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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Safe ways to give up smoking?

33 replies

Laura05 · 16/12/2010 13:09

Hi all don't boo but i'm a smoker and it was my new years resolution to give up anyway but i don't know if its safe to use things like patches and lozenges whilst pregnant. I'm not a heavy smoker, max 10 a day and to be honest sometimes the smell makes me heave never mind actually smoking but i'm worried i might not be able to give up cold turkey if you know what i mean.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated and please don't judge my filthy habit lol

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thisisyesterday · 16/12/2010 13:10

have you been to see your GP? they may run a smoking clinic which can really help with giving up
they'd also then be able to advise on whether you can use patches etc during pregnancy

tinierclanger · 16/12/2010 13:11

Have you tried reading the Allen Carr book? I smoked a similar amount to you, and this is what made me finally manage to stop. I had to read it twice but I'm definitely cured for life.

Original poster

Laura05 · 16/12/2010 13:12

No haven't seen GP since i told them I was pregnant and as i'm only roughly 8 weeks my midwife won't be in touch for another couple of weeks. I did tell my GP i smoked but that I had planned to give up anyway and that was kind of the end of the conversation!

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Original poster

Laura05 · 16/12/2010 13:13

Allen Carr?? Mmmm interesting. I might have to look into that....

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headfairy · 16/12/2010 13:18

Good luck, no judging from me, I'm an ex smoker too. I did cold turkey and to be honest it wasn't too bad at all. I avoided the places where I would smoke, like the pub/bars etc, and I didn't drink because I really craved a cig when I had a drink, but I guess you're probably not drinking anyway. I do think if you're at the stage where it disgusts you and you're wondering why you're doing it at all, then I think you're ready to go for it. Best of luck, and every time you get a craving, think of that little baby inside, and get busy doing something else!! (failing that, brush your teeth, worked wonders for me!)

tinierclanger · 16/12/2010 13:19

The book is quite irritating to read as it's very repetitive but I think that's partly how it works. Good luck! :)

LunaticFringe · 16/12/2010 13:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Laura05 · 16/12/2010 13:27

Fruit juice or cold water....i'll give that a try too. Ive found it's different to when I was going to quit before because i wasn't fully ready or wanting to but now it's starting to turn my stomach and morning sickness is enough without the extra reason to be sick lol
Cheers for all your advice, hopefully it won't be too difficult - i don't think my fiance could cope with the extra mad outbursts and tears lol

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FindingAManger · 16/12/2010 14:18

Allan Carr worked for me & lots of my friends too. It is slightly annoying, but short & you don't have to stop smoking until you finish reading the book.

hazchem · 16/12/2010 14:31

I gave up cold turkey because i thought that i wouldn't be allowed to use any aids.

When i saw the midwife she refered me to an antenatal stop smoking nurse.

The stop smoking nurse said that if i was ok with cold turkey to keep at it that way but that if i felt i need more support they it was possible to use replacement therapies.

Give you GP's a call they might have a program or call the midwife. also if you do it via a GP they should be able to give you a perscription so it's free.

Oh and no matter what anyone says giving up smoking fucking sucks!

Good luck you can do it.

Sidge · 16/12/2010 14:33

You can use nicotine replacement therapy in pregnancy.

Ask if there's a practice nurse at your surgery running smoking cessation clinics who can support you.

You've got the best reason in the world to quit - be strong!

MoonUnitAlpha · 16/12/2010 14:35

A friend of mine gave up while pregnant - think she saw a specialist smoking nurse/midwife and was prescribed lozenges and got some sort of counselling too.

MotherJack · 16/12/2010 14:40

Another vote for Allen Carr here. I'm cured for life now, too - I quit 6 and a half years ago when pregnant.

Good luck!

thefurryone · 16/12/2010 14:58

I had some hypnosis back in August randomly it was before I found out I was pregnant and it has worked for me. It was quite expensive £80 for the session but cigarettes are so expensive that I figured as I'd break even within a month it would be worth it!

Labella77 · 16/12/2010 16:52

Hi i smoked one rollie a day in my last pregnancy which was fine.
Now on this pregnancy i didn't seem to just be able to smoke only one so i bought the inhaler, cost a fortune and i used it constantly for a few days then just forgot about doing it eventually. Took about 4 days.

I spoke to the pharmacist and the doctors and they both said that the inhalers were fine considering my level of consumption, never more than 10 fags a day, whcih was very minimal in the world of cig addiction.

I feel like smoking a lot, but don't so i'm really very impressed with myself, seeing as i've smoked for 16 years and enjoyed every minute of it.

Speak to your pharmacist, or go to a boots where they run special courses on giving up smoking and the stuff is a fraction of the price than when you buyh it off the shelf.

PaigeTurner · 16/12/2010 17:17

Another vote for Allen Carr. I went to the clinic, you do a 5 hour course then never (need to) smoke again.

highheelsandequations · 16/12/2010 19:03

Allen Carr book worked for me too (before I got pregnant) and I was on 20+ a day. Agree it's a bit annoying but it works and it's really not too hard. I'd tried to quit a number of times and turned into a bitch from hell when doing so, after the book i just stopped (and it feels great :))

lilly13 · 16/12/2010 21:27

Allen Carr book + CD combo is definitely the best. Don't even bother with lozens and patches. Read the book asap and then listen to the CD, and you'll be done with this forever! Good luck!

RJRabbit · 16/12/2010 21:46

I was a smoker as well and rang the NHS stop smoking helpline thing. They got someone more senior to call me as I was pregnant and I was told I could use patches (this was back in 2007 - things may have moved on now)

I did use patches, but not the strongest ones - I started on the next one down from that and followed it religiously for the right number of weeks, then the weaker one, again for the right amount of time. The reason I'm stressing doing the right number of weeks is because I'd done it before and thought I could shorten the whole thing but it didn't work.

I was a 20-a-day smoker until I found out I was pregnant, dropped to 10 a day, then did patches.

FindingAManger · 17/12/2010 10:14

I agree with what highheels & lilly say about Allan Carr. I had many unsuccessful attempts to stop and failed miserably - I really felt like a prisoner of smoking. But reading the Allan Carr book was life changing - it make it unbelievably easy to stop smoking (after 20 years and many failed attempts). I felt like I was giddy in love of the first three weeks or so after I stopped - no tension, no angst, no hankering for a fag. Sounds like we must all be mad but it's true. I know one person in about 15 who have read the book that it didn't work for but she didn't want to stop anyway. Also you don't flip to alternatives - so no weight gain from eating too much etc.

Personally the nicotine replacement (i had tried gum & patches) didn't work for me at all & I smoke a lot more after trying those methods of stopping.

Do whatever works for you & best of luck.

Tibbo81 · 17/12/2010 10:47

Hi,
I'm also a smoker who's struggleing to quit, i've managed to cut down to 3 a day, but i would like to stop completly.

I've got the Alan Carr book at home so i'm going to give a go when i get home.

Can i just say it really nice to be able to speak to other Smokers/ex-smokers who are either going through the same or have been through it and not be judged.

Laura05 good luck with quitting.

Tibbo xx

bumperella · 17/12/2010 13:15

I was a 20 a day smoker until I found out I was pregnant. I quit cold turkey. My GP told me NOT to use NRT (patches, gum, inhalers, etc)... however everyone since has told me this is complete nonsense and if you need them, its far far better than having a sneaky fag.
Good luck. It's crap but it's amazing how quickly the desperate cravings go from being annoyingly frequent and lasting for what feels like ages, to happening very infrequently and being a brief (if strong)urge.

The thing that helped me most was reading somewhere that every ciggie you do without is of huge benefit to the baby (the other side of the coin being that every ciggy you have is of huge detriment).

GlitteryBalls · 17/12/2010 13:18

Buy the book "The Easy way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr. Only thing that has ver helped me give up. I promise it works.

GlitteryBalls · 17/12/2010 13:18

P.S. I have given up for a year and am now 36 weeks pg.

Original poster

Laura05 · 17/12/2010 14:30

hi all thanks for much for all the cooments and advice! I've just been looking at allen carrs book and wasn't sure whether to buy the easy way to stop smoking or the easy way for women to stop smoking? Is there a difference???

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