when to stop smoking?

how long before and after ba should u give up smoking?x

At least 2 weeks before and after hun xx

ok thankyou.gonna be well hard to giv up.can u use chapstick tablets thought?x

I stopped 5 weeks before because i didnt want to be craving before my op (which is definately a situation you'll be craving a ciggie!) but 2 weeks before and after is fine, what are chapstick tabs hun?

I find it hard to quick so I actually had my last cig the night before, and was smoking again day after surgery, I didn't have any problems and healed well.

Then again I was silly taking a risk I suppose, I'd try and quick if you can (your prob stronger than me!), and listen to what your surgeon tells you. xx

Are you planning on giving up completely? x

Just had a little read and it's usually no smoking 2 weeks before or after. But if you can manage that, then you may aswell stop completely! xx

Think the chapsticks tables you mentioned is the smoking cessation medication called Champix? It's prescription only, you will need to visit your smoking cessation nurse who will recommned to your GP you're prescribed them.

If so they take about 2 weeks to kick in anyway so you'll need to start taking them 4 weeks before your surgery. Bit of a risky business taking any new medication before your surgery though, and these tablets can seriously mess with your mental health. I would suggest you use patches, inhilator, lozengers, microtabs or gum if you can't manage cold turkey (and lets face it, people who can are few and far between !!). You can use a couple of the products at the same time if you like, you can't overdose on nicotine, you'll throw up before you do!

Hope this helps, any more questions just ask, I'm a qualified smoking cessation nurse.

Good luck

Ellie
x

Oh! Ellie would be good to have your expert opinion on how to best go about stopping, I have tried patches, gum, inhalator and cold turkey...and the sickness has visited!!! The time needs to be right...mind over matter and addiction I guess. Perhaps when you feel more settled with your boobies you may give me some tips?

And yes like others say should be stop 2 weeks before and after for healing etc. But I am ashamed to say I did have a ciggie 1 hour before surgery :oops: NOT advisable.

All the best to you both for your new boobies xx

You can have some advice now if you like !! You'll have to forgive me if I get too technical or to patronising.... and it's a bit long !!

Basically, it's not down to will power or mind over matter. The brain has quite a few receptors for Nicotine, the main problematic one being the pleasure lobe at the front which is stimulated about 5 seconds after you light up. When you deprive your body of the drug your brain goes into overdrive & starts 'screaming' at you for it's fix from all the nicotine receptors. Nice...

The best type of smoking cessation therapy is the NRT. Patches, Gum, Inhilator, Microtabs and Lozenges are the main ones but take 20 mins to be absorbed into the blood stream, which is not good when your gagging for your fix after a meal!! For really heavy smokers there's the Nasal Spray, this is a nasty little dispenser to get used to, but the nicotine hit is about 7 seconds after you use it. It's not popular as it takes some getting used to. But it works!!

Recent studies have shown using 2 NRT's in conjunction give you the best chance of quitting this way. Patch and inhilator are the most favourite but you can mix & match to whatever suits.

Then there's the tablet therapy. The first one was Zyban & was stumbled on by mistake. This was first produced as an anti-depressant & in clinical trials it was found after a couple of weeks people who were part of the trial found they could not smoke. The way it works is it blocks the neruo transmitters in the brain from connecting when you smoke so you find you no longer have the urge to smoke as you no longer are feeling any pleasure from it. However, unfortunately, taking an anti-depressant when you're not actually depressed can make you depressed so although it was successful in one way a few people committed suicide whilst taking it and it was blamed on the Zyban.

Champix is the new baby in town with some of the anti-depressant taken out. But not all. It is better, but can still 'mess with your head' if you're a bit delicate in the mental health department.

There is hypnotherapy but don't know much about it. Some people give up ok on it so I've heard but I'm from a medical model so can't comment.

It's whatever suits you!!

There's also some work you can do around triggers and urges to smoke & you're more likely to quit if you have a plan. If you want help when you're quitting give me a shout !!

I was a smoker for 30 years - about 50 roll-ups a day when I was quitting. I went through the NRT and failed, took Zyban but it didn't agree with me. 2 years later had the Champix & never looked back. Not had a fag for 18 months now & feeling fantastic !!

thanks everyone for answering.im going to try the gum and patches i think will let u know how i get on.x

miss ellie Thank you!!! That was very kind of you to take the time to respond soo fully, I am not the sensitive type...so please do not think you are patronising me, and not too technical at all. Just tell it like it is, that is the best method for me.

And many congratulations for quitting!!! especially when you spoked soo many for soo long

I smoke around twenty a dayalso and for about 30 years too :oops:

I think the planning part is where I would struggle, in as much as that I probably need to know that the method I decided on was likely to work. I did some time back buy the Zyban very expensive but decided to throw them due to media coverage as you mention. I have not heard of these newer tablets... but if they are deemed safer perhaps worth a go (my head can handle them I think). Did you use NRT along with them and have a plan previously mapped out?

I have also tried hypnosis. did not work for me!! I do really want to give this a go, I guess I need to set a date with a treatment plan in mind and just do it. Are these tablets over the counter or prescption? Many Thanks for your kind advice. xxx

Hi. You're welcome!!

Champix is a prescription only drug, you can get on the NHS via a smoking cessation nurse, or you can get it on private prescription, though it's quite expensive to do it this way (though prob not as expensive as smoking).

I didn't use NRT alongside Champix, it's not really recommended & prob a waste of time as it works on your dependancy in a different way. I sort of had a plan, but I'm an addiction counsellor for the NHS as well as smoking cessation so I just sort of took my own advice and practiced what I preached !!

The 'plan' is basically setting a future quit date. Whilst you are getting closer you need to look at your smoking habits, some people find it helpful to write a cigarette diary. In this you will identify what your triggers are to smoke. Main ones are usually after a meal, with alcohol, buying cigarettes with your morning paper, with your coffee/tea in the morning, getting in the car. By doing a diary you'll also identify the not so obvious ones which will be personal to you & you don't think about as smoking at these times will be a habit.

What you do then is look at your triggers and plan ways of making these times easier, eg have your morning paper delivered so you don't go into the shop and see all those lovely sparkly packets glinting at you. Pay for your petrol at the pumps if you can. If you drink coffee in the morning, switch to tea, so taste is not a trigger. Stop drinking for a couple of weeks until you have practiced being ciggie free for a while as you'll def crave when you're a bit tipsy - your brain is searching for the high it got off cigarettes and alcohol combined (that's why you smoke more when you're drunk, to get that additional high you don't get off alcohol and cigarettes when used alone). When you do start to drink again, drink something you wouldn't normally.

A smoking cessation nurse will help you identify your triggers and between you come up with ways to get past them, but you've got to remember they're your personal triggers so it's up to you to be truthful about what they are (yes, I subconciously sabotaged my first few quit attemps by not being truthful!!)

Anyway, I'll get off my soap box now. I'm rather passionate about stopping smoking in case you haven't guessed already (although don't do it as a career any more) and love to help people quit.

Ellie
x

I've heard some pretty gruesome stuff about that Champix drug so i would seek medical attention before taking that and if you have side effects i would stop x

Oh!! I think I may well need your supporrt when I have decided when to do it. I will speak with my G.P. for advise and any support available here as a little kick now and again does no harm.

It is good to hear you are passionate about what you do to help and support others. I feel exactly the same. I will look into these tablets too. Thanks ellie. xxx

Champix is the same as Chantix is the USA and has an FDA warning on it:

Audience: Healthcare professionals, consumers
[UPDATE 05/16/2008] FDA informed healthcare professionals and patients that as the Agency’s review of Chantix safety data has progressed, it appears increasingly likely that there is an association between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms. Prescribing information for Chantix was revised to include this safety information in the WARNINGS and PRECAUTIONS sections of the label, and a Medication Guide for patients is also available. If patients, their families, or caregivers notice agitation, depressed mood, or changes in behavior that are not typical for the patient or if the patient has suicidal thoughts or actions, the patient should stop taking Chantix and contact their healthcare professional.

[Posted 11/20/2007] FDA informed healthcare professionals of reports of suicidal thoughts and aggressive and erratic behavior in patient who have taken Chantix, a smoking cessation product. There are also reports of patients experiencing drowsiness that affected their ability to drive or operate machinery. FDA is currently reviewing these cases, along with other recent reports. A preliminary assessment reveals that many of the cases reflect new-onset of depressed mood, suicidal ideation, and changes in emotion and behavior within days to weeks of initiating Chantix treatment. The role of Chantix in these cases is not clear because smoking cessation, with or without treatment, is associated with nicotine withdrawal symptoms and has also been associated with the exacerbation of underlying psychiatric illness. However, not all patients described in the cases had preexisting psychiatric illness and not all had discontinued smoking.

Healthcare professionals should monitor patients taking Chantix for behavior and mood changes. Patients taking this product should report behavior or mood changes to their doctor and use caution when driving or operating machinery until they know how quitting smoking with Chantix may affect them.

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I would try to stop smoking without this drug first.

nads wrote:
I would try to stop smoking without this drug first.

Which is why it's recommended NRT is used as a first point of prescribing by the NHS, Champix is used if and when several quit attempt by NRT have not been successful & it's unlikely a patient is going to quit without pharmaceutical interventions.

There are very strict guidelines used before prescribing Champix by GP's, so please be assured they're not handed out willy nilly !!

Ellie
x

Thats good to know, i was just higlighting the reports on the side effects which everyone should know. I didnt think they did, i was only a light smoker so gave up cold turkey but i can imagine it must be really hard if you smoke alot more

x

You're one of the lucky ones Nads !!

I always wanted to be a social smoker, they go so nice with a drink, but ended up a flippin chain smoker.


Ellie
x

Yeh it does creep up on you, i used to just have one after work just to relax, like some do with a glass of wine (i dont drink at all so it was my substitute!) but it got to about 4 a day and im glad i had my op because it helped me stop. Its good to have someone passionate about helping others quit on here

I'm certainly that!!

Just make sure you don't start having the odd one again, like you said, the addiction creeps up on you. Nobody aspires to be on 50 rollies a day, gasping for breath walking up the stairs and taking a drug to help you stop of which you're not sure of the outcome of on your mental health.

Ellie
x

I dont smoke but im sure its 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after x