For those that have quit smoking (pain, cold, chantix, depression)

[SAnativegirl]

My husband is considering it. He did quit a couple years ago but now smokes those sisher sweets little cigars like they're cigarettes.

I have never smoke so it's difficult to help him. I did watch my mom die from it when I was 21. She smoked for 50 years and never coughed a day in her life till at 65 they gave her 6 months to live. I am not sure how effective telling husband all the details would help. He tried to stop last week and lasted only a day or two. He saw the doc this morning for his sciatic nerve and ask about Chantix. He told him to read online about it first. I know its expensive. Have any of you tried it and just how expensive is it? We have blue cross blue shield. I want to help him.

[crazyworld]

Unfortunately he has to help himself but you can be his biggest supporter.

I did it cold turkey after smoking for 32 years It has been almost 5 years. I just decided that I had enough and it sounds as though your DH is thinking along those lines. Good for him.
I took the money I would have spent on cigarettes and put it away and took ourselves to Alaska 18 months later.
Chantrix may be expensive (I don't know) but probably worth the expense in the long run.

BTW my husband still smokes and that is his choice I am not going to lecture. The only thing is smokes outside or in our basement. I win that battle as I am the one who washes the curtains and anything smoke clings to. He can smoke his brains out in his own car. My car is off limits unless we are taking a road trip. The smell does bother me though as I am sure it bothers you.

I just don't want to be one of those reformed smoker pain in the butts.

Best wishes to your (soon to be healthy) husband.

[riserfilly]

My husband and I quit cold turkey back in January. I smoked for about 22years and my husband smoked for about 15years. The first week was very hard where I would reach for my cigs but they were not there but it does get easier.

[McGowdog]

I've quit here and there throughout the years and always went cold turkey. Sometimes I suffer, sometimes not. But it's mostly mental and I get a little crazy for about 3 weeks.

I say if you can go cold turkey for 21 days, you've got it.

I recently quit smoking (a few years ago) and switched over to chewing Copenhagen. This is worse than the cigarettes and cigars. I chewed Cope because it didn't seem to tear up my lip. I was getting to where I'd chew about a can every day and a half. To cap the night off, I'd put a chew in after my wife went to sleep and while I was reading a book or watching the news to put me to sleep. Then I'd wake up at about 2 or 3am and have to spit the chew out. What a nasty habit.

Well I quit that over a couple of months ago and I did it cold turkey. Now that was tough for about the first week and I was crazy for the next month after that. I'd take a piece of hard candy to get over the mental cravings or whatever they are, and they eventually went away.

Sometimes I head outside after diner or something to do some chores and that's when it's the hardest. But I just tell myself, thank God I'm done with that tobacco and look at the money I'm saving. Now I don't even eat the candy too much. I'm a C-D addict!

[LynnePatrice]

If you are going to try cold turkey my best advise is to really make an effort to change around your routine.

I have quit cold turkey before and this always helped me. But I smoked mainly out of habbit and not too many ciggs a day.

Good luck to him!

[molochai2580]

I'll be starting Chantix as soon as my husband gets to the pharmacy to pick it up.

It is costing us $130.00 my insurance doesn't cover it. (I have Medica w/United Healthcare.)

I chose Chantix because it's supposed to block the nicotine receptors in the brain so if I slip up and smoke a cig after my 1 week quit date then it's supposed to keep the brain from getting the pleasure signals. As far as the side effects, nausea, weird/vivid dreams, sleep problems, constipation and gas. I already have most of those from the darvocet I'm on for pain, so I'm pretty sure they won't bother me, but I'll give you updates.

[rd2007]

I tried quite a few things and the patch is what finally got me to quit. The gum just transfers one habit to the other and doesn't get rid of the hand to mouth addiction. The program I used also used Zyban, but I don't think that helped at all and actually made me feel pretty depressed. Slowly scaling back with the patch made it very easy to quit and I've been smoke free since June 1st 2007.

[dmmjsm]

I quit smoking Feb 2007 after smoking over 20 years. (started at 14) I did it cold turkey. I got through it by honestly wanting to quit and using an action plan on The American Lung Association's web site. They have a quit assistance program that is really great. You can get a ton of information and prepare to quit, and it walks you through steps almost as you head towards your quit day. Now that its been over a year and a half since I quit, I am so glad I did it. I feel a million times better, have lost weight,
and am able to exercise.

My husband had quit smoking a few years before me. He smokes cigars now, 1 a day. It hasn't led to him smoking cigs again, but the worry stays in my mind it might. He says he really does not ever want to smoke cigs again, and since it took me so long to quit after he did, I don't complain much. He cannot smoke anywhere near the house though. (we never smoked in the house anyway) The smell makes me sick.

My father in law used Chantix and was successful as long as he was on it. Once he quit taking it, he went back to smoking. He has tried to quit smoking a number of times. He works for Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and didn't complain about the cost, so I don't know how much it was for him.

I wish your husband the best of luck. Its such a tough habit to break, but it can be done. Sometimes it takes people a few tries to fully quit.

[Leilani Vasquez]

Originally Posted by molochai2580

I'll be starting Chantix as soon as my husband gets to the pharmacy to pick it up.

It is costing us $130.00 my insurance doesn't cover it. (I have Medica w/United Healthcare.)

I chose Chantix because it's supposed to block the nicotine receptors in the brain so if I slip up and smoke a cig after my 1 week quit date then it's supposed to keep the brain from getting the pleasure signals. As far as the side effects, nausea, weird/vivid dreams, sleep problems, constipation and gas. I already have most of those from the darvocet I'm on for pain, so I'm pretty sure they won't bother me, but I'll give you updates.

i did Chantix too and it helped a lot. The same thing was true for me as well - my insurance didn't cover it. It's worth the money though. The only downfall is that I gained almost 30 pounds.

[younglisa7]

I don't know about Chantix b/c I quit cold turkey about 9 years ago. My dh also quit about 6 years ago. He used Wellbutrin(recommended by our doctor) for a few days and he thought it helped. It's actually a medication for depression but one of it's side effects is helped with nicotine cravings.

If your husband is serious about quitting I can suggest a few things that will "help".

1. Switch to non caffeine drinks including coffee and soda. When you have a cigarette and coffee they balance each other. One brings you up and the other brings you down. Take away the cigarette and have a cup of coffee and you will become agitated and antsy. This really really helped my husband and you only have to do the decaf thing temporarily.

2. Don't make smoking pleasant. Restrict his smoking areas. If he has to go outside to smoke all the time it won't be as enjoyable. So no more smoking at the table after meals, no more smoking while watching TV, no more smoking in bed(if he does that). Anyway you get the point.

Good luck. If he really wants it and he is ready he "will quit".