COPD

[Drummerwoman]

I quit 11 days ago. I had to I have COPD at 50 yrs old. Not in the mood to die young. Anyone else in my boat?

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

I am saddened by your news.  I hope you will begin the exercises and medication(s) that are recommended.  You might visit the page of Thomas3.20.2010.  There is a TON of good information on COPD there.  You can also do a search on it from the magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner.

The most important thing you can do to help with your quit 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  or at your local library. Here's a link to a video here on the site which describes nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
 
 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
 
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

[elvan]

I have COPD too, I am a retired RN and I really knew for some time, I just refused to accept it.  Honestly, I learned more from Thomas3.20.2010‌ and the https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/copd link than from anywhere else.  Thomas did all kinds of research and put all  kinds of things into perspective and made them easy to understand.  The hardest thing to accept is that this disease is progressive and irreversible, we can SLOW the progress by not smoking or exposing ourselves to inhaled irritants, by exercising and by eating right.  We can SLOW the progress and we can grow stronger and stronger physically and emotionally as we do that.  The shortness of breath is hard to deal with, for me, the fatigue is even harder.  I am on oxygen at night and I had surgery a year and ten months after I quit...I had the upper lobes of both of my lungs surgically removed because they were so damaged that they were trapping air and making my shortness of breath much worse.  There was significant improvement after the surgery but it has dramatically slowed down.  I expected that, I was told that the BEST outcome would be improved quality of life for 3-5 years, I am coming up on 3 years.  I am, by no means, giving up.  I work out, I eat better, I rest when I can because I know that alternating activity and rest are really important in keeping things under control.  I am not 50, I turned 69 on my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I quit smoking when I was 64 after 47 years of smoking with breaks for pregnancies and some short term failed quits.  Once I found EX...once I read blogs and comments and made a plan and I blogged and commented and asked for advice and then I LISTENED.  It was a journey and it will always be a journey, one day at a time, NOPE was my mantra, Not One Puff Ever and I said it over and over and over again.  

We all started at the beginning, some people used Nicotine replacement therapy, some did not, whatever you decide, remember that this is an addiction and it has to be treated as one.  We all want you to be successful and we all want to help you in any way that we can.  Education, support, and commitment are vital to your success.  The first two are here for you...the commitment is something YOU have to bring.

Welcome to EX,

Ellen