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Give and get support around quitting

Csmith1706
Member

Help with medication?

I've tried many things over my lifetime with varying degrees of success. When I last had insurance, I tried chantix, and it worked. Like magic. It simply helped me quit by making forget I smoked. I just cannot afford it now that I don't have insurance. I've recently tried patches, but I'm pretty physically active and the patches will not stay stuck to me. I've tried the gum, but having not had insurance for so long, my teeth can't handle the chewing of the tough nicotine gums. The lozenges are somewhat helpful but don't seem to work long. This leaves the 2 medicines. I know chantix works. How does this quit smoking program help with the medication?

5 Replies
YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

This program doesn't provide help with the cost of NRT's.  I am sorry you lost your Chantix quit.  Have you considered Cold Turkey (we call it Smart Turkey)?  The nicotine is mostly out of your body in about three days, then there is the period while your body adjusts to life without it - and then you just have to work on the psychological aspects of the addiction.  This part, I think, is the most difficult, but if you make up your mind that you will not smoke another cigarette NO MATTER WHAT, it's doable.  Lots of folks here were successful with that!

The most 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 is an easy and entertaining read. 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, quitsmokingonline.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. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested in My Quit Plan http://www.becomeanex.org/my-quit-plan.php

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.  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.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.

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!

Nancy

The best and most effective Quit Tool is right between your ears 

and it's FREE!

READ READ READ!

AnnetteMM
Member

Have you tried not smoking?  Because that actually works 100%.

Daniela2016
Member

As the prior comments stated it, the quitting is driven by your thoughts.  That said many of us used some kind of smoking cessation tools; I used patches for 2 weeks, then the e-cigarette until I came here.  The advice and the support, and mostly the knowledge shared here helped me sever the last link with Nicotine.

You might not be ready to hear we are all addicts, and because of that no one else can quit for us.  There is a lot to learn about the addiction to nicotine, please stay with us, even if you are not ready to quit as of yet.

This "program" is not one which gives away medication or any other kind of smoking cessation aids.

But it provides the support one needs to become successful in quitting.

Here are some useful links for you to review.  And do not think that is a lot of work; if people here were able to quit after 20-30-40 and more years of smoking, you should be too.  But you have to put in the work, understanding, commitment and you can succeed!

My Welcome To New Members (10 Years Of Watching) 

/blogs/jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007-blog/2011/06/26/what-to-expect-in-the-first-four-months 

karenjones
Member

Ok, I am going to put it to you this way,  if Champix worked like a miracle or like magic, why are you smoking today?  Just something to think about. secondly, if something is going to save your life why worry about the cost, ask your mother, or a friend to lend you the money or divide the cost in 3 and ask 3  friends to help you out. Stop going to restaurants or buying coffee out , start scrimping. Take back refundable pop bottles, only buy groceries when they are on sale.  Brilliant idea....... the money you spend on cigarettes would probably pay for a prescription. If you drive a car take the bus for a week, the money you save on gas would probably pay for a prescription. Ask your Doctor if there are any programmes that would fund you to take Champix, contact the American Lung Association and tell them you are desperate to quit smoking but can't afford Champix. Start a go fund me page on line. A prescription for Champix is not that expensive, we are not talking buying a Mercedes Benz here. I am not rich (in money) and because I  attend a smoking cessation program put on by the Addictions department of our local hospital, they pay for my prescription. After a few ups and downs with the medication I only take  1/2 tablet a day. It seems to work and my pharmacist says that not one size fits all so it is ok to take less than Pfizer recommends. So what I am saying to you is that if Champix works for you, move heaven and hell to get that prescription, your life depends on it. You needed to hear this from me, didn't you?   You are on the road to recovery, baby steps.  All the best..... Now do what you have to do.  and don't be like Janis Joplin, JANIS JOPLIN - MERCEDES BENZ - LIVE ?!? - YouTube    karen