New topic - Smoking
New topic - Smoking Am I the only one here who is/was a smoker and is finding it very hard to quit, especially with all this waiting (and Christmas) even though I stopped for 2 weeks before my op as advised and only started again in a very small way since???
Sorry that was meant to be a new subject!
Linda
You’re not alone I’m a smoker too. There I’ve said it.
I stopped when I had my first op, but was in tears a couple of days later and one of the nurses asked me if I smoked. When I told her I did but had stopped the week before, she said I shouldn’t be trying to stop when I was under so much stress and the last thing I needed right then was a bad case of nicotine withdrawal. She said I should try to give up later on, when I wasn’t as stressed out. That was 6 months ago, and I’m still at it…
I’m mad at myself, cos I know I should stop, but my willpower just seems non-existent at the moment. I’m not smoking as much as I was a few months ago but I’m still smoking. And eating far too much chocolate.
If anyone has got any tips for stopping (preferably without the use of drugs) I’d be very grateful.
Jo
Suffering - mostly in silence Well I wasn’t really smoking during treatment (I was actually - smoker’s are such liars!), until my mother died suddenly during my radiotherapy and then it went through the roof. I have to confess I enjoy the company of smokers who tend like me to be a bit rebellious. However all of my children have been really upset by my continuing to smoke post BC. Although I did not smoke in my house or in front of my children, I could justify it no longer. Just before Xmas we went to Venice for a few days and I decided to stop then with the aid of patches. I found changing the routines i.e. different place, and no real opportunity to sneak off and of course the patches made it much easier. I have now got rid of the patches (2 days patch free), and I confess at times it is killing me - I’m sure I am capable of anything for a fag. That said I have not given in to temptation and I already feel better. I had gone to the hygienist the day before quitting so my teeth are still gleaming whiteish.
I would love a fag …but it is such a stupid thing to do, I intend to sign up to the NHS smokers line thingy as I know I could easily revert back to being a smoker, and I really think it’s time to say goodbye to it forever before the reverse happens!
Next step weight loss and improving my fitness. I already play badminton, but I am also going to start cycling to work - as long as I’ve got something good on the iPod should be ok.
I wish you well nicotine sisters. Let me know if I can help further
I hate myself for it… …but just have not got the will power to give up [i know its pathetic] i was also told not to give up during my treatment because of the stress level, i did how ever manage to cut right down, unfortunately it has now gone back up, i feel like a hypocrite, smoking when everyone knows about my breast cancer, i can almost hear them saying " you’d think she’d have more sense".
when i used to go for my chemo even though we were sat around waiting for most of the day i never went outside for a cigarette, but there were alot of people who did, stupid as it might sound from a smoker, i was disgusted, [ i know very hypocritical}…
i am also disgusted with myself for continuing with this habit i wish i had the willpower to give it up.
hope all of you who are trying to give up succed!!!
karen
Breast cancer - no link to smoking …even though smoking is not linked to breast cancer, I must admit I felt really uncomfortable continuing to smoke amongst my non smoking friends who had been very supportive - so I know the feeling Karen.
I know the dangerous time for me is when everyone goes back to school/work/uni and I will have time to myself …gotta keep busy.
stopping I did manage to stop when I was admitted for my mastectomy but only with the help of a huge mountain of nicotine chewing gum. I was chewing the equivalent of 60 fags worth of chewing gum a day and it worked. The main push for me was the sudden realisation that cancer didn’t just happen to other people. The only good thing about having breast cancer was that it wasn’t lung cancer. Although I couldn’t do anything about the breast cancer (other than prescribed treatment) I could reduce the risk of having to go through the cancer bit again with lung cancer. I haven’t smoked for 3 years now but still stalk people who are smoking just to get a molecule or two from the slipstream.
Having said all that, I will be straight out for a pack of 20 if I develop mets.
Good luck with your efforts- I really didn’t think I could succeed (fag as soon as I woke up sort of girl) but so far so good.
PS also off the gum now too!!
I stopped… I cut down as soon as I was dx 5th Oct, and stopped a week before my op on the 11th Nov. To be honest I was so ill after the op I couldnt anyway… and by the time I got out hossy I didnt have the cravings anymore.
I could kill for a fag at times, but have managed to stay off them.
I kinda thought Id rather not give the cancer any more help than it needed. Maybe there isnt a link, but Id rather not find out there is in the future. (Think this each time I want a fag)
But I do agree with whoever said, first sign of mets… IM back on them beggars LOL
Denise
I stopped On diagnosis 6 months ago. Have had half a roll-up since then. Seeing the smokers outside the hospital on my far too regular visits, really does the trick for me.
Also lost a good friend (ex boyfriend, 2 years younger than me, who had kicked his lifelong alcoholic addiction) die from lung cancer last year.
Sobering stuff.
Jennifer.
— I will never give up trying to give up.
Me too Started at 18 and gave up briefly in my late-20s. Started again with ‘just one’ at a party and took another 4 years even to try again. My father (a life-long smoker) died of lung cancer in 1978 and finally in 1979 I managed to give up. It was before the days of nicotine patches and gum, so I needed a strong incentive. I decided to ask all my colleagues to sponsor me not to smoke for 3 months - the money raised going to muscular dystrophy research (a colleague and friend had 2 of her 3 children suffering with it). Some of the sneaky so-and-so’s gave me the money in advance, so I HAD to persevere or hand it back and feel eternally guilty. It was very hard at the beginning, but I’m really glad I finally did it.
Kathy
Still not smoking… …anyone joined me in giving up yet?
Stick at it I and my v.v.h.h. gave up in August 2004 both of us were nominated as the two most likely to fail at giving up by our families, friends and colleagues. We were both 20 - 30 a day me for best part of 35 years and he 22 years.
I had to be ‘trying to give up’ in order to get seen by the consultant at the hospital for a chest condition, it was a bit half hearted on my part and less than that on his but I almost managed two weeks before my appointment (two days totally honestly!).
The push for us both was my looking at an x-ray of a damaged lung (not caused by smoking but not helped) and the damage being irrepairable and the lung being mine!!!
It was not easy, but we stuck at it both of us on our own (he works away) each not wanting to let the other down.
That was the wake up call to realise that I now have approx 1.75 lungs to work for the rest of my life and I should give what is left the best chance.
Nearly 18 months later I would still say that we are both ex-smokers and not non-smokers! we can never be non-smokers we are just ex in that we have conquered the addiction but never shall we be cured of it.
I wish any of you that are going through the motions of giving up that tiny little bit of extra will power to get through it - that is all it takes really.
nb: my father (76 in February and a smoker since his teens) did not give up he just decided to wait before lighting his first cigarette of the morning - he still has not lit it from Aug 2004 to this very day!!! he felt that if he tried to give up and failed he would have let me down!!! we think he can now proudly call himself an ex-smoker!
Love to you all and best wishes, we do all feel better (relative term) for giving up (or I at least wonder how much worse i could feel some days!).
…stil not smoking …but desperate at times. Having said that I have been hill walking ( and I hate walking up hills)and played ferocious badminton 3 times in the last 4 days, so keeping manically busy!
Link between bc and smoking? Celeste
Congratulations on taking the decision to stop smoking and then actually doing it. When I smoked I used to give it up several times a week! I thought it worth mentioning( so that forum members with daughters who do smoke or may think about taking it up at some point in the future) that I read recently of some research that had shown a link between smoking in the early teens and breast cancer. Apparently whilst breasts are still udergoing post pubertal changes they are particularly susceptible to smoking related carcinogens. Obviously much more work needs to be done in this area but its another reason not to start smoking isn’t it?
Best wishes
Roisin
still not smoking …gosh this is more dificult than the other times I’ve given up. Thanks Roisin and others for the encouragement. I’m sure this should get better…
still smoking Gosh I started something here.
I am back on a little less than 20 a day now as the waiting for my scar to heal and to start the chemo is doing my head in. It is probably physcological but it really does help me cope.
I stopped for a while before because of this treatment so I aim to do so again once I move on to the next stage. We’ll see…
I Managed it I had my last cigar at 07:30 5th January 2004 just before I went to Hospital - I smoked from the age of 12/13 and was 52 in 2004 thats a long time.
cigs then cigars for last 10years or so.
I had a full Mastectomy on 5th Jan 2004 - quit smoking on the same day. Cold turkey - no patches or anything just will power - I was offered help while I was in hospital - very hypocriticle it thought - I was the pateint - the doctors and nurses were the ones going for a ciggy.
The way I gave up was one day at a time - I managed without a cigar today - see how I feel tomorrow. Then I did without yesterday - so I dont need one today - this is how it went - 2 years later still not smoking.
Its not easy - its damn hard - will power is all that is required.
As the adverts says dont give up - giving up.
good luck to all
David W
smoking …not! Hi David,
Still not smoking, but I have got mighty snappy (I am a peaceable kind of person normally), and I am also raiding the fridge - more weight to lose. I feel really restless in the evenings and cannot seem to settle too much - supposed to be drafting business plan for a new course which I am developing…have I - no! First board meeting today to discuss it and just used the framework I’d hashed out and winged it.
I am no longer sure whether this is a reaction to not smoking or coping with breast cancer…not a clue. Perhaps I should take up meditation.
Thanks anyway
Celeste
Yes one day at a time I smoked 30-40 a day from about 1967-1984. Then again, but spasmodically (binge smoking some days then several days without) from 1990-1995.
I’ve had no cigs for over 10 years now. Like David I think it helps to take a day at at time. Also don’t set yourself up to fail. I think smoking is psychologically addictive but actually not very physically addictive…(contrary to received wisdom)I told myself on Day 1 of giving up that I could if I wanted have one tomorrow. Then when tomorrow came, I said I could have one the next day…I did occasionally have one but then found I didn’t like them.
I remember my smoking persona (all that naughty girl back of the bike shed, pushed into the back garden stuff) with great affection. In the end I hated the taste and as for how bad you smell…think of that and it will help. I now can’t bear being around smokers…oh I’m so tolerant…
Good luck to anyone giving up.
Jane