Road ahead
Hi everyone,
Im a nearly 40yr old lady who has been a fulltime smoker since the age of 9...yes 9:( that's what my big brother was for at the time apparently..teaching me how to smoke)
I know what I'm about to say is not a good thing but I figure if I don't recognise it, then I can't learn from it or move forward.
In all honesty, I do enjoy smoking for numerous reason but I also hate it for numerous reasons and at this stage the enjoy outweighs the hate and I have to work hard to change this I know.
My journey of quitting is not something I have given any real thought to until Xmas eve, when I came home from some last minute Xmas shopping and my husband was not the happy hubby I had left 3 hrs previous, he was now giving me an ultimatum to give up smoking and do it now or our marriage is over. This is no joke, this is exactly what I was told and he is serious and there was no warning of this before I left that day, so it was a huge shock.
He too is a fulltime smoker and his reasoning is that we can not afford it any longer. He has attempted to quit 3 times in the last few years and apparently I am to blame as to why he was not successful. He tries to quit by using the cold turkey method mostly but the first time he tried Champix and went crazy with severe anxiety attacks and his doc took him off it.
Before Xmas eve, he had not spoken with me about giving up for approx a year, there was a brief comment about 6 months ago but that was it. So this all came as a huge shock to me.
I made what I feel is a big step yesterday and I phoned Quitline and spoke to a lovely lady there and tried to put some type of plan into place that would give me the best results long term and keep my marriage together.
I know I can not go cold turkey and I don't want to be in that high % of people who do not succeed due to trying it this way, I need a plan and I also need to take care of some health concerns that recently popped up.
I was informed that the recommendation is to use patches for 2 weeks while cutting down and to quit totally with in 3 to 9 months but she did advise me to see my doc first to see if she will allow me to use patches due to my health issues. So I have an appointment with my GP on Thursday as this is the earliest I can get in but earlier this morning I took a risk and tried the spray device that hubby bought yesterday. I'm not sure what happened as yet but I did not react well, with in seconds my heart was pounding, I felt light headed, I got all hot and clamy and before I knew it, I was vomitting and all this took about 20 minutes to fully settle down. So now I am very scared to try it again because I don't know why that happened and I can't seem to find any info online as to a possible reason.
5 years ago, I did try Champix for just over 2 weeks, this made me horribly sick and crazy in the head, so I stopped and continued smoking.
Back to the enjoying smoking thing, I think I recognise why I feel this way, so I figure this is a start and with some work this thought pattern can be changed however, I do feel a lot of resentment towards my husband for forcing me to do something I had given no thought to or plan to and I truly believe that giving up is something you must truly want to do for yourself, not because it's forced, so I'm terrified I will not succeed because of this and now on top of the stress of giving up, I have to deal with these extra feelings, so I know my road is going to be tougher than it should be.
The Quitline lady suggested I get a diary and write down my goals and hints and tricks of things I think will help me and any thought patterns I recognise that need changing and how I feel I can change them etc etc, so today I will do this task.
I have printed out the email Quitline sent me so I can get a script for the patches at the reduced cost. I never knew this existed, so this is a great hel
if the spray made you feel ill don't you think the patches will? there are alot of different methods to use other than nicotine replacement therapy, you could try quit4good programme it is non chemical and no drugs and the success rate is great they claim you are over cigarettes in 5 to 7 days as well as hypnotherapy,, accupuncture, why not check out ways on the internet,well i hope i have been of some help all the best and goodluck.
Thanks stoprightnow, I have contacted quit4good and am waiting on a reply. Yes, I have thought about what the patches might do to me, so I will talk to the doc about it. I am very interested in the oral strips from quit4good and they sound like a nicer option than NRT. I am quite proud of myself as I have cut down already quite a lot without really even thinking or working hard on it, so for me that's a step in the right direction.
Hi, was so upset for you when I read your story, extra stress isn't going to help but stay on here you will get plenty of support I'm down to five a day and will give up with you and chat here as often as you need. I work in the health field and you can get anti nausea tablets from your doc while on champix that may help. Try to do this for yourself it sounds like your husband has his own stress. This is about my fourth time here the support is fantastic but I had major dramas in my life and went back to smoking. Some people here don't like the quit line but I found them very good. I found having a bottle of water with me and healthy nibbles helped a lot. Good luck stay strong.
Hi Possums, Many people that I have spoken to have used hypnotherapy and even accupuncture, I'm sure that you can find the right method to assist you in quitting.
Personally I was a cold turkey quitter after over 50 years of heavy smoking and so far it's been 661 days and $14,982.00 saved. I did put on a little weight but I think I'm on top of it now. With your desire to quit and help your husband with his journey, I know you will do it.
I also had a problem with the spray, and the gum, and the lozenges somewhat. But I found the patches did not give me hiccups or make me feel sick etc. In fact that was the only way. So with the patches I went from 20-plus to four a day. I'm there at the moment, 21 days in. Don't be too hard on yourself, but notice and pause for every single cigarette. You will be fine. Worried about the cost of the patches? Don't be, they're a lot cheaper than the fags. Good luck with it.