I need to quit cigarettes. Advice?

[Blackwaters427]

Hey everyone I have a problem. I'm not even a month into my HRT and I really need help putting down the Marlboros for good. I've been trying so hard but this has got to be the hardest part of my transition so far. I've only been able to cut cigs out for a couple days at best.  I can't believe cigarettes are even legal, they're so addictive. I always end up breaking down and getting more or bumming them off coworkers when I'm at work away from my girlfriend, particularly when im dysphoric. It's seriously making her mad and it's stressing me out. What's the easiest way to quit them?

[Deborah]

E-cigs is the easiest way.  It's the only thing that has worked for me long term.  I have quit cold turkey before but the nicotine cravings always came back from time to time and eventually I always started smoking again.


It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide, Autumn Leaves

[Blackwaters427]

E-cigs is the easiest way.  It's the only thing that has worked for me long term.  I have quit cold turkey before but the nicotine cravings always came back from time to time and eventually I always started smoking again.


It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide, Autumn Leaves

But don't you need to be off nicotine completely with estradiol to avoid the risk of dvt?

[Deborah]

I'm not sure about that.  However, I did tell my endo I was using ecigs and she didn't see a problem with it.  Also, my choice is really ecigs or eventually starting smoking again and ecigs are the lesser of the two evils by orders of magnitude.

Anyway, it is the easiest way to stop tobacco and you can reduce the nicotine to zero, or stop completely, later on if that's what you want.


It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide, Autumn Leaves

[SadieBlake]

I quit when I was 23 because my habit had hit 2 packs/day and that scared me. I came up with my own version of aversion therapy. Pushed myself to smoke 3 packs a day of nonfiltered for a week and then quit cold turkey. I was so over nicotine that a cig I had a couple weeks later merely made me sick.

I've only smoked a couple of times since then and the most recent was when my wonderful massage therapist would offer me a cig as we waited for the bus (I had a serious crush on her and I always made sure i was her last customer). I did this simply to be polite, she spoke virtually no English and i, hardly any Mandarin so we chatted using a combination of pidgin, sign and Google translation and over a few months got to know each other well enough to acknowledge mutual attraction. Then she left town, I think due to INS problems.

I sorely miss MeiHua, I don't miss cigarettes. I was done with nicotine in 1979.

[JMJW]

Delia Melody of youtube was given asprin with MTF HRT due to being a smoker in order to thin the blood.

[SophieD]

I found chantix to be effective. 

Good luck; the pain of quitting is worth it.

[Barb99]

E-cigs, My doctor had no problem with me being on e-cigs and HRT. Even my GRS surgeon would have let me stay on them, she only asked that I try to cut the nicotine down as much as possible.

I did that and ended up cutting it to zero in 2 months. At that point I quit the e-cigs completely. Four months now and no urge to start up again!

[robyn.hodgson]

I too used Chantix. I have been smoke free almost a full year. I am not sure if it was quoting smoking, which I did 3 weeks prior to starting my HRT, but my sense of smell is now incredible. I was a 25 pack year smoker. The Chantix has worked twice in my life now. Hope that helps.


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[April_Girl]

Ive been on Ecigs for almost 4 years, I have cut the nicotine down in juice from 18mg to 6mg but have struggled to go lower, its also in my hand all the time, I'm almost out of my juice though and will attempt to go cold turkey at the end the week, I was thinking of trying yoga in the evening and working on Buddhism to try and help with the craving's and take my mind off it.

I have done all the patches and drugs previously, chantix did work for a few months I was smoke free but it did make me feel very weird with palpitations at times and I would not want to attempt it again with that drug, but due to heavy drinking at the time and being with friends that smoked I got started again, alcohol and cigarettes do go well together

[Angela Drakken]

Ive been using an ecig for about 3-5 years now at 0mg nicotine. I enjoy the act itself more than anything else and am undecided about dropping it entirely.
I started smoking originally when I was 11.. quit during trade school cold turkey, now only use the electric.

[Katja69]

Roughly 10 years back I tried nicorette, patches, 2 patches, 2 patches with nicorette, 2 patches with nicorette and a smoke, e-cigs, went cold turkey for 4 weeks.  Then it hit me.  It wasn't the nicotene, but rather the habitual motion of hand to mouth or holding something between the fingers.  Then I thought of my dad when he had to quit.  I dropped cigs for lemon drops whenever he had the urge.  Needless to say, I am still smoking only because I am not quite ready to quite.  Once I relocate I will have to (it's a smoke free environment) and I'll find my own version of dad's lemon drop technique.  Sometimes it's not always the cause, it may be the result that reprogrammed the brain.  It can be trained back to its pre-cigarette days.

[AlyssaJ]

My wife had really good success with Chantix. You have to be very cautious of the side effects though.  Not sure if there would be any interactions or odd side effects from HRT.

[jentay1367]

My experience was that anything I replaced them with, became unsatisfactory and it was back to the smokes. You really don't want to exchange one crappy habit for another, you want to kill the bad habit. The tact I used was the same one I used for booze, set it down and walk away. For the first month stay away from people that smoke and places where it is going on....(much easier these days). Get rid of the temptation. It's hard enough just to quit.
      They say it takes 21 days to get your brain wrapped around a change...so you gotta at least go that long for any addiction to be abated. But reality is closer to this:
according to a 2009 study, the time it takes to form a habit really isn't that clear-cut. Researchers from University College London examined the new habits of 96 people over the space of 12 weeks, and found that the average time it takes for a new habit to stick is actually 66 days; furthermore, individual times varied from 18 to a whopping 254 days.

So the reality is, you need to settle in for a possible long haul...it can be done though, but you must be realistic.

At your age and weight I wouldn't worry too much about DVT, but it's still a nasty expensive habit with no up side. Good luck on your quest!

[Artesia]

I quit smoking over 20 years ago.  I was smoking 2.5 packs a day for about 5 years, while in the army.  The day I got my clearing papers, I threw a pack at my friend Bill, and told him there was a carton in the fridge and that I didn't need them anymore.  Have only a few times craved one.  My suggestion is to have something else to do instead of smoking, like play a game of some sort, chew bubble gum, or just concentrate on something else that requires a lot of focus.

[Rachel]

I used Chantix and fading ( Marlboro red, than light then ultra light). I have been smoke free 8 years.

Be carful of popcorn lung with ecigs. Some oils use the same ingredient in microwave popcorn and can cause a severe lung issues.

[ghostbees]

I'm in the same boat tbh. I went to the doctors and he referred me to a support group. Maybe that would help? Cigarettes are a nasty habit :C one that I'm too struggling to break.
,
Loki

[zamber74]

I agree with others regarding ecigs, I've been using them for the past 8 years or so now, completely cutting off my dependence off of regular cigarettes. 

If you were to use them, you could slowly wean your way off of them by dropping the level of nicotine in the liquid you are using.  I haven't done so, because I enjoy the act of smoking, the calmness that nicotine gives me. 

[DawnOday]

In 1987 I quit cigarettes, cocaine supplied by my government, and booze. I did attend some sessions but it seems everyone was more interested trying to beat the pee test. After much soul searching I watched as my son took some wobbly steps on the Huntington Beach bike path. I knew at this point the little man was going to change my life. I made him my higher power and each time I feel the urge to jump off the wagon, I see his face. He was joined a couple years later by his sister. Together they are the purpose I do just about anything. Also part of the reason I put my gender problems on hold. Everyone can find inspiration. I found it quite easy to quit all of it cold turkey. Now that they are on their own, successful in their own way, I can ponder a life change 60 years in the making. Almost 5 months HRT. Good luck, It does take will power that is in everyone it just takes some effort. 

[bluepaint]

Sometimes those who find they cant do it for themselves can find strength in doing it for someone they love that they want to be around for in the future and also not to go out with a legacy of having it be with oxygen tanks around them or in a hospital bed! No matter how you cut it e cig or not, its not goof for you, in a world already full of all sorts of cancer causing chemicals, why purposely feed yourself the stuff?
Seeing my aunt die after a long bout of emphysema, then finally lung cancer, was enough inspiration for me to quit!

I liked those nicorette cigarette holder looking things that had capsules inside, you could chew and gnaw on the end and (when needed) you drew in puff of the nicotine to satisfy the urge, that helped me with the oral fixation then after a month or so I had to quit the nicotine which I was still getting but it easier in 2 steps than all together!

For anyone on HRT the "FtM trans HRT forum" recommends taking an herbal supplement called "Rutin" , opposed to aspirine to safe guard for blood cloths and other cardiovascular complications!  wishing courage and strength to those who are trying, Im sure if you find the right reason, youll be able to! Once you quit youll look back and although you still get urges sometimes bc it was such a habit, you will be able to see the reasons around you more clearly as to why you did!


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