Angie

[Cookie22]

Hi everyone,

Been trying to quit smoking

But iam struggling,been smoking since I was 16 and now struggling to do daily tasks,can anyone help

[jillygirl Administrator Queen Bee]

Hello Cookie22, Firstly welcome to quit Support. This is the place for advice support and chat . You haven't said if your using any thing to help you stop (nrt) or are you going cold turkey. You say you are struggling to do daily tasks I presume because of your breathing. Emjay our advisor or her assistants Eileen(eye) or Jarvo will be able to help you . They will want to know how long you have been trying to stop etc. Meanwhile have a look on the site there are lots of tips from other members too . If you go into questions I think you will find more tips on there .

[Cookie22 in reply to jillygirl]

Hi,

Iam using patches and mist spray,I have tried this before

About three months ago,it worked for little bit but then was back to smoking again,

Struggling with my breathing

[jillygirl Administrator Queen Bee in reply to Cookie22]

Hi Cookie, Like I pointed out before Emjay will be contacting you as she is brilliant for advice. There is a breathing exercise which may help. I will search it out and post it. Have you been to your doctors about the breathing.

[jillygirl Administrator Queen Bee]

BREATHING EXERCISES

Cravings lead to irritation and sometimes panic, causing the quitter’s mind to speed up. When this occurs, concentrating becomes hard. Using a deep breathing exercise is an effective way of calming yourself down.

This exercise can be done anywhere from sitting down in a chair to waiting for a bus. Follow the simple stages described below;

With your mouth closed and shoulders relaxed, inhale deeply and slowly to the count of eight.

As you breathe in, push your stomach out.

Hold your breath for the count of four.

Breathe out slowly to the count of eight.

Repeat the cycle five times

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When you first stop smoking, you may feel that you have more phlegm and mucus on your chest. This may cause you to feel a bit rattly and as though you need to 'cough something up'... Doesn't sound very nice, I know but this is a good sign.

At the end of the day, you are only coughing up what is not supposed to be there!

1. Stand up with your legs your shoulder width apart.

2. Put your hands on your hips.

3. Take a long, deep breath in through your nose - Very slowly.

4. When you feel like you have taken your fill of air in, take another little bit more.

5. Keeping your hands on your hips, slowly bend over forward. As you do, blow your breath out slowly through your mouth. Making a blowing noise as you do.

6. When you have pushed out that final bit of breath, stand up and give a gentle cough.

Repeat this 3 times.

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Because you are not used to all this good clean oxygen, you may feel slightly dizzy - This is just an oxygen rush. However, if you are not used to it, then please have a comfy chair at the ready.

If this cough lasts more than a couple of weeks, it may be worth visiting your GP.

Before you try going to sleep, think about your day, and try and clear your mind. Is anything worrying you? If so think about whether or not you can do anything about it. Focus on all the positive things that have gone well for you, how good you feel about them or the things that have happened during your day. Any negative thoughts you may have collect them all together and have them ready to leave your body.

Once you have done this, close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

Breathe in and out a few times, in your own time

Next, take in a nice, long, slow, deep breath through your nose

Breathe out a nice long sigh through your mouth

Repeat this 3 -4 times

As you feel yourself ready to relax, shrug your shoulders up towards your ears and then let them drop

Focus again on your breathing, now think of the number 10 as you breathe in

As you breathe out, see the number 10 leave your mind.

Feeling any tension leaving your body as you do this.

Next, breathe in nice and slowly as you think of number 9

As number 9 leaves your mind, breathe out slowly.

As you breathe in, see the number 8

Imagine every bit of worry within you being caught up in your breath and being pushed out

as you see the number 8 leaving your body,

taking everything that concerns you away.

Continue to focus on your breathing

Imagining with each breath in, you are gathering up every bit of tension from every part of your body.

Every breath out takes all this tension away.

As you see the number 7 enter your mind,

feel the activity within your head and thoughts starting to slow right down

breathing in and then out, feeling more and more relaxed each time as the numbers leave your mind.

Your breathing should now be nice and slow, your heart and pulse will be more relaxed and your mind will feel so at eased.

As you slowly count your way down the numbers, you should be feeling ever so relaxed and the days worries and stresses should be as far away from your mind as possible.

The more you practice this breathing exercise, the easier it should become every-time

[EmJay Partner]

Good Morning Angie and welcome aboard to our happy place

Firstly, can I just congratulate you on not only making one of the best decisions for your health but also for taking the next best step and actually quitting

Your body has already started to repair itself (in fact it started to from the moment you put out your last cigarette) and although you may not be feeling it yet, there are lots of healthy changes going on inside that you may / may not already be aware of

If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions to help gain a bigger picture;

1. With regards to having difficulty breathing, is this only since you stopped smoking? What kind of daily tasks is this affecting? Obviously, if this is of great concern to you then it is important that you see your GP and let him/her know about it, and that you have stopped smoking. If you have any health concerns such as COPD, then you may feel that this has worsened since stopping, however please understand that going back to smoking will not help!

2. What are your main reasons for wanting to quit?

3 How long have you quit for now / What is your quit date?

4. How many did you smoke each day?

5. Are you receiving any help and support from your local stop smoking service, or are you buying your NRT yourself?

JillyGirl has given some great advice to you already. Stopping smoking can be one hell of an emotional roller coaster of a ride and so the main thing is to really try your best to stay positive - especially at the times when you least feel like it

You are doing brilliantly and so please keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on.

You can do this

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer]

Aup Angie, a big big welcome to this lovely quit smoking site there is loads of help and advice on here, as you have found out

If you want a rant & rave or just need a bit of help, come on the Daily chat and let it out We dont mind

I'm sending you positive vibes to help you on your quit, good luck gal

Pete

[andi22]

Hi Angie and welcome to our community. I think the others have said it all so I'll look forward to seeing you again on the daily chat.

Good luck, with our help you'll crack it. Andi