I can't.....stop smoking........

Dear Trix41

I hear you loud and clear.  I'm not (correction wasn't a heavy smoker) but since my diagnosis in jan 07 it has become an obsession.  Don't know why.  Guess because I sat in my new recliner (we call it the cancer chair) the first few months and drank tim hortons and smoked.

My doc asked the other day what it would take to get me to quit and I actually said I don't think lung cancer would even do it.  Sad and weak I suppose but I have enough on my plate right now.

Try not to stress too much, stress is bad for you too.  Hugs, and unfortunately I am there with you.

Nan

Hi all

I too smoke...was and still am trying to quit. I got my doctor to give me rx for the champix...this is suppose to have excellent results. Apparently the pill attaches to the nicotine receptors and you no longer like the taste or smell.I think it is a 12 week program.

I'm not going to start it until next weekend...going to wait and see how I am feeling after next chemo tx. I will check in with you guys later and let you know how its working

Janice 

Add me to the list of people who can't quit - I have asthma, crohn's disease and breast cancer and I still can't quit.  It's so much a part of my life and who I am.  DH also smokes which doesn't help matters.  My primary care physician is recommending chantrix, but I have seen some bad things about that pill.  It has to be cold turkey or not at all for me. 

Please check out this site...http://www.quitnet.com/  I quit a long time ago and can say that I felt so much support from the great posters there. No one gets dissed for slipping, no matter how often they do. I must say, though, that the primary lesson I learned from having suffered through several addictions is that an individual will quit something once they want to live without whatever it is more than they want to hold onto it.

Finally, though, I'd seriously advise anyone who is in the throes of chemo or any part of active treatment or who is really suffering with the psychological impact of this whole BC horror should defintely wait until 'the worst' is over. Certainly don't wait forever, but please just be gentle with yourself right now....that's the healthy thing to do.

~Marin

Count me into this club too ....I just cant seem to quit either....I slow myself down and cut back on the amount Im smoking then something crops up that shots my stress level up again and up goes the smoking too....

I looked into that Chantrix stuff and currently know two people trying it....the se's scare me so I will stay away from that and continue to try on my own.....actually Im not totally on my own with it I just havent started them yet....a few months ago my insurance company sent me a letter saying that if I qualified they would pay for the entire Nicoderm CQ step patch program....I filled out thier paperwork and I qualified so within a week or so received the huge box of the patches....I was going to start them but my 6 months followup mammo found something in my other breast so the stress has been too much to even think about quitting...

As with you ladies I spoke with my dr about it and they say not until things settle down.....

Hope we all can support each other and help each other .....

Hugs

Jule

In addition to having Stage IV breast cancer, I had lung cancer in 1999 and have been in remission since.  I had quit smoking 12 years prior.  But sincer the bc, I can't stop eating.  It has to be stress even though I don't feel stressed.  Excuse me, I have to go get some Ben & Jerry.

My oldest sister was a critical care nurse who started smoking at the age of 19 while in nursing school. In those days, ALL of the nurses and many of the doctors smoked and with such stressful jobs, it sure seemed justified. She was really addicted and never even pretended to quit. Then she started having grandchildren and felt the need to ditch the smokes. Oddly, because she's such a action-oriented, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps, scientific-minded person, she sought hypnotism by a professional. She walked out of the last session and has been smoke-free since (over 20 years). She smoked heavily for nearly 30 years, so if she can do it, I'm thinking anyone can! It took me many, many tries, but I didn't quit trying and, eventually, I got sick of putting so much energy and angst into to it, so I just quit!

Good luck to all of you! It is so worth it and feels totally amazing!

~Marin

I've been smoking for over 20 years. Have now had 2 mastectomies, my recon did not work, PS blamed it on my smoking. In actuality, she MISDIAGNOSED a staph infection (twice, THEN misdiagnosed MRSA infections....).

My hubby and I have discovered CHANTIX.  Must get a script from a doctor. Is NOT covered by insurance. Costs about $130 for a month of pills.  DOES NOT contain nicotine.  Blocks receptors in brain, don'thave withdrawals. We tried it, and IF my motherr hadn't had a stroke at the SAME TIME, I know I would have been able to quit. 

YES, costs a lot -- but think how much a month worth of cigs cost???  They say to start using the product WHILE STILL SMOKING, and pick a STOP DATE - maybe a week or two into taking the pills.  Personally, I've known folks to quit THE NEXT DAY!!!  Me, I went from TWO PACKS to only three smokes overnight!!!

IMHO, TOTALLY worth it, and I WILL try again once the INCREDIBLE stress is over. I think STRESS is what stops us from NOT STOPPING in many cases....

BEST OF LUCK!!!!  Oh, and you WILL COUGH for about two weeks as you stop, since your lungs are cleaningout, just so you know.  I DID quit for TWO YEARS, and it was WONDERFUL!!!!  Just need to do it again, as would like to be able to breathe again!! lol...

BLESSED BE,

Connie in Boston

I gave up smoking early in '04 after my divorce became final.  I was dx'd with bc in december that year.  Boy did I feel robbed!  I quit smoking and THIS is my reward??  The famous quote from Mark Twain always comes to mind -- giving up smoking is easy, I've done it hundreds of times. 

I don't know what y'all might find helpful here.  I know how people who have succeeded in giving it up can sound so pukeworthingly holier than thou.  Perhaps if one of you would like to hear what worked for some of us who travelled this road before you, start a new thread and ask for suggestions.  I'd be happy to participate on a thread like that.  Oh excuse me, they're called 'conversations' in this new format.  

Amazing isn't it, how addictive cigarettes are?



No wonder it's so hard to quit. But please keep trying, all of you amazing sisters. We want each of you around. I puffed when out with the girls during my twenty-some years, but didn't like it, so quit. That was some 25 years ago now. I miss those girls....



And to think that not once have the tobacco industries really, really been held accountable for the mayhem in medicine-land with lung cancer. I shutter when I see the young girls smoking, and I always try to talk with them a little if they allow an opening. Hate to see lung cancer stats.



If you haven't seen this movie, well, it's interesting and funny:



THANK YOU FOR SMOKING Aaron Eckhart stars as Nick Naylor, a sexy, charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who’ll fight to protect America’s right to smoke....



Good luck to each and everyone of you.

Tender

Hey Gals

I am now on my 3rd day of Chantix. Dr said it is okay to take with chemo. It is not that expensive 60.00 cdn for a 2 wk supply...my insurance will not cover it yet... its too new. So far I have not had any se. I just figured since I am gaining weight with chemo , I might as well quit at the same time  and work on losing weight after all the treatments are done. I'm going to quit before the end of the 2nd week of this stuff...so I will keep you all updated as to how this is working.

*keepin my fingers X*

There's alot of good tips on here. I quit last April 11th, 07. I now have made it 6 months and that's something I didn't think I could ever say. I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything and say it was easy in any way...I want one right now...but for some reason I just don't do it. I Loved my cigarettes and I didn't want to quit. It was a health issue, bad lungs along with upcoming surgery. I'd like nothing more than to light one up right now and just sit back with my iced tea and really enjoy a smoke. I actually dream that I'm smoking sometimes. I smoked 30 yrs, 3 packs a day, chainsmoker. I didn't walk to the mailbox without my cigarettes. For real. Like everyone else I'd quit a million times but couldn't stand it and gave in. This is going to sound stupid, but I actually read about it on here last winter. I quit cold turkey, just read a book. hahaha You have to be open minded, I ordered the book for $14.95 from Barnes & Noble on line. That is how desperate I was and the lady that had posted it here had quit and was raving about it. I'm not gonna rave about it my husband read it too and he didn't make it past 6 days. But I did. It is interesting and you smoke while you read it. It's called "The Easy Way To Stop Smoking" and it's written by Allen Carr. Even though I still want a cigarette alot of times something just keeps me from doing it. I read that book and really absorbed it and I honestly think it helped me a great deal. Just something that hadn't been mentioned yet. My dh and dd still both smoke and it's really tough sometimes, especially in the car, but I just don't do it. Also, I've heard Chantix was good, don't know. Dr. Ruth up there mentioned "Quitnet" website and that's cool and a help. I went there quite a bit. Good luck.

When I asked my onc NP for help quitting, she said, "I'd like to tell you it (quitting) will make a difference, but it won't..."  Guess that's all the motivation I needed NOT to quit. I think we can all agree that quitting would help our general health. It's not like I was expecting my stage IV cancer to disappear because I quit smoking. That, and a number of other odd statements by her and my onc led me to leave them for a new onc. With any luck, the motivation to quit and strength to follow through will come to me.

Pogo1...  Did you continue to smoke through reconstruction?  I know I should quit for better healing, I have an upcoming surgery to replace my expander (the nurse put the needle in the wrong place) and my expander is now flat.