I smoked for about 12 years at 20 cigs a day, started at 19, soon after My Dad expired.
I didnt realise or know that he died from lung cancer until recently. 6 months before he died, he told me never to smoke. I thought that was just an advice from him. He hid the fact that he had cancer from the whole family. He had something growing in his arm pits, when we asked he said it was just a growth in his skin that can be easily removed.. One fine day he got himself admitted to a hospital and I think got chemotherapy done. After a week of being discharged from hospital he died of a heart attack.
All these years I wasnt even aware what a cancer is...Only now after seeing the images on the cigarette packs, I realised cancer is nothing but a growth in the body.
I also realised in the last 1 year that my dad lied to us about his Cancer. May be if he would have told us the truth, I wouldnt have started smoking.
Past is the past... I have been trying to give up smoking since the last 1 year...I never even thought of trying before that. I tried 2 times and was able to give up smoking 2 times for about a month. I guess peer pressure, drinking etc were responsible. The 2 times i stopped smoking I realised I could actually control myself from smoking if I didnt have them handy.
I heard of champix from a mate, went to a doctor, got a prescription. Bought the medicine from chemistdirect for I think $30.
After reading all the bad reviews on the internet about champix being a suicide pill etc etc etc. I was a bit hesitant to start it.
I was still smoking and already hating myself and depressed about dying at 40 like my dad. I was really worried about leaving all the loved ones behind. And then there is my marriage which was making me even more depressed.
One fine Monday, I decided i will start Champix... I felt the only thing that could go wrong is may be I will be violent to someone and in the worst case in Jail for sometime, I was sure I am not so stupid to commit Suicide.
By day 6-7 unknowingly I was smoking only 10 cigs a day, I was at 20 cigs before. I still liked the taste of cigs.
By day 10 I was still smoking around 10 cigs, I was not feeling anything was stopping me from smoking, no bad tastes etc etc as I expected.
By day 12 I was still feeling like i did on day 10. I thought WTF this Champix thing also doesnt work for me and I felt like the unluckiest idiot in the world. Then I did some googling and found some people had similar experiences and I had to just stop smoking on the Quit Day deadline. Mine was day 14 since i liked smoking ;)..
Day 14 I didnt buy the cig pack. I didnt smoke the whole day at work. After coming back home, i was really feeling the urge to smoke. I called up a mate, went to his place, took a smoke off him and smoked like it was tha last one. But unfortunately Day 15 and Day 16 I did the same thing as well...
Day 17 I felt the urge to smoke after work, I said 'No' to myself and slept early.
Today is my Day 50, I think I had about 2-3 drags once after Day 17.
I do feel the urge to smoke sometimes after work but that lasts 1-2 minutes. My mind seems to think about something else after that.
Before I used Champix, these moments were the weakest times, when I felt the urge to smoke, it would never go away until i actually smoked.
So far at Day 50 I am happy with the results. I take a champix once in 2-3 days, but will slowly reduce it as time passes..Just need the psychological support that champix offers i guess..
My suggestion to everyone smoking, it takes a few times of quitting to understand quitting. After a few times you will learn your body and mind and one fine day you will quit smoking completely. I understood this concept but I was in a hurry to quit Smoking so I used Champix.
I love Champix so far. I dont like the negative campaigns about Champix.. The Cigarette companies dont like Champix, so they are trying to stop people from using it. Dont get stuck in the propaganda. Cigarettes mean death.
I am not a doctor though. I am contactable if you need any information.