Posting this here at the suggestion of a community member. This is my response to someone asking for help with staying quit when combatting mental health disease and physical disease.
Hi there bigbear1.
I know the original post old, but it's applicable to so many of us out there. I'm also bipolar. And I quit for 8 days and started up again. And I have a slew of other physical health problems, like you. It's hard, but not impossible. I tried everything...the patch, the gum, patch and gum together, cold turkey, reading Allen Carr's Easy Way (that did get me quit for 3 months, but I drank for a week straight and started back up again - I have since quit drinking), and all combos of the above. I have even tried (and failed spectacularly) at tapering off (It doesn't work well for people with minimal impulse control and deep self hatred).
All that said, I read some studies about the efficacy of Chantix on the bipolar community and it blew my mind. Apparently, we are super amazing and special and therefore are not more susceptible to the horror story side effects of the antagonist as "normal" people are. So I spoke with my doctor, she prescribed it to me, and I started my quit journey again. I'm on day 3 of Chantix and it is impressive. Smoking isn't just dull, it's outright repulsive. Being around smokers isn't alluring, it's kind of like suffering because it smells so bad. So...maybe you could try that? I had to work on getting myself stable, quit booze and build up my toolkit for managing swings and rage (I have SEVERE rage issues) before I believed I would be able to handle the upset of kicking nicotine addiction. But I never lost sight of the goal of freedom from this drug, from the grip of the addicts life, and for a more healthy and stable future. I hope this finds you both in good spirits and good health.
