I DONT WANNA DIE OF CANCER/EMPHYSEMA---HELP!!!!

[motherofan18month]

I have plenty of family and friends around me but all of them smoke except my husband and of course the smaller ones. the only thing my husband can say is you need to put that out or you need to quit yet if i am out he will run out and get a pack for me because every time i have tried to quit within 8 hours i am ready to pull my hair out or worse. i really do need to quit due to health reasons as well. i recently was informed by a doctor that emphysema can be inherited if both of your parents are carriers of the gene or whatever that causes the emphysema to flare up. Both of my grandparents died of emphysema and cancer and my mother was diagnosed with emphysema about a month ago. she is 40 and has been smoking since she was 13-14 around the same time i picked up the habit. my dad is also sick he was diagnosed with crippling arthritis and he just turned 46 years old. i would like to be healthy enough to take care of them when they need it the most!! CAN ANYONE HELP ME OR GIVE ME THE WILL POWER AND INCOURAGEMENT TO QUIT!!!!!

[kathyjo]

It has to come from you but we can all support you : ) Knowing that smoking related illnesses run in your family, you might want to think about living long enough to see your 18 month old married.
I used Chantix which made the battle easier. Judging by your parents ages, you must be quite young and that should be in your favor. The longer you do it, the harder it gets, so do everyone you love a favor and find that inner strength inside you and I am confident that you can quit and stay quit.
Read some of the articles at "whyquit.com" and perhaps that will convince you to stop.
Keep us posted and lots of luck.
Kathy Jo

[motherofan18month]

i am 22 and i have been smoking since a couple of months before my 13 birthday i smoke maybe a pack a day or more, but i can tell it's taking a toll on my health. i cant sleep on my left side due to pain in my chest when i breath, i was hospitalized when i was 4 months pregnant with symptoms of a heart attack but the docs couldn't do anything unless i wanted to risk the health of my son...(i made the right decisin on that one) but i have had these problems since then, not to mention high blood pressure and a number of other things. for a long time i blamed my self for letting both of my grandparents' deaths because i didn't convince them of how bad it was even though i done it my self. Now i know that it wasn't my fault, but hopefully my mom can see how bad it really is and atleast slack down to less than 3 packs a day or quit all together. we have begged her to quit and even bought a few of those quit smoking packages but she hasn't even attempted to open them. her doc just put her an chantix about 3 weeks ago and she just got the Rx filled maybe 4 days ago. i don't know what to do about her!

Thanks for listening & thank you for the post i'll check out the site!!!

[kathyjo]

It could be that growing up around all of the smokers you are suffering from 2nd hand smoke as well as what you are putting into your own lungs : ( You don't want to repeat this behavior do you?
Try to become smoke free so your child(ren) will not repeat this bad habit.
I sure hope that mom takes her pills. You might do well to try the Chantix yourself. I never thought I could quit...I smoked for nearly 38 years......but here I am 3 months, 1 week & 2 days : )

Good luck and keep us posted.
Kathy Jo
p.s.
you are only responsible for yourself so don't guilt yourself about anyone else's behavior. They were/are the adults.

[motherofan18month]

omg i checked out the site and it really brought tears to my eyes reading some of those memorials. I actually went without a cigarrette from 9:am until 1:30 pm yesterday and then i was asked to watch some kids while my sister-in-law went to the store. i agreed but kinda wish i didn't because here i am smoking again. her son is actually a demon (hehehe) and her lil girl is sick so all i heard was crying and screaming for a couple of hours. i saw that she had left her cigarrettes on the counter, so i lit one up to calm my nerves...big mistake. but im gonna try again hopefully i don't succumb to another one. as of right now i am smoking my last cigarrette....wish me luck!

[kathyjo]

Good luck and keep trying! You can do it so don't give up! Try very hard not to associate smoking with stress. Believe it or not, smoking creates more stress......
I have a tooth pick in my mouth now and I chew the end randomly when I get nervous/anxious/stressed. It works because it leaves me guilt free which naturally reduces my stress : )
Keep visiting that site and read the articles listed under "education" at Joel's library. All of the topics will help you to better understand why we smoke and how we can begin to quit. It is important to understand why we do the things we do : )
If your parents have a computer then perhaps you can give them the website so they can read it too. Just remember that you are not responsible for their quitting.
Keep us posted and good luck!
Kathy Jo

[noguano]

I'm 41 and smoked for 26 years before I found Chantix.  I tried cold turkey a few times but couldn't make it past 3 days.  Give Chantix a try.

Dan