HELP!! with giving up smoking !!! :(

[ziggletttwiglett]

Hey all!

Believe me when I say I already feel like the worlds worst person. But thats why I am here for help. I am currently 13 weeks and I have still not given up smoking, I normallyt 15 a day and im now down to about 7 although I have had worse days :(
And I know this is not enough and I need to stop completely!!
I just dont know how to do it! And I honestly wish I was one of those women who found it easy to give up knowing that its not just about you anymore but that just isnt the case for me, this certainly doesnt mean I think less of my baby or dont care about it because I do. I just cant seem to shake the habit of a life time!

so to all you who have been through this please share your experiences and any tips that got you to stop would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks :)

It's hard to give up smoking and you are obviously trying your best. Have you talked to your midwife or GP about it? They must see this a lot and they will most probably know how to help you.

Good luck I'm sure you can do it with the right support.

Electronic cigarettes? The refillable ones, you can choose to have a medium or small or 0 %of nicotine in the fluid.
I'm not pregnant, but I am vaping with 0% nicotine with a coffee sometimes. Stopped 5 months ago and went down the strenght as I felt comfortable.
Check with your GP/midwife if it is a good idea.

I found the biggest things which made me smoke were boredom and routine. I shook up my routine so instead of the morning cigarette I would busy my mind with doing anything else. And sounds stupid lol but anytime I wanted a cig I had a pack of haribos to hand and used the Nicorette inhalator. The haribos were mainly to busy my hands to do something. I remember a friend used to play with elastic bands to stop smoking. You just need to find what works for you.
It's hard to give up but just think of your health and your baby, hopefully that gives u the determination to do it! Took me 4-5 times of attempting to give up before I actually did it.

I was a 10-15 a dayer. I gave up a year ago when I first got pregnant, although mc at 6 weeks. Was really tempted to start up again but figured if I could get through that, then maybe I could stay stopped. But biggest thing was definitely a desire to have something in my mouth () so I got an e-cig but with 0% nicotine liquid and it was brilliant for me.

It was bloody hard and I still miss it and am quite happy to be around people breathing smoke over me. I don't know if that will ever go away. I liked smoking, I just did. Even with the full knowledge of the risks. But for me it was the thought of being ill when older and the indignity of being incapacitated that kept me going, really. I may take it up again when I'm 82

Definitely see your GP or a pharmacist and try a quit aid thing. Different things work for different people and you'll find yours. You can do this, I promise. Good luck!

dats 26+5

it's so hard. I was 15 a day - more if I went out in the evening (and I went out a lot). First cigarette would be on my walk to work in the morning too. I went cold turkey on cigarettes, caffeine & alcohol the day I found out I was pg. and OMG was it hard. This will be no help to you but morning sickness kicked in v soon after my bfp and I just felt too sick to smoke. Sickness has passed & I'm going through a v stressful time at the moment and have had the odd one (consumed by guilt, and I still enjoy it). The only thing that really helped me was imagining blowing smoke into a baby's face. I've never felt comfortable smoking around young children and as this is dc1 for me have never had a problem avoiding it. Whenever I want a cigarette (which is every day) I imagine this and it helps. I think you should talk to your doctor or pharmacist - the fact you are talking to them will show them you want to stop so they really should help you. Good luck!

Op- you know the fact you've even posted this makes it more likely you will give up smoking.

I smoked a minimum of 20 a day for 22 years. I stopped smoking on 29/01/13. I was pregnant. I had a MMC 4 weeks later. I decided that it would be my baby's lasting legacy that she was the only baby that could make me give up smoking. I'd smoked through 4 pregnancies. I used Nicotine replacement. i know hcps advise you not to but there was no way i would have given up otherwise.

Your doing great to cut down but be mindful your probably not feeling great & as the pregnancy progresses you could end smoking almost normally... I had got down to 1 or 2 but would always be back on 20 a day within a few months.

Speak to your midwife or GP & see what help is out there. Take it one day at a time.

Best of luck. X x

when I was 1st pregnant my nw was excellent sent me to an nhs stop smoking service where you in a group all try and give up together. They can prescribe replacement nicotine things for you and you go once a week to say how you're getting on. so you have a lot of support. she also said that if you do smoke a proper cigarette then stubb it out half way and reduce it that way. good luck it is incredibly difficult but hopefully you can get through it

If it helps, try not to think of it as "giving up" for good. You're just postponing your next fag for a bit.

SaucyJack is spot on. And every fag you don't smoke helps. For the first week I allowed myself one a day, after dinner. If I fancied one earlier I told myself it would have to wait til later. Helped me that I stopped fancying tea and booze too. Try sucking sweets/ lozenges that make fags taste weird and different routines.

I found cutting down loads harder than just going cold turkey - if you're still putting nicotine into your system then you will still keep craving it. I won't lie, the first 3 days were tough, but after that it gradually got easier. It's over 3 years now since I quit and I'm still occasionally tempted, but not enough to actually light up if that makes sense! I'd say it was about a month from quitting to me not missing it, not long in the grand scheme of things.

Plus think about all the gorgeous baby stuff you can buy with the money

Shellywelly that legacy thing...I really like it; hadn't thought of it (in terms of my similar situation, above) that way, but how lovely! Thank you!

I agree with the previous poster who said imagining blowing smoke in a baby's face was a useful image.
Ultimately I think you just need to be a bit harder on yourself. I decided to see it as the first test of parenthood - could I prove to myself that I could put my child first? And that meant no cigarettes at all- stopped immediately after getting my bfp.

Apologies if that seems a bit samctimonious but the thing is that despite stopping my DS was born small for dates (they don't know why) and as a result he was hypoglycaemic and had to spend 5 days in scbu getting pinpricks in his heel every three hours to check his blood sugar. It was horrible and I think I would have really struggled with the guilt if I had carried on smoking as I would have blamed myself for the fact he was small and having to go through all that.

Sanctimonious

I found breaking my habit hardest. One when I woke up, one with a coffee a bit later, a couple until lunch, one after every meal or with a coffee. I was on 10 a day then cut down to 2 pretty quickly then stopped altogether. I did however start again when dd was a few months old :( it's tough u just need the willpower good luck x

My hubby managed thanks to a forum where every day and every week you are in a different thread. It really helped me to know others were going through mad withdrawal. He also used the plastic tube thing. He went mad for 3 days (couldn't sit still, pacing the room, really depressed and anxious) after that it became easier. He's not smoked for 4 years now and he had been a smoker for 15 years+

This has been a brilliant thread to read, Thankyou ladies. I've been smoking for 20 years (and still enjoy it ), always said I'll stop for good when PG. I've had two bfp's and stopped straight away but lost both at 6 weeks (last one on 27/12) each time smoking has crept back in, which had allowed it to creep back in for OH too. Decided today again that this is my last day smoking, spotting this thread has made me more determined! I know it's a factor for mc so do want to stop to cut it out of the equation.

It feels so much better to know I'm not alone!

Get yourself an ecig. The refillable ones are the best. My dad had been smoking heavily for 30 years and switched to an ecigarette last Xmas (2012). He hasn't looked back (in fact he's quite obsessed with all the different flavours and styles!) I can see the difference in him and don't hear a hacking cough in the morning anymore

I understand a smokers mentality. I watched my mil die from lung cancer just 4 months ago. Now my neighbour, who I've known for 25 years also has lung cancer. She phoned me this evening begging me to buy her a packet of Fags...

I still crave a fag. I sat with my lovely & adorable mil last summer as cancer ravaged her body & brain in 6 weeks. I remember clearly one day thinking about how much I wanted a fag. I was in a ward with four women all dying of cancer & there was me pregnant but I wanted some of the poison that was killing them. They are all probably dead now...

I choose not to smoke every day. The choice is yours...

Good luck. x

Day 1 - emptied my tobacco into the bin last night to prevent temptation this morning, good job cos woke up gagging!
Managed to ignore the craving ( which to be honest only lasted a couple of minutes) and had a few puffs on my e-cig with coffee.