[Shoshana]

There are threads for exercise, walking to Guatemala, wearing Old Navy stretch pants, and weight loss in general but those won't help!

Does anyone want to use this thread as a support to quit smoking?

[dpen6]

shoshana,

ummm...maybe..um you think I should??? Do I really need to commit??? You know how we adoptees are about commitment!!!

Actualy, as I stated before I was..am...planning on quitting in a couple of weeks...ok so really it was next week...

My problem is that I am soooo addicted to them. I am actualy kinda scared as I became so depressed that last time I tried.

I have done wellbrutin, the patch, hypnotism, we have a doc here in Boston that is called the
mas russian" who has had great luck in getting peiople to stop...didn't work for me!!

SOOO..my plan was to use the patch and wellbutin to cover all bases..My only problem I have with the patch is that it really doesn't get rid of the addication....only the habit part. As I said the last time I quit it was using the patch, stopped for 4 months. When I stopped the patch, was when the depression hit. It really scared me.

But as I get older the need to quit is becomming more and more necessary.

THANK GOD I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER ADDICATIONS!!

What have you done??

Donna

[Shoshana]

you're here! I KNEW somebody would answer!

I've done cold turkey. NOT pretty. Not possible. I can't even function.

I've hired "sitters" to stay with me for 5 days to get me through the worst part. No kidding. It helped, but the sitter/friends couldn't hold my hand forever.

I took Wellbutrin for depression a long time ago and lo and behold, I quit smoking without even trying. This was before they realized it's effects on nicotine addiction. I've tried at two different points in time (most recently 2 years ago) to take it and I can't. I am just miserably anxious, tense, and have insomnia. Even at the lowest dose, even with only one pill in the a.m.

Most recently, I've used the patch and supplemented it with gum. I'm still miserable but I've got to figure out a way to get through the misery. I could handle it if I were on a desert island. Or in the hospital. That's the only time I "quit" without unbearable suffering. (Hey all you non-addicts, don't laugh!)

I know what you mean about depression but the Wellbutrin would prevent/treat that!

There's so much to say -- I'll keep this one fairly brief

Oh, Donna, have you ever used cinnamon sticks, or the tea tree oil toothpicks?

p.s. Donna, don't tell me you think there's a connection between being adopted and smoking!!! That's just TOO close to admitting a primal wound. AAARGH!!!

[BrandyHagz]

Alright, I'm game.

I'm not going to be able to go cold turkey - but we are going for our first cycle of IUI on the 13th and I'd like to try to quit (or be darn close to it) by then. I plan to be smoke free by the end of Jan...I hope *crosses fingers*

[Shoshana]

Brandy, I just read the Old Navy thread and if there is ANYONE who can do this, it's gotta be YOU! I'm serious.

Do you know how you're going to be smoke free? Have you ever quit before? I guess Wellbutrin isn't an option? (uh, can you elaborate just a wee bit on IUI? I know it means intrauterine insemination, but how does it happen?)

[Darci]

Also hoping to quit by the end of Jan.

I have quit twice before -- for 3 months each time. The first time I joined the army. Can't smoke in basic training. Quit cold turkey, no side effects, no problem. As soon as I got out of basic I started smoking again. Don't know why I did it.

The second time I used the patch, was fine for months. Decided to drink one night (rare for me) and for me smoking always went along with drinking. That was that.

Since then I've tried the patch again several times. This time I am going to take wellbutrin and use patches at the same time. My doctor suggested this path, so hopefully it works. It costs WAY too much in this state to be a smoker. I imagine it's getting pretty expensive everywhere though.

Darci

[BrandyHagz]

Hey Elizabeth - in the past, I quit with Wellbutrin...but nope, it's not an option now I don't think - I'm pretty limited on what drugs I can take now, and I think that’s one of the ones I can't.

I'll just have to cut back...slowly.

As for the IUI - DH just gives his "sample" and they wash and separate the good from the bad - then I go in and they place the good ones in my uterus...and hopefully two weeks later *fingers crossed* we get a positive pregnancy test…(of course, it’ll take more than one shot I’m sure and I’m totally prepared for the pre-agreed number of attempts, which is 9)

[BrandyHagz]

Darci,

I quit cold turkey the first time - and started back the same way you did - a night of drinking and that was it.

I could KICK myself.

Of course, I quit again right after DH and I got married and then started again last year...that was four years of no smoking and I started again by choice...*kicks self*

[Shoshana]

(Thanks for the details, Brandy

Couldn't ALL of us KICK ourselves? I mean, really! I'll bet even Donna quit once (at least for a while and relapsed. I can't even be honest about how long I've stayed off cigarettes -- it's too embarassing to me. My physician doesn't even know I smoke!

Excuse me while I aim a big KICK!

Hey, Darci! Why is the end of Jan your quit date? I'm still planning. Donna said she was thinking of next week, err, the week after.

[Shoshana]

Oh, I wanted to say something about the difference between the patch and the gum.

The patch delivers a steady dose of nicotine over a period of 24 hours. The gum delivers bursts of nicotine when it is chewed. Cigarettes, of course, deliver bursts. The patch is effective for many reasons -- one is that it keeps the edge off -- the cravings don't get as severe (theoretically, anyway) since there is some nicotine in the system. Another reason the patch is helpful is because it is changing the way the brain utilizes nicotine. The brain slowly becomes used to the steady state instead of the bursts -- lowering the dose of the patch, very slowly over a period of months, is an effective way to break the addiction.

I've read quite a bit about this (obviously, it hasn't helped me do much besides understand the process and make excuses for my continued addiction) and it seems as if nicotine itself is not a bad drug. Sure, no one would choose to be on the patch for a year, or the gum. The $$ alone is prohibitive. But wouldn't it be better than smoking for a year?

Right now, I am imagining myself sitting here next year (I know, exciting life), still on the patch or gum, and I'll be estatic!

[AwaitingBeloved]

You guys are awesome!

I quit smoking 5 years ago. I seriously tried daily for 3 years, and finally, one day, it stuck.

I smoked my brain out the night before, and I think it helped. I also think that walking when I got my urges to smoke helped, and drinking lots of water to help with the coughing.. and sucking on cough drops, and citrus drinks. Helped a ton.

I also often found smokers (not ppl i knew--strangers walking the same way) that I could walk behind and breathe in their second hand smoke. It actually helped me. Then, suddenly, that started bothering me, and for the most part the smell makes me yucky now. Though, on occassion I do still love the smell, it is a very strange addiction.

When I quit, I was nervous, too. Seriously, those 20 smokes/pack were my very best friends. No joke. I got happy I smoked, sad I smoked, mad I smoked, bored I smoked...I breathed I smoked. I finally quit cold turkey. Don't know how. I really don't. But I did.

Another thing that helped, a lot, and still does, are the dreams I have about smoking. During stressful times, I dream that I smoke, and I wake up feeling like I smoked a carton! The thing that helped the most I think, is even in my dream I felt so angry at myself for smoking again. Then when I woke up and realized I hadn't smoked for real, I was so happy it was just a dream, and I got to look forward to those dreams. The happen much less often now, but now, I have the dreams relatively guilt free. :-) If there's ever a healthy smoke, I'm sure I'd pick it up again!

GOOD LUCK future non smokers! Give yourself praise, too. At first, every hour I'd tell myself how many hours I was smoke free. Then weeks, then eventually months. Now, I'm happy with years. The 5 year was a biggie for me.

In the words of Rob Schneider "You Can DO IT!"

[Shay]

I am not a smoker but have friends and a brother who are smokers. I just wanted to lend my support and well wishes to kicking the habit. I know through my friends and family that it is VERY hard!!

Good Luck!!!

[dpen6]

hey, all,

Its nice to see others in my shoes.....although very embarressing talking about my "weakness". It really is strong and I know others that "just stopped" I have had others lecture me..."YOU just need to decide, make up your mind..ect...".GRRR

Ok, so I am anurse...I have seen the effects, have assisted and hopefully helped people who have had COPD(I know thats where I am headed) and treated people with lung cancer..just GENERALLY kknow the effects..seen it first hand..and continue smoking.

Where I work there are only 2 of us that smoke...I sneak outside..like noones knows where I am going...they just give me weird looks..few comments here and therr

Anyway..gotta go to work..I will be back!

Shoshana...NO primal wound here ciggies or not...my excuse is that ginger smoked when she carried me so that when I picked up my first cig I was just as addicted as if I had smoked...thats my theory .

Donna

[eastendmommy]

It's nice to see that there are other's who are in my shoes. I have been smoking for 36 years now, have tried countless times and countless ways to stop, all unsuccessful. It is now so politically incorrect to smoke that I feel like I would have more rights as a murderer than as a smoker. I am tired of being frowned upon by complete strangers who glare at my cigarette, even though I am a courteous smoker who goes outside without being asked... I tried the patch when it first came out in the early 90's. It worked on the cravings, but a side effect for me was extrememly vivid and disturbing dreams. I was Sheba in my dreams each night in full length color, and was pretty much a female Hun or something. I woke up each morning exhausted from a night of raping and pillaging in my dreams. After 3 months of this, I had to decide whether to continue waking up exhausted every morning or smoke. I chose to smoke again. Now I am to the point where I honestly think I can go cold turkey. After 36 years, I am tired of it. I smell bad. My clothes smell bad. My hair smells bad. My breath smells bad. I'm old enough to know better (and let's face it--when I started smoking in 1969, there were no warnings on the sides of cigarette packs, no one was boo-hooing about second-hand smoke, nobody minded if you smoked in the grocery store or the department store, etc.) What started out as "cool" in the late 60's, quickly became "required" by the 70's. I am ready to stop. I don't even enjoy the bleeping things anymore. They have become my crutch, my excuse, my bane. I'll help support whatever methods each one of you choose, if you let me vent and get through my "b!tchiness" stage in one piece!!! The actual addiction of nicotine only stays in your system for 7 days. Beyond that, it is strictly a hand-mouth association/addiction. Wish me luck, please!!!! Tammi

[Liepolds]

I have been smoking since I was 20(I am 35 now) and know that I need to quit! Not only for health, but, gosh, to admit how much I spend on smokes is disgusting!!

I will say, I don't smoke in front of our child, I do it outside, but, I am glad to see, that I am not the only one! It is an embarrasing habit, isn't it?

Good luck quitting everyone! I am not quite there yet, but, the time is getting closer and closer!

Kim