Arteriosclerosis strikes again
I've smoked since I was 14, parents smoked, hubby smokes, even 2 of our kids smoke, for the past 22yrs I've smoked rollies heavily instead of expensive tailor mades, around or over 30 a day but together hubby & I smoking rollies costs us about $80-90 week combined. In 2000 I was diagnosed with hardening of the arteries, Arteriosclerosis & tried quitting over the past 11yrs about 5 times. Patches initially sent me jaundice & Nicobate advised me to try lesser mg patch - I lasted 3wks before the kids were home 24/7 with school holidays & arguing, sent me right up the wall & I smoked. Tried patches a few times, same thing with the kids. Tried inhaler, lasted 4 days before I threw it. Tried gum with even less results. Now at 42yrs old I've been having bad leg pain for the past 6mths & today arterial scans found more hardening of arteries which is why I'm in pain with the restricted blood flow. I'm on aspirin each day to prevent clots. Its impossible to sleep without sleeping tabs because of the pain in my leg plus I always wear a magnetic bracelet on one wrist for same reason. I had an argument with my gp today after he told me to quit - it's the only thing I have left for stress at home & boredom as I don't drink or do drugs, don't go out partying or socializing because we have mortgage with lack of $ & I ended up storming out of his office. My blood pressure is super low & I'm getting weaker physically each yr. I was in hosp Dec 2010 with pnuemonia from flu & smoking & whilst the treating gp at hosp was concerned over my blood pressure, my own gp said I'm normal for someone who's really fit - errr yeah I don't even walk much let alone exercise as I'm online alot with hobby business at home hence have a good supply of coffee with my rollies. I'm setting a quit date for 9 days time using the prequit patches this time plus one of our kids is going away for 9 days the day before which will leave 12yr old youngest of our 3 kids in our house, eldest has her own place with their 2 kids - even the grandkids stress me out whenever they visit. Our kids stress hubby & I out alot, eldest 2 have cars that we mechanically fix for them because they're not financial, plus loan them money which we don't get back when we actually need it & get all the excuses why they can't (we know the excuses off by heart), then there's babysitting grandkids which leads me to sitting around bored with coffee & smokes, along with housework breaks & driving in the car...the list is endless. Hubby smokes heavily & it's going to be very hard for me to quit as I know he definitely will not smoke outside, he probably won't stash the tobacco in a pocket but leave it laying on the coffee table & I will still be the one to go buy his weekly tobacco with groceries whilst trying to quit myself. In short I have to quit, I've tried so many times before & I'm majorly dubious that I'll be successful this time either, I can get the mindset & determination going but stress throws me a loop plus the environment won't help. My parents died of arterial smoking problems & I don't want our kids to watch me too on life support until the machine is turned off. So yeah, 9 days & 22nd April onto prequit patches...fingers, toes & everything else crossed.
Hi Eric, I spent some hours yesterday & last night reading through alot of ppl's posts & found your a regular with the site. I took your advice (that I'd already read in one of your posts - big thankyou for that) & am hounding the local library today over that book but if the library doesn't have the book in region, I will look a copy up online for sure.
Yep I know smoking is definitely killing me but today instead of having had the usual amount of smokes to this time of 10:30am of about 10, I've had 4, so I am trying to cut back as much as possible before I even start those prequit patches. I am consciously keeping busy, taking deep breaths, thinking of something else whenever I start to think of a cig & am determined to continue cutting back more each day. I'd do cold turkey but the family may not survive! Oh & yes hubby has left the tobacco on the coffee table & today I'm buying the tobacco as predicted...this isn't going to be easy but I'm giving it a damn good shot. :)
Hi Oldbat, congratulations on making the decision - you are doing the right thing so hang in there! I am 6 days in without a cigarette after 14 years, and i have to admit that champix has really helped me - i know it is not for everyone, and there are some side effects (only mild for me and I have halved my dose which helped), but not having the cravings that made me want to tear my hair out and prevented me from lasting more than a day in the past, is great. it sounds like you are dealing with alot at the moment overall, but keep going - do this for yourself if not for your family and be proud that you are taking the first step out of everyone. i found getting up in the morning and busying myself was a good distraction - it's not for everyone but light exercise has worked for me. I am already noticing the financial differences myself, and although my partner is not quitting either, he does keep his cigarettes out of my sight by leaving them outside or putting them in a drawer or jacket pocket - it does help not to see them. Ask your family for a bit more support, and I know it’s none of my business, and I don’t mean to sound intrusive so I apologise in advance if it sounds that way, but honestly my thoughts were that if your kids can afford to smoke and own cars maybe they need to find ways to support their own habits? Do this for you, your health, your future, your kids and your grandkids (my biggest fear is not being around, which is a good motivator!). And reward yourself when you get to a target date – buy yourself something you normally wouldn’t, or do something you wouldn’t normally do! Good luck :)
The Allen Carr book is also a great way to prepare yourself and having read that i found it really helped too :)