Need to quit

*slavetothevibe*

hey

This thread is not to tell me the dangers of smoking when pregnant, or what a bad person i am. I just really need advice from other women who have quit smoking due to pregnancy. Ive cut down but i am struggling. I'm about 6 weeks. I would welcome any help. Ive been in touch with the NHS but they cant provide patches until im over 12 weeks. They have however offered me niquitin mint type things.

Thanks for reading

Gigglepig

You are on the right track - at least you are not in denial about it.

I don't have any advice on stopping smoking especially, but for habits in general it may help to clarify which situations trigger them. And then try to avoid those for a while or at least be prepared.

I find it helps some times to be in a different environment when I try to establish new habits, easier to get out of the rut.

In what times and situations during the day do you smoke, and can you get support from family/friends to get through those paticularly rough patches?

When I was pregnant my sense of smell was heightened - who knows, you may find the smell of cigarettes really revolting.

lowlitmemory

I am not going to call you a bad person, but instead say Good on you for making the effort to try and quit.

I am not a smoker, but had terrible trouble trying to eat properly and not just sit and inhale sweeties and chocolate and tell myself "it's okay 'cos I'm pregnant"... it wasn't okay and I had a high risk of gestational diabetes as it was, so did need to cut it out. A mantra I found quite helpful was "what I eat, the baby eats" as it focused my mind on why I was doing this and made me think about each thing I was eating, would I be happy for my child to eat this. Perhaps you could adapt it slightly... "what I breathe, the baby breathes" and picture the baby breathing in what you breathe in. Might be helpful, might not, but worth a go?

Best of luck to you.

Saturnalia

The NHS is giving away the quit packs and they come with a lot of information plus a fidget toy. They've found that for some smokers having something in their hands to play with at times & situations they would normally light up helps them not to smoke.

Why not send off for the free quit kit and see if it helps? I can't remember the link but googling NHS smokefree should find it.

mrcow

Is anyone else in your household a smoker? Quitting with someone else is so much easier than doing it alone. if you're giving up, you ned to have no cigarettes in the house whatsoever. Who buys them and where? Make sure you don't even go to that shop for a long while.

You need to find your triggers and learn how to deal with them/avoid them. e.g if you often sit out the garden for a fag and a chat, then don't go out there - have a bath or go and do something else to take your mind off it. If you smoke down the pub etc. Then don't go there.

Make sure everyone knows that you are giving up (they don't have to know why) - positive peer pressure is a great thing. If anyone offers you a fag - they are setting you up to fail - tell them this.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Have chilled water in the fridge and, everytime you have a craving, get a tiny, healthy snack and a small glass of water.

Do not use the paper shop for a couple of weeks if that's where you would ordinarily buy them, as getting a pint of milk ends up with 'and twenty Marlboro and a Clipper' just falls out of your mouth without your brain being involved in the act.

Brush your teeth lots and feel glad that you're doing this.

Molly41

What better reason to quit - the health if your un born child. Perhaps have a picture of a baby surrounded by smoke on your person and look at it every time you feel the need.

im going to say something harsh now - i used to offer smoking cessation as part of my role as a midwife (im retired now). Research has shown that women who cut down but dont quit inhale substantially more than those who continue to smoke the same amount. So really you have to go the whole course and quit.

Noctu

Try pouring your cig butts into a bowl and add some warm water. Swirl it all round and mash the butts into the water. Once finished, give it a good sniff!

I used to be a social smoker but quit and I'm so glad I did after starting my job (researching with people who have heart failure/COPD) and seeing how utterly crippled they are... the vast majority of the COPD caused by smoking and many of the heart failures. Seeing those poor people wheeze for breath and unable to walk really hit home for me and I will never touch another cigarette again.

So it sounds awful perhaps but if you know of anyone with COPD, think of them...

LannieDuck

I've never smoked, although my OH did. He quit by deciding that he would. I know it sounds simple, but for years before his parents tried alsorts to make him quit, but it was never going to work until he was ready to do it and decided for himself.

You're doing absolutely the right thing. It's only 9 months, and it'll make the world of difference to your baby. Hang in there. Your baby is more important.

good_vibes

If you really want to quit you could by the patches yourself. NHS don't give them out. It cost just under £10 for a 7 day course of patches, where a 20 of cigs cost you just over £6 pounds.

mizzbiz

It's really hard to quit mentally and so I feel for you becasue I have been there. When you're pregnant too there is even more pressure on you to quit which I think makes it harder.

The thing to remember is that no matter when you quit, you will suffer for a few days then get gradually better. It's never the right time to quit. There isn't a good time. Which means now is as good a time as any. Whenever you do it, the first few days will be a nightmare. Once you get past thse days you won't want to repeat them so that helps you stay quit for good.

What worked for me was the cheap lozanges (galpharm?). SOunds bizarre but they were so strong that they were giving me nicotine rushes, which meant I gradually cut down the lozanges because they were too strong. After a week I was cold turkey and doing much better. After two weeks, I stopped telling my husband I wanted a divorce lol.

After a couple of months I couldn;t imagine lighting up or why anyone would want to do it. It amazes me now, being fully qwuit, that anyone that achieves non smoking status would ever want to go back to smoking. It seems a totally bizarre and gross habit to me now and I smoked for almost 15 years.

So what I'm trying to say is, cutting down is rubbish. Made me smoke even more because I thought about it all the time. It's more painful to cut down than quit, honestly it is. It was amazing to me how quickly my lifestyle adjusted to not being a smoker. By the time you have your little one, you;'ll wonder why you ever smoked in the first place!