Smoking-please Try to stop.

[bunnie]

Hi everyone! I never thought that I would make a post like this, because I was a very heavy smoker myself at one time, so I do know what it is like to enjoy a fag! I know what it takes to give up, (there were no patches to help you when I gave up), and it was the third time in my life that I'd given up. Once for 5 years, second time for 11 years and this third time, I haven't smoked since 1999.
During my stay in hospital at that time, (I was on the Oncology ward because I was on chemo drugs for the condition I have, which manifests in the skin) , and the lady in the next bed was dying of lung cancer due entirely to smoking. Witnessing her dying in such distress just about finished me, and having been a nurse for two years on a Heart and Thoracic Surgery Unit, I was used to witnessing such cases, but this was AWFUL.
I have been on my regular visit to the hospital today, and  sharing the hospital transport with me today was a lady I know to say Hello to as it were, being a very small place everyone knows one another, at least to say good morning to. Anyway she was going on her DAILY trip to have radiotherapy inside her MOUTH! This lady was doing her best to talk to me, telling me that she had cancer removed from under the tongue, which had been caused by her smoking. If you had seen what I saw today, in someone you knew, you would not forget it in a hurry. I think it is because I know her that has made me dwell on it rather, I know it shouldn't make any difference from seeing anyone else with it , and I have done, quite a few times in fact, but this lady I know is noted in the town for being a good singer, at least she was! It just brings it on doesn't it, when you know someone. The smell from the radium afterwards pervaded the car, and I honestly felt sick when I got indoors, so goodness knows what she must be feeling! I can actually still smell it.
Anyway, although I fully realise this post is depressing, especially to smokers, if it just sets  one person on the path to giving up, then it has been worthwhile. My son and my sister smoke, and I have told them too, I so desperately want them to stop, but I don't ever nag them about it, however I did today.
Bunnie

[Bamawing]

My dear hubby smoked a pack and a half to two packs a day for 5 years, and was smoking a pack a day or so long before that! (In college he was known as "Smokin' Dan.") He got on one of the newfangled drugs or other and has stopped completely: no smokes in over 6 months! He smells different. And while he's still more tolarent of secondhand smoke than I am, he can at least smell it now.

If my dear hubby can do it, then just about anyone can. He didn't even have to give up sitting with his smoky buddies at the bar! Help is available. Quitting is possible. If you want it bad enough, you can do it!

[CalamityJane]

Hi bunnie and bama -- Good post and probably needed, but probably won't be effective.

I'm a smoker. I used to smoke a pack and a half a day, then cut it down from 30 to 12-14. Cut it to that maybe in 1994.  Can't seem to get any lower than 12.

In fact, I'm so addicted to it, that if I had a personal emergency which might require me going to hospital, I probably wouldn't call for an ambulance.

One of my fears is to end up in hospital and to be conscious and aware and to not be able to smoke. I've heard horror stories about patients in that situation. They are so very ill, but going through withdrawal as well, cold turkey, and nobody knows. Sometimes a relative will say they are a smoker, and then perhaps they get the patch. Hit & miss I think.

Jane

[bunnie]

Hi folks, believe me Jane I was on at LEAST 2 packs a day, more at weekends, if I can stop anybody can. Two of my closest friends have been smoke free for a year now, due entirely to the free patches issued on a programme by the NHS. Both were heavy smokers. I hate people who nag about smoking, I never ever go on about it, because I think it makes smokers worse, I know it did me. I am makin an exception , just this once, by posting this thread, because it really was bad yesterday. There is not much that can shock me I can tell you, having been a nurse I have witnessed some horrific situations, but this was so dreadful and unecessary. This lady has a feed tube into her stomach via the navel, she is nil by mouth of course. All her teeth have gone too. I couldn't help but notice too a large growth at the side of her mouth on the surface of her face which I didn't like the look of neither. I just hope it isn't a secondary.As I said, it costs nothing to TRY, but I also know you have to WANT to stop.
Just as a matter of interest, as we came out the main doors, there is a big notice on the wall telling people that it is an offence to smoke within the hospital grounds. Sitting under it was a chap puffing away! The smell of smoke hit you as came out in the open air, and I didn't see this chap at first, and made a comment about smoke pervading the air , this chap said "that will be because of me!" I said, well take a look at this lady here, having Radium treatment for mouth cancer!
I wouldn't dream of saying anything to anybody like that, but I was incensed at seeing this lady in such a terrible state,the whole episode has upset me to be honest.
Bunnie

[CalamityJane]

Hi bunnie, I can well understand how it has upset you. And if it upset you, as a nurse, heaven knows what it does to those not used to such things.

I commend you for stopping, and anybody that manages to do it long term. Here, patches are not free, just like cigs aren't free! Your health system is much better than ours I think.

We are becoming a "do not" society. More and more rules for the public. The latest one is for a bylaw to prohibit people in their OWN condos from smoking.

I don't know bunnie, smoking is like a darn monkey on my shoulder.

Jane

[Pariah]

Bunnie - great thread!

Believe me, Jane - I have so much empathy for you! I tried every Rx and product on the market for years! Every time the cost of cigs would go up the cost of the patches would rise! That made me mad!
I really down deep did not want to quit smoking in '00, but I did. I had "tried" for 12 years after smoking regularly since my Freshman yr in college. Before that, when I traveled by air and no matter the age, people were offered free tiny packs of 5 in flight. I always got a handful and went home to hide and play holding them, lighting them, taking a puff and coughing!
12 years, yes...I could quit with different degrees of ease/difficulty. I always went back.  Had to have that draw. Convinced I could not calm myself, if needed, without it. Loved the ritual, the reward, the taste. I put myself in a cycle of success and failure.
What did it for me was a tiny foul cigar. I told myself that if I could not stay quit, at least just smoke this little cigar- and I did not allow myself to go back to cigs. (I sneaked up on myself!) The cigar contained a cherry flavored tobacco which delivered the nicotine thru the soft tissue in my mouth. I though I was doing great because I was not inhaling. It took 9 months of smoking them, but they began to taste so awful that I put them down. Now that I remember, they made my stomach queasy if I smoked too many, so I cut down. Some of my inspiration was that I didn't want my grandchildren to (after I am gone) remember more how awful I smelled instead of who I was!
Another thing helped, too...Bunnie touched on it....I use to work in oral surgery and got where I could predict an oral biopsy - of course privately with one of the doctors . It was always sad because if a patient had a positive, we would always refer to a neurosurgical team which included an oncologist. The patient would succumb to the "oral cancer" within months. Not just smokers were affected - we saw many baseball players - even  high school/college aged - and farmers who chewed tobacco or dipped snuff with it, too.
There have been those times in the past year that I have thought about a cigarette....nah, I am enjoying smelling the air, the woods, food. I have even thrown away furniture and garments and replaced several books because of the smell of tobacco smoke in them. When I am near anyone who smokes now, I have to leave. The smell makes me physically ill. I am glad.
I am so happy that I am no longer a slave to something a dishonest industry tried to keep me hooked on. That was a criminal act!
Many people will tell you that you are weak, that you don't try, that this and that that! RUBBISH!
It is a battle.  A huge battle. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and I have come up against some tough challenges now and then.
I feel better. I am glad I did it. I wish I had been able to do it sooner. I had to make myself ready to do it.
You will be able to do it when you are ready, too.
(Hope you will take this as positive input...I remember how defensive I use to get on the subject...auggggh!)

Symiere

[bunnie]

I had to make myself ready to do it.
You will be able to do it when you are ready, too.
(Hope you will take this as positive input...I remember how defensive I use to get on the subject...auggggh!)

That's it really, I think most people are the same. Fair enough I couldn't breathe when I was on the oncology ward, I was in fact dying, but when I turned the corner, (due entirely to my opthalmologist of all people) the thought of this dear soul in the next bed was enough to make the craving for a ciggy to go away. It was as if there was a switch  switching it off. Most definately a case of mind over matter! Yesterday when I saw this lady, everybody I had ever witnessed in this state came flooding back, everyone of them entirely due to smoking. I dearly want my son to stop, but I don't want to go on about it to him, I know the feelings of wanting to do it if only one could wave a magic wand, and the guilt when I just couldn't do it, so I really do understand. I think my own recent cancer scare on my tongue also made me a bit jumpy. Just to add more misery to this thread, later last night I was told about a local publican in the town, whom everyone knew , collapsed with a heart attack and died almost immediately. Guess what? He was notably a Very heavy smoker, Always had a cig burning. He was 62! The town I live in is a very close tight community, just a bit bigger than a village really, and it seems people are dropping like flies because of cigarettes!

Here, patches are not free

Thats a bummer Jane, because I understand they're not cheap?
My good friend a local district nurse, actually runs the programme in this region for the NHS. Every single one that has joined , has come off smoking. I am sure half at least of the success rate is due to my friend's attitude, and utter commitment to the individual. She is perfect for the job, a really good nurse in every way she is, and the results prove it.

We are becoming a "do not" society.

I do actually agree with you Jane on that to some degree, but truly this was not my reason for starting the thread. I am, in all sincerity, just telling it like it is .(as I always do regardless, nor do I apologise for that) Somebody, somewhere, reading this,may just take it on board and TRY to succeeed THIS time in stopping. I may never know about their success, or even that they tried, but at least someone may become a non-smoker because of it.
Bunnie

[CalamityJane]

Hi girls, thank you indeed for your informative and thoughtful posts.

People who have stopped have their own way. Yours was quite the way Symiere!

It used to be thought that when smoking ceased and the person stayed a non-smoker, that the risk of lung cancer went down and down, almost to that of a non-smoker. Apparently now they think differently.

A dear lady I knew, (51) years old, died last December 18/06 from lung cancer. She had told me that quitting was the hardest thing she'd ever done -- and she stopped smoking 8 years earlier. She was a single parent w/a 16 year old son, and her last wish was to see him graduate. She never made it.

Jane

[Blue Bird]

  I enjoyed reading this thread and I just wanted to add something.
 
Do you remember the wife of the actor, Christopher Reed?
 Her name was Dana. About a year after Christopher died, his wife, Dana, who was only about 40, died from Lung cancer. She had never smoked and it was a mystery as to how it developed in her lungs.I always wondered if one of her homes might have had radon in it.
 
 It's just a sad reminder that even non-smokers develop lung cancer.
 

[bunnie]

Well of course Blue sky you can get cancer of the lungs just as anywhere else in the body as I am sure you know, it doesn't have to be smoking related at all. Smoking increases the risk of getting lung cancer particulary, for very obvious reasons, but it is not the the only cause of it by far.
bunnie 

[Blue Bird]

   You're right, Bunnie.
 
 I guess I thought it was particularly sad that this women stood by her parapalegic
husband for years, and only about a year after he died, she succumbed to lung cancer.
They had a young boy who was only about 10 when his dad died, and was only 11 when his mother died, too, of lung cancer.
 
 I suppose everyone should also consider getting their homes tested for radon, since that is supposed to be a leading cause of lung cancer, too.
 
 My grandfather, who was born on the island of Malta, and who served in the British Merchant Marines, came to America, and was a smoker of filterless camel cigarettes since he was a teenager.
 He quit smoking in his 70's and lived to be 93. He died of pnuemonia after surgery for, what else?- lung cancer. 
 If he hadn't smoked, I wonder how long he would have lived? 93 is pretty good for a smoker, and he was the greatest, most humble, most gentle, most intelligent grandfather in the world, IMHO.
 
 My father smoked when I was a kid, and he quit in his 40's. He died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 66. 
 
 Good luck to everyone out there trying to quit smoking.

[bunnie]

Hi Blue sky I think a lot of things have to be in place when someone dies of smoking related conditions, in that the majority of people will suffer badly because of smoking, and literally only a handful in comparison get away with it. I remember when doing my training that in lectures we were constantly told that sometimes there is simply nothing else that can be done, and the situation is left entirely in "the Hands of The Lord" as one particular instructer was fond of saying! It is the "luck of the draw" in that sense. about 12 years ago I was in the eye ward for about 6 weeks, and one of the nurses came to my room and said she wanted to show me something in the main ward where there was about 12 beds in all. There blue sky, was a lady of 104 years!! sitting in bed smoking!!! The nurse said that she hadn't the heart to tell her that one can no longer smoke in hospitals! Ninety three is a jolly good age for a heavy smoker, but 104!!
When I had the broncho-spasm in 1999 caused by blistering in the trachea from my condition, it was exascerbated because I was a heavy smoker. The oncolgist said to me, and I can remember every word, "It is not the smoking that has caused this broncho-spasm, but it is the smoking that has made it far worse, to the point that you could have died; I therefore strongly advise you to stop now!" He went on to say that " You know Bunnie, we get all smokers in the end, they all think they are exempt." I was lucky in the sense that I couldn't breathe , never mind smoke, and then witnessing this poor lady in the next bed, it was as if there was a switch switching off the craving. I didn't even fancy one after I was better. You often see people with really distressed breathing after anaesthetic, and they are given oxygen for a good while after, and it is all due to smoking.
Bunnie

[Uncle Matt]

Well, in my family, my dad (currently aged 56) smokes Hamlet Cigars.

They are the foulest thing ever conceived. I used to try and escape when I was younger. It was OK in the summer, as I'd disappear off to a friends house up the road, but if I had been grounded, or they were out, then I would go to bed instead of staying up. Just to get away from the smell. I must have been the only 16 year old who went to bed at nine o'clock. I was happy though, because the 3 doors sealed out the smell (he used to smoke in the lounge at the other end of the house)

I suppose it's part of the reason I never invited around the one or two friends I did have.

Unfortunately, today, he's still smoking the damned things, and the trouble is, when I went home for my birthday, I ended up with a headache and feeling physically sick.

The good thing is now, of course, is that I can go down the pub (since it's smoke free too). The sad thing is that I've a fair idea what state his lungs are in, and I'm kinda expecting the phone call sometime soon. 

My mum has never smoked, although being passive for 30 ish years must have taken it's toll.

M.

[bunnie]

I am so glad that this experience put you right off smoking Matt!
Bunnie

[melanie23]

Hi Guys if you want to quit smoking, i am a nurse and you should ask your doctor about a new drug that has been fda approved.  Its called Chantix and we have had excellent outcome on this drug.  You have to want to quit though.  Anyone have any questions about it ask, i knwo lots about this drug.

[itchychick]

There are several municipalities here which have now outlawed smoking in cars with children inside   I remember as a child, most of my aunts and uncles smoked. My dad smoked before we were born, and decided to quit cold turkey, and that was it.  I remember having family come to visit, and as a good little hostess, I would be asked to bring an ashtray... how I loathed that job, along with the smell which would linger in our house for days afterwards.

When I got to be a teenager, I became quite vocal about asking family members not to smoke in my presence.  I had been in hospital with a bad case of pleurisy and pneumonia, and I was even more sensitive to it.  I think that some of my uncles thought I was being cheeky, but I didn't care anymore.  Thankfully, by the time that my own kids were born, there was far more awareness, and the few remaining smokers all went outside to smoke.

I'm sure some of those smoking cessation aids can help relieve some of the withdrawal symptoms, but the key is the will.  If you have the will, as bunnie and others have pointed out, you can quit with no aids at all.  It's difficult, but doable.  Without the will, no pharmaceutical will do the job.

[Bamawing]

Dan was on Chantix. He says that you have to want it. The Chantix will make it possible, but only if you want to quit.

My uncle died of lung cancer a few years ago. He never smoked. It's really sad, though, that I have to explain that. I've gotten several "oooh, he got what he deserved" looks before I quickly interjected that he wasn't a smoker.

Nobody deserves cancer.

[Blue Bird]

 I found this article and thought it would be prudent to post it.
 
 Suicidal Thinking Reported With Chantix

FDA, Pfizer Investigating Reports of Suicidal Thoughts in People Taking Quit-Smoking Drug Chantix

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDNov. 20, 2007 --

The FDA today announced that it's investigating reports of suicidal thinking, aggressive and erratic behavior, and drowsiness in people taking the quit-smoking drug Chantix.

Here are the FDA's recommendations:

Health care workers should monitor patients taking Chantix for behavior and mood changes.

Patients taking Chantix should contact their doctors if they experience behavior or mood changes.

Patients should use caution when driving or operating machinery until they know how Chantix may affect them. Chantix, which the FDA approved in May 2006, is made by the drug company Pfizer.

FDA Eyeing Chantix
The FDA says Pfizer recently submitted to the FDA reports describing suicidal thinking and "occasional suicidal behavior" in people taking Chantix following the drug's approval.

The FDA is investigating "approximately 100 cases" of suicidal thinking, Bob Rappaport, MD, tells WebMD. He directs the FDA's Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Rheumatology Products.

The FDA states that its preliminary assessment shows that in many cases, the patients' depression, suicidal thinking, and emotional and behavioral changes began within days or weeks of starting Chantix.

But the FDA doesn't yet know if Chantix caused those problems, and Rappaport says the FDA doesn't yet have a firm number on the cases of behavioral changes not related to suicide.

Nicotine withdrawal has been tied to a worsening of underlying psychiatric illnesses. But not all of the patients in the reported cases had pre-existing psychiatric illnesses and not all of them had quit smoking, according to the FDA.

The FDA also says it's aware of a highly publicized report of erratic behavior leading to the death of a patient using Chantix to attempt to quit smoking.

Although other factors, including alcohol consumption, appear to have played a part in that specific case, the FDA asked Pfizer for additional cases that might be similar. The FDA is reviewing that material.

The FDA is also evaluating reports from Pfizer of drowsiness in patients taking Chantix. In those cases, people said their drowsiness impaired their ability to drive or operate machinery.

"We received a relatively small number of cases, but they all describe very similar situations where the patient said they felt drowsy and felt like it was difficult for them to drive," the FDA's Celia Winchell, MD, tells WebMD.

She is the team leader for the Addiction Drug Products branch of the FDA's Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Rheumatology Products.

The FDA and Pfizer are working on the investigation. A Pfizer spokesperson wasn't immediately available for comment.

 
View Article Sources 
SOURCES: News release, FDA. FDA: "Early Communication About an Ongoing Safety Review of Varnicline (marketed as Chantix). WebMD Medical News: "FDA OKs New Quit-Smoking Drug." Bob Rappaport, MD, director, Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Rheumatology Products, FDA. Celia Winchell, MD, team leader for Addiction Drug Products, Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Rheumatology Products, FDA.

© 2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.

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[Bamawing]

I'll admit that Dan was a jerk when he was on it... drove me up the wall. But no suicidal thoughts or impulses.

He mentions the irratic sleep patterns, though. The Chantix woke up up every morning at 5:00. If he managed to get back to sleep, he felt awful for the rest of the day... that's when he started waking up at 5:00 and going jogging.

And he stopped that routine when he stopped the Chanix, too.

[melanie23]

Well all i have to say is if someone smokes for 20 years and gets on chantix and stops for awhile heck yeah there gonna be suicidal.  Its the nicotine withdrawl.  By the way i am not a smoker and damn glad i am not.  I am a nurse and we diagnodes a man this week with lung cancer so bad it had already gotten inot his liver.  He had no idea he had it and stoped smoking 20 years ago.  He has 6 months to live.  Is smoking worth it? think about it, life is short