I read this from one dedicated quitter today:
I have just started taking Chantix and I am about a pack a day smoker give or take. I want to be successful with this for good. I have 5 children and a husband who smokes who has just began to take Chantix as well. My biggest concern is that we will be able to quit, but what happens after we stop taking Chantix? My husband quit for 5 years before! I am tired of feeling like a horrible mother, a social outcast and hiding my habit from people in my life. Not to mention sick and tired of the cost of smoking in itself. My husband agrees and feels the same. I just want to hear from someone out there they have been successful off of Chantix who started with Chantix. Anyone??????
A few friends have told me about stop smoking medications that would help me stop smoking. I’m going to ask my doctor, but I’m just checking into it now. Has anyone else taken medication to stop smoking? I’m really hoping my insurance will cover the cost.
My doctor put me on Novo-Bupropion Sr last year, he said it was the same as Zyban and non-addictive, I used it and quit smoking for about 8 months and then I started smoking again. I am trying to use it again to stop smoking but it just does not seem to work as well as the first time. Is there a stronger form of this 150 mg pill or something different that works better to help me quit the smokes again?
My friend sent me this:
I‘ve been trying to get my parents to stop smoking forever. Neither of them like going to the Doctor or taking any kind of medication, and they get ticked every time I suggest something. However, I finally convinced my Mom to at least pick up something over the counter. She bought the gum last week and is convinced it’s not doing any good and refuses to buy more than what she has now. I think it’s time to step it up, hit the Doctor’s office, and get some serious stop smoking medication. Any suggestions on how to encourage them? I’m getting really frustrated.
Leave your comments if you think you have any advice for her!
I thought this was an interesting story, by someone who didn’t use a quit smoking aid to quit:
I was a smoker, started when I was 11, married at 16. The moment the Doctor said I was pregnant, right as I walked out of his office, I dump my cigarettes in the garbage can!
I stayed quit for the nine months, all on my own, and believe quitting is a mental thing. Anything you set your mind to you can accomplish. I will admit though, some things are more difficult for some others, like I cant seem to lose weight for the life of me! But I dropped the smokes like a hot potato.
I want to add that I did go back to smoking each time I had my baby- had 3 of them – and when my baby daughter was 2 she picked up a pencil and pretended to smoke. I said right then NO MORE.
That was almost 17 years ago and I have not had a single smoke since then, just at the sight of one of my kids potentially picking up my nasty habit.
So it is possible, I guess, if you have the right motivation!
I read this today:
The name of the new ’stop smoking shot’ is NicVAX, and it is being developed by a company called Nabi Biopharmaceuticals. It is an investigational vaccine to prevent and treat nicotine addiction and as an aid to smoking cessation. According to the manufacturer, it is designed to cause the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to nicotine and prevent it from entering the brain. We believe that these nicotine antibodies will act like a “sponge” soaking up nicotine as it circulates in the blood stream and preventing it from reaching the brain. The positive stimulus in the brain that is normally caused by nicotine would then no longer be present. Preclinical studies showed that vaccination with NicVAX can prevent nicotine from reaching the brain and block the effects of nicotine, including effects that can lead to addiction or can reinforce and maintain addiction.
There are lots of good quit smoking products out there, from the gum to the patch to several pills out now that your Doctor can prescribe. After talking to so many people, I’ve decided that just going to your Doctor so he can help you understand what you REAL addiction is and what can REALLY help you quit.
I read that the ‘quit smoking shot’ is available and on the market, but that it’s not FDA approved to stop smoking. I heard that the drugs used in the shot are actually for treating other conditions. Does anyone have more information?
Personally, I don’t see how this would work, But a friend of mine many years ago had it done and it worked for him, I think they used it on his ear and part of his hand, i guess it works like accupuncture.
I never tried it, but I tried other stuff, But the only thing that worked for me was a prescription drug “Welbutrin” Trade name “ZYBAN” This is an anti depressant drug that for some reason takes all the pleasure out of smoking, you smoke as you take the pills and after about two weeks cigarettes have no more effect on you than sucking on a pencil, so I stopped cigarettes, after a month I didn’t eat Zyban anymore and never ever had cigarette cravings again.
I don’t know what it costs where you live, I think it was about $80 here, but it was still a lot cheaper than cigarettes.
This is the only link I could find with good information on the quit smoking shot.
http://www.smokingshot.com/program/smokingshot.aspx
Looks like an interesting way to try to quit!