Hi, my surgeon told me that i have to quit smoking once and for all. Did you smoke after the surgery? I'm starting to think that quitting Will be Even harder than the liquid diet.

Any suggestions to quit somking?

On another thread, someone suggested putting a load of ashes/butts into a plastic bag. When the temptation to smoke hits you, open the bag and take a big whiff.

Good luck, I know it's hard!

9 hours ago, farfi said:

Hi, my surgeon told me that i have to quit smoking once and for all. Did you smoke after the surgery? I'm starting to think that quitting Will be Even harder than the liquid diet.

Any suggestions to quit somking?

I still smoke cigars here and there (but they are so different from cigarettes it's not funny, but that's another conversation). But I do agree, quitting cigarettes is a really good idea, as hard as it is.

I quit smoking in 2004 and I'm so glad I did. I was lucky and my employer offered a program to quit, so I did counseling and back then they used Wellbutrin (Zyban) as an aid to help withdrawal symptoms. It really worked, not to say that it made it easy by any means, but the withdrawal symptoms were much less unpleasant than in my many past tries to quit.

Maybe you can ask your surgeon or your primary doctor about any programs that might be available in your area. I feel like the support helped, and I remember they had a survey that identified the level of physical and psychological addiction and then had things to help like nicotine patches and nicotine inhalers to help decrease slowly instead of cold turkey, and fake cigarettes to hold to help with the psychological part.

It's hard, but the benefits to your health will be worth it.

Thanks for the advice! I've heard good things about Wellbutrin (here we call it Bupropion) i Will ask my doctor if i can take it.

I quit before for 5 years. Was stupid and started again and smoked for 5 more. Both times I quit using Chantix. I quit in March and had my RNY last week

Hate to break it to you- but quitting my 20 year cigarette habit proved to be much less of a battle than this food stuff has been.

I quit using a combination of bupropion and electronic cigarettes. However- be mindful that you will probably get tested for cotinine(the metabolite if nicotine), so if you do use electronic cigarettes, you’ll need to ween down to a nicotine free juice at least a month before being tested.

I have been cigarette free for 8.5 months and do not miss it at all.

Farfi wanted to say Hi to you.
I'm on Wellbutrin(buptopion) not a smoker, never was. I take it for depression and it is an easy and good drug . Also I have lung cancer deaths in my family and a cousin died of esophageal cancer wh9 was a heavy smoker and drinker. Neither cancer was nice to die from, Please try to quit, for those who love you but for yourself most of all. I'll be your friend either way but I'll be especially proud if you can do it.

I was a heavy "vaper" for the last 6 years and a smoker before that. About 1 1/2 months before I planned to quit, I used patches and nicorette gum, then about a month before surgery - stopped everything. It was difficult for a week, less so the second week, and I was home free thereafter.

Chantix might be a good idea for you - I've read lots of positive experiences from people quitting with Chantix.

I quit in July of 2006 when I had my youngest son (no nasty comments about smoking while pregnant please- he’s a strapping 12 year old). I actually had my husband go home and throw away all the cigarettes and ashtrays from the house and cars. He then thoroughly cleaned the house and cars and let them air out. So when I came home there were no remnants of smoking anywhere. Both of my parents smoked so it was hard for the first month going to their house but it got better. My parents don’t smoke anymore (my dad has had trouble with bacterial and fungal pneumonia and my mom has had sepsis and was on life support and recently had a lobectomy to remove the upper lobe of the right lung because she had lung cancer).

Thanks for the advice. I know i must quit but it won't hurt getting some sort of treatment to help.

I quit in July of 2006 when I had my youngest son (no nasty comments about smoking while pregnant please- he’s a strapping 12 year old). I actually had my husband go home and throw away all the cigarettes and ashtrays from the house and cars. He then thoroughly cleaned the house and cars and let them air out. So when I came home there were no remnants of smoking anywhere. Both of my parents smoked so it was hard for the first month going to their house but it got better. My parents don’t smoke anymore (my dad has had trouble with bacterial and fungal pneumonia and my mom has had sepsis and was on life support and recently had a lobectomy to remove the upper lobe of the right lung because she had lung cancer).

It's the best thing ever. And being able to quit before getting ill is Even better. My grandma used to smoke 3 packets of cigarettes a day and she was forced to quit due to a stroke. I Will turn my life 180 degrees by getting the surgery done and quitting . I want to be fit and healthy. Thanks for your advice and support!

On 08/23/2018 at 00:04, farfi said:

It's the best thing ever. And being able to quit before getting ill is Even better. My grandma used to smoke 3 packets of cigarettes a day and she was forced to quit due to a stroke. I Will turn my life 180 degrees by getting the surgery done and quitting . I want to be fit and healthy. Thanks for your advice and support!

I wish you all the success in the world with Both! You can do this. You are much stronger than you think!??

13 hours ago, insta_adventurer said:

I have been cigarette free for 8.5 months and do not miss it at all.

Congratulations!

On 8/22/2018 at 9:09 AM, Matt Z said:

I still smoke cigars here and there (but they are so different from cigarettes it's not funny, but that's another conversation). But I do agree, quitting cigarettes is a really good idea, as hard as it is.

How often are you having a cigar? Are they causing you any problems?

Everybody has different levels of addiction, but I smoked for 3 years and was instantly hooked. I got up to 2/3 or a pack a day. I quit long before surgery, and I don't want to say I quit cold turkey, but I didn't use any tools other than my wallet. Essentially if I got the urge, I would go out, buy a pack, smoke one, and then throw them out. Sometimes I would even tear them up in angst. This was very expensive, and it really helped me quit...but...

For me, there were certain behaviors associated with smoking. After I drove to work, I would smoke a cig in my car. At lunch I would do the same, sometimes twice. After driving home, smoke. After dinner, smoke. When I worked on my car, a cig was a "victory" for taking a part off, and another for putting it back on.

I had to adjust things. As soon as I parked my car, I had to practically jump out of it like it was on fire. Sitting there felt stupid and made the urges incredible. Working on cars, well, I work all the way through, and when I'm done, I now have a vitamin water and call it a day.

But the real reason is to stop for the health reasons. I'm sure you getting this surgery is at least partially because of the health benefits (For me it was 100% why, but I know some people also do it for looks). So tell yourself if you're willing to go through the surgery for health, then you can simply not put a cigarette in your mouth and light it!

If you think you need to "transfer" your addiction, then you could look into something like tea, coffee, expresso, sugar free gum (If your surgeon will allow it), or something else that is healthy.