Pregnant, stressed and struggling to quit please help.

[Chezfidi]

Hi I'm 32 and have smoked since the age of 17. I gave up last year using an e cig but have stopped using this due to health concerns. (I used to smoke 5 to 10 roll ups a day, with e cig was using equivalent of 40 per day and as the battery didn't heat liquid all the time was getting liquid nicotine in my mouth and have now been diagnosed with M.E. - one of the theories of the cause of M.E. is a reaction to large amount of toxin in the body so worried that using the e cig has caused me to develop M.E.) I have tried patches (allergic reaction) gum, lozenges, inhilator, strips, spray and I just cannot stop smoking at least three a day. My job is stupidly stressful so I reach for the cig instead of freaking out at everyone. I need to quit because I am pregnant and I hate myself for hurting my baby like this. What can I do as the e cig was the only thing that stopped me smoking but I believe it has given me M.E. Any advice would be great right now.

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer]

Hi Chez a big warm welcome to this lovely quit support site.

There are over 4,000 chemicals in a real ciggie, soooo your far better off with your e-cig eh.

Maybe get another battery so you can keep one charged ready.

Its best to keep your e-cig upright so the liquid dosnt leak to the mouthpiece.

Pete.

[beardy_chris]

Hi Chezfidi,

Yes - you need to quit. Hating yourself for hurting your baby won't help you or your baby. You've had an unpleasant experience with your e-cig but there is little, if any, reason to believe that it has actually given you M.E. The only toxin in e-juice is nicotine and you are getting that from "real" ciggies. There are many other toxins in this world that might have "caused" your M.E. - if, indeed, it was caused by a toxin at all.

Best bet might be to try to quit with a new e-cig - and even try with a zero nic liquid to minimise harm. My own experience is that the e-cig has helped me to get over the ritual of rolling ciggies (but I used to smoke a lot more than you). Can you say why you were successful with an e-cig but not with any of the other products?

Whatever you need to do to give up, it'll be better for you and your baby than smoking those roll ups, I'm afraid.

[Chezfidi]

Thanks both I am going to look into a zero nicotine e cig option if anyone can recommend anything that would be great. I figure if I use that alongside lozenges it might work as I think it must be the habit of smoking as well as cravings which I struggle with. I'm even considering hypnosis but I've heard mixed reviews.

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer in reply to Chezfidi]

Hi again Chez, thats just great gal, cos your looking forwards and thinking forwards too

Although I am using the e-cig, I also use the lozengers at work, cos we cant use the e-cig at work and they are very good I use the 2mg lozengers, when I need one, BUT Emjay our lovely quit smoking adviser says, that I should have a lozenge every hour, but just see how you go eh

As for your e-cig liquid, erm, I'm not sure what strength you were on, but maybe get the zero nicotine and the one above it, then mix it in your e-cig, sooooo, you do get a bit of a kick out of it, if you see what I mean

I think a lot of your problem is habit, as in rolling your cigs, so, try to keep your hands busy at the times you would be rolling one type a message to some one, do you knit ? have a packet of crisps, pick your nose ermmm, sorryyyyyyy, I dont know how that slipped in there or maybe, if you just put a drop of liquid in your e-cig, then you will have to put some more in eh soooo, you will have to take the mouth piece off, then the atomizer bit, get the liquid bottle out, undo the cap, pour a bit into your e-cig etc that may keep your hands busy Just a thought

But please quit the smokes gal, for your sake, cos you are No 1, you are carrying your lovely baby, so if anything happens to you, then what ? We will help you as much as we can, I promise you that

I wrote most of this down this morning, and submitted it, but it just vanished soo, I had to wait until I had a spare moment at work to write the above message to you, sorryyyyy

Good luck Chez, I know you can do it

Pete

[beardy_chris in reply to Chezfidi]

Hi again Chezfidi,

I'm using an e-cig from myciggy.com - I haven't tried any others so I can't compare them - but they were very helpful and seem to be decent quality. I'm using 6mg liquid and 0mg liquid. I use 1mg lozenges if things get bad (as they did this evening but that's a different story) - most of the time the e-cig seems to deal with the cravings and stops me being fraught.

I would say try anything and everything. I'm a bit sceptical about hypnotherapy but it has recently worked for a friend of mine. I think having multiple layers of things to help you give up is best - all I can say is a multi-layered technique is working for me at the moment and I'm nearly a month quit (Hey Monky - can you catch and polish a badge for me soon?).

Keep trying - and don't be afraid to have a whinge and a moan here if it helps.

Best Wishes to you both.

[Briarwood Administrator Ducky]

Hi chez, don't beat yourself up coz we have to remember this is a habit and habits are hard to break but they can be broken have you tried the ecig that actually looks like a real cig? It might help just to have something in your hand and talking to people on here really helps as well, sending hugs to help you x

[droopyJ]

Hi Chez, firstly a massoosive congratulations ...... your having a baby

Secondly quitting is the best thing you can do for both of you, just take it one day at a time. Keep positive and stay strong, we will help you as much as we can -x-

[Chezfidi]

Thanks everyone really appreciate the advice. I've ordered a new e cig which my friend has recommended as the liquid contains zero nicotine and off back to docs Wednesday so fingers crossed

[beardy_chris in reply to Chezfidi]

Hi Chez - all the very best - don't be a stranger - let us know how you get on.