Help To Stop Smoking Desperately Needed

[Betsy Voinovich]

Now for something completely different... I am wondering if anyone has any advice for a person in Lakewood who desperately needs to quit smoking and doesn't seem to be able to do it. I'm just starting to research services that might be out there, or books, or DVD's-- I want to find out if anyone can point me in the right direction. All advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. If you are recommending a service that is outside of Lakewood, that's fine! The person needing the help is in Lakewood and needs it quite a bit.

Thank you so much.

Betsy Voinovich

[dl meckes]

https://quitnet.meyouhealth.com/#/ is a very good place that has a ton of people who either are quitting or have quit. I highly recommend having a 24/7 support group. Quitnet is also on Facebook.

Have a quit plan (what will you do if you are craving)
Have a quit kit (keep your mind and hands occupied)
Acknowledge when you used to want to smoke.
Just worry about today.

10/19/2008

[Peter Grossetti]

I was able to quit (cold turkey after a pack a day for 8 years) when two things became crystal clear in my mind: 1.) continuing to smoke will hasten my death and 2.) lots of people (known and unknown) LOVE me and i would not want to hurt people who love me.

I know this sound sappy, but it's true. I would also suggest adding a good habit (exercise?, art?, meditation?) to take the place of a bad habit.

While I have no recommendation for services available, I felt compelled to share this.

Best of luck, Betsy (and your friend)

[Pam Wetula]

I smoked on and off and mostly on for 23 years. I tried to quit many, many times. On February 4th, 1996, I was successful and I believe it is because I took a different attitude to the task.

Instead of quitting cigarettes...I woke up and said: " I am a NONSMOKER!"

I still had an open pack of cigarettes. (I kept it around for a few months!) I had a spouse who said he was smoking because I was smoking and although I knew his smoking was not my fault, I felt it would be better if I gave it up.

I put on 27 pounds and that was the beginning of really big Pammie. Still I would not go back to smoking, even if it meant I could be smaller. I also found that I was not immediately better physically because I quit smoking. It took my body about 6-7 months to get rid of the toxins. I had recurring sinus infections and my chest was congested. I spoke to many other people who had the same reaction. After the 6-7 months, I was REALLY HEALTHY....

I am a NONSMOKER..was my change of mindset. It cost nothing. I would talk to a Doctor about the weight and the toxin issue if I had it to do all over again.

I am still a nonsmoker all these years later and a ton of my friends and family went back to cigarettes after using patches, meds etc.... Good Luck. God Bless.

[Gary Rice]

Both of my parents quit smoking immediately on their own. Mom was a heavy smoker. After her heart attack, she just quit and never went back. In Dad's case, he also quit one day when he just decided that was that. I truly believe that both parents lived longer and healthier lives without smoking.

Interesting thing about Mom...It was determined that she had a heart blockage, and she ended up being a candidate for a new micro artery clearing procedure, but they could not get her in to do it for quite a period of time. When she finally did go in to have the procedure done, she had not smoked for that time period, and her blockage had already disappeared! Her body (and we believed, God) took care of the problem, and we also believed that stopping smoking helped that to happen. I've been told that blockages don't normally just go away, but Mom's did, so draw your own conclusions. (Likely too would there have been some medications involved, as well)

You know, it is so common in our society to seek out external help for changing our personal behaviors, and if this sort of thing works for some people, more power to them.

Bottom line however would be that a person must want to change.

My own family had, and instilled in me, the thinking that, within ourselves, we have the ability to stop our own bad habits, just by stopping them. They showed me that this was possible, and I know that I've broken a few bad habits of my own with the same positive attitude.

Of course, sometimes, one bad habit can replace another. We have to watch out for that one.

The other qualifier with my own family was that we were people of faith, and we always asked for God's help, in addition to our own God-given will power.

Tell your friend not to let the mind play tricks on him/her. This is something that can be done.

The main thing to remember here is that the person in question is NOT alone. We are one big extended family of people who care. That should help.

Back to the banjo...

[Lori Allen _]

Cold turkey was the only way I could do it. I gained a few pounds, but, have less sinus and ear infections now!

[todd vainisi]

Cold turkey seems the best way, and I admire those who can do it like that.

I'm a crazy hedonist though so I had to use chantix. I can decide to quit but then 4 hours later, my brain just starts working against me. Even a day later or 2 days later, even after I've suffered through all that, the little devil on my shoulder could get me to go have a cigarette and ruin it.

So, the Chantix removed that part of the equation because it made the cigarette do nothing for me. It's AMAZING what removing your brain's chemical reaction does to the enjoyment of hot smoke going in and out of your lungs. It destroys all enjoyment. It quickly makes no sense to continue smoking and that constant voice in my head trying to undermine my attempts to quit was quickly silenced when it saw that even if I did what it told me, there was no satisfaction or payoff from having a cigarette.

I can't emphasize this enough, if you take the drugs every day and wait the build up period out, you will literally have no choice but to quit. You can keep trying to smoke but it won't "work". You can let the bad voice win and sneak one, because you won't make it through more than a puff or two because it tastes awful and your brain doesn't light up when it hits you. Soon, you won't bother trying to sneak a puff because its pointless.

On the other hand, there were nasty side effects. Including wild/upsetting dreams. And I had bad depression which I conquered with daily exercise and time. I actually had to do this twice, the first time I started smoking like an idiot about 2 years after I quit. The second time I did not use the medicine as directed, but instead only took the chantix until I thought I was "in the clear" of the withdrawal (like a week after my last drag) and then quit the medicine. So I was on it for about 3 weeks the second time instead of 2 or 3 months the way they had me do it the first time. So, it was on me to be vigilant the second time and I suffered no depression. I still haven't smoked a cigarette since June 11, 2012.

[jackie f taylor]

I quit, I told my self, and I stuck by it, I told myself the government prohibited the manufacture, sale and consumption of cigarettes, (as they should) no stores sold them and the only way to get them was the black market, I was not going to break the law, cruising Lorain Avenue at 3 am in the morning, giving money to who? I quit...however, I have been known to sample cannabis from time to time, medically.

[Jeff Dreger]

I feel the need to share that a good friend of mine lost his wife to Chantix. It very quickly and without warning made her suicidal. Since then I found out about another acquaintance that had the same thing happen to them. It may well work for some people but I will strongly urge any of my friends and family to avoid it should the issue ever arise.

[james fitzgibbons]

Thank You for that Jeff the side effects are horrifying. There should be way more control on these drugs. The FDA is a joke. I feel really bad about people that are the victims.