Big change in my life

[GoingNorth]

I've been to Riverboat casinos in IL and IN, and as a smoker, found the density of cigarette and cigar smoke to be intolerable.

I quit tobacco 3 years ago, but am still addicted to nicotine though at a much lower level than what I was getting from cigarettes. I vape these days.

So, while I still get the bad effects of nicotine, which is the least dangerous part of tobacco, I avoid all the tars, heavy metals, MAOIs, and the crap the tobacco cos add to cig tobacco. I also, at least for now, since the gov't has passed new laws, lobbied for by Big Tobacco and Big Pharma, aimed at taxing and restricting vaping out of existence because it has cut so drastically in both businesses profits, save quite a bit of money.

Unlike Suz and LMS, I loathe the smell of tobacco smoke. And, not only do I no longer cough; Squeaky only rarely coughs since I quit smoking.

 

[AppleCori]

How is the "no smoking" going?

 

[Estherfromjerusalem]

Well, AppleCori, thank you for asking: It's not as straightforward as I would have hoped. I was taking the Champix and it was going fine, but I started waking up about every hour and a half at night to go to pee. At first I didn't think there was any connection to the Champix, and I thought I would ask my family doctor to refer me to a urologist to check that mechanically everything is OK. But then because of Yom Kippur and fasting and then the other Jewish festivals I stopped taking the Champix for a few days, and what do you think happened? I began sleeping for longer stretches at night, for 3 and then 4 hours, and I realized that not sleeping ever for a decent length of time is also very very unhealthy. So here I am, in a dilemma. My urge to smoke is getting stronger (!!) and I'm dying for a cigarette. But I haven't had even a puff, and I hope I won't. I've decided to do a test, and to start again taking the Champix and we will see what happens. If it causes me to wake up all the time during the night, then obviously I will have to find something else.

So there you have it. I was really determined to stop, and I hope I can stick to it. I have promised myself that if I live to be 85 years old, and if I still want to smoke then, I will go back to smoking and to hell with the consequences!

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Love, Esther

 

[GoingNorth]

Esther, some of this could be your nicotine addiction playing games with your head as well.I honestly think its the sneakiest addiction out there when it comes to this sort of thing

You won't take Chantix forever, and a month or two without ideal sleep isn't anywhere nearly as likely to damage your health as smoking tobacco is, especially with your cardiovascular issues.

Also,when I was still practicing Judaism, my grandfather, who was an Orthodox rabbi, told me that I wasn't allowed to fast because I had to take medications, ie; was ill.

Has that rule been changed by the rabbinate? I know my mother wasn't allowed to fast while pregnant and nursing, and later on when she went on various medications.

 

[Estherfromjerusalem]

GoingNorth -- you are probably right, and I shall probably give Champix another "go".

Regarding fasting: first of all, I didn't need to take the Champix for a day or two, because I wasn't going to smoke on Yom Kippur, was I!!!!

And you are correct: I do take my medications on Yom Kippur, with a swallow of water, because I am not allowed NOT to take them. But other than that, I do fast, and it seems to be OK. I am well aware of how I am feeling during the day, and if I were to feel bad I would break the fast, but that hasn't happened.

I don't want to start "vaping." I think I just have to be strong and kick this habit for once and for all. When you say "vaping," do you mean the electronic cigarette?

My smoker's cough vanished almost immediately I stopped smoking. I have been lucky in that I used to sing in choirs and madrigal groups when I was young, and I think that strengthened my lungs in some way. I only really coughed when I lay down at night to sleep, and that cough has vanished. So all in all, I consider myself very lucky.

Love, Esther

 

[GoingNorth]

True. Of course you wouldn't be smoking on Yom Kippur! I had medications that had to be taken with food, and also had low blood sugar, so I was never able to fast. Just sort of "hid my eating" and kept my food choices "austere".

Yes, "Vaping" is the electronic cigarette. I don't advise you going to it if you don't have to. I quit smoking due to respiratory problems and am going to have to consider quitting vaping as I'm starting to see circulatory issues from the diabetes, which the nicotine from vaping surely isn't helping.

I never had a smoker's cough, but was starting to get short of breath and wheezy and was also having terrible sinus problems.

That all cleared up until I moved from the clean air of Northern Wisconsin to the heavily-polluted air of Milwaukee, WI. To make matters worse, I literally live right next to an expressway so get a lot of hydrocarbon pollution.

I hope going back on the Chantix works for you. Are you enjoying Sukkos?

 

[AppleCori]

Is there another choice besides Chantix?

Glad you are still holding strong!

 

[susiestar]

I am glad you are still not smoking. Keep that determination going!! I know I smoked when we met, but I guess I am very odd. For me it is a sign of depression. I use the urge to smoke as a barometer for depression - if I want one, I talk to my doctor about prozac. If I don't, I don't need the prozac. (Prozac is the only one that works for me.) I know when the urge for a cigarette hits really badly that i really need help.

I do know that many people have luck stopping smoking by using welbutrin. If it turns out that you cannot tolerate Chantix, you might be able to use welbutrin to help you not restart smoking. If you really MUST have that nicotine fix, please consider those lozenges or the nicotine gum instead of cigarettes. It will help with the urge to smoke but won't give you those nasty other things in cigarettes. I would talk with your doctor and see if there is something short term that might help you with the interrupted sleep from Chantix. If Chantix is causing it.

I know this is hard. One of my aunts has always been a smoker and I have seen her struggle to quit many times. Unless her husband was willing to not smoke, she never had much luck regardless of how bad her health was. A few years back she finally had a good husband who was willing to stop with her (she had 7 husbands and 9 marriages to date). I think she is still not smoking, but I know that it will probably be a struggle for many years for her. I can still see the look on her face when Jess was maybe 2 and asked my aunt why she was setting herself on fire. Jess had never seen anyone light a cigarette before and didn't even know what one was, so she was truly alarmed to see my aunt stick something in her mouth and set it on fire.

I hope the stop smoking group is helping. I know here there are a LOT of different supports available. Our state government has a big push to get people to stop, including free or low cost stop smoking aids. I think it is wonderful and way past time. I hope your country's efforts include similar options for support.

Are you aware of how much you spent on cigarettes? Why not set up an account and put that amount of money into it for your trip to Australia, or for another reward for yourself? I know several people who were able to meet real goals by doing this. For some of them just seeing the numbers grow in that account was a motivator to keep them from smoking again. One would take money out if she smoked, esp if she bought a pack of cigarettes rather than bumming one from someone. She said seeing the money coming out was more of a motivator than several other things she was trying. She and her husband were saving for a down payment on a house and when she got her husband to join her, it had a huge impact on their savings. They got into a house several years before they thought they would just by using the money they would have spent on cigarettes for the down payment.

 

[Estherfromjerusalem]

I really appreciate the input from all of you. At the moment I am really and truly struggling, and fantasizing about how and when to have a cigarette. I think I am quite near to giving in, and I hope I manage to get through each day as it comes without smoking. It isn't getting better -- yet. It seems to be getting worse by the day, and I am very very bad-tempered and depressed.

Susie, maybe I need to find another support group. The one I went to was only for six sessions. But yes, it was free on our Health Fund program, and I think I can find another group -- if I try!!!

Susie, the financial gain is one of the ways they tried to motivate us in the support group, and we had to work out how much we had been spending each year, and then say what we planned to do at the end of the year, and yes you are right, I said I would spend it on going to visit Oriel in Australia!!!

Tomorrow I think I am going to start the Champix again. We will see. It won't hurt me to feel nauseous and to stop eating so much -- with all our Jewish festivals I feel I have eaten so much and I feel quite bloated. It's time to lose some weight.

GoingNorth, apropos Jewish festivals: No, I do not enjoy Sukkot. I hate it. I get very nasty. My husband really loves it and puts so much effort into building it and furnishing it (!!) and making it comfortable. I tell him to go and play in his "tree house" like a kid. All the children and grandchildren come to visit -- not all at the same time thank heavens, but when they come it means staying overnight because we don't travel etc. etc. So I have had to do loads of shopping and loads of cooking and baking. Can't be helped. My kids are good and they help, and some of them bring some food, but it is all such a pain. And they always fix one day when we do a barbecue here (we live on the ground floor and have direct access to the garden), and on that day they all come. We used that day as an excuse for cutting the hair of one grandson who reached the grand age of three, and to welcome his little sister who had just been born, so it was actually a really lovely get-together. I won't bore you with any more details, but I really am happy that we will now have a few months of routine, boring routine, and winter weather. That's what I love.

OK, I hear what you say. So I won't start "vaping" but I have heard that there is some kind of cigarette shaped thing into which you put liquid peppermint toothpaste or something like that. I am going to look for it.

Thanks anyway.

Love, Esther

 

[GoingNorth]

I really appreciate the input from all of you. At the moment I am really and truly struggling, and fantasizing about how and when to have a cigarette. I think I am quite near to giving in, and I hope I manage to get through each day as it comes without smoking. It isn't getting better -- yet. It seems to be getting worse by the day, and I am very very bad-tempered and depressed.

Susie, maybe I need to find another support group. The one I went to was only for six sessions. But yes, it was free on our Health Fund program, and I think I can find another group -- if I try!!!

Susie, the financial gain is one of the ways they tried to motivate us in the support group, and we had to work out how much we had been spending each year, and then say what we planned to do at the end of the year, and yes you are right, I said I would spend it on going to visit Oriel in Australia!!!

Tomorrow I think I am going to start the Champix again. We will see. It won't hurt me to feel nauseous and to stop eating so much -- with all our Jewish festivals I feel I have eaten so much and I feel quite bloated. It's time to lose some weight.

GoingNorth, apropos Jewish festivals: No, I do not enjoy Sukkot. I hate it. I get very nasty. My husband really loves it and puts so much effort into building it and furnishing it (!!) and making it comfortable. I tell him to go and play in his "tree house" like a kid. All the children and grandchildren come to visit -- not all at the same time thank heavens, but when they come it means staying overnight because we don't travel etc. etc. So I have had to do loads of shopping and loads of cooking and baking. Can't be helped. My kids are good and they help, and some of them bring some food, but it is all such a pain. And they always fix one day when we do a barbecue here (we live on the ground floor and have direct access to the garden), and on that day they all come. We used that day as an excuse for cutting the hair of one grandson who reached the grand age of three, and to welcome his little sister who had just been born, so it was actually a really lovely get-together. I won't bore you with any more details, but I really am happy that we will now have a few months of routine, boring routine, and winter weather. That's what I love.

OK, I hear what you say. So I won't start "vaping" but I have heard that there is some kind of cigarette shaped thing into which you put liquid peppermint toothpaste or something like that. I am going to look for it.

Thanks anyway.

Love, Esther

Aw Esther, I am sorry you are having such a rough time. We lived in a third floor apartment in a not so great neighborhood in Chicago when I was growing up. We had a Sukkah a couple times on the fire escape, but neighbors used to delight in throwing rocks and or firecrackers at it , so we gave it up before someone burned the back (wooden) part of the building down.

I never enjoyed the family festivals either. I understood Yiddish, which the older relatives didn't know, and of course, children were not supposed to really interact with adults, which left me with my sister and my cousins, many of whom were quite a bit older than I was and rather hateful.