HELP

[samther13]

Okay.....I want to quit smoking but I cant do it on my own. I've tried without success. So in 2000 I went to my doctor about it and he gave me wellbutrin(Same result as Zyban but covered by my insurance). Anyways, a week to the time I popped the pill in my mouth, I had a Grand Mal seizure and would up in the hospital for a week. I lost my job and ended up getting so behind in my bills I had to declare bankruptcy in 2005. I found out when I was in the hospital that i have a seizure disorder.....but seems to be caused by environmental/drugs. The sad thing is that it was actually working, i probably would have only been on it another wek.Now, I was just prescribed Chantix....because it does not have seizure as a side effect, but after taking the first pill something told me to read the pamphlet that came with it. When I did, I found that it can cause convulsions....rare but can, so my doctor told me I shouldn't take it. So now I'm back at square one, and afraid to take anything again because for that whole day i was scared to be alone. I have 2 very young children(3yrs & 16mos) who rely on me and couldnt help me if I was to have a seizure. Last time I was not breathing for 4 min until cpr finally worked. I had short term memory loss and busted my arm up bad. My 16 mos old has Osteogenesis Imperfecta and I don't want to pose a risk to her or my other child...and I definately would rather smoke than become brain dead or die from a seizure from trying to quit.I have a very stressful life with the OI my 16mo has and having a jealous 3yr old....and a husband with no patience and a very quick temper. I smoke between 8 & 15 cigarettes a day.... me being up from 9am-12:30am or 1am. Depending on what time i finally get the kids to bed.  I don't have much time for myself, but am working on that...as my husband finally feels ok about taking care of our youngest now by himself......but it is still limited time. Do you have any suggesstions that would not be a health risk to me, doesnt take much time for myself and is safe for me to try, to aid me in quitting? Thanks in advance
Samantha

[kathyjo]

It is so difficult to offer advice on choosing to quit and how to go about it. A great many choose cold turkey and swear by it. You might want to go to whyquit.com and read up on the tons of articles there.
A new way is to learn how to do things without the cigarettes. You can read about it at: http://www.becomeanex.org.
There are a few on this board who talked about hypnosis.........

My personal favorite is whyquit.com. For every question I had, they had the answer. Your addiction, like most of ours, it partially due to stress..........you can read about how smoking actually makes you more stressed.......and yes, after being smoke free for 6 months, 1 week and 1 day, I can absolutely tell you that it is so very true!
Support is crucial when attempting a quit, so keep posting and we will try to get you through it. You can do it, absolutely!
Kathy Jo

[Jen813]

I don't know about the side effects, and I know they can be kind of expensive, but have you tried the patch or any of the gum.  I was on the wellbutrin too without any side effects, but the patch really helped.  I then had to find something to do with my hands or to think of something to do when I was bored.  The thing that kept me going the most was that I always went outside to smoke because I too have two little boys.  I thought about the fact that I smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day while they were awake...which meant that I could have spent another hour with my kids instead of going outside to smoke.  So, I would take an hour a day and just sit on the floor and play with the kids to remind myself of why I quit.  Or, when I could (my husband does NOTHING to help with the kids so this was rare), I would go out for an hour or so by myself just to relax.  The hardest part for me was being on the phone.  That was my main trigger.  I would not have gone back to smoking if it wasn't for the stress (and some other issues), so right now I am working on toning down the stress so I can be successful for over 6 months this time...and then some).
Anyway, I hope that you figure something out and good luck in whatever you do!!!
Please let us know how you are doing.  It's a hard thing to do, but it is SOOOOO worth it.

[nuyou]

To quit is very tough. I smoked for 15 years and was burning up 4 packs a day when I quit. I finally found the solution. It is painless and FREE! I have a wonderful booklet on self-motivation that includes a chapter, "How I Quit Smoking, 4 packs a day, without pills, patches, gimmicks, gadgets or gum. If you want a FREE copy of the book, Entitled YOU OWN A GOLDMINE, just send me a note asking for the GOLDMINE book. I will email it to you, and remember... it's free... no obligations... my way of helping.