Ugh horrible news yesterday , I have been denied surgery on my mesenteric artery, one completely open, the other completely closed . Got the blahs today
You CAN quit. We can help! I believed I was going to be the last smoker standing. I believed it was just TOO difficult. A medical problem was MY reason for quitting, too - and with the help of Chantix, my doctor, and my commitment to never smoke another cigarette NO MATTER WHAT, I was able to quit on my first and only attempt. I found this community four days after I quit, and the information gained from doing the recommended reading, the tips provided and the support made a huge difference, as well. That was eight years ago and I can truthfully say it is a decision I have never regretted.
The important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware. I credit it in large part with my success at quitting. You can search for it online or at your local library.
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmoking.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort after you have tried to delay and distract. I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another. You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them.. For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum. For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time. I do not recommend the e-cigarette for obvious reasons.
It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each cigarette smoked, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED a cigarette just because you think you do.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas: https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Welcome to becoming a non-smoker. You can do it and we're here to cheer you on. Educate yourself about nicotine addiction and create your quit plan. I skipped these two steps in the past and I was never successful. Having knowledge and being prepared is powerful. And, we're here to support on your journey. Just reach out anytime you need support or want to share your experience.
If you approach one day at a time, you'll be successful.
You can do this. Read and learn about the addiction, the withdraws and craves Knowing what to expect makes it easier Just take it a day at a time You'll get sooner than you think. Remember this group is here to help
I have a very large bag of lollipops. I’m doing my best I know it will be better for me , I also have a hernia with the colon in it . I’m messed up . Time to get it on .
I had wrote a long post and it has disappeared, perhaps you deleted...so I will just go ahead and welcome you to one of the best support sites...~ Colleen
You came to the right place. Welcome to EX. You have already gotten great advice from YoungAtHeart and there will be many more people to come. We want to help you, we have all been at the beginning. Some of us quit because we HAD to for health reasons, others quit for reasons of their own but we all lean on each other and we all try things that have been used by others. Sometimes, what works for one won't work for another but, there are amazing suggestions here.
sweetplt I had written a long and detailed response to someone yesterday and it disappeared, I have no idea if it timed out or what. I guess it is possible that I never hit reply...I didn't think of that.
Welcome to the site - you are in exactly the right place for support. So many of us were long time smokers and we quit - so I know you can do it! I smoked for 40 years. I came here, read Carr’s book, got the support here and I quit! That was 10 years ago. Please stick around!
elvan Ellen...not sure what happened...but like you it was a long reply...puff it was gone...I just couldn’t write it all again...we try the best we can dear Ellen and sometimes these darn computers have minds of their own...~ Colleen
Scottishmist60 I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware. I credit it in large part with my success at quitting. You can search for it online or at your local library.
You're not alone. We are here and we have your back! 48 years of smoking is a really long time. But you got the full potential to quit. Alot of long term smokers on here have been able to successfully quit for good. You can be one of them!
It does take a bit to get a handle on this site Scottishmist60... but the more you use it the easier it is. Also, if you are having specific problems with the site, you can post for assistance by clicking on the community help site on your home page and letting us know what your particular problem is.
Just a brief history of me: I smoked for over 60 years, many at over 2 packs per day. I tried numerous times to quit, using different approaches. I usually gave up before Day #1 was over but once I actually went for a month before relapsing.
Then, I quit August 25th, 2019, relapsed for 2 weeks over the winter holidays, joined this site and quit again on January 6, 2020. In just a few days, I will be totally quit for nine months, with no cheating wahtsoever.
The reason I quit last August is due to a sililar problem as yours. I found out that my left carotid artery, carrying blood to my brain, was markedly occluded. I also found out that my right carotid artery was totally closed and there was no hope for restoring it. I was at major risk of suffering a stroke.
I did quit in time to have surgery on my left carotid on August 30, 2019. And when I relapsed 4 months later, I was a nervous wreck thinking about what I was doing to my arteries. Thank God--literally--I was finally able to stop. I consider this my final quit.
Your artery problems, as you know, will have a direct impact on the action of your intestines and can cause you major problems down the road if you don't get it fixed. I'm sure your surgeon has explained this all to you.
I strongly encourage you to follow the outline of education that Nancy YoungAtHeart sent you in her post above. I will say that one thing that especially helped me was reading the Alan Carr book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. You can find it online at Amazon and can also borrow it from your library. It is reasonably priced. What I liked most about his book, to tell you the truth, is that he said not to stop smoking until you finish reading the book. That took a lot of pressure off me about quitting. By the time I did Nancy's suggested readings and finished Carr's book, I was ready to set a quit date,.
As an FYI, my surgery was successful and two follow up tests show that my artery has remained unobstructed since the surgery.
I encourage you to take this wake-up call about your need to stop smoking very seriously. And I wish you the very best.
Allen Carr's "Easy Way to Stop Smoking." It's a great book as it gives you a whole different perspective on quitting. It's opened many of the eyes among quitters. Highly recommend it. There are lots of "aha!" moments when reading it. The problem IS, the enlightenment can wear off pretty quickly. It's still a very informative little tome. Here's a kind of a primer I wrote that may help you get started: /blogs/Giulia-blog/2018/03/01/quitting-is-a-skill-that-can-be-learned?sr=search&searchId=901ea3aa-68... I smoked for 35+ years but managed to do it, so you can too. You just have to get your head in the right place. That's what we do here, help to get the head in the right place - including getting our own there!
The reasons for insurance refusing to insure those who smoke is an indication of how bad smoking is for our bodies. I had a dentist point blank refuse to do any implants on smokers, because he said they'd just fall out, so why go through all that expense for no good reason?
What's my point? Rejoice that your insurance company is forcing you to take a look at your smoking truths. No, you don't like it. No, it's uncomfortable. But YES, choosing and accepting to be smoke-free is ... well there's no real way to describe it. You'll experience it for yourself as you progress on this journey. I believe if you do it right, you'll gain much knowledge, insight and strength about yourself. If you want to. I did anyway. And the learning never stops.
Others on this site have quit for surgery reasons. You can too. It's said that some see the light, others feel the heat in order to change. Try to get it into your head that if you are going to quit, then do it one day at a time. Smoking, because of nicotine, is an addiction. Without nicotine, you would put the smokes down relatively easy all on your own at your surgeon's request. Dependency and addiction take time to undo--there is no way to undo them in a minute. But there is help. Like Ex. And have you talked to your doctor about wellbutrin or the like? I'm not suggesting or recommending this, just wondering what options you know about, have considered. A successful quit is often based on a quitter being willing to do anything and everything. Willing, not necessarily happy. Happy comes a little later once the fog of addiction/dependency eases.
Born in USA but raised in Scotland. I live in the states again I found my father and came home . I have been here 35yrs in a little rural town in Minnesota
