A lot on my plate

[tal7295]

I have a lot on my plate.  I decided today to quit smoking.  I've been smoking for 13yrs and noticed that my smoking increased once I started to take the pills.  So now I'm tapering off the vicodin and stopping smoking.  I'm commited to stopping both.  I want to know if anyone else smokes, and if the pills make you smoke more.  I'm curious to know if it was just me.

[tal7295]

It was extremely hard to not smoke.  Then I ran out of pills and had to do he c/t thing.  That truly sucks!  I made it two days and finally today called in a refill.  I couldn't do it.  

[singha]

That is kind of how I feel about my tapering from Ultram.....like I am just making the wd's last longer

[desertgirl]

Yes, when i was taking more and more pills the more I smoked. I tried to have one this morning and made me sick to my stomach, i wish you all the best!

[singha]

me too I actually haven't smoked since I started tapering Sunday. I smoked alot with pills and not at all now go figure

[ScottQuit021907]

Just my opinion, but please don't try to taper when it comes to cigarettes. I truly believe tapering is a viable option for quitting opiates, but not for nicotine. The following illustration demonstrates my reasoning:

If there is anyone who knows a smoker who they really despise they should actively encourage them to follow the gradual withdrawal "cut down" approach.  They should call them up every day and tell them to just get rid of one cigarette.  Meaning, if they usually smoke 40 a day, just smoke 39 on the first day of the attempt to quit.  The next day they should be encouraged to smoke only 38 then 37 the next day and so on.  Then they should call these people every day to congratulate them and encourage them to continue.  I must reemphasize, this should only be done to a smoker you really despise.

You see, most smokers will agree to this approach.  It sounds so easy to just smoke one less each day.  Thirty-nine cigarettes to a two pack a day smoker seems like nothing.  The trick is to convince the person that you are only trying to help them.  For the first week or two the one downside is you have to pretend to like the person and you have to talk to them every day.  They won

[dyblue]

Hard to quit two things at once, hell ones hard enough good luck remember take it easy on yourself.  cutting down might be another options.  I smoke too not cigs but smoke is smoke.  cutting down a little seems to help at little before just ct.

[LTL MD]

i have migraines, and i take butalbital (pretty much constantly now), and, after having quit for a long time i have gone back to smoking hoping to numb some of the stress i am under.  i do not know if there is a correlation between the two (pills make you smoke more or less), but what i do know is trying to quit them both at the same time would be insanely difficult.

i too have "a lot on my plate" to many degrees - i smoke, i take pills, nobody knows about either (being a med student, both would be frowned upon by my peers and i would feel like even more of an outsider than i already do), i am a married FEMALE med student who still has to play "housewife" - i can relate!

[beachtowel]

I am very curious to why you think it is ok to taper with opiates but not with cigs?

I am very curious...........

[ScottQuit021907]

Because you can still do your normal day during nicotine withdrawal. My experience is that opiate withdrawal is much more intense and debilitating in terms of everyday functioning than nicotine w/d. I have read of tapering experiences from opiates in which acute withdrawal was more manageable. Naturally, I advocate cold turkey for opiate w/d as well because w/d symptoms will only last days rather than weeks or months, but I can at least understand if someone is tapering from opiates because of the intensity of w/d from high dose full agonists.

[ScottQuit021907]

That said, I also believe that, while tapering is a viable option for opiates, even full agonists, in general it is much harder to do a successful taper than a successful c/t. I don't have any tangible evidence to back this up, however.

[oxysbliss]

Im a smoker.......and the pills did make me smoke more....alot more..

since I have tapered...quit and quit again.....lol....I noticed somethings...Like...I dont smoke much anymore..I live in a non smoking envorinment..the youngest one and myself have asthma ( I know I smoke anyways )....so we dont smoke in the car or the house....because of her mainly..and it makes our house smell better...

I do smoke very light now..a pack lasts oh about  aweek generally..unless I am really stressed out....
I lost my smokes last night..Ironically enough, havent had one all day..and Im going a little stir crazy..but dealing....lol not to say I am quitting though, however if it helps heres some tips

Mint candies....
Write down your triggers......why you smoke...emotions you tend to have a smoke more for...times of day that sorta thing..

If you are cont...smoking for a bit.....write down inside your pack or on a paper the time you have a smoke...and see how long you can last without one.....when you crave...Check your time.....if it isnt the time..find somethign to fill...

Popsicles...I would hope your health aware that quittin gsmokin can cause you to gain weight..I eat alot of popsciles that help curve that

Anyways, hope some of this helps...

hang in there!!