Does anyone know of any over the counter support available to people who have quit but are wavering?

[bazzie1]

My husband quit in May 2012 but has recently had a really tough time with depression and ill health. He's not worked for a while and can't really afford to buy the patches / cartridges which so successfully got him off cigarettes in the first place. I think he just needs a little help to get him through this bad patch.

[Pinkiezoom 26 Months Winner]

Hi Bazzie,

I hope your husband is ok hun, and I am unsure of over the counter support, but I am sure Emjay will be along shortly and be able to advise you.

x

[Hidden]

Hi Bazzi, is it a while since your husband used any patches or NRT? If so I would really try to encourage him not to go back to it. If it's a case of him definitely going back to smoking then yes NRT is a far better alternative. If you have a Home Bargains nearby (they go under another name in some areas) they have nicotine lozenges for £2.99 for a pack of 36 in either 2mg or 4mg, probably the cheapest you can get and they're fine, I used them for over 12 months. Most of all don't let him go back to smoking, it will almost certainly not help his depression, but I'm sure you know that. Good luck

[bazzie1 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks very much - he's out at a support group right now so hopefully they will steer him in the right direction.

[Hidden in reply to bazzie1]

That's good, glad he got some help.

[Pinkiezoom 26 Months Winner in reply to Hidden]

Did your husband get some good advice? x

[bazzie1]

Not what he was looking for but I've passed on the advice received here which is basically that patches and cartridges long term aren't the answer but I'm not sure he's ready to take that on board right now. I'll keep you posted.

[Hidden in reply to bazzie1]

Sorry your husband didn't get the help he was looking for, I just thought if he's not used NRT for a while it would be a shame to go back to it, but only if he's still not smoking either. Perhaps you could send a private message to Emjay, I would think she would be able to offer some good advice.

[bazzie1]

Thanks, I may well do that. He's got so much stuff going on at the moment that I need to go a bit carefully. Appreciate your comments though.

[EmJay Partner]

Hi Bazzie1, welcome to Quit Support and a huge Thank You for popping on here and showing your support for your husband

You've been offered some good advice above already, on top of which I would echo that it would be such a shame for your husband to start putting nicotine into his body again after such time now. Unless you have concerns that he has gone back to smoking of course?

If your husband is still not smoking, has he talked about it? What were his reasons for stopping smoking in 2012?

Having depression is a tough thing and quite often is like a vicious circle. Has he had to live with depression before, as a smoker?

If so, this may mean that he would relate having a cigarette and feeling better - This wouldn't really be the truth though as he would only have felt worse in the past because he would have wanted to smoke, smoked, satisfied the craving, felt better until the next craving and so on and so forth.

However, he would only remember that smoking saw him through some hard times when really he was an an addict feeding a habit.

I hope this makes sense, I'm not usually that good at explaining what I mean through typing!

I'll be about later this evening if you want to chat. You can do that here or please feel free to send me a private message.

Take care and thanks for caring

[yellowsnowdrop]

Not too sure that I can be of much help but just wanted to say that as a survivor of acute clinical depression which lasted for over 2 yrs and had me hospitalised on a few occasions my love and thoughts are with you both.Hugs x

[bazzie1]

Thank you kindly - all! So many kind comments to pass on to him. I really appreciate it.

[monky Administrator 35 Months Winner in reply to bazzie1]

Hi ya Bazzie, its lovely to meet you gal I'm Pete by the way

Perhaps try and get your hubby to come on here, cos there's loads of help and advice from all us other quitters you know

Anyway, tell him, theres loads a Women on here and that I could do with some backup

Hey Baz, please let him know we will all help him through thick and thin eh

Pete

[yellowsnowdrop]

Just settling down to sleep when I had a thought.Contact your G.P.practice who might be able to offer either a counselling referral to help with hubbies depressionon and/or an appointment with the smoking cessation nurse who can help with advice and info on either NRT or other ways of coping with his current situation.If he's not working prescriptions might be free if he needs NRT.Just a thought but might be worth a look at.H x

[dustbunny]

Hi bazzie1! I'm new here, so I thought I would offer my advice for what worked for me, mostly because I'm not rich either. I found that the electronic cigarettes helped me immensely. I asked my doctor about him, and his (very honest) answer was although they are doing studies and saying the e-cigs may be bad for you too, the risk of using them was nothing compared to what smoking would do. I got away from those now too, so I've been quit for 2 months now. I always liked getting praise from my husband too, even though it may sound childish. He would always tell me how proud he was and how surprised that I'm doing so well (I was quite the complainer). It's important to know that you've done something many others fail at, so remind him how wonderful he is every chance you get. Keep busy too (easier said than done when you're not working) but try to change the mood / subject if you can. Sometimes I would even go and scream into a pillow, or beat it up. Good luck to him and you. Stay strong!