. Hoping to continue straight through day 3 without incident. Seeing the surgeon tomorrow. Good luck to all in the struggle. I know I will always be a smoker at heart.
MinusTwo-I smoked for 40 years too. Quit cold turkey once before for 15 months. I know i'm not supposed to but I love smoking.
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Chikita.....
Welcome at the same time sorry you have to be here. Yes giving them up is tough. Its a daily fight for me, love hate relationship. I find my hardest is that morning one with coffee, I have even started just drinking water until I get to work, still I struggle. If you have made it 3 days you are well on you way and I hope you stay on this path,
Good Luck and check back in we all need all the help we can get
Huggs
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Honeybeaw- Thanks for the kind and encouraging words, I am sorry you are here too. We are all here caught up in what seems like a bad dream that you can't wake up from. I hear the daily fight. I loved the even keel they gave me. Now I am finding I have to walk away from stressful situations or speak up to stop the negative chatter around me. I don't think I could do it without the vape pens I have that don't have any nicotine in them. It's like fake smoking but it helps me get through the tough spots. They have a website https://www.acleancigarette.com/ I use the 0mg ones since the lowest they had was 11mg which made me choke. I only smoked around 10 ultra light cigs a day as it was so their 11mg was too strong for me. One day at a time is all I can commit to. Good luck to you.
Hugs right back at you and every one that reads this post.
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Chikita - yes I agree. I will always be a smoker. Just one who is not smoking.
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Chikita - go back to Sept 6th and look at VJ's post. She's willing to send any BCO member a copy of her book if you PM her.
>>>If anyone wants a copy of my book, "How to Win at Quitting Smoking", just send me a PM with an email address. If you find it of benefit, it would be nice if you post a review on Amazon (you can even say you got a free promotional copy).
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MinusTwo, thank you I will send her a message for sure. I bought a book too yesterday by Allen Carr about the easy way to quit. Ha, as if.
Carol
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