You should see your doctor and go on Chantix. It is a miracle drug. I quit after only 5 days of being on the medicine and have never looked back. I took the pills for 2 1/2 mos. and then just stopped - mostly because I was forgetting to take them. I've been off the meds 2 mos. now and smoke free 5 mos. on 11/12. You can do it, you have the desire to do it, you just need a little help. Go out and get the help you need. You won't regret it. I have saved over $1,000! And I feel so much better and happy to be alive. God Bless You, dear heart.
Robin in Massachusetts

I agree with Robin, try the chantix!!!

My dear it is hard to quit, but it isn't worth you getting upset till your unhappy, Cut down might be better for you at this point. Good luck

Do you want to struggle to quit smoking? If the answer is no, then don't. That seems so simple, but I think if we take that approach we deal less with the agony. I struggled with my quit until one day I said to myself. I'm sick and tired of this struggle! I'm not going to be 10 years smoke free still struggling. So each time I got a craving, I let it go. I made a concious decision that each time I got a craving I would push it out of my mind and go on with my life. When I noticed traits that were negitive, I worked on changing them (letting go of the negitive and changing to be positive). There are days that are just crappy no matter how you look at it. We are people and we have the right to just have "one of those days" I don't however think we need to have those days often. I think we have to make a consious (hard) effort to change our perception and change our lives. Until we make that consious decision to make a perminant change I think we continue to struggle though any change that may end up just temperary. I hope that is not confusing. This is the only thing that worked for me. I tried the meds. I tried letting my cravings linger in my mind, I tried moping through my quit. The ONLY thing that worked for me was changing my mind set and not allowing my mind set to go back to what it was. Good luck friend! The quit and the clear mind is worth ALL of the hard work!!!

Chantix has helped soooo many people quit that never thought they could. It is definitely worth looking into!

thank you all for youre love..
well i go with the cutting down.
lots of love, bettina

Hmm. Been married 17 years, wonder if she...naaaaw

Chantix is the only thing that has worked for me. I had to just let myself be crazy for about a week. I used to think cigs eased the stress and then after I was quit for a while I realized that they had created the stress.
My life is better in so many many ways now that I'm not smoking.
Put away the money each day. Put it where you can look at it.
That helps.
And drink a lot of water. Drink water ever time you want a cig. By the time you finish the glass of water, you may be past the urge.

I think your doing whats best for you. Everyone is not the same. Some smoking aids works good for some, others are very allergic to it. Everyone should read all the side effect that it has before taking any kind of drug. That is why I went cold turkey. I didn't need to take that kind of chance

I feel the same way. I don't know what to do?

I don't really believe in the idea that giving up smoking makes us moody. I think we talk ourselves into believing that stopping smoking is hard (the big cigarette companies must be delighted). In fact it really isn't hard at all. My suggestion to Bettina is don't cut down, just stop and accept the challenge of a craving as just that - a challenge to be beaten off. See it as a game and enjoy it and enjoy knowing you're winning.

Hi,I think i am a bit like you.I tried several times this year to quit smoking, and just could not do it.So after much thought i have decided to leave it for now, and try again next year.I realise this is putting it off, but am just worn out trying so much this year.Perhaps you need to decide when will be the best time for you to quit, and how you are going to go about it.Take care.

Ok Bettina you smoked, it happens. I bet smoking did not make you feel better, it did not make your problems go away, all it did was it made you want to smoke even more. That's what this nasty addiction is all about. I really think you want to quit and be done with cigarettes. Well you CAN do this. Try drinking ice water and getting up and moving around when you get a crave. Try a little reward just for you at the end of each day that you don't smoke. I rewarded myself with long hot bubble baths and some candlelight and soft music...besides I never smoked in the bath tub so it was easy to not want to smoke while I was soaking. Healthy snacks are the best but I did allow myself to have just a small piece of chocolate each day for the first couple of weeks. I read up on addiction and how it works so I could better understand how I was going to tackle my own quit. I got a quitmeter and watched some positive numbers add up. I reached out to my support groups when I thought I might go and buy some smokes. They kept me centered and made me realize I was not alone. Please feel free to add me to your friends list. This journey we take to freedom from smoking is so much easier when you have friends to travel down the no smoking path with.

Hi, Bettina. I think your partial quitting is at the root of a lot of your depression. When you do something that gives you pleasure, the reward centers of the brain release dopamine which gives you that ahhh feeling. Nicotine hijacks the reward centers causing an undeserved increase in dopamine levels. When the nicotine level begins to drop, the brain wants more and signals that, first by creating a desire for a cigarette. If that doesnt work, then it causes the classic nicotine fit symptoms. So you smoke another, the nicotine raises the dopamine levels, and the brain is happy. It is within that loop that the addiction is created.

Over time, the brain shut down reward centers in an attempt to return to normal. Your response was to smoke more. This cycle continued until you reached a maintenance balance. At this point, smoking no longer actually provided pleasure as much as it satisfied a need.

When you quit smoking the nicotine level in your blood rapidly drops, even if you are using an NRT. This causes a corresponding drop in dopamine levels in the brain. Suddenly you find yourself at a below-normal dopamine level. This translates to a variety of symptoms, depending on the person. Mood swings, depression, sadness, anger, and unexplained crying or laughing are the most common.

What you are doing by occasionally smoking here and there, a few each day, is you are keeping yourself in a partial and extended state of nicotine withdrawal. It is similar to very slowly pulling a bandage off your arm while occasionally sticking part of it back down and beginning again.

You might want to try Zyban or Wellbutrin (two names for bupropion), if it is available there (and affordable). It is an antidepressant that could help compensate for the loss of nicotine. You might also try an NRT which will help wean you off nicotine in a more controlled manner than repeated slips. Chantix may also help, although I havent heard that it does anything for the depression issues of quitting.

Also, you need to give yourself rewards very often. They actually help the brains reward centers recover from the damage done by the nicotine, stimulating them to rebuild and reactivate. This process is similar to exercising atrophied muscles after an extended period of immobility.

Keep in mind that you are doing a wonderful and amazing thing for yourself and those who care for you. No matter how bad it feels, do not forget that it is temporary and is not doing any harm to you. What you are feeling is healing, even though it may not feel that way. You will survive. Trust me. Ive been there.

Peace and blessings to you.
Shevie
Quit May, 2005.