Calling all smokers

[freshair 135]

So i was/am a smoker i qyut for surgery. I'm 2 months out and started again. Yes yes SMH. But my question is are any of you smoking again has it caused any issues? And how did you quit again. I think the lack of food has made me want to smoke so much more. I really like smoking so that makes it so much harder to quit. And please i only qant smokers to reply.

[Grateful_Love 114]

This is a huge fear for me too. I'm still smoking...and I need to quit like..3 months ago. It's scary. I'm afraid my doctor will test me the day of..but yet, I still haven't fully quit.

I was doing super food with just using a vaper pen. (Look at kanger evods on YouTube. Super simple, totally helpful). But I went back to smoking after a really stressful day. Then..I just didn't stop.

I'm trying again tho. Tmw is my lady smoking day and then I'm not buying anymore!

I'm interested in scary stories tho! For motivation

[freshair 135]

Ya i tried the vapor cigarettes too they just nade ne wanna smoke more

[wannaBthinsoon 1,634]

I quit analogs last April in preparation for my surgery, which should be in March this year. I use an e-cig with 0% nicotine, just flavors. So, I have been nicotine FREE since 4/1/14. I have no desire for a real cigarette. I was over the nicotine addiction after about 3 days. Some folks call e-cigs adult pacifiers, and maybe they are. I like the vapor it produces. but the zero nicotine is what I use. I plan to put the ecig down for good, too, once I'm sleeved. And walk or exercise instead of using the "adult pacifier". Just my 2 cents.

[Sharpie 3,306]

my husband was a smoker for 65 years , he absolutely loved smoking. Even after esophageal cancer he refused to quit. Then he needed knee replacement surgery and his ortho doc told him he would not operate on him if he smoked because the healing is hindered. he suggested Chantix and wrote him a script. My husband was reluctant because of the commercials talking about the side affects such as suicidal thoughts, depression, etc. I told him he would be real depressed if he couldn't get his knee fixed . He got Chantix , he quit in one week. It was miraculous. I have never known him not to smoke and I hated the smell, the constant cough and smelly clothes . so, don't know how bad you want to quit but this seems to work. several months after his knee surgery he had to have open heart surgery and I know that if he continued to smoke he wouldn't have survived . Ask your Doctor about Chantix.

[chubbsey1 126]

I quit using e-cigs and chewing tobacco. Weird but it worked for me. The two stents in my heart was also a wake up call.

[gowalking 10,790]

Another option out there to try to quit is Wellbutrin. I was a pack a day smoker for 30 years and also loved to smoke. I never even tried to quit. My PCP told me I was starting to show signs of respiratory distress back in 2006 and said I had to stop.

I told her I couldn't stop and she put me on large doses of Wellbutrin. In small doses, it's an anti-depressant but in larger doses, it helps stop the nicotine cravings. I stopped smoking in less than a month. It was a friggin miracle drug for me. And my last cigarette was in August of 2006. Of course, I gained an awful lot of weight because I substituted one addiction for another but I'm now smoke free and a normal weight.

Good luck...no guilt trips here...as a former smoker, I know how hard a habit it is to break.

[Babbs 14,680]

It's tough, but you also gotta want to do it. Just like with our weight, no amount of nagging, criticizing, or berating will make us do something about it until we are READY to. I quit 3 months before my surgery using vape, tapering down on the nicotine until I was down to 0. Then I stopped the vape. There have been many, many times after the surgery I've wanted to have a cig, but then I think to myself how far I've come and how much healthier I feel without them (along with the weight loss). I can honestly say I'm more proud of my quitting smoking than of the WLS. Just keep in mind you had WLS to get healthy. How does smoking fit into that equation? I'm rooting for you!

[built2livenotexist 119]

Professional smoker. Love smoking; the only thing I hate about being a smoker is rabid non-smokers. I quit very temporarily for the surgery, also using vapor and resumed smoking as soon as I could. I definitely smoke more since the surgery. I've never tried any of the prescription quit aids but I've known people who quit for good using them.

I'm currently of the 'one thing at a time' mindset and I only stopped for as long as I did so that I could have the surgery. If my surgeon had done nic testing, I'd have been screwed. The best advice I can give is that if you want to quit and can't do it on your own, ask for help from your doc or surgical team.

[FrankyG 1,450]

I smoked for over 25 years, with a ~2 year quit in there but went right back to smoking during a stressful time period... that being said, I quit completely a bit over 2 months before my surgery. I haven't gone back either, and I miss smoking and still think about it almost daily even tho I'm more than 110 days clean. And I can't promise that I'm forever quit since I do miss it so much.

But here's the thing: I know that I'm an addict. I don't really miss it; that's the addiction talking. It's just like being an alcoholic. I can't have just one smoke or do it for a little while and quit again. I will always struggle with staying off cigarettes and I recognize that, and will do my very best to make sure I don't pick it back up again because it will hurt my health and likely kill me if I do.

So yeah, totally conflicted but hanging on as hard as I can to my quit because I deserve to be healthy - despite that stupid addiction.

There are no benefits from smoking - zero, zilch, nada. I had weight loss surgery because I also had issues with food and eating and I want to be healthy and live an active and enjoyable life with my husband. Being morbidly obese wasn't conducive to that idea, and neither is smoking. There is no good reason to smoke, and I've witnessed two family members die a slow, agonizing smoking related death... I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

And yet I still have that insane little voice inside that just wants a damned cigarette. Irrational and stupid, but that's what an addiction is. You can't get any more blatant than that. So that is just one more reason to not smoke - because I am not going to be thought of (in my own mind anyway) as a stupid person.

And using an e-cig is just as bad if not worse. All you're doing is changing the method of delivery and still putting poison into your body while fooling yourself into believing that it is healthy. They're still in the early days of studying the health effects and the news coming out now is NOT good. Saying they're safer than cigarettes (even using the no nicotine cartridges) is like saying that playing with one poisonous snake is safer than playing with 10 of them... they are still dangerous.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/California-Declares-E-Cigs-Are-Health-Threats-290104881.html

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/health-risks-e-cigarettes-emerge

I quit using the Allen Carr method (the vids are available up on youtube) and a phone app (Butt Out only available on iphones unfortunately, but there are plenty of quit apps) and told myself that the quit was temporary until I got healed from surgery. But I'm sticking with it as long as I can, because I know I feel better now than when I was smoking, and frankly it's nice to not be coughing and wheezing, have warm fingers and toes, and not smell nasty (and yes, you do smell nasty ALL OF THE TIME to non-smokers - that sh!t is in your hair, your clothes, embedded in your skin... I can smell smokers a mile away now, and had friends tell me the same thing).

Look, I'm not telling anyone to quit smoking. You have to be an adult to smoke anyway, so I'm assuming that you know enough to know that it's got no benefits, is harmful to your health and you're wasting money and throwing away years of your life to do something that is in essence a nasty habit that will cripple and then kill you in the end. Only you can decide if you're worth quitting for - no one can do it for you. But if you just went through something as extreme as weight loss surgery, you have to care a little about getting your health and well-being back on track!

[wannaBthinsoon 1,634]

The Allan Carr method worked for me too.

[freshair 135]

Ohh trust me i know we smell cause when i quit my mom stunk!!! See this is an other thing i live with my hubby and mom and they are both smokers. Mind you non of us smoke in the house but regardless cigarettes are everywhere and readily available. I thank you all for all your inputs i am struggling with this because i really really do like smoking i love it in fact and I'm just being honest. Even knowing that I'm slowly killing myself. That's why smoking is such a mind f@#$ right now. Because like some of you have said i do want to get healthy or else i wouldn't of had surgery. i tried wellbutrin for 3 months and nothing because I think u need to want to quit and i didn't want too. So for now i this is where I'm at, hubby is willing to quit with me but my mom isn't but she is moving out in a few weeks. Once all cigarettes are out of the house than hubby and i can have a clean slate. Which i will get help from my GP. I might try chantix this time. It's gonnq be hard but i feel that if i could go through WLS than what can't i do??? Right?? I'll keep you guys posted

[bobbyswife 862]

I quit a little over a year ago. I had surgery to get healthy, and decided that smoking defeated that purpose. I'll never go back!