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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

first time pregnant and im a nicotine addict plz help...

22 replies

zuzay · 19/08/2012 20:51

Its my first time pregnant and im just having a very difficult time trying to stop smoking.I have cut down drastically.i mean i smoked a pack of 20 a day now its max 3 a day.i see that as something trying,i know i should stop complitely but i am struggling.so i wanted to know if you have any tips what to do to stop the cravings...desperatly wanna stop

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

GrizzlyFrontBum · 19/08/2012 20:59

Can you just stop? Just for one day - see if you can stop?

See the smoking nurse?

Original poster

zuzay · 19/08/2012 21:00

anyone has any advice????

OP posts:

Original poster

zuzay · 19/08/2012 21:02

tried today nope it did not work...

OP posts:

RnB · 19/08/2012 21:05

To be honest if you can cut down to 3 from 20, you can cut down to zero from 3. Start tomorrow by only allowing yourself 2. Next week 1. Then that's it. Don't look back.

Of course it's hard, but it is also very possible. It's about willpower. If someone offered you a million pounds to stop I bet you could. Your baby's health is worth more than that...

Victoria3012 · 19/08/2012 21:05

Have you tried the electric cigarette? I have a few friends that have been using them. You could read the Alan Carr book called the easy way ( I think that's what it's called).

GrizzlyFrontBum · 19/08/2012 21:05

Firstly well done for cutting down.

How many weeks are you?

Have you seen any one from your Gp practice ? Have you spoken to your midwife?

Whats prompting you to smoke? What are your cues?

Tempernillo · 19/08/2012 21:07

The easy way won't be appropriate as for it to work effectively you smoke as much as you want until you finish the book and then you stop, so not ideal if you are pregnant.

Sastra · 19/08/2012 21:07

Please try Alan Carr. I'm the most cynical person in the world and I went from 20 a day to none and I haven't looked back.

Tempernillo · 19/08/2012 21:09

I am referring to the Allen Carr book " the easy way"! I gave up with it and it is excellent, but luckily this was before I got pregnant. I too think I would have struggled to give up if I was still smoking when I fell pregnant.

questions2008 · 19/08/2012 21:11

you should ask your GP/nurse for a stop smoking clinic, you have done incredibly well to get down to 3 from 20, that's amazing really it is. the SS clinic will give you a one-to-one session once a week and provide you with nicotine-replacement-therapy (NRT) like patches or gum etc to help you kick the last few. good luck!

Lora1982 · 19/08/2012 21:14

ive been told that nicotine replacement... even though its still nicotine its better than smoking. so ive been having these niquitin mini things about 5 mins before i go on my break at work and i completely forget that i want one. ive not been an angel... i struggle in the morning when i really want one. well done for cutting down.... me too

Londonmrss · 19/08/2012 21:15

Hi, quitting smoking is one of the hardest things I've ever done- still miss it. Not just the nicotine, but the ritual aspect of having a cigarette break, rolling a cigarette etc.
In my experience RnB is right- for me it is about willpower. It's a fairly simple equation- you have to want NOT to smoke more than you want to smoke. As you say, you really want to stop- so at some point, you just have to stop. Not tomorrow, but now. The sooner you do it, the easier it will be. I found after 1 week, I was going a few hours without thinking about smoking, and after 2 weeks I would maybe think 'I'd quite like a fag' once a day. When I was trying to quit and cutting down, I felt guilty when I had the odd one. So when I was tempted to reach for one, I would remind myself that in 10 minutes it will be over and I will regret it. It's like a diet in that way. But that reminder would often stop me. Once you've done just one day without smoking, the next day will be just a bit easier because you won't want to uin your hard work from the previous day.
If you don't feel you can do it with willpower, you should get help asap- friends of mine have found smoking groups really helpful, as well as products like the inhaler things. They're not ideal during pregnancy, but better than smoking!
I know it's hard, but you have to just stop. You absolutely can do it and well done you for making that decision for yourself and for your baby. Good luck.

Pickles77 · 19/08/2012 21:16

I found it hard to stop. (please don't flame meni know I found out late) but the thought of smoking now makes me gag. Makes me sick.
When your lit up, think of the most awful
Image you can in your head. Also stay away from people smoking.
I also wonder what people think seeing people with a bump buying them.
Hope I helped

midwifeEmma · 19/08/2012 21:22

first of all, i'd just like to say a big well done for cutting down from 20 to 3, that is a big achievement, and every cigarette you haven't smoked is a massive health benefit to you and especially your baby.

the fact that you have cut down that much suggests that a lot of it is habit as well as addiction. i think you would really benefit from being referred to a stop smoking service, they can provide lots of support and research shows that you are more likely to quit if you get proper support.

do you spend time around smokers? i.e. your partner? try your best to not end up in social situations which make you want to smoke, at least until you have quit for a little bit. i promise it does get easier each day you manage, juts take it one day at a time. and if one day you fail, don't ever think, right i've failed now, i'll just go back to smoking, just see it as a day that you didn't quite get it right, and try again the next day. your body clears nicotine within 3 weeks from the last cigarette, and by this point you will have completely new red blood cells which don't have smoking chemicals attached to them anymore, so it should make you feel better and less tired (you might not even notice you were even tired until you start feeling better!).

good luck,
Emma - midwife

LookBehindYou · 19/08/2012 21:30

It's harder to cut down rather than stopping completely. As long as you are thinking about when to have your next cigarette you won't be able to stop. Just quit. I have sympathy as I loved smoking but it is known that smoking causes complications. It's not worth it. You will feel great. Just stop.

VickyU · 19/08/2012 22:26

I agree that you do just have to stop completely. I think having 3 a day just feels like you are denying yourself whereas the hell of stopping completely feels like an achievement which is actually easier. I stopped a 20 a day habit the day I found out I was pregnant but I would have found it MUCH more difficult than I did if I hadn't been so incredibly sick from the pregnancy. I know it sounds awful, but the best thing that could happen to you is getting bad 'morning sickness'. It is hell but it makes it impossible to smoke. Other than that I also found imagining the baby trapped in a smoke filled environment that it can't escape from - its only then that you realise how selfish smoking is for the baby. At the end of the day, you have someone else to protect now and that person is totally reliant on you.

Sastra · 20/08/2012 07:27

Totally agree about it being much harder to cut down than stop. If you read The Easy Way you'll see why and it'll make sense.

And it's definitely Allen Carr, not Alan Car that would be a rather different book I'd imagine

doblet · 20/08/2012 11:54

I'm in the same boat. I have my scan next week so hoping it will become more 'real' and give me the kick up the bum I need

JennerOSity · 20/08/2012 14:19

Could you try to create a strong aversion to it - as unpleasant as it might sound, can you immerse yourself in the all the information as to what harm it does to your developing baby - not to beat yourself up, but can you just really look at all the nasties, developmental hinderance the smoking does to the baby. Spend time frightening/repulsing yourself then when you go to light up the URGH! factor and thought of what you are doing to a foetus whose body is busy being created from scratch and hasn't asked for a cigarette becomes stronger than the pleasure of the cig?

After all, you are addicted, cigarettes are very addictive things, giving up is not easy, so you need to create a situation where the lighting up is actually unpleasant for you - having lots of thoughts about what nasties you are putting into your baby could be a good way of doing that, and give you the extra oomph you need to step away from the cigarettes completely. :)

whatsoever · 20/08/2012 14:50

Go to see the stopping smoking nurse (or equivalent service in your area), they will probbaly prescribe some NRT which helped me enormously.

I gave up a month or so before I was pregnant and was told to stop the nicotine lozenges when I got pregannt, but I know the advice is different if you are still smoking when pregnant (i.e. the lozenges/patches etc are a vast improvenment on the cigs) so give it a whirl.

I have read both the Allen Carr stopping smoking books - both times they worked temporarily on me, but I started again. However even that might be long enough to get you through the pregnancy, so they are another alternative definitely worth a go.

Well done on the huge cut down as well, that's a big achievement.

hzgreen · 20/08/2012 16:35

congratulations on your pregnancy AND congratulations on cutting down to three a day, that a huge acheivement.i know how hard it is to give up those last few, it's like admitting that your life as a smoker is over.

i gave up just over a year ago with the fresh start programme, i found it hard to stop because i considered myself a smoker, it was part of my identity. i was really resentful of giving up and didn't want to really but i was pregnant at the time (had a MMC later). the way i did it in the end (as well as the patches) was to say to myself "ok if i still really want to smoke in a year, if i still feel this strongly then i'll take it up again". it took the pressure right off and i knew it didn't have to be a permanent change. after that it was a lot easier because i wasn't frocing myself against my will. as it turns out a year later i still haven't smoked and i hardly think about it and i'm 30 weeks pregnant (yay) but that's incidental.

Anyway i think it's different for everyone and you have to find what works for you but it sure takes willpower, support and self congratulations.
good luck x

LookBehindYou · 21/08/2012 17:36

How are you getting on OP?

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