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

Trix,

I hear you, but like Lucy said Chantix, that is what I'm on and it is the best.  I smoked like a chimmeny for years and now I'm down to like 3 a day, hoping to be done with them for good soon.  I have been on the chantix for 2 weeks and I don't even know why I still smoke.  They taste gross.  I will put them down for good when I'm ready.

Try it and go to this website to see more

http://www.topix.com/forum/law/healthcare/TBP6PBH59IN2DVPTO

Good luck

Althea, you said:

"The first ingredient to the mix is WANTING to quit.  And beating yourself up over having a habit that's bad for your health is NOT the same thing as wanting to quit.  

Giving yourself rewards is very important also."

That is so true -- I was finally able to quit (cold turkey last March, between dx and mast/recon) because for the first time I allowed myself:

pride,

congratulations,

pats on the back,

applause

from myself and others everytime I had a strong urge for a cigarette but rode it out.

I would call my sister or my best friend to say "congratulate me -- I wanted a cigarette so bad 10 minutes ago, but I didn't have it and now the urge has passed."

In all previous attempts, I didn't even tell anybody, and all I let myself feel was tremendous shame for having a bad habit.  A bad habit that helps you escape bad feelings!  Like shame!

So this time I rejected the bad feelings first!  And didn't need the smokes so bad!

I have been quiting for about  7 months now, i started with chantix and went on my own. I'm down to about 2 cigs a day, last week none. but i went out with friends and they all smoke, and i'll smoke about 1/2 pack. this is good compared to what i used to smoke 1 pack a day, night out with friends 2 packs. my thought is that it will just take time to completely quit, because i still like to smoke. your not alone, good luck

!!!

Just wanting to add my support and encouragement to you all.  I am an ex-smoker.  Ironically, I quit 15 years ago after having a lumpectomy and being told they couldn't be sure if I had breast cancer or not so they were going to send my "slides" to a large pathology lab.  Thankfully at that time I didn't but in June of '05 was diagnosed with breast cancer in that breast - same area.  So..........I'm glad it got me to quit.

I've often thought of how it would be if I were still a smoker having gone through all I've gone through - 2 mastectomies - dose dense chemo x 8, 28 rads., and 1 year of herceptin.  Honestly, I don't know if I could have done being under all that stress.

My heart aches for each of you as you struggle with this addiction and feel you would somehow be responsible for another cancer.  Honestly, I think we all try (or at least most of us do) to do all we can to prevent a recurrence AND we all fail at "perfection."  There is no such thing and we can all only do our best.  Ultimately,  our fate, (at least I believe) isn't in our hands anyway - it's in the Lord's. 

That being said, of course I believe that quitting would be beneficial to your OVERALL health and now I will pray for each of you to get the strength you need to give up this nasty habit.

Hugs from one ex-smoker - one who gets it and has been their.

Love,

Mary Jo

I quit in May..just on the patch.. my second try at it. I think it's because I really finally wanted to.  I've heard great things about chantix sp? tho.

and if u have both gene mutations.. I really don't see how stoppping smoking will affect anything for the positive. I mean.. the stress of trying to quit is probably worse than just cutting back and enjoying life w/o all the stress ...kwim?? 

I'm a smoker too, so I know how difficult it can be to give it up. But here's a little added incentive...especially for those of you who have had radiation or are going to be having radiation sometime soon. This, among a few other reasons, is why I refused radiation after lumpectomy.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL26775720080122

Smoking ups risk with radiation for breast cancer

Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:50pm EST  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cigarette smoking dramatically increases the risk that a woman who has undergone radiation treatment for breast cancer will develop lung cancer later on, a new study shows.

Radiation after mastectomy may be considered for some high-risk breast cancer patients, Dr. Elizabeth L. Kaufman and colleagues from Columbia University in New York City point out in their report. However, radiation can cause many complications, including increasing the likelihood that a patient will develop lung cancer 10 or more years after treatment, they add.

An earlier, small study by Kaufman and her team had suggested that cigarette smoking could boost this risk even more. To investigate further, she and her colleagues looked at breast cancer patients included in the Connecticut Tumor Registry who had been diagnosed with the disease between 1965 and 1989. They compared 113 women who had developed lung cancer 10 or more years after their breast cancer diagnosis with 364 women who did not.

Non-smoking women who had undergone radiation were no more likely than those who hadn't had radiation therapy to develop lung cancer, the researchers found. However, women who smoked but didn't have radiation therapy were nearly six times as likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than non-smokers who didn't have radiation, while women who smoked and did undergo radiation therapy were at nearly 19-fold greater risk.

Combined smoking and radiation therapy increased the risk that a woman would develop cancer in the lung on the same side of the body as her affected breast nearly 38-fold, while the risk of developing cancer in the opposite lung was more than 10-fold greater.

The findings suggest, the researchers say, that women who have smoked and undergone radiation therapy for breast cancer should undergo screening for lung cancer using a scanning technique called spiral computed tomography. Furthermore, doctors should consider a patient's smoking history when discussing her breast cancer treatment options, they add, especially if radiation may offer only a "marginal" survival advantage.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, January 20, 2008.

Hi Nan.....it's me crazydaisy....Viv. Geez man...I couldn't believe how large an area of DCIS you had! Lucky there weren't any surprises. That is encouraging for me! PS I'm in the smokers club to. Will I quit???.......not right now.......to much stress.

Angie -

Now is not the time for you to quit.  To tell you the truth, there really isn't a direct connection between breast cancer and smoking.  You will quit when you are ready.  I am not ready yet. 

You're doing great, Trix!!!  Congratulations!!!

In one week it'll be a year since my dx -- in 3 weeks it'll be a year since my last cigarette! and they were costing $7 dollars a pack here in NYC, $50 a week, so that's about $2500 dollars! think of something nice you want to buy yourself (I think I spent mine on frickin co-pays and aromasin, but still...)

Hi, Marykelley,

I have a question for you, I had a lumpectomy 2/27, I will meet with the oncologist 3/7, I also want to review and research my options for treatment as far as radiation is concerned, I am very worry about the smoking and also some other side effects .  what grade is your cancern?, can you please tell me more about, this type of decisions.

thanks,

Angie

hello everone i am so happy to have fell upon this site i do not have breast cancet but i am just a few months out of treatment for non hodgkins and a large mediastinal tumor i quit smoking the night before treatment and quit for awhile but for some reason i just cant stop  i didnt get any help from the cancer center i am only smoking about 3 cigarrette a day but i am afraid with stress that i will need more i am trying but not getting to far

WOW!!! I've been on the boards since August and I was waaaay to embarassed to even say I still smoke after the bc! I'm allergic to Welbutrin and the Chantix (unless the extreme flu symptoms are just a side effect). I've tried several times to quit since the surgery in July but after a couple of days I get so frustrated and light up!

I know I have to quit but I also know it's an addiction (I teach classes on Drug Abuse and cigarettes are harder to quit than heroin!). How stupid is this...I was 35 before I started smoking, the night before my first college math test (cigs didn't help; failed the test anyway!).

I wish everyone the best in this battle and for those of yall that have quit, rock on!

Margaret

I'm an ex-smoker.  It took me a LOT of unsuccessful tries before I was finally successful.

The way I finally succeeded was to separate the psychological addiction from  the physical addiction.  Over a period of time, I got rid of all of the psychological triggers, but let myself smoke as much as I wanted... just not WHEN I wanted.  For instance, I did not allow myself to smoke in the car.  If I really, really, really needed a cig that bad, I would pull over, get out of the car, and then smoke outside the car.

Finally, it was time.  I was very uncomfortable for a few days, and got the edge off by using smokeless tobacco.  It was NO fun but remember that it WILL pass.