I need help quitting smoking :help:

I am going to be having the WLS sometime,as soon as I quit smoking. You must be smoke free for 8 weeks prior to surgery. I am highly motivated but am having a very difficult time quitting. I need all the help I can get. Are there any others out there like me? If can you give me advice as to how to quit and stay a quitter. I appreciate any help you might be able to give. Thanks Joan

hi Joan you can definitely quit smoking if I did. I was a two pack a day smoker and I smoked for forty five years, I quit smoking time after time each time I gained more wieght. I reached the point where I knew I needed professional help. I found a stop smoking program at Uconn Health center. I went to my pcp who perscribed a medication that helped. and I had my nicorette gum ,,,in case. by the end of the program I had a target date and I stopped. I never hand another cig and that was six years ago, there are many programs and support groups and many are free. Good luck you can do it Hugs angel I

Angela, Thanks for the encouraging words. Tomorrow is my stop date. I plan on using the patch and lots of prayers. If that doesn't work I have an appt. with my pcp and maybe he can prescribe some meds for me also. I appreciate your help. Thanks Joan

Hi Joan, I was a heavy smoker and managed to quit several years ago, thank God! My PCP prescribed Zyban, and that's what did it for me. I took that and smoked, and by the end of two weeks didn't want to smoke anymore. I haven't had one since. And I had tried many other ways to quit before I found this. Good luck to you. By the way, Dr. Zuccala is great!! Anne

Hi Anne. Thank you for the words of encouragement. I really do appreciate them. My date to quit is tomorrow. I am very excited about these chances that I have been given. I want to be successful so that I can have the surgery. Wish me luck and I will post with my success. Thnaks again Joan

I smoked for 30 years..had to quit for WLS..had to be smoke free for a month prior to surgery. (Pack and a half per day). I decided I wanted surgery more than a cigarette...in prior attempts I had done patches..lozenges...inhalers...$$$$$$$ and always relapsed....this time I just grabbed a handful of courage from someplace deep...stopped the nonsense, sucked it all up and just plain QUIT! I used cinnamon sticks to chew on and fiddle with. It was not so bad. Sher' 272/237/180

PS..It helps just to take one day at a time...and also..(I forgot about this..sorry)..Welbutrin helps...(same thing as Zyban or bupropion)...also works fabulously if you are prone to depression and/or anxiety. Sher'

I quit 19 years ago...had smoked for 17 years, two packs a day. I did it just by making myself think about every cigarette before I smoked it. I would ask myself, do you really need this cigarette right now? Then, if the answer was yes, I'd smoke it...but only if that was ALL I did. I didn't let myself do anything else, no paperwork, no talking on the phone, no watching tv....no snacking...nothing...just stand OUTSIDE and smoke the cigarette. I was an "automatic" smoker...I'd smoke a cigarette and not even realize it.... By the end of the first week of doing this, I had cut my smoking in half. I kept on this way, asking myself to hold off awhile longer when I first got the urge to have a cigarette. I made myself REALLY want the cigarette before I would smoke it. I found I could tell myself, "you can wait a little bit longer." After a month of this, I was down to two cigarettes a day and each one made me so dizzy that it was a relief to just stop. I had very mild cravings on and off for about two months and then nothing. It was so easy to quit I was mad at myself for not doing so a whole lot sooner! My headaches went away, my chronic congestion dissipated, my breath came back to me, my clothing smelled nice, my apartment smelled nice, my dog stopped sneezing, my friends were very happy and I was so proud of myself. Actually, I refer to my experience with quitting smoking when I start to get in a rut about eating right after the surgery. It was a very positive experience I can draw on when I start to doubt my ability to be sucessful. Good luck with this, you won't regret not being able to smoke...it's a wonderful way to live...smoke free. And think of all that $$ you are going to save! When I quit it cost me about $20 for a carton of smokes at the PX...I shudder to think what it costs now! Ann 104lbs gone!

Hi Sher, I would also like to thank you for your words of advise. Now that I have posted I feel a little better. I feel that I have more then just myself to answer to. I hope the patch works tomorrow when I begin. At this point I am optimistic I will succeed. I really want to better my health and that is why I am having this surgery in the first place. I will post with my success. Thanks again Joan

Joan, I also quit because of surgery. I was thinking how could I possibly be thinking about taking this step with surgery while smoking. So on November 13, 2004, I stopped. I used Zyban and the patch. Within two weeks I was off the Zyban and the patch. I was absolutely thrilled I would keep saying to myself oh yeah I don't smoke anymore. I remember reaching for the pack and saying oh yeah thats right I do not do that anymore. I was so happy that I quit. My breathing instantly cleared up. And I am glad I did it. Now I can not stand the smell and I feel embarrassed at how I used to smell. I received a gift from a smoker and thought I'd die from the stench! I was so nervous leading up to the day I would stop. I remember thinking how am I going to do this? I really thought I wouldn't be able to. But something happened in my head. It was a DECISION! If you make the decision....you can do it. Today I think to myself that I am 1 cigarette away from smoking and I do not want to go back to smoking. But like an alcoholic or a drug addict....it is just one cigarette away. I also think about how in a year....I can call up my life insurance people and get a better rate! So not only am I saving all year but at the end I can save even more money....and when they come I will be lighter too! Well best of luck to you....if you want it bad enough you can do it! Kelly