can't seem to kick it

[poppyscorner]

Hi Everyone,

I have posted quite a few things on here just lately and have received some very usefull advice and info from you.

So this is something I have been thinking about posting since last week and I know its highly controversial so please don't shoot me down right away Iam seeking your help and advice for help.

I found out last week on the eve of my grans funeral that I am expecting my 3rd child lovely news you might say and it was an unplanned pregnancy but a lovely suprise.

my problem is those little white sticks namely cigarettes and the fact that I cannot seem to kick them i am breaking every rule in my own book never mind anything else I have a history of horrendous pregnancies my other 2 children I had prem labours with and my first child was actually stillborn my second (DS) was fine and was eventually born at 39wks I did not smoke then and really looked down on anyone who did whilst pregnant and I am now doing the same thing my self but I don't want to anymore I recognise the risks and want to stop but I just don't know how don't know if I am looking for shock therapy from you or general advice on how you did it I can't use NRT as they don't know how safe it is any help support and advice is greatly appreciated and I promise to take it on board I will do it its just a matter of how I am concerned about the health of my baby and my own health because I was overweight at the beginning of the pregnancy so there was a risk straight away.

Thanks to you all for listening and for any advice you may provide.

Amanda x

P.S I am not taking the p1ss I really do need help with this.:embarasse

[bella4uk]

Ok...firstly I will say only smokers or ex smokers can reply....do gooders will put their tuppence in without knowing how hard it really is.!
I too am ashamed to say I smoked throughout my pregnacies , I tried my best but just couldn't do it. Strangely, 8 months after the twins were born and I was on my 3rd chest infection, I went to the docs for antibiotics and she said you must stop and I replied I will when I am less stressed when they start nursery and her reply was and then you will find another way to delay it. The next day I thought about it and she was right and that night I smoked my last fag ripped up the rest of the packet (nearly killed me to do so) threw out all lighters, ashtrays and told everyone i was packing in and i need support....everybody (including me) thought, yeah right...she'll last a coupleof days at most....but in telling people it made me more determined and after smoking 20 a day for 15 years i did it cold turkey and was totally miserable for a month or so....3 years on would still like one but realise how smelly, dangerous and expensive it is.
The time has to be right for you....and not sure if now is the time as it takes a lot out of you...if you can really cut down it will be a bonus. Also don't allow anyone to smoke in your house as you will find it too hard.
I ate a lot of liquorice as it tasted a bit like fags.
Get in touch with your health visitor as there are a lot of quit smoking help centres around nowadays.
Take care and I wish you good luck!
Maybe do a diary on here to tell us how you are doing and everytime you need one put a message on here and we can all try and support you.

[coolio]

I'm an ex smoker and I stopped when smoking started to make me feel ill. My suggestion would be to smoke the most disgustingly cheap horible cigarettes u can find so that you really hate smoking.

[roswell]

If at first you dont succeded try try and try again .. finaly give up thinking back to all the times you failed to quit and you will quit for being so diharteneded that you failed each time before that.

[Katgoddess]

I don't smoke, just wanted to say good luck!

[purplepurple]

as an ex smoker, I would say, literally take it a minute at a time to begin with. Try to get to the end of every minute without putting one in your mouth. You'll be surprised at how quickly the minutes turn into ten minutes... hours.. days.. weeks and years. If you really want to give up, you will.

Your local doctors or hospital will have a free service offering one to one or group support... have a look here: http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/and find your local one....

you could try giving the NHS Pregnancy Smoking Helpline 0800 169 9 169 a ring..Lines are open daily from 12 noon - 9pm ....

and for the shock tactics you request in your original post http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/why_give_up/inside_a_smoker/

Good luck! Hope it goes well.... STAY STRONG!!!:D

[Sallys Savings]

I once watched a programme (think it was way back in school days)...that put me off smoking for life.
It was of a heavily pregnant lady smoking and it sort of cut her in half so you could see the smoke going straight to the baby. Yuck..it was disgusting...the womb all black with smoke :(

Good Luck Poppy..........All the very best!!!

[rachelmk]

I'm not pregnant but do smoke and wish that I didn't. I gave up for around 2 yaers and stupidly started again. I want to give up again too.
Is there someone close that you can give up with? Maybe 2 of you together can support each other?
Also don't worry about putting on weight whilst giving up smoking - what's half a stone in the long run - you can lose the weight but can't grow new lungs!

Good luck!
R

[moggins]

You can do it, I've been a non smoker for just over a week now and if I can do it anyone can. I can only echo what purplepurple says. Take it one minute or hour at a time. I never said that I was quitting, I just tested myself to see how long I could go. as the hours turned into days it just seemed even more stupid to put one in my mouth again.

DH is still smoking but even I have noticed him cutting down now.

[AnnieH]

I smoked from the age of 15. I stopped smoking with my 1st pregnancy, as I was too sick and couldn't bear the smell of it. I had the odd 1 or 2 fags during my 2nd pregnancy (I am ashamed to say) and carried on smoking for years.

It wasn't until dd1 started school that I stopped smoking. I couldn't bear the thought of her going to big school and her lovely new uniform smelling of smoke. It really upset me at the time. I stopped smoking a couple of weeks after she turned 5. She's nearly 8 now and I have to admit to having the odd 1 when I've had a drink, but other than that, I'm smoke free.

Good luck, I am sure you can do it. You just need to find your motivation.

[Fleago]

Hi Poppyscorner,

Congratulations! :T

I gave up by reading Alan Carr's book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking after numerous failed attempts using willpower, patches, gum etc.

Good luck!

Fleago

[Searcher2]

Sorry to post - given that as a non-smoker a previous poster said only ex smokers and smokers should post.... But the shock tactics on the link of a previous post did not have the same affect on me as actually seeing the real lungs of a smoker and non-smoker (preserved of course in a glass case!). I don't know how anyone can smoke after seeing something like that! If you fancied that I would guess your doctor or some of the numbers above should be able to locate somewhere where you could have a viewing.

[julybride]

I'm still a smoker until Monday when i attempt to give up. My hubby gave up a few years ago and his advice includes.

don't kick yourself if you slip up becuase you'll end up starting again
change routines so that you know trigger you lighting up i.e. chatting on the phone, or change the drink you drink in the pub.

Good luck I'll be think ing of you as I try to kick the habit too...

oh and was told to write on my bathroom and bedroom mirror and other places you look a lot what you are aiming for so for me its a new kitchen.

[Scarlett1]

well done on you're great news poppyscorner :T

I was smoking when I fell pregnant and planned to give up straight away, I didnt need help in doing so cause I woke up the next morning smelling smoke and had my head down the toilet heaving :D

[Dora the Explorer]

You'll probably know that the first 72 hours are the worst and after that it gets easier. Treat it like a serious drug addiction.
Why not try stopping Friday tea time, get your OH's commitment to be right next to every single second until Monday morning to stop you smoking, including chaining you to a radiator. It's called tough love - is he up to it?
You'll be able to come up with a million excuses as to why this won't work. That's what junkies do.
You could also try some aversion therapy. Surf the net and price up baby coffins, the cost of bringing up a child with learning difficulties, your future career disappearing in a puff of smoke because you've had a stroke, because if you don't stop and your baby suffers how will you ever kow it wasn't caused by your fags.
All this might seem like a very harsh post, but it reflects what can happen. Good luck, you can stop if you really want to. If you don't really want to, you won't.

[Fran]

Good Luck. :beer:

[Jay-Jay]

In the meantime, until you stop for good, be very conscious of how you smoke. Sit down to smoke, do so slowly and count how many times to put the cigarette to your mouth. This is a number that you can reduce until you stop for good, it's a damage limitation tactic because each inhalation IS damaging to your baby.

Each time you inhale the cocktail of chemicals in a cigarette your blood pressure increases and those toxins are absorbed into your bloodstream. As your heart pumps the toxins around they pass to the baby's placenta and into your baby's bloodstream. As the placenta is being flooded with toxins, the baby is actually being starved of oxygen, just like if you held a cloth over a newborn baby's mouth. Each and every one of your cigarettes is making your baby unwell for a period of time.

I'm an ex smoker btw x

[rchddap1]

Firstly I'm not a smoker and nor will I ever be. But for what its worth here is my tale.

I am pregnant at the moment....and when I told my OH he started smoking again. Not a lot....but he did start again. He had good reasons for this, but still I wish that he hadn't. The reasons involved two 'failed' pregnancies (not with me I might add) and of course he was scared that the same was going to happen again. Whenever he lit up I would walk away because as said above it is not good for the baby and I didn't want to take any risks.

I am now half way through the pregnancy and am very proud to say that he bit the bullet, took the bull by the horns and has stopped again. I know that it is very hard to stop smoking, as I have watched my partner go through the process a few times now. But I also know, that if you are determined to stop that you can do so.

Good luck with your efforts.

[funky-footprints]

I was lucky, I stopped as soon as i found out i was pg with my son ...after 2 losses before him i convinced myself i had to. It wasnt even a case of I cant do it ..... I HAD TO !! Some of my office collegues were smoking, and so i got them on my side .... socially i stopped going out with my smoking friends and stopped putting myself in situations where i found i desired a ciggie. my dh never let me smoke in his/our house anycase, and it isnt much fun having one in the rain ! I cleared my bags and office desk of packets and lighters and went for it. Its quite easy when you are pg to take a step back anycase ? ? it was as easy as that. Do you smoke in front of your child ( i think you have one?) ? that is something i could never imagine doing so it made the challenge that much easier.

my shock therapy one ... you did ask .....
My father in law has had a quadruple heart by pass, despite surgeons and his nurses at diabetic clinic giving him various warnings of life expectancy he stills smokes like a trooper.
When i found out he was smoking in my garden on the weekend ..i totally flipped and have given him one final warning ..next time he is hospitalised with anjina or his diabetes which are both out of control I wont be answering his pleads to see his grandchildren, Im not taking my kids into to see him ...he can suffer alone. Why should they have lasting memories of him in a hospital bed ? His quadruple heart bypass should of been enough of a warning !!! i honestly think he is a selfish selfish man, he wont quit for his wife, 2 sons or grandchildren, he says he enjoys smoking too much.


good luck ..i do sympathise .. please dont put yourself in my father in laws book.

[black-saturn]

I stopped smoking 7 weeks ago but I can't really give you any advice as I didn't experience any cravings at all. I havn't missed it at all.

[seven-day-weekend]

Congratulations on your pregnancy. Asfor the smoking, as others have said, take it a bit at a time. Don't allow others to smoke around you (even if it's you that has to leave the room). Try and imagine your baby smoking. Eat more if you need to.

I have been a non-smoker for 15 years after numerous failed attempts to quit.

[in my wellies]

You have such a good reason to stop that I'm sure you can do it.

I found this yesterday
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132935&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132702&contentPK=14933396&folderPk=77465

Good Luck with the pregnancy anyway

[lynzpower]

Im a smoker myself and I like to think Ill give up before I have my contraception stopped to try for a baby, but who knows how strong the willpower is?

I have tried going onto rollups, and I must say this has reduced the amount I smoke a) cos I cant really make them properly and b) even if I could then i couldnt be bothered to roll one as it impedes my typing & posting speed on here. :D

It does sound like you WANT to give up. I saw some great advice on here in the carrot & stick approach, like putting the money in a jar and then after a few days going and setting fire to your roll of fivers in the garden. A good idea I thought.

I personally am someone who looks to the positives and they are more motivating than the negatives. So what can you buy? how much longer will you live rather than raking over what money weve wasted over the years.

But also Im interested in hypnotherapy, this might be worth the little outlay now, as it really does seem to work in 99% of the people I know of.

Best of luck with it, and with the rest of your pregnancy.

Lynz
xx

[loopy-loo73]

Congratulations :j baby news is always brill.
I'm an ex-smoker, i stopped when i found out i was pregnant (DD now 9). No patches, therapy or anything else ... just it's bad for my baby so i wont do it.
My sister stopped last year. She had a bad smear test result & the doc said to stop ... she'd tried with patches before that but all of a sudden it was ... i could be dead & she just stopped.
Once you find the incentive you find the willpower & one day at a time you realise you aren't smoking anymore.
Good luck.
Lou.

[sugaJen]

I made my decision to quit last December, when my dad was diaganosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, thats 7months ago, so how come Its taken me til today???
I smoked my last 1 at 8.30 this morning, you will keep putting it off cos of a stressful time or whatever, but when everythings calm again you dont actually want to stop!! or thats how it was for me anyway.

Ive been trying since Friday, but caved everytime, so today is my most successful day (think thats because I told someone I was stopping last night) Felt really awful for giving in so easily too :mad:
Now my friend knows I dont want to tell her I couldnt do it.

Also smoked all the way through my 3rd pregnancy :o Baby stopped growing at 34 weeks, Shes 4 now and although shes healthy shes a bit small for her age (almost caught up to her friends of the same age)

[leftieM]

Congrats on being pregnant!
I'm another Allen Carr-ette. I read 'The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently' and I stopped after that. That was 9 years ago and I found stopping really exhilirating. I'm still really proud about it. Give AC a go. All it'll cost you is the price of the book.
Don't beat yourself up if you can't stop smoking. However I bet you'll succeed this time. Bon chance!

[culpepper]

My mum gave up when expecting my sister.She took her packet of cigs and cut all the cigs in half,then when she wanted one,she smoked the half and left it till the urge came back.Once the pack was empty,that was that.
My dad smoked from age 7 and died aged 65 with 3 kids,19,17 and 10.
I've never felt the need ,I want my kids to have their mum .

[ruthyjo]

Good luck. I'm sure you can do it and loads of congratulations on the baby.

The thing that really helped me was to try and avoid situations where I'd normally smoke. I gave up when I was pregnant so alcohol which was one of the main triggers was out anyway. I reorganised my day so a lot of the other triggers went e.g. changed what I did on my lunch at work to try and make the cigarette gap less obvious.

I know it's a really obvious thing to say but do try putting away the money you're saving. It would be such an incentive to me to think I had a nice baby buys funding stacking up as I love shopping for my kids. Didn't do that when I gave up as it was my first baby and I didn't know how excited I'd get over cutie clothes etc.

At twenty four I was a thirty a day person and always lit up the minute I woke up. Now ten years later I can hardly stand to be in a pub or near someone who is smoking, even outside.

[bella4uk]

I made my decision to quit last December, when my dad was diaganosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, thats 7months ago, so how come Its taken me til today???
I smoked my last 1 at 8.30 this morning, you will keep putting it off cos of a stressful time or whatever, but when everythings calm again you dont actually want to stop!! or thats how it was for me anyway.

Ive been trying since Friday, but caved everytime, so today is my most successful day (think thats because I told someone I was stopping last night) Felt really awful for giving in so easily too :mad:
Now my friend knows I dont want to tell her I couldnt do it.

Also smoked all the way through my 3rd pregnancy :o Baby stopped growing at 34 weeks, Shes 4 now and although shes healthy shes a bit small for her age (almost caught up to her friends of the same age)
WELL DONE...keep it up...:T

[Pink_butterfly]

Hi.

The thing that really helped me stop whilst pregnant was my midwife telling me that my unborn baby would struggle to breathe for about an hour after me having a fag.

I couldn't help picturing my poor defenceless little baby choking in my womb. It really made me feel awful and selfish.

I know how hard it can be, especially if your stressed. You can do it!!!!!

[TNG]

Hi all,

Newbies first post - please be gentle......

Tripped over this site while looking for something else and have become very quickly addicted (probably the wrong word to use on this thread!!!).

Anyhoo, I have been a smoker for a lot of years and tried almost everything to stop, bar hypnotherapy. I managed to stop for over a year once using the Allen Carr method but couldn't work out why I still 'craved' cigarettes - even occasionally. I think that's why I started again.

I am now going through the process again. I re-read Allen Carr's book, but again 'something' didn't quite stick with me and I failed. He talks an awful lot of sense and everyone should read it, even just for information into why people smoke. You have a better chance of defeating your enemy the more you understand about your enemy.

I have now read (and re-read) Neil Casey's book and that has filled in the gaps that Allen Carr missed (IMO). I needed to understand why I wanted a cigarette. A non-smoker in a smokey room does not want a cigarette, so why do I. I believe what Neil Casey says, that it is a subconcious thing and if you can retrain your subconcious to not want a cigarette, the rest is comparitively simple. I suspect that hypnotherapy works in a similar way.

Anyway, I think each person needs to find what works for them, so my advice is to buy all the books, try NRT (though I personally don't hold with the idea - I'll explain if anyone cares), try hypnotherapy, but basically find what works FOR YOU! Keep trying and don't stop stopping!!

Good luck to everyone who is trying to stop. I am currently retraining my subconcious (which is working, by the way) and I anticipate I will be stopping within the next day or so.

I will update you with progress if anyone's interested.

This seems to have turned into a lengthy post, so I'll stop. I don't know how this will come across to people, but the intent is helpful and friendly. Please read it with that in mind.....

[SamMoffatt28]

http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/images/pdfs/Factsheet.pdf

Maybe this will give you the information you need to give up smoking. I dont mean to be harsh, but you did say you needed a shock.

Good luck with your pregnancy and giving up smoking. If you cant do it for yourself please do it for your baby who cannot choose what goes into its body, however you can.

[Savvy_Sue]

I know you said in your first post that you couldn't use NRT, I don't know why that is but if it's just that you think it's not advised during pregnancy I believe they've recently changed the advice, because they think that it's safer to go for NRT than to continue smoking.

Obviously that's no help if there's some other reason not to use NRT but just thought it would be worth saying!

How's it going, anyway?

[sarah*a]

I gave up smoking on 12th January - for a number of reasons, I had been diagnosed as asthmatic and I also didn't want to be photographed in my wedding dress in Feb with a fag in my hand.

The nurse at our GP's was fantastic. The advice she gave me was to picture lots of little gremlins in my body eating away at me (stay with me :p ) and I had to get the gremlins to go to sleep. She then got me to imagine that everytime I had a ciggy it was like piping the sound of a brass band into my body - which woke the gremlins up - and they would begin feeding again.

It was a bit bizarre but it worked :T

Been smoke free for 7 months now :j

:cool:

[kate1976]

Congratulations on your pregnancy! :j

As for the smoking I'm not sure I can offer advice as I'm a hopeless case who quits and then starts again!!:rolleyes:

All I can suggest is what has been suggested before, take it step by step, don't beat yourself up if you do give in, read a book and get well into it as that helped me pass hours without thinking about it, I've not tried the Alan Carr book but I will give it a go at some point (did I mention I'm hopeless? :o ) brush your teeth whenever you crave, take up knitting (cardigans, hats, bootees for baby) just generally try and keep yourself busy!

I smoked through my pregnancy but that was only because I didn't find out till I was 7 months gone and by that time the doctor said I'd probably done any damage already(I had a lovely doctor!! :rolleyes: )

Good luck and remember don't beat yourself up if you fail, just keep at it and you'll get there!

Congrats again!