Quitting Smoking

[Tom in TX]

Does anyone have any experience with the drug, Chantix? I started on them 8 days ago, and then quit smoking Tuesday night (for Lent!!).
I have smoked for 33 years!! I have no nicotine withdrawl problems, yet. It's been almost 48 hours, and I thought I would be really craving a smoke! Maybe this drug works like it's supposed to. Just wondering if anyone else had any luck with it?
Wish me luck!

Tom in TX

 

[TheForce]

Ah must be another atempt by the pharmaceutical industry to steal addiction $$$$ from the tobacco industry.

Hey, seriously, good luck with your new habit. I'd suggest looking up "long term side affects of:" and get educated.

 

[Neutron]

Does anyone have any experience with the drug, Chantix? I started on them 8 days ago, and then quit smoking Tuesday night (for Lent!!).
I have smoked for 33 years!! I have no nicotine withdrawl problems, yet. It's been almost 48 hours, and I thought I would be really craving a smoke! Maybe this drug works like it's supposed to. Just wondering if anyone else had any luck with it?
Wish me luck!

Tom in TX

I wish you the best of luck Tom!!!! I wish my dad would quit smoking. He's smoked for 30+ years now. He's 51 now. I keep bugging him to and he keeps telling me to mind my own business.

 

[Tom in TX]

Hey, seriously, good luck with your new habit. I'd suggest looking up "long term side affects of:" and get educated.

It is a 12 week prescription, so it's not a long term type of thing. It did list some possible side effects (nausea, gas, headaches, etc), but I haven't had any, yet!
It came recommended from the American Cancer Society website, as one of several types of quitting aids. It contains no nicotine.
I've tried before with no luck - even tried hypnosois!

Tom in TX

 

[Tom in TX]

I wish you the best of luck Tom!!!! I wish my dad would quit smoking. He's smoked for 30+ years now. He's 51 now. I keep bugging him to and he keeps telling me to mind my own business.

Thanks, Jason.
I'm 49. And I'm looking forward to meeting you at our TeamSummit get-together!!

Tom in TX

 

[TheForce]

Thanks for the info on that. I'll have to remember it when I hear of someone wanting to quit. My mother-in-law chain smokes. She is 83 and can't say two words without going into a coughing fit. The doctor's Point of view is, at her age what's the point, withdrawl would kill her.

I never smoked so I don't understand the craving.

 

[sampatterson]

I have a co-worker who used it and quit. It was expensive for her but glad she did it.

 

[Tom in TX]

I have a co-worker who used it and quit. It was expensive for her but glad she did it.

I had to pay $100 for the 12-week prescription, and insurance paid the rest.
Over 12 weeks, I would spend $420 on cigarettes
They went up to about $5/pack on Jan. 1 this year (tax) - another reason to quit!!

Tom in TX

 

[navychop]

It is a 12 week prescription, so it's not a long term type of thing. It did list some possible side effects (nausea, gas, headaches, etc), but I haven't had any, yet!
It came recommended from the American Cancer Society website, as one of several types of quitting aids. It contains no nicotine.
I've tried before with no luck - even tried hypnosois!

Tom in TX

My father in law tried hypnosis, did no good. Then he tried it a second time, and never smoked again.

My own father smoked 3+ packs a day, had ashtrays in every room, used every one every day. He also "coughed up" into those ashtrays. Guess who my mother had clean the ashtrays? Do you think I've ever smoked a cigarette in my life? Prevention is best.

 

[SatelliteGAL]

My husband used Zyban which cost $100 for a months supply. As long as he took the Zyban he was ok but the minute he stopped taking it he went right back to smoking. He took Zyban for six months. I quit smoking 8 years ago without the Zyban and the worst was over in a couple weeks and easier as time went by. I knew I had to quit because I ended up with serious asthma. My husband #1 does not really want to quit but makes attempts when he ends up with bronchitis or something. #2 He is completely convinced he feels better when he smokes and he is still in withdrawal after 6 months. I think the #1 thing you need to be successful is to really and seriously want to quit. Then just finding the method that helps you do it. Hang in there.... it does get easier and when you succeed remember a very important thing. You are a recovering addict... you CAN NOT HAVE even one cigarette. I guarantee you one will have you hooked again before you know it.

 

[KE4EST]

I agree with SatelliteGAL.

 

[TNGTony]

I've done three long-term quits, all cold turkey. By long-term I mean I started smoking at 14 the first "quit" at 27 lasted 5+ years. The second at 35 lasted 2 years. I am entering the second year of my latest "quit". The craving for a cigarette NEVER EVER EVER goes away. I understand psycological addiction very well. Believe it or not I LIKE the taste of tobacco. When some one smokes near me, I am like a dog sniffing a treat. This is probably why some ex-smokers (or what I like to call them, "recovering smokers") are so millitant about making sure others don't smoke around them. I try no to do that. But I understand why. Will-power is the only real solution.

See ya
Tony

[edit] SatelliteGAL is absolutely correct. Having the one cig at a bar or with a friend at a game is what knocked me back again both times.

 

[Tom in TX]

I think the #1 thing you need to be successful is to really and seriously want to quit. Then just finding the method that helps you do it.

That's what my doctor told me about six months ago. He said "When you're ready to quit, I have something that can help you".
I tried cold turkey several times, but the cravings just got to me! Somehow this medication seems to help with the cravings. I cannot beleive that after 33 years my body is not rebelling!!
By the way, all these posts actually help me too! You're part of my "support group".
Thanks for sharing!

Tom in TX - Going into my 4th day!

 

[Tom in TX]

As an aside - my blood pressure has really dropped! I am on medication for it, and it averaged about 125/85 on the pills, before quitting.
I took it several times over the last two days, and it's averaging 110/64!!
Maybe when I can say I am off cigarettes for good, I can get off my BP medicine!

Tom in TX

 

[gabshere]

yeah that would be nice

i've been quit now for a year, i used the Comit program just not the way they wanted i used it only 1/3 of length time.
I still would love to smoke one, people don't understand....i loved smoking and it could be the addiction i don't know......but actually i've felt the worst in my life ( i had other bad habits that account for most of this ) went on bp, colestoral & thyorid meds. but there are good things too lol i can smell again and taste things ....i lost the taste for coffee and quit drinking it ( another thing i loved)

after the first week it gets easier
keep up the good work

 

[sksatellite]

I remembered I was quited smoke about two months after moved to current house, heater was out of service at the most colder days of month at december and need new parts then I catched the bad cold in ten years for about week or two, can't smoke during the illness, after got well, found out I loss the smoke habit, since then, 36 years of smoke habit is away from me. but, I also got a heart attack last May after year of quitting, is this the after quit smoke side effect ?

 

[Cyclone]

I had smoked for about 20 years (age 15 - 35). My wife had quit just after we got married (age 30) and bugged me relentlessly for the next few years. I told her I'd definately quit when we was pregnant. Well, when she was, I had to, so I did.

I used the patch and never looked back. It was all done in about a month. I don't have cravings at all, and even when I've cheated ( drink'n beers with the buds) the smokes never last beyond two or three tokes, and I realize that they taste terrible. Its been easy to remain free of smoking for me.

 

[motorcycle_rider]

Tom

I am currently on Chantix myself. On my 7th day today. It does help with the cravings and makes the smokes taste real bad. Problem is for some wierd reason Coffee now is not good to me anymore. Altho for about 1/2 and hr or so after I take it i do feel a little nausios. Good Luck to you.

 

[Bogy]

Many, many years ago, in my somewhat wilder days, when I took drugs recreationally (I now take more drugs than I did then, but they are all prescribed ), I was "cured" of smoking. One night I was smoking cigarettes, grass, and on amphetamines. Then I got sick. Ever since, ever since cigarettes make me nauseous. Just being somewhere with a lot of cigarette smoke will do it. Previously it never bothered me like that, even when I was first starting to smoke. What was weird is that I could still smoke grass. That didn't bother me. I quit that not long after, for other reasons.

 

[bhelms]

Many, many years ago, in my somewhat wilder days, when I took drugs recreationally (I now take more drugs than I did then, but they are all prescribed ), I was "cured" of smoking. One night I was smoking cigarettes, grass, and on amphetamines. Then I got sick. Ever since, ever since cigarettes make me nauseous. Just being somewhere with a lot of cigarette smoke will do it. Previously it never bothered me like that, even when I was first starting to smoke. What was weird is that I could still smoke grass. That didn't bother me. I quit that not long after, for other reasons.

Bogy - I can relate to the tobacco parts of what you said. I went from non-smoker to pack-and-a-half-a-day smoker (almost overnight!) to non-smoker, to anti-smoker over about a 5 year period many years back. Now any kind of smoke sets me off, and I try to avoid it. When someone lights-up in my presence, I will always react in some manner. I'm all for most anti-smoking measures, but let's not debate that here!

The amazing part is that I have asthma, have had it all my life. How I could have ever smoked is beyond me!

I quit in 2 stages. Butted my last cigarette in New Orleans one New Year's Eve (resolution) and immediately went to my pipe (tobacco version). Smoked that while inhaling for the better part of a year then gladly gave that up as my lungs were probably completely crudded-up by then. I have not had any kind of first-hand tobacco ever since.

The thing that really made me quit cigarettes was the cost more than any health issues, and at that time cigs were only 45-cents a pack! I wanted a new turntable that cost about $100. I realized that I smoked one in about 5 months!

To this day I will have one of my "wierd dreams" (my closest thing to a nightmare) in which I'm sitting in a bar and I light one up. That immediately wakes me up in a cold sweat! So you're never completely through with it...

Tom - Agreeing with most folks here, the first several weeks are the hardest then you will most likely get over the continual cravings. Stay away from all temptations during that period. Good luck with it! It will be the best move you will ever have made on several fronts...!

PS - Don't be surprised if you put on a few pounds, well, maybe even more than a few. But unless you are already obese, that extra weight is probably much less of a risk factor for you than the smoking was, and you can always loose the weight later if it matters, tho' that might not be any easier...!