I have just returned from a visit to my doctor he advised me to stop smoking because I am having circulation problems in my legs, which can be painful after walking over any kind of distance.
I have a heart problem I had to have a pacemaker fitted 5 years ago and about six months ago I had to have my heart stopped and restarted using the paddles to try to get it into sync I am glad to say it worked on the 3rd attempt.
Recently I have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes although apparently not life threatening with the correct treatment there are risks! If I continue to smoke he warned me I could end up losing some toes, maybe a foot or even the entire leg, although I am nowhere near that stage yet if I continue to smoke it could happen.
So today I have started a course of Champix and its my intension to stop smoking on the 27Th.of September no cigarette is worth losing a limb for. I stopped smoking three and a half years ago and I stupidly started smoking again about a year ago I used Champix the last time and I stopped for two and a half years so I feel fairly confidant I will be able to stop again and if is as easy as last time that would be wonderful.
I am a divorced male living alone aged 63 soon to be 64 I am retired and I just love my computer I have two married children and 3 grandchildren so I have plenty to live for and I am in no rush to leave this planet and whenever I do I would like to leave complete! So the smoking must stop.
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nsd_user663_2399
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Good luck with your quit Viv. At least having been through it before, you know what to expect. Use this forum for support though - I have found it really helpful to be able to share with others who are going through the same things.
Wishing you the very best of luck. You know where you went wrong last time and you know what to expect. Sounds like the final piece of the puzzle is in place for you this time, and this time it is for keeps. You have all the right reasons to quit for good.
Hi Viv your post reminded me so much of a tale on whyquit about a woman who kept losing her quit and lost body parts before she finally quit. Nicotine addiction is a tenacoius little /*-+*&.
Please read this link
Later on in the link this is mentioned
While Buerger’s Disease is much more common in men, I have personally had two women who were Bueger’s Disease patients in my clinics. My first actual encounter with a Buerger’s Disease patient was with a woman who was 38 year old when I met her, which was about 24 years ago. Three years before I met her, at the age of 35 she was diagnosed with Buerger’s Disease. This is actually relatively late to first be diagnosed. Her doctor had told her she had to quit smoking, but she did not comply and within a few months she had her right leg amputated. The circulation in her left leg was also badly affected, and after the hospitalization from the amputation she did quit smoking and had no further circulatory complications for the next three years.
Then one night at a party, a friend offered her a cigarette. She figured that since she had been off cigarettes for so long, she now had control over her dependency. If she liked the cigarette, she would smoke one or two a day. If she didn't like the cigarette, she just wouldn't smoke anymore.
Well, she took the cigarette. She didn't particularly like the cigarette, but the next day she was up to her old level of consumption. Four days later she lost circulation in her left leg. She knew the reason. After three years with no problem and only four days after going back to smoking her circulation was affected. Her doctor told her that if she did not quit immediately, she would probably lose her other leg.
This is when I met her. She enrolled in a smoking clinic that week and quit smoking. Almost immediately her circulation improved. The doctor took her off anti-coagulant drugs and vasodilators he had put her on a few weeks earlier to try to slow up the process even though they were highly ineffective at stopping the likelihood of gangrene and amputation. But once she quit smoking she no longer needed them. Soon, her circulation was back to normal.
Nine months later, I called to ask her to serve on a panel. At that time, she sluggishly replied, "I can't come. I have been in the hospital the last two months." When I asked what had happened, she hesitantly replied, "I had my toes amputated." She had gone back to smoking. She tried one because she just couldn't believe she would get hooked again. She was wrong. She lost circulation, had her toes removed and eventually had her leg amputated.
I have had other clinic participants with similar experiences, being told to quit smoking or lose limbs who did not quit smoking. The reason I talk about this particular woman again and again is about a year after she had the second amputation, she came back into a clinic I was conducting and told me she had quit again and was now off about 9 months. I told her I was surprised, I thought she had permanently lost control. After all, she had her leg removed, the toes from her other foot, and eventually her second leg. When I confronted her with that information she replied, "The doctor finally convinced me. He said, 'You might as well keep on smoking, I'll just take your arms off next.'" That scared her into quitting smoking. Her next comment to me was unbelievable. She looked me straight in the face, dead seriously, and said "I DIDN'T NEED A HOUSE TO FALL ON ME TO TELL ME TO QUIT SMOKING."
You've done it before so that knowledge should hopefully make it easier for you.
It's nice you're giving up for your children and your grandchildren. Hopefully that will give you some more determination.
I recently lost my grandpa which was (still is) was very difficult. And though it was through age, (he was 90) the thought of losing more of my grandparents - I still have 3 - absolutely kills me. And if it were through something they'd done of their own accord like smoking, I think I would find it very very hard to forgive them for doing that to me and my family... So as well as doing it for yourself, when it gets hard, tell youself you're doing it for them and believe it.
Hi Viv your post reminded me so much of a tale on whyquit about a woman who kept losing her quit and lost body parts before she finally quit. Nicotine addiction is a tenacoius little /*-+*&.
Please read this link
Later on in the link this is mentioned
While Buerger’s Disease is much more common in men, I have personally had two women who were Bueger’s Disease patients in my clinics. My first actual encounter with a Buerger’s Disease patient was with a woman who was 38 year old when I met her, which was about 24 years ago. Three years before I met her, at the age of 35 she was diagnosed with Buerger’s Disease. This is actually relatively late to first be diagnosed. Her doctor had told her she had to quit smoking, but she did not comply and within a few months she had her right leg amputated. The circulation in her left leg was also badly affected, and after the hospitalization from the amputation she did quit smoking and had no further circulatory complications for the next three years.
Then one night at a party, a friend offered her a cigarette. She figured that since she had been off cigarettes for so long, she now had control over her dependency. If she liked the cigarette, she would smoke one or two a day. If she didn't like the cigarette, she just wouldn't smoke anymore.
Well, she took the cigarette. She didn't particularly like the cigarette, but the next day she was up to her old level of consumption. Four days later she lost circulation in her left leg. She knew the reason. After three years with no problem and only four days after going back to smoking her circulation was affected. Her doctor told her that if she did not quit immediately, she would probably lose her other leg.
This is when I met her. She enrolled in a smoking clinic that week and quit smoking. Almost immediately her circulation improved. The doctor took her off anti-coagulant drugs and vasodilators he had put her on a few weeks earlier to try to slow up the process even though they were highly ineffective at stopping the likelihood of gangrene and amputation. But once she quit smoking she no longer needed them. Soon, her circulation was back to normal.
Nine months later, I called to ask her to serve on a panel. At that time, she sluggishly replied, "I can't come. I have been in the hospital the last two months." When I asked what had happened, she hesitantly replied, "I had my toes amputated." She had gone back to smoking. She tried one because she just couldn't believe she would get hooked again. She was wrong. She lost circulation, had her toes removed and eventually had her leg amputated.
I have had other clinic participants with similar experiences, being told to quit smoking or lose limbs who did not quit smoking. The reason I talk about this particular woman again and again is about a year after she had the second amputation, she came back into a clinic I was conducting and told me she had quit again and was now off about 9 months. I told her I was surprised, I thought she had permanently lost control. After all, she had her leg removed, the toes from her other foot, and eventually her second leg. When I confronted her with that information she replied, "The doctor finally convinced me. He said, 'You might as well keep on smoking, I'll just take your arms off next.'" That scared her into quitting smoking. Her next comment to me was unbelievable. She looked me straight in the face, dead seriously, and said "I DIDN'T NEED A HOUSE TO FALL ON ME TO TELL ME TO QUIT SMOKING."
Thought you might find this interesting.
M
What a story if that doesn't give me the inspiration and motivation nothing will! It makes me feel like stopping today, but I will wait until the 28 th too properly follow the Champix course.
I will save the story to my desktop just in case temptation comes my way so thank you very much and everyone else who has replied
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So as well as doing it for yourself, when it gets hard, tell youself you're doing it for them and believe it. 
1st day for me..Wish Me Luck
