Question:
I have to quit smoking
I am having plastic surgery on April 4th. I am 5 years out. I know I have to quit smoking and my pcp has given me the patch. The problem I am having is that the patch is an 8 week program. When I called the surgeon to ask if I will be able to weat the patch on the morning of my surgery, they told me that they require that I be off of the patch for 1 week prior to surgery. How can I do that when it is an 8 week program? I will only be on week 3-4 when they want me to stop wearing it. Any suggestions? I am nervous that in 3-4 weeks of the patch will not be enough for me to stay stopped. Any insight or ideas would be helpful. Thanks — enjo4 (posted on February 22, 2006)
February 22, 2006
I know quitting smoking is tough, I did it 7 years ago. I tried the patch
and it made me sick, I used the gum for 1 week and then switched to regular
spearmint gum after smoking for 11 years. Bottom line is, you really have
to want to quit smoking to go through with it. It is important to follow
your docs advice and quitting in 3-4 weeks is not impossible just tough. So
the question you have to ask yourself is how bad you want plastic
surgery...
Kim
— kimmy
February 22, 2006
Hi Erin,
I can understand how hard it is to kick this habit. My husband had to give
it up or die. Also he could not use any aid to help him. One thing that
worked for him was that he kept his last package of smokes. He knew that
they were there and he chose that he was not going to smoke that day. He
chose not to smoke. It gave him the power he needed. It was one day at a
time. He would ask the same question everyday, and he has been smoke free
for over 3 yrs. Another way to look at this is, smoking should be looked at
as an addiction. You have to decide not to smoke for yourself. It is going
to be the hardest thing you will do. Yet if you deal with today then
tomorrorow will look after it's self. Then you will notice that weeks have
passed by. Hint: when you have a craving, and you will, brush your teeth,
go for a walk, change the focus. This is my own opinion, I believe that the
nicoritic gum and the patch are cruches to lean on and they usually fail
once you stop using them, they forget that there has to be a suopport when
those things can't be used.
I know you can do it, you are worth it. You will heal so much better if
can stop. Choose to stop for you. GOOD LUCK.
Laurie.
— paramedic
February 22, 2006
Hi Erin...I went through the same thing, but the patch was not an option
for me. My Plastic Surgeon needed my body "nicotine free" for at
least a month prior to surgery. For an added incentive, he had me go in
for urine tests at weekly intervals to make sure that I didn't backslide,
and it was all done for me, even though I didn't much like it at the time.
I was having breast reconstruction work (from breast cancer) in addition to
the tt and hernia repair. He explained the importance of being nicotine
free, which really did make sense (and as I figured he was just making it
up at the time because all doctors want us to quit smoking, I did my own
research, and he was definitely right). Your body needs all it has to keep
the vascular system working, and if you are still smoking there is a chance
that the veins and arteries will shut down, causing the new skin to die and
literally turn black before it falls off...I actually saw pictures of a
woman who had this happen to her and it literally scared the crap out of me
enough to quit cold turkey. Happy to report that I have been smoke free
for a year and almost 4 months...not saying that it was easy, but it was
something that I was able to do with absolutely no weight gain (which I was
really worried about after going through the wls), and even though I still
want a cigarette every now and then, it is just something that I choose not
to do, just as I chose to have the wls to get healthy. Good luck to you -
heck if you could do the dieting after the wls, you can do anything!
— DorrieB
February 22, 2006
Hi Erin,
I had to quit before my surgery and I had tried the patch, gum, pill,
hypnosis none of them worked for me. Tell I found ACCULASER. It is the
newest technology available today, it took one 40 min session and I was
smoke free. I'm now 2 months a non smoker. The national average sucsess
rate for Acculaser is 85 to 95 percent. you should really check this out.
Not sure where you live, but the centers are popping up all over the place.
It has been in Canada and Europe for 20 plus years.
— 2besexy1
February 22, 2006
I just quit smoking 5 weeks ago. Prior to that, I had been smoking for 20
years. The truth of the matter is.....there is no easy way and you just
have to do it. Period. I decreased my cigs for a couple of days and then
just stopped. I had to because of some medical issues. Trust me, I didnt
want to!! The first 4 days REALLY REALLY sucked!! I was miserable and
mean and testy and antsy. I just kept myself really busy. After day 4, it
got easier. I still think about it daily, but I am not going crazy like i
was. Of course, I am eating myself out of house and home, but, i figure I
can deal with the weight gain later!
Good luck - the only answer lies within you and your will to quit. You can
do this!! Just think how AWESOME you will look after plastics!! Then all
the money you used to use to buy smokes, you can buy CLOTHES!! Yipee!
— MissKimberly
February 23, 2006
Erin - I quit smoking 11 years ago. It's a fact that the most successful
long-term quitters have quit the old fashioned way -- cold turkey. Does it
suck? You bet. I didn't want to replace my tobacco usage with another
potentially harmful chemical... okay, I may have cheated because I was
pregnant at the time! :) So I had MOTIVATION -- but so do you! Focus on
your surgery -- how bad do you want this? It really depends on how bad you
want a healthy bouncing baby boy -- I mean successful, healthy plastic
surgery? Focus on the positive. A couple of things I did do -- 1) stay
away from smokers, smoke break areas and bars; 2) use a rubber band on your
write to snap whenever you start thinking about a cig (sounds silly, but
really works). 3) Make a list of all the reasons you want to quit -- review
as necessary. You can do this!
— [Deactivated Member]
February 23, 2006
geeze -- I meant rubber band on the wrist -- I really should edit. :)
— [Deactivated Member]
February 23, 2006
If you want it bad enough you can quit smoking on your own I am a reformed
smoker I quit about 20 yrs. ago cold turkey I smoked 3 packs of cigarettes
a day and drank 4 pots of coffee I was flying lol... Just pray everyday to
get help you can do it I have all the faith in you...If you would like to
talk more please write me Thanks and good luck...Cindy
— NYCindy
February 23, 2006
ERIN,HELLO I TOO AM QUITTING RIGHT NOW I AM ON WELLBUTRIN XL 300MG. IT DOES
WORK I PROMISE,AND ALSO THE HELP OF LIFESAVERS. I HAVE CRYED,YELLED, GOTTEN
REALLY NASTY ,BUT IT IS WORTH IT.I STOPPED 2/19/06. IT IS REALLY HARD AT
FIRST ,BUT THE CRAVEINGS WILL GO AWAY I KNOW THIS MAY SOUND CRAZY BUT ITS
LIKE CONTRACTIONS THEY COME AND THEY GO,I HAVE BEEN SMOKING FOR 18 YRS. AND
I WOULD SAY TO MY SELF IM NOT ADDICTED I REALLY LIKE TO SMOKE,WRONG IT IS
AN ADDICTION,A BAD ON LIKE ANY OTHER DRUG.YOU REALLY HAVE TO WANT IT BAD
ENOUGH.YOU CAN DO IT, JUST KEEP BUSY WHEN YOU WANT A CIG,THINK ABOUT
SOMETHING ELSE ,LIKE MY DOC TOLD ME WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO CURE YOURSELF OF
ONE THING AND KILL YOURSELF WITH ANOTHER.I AM 34YRS OLD AND HE TOLD ME MY
OXYGEN LEVEL IS AT 65 SHOULD BE AT 80! YOU WILL FEEL BETTER.SMELL BETTER,
AND YOU LIFE WONT BE WORKED AROUND CIGS ALL THE TIME EVERYDAY ,GOTTA
STOP,OR YOU WONT THINK MAN I NEED A CIG AFTER 5 DAYS ,PLEASE TRY AND STOP
,YOU CAN DO IT,AND REMEMBER DONT MAKE EXCUSES JUST STOP! TAKE CARE,AND WHEN
YOUR FEELING CRAZY AND WANTING THAT CIG TALK ABOUT IT IT HELPS!!!!!!!!!!
— katrina
February 23, 2006
I highly suggest welbutrin (sold under the name Zyban as a quit smoking
aid). It's an antidepressant and works really well with a minimum of side
effects.
Welbutrin didn't make the social aspect of quitting any easier... I still
wanted to go out and have "smoke breaks" or spend time with my
smoking friends (and smoke with them). I had to find new activities to
substitute for smoking. But because of the welbutrin, I was having
cravings, I didn't gain any weight, and I didn't feel like I was going
through withdrawl. It really helped with the addiction part.
I'm pretty sure you can use welbutrin with the patch. Ask your doctor
because s/he can help you get set up to have the best possible outcome.
Good luck.
— mrsidknee
February 23, 2006
Hi Erin, If you are interested there is a natural pill that will help you
in 7 days. Its called Smoking Rx, and it pulls the nicotine out of your
system and then you don't have the cravings for it. It works wonderfully..
I smoked a pack a day for 23 yrs, and I used this Smoking Rx and read the
instructions.... IT WORKS.... what do you have to lose.. Good luck and You
CAN do it....SBV
— btoots2
Click Here to Return