Please post your experience with smoking cigarettes and smoking cessation

Is anyone else here?  I need some feedback.  I have moderate to severe emphysema and can't stop

smoking.  My lungs are swelled up and hitting my ribs.  I'm not sure where i am with this and i'm scared. 

It's a cycle...the more afraid i become the more i smoke. 

I am trying to quit.  Chantix was helping and then it made me deathly ill and i had to give it up.  Can

share or help me with quitting?  Thank you...  Auntiefay

Please take a moment and register so that we can all support each other, ok?  I have not found any other emphysema support support group online or offline.  As some of us, or all of us, knows, intense lonliness goes hand in hand with this illness.  Thank you for listening.  God Bless You....  Auntiefay

Auntiefay - you say you are afraid, so you smoke more.  That is an excuse.  You need to quit to save your life and the quality of life you have left.  I. too, have severe to moderate copd and I quit after 25+ years because I couldn't breathe anymore.  Of course, it was too late, ciggs did their damage, but I can't imagine how bad it would be if I'd still been smoking these last 5 years.  You have to make a choice for life,  or death.  copd is the 4th cause of death by illness in the u.s. now and growing every day.  I'm not sure what you're afraid of...but if you're afraid of death or carrying around an oxygen tank, let that be your motivation.    I was as addicted as anyone- I quit cold turkey because I wanted it to be really tough.  Tough enough that I would not want to go through it again.  (And I've seen too many people just get addicted to the gum, etc.)  No crutches, no excuses...just stop buying them!  I slept through the hard times the first couple of days, after that it's just phycological.  Love yourself enough to make a choice for life, for life.  good luck to you and god bless Nancylala

Dear Nancylala,

Thank you for your response.  I took in every word of it and believe your advice is sound. 

I am much more settled, now...much less afraid.  I found a forum for smoking cessation and am working diligently, devising a plan that will work for me.  My quit date is two days away and the process is already working for me.  Thank God for you and everyone in the other forum.  So many voices of wisdom, like angels.  I am going to be alright, now, Nancylala.  I pray for your future success and for joy, love and happiness to be with you always.

I am going to leave this forum, now.  It has been a pleasure to have met you.

God Bless,

Auntiefay

There is no magical answer to how to quit smoking.  I smoked for 40 years, and was diagnosed with  emphysema  about three weeks ago, when I was hospitalized with pneumonia and acute asthmatic bronchitis.  They put the patch on me in the hospital, and I used it at home also, until I got a rash (not caused by the patch) and couldn't use it.  The patch definately helped alot.  But here is the thing, yes I want to smoke a cigarette worse than you can imagine but I won't do it - because I want to be here for my kids for many years to come.  I guess you make a choice and stand by it.  I hope you are able to quit.  Good luck.

Please,Stop smoking and never go back to it.you have to want to quit before you start the chantex.talk to dr. about that. You have to quit.It is the most important part of you therapy.Never go back to it either.I have had a relapse after severe diagnosis and quiting.smoked again with the severe diagnosis for 6 more month.Now off again and the damage i done is now 2 fold and illiminated me for possibilitys of lvrs. trust me stop and never go back.stay strong want to quit and i will pray that it works out.You have to quit. Make up your mind to quit.Now I have all maxed out on medications inhalers and thats no prize.After that level its oxygen.I am there. Trust me quit.

Hi,

As a volunteer from the American Lung Association, I would like to share with you an exciting new resource for patients with COPD, called Take Control of Your COPD: A Guide to Better Living. With grant underwriting, the video is now available free of charge on YouTube. 

The 12-chapter series covers the essentials of COPD management with an emphasis on what one might learn in a full pulmonary rehabilitation program.  The chapters and speakers are listed at the end of this email.  It was created by a collaboration of COPD organizations in California to teach patients ways to control COPD, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, in order to lead long, productive, and normal lives. It is aimed toward individuals with all severity levels and stages of progression and would be a valuable resource to any COPD patient, caregiver, or provider.

For webmasters/staff: We hope that you will consider linking your website to the videos as a resource for visitors to your site.

For patients and caregivers: We hope that you will take some time to view these new educational videos!

The videos can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/COPDGuide

Please email with any questions.

Thank you!

Emily

bayintern1_alac@alac.org

Hi. My name is Brenda and I am 49 years old, married and have 3 sons.  On March 4, 2010 I was diagnosed with

Copd.  I have been smoking 34 years.  I was really scared so I decided to quit.  I started out by not inhaling the

cigarettes then, started weaning and I set a quit date.  One morning before my quit date I slept till noon and when

I awoke I decided if I went all morning without smoking I might as well quit.  I was three days cold turkey and I

received lozenges in the mail.  Could not see putting the nicotine back in my body after getting it out.  so now I am

off smoking now for a week.  Is Copd, the same as emphysema?  thank you

COPD is any combination of emphezyma, chronic bronchitis and/or asthma; I'm surprised your doctor didn't explain that to you better.   Sorry to hear about another member in our ranks.  There is a really good book called "Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions" which I recommend you get; it will give you hope and help you cope and manage your COPD , rather than your COPD managing you.  Nancy lala

Smoking is not good for health. Smoking have lots of disadvantages. Lots of diseases affected to your body. That may make major problems. lungs problem and cancer is the main diseases attract towards you.