Champix Help?

[nsd_user663_15801]

Hi there, I am new to the forum.

Just commenced my fourth week of Champix and still can't stop thinking about them and worse still, still smoking the odd one!

Is it that Champix is not for me or that I am totally without willpower?

Feeling really bad about it and tomorrow night I have to go to my smoking session and will be having my carbon monoxide level taken - if I stop now will it show up that I'm a non-smoker by tomorrow night (it will be 24 hours roughly)?

I know it's cheating but I don't want to be taken off these tablets - I just need to try harder.

I'm nearly 60 and have been smoking heavily since the age of 13. Have stayed off cigs on two previous occasions in the past 2 years, for a month each time, by using patches and felt wonderful during that month, no withdrawals at all.

I have to give up - my health, my lungs to be honest, have really suffered.

[nsd_user663_15147]

Just needing to try harder includes going back to the beginning or trying other methods. Stop cheating... not because you'll trick the people trying to help you but because you're lying to yourself by thinking the one every now and then is ok because you're 'trying hard'.

I'm sure its a very difficult habit to get rid of after all that time but you dont sound ready.

"I have to give up - my health, my lungs to be honest, have really suffered. " - that should be I WANT to give up. Why don't you try thinking about how great you felt for that month of not smoking?

Read more about how addictive cigarettes are (ppl seem to recommend the Allen Carr books). Make sure you're prepared for what's coming. You can do it if you put your mind to it Boodles!

[nsd_user663_15801]

Thanks for replying Sofia and for your frankness.

You have read between the lines so well!

Yes, I do feel I HAVE to give up because of my health and for the angst my health has caused my daughters. I've even told them I'm finding it hard but haven't let on I have smoked. I can go five hours in their company without wanting one but as soon as I'm back home alone, I smoke. I live alone. Try to fill my days as much as possible and have started evening classes in embroidery to keep my fingers busy.

Even hypnosis and acunpuncture failed with me and that's because I thought they would be like a magic switch.

Have dug my Alan Carr out and will set about reading that tonight and will talk to my smoking advisors tomorrow.

[nsd_user663_5971]

Champix works by supressing the brain receptors that get the 'pleasure' or high from the nicotene - and it takes different times for different people. That said, you have to want to stop. Smoking is more than the nicotene addiction, there's the whole ritual of getting the fag, lighting it and the hand/mouth action while smoking.

As for the carbon Monoxide test - stopping for 24 hours will show a reduction from your smoking level, but nowhere near that of someone who's not smoking.

Sorry if I sound harsh or negative, Champix is a brilliant drug (got me off the damn things), but it's not a magic pill - you have to want to stop and I don't think feeling that you must or should is enough. Nicotene is a very addictive drug and quitting isn't easy - but you can do it.

[nsd_user663_14941]

I've been quit for 17 days using Champix. It's no magic bullet.... but compared to the cold turkey I did last time, it's been so much easier. I do still think about cigarettes. I do still get cravings. I choose not to give in to them.

There is no way to quit that doesn't involve willpower and you will never succeed in your quit unless you really want to. Every time you have a sly fag, you are feeding the monster. Starve it completely and it will eventually die.

You mention that your health is suffering. Perhaps you should try looking into the future. Picture what it will be like to be suffering from emphysema, or worse, lung cancer. Imagine this to be your future as a smoker. Imagine how you will feel. How your daughters will feel.

Then imagine that you have given up. Imagine your future with no shortness of breath. No ill health. This can be your future so long as you make the concious decision not to smoke at all. Ever. Do you really want that odd cigarette? Do you really want to still be heading towards the first future... or the second?

The only thing that keeps me going through this is holding onto my reasons for quitting and reminding myself why I am putting myself through this. I keep telling myself "I don't want to be a smoker because....."

Good luck and don't stop trying.... it's tough but it will be so worth it all in the end!!!

[Dannyboy55]

Hi Boodles, and bloody well done so far in your quit attempt, you are doing well but some of the comments are right when they say that you really need to want to stop as all non smoking aids like patches, Champix, and gum are only a help to give up the nicotine you need to fight the habit side of the addiction. By reading the many comments on this site you will see that no two people have exactly the same experience while quiting the fags, and it is great to talk to the people on this site as we have all been were you currently are.

I note that you are around the same age group as me and like you I stopped smoking 9 months ago due to a health scare. This was enough to make me decide that I have finished smoking as I wanted to live a healthier life.

Keep reading the comments and writing on this site and you will find a lot of support.

[nsd_user663_15801]

Thank you all so much for your replies - I appreciate the time you have given me.

Was at embroidery class tonight and didn't think about cigarettes once, not even during coffee break.

Going to make sure I get myself tucked up in bed early.

[nsd_user663_15147]

well done on trying to fill in your time, living alone really must make it difficult to drown out that voice in your head that tells you to smoke!

Considering you have daughters and are concerned for your health I think the 'choose your pain' article could help you talesfromthequit.com/choose... - I think it says in other words what Cantante was saying: there are two roads ahead, you need to chose one.

Just keep trying, you'll never succeed if you give up trying! You'll see some posts here that really show where you could find yourself as a non-smoker in a not-so-distant future (I don't know about you but they make me feel so determined!) - above all, be strong. We're all here to listen and try to help and share experiences.

[nsd_user663_15639]

Hey Boodles!!

Se fuerte amigo! As the others said it is no magic pill. I heard about it when I was looking for substitutes, and the e cigarette seemed a good idea (it isnt!!), I found an interview in Fox News (scary I know) where a doctor says it is one of his favourite pills for patients. But he adds that it works only in 30% of them AND it increases the anxiety levels considerably. I know you've smoked for very long time and the addiction and habits are there and strong. So are you! Get reading about nicotine addiction and coming to these forums, I think they help getting support, right?

keep it up