Stopping Smoking - side effects?

[PavlovtheCat]

DH is about to stop smoking. He has patches & an inhalator from the nurse he saw this week and a lot of will power from himself and from our children. He has set a complete no smoking date of sunday. However, since monday he has cut down to 2 rollup cigerettes a day. He also has the Allen Carr Book.

What side effects should he expect, even on these two? ie coughing, headache etc? And what about when he stops completely? Just so he knows what is what and manage them as they come along.

He has a very sore tingly head, like he is about to get a fever, a kind of neuralgia i guess. He is putting it down to reduction in smoking? Also been coughing a lot.

He is determined so any help and advice greatly appreciated.

smoking affects your blood sugar levels, so lots of healthy snacks are a good idea ( healthy so he doesn't put on too much weight).

tbh the 2 a day is not a good idea: when you do that you just spend the whole time looking forward to the next fag. he's far better off smoking as much as he likes until sunday, and then going cold turkey then.

other than that he should just keep busy. coughing may be a side effect, I've never had headaches. and I should know - have given up several times.

Firstly, good on him. It is a really hard decision to make.

I tried to focus more on the up side of giving up; the smells, flavours, ability to breath and run after the kids, having a cold that only lasts for days, not weeks. Obviously the cough happens but is not a big thing.

His determination is enough.

Lots of luck.

I felt nauseous with headaches for two or three days. It became much easier after that, especially with the patches. The patches are amazing, but make sure he has the right strength ones. Only people smoking 20+ a day need the 15 or 21 mg ones. I smoked between 10 and 15 a day, and the 10mg were the best ones for me, to begin with.

I really noticed the difference when I didn't wear one, so even if they don't feel like they are doing much, as soon as you take them off, the cravings really kick in. I also wouldn't recommend wearing them overnight, as they can cause really weird, vivid and often disturbing dreams.

Goober - I am proud of him! It is going to be hard, but he knows it is worth it. He never actually gets colds, well, rarely, and when he does, he gets over them so easily. I hope that does not change.

senora that is a good point. I will talk to him about whether he might want to just go as he was before until sunday. He is finding it ok. His head is killing him, but i think he is not drinking as much. He often makes a cuppa, goes outside for a smoke with it. So no smoke=no cuppa? I am only thinking this as I type so I will tell him.

The weight thing, that is the biggest issue. He cannot really afford to put weight on, so we need to sit down and look at what he will eat for snacks, and make sure we have them in the house for him alone (ie i shan't snuffle it all!). He is going to take up swimming again with some of the money he is saving (and going to put the rest away each week and treat himself to something he wants).

read allen carr - side affects are largely in the mind apparently

nowwhatdoido that you for that. He has the low strength patches as he did not smoke that much. He smokes about 10-15? rolled cigerettes a day (did!) depending on where he is, who he is with, what he is doing. He had his carbon monoxide levels checked and they were quite low for a smoker, at 8 (the 'non smoker who is around smokers' category) and the nurse said this is likely because he smokes rolled cigerettes, he is not smoking the whole thing, only smoking about half to a third.

The nurse told him not to go 'cold turkey', but ensure he uses the patches and inhalator.

tarty yes he has the book, it arrived today, thanks to a kind MNer! (you know who you are my lovely!)

seriously allen carr is the man - it's an amzing book

good luck to him - i reckon if he does the ac thing then he will be sucessful - if not there are clinics run using his method and they used to have a money back guarantee

my worry with patches and all that is that it is designed to make it as slow and drawn out as possible and therefore they make as much money as possible - mind you, they can come on prescription now no?

anyway, i hope it goes well

I quit 3 weeks ago after smoking 20 a day for about 20 yrs.
I'm using the 24 hour patches and it really hasn't been bad at all.
A few headaches, a bit snappier and this week I've got sore bleeding gums but other than that nothing, no cough, no bad dreams..It has been much much easier than I ever thought.
If he has already cut down to 2 a day, I think he's going to get through quitting easily. Good luck..

yes, but tarty the patches cost £5 a week or free on prescription..fags cost a lot more

the patches gave me mad lucid dreams, were fab

i would never had done it on willpower alone, was a 20 a day 20 year confirmed smoker. tried the cold turkey but it was torture

oh true enough - i am just an allen carr convert that's all.....

he reckons cold turkey and withdrawl is a myth

please understand i am not criticising anyone at all just this is the method i used to give up a major massive smoking habit and it worked for me

yy caffiene withdrawal really gives you headaches! make sure he kees putting the kettle on.

Yes he has it on prescription from the nurse.

tarty not taken as a critisism at all

I smoked between 10 or 20 roll ups a day for about 10 years. I tried to give up on numerous occasions in that period.

The only successful attempt (which was four years ago) I did it cold turkey. The first 2 weeks were v hard, but then it got progressively easier.

After about 2/3 months I was no longer addicted so didn't have cravings. BUT I was still tempted to smoke (usually when in the pub or drunk TBH, it was before the smoking ban).

But on the odd occasion when I did have a sneaky fag, I would get head spin and felt a bit sick just like you when you have your first ciggie. Weird but it was probably because my body was no longer used to the nicotine.

So after a few attempts at having a sneaky fag, I realised that the memory I had of smoking and how nice it was, was now completely different from the reality. So I stopped even been tempted.

I still have fond memories of smoking though

Only side affect I had apart from the bad cravings was weight gain (nearly a stone )