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

Nurses General Nursing

Published

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.

Specializes in Developmental Disabilities, LTC.
To keep this short, I ***HIGHLY*** encourage you to get a book by Allen Carr called "The Easy Way To Stop Smoking."

I've actually heard of this! Ashton Kutcher was on the Tonight Show talking about it - it's how he quit smoking. He highly recommended the book too. After I saw the show, I actually thought about going out and getting it.

And just so you know, he's young, but Ashton Kutcher had a cigarette in his hand every time I ever saw a picture of him, or saw him at a party (on tv, obviously). Heavy smoker.

Specializes in gen med surge.

Been there, done that, didn't buy the T-Shirt. I'll help you in any way that I can...just ask, okay?

P.S. - I tried everything...sometimes more than once. Last and final thing was Chantix. It did the trick.

P.P.S. - Sometimes all of the planets have to be aligned, you have to be in the right mindset, and then you have to take 10 steps backwards and yell, "Voodoo!" (just kidding!)

Specializes in LTC/Skilled Care/Rehab.

I smoked for a little over 10 years (I started at about age 14). I tried to quit so many times, but it was so hard. I quit when I got pregnant with my DD, but I started again a few months after she was born. What I did to stop smoking was to chew a lot of gum. I know you said you did this already, but it worked for me. I had to have gum on me at all times. I quit smoking over 4 years ago and I still get craving once in a while. The first year is the worst, but it gets easier after that. I hope you find something that works for you. Good luck!

Specializes in CCU,ICU,ER retired.

I quit 12 yrs ago with a 2ppd. The DH and I had gone to a medieval fair and parked 2 blocks away downhil from the event. I made it to the fair okay but when it came time to go back uphill I couldn't do it I just collapsed, after a block. I said that was it. I used patches. I wanted to stop more than any thing in the world. It was very uncomfortable. I coughed for a month some of the nastiest crap I have ever seen. And talk about Bit$$$. I hated every one but I stuck it out.

The benefits though are terrific. Everything smells so gooood and food tastes great. I don't smell like an ashtray. I can eat where I want in a restaurant. The only time I feel like I want a cigarette is when I am stressed out but it it still easy to get over that. And the best thing is I can breathe.

I am also a recovering addict, so I used the 12 steps to help myself. And yes it was harder to quit smoking rather than dope.

I quit about 7 years ago. I had become an expert at quitting, I had done it so many times.

What worked for me was telling myself, and believing, that I was not a smoker, therfore there was no need to smoke. I also picked a bad time to quit. It was during a camping trip with the boys where we spend most of of the time drinking. For some strage reason it worked. When I think about it, it should not have worked, but it did. The real funny thing is, that I went to my Dr. to get a prescription for zyban, but never ended up filling it.

As a certified cessation counselor by NIH, an RT, and an exsmoker, I have some advice. Drugs. You are drug addicted, same as alcohol or heroin or diazepam. The behaviors are no walk in the park, but if you can eliminate the drug addiction you are well on your way, much more easily, and with a pretty good chance of actually forgetting about cigarettes in the not so distant future. First, get your doc to prescribe buproprion 150mg SR. note: if he prescribes 150mg XL, (zyban) insurance won't cover it. "lifestyle med". so be sure to get 150mg SR, generic, cheap. you will need to build up to BID or TID. take it easy, it's stimulating and will keep you awake. ps:unlabeled use:sexual stimulant. You may notice. Next, you need the new med Accomplia. It acts on your nicotinic receptors, they think you just had a cigarette. And so will you. Read up on Accomplia, it's fairly new, and you may have to tell your doc about it. And you want to walk out of his office, fill your scripts, and get very confident. Now, start your meds and go ahead and smoke. Right away, you'll be thinking "mmmm, don't really want to finish this cig. why did I light it? oh yeah, habit and hard core smoking addiction. But I don't really like it, mmmm." Well, go ahead and let yourself quit now on your own schedule, and your own schedule will pretty much wind down a whole lot. You will know when to throw em away, don't worry about it. Now, if this does not happen within a month or so, buy some nicotine gum and just start replacing cigs with gum. So now, now matter what, you don't smoke. at all. wind the gum down prn, keep up the buproprion, d/c the accomplia, and honey, you are a non smoker. Now this is important: DON'T HAVE 'JUST ONE'. If you do, here's what happens: you will still "be quit", BUT, all bets are off as far as completely stopping ever even thinking about a cigarette. And, if you don't ever cheat after you've quit, and you will know when that is, you will indeed never even think about smoking, and that does happen. so there you go, those are the tools. now, about the warnings on the meds, if you have uncontrolled HTN or seizures, don't do this. that's it. you don't need good luck. you just need a program that works. and this is it. John B RRT

Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.

I think the very first thing to remember is that you have to commit to quit for yourself-trying to put down the cigarettes out of guilt (and without a plan) will only leave you frustrated and irritable.

I am a smoker who has tried most everything without success. I, too, hate that I NEED to have that smoke. I think each time I was unsuccessful because my motivator for quitting was how it affected others. I have seen a few other nurses use a method that seems to work and will quit once my healthcare kicks in for my new job [the plan].

Each of the nurses that were successful used Chantix, starting 1-2 weeks before their actual quit date. On the quit date, they substituted the no-nicotine cigarettes (can't remember their name right now-they are sold in the same places as cigarettes) and kept the same habits they had prior to quitting nicotine (went on the 'smoking breaks' & socialized the same). Slowly, I saw that the breaks were shorter and then eventually being skipped. All of them (6) now, no longer, light up anything. I think this is because they allowed the habits associated with smoking to change subtly, as oppossed to abruptly, easing the added stress that comes from the withdrawal process. The Chantrix, I understand, eases the withdrawal symptoms.

Specializes in ICU, spinal cord injury.

I am quitting too and you're really, really brave to do this!!! What a wonderful life you'll experience with your children now!! No more guilt and self-hate! When I got married, I was always a real b....ch in the morning...and i knew it! When I got married (at 36) my great new husband said to me, gently, "you are so mean to me in the morning and I love you so much. I want you to try really hard to stop being that way. You are an adult and starting our new life together. Please do this!" I was really ashamed and struck right between the eyes at how right he was. Time for me to accept responsibility & focus on the beauty of the moment (or morning, in my case)& stop making my loved one so miserable! Hope that helps you...you can do it! AND...I pray without ceasing which really makes me feel loved & not alone!!!

Specializes in ICU, spinal cord injury.

I am quitting too and you're really, really brave to do this!!! What a wonderful life you'll experience with your children now!! No more guilt and self-hate! I was always a real b....ch in the morning...and i knew it! When I got married (at 36) my great new husband said to me, gently, "you are so mean to me in the morning and I love you so much. I want you to try really hard to stop being that way. You are an adult and we're starting our new life together. Please don't do this!" I was really ashamed and struck right between the eyes at how right he was. And NO ONE, in all those years, had ever challenged my behavior! Time for me to accept responsibility & focus on the beauty of the moment (or morning, in my case) & stop making my loved ones so miserable! And I DID IT! Hope that helps you...you can do it! AND...I pray without ceasing which really makes me feel loved & not alone!!!

One way to quit is to try to have a non smoker's mind set, pretend you don't smoke, even if you still do. Also go to http://www.quitnet.com they have online meetings 24/7 and quit buddits and other things like that. I first tried the patch but couldn't stop and got severe chest pains. Instead I tried the gum because after 2 hrs, I could smoke, this way if I really had to have a smoke, I could. It helped me cut down and cut out. Hope this helps.

+ Add a Comment