hope you are all as okay as you can be.i would like to ask for help in gaining incentive or willpower for gving up smoking. i know it is killing me (copd) and cant really afford it and yet i still do it.the haunted looks from the family/partner makes me feel really guilty and i cant explain to them why i cant give up as they are non smokers.of course the guilt i feel the more i want to smoke.Is there anyone out there that has been through a similar dilemma?
i am 50 with moderate copd and awaiting an appointment for the respiratory clinic.
thank you for reading this...
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23 Replies
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me! been through it .... a few times!!
i tried everything, except hypnosis, and faltered several times, something would happen and i would grab for a fag and a good old British soother, the cuppa. ( i have found the niquitine lozenges the best for me)
Every time i would give up for longer and longer, but start again when i needed my comfort blanket. That's my problem, i need to understand that the fags don't de-stress or make me feel any better, infact i feel more chesty and, after not having one for a while, they taste disgusting, but i will smoke for a few more weeks until i stop again !!!
It is really hard to give up, but here is a few things that helped me.
contact your local quit group - they do one-on-one and group sessions, they will also give you the right NRT you need to help. ( and it will cost you prescription rates)
No offence meant to anyone by this, but try to avoid former smokers, i have found when you tell a former smoker you are trying/have given up they go on and on and on about themselves and former smoking habits - unfortunately that reminds you how you used to "enjoy" smoking and i want a smoke then !! lol - you may find the same ( i have noticed that if someone tells me they are /have given up i just say well done ) i don't quite get why but people who have never smoked tend to be more supportive !!! like you it drove me nuts when my family went on at me for smoking with a fag dangling out there mouth, i understand they care but it gets on my nerves.
try and break habits ( e.g - phone rings. spark up, after dinner, spark up, cuppa - grab a fag) the problem with smoking is it gets you in 2 ways, the habit and the addiction, breaking the habit will help break the addiction.
Finally, and most importantly, remember there are people on here who will be happy to help and support you in any way they can.
it didn't help me but if you want to try reading Allan Carrs book on quitting (a lot of people say it helped them no end) i have a copy i can send to you - just PM me your address
good luck hun ( and hope i didn't sound patronising!)
I fully underrstand all that wrote here,very like you alway go back too the fags when under great stress,the longesst i did was 6 and a half years,then i sparked up again,crazy isn't it.since then i have tried loads of times,but i was only dealing with brittle asthma then,since i,ve got my head round having moderate copd as well,i,m into my 9th week of stopping,hopefully for the last time .on the gums
First thing to say is that you're asking the question in the right place. I stopped smoking 3 months before I was diagnosed with copd so staying off cigarettes was a bit of a no brainer for me. I have to admit I did miss it but with all the help that was available it made it much more bearable. Please don't feel guilty nicotine is up there as one of the most addictive substances to quit. Whatever you decide to do I wish you well.
Just a quick PS my partner is now week 5 smoke free....
Champix did it for me,thought I would never ever be able to quit,smoked 30 to 40 a day for over 40yrs !!!!!,but am now a non smoker,it was definatly the champix,ask your GP.Good Luck x
I can empathise with you 100 % allyj, especially the guilt feelings. I'm still on about 8 cigarettes a day from what used to be 40..... but I seem stuck at this level, and I'm at the severe COPD stage. People tell me that there will come a time when I will give up completely, but I'm beginning to doubt that.
Keep on trying though and maybe we will both succeed !
Have you tried an electronic cigarette? I trief everything to stop smoking, including Champix but those pills gave me horrific nightmares and severe mood swings :-0 l bought an e-cig kit on friday and am now smoking less than 5 real cigs a day as opposed to 40.
As lm only on day 4 using the e-cig and down to less than 5 real cigs, lm thinking l might be off them totally in a few weeks. You should give it a try...
Hi ally know exactly what you're feeling and the "haunted" look I got from my son (have no partner nor family who live nearhand) is what finally got home to me. I am on my ninth week and could only do it with the help of patches I still have one on just now but am not so worried about the continuing nicotine (they dont give out much nicotine just a small amount every hour) as breaking the habit of putting a cigarette in my mouth. During the nine weeks I kept a 10 packet out of reach but had a few puffs when it became unbearable the 10 packet is now finished and I won't buy anymore as I know from past experience it would result in not a 10 packet but thousands of cigarettes that my lungs cannot stand. Very very good luck to you -one advantage you have is that you are surrounded by non-smokers. Their nagging can be annoying but it is a very strong support for someone with copd-
To successfully give up smoking firstly you have to have the motivation i.e. you have to want to, so it may be beneficial to spend some time finding a reason which resonates with you as a motivation to stop smoking. Once you have found this set a date in the future i.e. a month from now so that you can psychologically prepare yourself, in the meantime research what would best help you to stop smoking. There are multiple aids available from chewing gum to dummy cigarettes, but you have to want to stop smoking.
Good Luck
Vicky
hi
the following link may offer some guidance, good luck.
Hi, Champix did it for me as well, two years now. It took three attempts but in the end I got there. Don't give up trying to give up. It will be worth it in the end.
All of the aids in the world will not really help until you have made a DECISION TO STOP. The best way forward from that is to make a plan (I will have my last cigarette on....) and use whatever aids work for you. It helps to change your habits so that you don't retain a pattern where certain events are followed by smoking (coffee, meal, driving). And enlist the help of everyone around you, because you are fighting a powerful drug. I found the biggest help was remembering why I was doing it (to live!) and to reward myself for every day, (then every week, then every month) without a cigarette. I gave up a 40+ per day, forty year habit six years ago. So can you. Good luck. x
Hi ally. it is hard. I gave up in January after many failed attempts. I smoked for about 30 years and enjoyed it. I knew of course that it was harming me. I used Champix and saw the practice nurse every week and for the first time, something really worked for me.
You still need willpower, but Champix did it for me. It was only after I stopped that I was diagnosed with COPD, but it was doing all that damage while I smoked. Looking back, it doesn't take long to think of cigarettes less and leass, but it is hard at first. Now, 9 months on I don't even think about it and I know I will not smoke again.
Try to avoid other smokers (ex smokers don't bother me) and think of the money you will save. I put my ciggie money into a savings account from Day1. £200 per month!
For 2 weeks now my husband and i have been using the nicotine patches and cutting down on cigarettes. We are down to 8 most days but have odd days like yesterday when we smoked more but still nowhere near the amount we were smoking. We've found delaying the first cigarette of the day by a couple of hours really helped and then having one at certain times, say "every 2 hrs" helps us. We had a bad day yesterday but decided on a fresh start today and up to now everything is going ok. After another week we are hoping to reduce to 4 then 2 then none, "hoping"! It's not easy but we are determined this time. We also have nicotine sprays, gum, lozenges and e-cigarettes so we have plenty of resources for difficult times. I can't say our method will work everyone is different but please keep trying.
Hi , when I couldn'y breath anymore that was time for me to pack it in.
I am 56 and have smoked for 40 of those yrs. I haven't smoked since 13th July ,cravings are huge and I miss it, but I would rather breath and enjoy all the benefits of not smoking. It is hard but I confronted all my old smoking associations, coffee, alchohol, after dinner head on I also keep packs of cigars in the house it was the only way to stop myself from starting again.
May I wish good luck with your efforts and hope you beat it.
Meant to say ally and justgee it does help a lot that you say that you intend stopping or have already stopped as the case may be when dealing with professionals re copd. I held myself back a lot and was quite ignorant of the background and treatment needed for the illness as I felt guilty all the time that I was still smoking and didn't allow myself the benefit of asking questions. I also did not put forward my intention to quit which, now understandably, must have come across as a kind of arrogance.
If you fail at first just remember don't stop stopping -this is something someone on this site said and really helped me - not everyone manages on the first attempt to stop and no matter what aid you use, willpower is also needed at crucial times - a matter of just telling yourself "no" it's hard but at these times the craving does go within 15mins if you just do something else or think different thoughts. I'm still struggling at times after 9 weeks but will stick it out as I am not nearly so breathless as I was when smoking.
Thank you everyone for your input..it does help loads to know i am not the only daftie still smoking and has strengthened my resolve to quit...and i feel so much better in myself sharing my concerns.
After many attempts I looked at nicotine as if it was 'old nick' controlling me. Left 'un-fed' he would have to leave within 48 hours, Then he would be 'out of my system' and trying desperately to tempt me to let him back in.
I determined nothing nor no-one was going to control me. I know it sounds childish but having tried to stop many times and in many ways, the psychoology of it worked for me.
i was a 50/60 a day smoker . got copd but didnt stop becaurse i enjoyed then. im ex royal navy of 25 years and they just about gave them to us. lol
id tryed everything going untill i heard about CHAMPIX.but you get it on perscription?. i did the course and lukily it worked havent smoked one since feb. the best thing about it you carry on smoking with it and you end up not smoking. best thing i ever did.
I have C.O.P.D. Last year after a dash to the hospital and a weeks stay I had asked my daughter to take a pic on my phone of me with mask on and looking so very ill. It worked for almost three month but the memory fades and the pic was deleted. I didn't go back to the same amount of cigarettes but I still smoked. After another hospital stay I didn't even try to stop,by this time I was so fed up with feeling ill and feeling down I didn't care. This year I went into the hospital again on the 1st July the last day I had a cigarette. I was only in for a few hours and was put on the home care a new scheme being tried for C.O.P.D sufferers in our area. I came home and the professionals came to me. Every day someone came to see me. C.O.P.D nurses,smoking cessation lady,rehabilitation people and all my prescriptions were asked and brought from my own G.P who rang me personally to ask about my needs. After all of this excellent care I am too ashamed to start smoking again. I am finding it very hard and the times I used to smoke,stress,socialising e.t.c. I ask myself 'if I do have a cig will it change anything at that particular time'? The answer is no it will make no difference but I am going through the irritable 'Can anybody give me a fag please?' phase. I'm still trying very hard to remain a non smoker. Good luck to you all and to me eh!
I never thought I would say this..... am in the sixth week of being a non smoker and at last I don't think about fags all the time and feel soooooooo much healthier in body and mind. Yes, its the hardest thing I have ever done, but a diagnosis or possible COPD was enough of a wake up call for me. I nearly gave in but the lovely people on here gave me the support to carry on. When I told my GP she nearly fell off her perch!!!! My advice is try everything and anything to stop. Find what works for you and stick with it. If you are tempted get on this site as quick as you can, or phone BLF they will talk you through the cravings. Good luck all and heartfelt thanks too all of you.
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