hello i havnt been banded yet i have my consultation feb.9th! i have done all of my requirements that my dr. wants psych.eval. sleep test etc... but im having a hard time with not smoking!! did anyone else have to stop smoking before surgery? and did u stop cold turkey,patch, or medication? and do they do a test where they know if u smoked?lol

I had to quit smoking too. :thumbdown:I was told it was for healing purposes. The doc said no operation if you dont quit. I am trying reaaaaal hard! I used to smoke 2 packs a day so its tough going down to a few puffs a day if anything. I have been chewing gum like its going out of style. And just got rid of all the cigs. If I dont have any there is no temtation (mostly cause I am too lazy to go to town to get them lol)

I wish you luck! You just have to find your own way of doing it. Whatever works for you.

my surgery place requires that you dont smoke and they do test and they will cancel if its present.

Have you tried the stop smoking pill chantix yet? I have been smoke free for 2 years now and I also smoked 2 packs a day.

I'm a smoker. My surgeon strongly discourages smoking but will still do the surgery. I will not be smoking the day off and we'll see how I feel the day after. I understand the benefits of quitting and I've tried but with my nerves the way they are...not a chance I'm quitting before surgery...which is tomrrow!

My surgeon requires the patient to have quit, and runs the test to cofirm. If you haven't quit, he cancels the surgery.

My hubby used Zyban when he quit, which is the prescription medicine welbutrin. It really helped him, you might ask about it. He had tried several times on his own. This was the only thing that worked for him. He is now several years smoke free. The use of it was temporary.

Best wishes!

thank u so much everybody for sharing that info with me! its going to be hard but i can do it!!:wink:

hi i am having my surgery on feb 9th and i have the same question i have cut down to about 4 a day but cant seem to quit completly have you had any helpful replies?

Have you tried the stop smoking pill chantix yet? I have been smoke free for 2 years now and I also smoked 2 packs a day.

Same here! i used Chantix,and have been smoke free for a little over 2 years now :wink:

I've been TRYING to quit since New Years, I usually make it until the weekend then I fall off the wagon with a vengence! lol I will say that the surgeon never said anything to me about quitting, and yes I did put it on my form! :eek: The reason I am trying to quit is because of the better healing time, keeping as much collagen & elasticity in my skin as possible, not to mention being so nervous about going under I'd like to be as healthy as possible the day of surgery!!

Good luck to you! :wink:

thank for your replygood luck to you

I tried...real hard. I quit for about 10 days before Thanksgiving after going through the pre-op work in early/mid November. I thought surgery was coming up quickly and was completely motivated! But then? It was a pain getting a hold of my surgeon's company to get the psych and nutritionist evals done...so Thanksgiving day, I bought a pack of smokes. I smoke about a pack a day...quit the day of my surgery, but resumed a few days after surgery. Oh well! As far as I know, no test was run on me. I'm healing fine, losing weight, and making sure I follow every other order (Protein, Water, exercise, etc.) and I'm feeling great 18 days post-op!

:::lights up another Marlboro:::

I'm in the same boat - but my friend recommended a book to me which helped her. "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" by Alan Carr - she read the book and hasn't smoked since finishing the book 3 years ago. I have just started it myself - it tells you to smoke while reading and that once you're finished, you will never want to smoke again...Good luck to everyone!

I don't smoke, but my surgeon recommends Chantix for those trying to quit before surgery. I think with Chantix it fills the nicotine receptors in you brain so that you don't want to smoke. I think you can even smoke for the first bit of time on the medicine, but you usually don't want to. Also, my surgeon recommends quitting before you begin your preop diet, or you will make it really hard on yourself. Hope this helps.

Good luck!