The Doctor Said NOT To Quit Yet

[anne5]

I am new here on this site. I want to quit but of course, just haven't yet. I have had two doctors tell me not to quit right now. I have had a lot of life changes and stress going on in the last two years. In a nutshell, I have relocated back to my home state, still job hunting, barely making it, and going through a divorce. I also have high levels of anxiety and panic disorder at times. I am in therapy and trying to get my life back together but I also want to quit smoking.

How bad is the stress when you are trying to quit? Can anyone offer me some insight?
If I can at least cut down from one pack per day to one pack every three days, I will be on the right track.

[tryingmybest]

Hi Anne,
I'm sorry for all you are going through. I know it's rough. Been there........done that.

As far as the stress of quitting........it's hard to say. Once I tried to quit and by day 3 I was climbing the walls......I have panic disorder myself so I know THAT feeling. Of course I started again. The next year I tried again and I barely had any withdrawal symptoms at all. I don't know what the deciding factor is......maybe it's just that people react differently at different times. Maybe it's motivation. I don't have a clue.

If you really want to stop smoking why don't you just try it and see how you feel. You can always start again and wait for a less stressful time.

Good luck!

Deana

[edith2]

Life still happens, even after we quit. Since I quit, I lost my job of 22 years, had a nightmare of a visit with my daughter in California, almost ended up homeless, was taken out of the family trust/will, had knee surgery, and my son went in the Army. I too have been through divorce, lost custody of my kids, became suicidal and voluntarily put myself in a psyche ward. I take anti-depressants, which has helped saved my life. I'm finding there is life after divorce and it's not the end of the world. I have not found a good enough reason to smoke since I quit. Actually, quitting has helped my self-worth because I never thought I would quit. Whether you smoke one or 100 cigarettes a day, you're still active in your addiction. I'm not a doctor. I just know that today I can't think of a good enough reason to smoke and no one has convinced me otherwise.

[jan__tx]

only you can see how you will feel ... ev1's quit is different...but know that we will be here if you need to talk:)

[kelly-taber]

Don't listen to what anyone else tells you, if you are ready you will know.

[anne5]

I want to thank everyone for replying to my post. I appreciate all of the advice. My goal is to gradually stop smoking by cutting down. I am not sure about all of the "cigarette tracking" as I am not very good at keeping up with things like that but I know that either way, cutting down is going to help and I already know when and how much I smoke everyday. Thanks again EVERYONE. You have been most helpful!

[charlie6]

For me quitting during a stressful time worked out. I quit August of last year. September of last year my house was destroyed by Hurricane Ike. I wanted to smoke so bad, but I told myself that if I made it through this situation there couldn't possibly be another stressful situation of this magnitude. I made it one minute, hour, day at a time. I fought the urges and made it through it without smoking. Now I KNOW I don't need to fall off the wagon to handle a stressful situation. I can deal with my problems without using nicotine as a crutch.

[beverly10]

Hello, Anne (also my middle name), I quit smoking on January 3, 2009. I think you are getting some very bad advice, as there's always going to be something stressful going on in life. I've been going through a lot the past few years and am similarly stressed. I smoked one pack of Misty menthol 120 mm cigarettes a day (went to the 120's after getting up to a pack and a half daily.) Quitting smoking proved to me that I am still the same strong person I always was, and gave me the feeling that there is something in my life I can have control over, when so many things seem outside my control.

I visited my nonsmoking sister for a week and kept very busy and used the Nicorette gum 2 milligrams (also comes in 4 milligram, but I've heard from people that it can be extremely irritating to your mouth), and suffered very few physical withdrawal symptoms. A couple of weeks ago I went to a party where nearly everyone smoked, and it didn't faze me.

Make sure you're physically active, and expect an increased appetite. Carrots are a good munchy food...they also contain carrotine, which is a relative of nicotine, and fools the receptors somewhat.

And remember...don't be hard on yourself if you do quit for a few days and start up again.

Save the money you currently spend on cigarettes...blow it on something fun at the end of the first week...then save up for a month, and you have enough for an overnight trip. Good luck! Hang in there!

[susan52]

Hi, Anne. I assumed for the longest time that there were certain times that were better to quit than others-namely, times that were nore stressful than others. Then I had a major stress force me INTO quitting, and its been almost 100 days (tomorrow!). With that, I can tell you that the stress is STILL there even though I am quit, but I am not piling shame and more stress on that by continuing to smoke. I think that if the desire is there and you are willing to do whatever you need to quit (I got a scrip for Chantix and that really made me not want to smoke) and you get a lot of information (Alan Carr;s book FOR SURE) you do not have to fall victim to the excuse that its just a bad time. I would be inclined to follow your Drs. advice, but would also ask for there help to quit if you are ready. Hope that helps. Quitting is not as scary as I thought it would be. Peace!

[lisa32009]

Well, I've read some of the replies you have received, and totally disagree with the ones who say try it, and if you can't do it, you can always smoke again. By doing that, I think you are setting yourself up to fail. You will always have stress in your life, it's a fact of the times. I think for me, I really wanted it this time. I did not want to be a 50 year old lady with a butt hanging out of my mouth. I tried and tried to quit when my son was young, but never could. So, why now, I don't know. I pictured myself being a non-smoker, I didn't picture myself smoking again, because I couldn't quit. You will do it when you are ready to do it. Just don't try to quit with the thought in mind that you can always smoke again if it's too much. Just my 2 cents....