I was wondering if anyone still smokes after being diagnosed? I was diagnosed a few years back but really didn't believe my primary care doctor. Then a year ago last November I went into respreitory distress and sepsis due to pneumonia from MRSA? ( My spelling is horrible) The same disease and infection that I watched kill my mother eleven years ago. They did the scope to look inside my lungs and I did have COPD Emphysema. I followed up with the pulmonary doctor 1 time and went in for a pulmonary function test, but I didn't do the CAT scan. Why? Because I still smoke. I've heard people say you can't quit unless you really want to. I think that's b.s. I really wanted to when I lost my mom. I really wanted to after I got home from the hospital. And each time my girls ask me to stop... I Really want to. So, why am I still smoking?
To ashamed to see my doctor: I was wondering if... - COPD Friends
To ashamed to see my doctor
Because you want to smoke it is your friend.
we might feel like its our friend,for 35 years thought was what am i going to do with my time with no ciggaret going.I quit 8 years ago dont miss them.With severe copd any extra breath is a plus.The cigs are the cigarett companies best friend.While we wheeze and hack all the way to the hospital,ciggarett companies sing and dance to the bank.
I really don't know if you want to live if you got a quit maybe the best thing you could do for yourself in your family it's not going to get any better that it will get worse much worse if you don't quit that is just a fact. I was diagnosed in 2009 didn't quit for a little while until I lost my lungs I quit then but it still went downhill for quite a while the surgery was unnecessary but I did quit smoking and have a smoked since. I came as close to dying if you can possibly go I love my kids I love my grandkids I love my husband that's what made it possible for me to quit because I know they love me too. Hope you make it.
Ididnt lose my lungs just had part of one removed. Got a staff infection and almost died haven't smoked since you will be prolonging your life and probably that of your children I hope you make it.
Thank you so much for your reply. I know I have to quit. I need to find a way. Maybe subconsciously I don't want to go through what I watched my mom go through and don't really want to live. I will seriously begin to work on it.
I agree with Sandra. But it's an addiction. Only you can make the decision to stop and get help or substitute nicotine, your COPD will only get worse over time. Giving your lungs a chance by stopping smoking will help big time. Exercise, a good relationship with your GP and respiratory nurse are also a must have.
You need to give yourself a chance, try cutting down first and substituting some cigarettes with nicotine gum or nicotine "quickmist" mouth spray.
I have early stages of COPD and I am finding it really hard to stop smoking, but I am getting there slowly. It's having the belief in yourself that you can give up.
I really hope you manage to kick the habit eventually, its not going to be easy, but you can do it.
Don't just do it for your girls, do it for yourself.
You will get only support from us not criticism.
Take care
Steve
Thank you... I've decided to cut down while I figure this out.
Im battling the fags to I know it will slow the copd down but I also know it wont cure it ,I watched my sister die with copd and she gave the fags up years ago .Its hard I hope to come to my senses and chuck the bloody things in the bin good luck I hope you conquer the horrid habit xx
whot do ya think of the pens I have used and it ade me stop after 50 years then my pen broke so I went back on the fags idiot I am I no
I think anything that gets you off cigs has to be good, but when you get rid of the cravings, you should consider coming off the pens slowly.
Its worth it Steve. I smoked for 40 yrs and have mild. I quit cold turkey the day they told me.
moment 49,i didnt stop smoking when first told i have copd.My parents both passed away from cancer,still smoked .Wanted to quit so many times.Finally ended up in hospital onventlator jus t to breath.If not for ambulance might not be here.That woke me up no more games quit for good ,8 and ahalf years ago. My condition now is very severe but at !east i dont have the smokers cough and my breathing is weak but feel s clearer
I have joined. Great idea...thank you
It's true you REALLY need to want to quit, I smoked for 40 yrs. when I saw lung dr.after getting out of hosp. he asked if I wanted to be on ventilator cause my lungs function was so bad, that really rattled me, I got Chantex from PCP and it helped me quit, but what really worked was everytime I started to light up I heard lung dr.s comment. Keep trying it's the best thing you can do. And yes I smoked and continued to work in dusty environment for 8 yrs. after initial dx. but the month before hosp. stay I'd been in er every weekend cause I couldn't breathe.
I just can't do a ventilator. The c-pap was almost more than I could handle. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for your support
I'd guess fear and habit. Fearful about having COPD and a cigarette is deceptively comforting! And habit...what to replace it with?! I would suggest first establishing change to your smoking habit: smoke after meals? Wait 1 hour. Smoke when you get up with that first cup of Coffee? Don't! Whatever smoking habit you have, change them. For 3 months. Have your date set to quit. Purchase a low dosage patch to use for a month beginning your quit date. Helps. Still not easy, but very helpful. I smoked for nearly 43 years. Changed habits, haven't smoked for 13+ years, never cheated once. Life changing! I'll be cheering for you!
I am so lucky I found this site 😊 thank you I will. I'm going to change my habits while cutting down. You all are amazing
god I needed to read that nice one you don't no how much ya have helped me thanks my freind
I'm still smoking as wel but ya message has helped me so much
They say that nicotine is more addictive than cocaine. I agree with Sandra, right now cigarettes are your friend, your dear dear friend. You smoke because you enjoy it, if it were unpleasant you wouldn't want to do it. When you do finally decide to toss them in the trash it will be because you trained your brain to realize that they are not your friend, they are a nasty, smelly, expensive habit, and they are slowly, methodically poisoning you and trying to kill you. When I decided it was time I set my quit date, and cleaned everything cleanable to rid the house of the cigarette odor. Once the house was cleaned, I made myself go outside to smoke while heading toward the quit date I had set. Once I had smoked my last cancer stick (that's what I now call them), I used the nicotine patch and sucked on licorice strips for that hand to mouth action. Once I got past that part of the habit, I switched to butterscotch candy for those occasional cravings. I have fought lung cancer and won, I also have mild emphysema. I have also been a non smoker for about 17 years.
I forgot to add, don't be ashamed to see your doctor, they can help you quit smoking.
Your kidding !? I'm a LVN and the people I've seen beat lung cancer just amaze me...
I quit smoking after I had some blood clots in my lungs. I get sick for a whole day off just one cigarette these days. I was lucky to have been forced to quit smoking in that way as my will power is not good. I still crave cigarettes and I would probably still smoke if they didn't make me sick. You need to decide what's more important to you. Your health, or do you want to die like my moms friend with end stage COPD, on 24/7 oxygen, and still sneaking cigarettes in the restroom. Quitting smoking will possibly stop, or severely slow down the progression of the disease. You still have time to improve your situation. As long as you are alive and breathing, you can change your destiny. Don't ever feel guilty about smoking. Don't worry about the would have, should have, could have. I do that too, beating myself up over the damage I caused my lungs. It's not productive. All we can do now is prevent more damage from happening and trying to slow down the rate of decline in our lungs. You should get that CT scan so that you can see how advanced the disease is and also get a full pulmonary function test.
I'm the opposite of you. My GP thinks I don't have COPD, but my specialist does because my lung function tests are bad. I have a normal CT scan, but I have bad symptoms. Yesterday just from vacuuming the house, my oxygen went down to 90-92 and my heart rate was 159 BPM. My oxygen level drops to 90 when walking the six minute walk test. But it rebounds quickly. I don't know how I have all these symptoms and normal looking CT scan unless it is small airways issues and they can't see it. Once again, I used to be much worse when I was smoking. I had a chest infection for 3 months back in 2009. I was coughing up green stuff and had a sore throat for 3 months straight back when I was smoking. I have not had one single chest infection since quitting three years ago. Don't feel guilty. Let your doctor's know that you're struggling to stop smoking and how can they help you. You didn't start smoking overnight. It took many years to get to this point. It's going to take time to quit and learn how to live without smoking. Hang in there.
J
That's just doctors being dumb lil. I have a laundry list of diseases and I doubt they all happened because I smoked. My moms smoked for 30 years, stopped 20 years ago, and she had zero health issues as far as we know. How come she isn't all diseased up. Any doctor that blames all you issues on smoking, or on old age is just too lazy to do their job and figure out the real problem. They're just trying to fob you off and not deal with you. I hate it when doctors do that. I have chronic pain in my leg from chronic blood clots and one PCP said my leg hurts because I'm overweight. Well, if my leg hurts because I'm overweight, why doesn't my other leg hurt? Why didn't my leg hurt for the previous ten years of being overweight lol. Some doctors just don't want to deal with patients and just push them away.
You know, I work in health care and your right. I'm just don't understand how alot of these doctors are still practicing. And with insurance issues most of the time we don't have much of a choice. Luckily I have had the privilege of working with some amazing ones. I guess I have to remind myself not to give up 
Yep, that's me. I wish they knew how disgusted I am with myself so they didn't feel the need to make me feel worse !
Thank you...you got me crying, but the feel good kind... I really want to quit. I forget that if I stop now I could slow this damn train down..
It takes a number of serious attempts to quit. You try not to smoke but you doubt yourself. Each time you'll push yourself a little further and then fail again. Then, you'll realize you can do it and dtop long enough to see the benefit and you'll be done, quit and not go back.
I quit 21 months ago after 40 years of smoking. Just keep trying and don't bullshit yourself. You CAN do it. Look how many have already . And I can tell you it's better on the other sied.
Because smokers are selfish people who only think of there own pleasures. I have been smoke free for 5 years now but the damage has been done. I retired last year and instead of doing things with my wife I find myself staying at home most of the time because I get so out of breath so fast. I had tried so many times to quit but kept picking up another cigarette, perhaps if I had quit earlier in life it might be better but I didn't so now I pay the price. I wish you all the luck in your quest to quit.
It's Very hard and you have to be very determined, keep trying x
Hello, Please stop condemning yourself so severly. It is what it is. You need to see your/ a doctor and you have to be honest, because you need the right medication for you to be able to continue as long as you can. I was diagnosed 2 yrs ago. and had to let go of some self loathing. It does not help your symptoms. Yes I still smoke and I still don't know why I continue. Being honest with your doctor is an absolute must! But being honest about it will maybe reduce a little of your stress level. COPD does not go away. Because you don't really discuss it, you aren't going to be able to deal with your situation. Please discuss your situation with your doctor. I think for me, the hardest part was just coming to grips with what I had let happen. After that it was easier to cope with. I have 2 boys, 10 and 17. I stay on my treatment plan and see my doctor when I am supposed to. Cope with the situations as they arise and carry on. I don't know if I would be doing as well as the pulmonologist says that I am if I had not found the wonderful people on this site. Reading their stories feeling the support of others in a like situation. You are going do fine. Hang in there and cut yourself some slack.
Thank you. I really tried but things aren't working well. I had the privilege of living in an older home that is owned by family with my 2 girls. Rent I couldn't afford anywhere else. Two years ago I went into respiratory failure. I was sick for quite a while and never got back to where I was. I wasn't able to keep up with the maintenance. I let it get real bad. That was one condition to living here..keeping the house maintained. Family came out for a visit and I was given 2 1/2 months to get things fixed or I would have to move. And they went back to Italy. I watched you tube videos, scanned Craigslist and called agencies that might be able to help.we had our first heatwave 103-107 and it just didn't fall below 98 after that. I was tearing out cabinet and walls with mold. I just could not do most of the things I was always able too. I couldn't do they heat . ( no air conditioning in house or car) so I worked at night or early morning. I also have c-ptsd..and I guess I wasn't handling the stress well. My symptoms were bad. I tried so hard to reassure my girls. They are everything to me .and my two oldest and especially the three grandkids. I was thinking I just may be able to pull this off. One of my daughters friends mother came by and offered me Meth. Yep, I took it. I hadn't experimented with drugs in like 17 years. But I was down to 14 days left. Absolutely no excuse. So, family came, I wasn't able to finish and of course the drug was found. I'm living in my van. It's hot, I haven't been taking my meds. The piece that hurts so much is my 2 girls. They barely even text. I'm sure they are hurt and angry. They have every right. I put them through so much being sick and stupid. I'm realizing I haven't been the mom I needed to be. I thought I was. Really. I did. Not looking for sympathy. Just realizing I'm not the same person I once was. I can't mop floor. I can't now the yard. I can't even start the thing.
Oh, I'm sorry for dumping this on you. But thank you for being there. How do you accept who you become with this damn disease??
I'm running low on my battery, phone's dying. I will check back later. Thank you so much,
Deb
I have chronic Bronchitis. I don't like to acknowledge that I have a weakness. So I don't treat it. It gets worse I end up not sleeping through the night. Stupid me lol
My husband also has copd and still smokes. I know that he does want to quit but it is an addiction and a crutch. He has smoked for 50 years so it will be a life changing decision for him. He is not willing to try to quit right now. I do not push him bc i know it is his decision to make. His copd is now to the point that his activities are nearly gone buthe still smokes. I quit smoking 34 days ago with a few patches and lozenges. I have tried so many times but this time I was ready to quit. The quit support forum helped a lot. You have to decide you are ready to quit then use anything to help you, NRT, Champix, anything. It is a hard journey, but I smoked for 40+years, so it is possible. Good luck.
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