I had quit smoking a month before my surgery and then started back up 3 wks after surgery. I know that I am NOT supposed to be smoking and when my Dr. finds out he is going to chew me a new one and good. I don't want to smoke but there has been so many changes in my life since my 11/19/10 surgery. People say "eat carrot sticks, raw veggies (they dont understand I can eat that stuff)...etc...but right now being 6 wks post op I cant do any of that and next thing I know I'm buying cigs again. I know complications can develope from smoking and my sleeve and this scares me but I don't know what to do. Before surgery the Dr didn't even want me to do the patch so cold turkey it was. I went about nuts too. So if anyone out there has faced this issue please help me. I want to quit but having a hard time doing so. Any suggestions are welcome.

Gina, I can completely relate, and I am not the best person to talk to about it. I've quit and gone back to smoking 3 times since having my revision.

The main concern with smoking post-sleeve is ulcers. Even though, I haven't had any issues in 18 months since going back to smoking.

I wish I could tell you some fabulous story, or remedy, but smoking for me is the one thing that is my horrible habit that I can not kick.

I've tried Wellbutrin, and I dropped down to 119lbs, lost my appetite, it made me manic, and overall was a horrible experience for me. Chantix is expensive, and not covered by our insurance. The patch, gum, lozenges make me a total nut job so I have to do it cold turkey, and for that to work, I'd have to be on an isolated island with an IV of Moscato, and tons of hot cabana boys to keep me occupied.

Hypnosis is the one thing I haven't tried.

Feel your pain! I too am the same .......its so hard to quit. But I have cut down to 2 a day with the help of gum. It really works for me. I hope this helps you!! Good luck!

I had great luck with Zyban (which is a form of Wellbutrin) and my husband successfully quit with Chantix. We both knew that we could not quit without some drug help since we had been smokers for 25+ years and had both tried to quit twice before cold turkey. I would talk with your doctor to see if any of these drugs might be an option for you. Good Luck!

Gina, I can completely relate, and I am not the best person to talk to about it. I've quit and gone back to smoking 3 times since having my revision.

The main concern with smoking post-sleeve is ulcers. Even though, I haven't had any issues in 18 months since going back to smoking.

I wish I could tell you some fabulous story, or remedy, but smoking for me is the one thing that is my horrible habit that I can not kick.

I've tried Wellbutrin, and I dropped down to 119lbs, lost my appetite, it made me manic, and overall was a horrible experience for me. Chantix is expensive, and not covered by our insurance. The patch, gum, lozenges make me a total nut job so I have to do it cold turkey, and for that to work, I'd have to be on an isolated island with an IV of Moscato, and tons of hot cabana boys to keep me occupied.

Hypnosis is the one thing I haven't tried.

Thank you all. Quitting smoking is NOT an easy thing thats for sure. I've tried Wellbutrin and I'm not kidding when I say this....I started smoking more! Needless to say I went off of that. I'm scared with being only 6 wks out I'm going to develope ulcers. I know all this but I just cant quit and I'm really getting mad at myself. The island with cabana boys would really do wonders for me.....it would surely keep me occupied! Give me a bottle of Captain Morgan, a few hot cabana boys..........life would be good! lol!! Oh wait, I cant drink yet! Will life ever be normal again? I know a few months down the road I'll look back and say "it wasn't all that bad" but right now it just seems like it will never end. I cant go to the gym yet, I do walk a lot and I'm down a total of 56 lbs (26 before surgery o 11/19/10). I don't like this phase I'm in right now tho. Oh well, this to shall pass.

I stopped smoking for my surg and for a few weeks after but I started up again. I am dealing with one thing at a time right now....and that one thing is weight loss. I will tackle that goal once I have reached my goal weight. When I do it will be CHantix. You can go to Pizers webiste and they apply for assistance if insurance doest cover it. I got it last time for 90 for a month supply which in the long run even with smoking is cheap....

I know several ppl who quit smoking using hypnosis.. Could be worth a try... it's drug free anyway.

I have a dear friend who swears by acupuncture. That was my back-up plan if cold turkey hadn't worked.

95% of people quit smoking using Allan Carr's "The Easy Way Method". Ive been smoke free since 10-10-10 and had no withdraws. Grab the audio book at Amazon.com. Great stuff and excellent reviews. Its been a miracle for me.

Quitting smoking is VERY hard. The most important thing is not to be too discouraged by setbacks, and to keep trying.

Remember that it's more important to have smoke-free days than it is to be 100% perfect in quitting your addiction. So, even if you smoked 100/365 days last year, that's still 265 days that you DIDN'T smoke, and that all adds up to time for your poor lungs and heart to heal.

Finally had a setback with doctor he said that he was delaying my surgery because I could not get off my smoking.. I finally just got really sick of smoking I was taking chantix and finally I just got mad and put them down. It was really hard but I can say it is one of the worst things to quit. Seems that my doc said that he would do a urine test and make sure that I was nicotene free before sugery.. I probably would still be smoking right now if it wasn't for that.. He did tell me for the healing it was impairative to quit..

I have been an off and on again smoker for 10 years. I got a really bad sinus infection in August that was so bad, I simply couldn't smoke. That lasted about 7 days and I figured at that point, I might as well quit. Which was awesome, since I was able to go to the first surgeon appt smoke free.

It only takes 7 days for the chemical addiction to pass, the rest is physicological. My #1 hot spot to smoke was while driving. I had to replace the cig for a straw or something to hold in my hand and what not. At this point, I don't even crave. In fact I am the horrible reformed smoker always talking to my hubby about how he should quit and how he stinks from it and such. Good luck...

If your willing to change your life with your weight, add the smoking in too. It's for the best.

I feel your pain my dear. I'm still trying to kick the habit before surgery in February. Successfully went smoke free for a month and then picked up a pack at a family Christmas party. I actually went and picked up an E-cigarette called New 1's....something to that effect for like $10 at a gas station. It's helped a great deal, and hopefully I'll be able to put that down soon too! Best of luck, and if all else fails try using a cross over addiction. Every time you feel like you need a cigarette you could go for a short little walk or pop a tic tac or something. For me it's not about the nicotine it's the act of smoking itself. I hope this helps!

Smoking increases you odds of gettin a blood clot. To me that wasn't worth the risk. I quit a month before surgery which was my DRs orders. I havent cheated once. BUT 20 days after my surery they found a HUGE clot. Every nurse and DR would ask me if i was smoking or on the BC pill. I quit them both preop and haden't started them since the surery. Clots are danerous so maybe if you think of the complecations that may come from smoking before surgery, maybe it'll help you quit. I'm on blood thinners for at least 6 months and possibly the rest of my life. I don't know how long after the surgery it's safe to do it.

~~Kelli