Help Me! I'm trying to quit smoking!!!!

crissrn27, RN · Jun 4, 2007

Oh your post was so sweet, you must be a good mom. PM me anytime, I'll try to support you! Don't have much advice, it is so hard to quit. I have always heard smoking is more addictive than heroin and they get methadone to quit.......so not fair!

RNfromMN, BSN, RN · Jun 4, 2007

agreed - awesome post.

whenever i have entertained the idea of quitting, the most positive thought i always had was just thinking about how much cleaner everything would be. i imagined always smelling like a bath & body works store and not having my car, fingers, clothes, hair smelling like smoke. i thought about whenever guests would walk into my house from now on, it would smell just like a garden full of flowers.

you said you don't smoke in your home - but i'm willing to guess you had a little "spot" - like your porch or yard - go clean it up! think about now nice and clean it will look and smell now.

you might want to try replacing the smokes with carrot sticks.

good luck!

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Jun 4, 2007

I have always heard smoking is more addictive than heroin

I've heard this too.

kstec: I started smoking when I was 14 years old. At one point, I hit a 3 pack/day habit.

Last year, I woke up one day and just told myself "I refuse to have anything have so much control over me or my life. Today, I QUIT!"

The first two months were pure horror and hell. But I refused to give up - too much pride. I've always prided myself on my self-sufficiency and my independence.... and gosh darn it, tobacco was NOT going to get the better of me!

I've been smoke free for over a year now. There are still some days when I can smell someone smoking and instantly crave a cigarette.... but I'm better able to control my urges now.

So, to you, I say:

* Pat yourself on the back. You've recognized that you have a problem. Admission and acceptance is half the battle!

* Have faith in yourself. You're a mother to two children - there is nothing you cannot do! Will yourself and it will be so!

* Be optimistic - you were able to quit during pregnancy. That's nine whole months! If you can quit for nine months at a time, surely you can quit for one month starting today?

Baby steps. Take it day at a time, week at a time, month at a time and pretty sure you'll be talking years at a time :)

* Lastly, avail of support. Tell your family that you need all the help you need and they can give. I'm sure they'd be responsive.

It's ok to ask for help. We can't fight all our battles ourselves! Courage means knowing you're scared but trying anyway. Seek out professional help, or a support group if you feel the need.

I wish you luck!

cheers,

Roy :)

TazziRN, RN · Jun 4, 2007

Nicotine is the most addictive drug there is. Something I learned in a chemical dependency class: unlike any other drug, with smoking, the longer and more you smoke, the more nicotine receptor sites are grown.

When I met Hubs he was a smoker, and I told him that to make a commitment to me meant giving up the smoking, that because I have asthma I cannot be around smokers. He was able to quit using the patches. My mother was a very heavy smoker (up to 4 packs a day, when she was really stressed) and it wasn't until she had a stroke that she quit. And the only reason she quit was because she was not allowed to smoke the 3 weeks she was in the hospital and rehab. She also used the patches. Since then Zyban and a new one that starts with a "C" has come out that have helped even more. Have you talked to your doc about those?

kstec, LPN · Jun 4, 2007

Oh and I've used Chantix right after it came out on the market. I threw up every morning with it. Later I tried it again with phenergan for the nausea and then I was to tired to function. I'm just hoping that this overwhelming sense of strength will come over me and I will kick this addiction in the a__!!!! Thanks for the info so far, but keep them coming, I'll need all the tips and pointers I can get.

TracyB,RN, RN · Jun 4, 2007

As a former smoker (albeit a recent former smoker) who has also tried everything in the past..... I resorted to Chantix. It helped that I was the one who was ready to quit. But the Chantix really helped to take the edge off.

Smoke free since 3-26-07... Woooo Hoooo. (minus the 4 pack slip up during a really bad week & I was a wimp about it.) Anyway, even then, the cigarettes tasted awful & I think it was just the habit part of smoking that was helping me at that bad point...

Only had about a week that was rough, but Chantix has a great website that offers support & I am still logging into the site almost daily to check out the helpful hints.

Just the smell of smoke makes me so nauseous. It's ridiculous. I've gone from smoking a carton a week, to wanting to puke when I smell a cigarette. It's soo funny.... even if I'm at a stoplight & there's a car nearby with a smoker, it's the same. I want to hurl... The pill makes me feel like hurling for about 5 minutes after taking it, but that outweighs the benefits of taking it. I started smoking at 12.... when I realized that I smoked longer than 1/2 my life (going to be 37) it kinda kicked my butt into OMG!!!!!

You can do this!!!! PM me if you need to.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Jun 4, 2007

I've been a smoker since I was 14 years old and will be 36 this Sept. I have two boys who are 7 and 9 and hate the fact that I smoke. No I don't smoke in my house or car. The other day my 7 year old looked at me with his big brown eyes and cried while asking me to quit smoking. My boys have tried before by either getting angry with me or breaking my cigarettes, but all I can see is those teary eyes and it makes me feel like the biggest loser. I've tried accupuncture, hypnosis, the patches, Zyban, laser therapy, the gum and cold turkey and obviously nothing has worked. Well earlier tonight I threw out my cigarettes and put on a patch and I'm already a nervous wreck. I turned into a big BIT__ everytime I try to quit. I get anxious, angry and down right mean towards everyone. How did any of you quit and not kill someone? I did manage to quit while pregnant, but that was it. I know better working in the healthcare field, but I don't know how to quit successfully. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would love to get this big monkey off my back. Of course I won't tell anyone around me that I'm trying because they've heard 10 million times before. Also this time quitting has a whole new meaning, on a very personal level. I remember being a child and begging my mom with my big brown eyes to quit drinking and at the age of 49 she died. I don't want to keep failing my children.

This thread in the Health & Stress Management 101 Forum might help:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f240/any-others-trying-quit-smoking-165797.html

I understand how difficult it is to quit smoking, but it can be done. I quit cold turkey almost 18 years ago in a house full of other smokers. DH just quit this past April. He says it's a matter of putting your mind to it, but as you can tell from the thread linked above, he did have some help.

I also have to recommend the online Quit Smoking Support by the American Lung Association. Here's the link: http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=33484

FFS (Freedom from smoking) online support program: http://www.lungusa.org/site/apps/kb/home/login.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=38973&membershipreq=83912&targetURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elungusa%2Eorg%2Fsite%2Fpp%2Easpx%3Fc%3DdvLUK9O0E%26b%3D22933

Good luck and remember that many have done it already and are here to encourage you. :)

veronica77 · Jun 4, 2007

Try Commit!!! are like menthol candies. I've been using them. (Quiting too) and they are great, but you have to follow the directions. If you take less than the manual said then you crave a lot for a smoke but they make dissapear the nerve effects, the cravings and the bad mood, also the insomnia is not present.

Take a day at a time. "Just for today" And whenever you crave look at your kids. Avoid any social place that you relate with smoking and avoid any smoking friend at all at least for a while or ask them not to smoke with you present.

Good luck !! It is a terrible adiction and habit but we can do it!!!!!

PM whenever you want, I'm in the same boat.

Heloisea3 · Jun 4, 2007

I understand how you feel. I used to smoke 2 packs a day and tried everything to quit, including hypnosis, the VA's smoking cessation program, the patch, and everything else. The worst part about it, though, was that I had asthma, and I would literally have a cigarette in one hand and albuterol in the other. How pathetic! Anyway, I tried so many times to quit and couldn't. My husband was also a horrible smoker. We were finally able to quit when my husband had to go to the ER one day, and the doctor told him he had emphysema. That was a huge motivator. My hubby quit immediately, and so did I. It was horrible, and I literally gained a pound a day for a month afterwards, but I was able to quit because I loved my hubby too much to smoke around him. One thing that I think helped me was Smoke Away. I didn't take it the full time recommended, though, because I honestly can't stand taking pills. I think it helped me, but I literally had to gag down the pills, so I only used it for about 1-2 weeks. But, I have to admit that I do have an aversion to any type of pill. I even gag on aspirin. My physical therapist and her husband were able to quit smoking using it, and she had tried to get me to use it before, but I wouldn't. At that point, though, I was willing to try anything. Fortunately, I found it to be helpful. It did take me a long time before I stopped having cravings, but it has been 3 and a half years since I quit, and I'm so glad I did. I was even happier when the nursing school told us at orientation that they would send you home if they even thought you smelled like smoke. It is amazing because now I despise the smell of smoke, and it really irritates my allergies. Whenever I am around a smoker, I think to myself, "God, I hope that I didn't smell as bad as this person when I smoked." I'm sure I did, though. Anyway, I think it is wonderful that you want to quit smoking, and I know you can do it. It's really hard, but not impossible. Well, I'm sorry to ramble on. I tend to do that. Good luck! You can do it!!!

hbgwan, LPN, LVN · Jun 4, 2007

I quit 4 months ago after smoking for about 10 years. Here's how I did it:

The above posts (no offense) rely on the willpower method. The person trying to quit sees the cigarette as something precious and that he/she is being utterly deprived of something they so strongly desire. I had to quit looking at it like that (I had tried to quit "cold turkey" before and just ended up falling right back into it...especially living in France!).

To keep this short, I ***HIGHLY*** encourage you to get a book by Allen Carr called "The Easy Way To Stop Smoking." It's not just another author trying to make millions off of people's problems. Get the book and you'll understand why it really is the easy way to stop smoking. Like I said, I ***HIGHLY*** recommend it.

PM me if you have any questions. I don't think I could have done it without that book.

mageean · Jun 4, 2007

I stopped last October after smoking for over 30yrs. I used patches which helped. I also acknowledged the fact that I had to have 2 stents inserted in my coronary arteries, could not climb stairs without being breathless and an expanding waist line. My tip is to always remember that whilst you might WANT a cigarette yo do not NEED it! Good luck and dont give up giving up!!