Cancer Survivors Network

Smoking is a real challenge. My sister quit 4 years ago after decades of smoking. I know people who have had great luck with hypnosis. Otherwise, I think you need to replace the habit with something. Whenever you would normally have a smoke, you need to have something else you do. Remember the actor who walked around with a lollypop.

Please don't beat yourself up about being hooked on cigs. They design them that way. I'm proud of you for taking control of your life. You and your boyfriend should put the money you save in a BIG jar and do something fun with it once you are out of the woods with this thing. It could be big bucks.

Good luck.

Roseann

I quit smoking about 17 years ago now and both my husband and me were 2 pack a day smokers. We did the group hypnosis. Never had another smoke. However, its still not easy because of the habit part. I chewed on straws. You know like after the cup of coffee or getting in the car, on the phone, with a drink.It can be done. Good luck

One thing that is supposed to help is to change up things you do when you smoke. Like if you have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning with a cigarette, skip the coffe, take your shower, eat your breakfast. Just do things differently. This is supposed to be very effective with those "key" cigarettes we have. If you do out and have a smoke right after eating, then go do the dishes, take a walk, read a book, something that changes your patterns because patterns play a big part in our smoking. If you work and have a cigarette at your break time at 10, take you break at 10:30 and go for a walk. These are little things and they won't work all alone but they can help. When I quit I put my cigarettes on the top of the frig. Every time I thought about having one I said I won't have one right now, but in 10 minutes, and after 10 minutes I said 10 minutes again. Each day that I didn't smoke I make the time longer. After two weeks, I threw the cigarettes away. That was about 28 years ago. It can be done. ANd if you slip, then just start over. No guilt, just know that it is hard and that you can succeed.
Stef

Wow Stef~ that is pretty much exactly what I did to stop smoking also 28 years ago! I quit one cigarette at a time too! I figured if I didn't smoke This One, I wouldn't smoke the Next One! And so on, and so on!!! And lo and behold, it worked! Quitting one month at a time didn't work; once I picked up a cigarette after 27 or so days and felt like a failure. But one smoke at a time? That I could and did do!

Hugs,
Chen♥

I was told that sunflower seeds replace the need for Nicotene. Hope this helps. Jxx

And if they don't, you can always spit a big wad of wet, chewed up sunflower seeds at the nearest person who pisses you off while you are having a nicotine fit! Sorry...I don't know where that came from! LOL (perhaps I am channeling Tasha????)

Hugs,
Chen♥

Chen

We do have so much in common. And OMG, I laughed out loud at the sight of spitting out the sunflower seeds. That could work well for the stupid things people say about our cancers too. And the channeling Tasha, so funny. Yes that is difinitely something she would say. I love it. And yes, the one cigarette at a time is the best way I think to quit. Just like facing cancer, one step, one treatment, one moment at a time and then you look around and it's all done and you are on the mend.
Stef

Good luck to you in quitting smoking.

Megan

I guess I figured that I was fighting one cancer, why did I want another one, meaning lung cancer. That was a huge motivation. Good luck to you! I know it isn't easy.

Hugs, Diane ♥

We may have always been nice, inquisitive, ornery, intelligent, shy, bold, rich, poor or something inbetween, married, single, straight, gay, kids, no kids vegetarians, carnivores~ fill in the blank! But we didn't know strength until we stood up to do battle with the Beast! So, yeah, we also smoke and drink, and are...Human!!!!

I hope the hints/suggestions, coupled with the positive vibes from your sisters here on the boards give all who want to quit the extra boost! You are surrounded by Kindred Spirits who are pulling for you!!!

Hugs,
Chen♥

And...when your lungs thank you by clearing up, and all of the cilia are free and moving, and your energy level surprises you, you can change your username to PinkRoze! LOL LOL I couldn't help it, sorry! :-)

Hugs,
Chen♥

I like it! =) If you start seeing that name, you'll know I've finally done it!!! LOL

Elaine

Notice I didn't say "quit"? I have never quit, I just havent' had a cigarette in 24 years. When I stopped having cigs I didn't tell a soul except my husband...and you know what? No one noticed I wasn't smoking. That way, if I relented and had a cigarette I wouldn't get flack from people and feel like a failure. I carried cigarette's with me for a couple of months and then on Easter I had an argument with my hubby and had 3 cigarette's in a row and spent the rest of the afternoon laying down cause I was sick. I quit carying them in my purse.

Back then, we still partied very hardy and had lots of cocktails and spent time in our favorite pubs etc and of course that's where I could smoke triple my normal amount so instead I started playing with bar straws, one in each hand and it worked. For me and many smokers it's the act of doing something in your hands that's a big part of the habit. I have read just recently that we get over the nicotine withdrawl in the first 10 days and then we are left with the habit of the whole ritual of pulling out the cigarette case, lighting up, watching the smoke etc. I chewed sugarless bubble gum and blew lots of bubbles, keeps your mouth busy. I did slip a couple of times but because I hadn't "quit" I didn't get all bent out of shape (like when you fall off your diet and say to heck with it until next Monday). We didn't have all the "helpers" back then so we had to be inventive and create our own "helpers". To this day I play with straws, it's fun.

You have to really want to stop smoking or else you will not be successful, so be honest with yourself. Do you really want to quit or do you just know you should quit. Two different animals. It took me five years to actually get in position to stop. It's funny, I didn't even have a "last" cigarette, I just said to myself "How long can you go without one?"

You can do this, this is a difficult time to try this while you're in treatment unless smoking makes you sick right now and then it's a great time. You'll be surprised how short of a time it will take for you to not be able to stand the smell of someone ele's cigarette. I live in Michigan and we are going smoke free May 1 and I can hardly wait!!!!!

Good luck and we are all here with hints and encouragement. As they say "Never stop stopping". You really will feel better both physically and mentally. And no one will be shooting you dirty looks when your in public either.

Hugs, Judy :-)

Your post from about 6 weeks ago, hopefully has you progressing into being a non~smoker. One little tip I could share is when my father quit smoking he used black licorice to pop in his mouth when he craved a cigarette~the strong anise taste really did something to help him. It comes in small bite sized pieces.
Hope your doing good!!

The "do you really want to quit or do you just know you should quit" comment is pretty much where I am. I just know I should quit. And, yes, I think there is a huge difference, too. I think I'm going to read up on all the nasty things it does to your body to maybe get my mind in a place where I really want to quit. Can't hurt, might help!

Elaine

I, too, was a lifelong smoker...30+ years. I stopped twice, when I was pregnant; however, once I stopped breast feeding, I would start with "just one cigarette" and before I knew it, I was a full-time smoker again. I even went so far as to be the caregiver for my mother who had COPD. She passed away 3-1/2 years ago as a result of smoking. Several of my aunts and uncles on her side of the family died before their 55th birthday's due to emphysema and/or COPD. Well, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, 6/09, I came to the realization that I wanted to give my body every change I could to kick this beast in the arse. I decided that the one vice I had that was a possible cause of breast cancer was smoking and I needed to quit...once and for all!! I went so far as to "set the date". I picked the day after my 55th birthday, June 29th. For some reason, I felt like I needed a "special" day to do this. So, on June 28th, my birthday, I smoked all day knowing that this was it. When I got up on the 29th, I put on a nicotine patch. I really didn't want to wear the patch because I knew I was still having nicotine going into my body, but I also wanted to be successful, so I wore it. I had my lumpectomy scheduled for July 7th and was advised by my surgeon that I could not have the patch on during the surgery. So, that morning I went to the hospital without the patch. I have never put one on again. I am proud to say that I have been smoke-free for 7 months. Unfortunately, I do have a husband that quit WITH me but he only lasted 77 days and went back to smoking. He is very considerate though and doesn't smoke around me. He is now saying that he is tired of smoking and wants to try to quit again. He asks me how I did it so easily. I told him that it wasn't easy but when I had a doctor tell me I had cancer that made all the difference in the world for me. I know it's not a cure for everyone but wanted to share my story and reasons for quitting. I can validate what Chen said and say that I have noticed a BIG difference in my stamina while exercising now. I have done Jazzercise for years and for those of you not familiar with it, it is a mixture of aerobic, yoga, pilates, and strength training done for 60 minutes. It is an exercise that you do at your pace, either low impact or high impact. I used to do a lot of the routines low impact but since I quit smoking, I can now exercise high impact through the entire class. I'm not tooting my horn, just hopefully giving some HOPE and incentive to those trying to quit. It really is possible, just takes a lot of truly wanting to kick the habit. If we can beat this beast called breast cancer....we can beat the beast called smoking. Good luck to those of you out there trying to quit. You can do it!!!!!

You are so right about reading up on the effects on your body...I almost forgot, during those 5 years it took me to get in position to quit I would lite up, take a drag and then say to myself "Is this the cigarette that will kill me?" "Is this the cigarette that will give my cancer?" "Is this the cigarette that will cause the doctor to say you have inoperable lung cancer?" After a few years of this I scared myself into not smoking. My chest would actually hurt when I lit up and I would put it out. A couple of people have said that was horrible, but you what? It worked (for me).

Now if I could just quit eating and start exercising....

Good luck you guys, you'll make it. Keep us up to date on your progress. And don't be ashamed, many of us were in your shoes once. It's not easy, but you are fighting the Beast and you are much stronger than you think, you can fight the tobacco Beast tool.

Hugs, Judy :-)

When I had my last cigarette, I tried saying "Is this the cigarette that's going to give me cancer? Is this the one that's going to kill me?" Let me tell you, that was a really uncomfortable feeling. Scares the heck out of you. You really don't enjoy the cigarette as much as usual. I finally just stopped saying it, I was so uncomfortable. Stupid, I know, but as I said before, I'm still wrestling with the idea of quiting because I want to OR quitting because I need to -- two totally different animals. Pray for me, everybody, to do the right thing!

Elaine

Glad that Nicoderm patch worked for you Victoria! A success story!

Angie

Worked for me, too (I'm usually on the lung/brain cancer boards), after my third try, and I had to start at the highest level, think it's three. This was 7 or 8 years ago, before my whole brain radiation - lots of things I don't remember well :) But yeah. it took me three re-starts, so don't give up just because you started smoking again - just decide to quit again! And maybe I would have had an even easier time of it if I had been taking Xanax then, something to think about.

Luck and Perseverance to you, tat2granny

Deb

Congrats to you Deb for quitting! You can do it too tat2granny!

Hugs, Leeza

I, too, have been a smoker for 40 years. Before the diagnosis of breast cancer I had quit for about 6 months. The day I was diagnosed I bought a pack of cigarettes and the rest is history. Told my doctor about that and he said it was understandable. I've been taking Chantix now and have been off for 6 weeks.