Found out today I have sarcoidosis! It says one of the things to help is stop smoking! I have 10 left! Then what.....? What do I do?

[Kirsty26]

I've tried before but couldn't even go a day! Please help..!

[jillygirl Administrator Queen Bee]

Hi Kirsty, First of all sorry to hear about your sarcoidosis. Have you got any form of nicotine replacement. or are you thinking of going cold turkey. Try and get plenty of distractions instead of smoking. snacks and plenty of water. change your routine to break the smoking habit. Deep breathing exercises help. On the right of this page are various catergories you could browse through to get useful advise. Good luck and please keep in touch.

[Kirsty26 6 MONTH WINNER in reply to jillygirl]

Hi jillygirl, thank you for the reply.

I've tried the patches and gum before and also the cigarette thing. The nurse at hospital gave me this website and said it was local help? Anyway I would like to go cold turkey. Smoking was is just a release of Boredem and stress to me. I work Monday - Friday in the mornings so that in guess could be a distraction, not smelling of smoke when I go to a clients house. I then have my 14 month baby that's forever getting tonsillitis which is another reason I would like to stop. I will have a look at the right of this page thank you

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer in reply to Kirsty26]

Hi Kirsty, its lovely to meet you gal, and a big warm welcome to this site

As Seshat has said, cutting down gradually may help you to quit eh

Day 1 - your getting your first cig out of the pack, say NO, put it back and carry on doing something. The next time you want a cig, have one. The next time you want a cig, say NO again, then the next time you want a cig, have one, and so on for a couple of days. So you half your intake

Then say NO to yourself twice !! for the next few days, until you get used to that, this will half your intake again

So on and so on, until you cant half your intake eh, then you will be smoke free

I hope that makes sense to you Kirsty, good luck now and you take care eh

Hopefully speak soon, Pete

[Seshat]

Hi. Yeah it's no easy task to quit smoking. I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis in 1995, and that royally sucks, as well.

If y o u think cold turkey will work for you this time, go for it. Choose healthy snacks or such to take care of the oral fixation. Cinnamon sticks are great if you like spicy because cinnamon naturally contains elements shown to reduce smoking cravings.

But, if you're anything like me, cold turkey may not be a final solution. Whether after a month or a year, I always started smoking again. What finally worked for me was seeming myself off, as you would with some medications. Starting with a set time in the morning, like 8am, I would smoke a cigarette and then set a timer for say 30 minutes. I couldn't have a cigarette before the timer went off. I would repeat this throughout the day with the same time interval. After two or three days, I would increase the time interval a little. This way I could slowly get used to longer and longer periods of not smoking, without feeling deprived or having heavy cravings. And, of course, staying busy during those intervals helps, as well. For me, it worked great for tackling tasks like my boxes of papers that needed filing and sorting. Try it, using the intervals that work best for you.

Good luck.

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer in reply to Seshat]

Aup Seshat, a big warm welcome to this lovely quit site

You've given Kirsty some great advice, thats what this site is all about, helping each other, cos we all want the same thing, to be free from that mr nic for good

Just wondering when you quit, cos if you look on the right of this page, you will see the Wall of Winners, if you go to there and let our lovely Emjay know your quit date, she will add it to the ever growing list

See's ya soon, Pete