Wellness

[luvdoodles]

Ok, I had a chest x-ray yesterday due to other issues and it came back normal. I am a smoker. I really want to quit. Where can you buy these, how much $$ are they and has anyone had success quitting using them. I feel like I have been given a second chance and really want to kick this habit. I have tried cold turkey, but it didn't work.

[lolakimono]

The people I know who have been successful at quitting did one of two things: cold turkey or they used the Chantix RX to stop smoking.

https://www.chantix.com/index.aspx

Nantucket Shore recently quit- you might try paging her.

Some people have also used hypnosis and acupuncture.

[Lipstickdiva]

I don't know but I would look into these before you started smoking them. Many places are banning them as well and I've read some not good things about them.

However, I want to say a big congratulations to you on the clear x-ray. I know you were nervous.

[F1wild]

Yeah for the clear xray!

I've been a long-time clinical volunteer with our state's anti-tobacco programs. I've never been a smoker, but from my yearly required CE courses in chemical dependency, i've learned and teach kicking tobacco (all forms) is more difficult than heroin.

There are several ways to successfully quit, but it has to be the right time for you. Cold turkey is the least effective method, but it works for some. Hypnosis and/or acupuncture works, as does "the patch", but I feel the most successful method to come along is the Rx Chantrix. You also will need a good support system, whether personal, online or by phone.

Good luck with your decision to become free of tobacco!!

[Cookie06]

I quit smoking using Chantix. It works remarkably well stopping the craving for a cigarette.

Some people have trouble with upset stomach or nightmares. I had some of these symptoms, but it was so worth the result.

I certainly wish you good luck with quiting these nasty things. It is not an easy thing to quit smoking.

[maestra]

Consider hypnosis, which works. I quit after starting chemo; I am well today. I smoked for 40 years.

[goldreich27]

Beware of using Chantix, it's an antidepressant and you have to take it for months for it to be effective for quiting smoking. I had three family members use it and none of them quit but, the anger and lingering effects of Chantix--which is actually Welbrutrin can be hard to get off of and you suffer the side effects long after the drug is over.

I have used Blu an E cigg for a couple of years. I haven't quit smoking with it but, I have reduced the amount of cigarettes I smoke on a daily basis.

You can get E Cigs at the local drug store now and many sites claim there brand is the best, do a search for E cigs and you will have many choices.

My brother died of lung cancer in 2009, I thought for sure that would catapult me into finding a way to put them down but, instead the sorrow and bereavement made me smoke more. I wish I had an easy answer for you; I don't- but my lung doctor tells me the easiest way to quit it to Don't BUY THEM.

[dooBdoo]

luvpoos, Congratulations and best wishes on your journey!

If you decide to use e-cigarettes, please do some research on them first. They're unregulated, you have no way of knowing what's in them or under what conditions they were manufactured, and can be very dangerous. Here are excerpts from just one example:

Selling a Poison by the Barrel: Liquid Nicotine for E-Cigarettes - NYTimes.com

"March 23, 2014:” A dangerous new form of a powerful stimulant is hitting markets nationwide, for sale by the vial, the gallon and even the barrel.

The drug is nicotine, in its potent, liquid form — extracted from tobacco and tinctured with a cocktail of flavorings, colorings and assorted chemicals to feed the fast-growing electronic cigarette industry.

These “e-liquids,” the key ingredients in e-cigarettes, are powerful neurotoxins. Tiny amounts, whether ingested or absorbed through the skin, can cause vomiting and seizures and even be lethal. A teaspoon of even highly diluted e-liquid can kill a small child.

But, like e-cigarettes, e-liquids are not regulated by federal authorities. They are mixed on factory floors and in the back rooms of shops, and sold legally in stores and online in small bottles that are kept casually around the house for regular refilling of e-cigarettes.

Evidence of the potential dangers is already emerging. Toxicologists warn that e-liquids pose a significant risk to public health, particularly to children, who may be drawn to their bright colors and fragrant flavorings like cherry, chocolate and bubble gum.

“It’s not a matter of if a child will be seriously poisoned or killed,” said Lee Cantrell, director of the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System and a professor of pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco. “It’s a matter of when.”

…Nationwide, the number of cases linked to e-liquids jumped to 1,351 in 2013, a 300 percent increase from 2012, and the number is on pace to double this year, according to information from the National Poison Data System. Of the cases in 2013, 365 were referred to hospitals, triple the previous year’s number…

“It’s the wild, wild west right now,” said Chip Paul, chief executive officer of Palm Beach Vapors, a company based in Tulsa, Okla., that operates 13 e-cigarette franchises nationwide and plans to open 50 more this year. “Everybody fears F.D.A. regulation, but honestly, we kind of welcome some kind of rules and regulations around this liquid.”…

Full article at link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/business/selling-a-poison-by-the-barrel-liquid-nicotine-for-e-cig...

[dooBdoo]

If you have pets, please keep in mind that there's a significant hazard for them, too. Another article:

Electronic Cigarettes Deadly For Pets

https://www.indypress.org/news-press/electronic-cigarettes-deadly-for-pets.html

[Kachina624]

I quit cold turkey on a spur of the moment whim in 1985. Only time I ever tried to quit. I was on vacation among non-smokers and I found the break in my usual routine really helped. I had 3 or 4 rough days, then it steadily got easier. A friend wisely reminded me that I was an addict and could never take another puff. For once, I took someone's advice and will have been smoke free 29 years on October 13 th.