The question I want to ask is:- Has anyone else had problems with nicotine patches?
They irritate my skin so much that it itches very badly. I want to try to persevere this time as I've tried to give up smoking before and I know the patches take away the craving but sometimes find the itching unbearable. I mentioned at my doctors and was told I'm allergic to the glue used.
I have tried all the other aids to quitting including the electric cigarette but that just makes me cough.
I do want to give up because I'm breathless most of the time and find it hard doing even the most simple tasks.
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teabag333
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Hi there just to congratulate you I gave up 15 years ago the best thing I ever did I used the tablets you put under your tongue they disolve you can use as many as you like to stop the craving they worked for me and I am ashamed tosay I was a very heavy user they are not expensive I saw them for sale in B&M's £1 odd a pack worth a try good luck
Thank you taffydaffy. Yes, I tried the lozenges, both 1.5mg and 5mg but they didn't stop the craving. Well done on 15years. Most I have ever gone is 5weeks. Now I seem to be struggling to get through one week.
Well done for not smoking - it can be incredibly difficult to do. I know that you say you have used all other options - have you been to a stop smoking service? There may be other Nicotine Replacement Therapies that may work for you.
hi teebags .im 63 a mum gran great gran.i was diagonised at xmas copd moderate after smoking for 30 odd yrs the cigs went rite in the bin .outside north manni hoz .thats wen i got told i had copd .it was either the cigarettes or me under a bus.but no way am i goin out.the cigarettes went .i have a family .id never heard of copd never.i have learnt a lot after coming on ear.ive rung the numba for blf but i dont seem to get far.ive hung up twice ave rung.they ask me were ive got numba from.etc.as im deaf i ask them to speak up but they dont seem to .i have no advice of any1 thats why i rung blf.i had meningitus wen i was 15 hence thats why im deaf.throw the cigs away now .take care
hi teabag333.i rung again the blf.2day.girl i spoke to said she will send me out a info pak.wen i told her id rung twice be 4/and got nowere/she said sorry /i give her my name an postcode /an she give me my numba ouse and full adress.i asked her .so wen i rung twice be 4 the calls were loged/but nothing gone out for me.she said it seems the case and said sorry/i said it not ur fault love its ok.
Sorry you seem to have trouble with phone calls etc. Perhaps your GP would be the best person to ask for all the information re COPD also regarding stopping smoking.
Thank you Jo. Yes, I use the council stop smoking service and I tried the gum, the lozenges and the inhalator but find the patches best but can't stand the itching. I wish the manufacturers could come up with a gum for sensitive skin. Thank you for replying.
Perhaps you could try putting the patch on a different part of your body eg. a leg as there is no reason why it will not uptake the nicotine as well from there as on your arm. You may have eczema - there are different makes of patch, maybe a different one will be ok for you or perhaps a little Vaseline or sudocreme will ease the itching enough for you to carry on using the ones you have.
I am using the niquitin mint minis...similar to tic tacs and finding them really good.
Thank you Lucky. I do put the patches on various parts. Today I have one on where I sit down. No, I haven't eczema but I will try sudocreme. Thank you for replying. I will carry on with the patches until I can't bear it anymore.
Patches never suited me on previous attempts. Please, please, please go to your GP and get on to their smoking cessation clinic. That's the only way I stopped. Don't try to go it alone, it's too hard!
Thank you Lynne. Yes, I am attending a stop smoking clinic for support. I managed to give up alcohol for good over 20years ago but this seems much harder. Thanks for replying.
Hang on in there ... it gets easier (slowly) but after a few weeks it gets easier in spades
Why give in and have to do the last two days again
........ you are you....inhaling smouldering dried leaves is not something that should say who you or we 9other smokers) are
.... leave the leaves to the bonfire or the compost heap
well done mate,i also have smoked 60 years,but cant stop,ihave cut down,not good enough really ,iwish i could stop, i am now under the hospice nurse,so keep up the good work WELL DONE
Think positively. You've already cracked it and you're a non-smoker. You're on the way to great things, not least better health! Soon you'll be able to go without replacements as well which will save you stacks of dosh. Go for it! I've written before on what worked for me, the "Easyway", so won't bore everyone again, but stopping from fifty a day is something I'm proud of - mind you I'm not so proud of getting that far in the first place! (I'd put in a smiley but I don't know how to do it.)
Just to let you know that a smiley is just a colon (: - the double dots) and a close/right bracket( ) )
If there are any others you want to know please ask me
Lucky
PS I'm on day 2 of quitting too (well - stopped for 30 hrs last week on National No Smoking Day but broke two teeth and the stress of the thought of going to the dentist had me lighting up in a flash - yes, I kept some in the house...bad mistake!). Have got none in now though and will NOT be buying any more!
Bless you WeymouthJohn for your encouragement. It's only my 3rd day and already, my breathing is a bit easier. Can you give me a link to your post on "Easyway"? Otherwise I will search for it. Thanks for replying.
For anyone wanting to see how it's done - hover your mouse over the smiley, you should see the characters used to 'type' it. You don't even need the hyphen - just a colon and close bracket works : and ) =
To give up smoking you must want to give up, that's over half the battle.
Then get professional help. A lot of local NHS PCT's offer a Smokefree service. I joined one at a community centre where I worked, I every Monday afternoon for about 8 weeks. In the first week they talked about stopping, how many I smoked and so on. By the third week they had arranged for my GP to prescribe Champix. I took those for about 3 weeks - and just stopped. I've not had one since.
Without the desire and willpower to stop it is difficult. It amazes me how many people recognise they have a lung condition, but still carry on smoking. If that isn't providing the desire to stop then I don't know what will.
I agree Gordon, desire and willpower must be one of the highest aids to actually want to stop smoking, however I know I am gonna need the Champix though, you say it worked for you and I know a few other people whom it has worked for so thats what Im gonna do I think. Teabag333 also mentioned she stopped drinking alchollically some years ago so credit to her on that one, maybe in a strange sort of way its the last bit of enjoyment she still has and deep down doesn't want to stop?
Yea, the GP turned me drown for champix too because my mental health is too unstable. My psychiatrist told me NEVER even try and quit smoking cos it will mess my brain chemistry up too much but if I want to live then I've got to ignore him and quit...I'm on day 2
Yes Classybird but they just make me cough. It is my 5th day now with the patches and although they take away the craving, they still itch like mad. Still, better that than smoking and not being able to breath. Thanks for posting.
Have you tried the 'new' I-cig ones...they do them in cherry, coffee and vanilla tasting ones...they're not as harsh as the old 'normal' ones - worth a try maybe?
The ones I have are called nicolites. Don't know if they are the same. I seem to be filling a drawer with all the various "Aids". Patches, gum, inhalator. ecigs and charger, nasal spray, mouth spray, lozenges.LOL
I will keep on truckin, as you say and hope you do too.
Hello taffy. I'm plodding on. Thank goodness for this site. Stops me from wanting a ciggie. Early days for me yet but I get a good feeling when I mark another day off on the calendar before I go to bed.
brilliant effort off everyone who is giving up right now & i hope to be joining you soon just need a steel rod put up backside to help give me some backbone i saw my consultant today, after making me cry & feel like a 2yr old he then said he needs to send me for ct scan to check if i have bronchietasis?& asthma(which i had as a child)! so bit low & determind to join you brave new nonsmokers before my next apt & yes it is my one last sin which makes me very
hello sillywitch. You will get lots of support and encouragement when you decide to quit. If I can do it after 60 years, you can. At least try and if you don.t succeed first time, Try, try and try again. I have lost count at how many attempts I've had. Only on my 5th day but breathing improving each day. I had whooping cough when I was a baby and keep having bouts of Bronchitis. Got to the stage when I could hardly breath enough to draw on a cigarette.
bless you Marina & i know you are right, i,ve tried 5 times already before my copd diagnosis, i used to smoke 60 a day then i read easyway & stoped smoking ready made & went on the rolls! now on 15-20 a day and each 1 hurts so i know ive got to do it, its just after 43 yrs im not sure id remember how to breath without them,& they help me cough sometimes when im struggling to shift phlem i dont suppose you could answer a question for me?) i,m told by my practce nurse im to take antibiotics when my sputum is green, but consultant wanted to know why i keep taking it, tried explaining because its often green & only take 1 course for each change but answer didnt seem to be good enough? flumoxed!!!!
Hello Karen. I went on rollups years ago because of all the rubbish they put in manufactured cigarettes. Each time I had a chest infection and couldn't cough up any phlegm, the doctor gave me a week of antibiotics but also 4days of steroids as he said they were what would get rid of the gunge. They did . Trouble was, I got to feeling so much better then that I kidded myself to have a cigarette and of course one led to more and more and each time the breathing got worse with each cigarette. I just got fed up with feeling so rotten all the time and not able to enjoy gardening or going out for walks. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I'll feel fit enough to do things. I'm just sitting about watching television or playing scrabble on line so getting no exercise and fresh air which is probably the worst thing.
I feel sure you haven't got to that stage yet and hopefully, I haven't bored you. Can you mention to your GP that you are having problems getting rid of the phlegm, As I said a combination of the steroids as well as the antibiotics did the trick for me. Then silly me started the whole cycle again by smoking. This time, after just 5 days I feel abit of relief in my breathing and looking forward to getting my appetite back and hopefully fit to go out as the weather gets better. After all, it is Spring I think and the crocus are out. Daffodils are in bud and that lifts my spirits. Please try to think positive. Hope you keep coming on here. I'd love to hear how you are getting on.
I like your name by the way. Nearly as silly as mine.
Remember when we were kids in the 60's everyone smoked even all the Actors on the T.V and the cinema we were sent down the shops to get ciggies for the neighbours it was the norm x
Hi taffydaffy, this just reminded me of when my brother was about 4 (can't have been older or he would have been at school!) It was Monday, washing day, and in those days my mum had a washer with a mangle on top and the whole thing had to pulled out for the hose to reach the taps and also to empty it, you can probably imagine the scene, washing all over, harassed housewife. Suddenly my brother appeared through the back door with 10 Nelson and the change from a £1 note. He'd taken the "pretend money", as he called it, from mum's purse and taken himself off to the shops, two roads away, and bought her cigarettes!! She didn't even know he'd left the house! He would probably have been taken into care if it happened in this day and age, that's if he hadn't been mugged on the way! Ha ha, the good old days! Libby
I certainly do but in my case it was the late40's and 50's. No-one ever told us then that smoking was bad for us. They used to sell cigs in little packets of 5's too.I remember buying 5 turf or 5 woodbines. Oh happy days
hi Marian/teabag thank for replying, hows the smoke free zone going? any easier? at the time you & Libby are talking about they used to give cigs to patients with chest probs, helped them cough i had a brew & fag brought to me in 1976 after birth of my 1st! 10hrs in bed(BLISS) i used to sneak 10 cigs out of machine by post office had to duck though Fred was a friend of my grans & i was 12! ah the stupidity of youth & the need to look grown up, Embassy No 10 if my memory serves ps i,ve asked my daughter to have a look for the new e cig, like you i have a draw full of redundant useless gum tabs patches & old e cigs keep up the good work xx
Hi Karen / sillywitch. Yes I'm OK at the moment. Gradually plodding through day 6 and it seems to be dragging. However, I'm fairly optimistic.
I can remember smoking in hospitals very well. A couple of times after coming round after an operation I would reach for a ciggie before anything else. We were never told that smoking was harmful then.
well im breathing if that anything to go by im not doing to bad! im allergic to something & i wish i knew what it was, i thought it was mucodyne & stopped it 6 days ago i was given antihystomean but still getting breathless i,m sure it,l sort itself out one way or another. sorry today is dragging for you i,m sure you,l make it if only so you can say yea i've made 1 week chin up grit teeth & suck mint/choc or whatever else helps i'm rooting for you xxx karen
Hi Karen, Are you any better today? If you have copd like me and most on here getting breathless is the nature of the beast. I can get breathless when I'm just sitting doing nothing so I try the different breathing techniques. There are tips on a page here somewhere. I can give you a link if you want.
Well I'm on day 7 now so tonight I can say "Yay, that's a whole week"
Sorry to hear you're struggling, hang in there. It took me three attempts and finally managed to give up seven years ago. I think it's harder to give up nicotine than alcolhol, so don't give up giving up! Good luck
Hello puffed. Well done on 7 years, that's great. You are quite right. It is much harder than giving up alcohol although that took several attempts despite lots of support.
Anyhow, today seems a better day for me. Thank you for posting.
i quit a yr ago after smoking for 40yrs...i had help with 'the phoenix group' and used CHAMPIX tablets....some not very nice side effects but they worked....giving up was easy and permanant
Yes, a lot of people seem to have used Champix .Anyhow, I'm on day 8 now so I'll keep on with the patches and occasional lozenge if I get bad cravings.
Hi, I've given up smoking by reading Allen Carr's easy way to give up smoking, like you I have tried everything and every aid and always gone back, try reading this book it's amazing.
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& yes it is my one last sin which makes me very 
chin up grit teeth & suck mint/choc or whatever else helps i'm rooting for you xxx karen
Hi I am new to this site and have recently been diagnosed with COPD
I'm A New chap I was feeling rough & after a ten day stint in hospital with bilateral pneumonia and a lung abscess. I was told I have copd.
Hi I have only recently joined this site but am impressed with the support and community spirit I have seen and I hope I can contribute.
I am a Carer for someone with late stage COPD and struggling, am I alone.
