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Archive through October 09, 2007

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Oct. 2007 ~ Dec. 2007: Health Center: Who wants to quit smoking with me?: Archive through October 09, 2007 users admin

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Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 3:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Funny you should ask, Kayla. I've been on Chantix since Monday, and still smoking. This morning I ripped my husband's head off for no good reason. Well, there was a reason but there wasn't a good one. He almost started crying I was so mean. I've been nauseous, depressed and a bit dizzy at times.

Happened to have an appointment with my heart doctor this afternoon and asked him about it (I had NOT read up on side effects, which is totally unlike me or I would have understood all this stuff). He said the Chantix has the same syptoms as nicotine withdrawal, and the Chantix is blocking the nicotine from the receptors even though I'm smoking. So basically I'm getting a double whammy of withdrawal.

What's weird is I don't really want to smoke. I'm just doing it out of habit until I'm supposed to quit for real on Monday.

I told Colossus he's just going to have to steer a wide path, and my employees too. I have to quit, don't have a choice and they're just going to have to understand while I'm doing it.

Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 3:56 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Maris a private message Print Post    
Just popping in to say you can do it Goddess. I have been cigarette free for about six years now. My husband stopped smoking and then he started up again about three months before his heart attack. It isnt worth it. Look at that cigarette and just think about it.


Think of all the money you save and wine tastes so much better.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 4:01 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Thanks, Maris. I know you're right. I intend to make everyone else pay, though LOL.

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 4:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
GAL, it may be the best thing that you are smoking right up til that deadline.. you may almost OD on it and that might kick start your process.

I had a friend who had smoked, heavily, for at least 30 years and then went on wellbutrin (same as zyban but he went on it on a whim (well the doc didn't consider it a whim, but Carl did) and he said for at least a week he smoked MUCH more and didn't even try to cut back and then he got to a point where he didn't even want to smoke and, trust me, he was stunned!

I wish anyone quitting the best, really!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 4:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Gal I know I'd rather see you being the wicked witch of the west and biting off my head for a while than smoking, I'm sure Colossus and your friends and family are thinking the same thing. When they get done crying and come out of the bathroom that is.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 4:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
ROFL, Wargod. Ya, Colossus is already questioning me about other methods of quitting like patches and white-knuckling it and whatnot. But he'll put up with my crappiness as needed. Wait til the first time he lights up a cigar around me, I'll make sure to get video and post it on Youtube.

Seamonkey, I'm pretty sick of it now I can't figure out why they tell you to smoke for the first week except for this exact effect - to make you sick of it.

Kayla, don't let anything I said put you off trying it. It's like any drug, everyone experiences it differently. But you should know what the possible side effects are so you recognize them when they crop up. I've always been relatively immune to side effects, this drug caught me off guard. If I had depression issues already, I would seriously second guess trying it.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 4:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Maris, how did you quit, cold turkey?

Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 5:16 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Maris a private message Print Post    
I always said that when cigarettes went to five bucks I would quit. So the taxes were going up and I pickked a day in the future, it was a monday, and I said on Monday September XX or whaever date it was, I would quit. So the day before I smoked up a storm I mean I smoked non stop. Before I went to bed, I emptied all the ashtrays, broke the cigarettes and threw everthing out.

Cold turkey, I just kept saying to myself the first few days was get through first 24 hours, then it was 48 hours, then it was 7 days. I hit a hard time at six weeks rode that out. Still think of a cigarette occasionally but the one thing I always remember is how hard it was the first two days and I would never ever go through something like that again.

Retired
Member

07-11-2001

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 5:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Retired a private message Print Post    
Good luck GAL and continued good luck to all the other quitters. I did cold turkey--wasn't easy--but well worth it.

Kaylasmom
Member

07-27-2005

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 5:56 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kaylasmom a private message Print Post    
Thanks for all the info. My doc is holding off until next week to give me the prescription as i get over a bad case of bronchitis/pneumonia. In the meantime, and this is probably good, every time I do light up, it makes me horibly ill because of my aching lungs. I'm hoping to have a better time at quitting.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 6:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Maris, you must be a guy like that LOL. Most guys I know who decided to quit, decided to quit and did it cold turkey. My Dad did the same as you - when cigarettes hit two bucks a pack he said no more, he quit on a Friday and was over it by Monday (even though he was a two-pack-a-day Camel no-filter smoker) and has never looked back. This was ten years ago or so. Sigh. He is an old grump, though LOL.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 6:33 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
LOL GAL. Cold turkey made me crazy and everyone around me. Its so much easier with the Chantix. I'm at about 2.5 weeks now and this is so much better than cold turkey. It really works.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
The patch when I quit the first time, and it might also have been when cigarettes went to $2 a pack. Then I took it back up again when Bigdog's mother came to stay for ten days, but only smoked 7 cigarettes a day. And then quit cold turkey from the 7 cigs in December 1998, but it was on a trip to China in the winter, and I figured the thought of standing outside smoking in the freezing cold in a foreign country might do the trick, and it did.

GAL, if you are at the point where you don't have the physical craving, then you are probably ready to tackle the psychological part, which may be the harder part. Just keep thinking, "Cigarettes are NOT my friend. My fake friend is trying to kill me. I will NOT be killed right now, or in the future, by friend or foe, thank you very much."

Or you can shorten the mantra. Or have your Mom embroider it in cross-stitch and hang it above the mantle.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Monday, October 08, 2007 - 1:56 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Day 1 of no smokes and no offense but I hope everyone dies. Soon.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Monday, October 08, 2007 - 2:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
Why so soon, GAL? You haven't been on the Chantix very long.

Abbynormal
Member

09-08-2007

Monday, October 08, 2007 - 3:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Abbynormal a private message Print Post    
GAL, I'm so sorry. But damn I wish we had sig lines here cuz I'd call dibs on that one!

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Monday, October 08, 2007 - 11:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
Back atcha with much love, GAL.



Um, I am sending Bigdog's brother over to collect Colossus until it is over. They have an extra bedroom and can use somebody who can run up and down the basement stairs.

You know it was all I could do to keep from falling down and pounding the floor laughing when you said you didn't really expect it to be any big deal, right?

There there, GAL, you will do it. For Mom and country.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Monday, October 08, 2007 - 11:34 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
Seriously Gal, if you've only been on the Chantix for a couple of weeks and you are quitting now,you wasted your money and made your life much harder. You are supposed to smoke as you take the pills for up to 12 weeks before quitting. Please believe me on this. I did the same thing you are doing now and it was hell. But this time after taking the Chantix for 10 weeks its so much easier. I promise. You will be amazed at the difference in quitting after 10-12 weeks of Chantix and after only a week or 2 of it. Why make it harder on yourself?

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 6:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Twinks, I'm just doing what they told me to do, which is take it for a week then stop smoking. Since I already have 24 hours under my belt I don't want to step back and start over. My biggest problem right now is that everyone around me is still breathing. J/K my biggest problem right now is I've discovered I used cigarettes as a break between activities, so every time I change directions in what I'm doing I'm reaching for a cigarette. I'm thinking about it more than I figured I would. Not really having any cravings, though, which is what I thought would be the difficult part.

I took a cue from Maris and put all the smoking stuff away and gave away my last pack of cigarettes.

Juju you can't have Colossus I need him here to kick around. He's learning to take it pretty well.

Is this going to get better in a couple of days, or does it keep getting worse?

Ginger1218
Member

08-31-2001

Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 7:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ginger1218 a private message Print Post    
It gets better GAL, I stopped 12 years ago and I used to smoke 3 and a half packs a day. I was a sick smoker. Would not go anywhere I couldn't smoke. The first 3 days are the roughest. I stopped cold turkey, without any help. The first 3 days are the physical withdrawal, the psychological takes longer. But I will tell you the thing that helped me the most, was pull your focus to something else. Take a deep breath and focus on something else. I know it sounds nuts, but it works. This is a whole mental thing. You can do it. If I could, you could. I played poker with 8 smokers 3 days after stopping smoking. I just sort of self hypnotized myself into just tuning it out completely.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 8:30 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
There there, GAL. It does get better. But it will come back and wham you again and again when you least expect it. You just have to figure out a way to live through it each time, and eventually you end up with a life that is not controlled by nicotine withdrawal.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 8:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
I don't know who told you that GAL, but even the Chantix commercial says to quit smoking after 12 weeks of taking it. I know exactly how you are feeling though. It was horrible when I quit smoking after taking the Chantix for only a week. I cried for the first 2 days. This time I quit after taking the Chantix for 10 weeks and its sooooo much easier. I still want a smoke every now and then but don't have the horrible cravings I had the first time. Good luck!

Lumbele
Member

07-12-2002

Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 8:48 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lumbele a private message Print Post    
Yep, GAL, it really does get easier from day to day to ward off those urges, even if it doesn't feel like it right now.

Juju is right. Even after months and years it still happens here and there, but they are fleeting and you can shake them off comparatively easily.

Believe me, every time you do, you feel like a conqueror and proud of yourself for the ability, something you never thought possible.

Maybe Colossus should bunk with Granny for a bit. I am pretty sure she'd put him up.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 9:30 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Pfizer Chantix info Twinks it says here too to quit after the first week of pills, but they start checking your "quitness" after 12 weeks. Whatever, as long as it works and it certainly seems to have worked for you.

Grannyg
Member

05-28-2002

Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 10:23 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Grannyg a private message Print Post    
Yes, Gal, Lum is correct!! Send the big guy to me and I'll take really good care of him while you do the big job. I'm really hoping this works for you cause of your other health problems.