Question:
Difficulty kicking the Habit......
Help!! I go for my preliminary testing in a few short days. I have been trying to quit smoking since Feb when I finally decided to go ahead with surgery. My doc said recovery will be much easier if I quit and there will be less chance for bloodclots. I have tried and tried to motivate myself.I'll go 3 or 4 days, maybe even a week and then start smoking again! I guess a little while with no cigarettes is better than smoking continually, but I would really like to be in good condition for surgery. My new excuse is to wait until I have an actual date for surgery (according to docs office it could be late April) My hubby is a smoker too, so we are actually very BAD influences on eachother! I guess I need some encouragement... Also I wondered if I should ask for a prescription to help the craving go away or is it better to go cold turkey. Is there anyone that has smoked up until surgery date? Please any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. — Kim B. (posted on April 6, 2001)
April 5, 2001
Hi Kim - I understand what you are going through...I too have been trying
to quit since Feb - Surgery date May 29th. I am taking Wellbutrin - but
for some reason, it is not doing it for me!! I have tried to patch...and
still have problems...Monday, I plan on going back on the patch & I
bought some smokeless cigarettes at K-Mart (their cinnamon flavor..lol)!
My husband also smokes...but he has agreed to smoke outside beginning
Monday! It's really tough...I feel like I am loosing a friend...it's been
with my through thick n thin (no pun intended)....but it was there through
me divorce...etc!! If you just need a buddy, feel free to email me
[email protected] maybe together, we can kick this nasty habit!! Good
Luck, Karan
— chance2lv
April 5, 2001
Hi Kim, Congratulations on your surgery and wanting to get healthy by
quitting one of the
most difficult things to quit!! Here is what I suggest for everyone that I
know who wants to
quit, it SO WORKED FOR ME!! It's called, CATAPRESS Now don't get thrown
off by the descrip-
tion.. but it is a patch that doesn't have nicotine in it. You wear one
patch a week, (I only
needed one patch). This is a patch that doctors give to drug addicts when
they are kicking
the habit of coccaine or heroin. (Don't get thrown...), When a drug addict
goes through with-
drawl, (About 3 days or so), they give this to them to get the edge off
AFTERWARDS. They used
the patch to help them quit on their own. When you get a craving for a
cigarette, (After a
meal, when you wake up, at a bar, etc...), You feel a little tingle on your
arm where the patch
is, and immediately you feel better. It is timed released so you only need
one a week. There is a
cover for it so you can shower with no problems. There is very little side
affects, no drugged up
feeling either! This helps you quit on your own without any added nicotine
in the patch or a gum.
That is the best way to quit, in a sense it is cold turkey. I had this
done 2 1/2 years ago, and no slip ups or cravings as of yet! You need to
see a doctor to get a prescription. There are three doses, (basically
mild, medium, and 'hot'), I had the medium. Good luck on quiting and I
hope things go well for you!! HAPPY QUITTING AND GETTING THIN!! --Annie
— Annie R.
April 5, 2001
Hi Kim,
I had been a heavy smoker for 40 years until 3 weeks before my surgery. My
doctor told me to quit or he wouldn't do the surgery. I gave him my
cigarettes and lighter right then and I haven't smoked since. That was
almost 6 months and over 100 lbs. ago. My husband also smokes so it is
kinda tough some-times, but I wouldn't smoke again for any-thing. I had a
lot of complications and ended up in intensive care for 11 days because of
my smoking, although I had quit 3 weeks before. I chewed nicorette gum
constantly before surgery, and now I chew sugarless gum to help with the
cravings. And yes, I still want a cigarette but I'm going to have a tt and
hernia repair so I will not smoke. I know how very hard it is to quit, but
if you don't you will increase your chance of complications by 100%. Sorry,
I don't mean to sound like I'm preaching, and good luck to you. Joyce
Dunlap
— Joyce D.
April 6, 2001
Kim, my husband and I quit together a little over 3 years ago. However, I
made him quit a week before me to make sure he was serious... We used the
patch, it took away our cravings and quiting together hepled us stay with
the program. My husband had smoked Lucky Strikes for almost 40 years and
he carried them in his shirt pocket, so when he guit he started carrying
Lifesavers in his pocket so that when he reached in his pocket out of
habbit he got a lifesaver(no pun intended) instead. It took 2 years to
break him of his lifesaver habit though!lol! All I can tell you is the
patch worked great for us, althouth, I gained 60# that I haven't been able
to take off(part of the reason I'm here). But if you quit now, you won't
have that problem. The part the patch doesn't take care of is the
hand-mouth conection. For that we used, as I said, Lifesavers and
butterscotch candy.
Since I haven't had the surgery yet, I can't advise as to after (what you
can use),, but for now, the Lifesavers and hard candy would work. Good
luck, with the smoking and the surgery, and I hope you find your answer.
Leslie Ross
— Leslie R.
April 6, 2001
Kim,
I have not had a cigarette in 3 days. My surgery is scheduled for May 2nd,
so I too decided it was time to quit. I live on a military base, and they
give you free nicotine patches, gum, or zyban. Well they put my husband on
the zyban, but because of my upcoming surgery I had to take the patch.
Don't you know my husband is doing great, no problems at all. I am the one
that is teary, frustrated, irritable, and dying to have a cigarette lol,
but I will get there. From my past experience if I can get past the first
week I will be ok. I definitely know what you are going through. I had just
about decided to keep smoking and quit in the hospital, but I worried too
much about coughing. Good Luck!!!
— Crystal F.
April 6, 2001
Hi, I smoked right up until the morning of my surgery. I didn't even try
to quit. I was also getting over a cold when I had surgery. They weren't
going to operate, but I begged and begged. My recovery wasn't that bad.
The only bad day that I had was when the day that I left the hospital. I
had to cough and I didn't want to. And when I finally did cough it was
painful, but then a minute later, I was fine. Good luck to you. If you
quit smoking, let me know how you did it.
— Angela E.
April 6, 2001
Hi Kim, I am a smoker and did not quit before my surgery. Everything turned
out fine for me. What I would suggest is that you get one of the breathing
tubes from the hospital so you can practice. This will help to strengthen
the respitory system. Best of luck
— marlene R.
April 6, 2001
My husband and I quit smoking 15 years ago for 10 years, started hanging
out with a smoking crowd and wala~! we were smokers again. My husband went
to a hypnotist that was only 30 bucks a session, and he was given the tape.
Basically, they train you to do nothing like you used to do associated
with smoking. If you smoke when you wake up, what else will you do?
If you smoke after breakfast, what else will you do?
If you smoke driving to work, what else will you do?
etc. etc. So he followed this and quit. And I am the plump one here, and
have gotten fat asthma, so I listened to the tape a few times and quit
myself. I look upon this surgery experience as a way to make myself a
better life, health wise, quality wise. So why screw it up with the
possibility of continuing asthma or chronic bronchitis, or emphesema, or
should you become healthy?
Take care!
Cathy
— Cathy H.
April 6, 2001
Kim, my doctor tells his patients that he absolutely WILL NOT perform the
surgery on anyone who has not quit smoking! I have been trying as well and
it has been 10 days since I have had a cigarette. I am also on Wellbutrin,
and I can't say that it has helped my cravings for a cigarette, but that's
only if I think about having a cigarette. If I don't think about it, I can
usually forget about having one. I am having surgery April 24, so it is
imparitive that I do not pick up a cigarette between now and then. That
way, when I go into surgery, it will be almost 4 weeks since having one.
Also, my doctor requires that we have pulmonary clearance before we can
have the surgery. I go on the 11th, so it'll be 2 weeks since having a
cigarette. I only hope that is enough time. I can't believe your doctor
would perform surgery on you if you continued to smoke until surgery. You
DO increase your risks of blood clots, as well as run the risk of getting
pnemonia after surgery. I can't say that I won't start back smoking once
I've healed from the surgery. But at least I hope to be in good condition
before I go in. Good luck and e-mail if you need to, [email protected].
Take care!
— Laura P.
April 8, 2001
Kim I was a smoker for ten years with a 2 pack a day habit. I went to my
doctor and got zyban. On July 27, 2000 at 4pm I smoked my last cig. I
havent wanted one since. I will say this I have a wonderful sense of smell
and taste now and to smell a cig now makes me feel sick. Give it a try but
remeber no one can make you quit you have to want to quit. Good Luck
— Robin C.
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