posted on January 9, 2006 09:47:43 AM new
How are you coming with them?
I ordinarily don't make them but promised to quit smoking on NY day...it's been a week and so far I'm sticking with it. I wish I could say I felt better etcetc..I DON"T feel better and I am a total B$*#H and I must be gaining 2000 lbs..I fall asleep in the middle of the day at my computer and am ready for bed by about 7 pm... all I want to do is sleep so I don't have to think about NOT SMOKING. I ordinarily have 350 postcards listed but could only manage 214 this week....I can't concentrate and I can't stay awake!
I KNOW this is better for me and I will live longer etc etc but this is the PITS! I am using Zyban AND the patch and it still isn't easy! This is my first day "alone" (kids went back to college and hubby at work)and IT'S ROUGH!!!
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posted on January 9, 2006 09:52:24 AM new
Good for you for trying! I still smoke and enjoy it so am not ready yet.
You may be having a reaction to the Zyban. I had a friend who tried it and was dizzy, sleepy, lacked concentration and had to stop taking it because he drove a car all day with customers on board!
We talked to our Dr. about it and he said there are many people who have a lot of the side effects and he recommended to try other ways ie: Nicorette etc.
The Dr. is a non-smoker and I don't think can comprehend the enormous effect that the lack of nicotine has on our bodies when we have been using it for 40 years.
posted on January 9, 2006 01:48:34 PM new
A year from now, this pain will seem so minimal and you will really appreciate what you did for yourself (and your family who will now have you around a few more years!) It's hard, it's been 13 months for me, but I don't even think about it now. It's SO worth it - YOU're so worth it, just keep remembering that.
No more coughing, ashtrays, stinky clothes.......a whole new you. Stick with it! You go girl!
posted on January 9, 2006 02:17:58 PM new
Oh, good. We should have a support thing going on. My husband and I both quit (again) New Years. We had actually quit a couple of months before and started cheating and smoking a couple here and there during the holidays. We finally said "to hell with it" and started back full bore with the intention of quitting again New Years Eve. We did that and are doing well. This is about my fourth time or so to quit and I think I'm finally ready. <p> As for not feeling any better; I totally understand that. I am looking for instant gratification!!! I also get very sleepy a lot and can sleep 9 hrs at night with no problem at all!!! But -- I can say with certainty that I really did feel better before when I had quit for two months even though I didn't think I did. Smoking again made me know real quick that I was actually feeling better. My chest had lost that heavy feeling and there it was - back again! I'm ready for it to go away again this time.
My husband was doing the patch and the gum (4mg.) I was doing only the lozenges (4 mg). I HATED those. I think they ate holes in my mouth. Not really, but I would have bought the 2 mg. ones. Now I'm doing the 2 mg. gum and I'm down to just a couple a day - when I feel really crazy and would like to murder my husband for saying anything at all. He had the nerve to tell me I was bitchy the other day!!! I actually laughed and told him he was no piece of cake to be around, either.
It is getting better. The past couple of days have been a lot better. I know from experience, though, that there will be good days and bad days and I'm an addict. I cannot smoke a cigarette or two. I mean, I can, but then I want more.
Hang in there!! Like the others are saying, it's gonna be worth it! I want to see my two grandchildren (and the one on the way) play ball and go to their dance recitals. I want them to remember me in person, not from pictures.
posted on January 9, 2006 02:56:30 PM new
Smoking is the most common cause of sudden-death heart attacks in middle-aged people, particularly those in their fifties.
As one of my books on heart disease says, "Sudden death. It's as bad as it sounds."
As far as how hard it is to quit:
My stepfather died of complications from a quintuple bypass made necessary because he was a smoker. His twin brother attended the funeral and said later it was a horrifying thing to look down into the casket and see your own face. Not horrible enough, unfortunately, because he died from complications from smoking two years later.
posted on January 9, 2006 07:32:54 PM new
Hang in there! I quit cold turkey 10 years ago and have never looked back. Put the money you would have spent on cigarettes in a jar every day and see how fast it adds up.
posted on January 9, 2006 09:24:56 PM new
GOOD FOR YOU, Neglus! Hang in there. Not one friend of mine who's quit smoking has regretted it; they all feel better and are healthier.
The long hours of sleep possibly could be your body's way of making up for the stress smoking has put on it?
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posted on January 9, 2006 09:34:32 PM new
My husband and I quit smoking 23 years ago,it was the first thing we promised each other before we got Married that we would both quit smoking. We both quit cold turkey and never started again. My mother spend almost two months hooked to a respirator while a friend died on one at the same time. It gave us something to think about.
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Two men sit behind bars,one sees mud the other sees stars.
#1 When I used ZYBAN, the doctor said to absolutely not smoke while using it and to not use the patch!! If you are going to do it, have your blood pressure checked regularly. It is not recommended that you use both at the same time.
#2 I feel your pain. This is my third attempt in less than a year. It's difficult. Drink lots of water! Believe it or not, this will help to flush your system. Eat a lot of fresh fruits when you feel the need to eat. You'll not gain "2000" pounds. Exercise more. This will help keep your mind off smoking.
I can't do it cold turkey and I went the Zyban route already. By changing my habits (ie, no smoking in my office, no smoking in my car, no smoking in the house, etc.) I'm cutting way back. It's awfully cold around here this time of the year so going outside to smoke is a real hassle!
I wish you success! Just think about it - if you can do this, you can do just about anything!
Cheryl
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
[ edited by cblev65252 on Jan 10, 2006 06:25 AM ]
posted on January 10, 2006 12:30:22 PM new
Thanks all - it's not so bad today. Pixia - the kitten knocked the downstairs extension off the hook and I didn't know about it until your post (a new trick of his!). Cheryl - I think you are right about not using Zyban & patch together - the last doctor told me that too. A previous Doc said it was ok (so of course I opted for his advice even though it's dated)..going to try a day without the Zyban.
I have tried to quit many different times using all available methods. I have tried hypnotism, cold turkey, gum, patch, lozenge, Zyban and combinations of all of the above. I was the most sucessful the first time and had it not been for a day and night of tequila drinking in Palm Springs, might never have started again.
I intend to keep at it. One of these times it WILL work! I keep telling myself that I can start again when I reach 85 if I want ..somehow not so hard if I don't think it's FOREVER!
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posted on January 10, 2006 02:39:48 PM new
Neglus
Please hang in there. I quit about 10 years ago. I started with the patch but I got sick so I took it off and went cold turkey. I could not concentrate and wanted to sleep all the time too. It's just the withdrawal from the drug. It only lasted for about 3 weeks for me and got a little better each day.
The really odd part was that every night I would dream I was smoking and it was SO GOOD. Finally in my dreams I got down to one cigarette a day - then the dreams stopped. Every now and then I'll have a nice long smoke (in my dreams)
