Smoking

[Jay]

I don't know why no one seems to smoke in this board -- as far as I know, I'm the only one. Yet, where I live, a lot of trans people smoke (post and pre-op... I know people who smoked at Brassards after surgery). So, for some reason, smoking is much more popular up here than in the US, I'm guessing. Although, our smokes cost more.
--natalie

I smoke.. although I live in the UK and I doubt that your cig's cost as much as ours here.

Let us know if the book works as I would be interested in trying it also!

Jay

[Genevieve Swann]

An addiction therapist told me that if there are addictive personalities we are all addicted. Any thing we do and enjoy so we repeat it, is a sign of an addictive personality. My dog is addicted to hotdogs.

[Luc]

I was actually thinking about starting a thread like this a couple days ago... didn't realize there already was one.

I started smoking when I was 17... for that year, I think I had 2-3 cigarettes a week, then up to 3-5 a day from 18 to 19, and when I dropped out of college the first time and became a nomad, it went up to between half a pack and a pack a day. I've quit a few times, once for almost a year, but I always go back to it. There's always some reason I want to start back up again.

It's strange, because I've had the willpower to quit smoking pot and drinking for years at a time, as much as I tend to be a hedonist, and to wean myself off medications that my body was quite dependent upon, without the aid of a doctor or therapist or otherwise. Studies show that nicotine is the most addictive substance on earth, second only to methamphetamine... perhaps that's it.

I've been planning for weeks to get Nicorette gum and try that approach, as I've only gone cold turkey in the past. I think the problem is, really, that I don't want to quit. I've been smoking almost 10 years now, and while I know it will eventually be a detriment to my health (not yet... doctors are always amazed, after checking my lungs, to hear that I'm a smoker), I like it. I started smoking in the first place because, strangely enough, I liked the smell of cigarette smoke. But, for my health, I know I need to quit.

I can't possibly afford Chantix, which someone else said works incredibly well... anyone else have experience with Nicorette? I can get it very cheaply on eBay, so that's what I'm planning to go with, unless someone's got a better suggestion.

SD

[fwagodess]

Forget the books. Buy Chantix. It's probably not covered by insurance if you have it, but it's WORTH IT.

You will not want cigarettes. You won't want tobacco. It's not like quitting, it makes your body forget about nicotine.

You can quit with NO PAIN. No torment. You take the pill AS RECOMMENDED and your body doesn't want it anymore.

I can tell you all sorts of success stories, but if you take the pills as directed, you can tell us yours!

I have used Chantix, and successfully quit in January 2008. It wasn't the first time, that was in 1995. Unfortunately, I have relapsed after 225 days on August 27, 2008.

[shannonts]

Forget the books. Buy Chantix. It's probably not covered by insurance if you have it, but it's WORTH IT.

You will not want cigarettes. You won't want tobacco. It's not like quitting, it makes your body forget about nicotine.

You can quit with NO PAIN. No torment. You take the pill AS RECOMMENDED and your body doesn't want it anymore.

I can tell you all sorts of sucess stories, but if you take the pills as directed, you can tell us yours!

I was going to say the same. I smoked nearly 2 packs a day at times. I was a smoker for 13 years. I started chantix in january of this year. It has been nearly 2 months. I would recommend chantix to everyone! It really works.

[KarenLyn]

Hypnosis worked for me. It helps if you really want to quit though. Still, I was smoking 3 packs a day for years and quit cold turkey after hypnosis. It's been 15 years since I quit and no problems, even when I'm around smokers.

Karen Lyn

[V M]

As I mentioned earlier I quit smoking pot about four yr.s ago. A pack of cig.s lasts me 2-3 days now. The reason I quit smoking pot is that my tolerance was too high and I just wasn't getting high anymore. It became about the same as smoking a cig. but taste better. I crave that taste so much still. Cig.s are just a crappy substitute and taste like dirt. But the laws are really strict where I live now and it is almost impossible to find pot. And if you do find any, it's crap 

Virginia is jonesin' for a J

[pong]

I've been smoking since I was 15 years old and quit in January 2001 using Zyban. Unfortunately, I started smoking again in 2006 thinking I could smoke and quit anytime I want. Wrong! I decided to quit again Jan 2009, which I did - again using Zyban. After a week of taking it, cigarette tasted awful. I can't describe exactly how it tasted but I wasn't enjoying it anymore but as for medications there are side effects. I was supposed to take Zyban for 3 months but I had to quit after only 3 weeks. I couldn't take the side-effects. Fatigue, I felt like I was getting suckered-punch continously, headache, neckache, depression (not wanting to talk with anyone), abdominal pain etc. so I quit taking it but I wasn't craving for cigarettes anymore. I still think about it especially when I see someone smoking but it wasn't bad enough to make me start again. So I am 74 days and 45 minutes smoke free. The only 3 advices I can give you is that - first, you must really want to give up smoking for anything to work. Zyban or any quit smoking remedy is just to help you with the withdrawal symptoms and second, if you succeed quiting, NEVER even try having "just one" because you will start again. We cannot fool ourselves that we can be social smoker.  Third, do not watch the movie Die Hard (first one), watching Bruce Willis puff those cigarettes would make you want to smoke. --> Goodluck!

[Cindy]

I use to smoke then one day, when the price went up again, I decided I wasn't going to give up, I was just delaying the next ciggie (sorry almost said fag ), it's been twenty odd years. I still haven't given up. The same left over ciggie still sits on the shelf. Probably no too good to smoke now!

I remember a friend telling me his Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. Everyone in the family was in shock and got out their cigs!

Cindy James

[iminadaze]

I just went to the doctor's a few days ago cuz I am coughing alot (to the point that I throw up)
He took some X-rays and found "something" wrong. he dosen't want to jump to conclusions without
further tests, but he thinks stomach fluids are getting into my lungs when I cough which causes me to 'toss my cookies'

Sometimes it happens when I bend over (no not for that  ... to pick something up)   

He want's me to stop smoking like now. I told him that I won't be able to stop.
He gave me a script for chantix, which i picked up earlier today but I am too nervous to take cuz
of the suicidal thoughts warning. I get real depressed at night for some reason, and while I don't want to hurt myself,
I am guilty of suicidal thoughts already but know I won't do anything stupid,
but with the chantix...not so sure. I hear so much about it's side effects, and about how good it
works but.....

Anyway, am I nervous for nothing? should I take the damn pill and lock away the sharps?

I guess I am wondering if others, who have taken chantix, and have had suicidal thoughts, noticed
the thoughts got worse?

[V M]

I haven't done Chantix. But I noticed the anti-depression med.s I was taking increased my suicidal thoughts. Go figure....I was thinking about suicide and happy about it  Well, I quit the pills. Everything effects everyone differently. But noted side effects freak me out too 

[Cindy]

Don't know Chantix,
But if you are feeling suicidal get help. Your Dr should or call or a life line group.

Cindy James

[heatherrose]

I've tried the patches and the gum
but I stopped using them because
I found it difficult to keep them lit.

[CayForever]

I've tried the patches and the gum
but I stopped using them because
I found it difficult to keep them lit.

-------------------------------------

O thats a good one!!!

[Chamillion]

Has anyone here heard of the electronic cigarette? You charge it and buy cartridges for it but the thing is there are none of the harmful substances that are in cigarettes in them, and they produce no second hand smoke. There is nicotine however, so it's still addictive, but none of the other 4000 chemicals that are added to cigs (although you can get nicotine free). I got one recently after being advised to quit smoking when going on hormones and it's working out pretty well. I'll still smoke socially but rarely feel the need to buy a pack. It works real well for people who get addicted to the act of smoking rather than the physical addiction to it. Anyone looking to quit, check em out just do a google search

[finewine]

I've heard of them.  Another chap I knew said they did a pretty good job as a surrogate cigarette, as they released a white cool but steam-like vapour so you really felt you were drawing on something when you inhaled.  I was lucky, I just stopped cold turkey and that worked fine for me.

[lizbeth]

I'm an E-cig convert and they really do work. you need to get over a couple mental things though. first it's unnatural to take a normal drag so you take puffs awkwardly at first. once you convinceyourself to drag on it like a normal cigarette it's very satisfying. secondly, you don't have to smoke the whole thing!! when you smoke a cigarette you always smoke an entire cigarette. with ecigs each cart is like a pack, so if you keep hitting it you'll be there for hours.

I just take 2-4 puffs when I want a cigarette and put it down. if they are out of sight I don't even crave them hardly.

[fwagodess]

I'm an E-cig convert and they really do work. you need to get over a couple mental things though. first it's unnatural to take a normal drag so you take puffs awkwardly at first. once you convinceyourself to drag on it like a normal cigarette it's very satisfying. secondly, you don't have to smoke the whole thing!! when you smoke a cigarette you always smoke an entire cigarette. with ecigs each cart is like a pack, so if you keep hitting it you'll be there for hours.

I just take 2-4 puffs when I want a cigarette and put it down. if they are out of sight I don't even crave them hardly.

What exactly is this E-cig convert?

[lizbeth]

electronic cigarettes. basically a vaporizong device that delivers a puff of vapor instead of burning tobacco leaves. there are a bunch of brands out there and you can see them in US malls. recently they took some heat from the FDA since they found 2 harmful chemicals (1 in each seized shipment), but the same chemicals they found are in cigarettes already and even nicotine gums so I'm not really concerned.

[Calistine]

I have never smoked a cigarette in my life and I dont intend to. But good luck for anyone trying to quit