SAHM and quit smoking.

Mabel - posted on 06/14/2011

I made up my mind finally when I had a dream of my son turning to me with a cig in his mouth puffing away and asking if I needed a light.Chantix and 2 weeks later I had quit.It has been a year this past February.

Christina - posted on 06/14/2011

Oh my dear, try sugar free hard candies... and every time you think you need one... just look at your baby. And then get up and do something fun. Are you crafty? I find doing crafts when I want one makes it less noticeable.It will get easier... the first two weeks are the worst. Hang in there.

Janice - posted on 06/13/2011

i am at day 58 and i found that if you try using hard candies and find other things to do ( play outside with the kids) it keeps your mind off of it. the candies helps with the oral fixation.
Hope this helps you can do it.

Heather - posted on 06/06/2011

if you can cut back as much a possible, do it, the last 3 weeks before i quit i was down to 2, 3, or 1 cig occasionally had non smoking days, if you can keep this up for 3 weeks with willpower and the strength it takes to be calm then you've got that habit done and gone. eliminating your target cigs and target times are the ones to push first. like when you first wake up in the morning, after you eat, with your coffee, with a drink, or before bed. if you can take all those target times out, you are on your way to being smoke free. that's what i did and everything just fell into place as well as the other post on here of what i said, mood swings, cravings, keep hands occupied, write a book. I'm halfway through writing my older son's biography and still working on it. hope this helps you out. GL

Tasha - posted on 06/05/2011

I'm so glad someone put this question out there! I also am attempting to quit. I havent done it yet, but everytime i smoke it makes me feel worse and worse. I started focusing on how it made me truely feel. How it tasted. I noticed it made me dizzy and tasted funny. I have cut back a whole lot and am hoping to quit by the end of June! Hopefully some of these ideas will also help!

Ashley - posted on 06/05/2011

my father-in-law really could not quit on his own. he actually went to get hypnotized (I know, it sounds super weird). but it worked. he just threw away his last pack and hasn't smoked since.

Rose - posted on 06/04/2011

first off congrats on taking the first step, i was a really heavy smoker, i would never smoke in the house near the kids but it was depressing my husband alot that i always found a way to run out to smoke, wellllll lol after 14 years of smoking i woke up after my son told me that the cigarette are going to kill me and if i loved him i would stop, well that did it for me i went cold turkey and i havent touched one in over 3 years, i chewed alot of gum the first week and make alot of crafts and had a straw in my mouth lol. maybe that helps i dont know. i wish you luck and stick to it its so much worth it and you save soooo much.

Karen - posted on 06/04/2011

I'm trying to keep myself as calm as can be. I have qit cold turkey before and it was extremely hard so I'm trying the cutting back method until I'm down to smoking only a few a day. i find crunching on those little carrots help for a little. The only problem is they fill you up pretty quick and when i'm full the first thing I think of is a cigg. So I'm trying to cut back on how many carrots I eat at a time lol. I do little cleaning projects at a time, and take my time to keep myselft extremely calm. So far I cut back from 20 to 10 in about a month. If I can i only smoke half a cigg., put it out and just hold it for the remainder of the time in hopes that when i quit I can just carry a pen or something to kick the habit of holding a cigg. I hope this works cause I've been smoking since I was 12! I'm 26 and need to quit. Snus helps but then again it's got nicotine in it. I try to keep at least 2 hrs. in between mine and sometimes try to wait as long as I can after the 2 hr. mark. I get a little irritable but I can control it. The hardest thing is things seem louder. Like my kids even talking seems like they are screaming. So I'm thinking of getting some ear plugs lol. The computer is the hardest place for me to not smoke. So I'm moving my ashtray and if I get a craving I step away from the computer to smoke. I love the computer so I gotta cut the habit of smoking on it.

Chana - posted on 06/04/2011

I have been smoke free for a year. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I will still want one from time to time. The first three weeks are the worst. I used the lozenges for the first week. Then nothing after that. Staying home and saving money were reasons for me to quit . What stuck for me was watching my father in law suffocate to death from COPD and lung cancer. We were by his bed side for four long days and nights before he just could not take one more breath. As i watched him pass away so slowly that it dawned on me that this could be me. My children could have to watch me die this way. I have not smoked since. If i have a moment where i will try to talk myself into smoking i just remember Charlie and what he went though and i do not want one.

Heather - posted on 06/04/2011

I'm smoke free for almost 6 months now. yes it is tough and you feel like you want to rip your hair out and scream all day long. (of course i don't do that though) I quit cold turkey but i also made myself realize "if i don't change my kids will be doing exactly what i'm doing later on." yes i've caught them with butts from my ashtrays. everything drove me mental, i started buying gum or excel mints instead of cigarettes and it started to work, yes i became a bitch with the nasty hormones and everything. i had nightmares for the first 4 months. i also stuck in my mindframe, " everytime you light up you will have a harder time trying to breath" and you know what, it worked. I am now proud to say i used to smoke for 13 years of my life and am now smoke free for almost 6 months just tough it out, do the patch, or gum, or zanax if you have to i chose the no nicotine path and it worked for me. good luck to you.

Jamie - posted on 06/04/2011

Another way is to imagine, My daughter gave me a visual picture to focus on every time I wanted to go for that smoke I hate snakes with a passion: She put my largest see through vase on the counter and said imagine that your smokes are at the bottom of the vase then on top of those smokes are 6 snakes. To get the smokes mom you need to put your hand into the vase with the snakes and reach to the bottom for the smoke. The intense feelings I get towards snakes is now what I feel when I think I need to smoke. So Think of the worst thing that scares you or grosses you out put it in the Vase on top of the smokes. Does that make sense, you go girl for today you are a non smoker or atleast for the next 30 mins .

Jamie - posted on 06/04/2011

You are doing great !!! Keep up the hard work Ladyio =) You are starting over the hump today, so in two days you should reward yourself and the family for all that hard work! Eat ice cream for supper and top it off with a good walk to the park to play with your kids. To Quit is a reward and hubby/kids can see there is a benefit to mommy not smoking.

Erin - posted on 06/04/2011

I was thinking about the elimination method and it makes sense to cut back since you're eliminating both parts of the habit gradually. It's day 5 now, but I still feel miserable and irritable. I could tell my husband was ready to get me a pack last night. He hates it when I try to quit because I'm not the nicest person. I broke down yesterday infront of the kids, yelling at the top of my lungs. I felt horrible, but I'm just coming undone every other minute. I've tried using these little nicotine granules from the naturopath because it seems every other thing out there doesn't help me. I quit using zyban/wellbutrin and when I was pregnant. Those were the easiest times for me. Well my husband has a vasectomy and I'm allergic to zyban (hospitalized from reaction to it) so those methods won't work for me again unfortunately. My skin and muscles couldn't tolerate the patch. I would break out in a rash and it felt like someone was punching me in the arm/back/stomach where ever I wore the patch.
I tried the gum and got a nasty rash along my jaw line really weird I know.
Tried champix but it was more expensive than smoking so I quit using it.
Ive tried the inhaler, spray, granules with no success. Any other methods?

Christy - posted on 06/03/2011

I smoke off and on. I tried the E cigarettes and they seem to take the edge off. Yes, expensive to start up but 3 drops of the liquid lasts as long as a pack of cigs, and they come in all sorts of different flavors. In the long run it costs a lot less, and you can "smoke" inside w/o harming anyone else. Good luck!

Karen - posted on 06/03/2011

I'm in the same boat. Having a hard time trying to quit. Like Jamie said I question myself everytime, go do something for the 15 min. sometimes I will do a small cleaning task or just lay down for a few min. and watch some tv. and relax, take a shower ect.. Then ask yourself again. Don't beat yourself up if you give in. I have been trying this teqnique where i will find a relaxing place, usually the porch if there is a good breeze. Someplace quite and I will enjoy the cigarrette. Usually afterward i can go hours before my next one. I'm eliminating 1 cig. at a time. And yesterday i was able to eliminate 3. So it's getting easier to say I don't need this one, and to find something to help me forget about it. Sometimes brushing your teeth and drinking some water gives you a sensation and take a few min. to enjoy the fresh breath. It takes practice. We can do it. We just have to keep trying. Take it one day at a time.

Jamie - posted on 06/03/2011

Dear Erin smoker for 30 + years it is an addiction just like any drug just easier to get... Breath deep and give yourself 15 more mins. time alotted to and after you've done the 15 mins if the urge is still there then tell yourself I've gone 15 without so in 15 more mins . I will deal with this. Next day go 20 mins. give your brain permission to question if it's time for a smoke yet and then tell it in 20 mins ask me again etc.soon your brain wont ask any more also drink water every time your brain asks for smoke drink a 6-8 oz glass of water.

Bella - posted on 06/03/2011

Just want to say CONGRATS! I know how hard that is but your health and your baby's health is now the most important thing! Find mom groups that can support you

Erin - posted on 06/03/2011

I've smoked for half my life too lol. Maybe it's our bodies telling us enough is enough and then sending signals to the brain. I've tried quitting countless times. The easiest times were when I was pregnant. And it is pretty much just habit. Breaking habits are hard. It's even hard to stop bitting nails for crying out loud. I just feel I'm tormenting my family putting them through this. But I want to be home. I've wanted it for so long and finally have it. And I'm not going back to work! The only way I can smoke is if I work. And that's just not going to happen lol. I have the motivation. I know why I'm doing it. I just have to remind myself of that every time I'm in a weak moment

Tasha - posted on 06/03/2011

I dont think there are any magic tricks, you just gotta do it. I was a 15 year smoker who quit 21/2 years ago, i had tried a couple times in the last 5 or so years i was a smoker, i knew i didnt want to smoke forever, but i had done it for half my life by the time i was 30, so it was part of who i was. First i tried couseling and patches, gum etc...i was good for about 4 months then went right back. I was still working full time when i quit so i dont share the SAHM and quitting thing, 21/2 yrs ago i never thought id have kids. But i will tell you, for me, i just got to a point where i was done, it was thanksgiving week 08, i was in the kitchen, when i thought to myself, out of pure habit, "well i guess its time to go smoke", i opened my pack, looked at them and thought, "this is disgusting", and i threw them away and havnt had one since, and the longer i dont smoke the more gross it seems. You have to be ready, thats all. Its easy if your ready. I say get support from any fam or friends, try patches and gum, it works for lots of people, and surround yourself with non-smokers, it feels kinda crappy being the only smoker, we usually start to be part of a crowd, but when youre the only one in the crowd doing something, you acctually feel left out. I wish you great luck, i will tell you, i feel better, look better, smell better, and i know i have more healthy years to be here for my precious son. Again, i send positve thoughts on your tough journey!