NRT

[alb647]

Hi,

The HB and myself decided long ago that we would have children. After a difficult year last year, we decided the time is right so I had my contraception out yesterday. I was telling HB that I was checking things out with my GP re smoking cessation etc (appt next week) and they said an alternative is patches. I have already cut down to half my daily cig usage using niquitin minis. I would preferably like to quit altogether, obviously, but it is hard. The discussion got heated and basically HB said that he feels very strongly that I should not even be on NRT whilst pregnant as he has researched the issue and it is the same as having a cigarette. I totally refute this - there are far far more chemicals in a normal cigarette than NRT. I am doing everything I can to get the support I need but just do not feel that HB is supporting me at all (he has said, not directly, that I will have an addict of a child and I dont care about any babies health we may have) I have gone back to my normal habit today due to stress. He just doesn't get that it isnt that easy. I have argued that GP's wudnt prescribe NRT if it wasn't safe etc but he is having none of it and at the moment we are simply not event talking. Help!

You're right, he's wrong. Can you pull up some facts from Cancer Research or similar to refute this?

Or is there an underlying reason he doesn't want to believe you?

Looks like your doctor is not keeping up with the latest research. NRT actually raises the risk of a low weight baby compared to smoking in the latest research. Think it's tribled. No nicotine is the only way to go. Use the NRT to help you quit and then ttc.

If you are straight back to normal smoking after the minor stress a row with dp, how will you deal with the stress of pregnancy??

Set yourself a nicotine free deadline and be realistic. Then ttc. Find other ways to deal with stress.

And work on communication with dp. Not speaking over something like this isn't a great start to pregnancy and the pressures of a young baby.

Interesting, looks like I'm behind on the facts too. Will do some research....

Nicotine shouldn't be used in pregnancy. Use the time whilst you're trying for a baby to wean off the fags/use patches (lowing the patch size gradually), then you'll be nicotine free whilst pregnant.

Is he controlling? Of course he's entitled to his own argument re nrt but the way he's communicating this would be a massive red flag for me. Or is that just how it's coming across to me as a stranger?

In any case you do need support and maybe this isn't the best time to try to do both of these things - quit smoking and conceive - simultaneously. Quitting can be a very emotional process and you'll need to relearn ways to deal with your feelings without fags.

Fwiw I support you OP! Quitting was one of the best things I ever did for myself and I think about how much I enjoy being a non-smoker almost daily.

Vape. You start on the appropriate % of nicotine in the liquid and then you can lower it, and go all the way down to 0 nicotine. Liquids available in many nicotine strengths; find a flavour you like and just adjust the nicotine level as you go along.

But coming off using vape will take a while. Come off the nicotine first then ttc.

I am TOTALLY with you on how hard it is to come off nicotine. I came off about a year ago through the stop smoking nurse. And get this, I was coming off the vape! I stopped smoking about 4 years ago, went straight into vaping.

Anyway, I tried cold turkey and OMFG it was horrendous. Horrific. I caved after 3 days of boiling hell. In desperation I went to the stop smoking nurse - it was all straightforward and that's how I did it. Yay! You have to want it and I WANTED it.

Though I hit a big depression afterwards, still not quite out now. It's quite common apparently. Nicotine eh, evil stuff.

I also understand your boyf getting upset to the point you're not speaking. Everything looks a bit too high octane to be trying for a baby tbh. I'd give it at least a year so you can properly come off the nicotine and get through any potential mood slump. You don't want to be going into having a baby when everything's so fraught.

Here's the latest info smokefreeaction.org.uk/smokefree-nhs/smoking-in-pregnancy-challenge-group/ endorsed by just about every health body in the UK. Basically NRT safe for use during pregnancy and if that doesn't work try an ecig. Main thing is to stay off the ciggies, it's not the nicotine that's the bad guy it's the TAR.

Springy, coming off using a vaper is a question of lowering the amount of nicotine in the liquid which you do simply by buying a liquid with a lower nicotine content. You can go from 12% to 6% to 0%. Thousands of people do it and cut down to 0% very successfully. At that point, you are not ingesting nicotine at all so you can carry on using the vaper with 0% liquid for as long as you like. No nicotine involved.

Yes I know that Jux but it takes a long time plus home bargains don't sell 0% vape juice, only 12mg and 18mg

And the stop smoking nurse is very nice. I sent a letter of gushing praise and gratitude about her to her employers that got printed in their national mag. Win/win. I liked having a buddy.

It's not just the tar. Nicotine can damage fetus' neurological development. Read up on the latest research.

Remember that the 2nd largest use of nicotine is as an insecticide.

It's your choice to expose yourself to it, but do you really want to expose your unborn baby, who has no choice, to a toxin if you can avoid it.

Thingsdogetbetter I hope you have a link for this 'latest research' and are not just spreading dangerous misinformation.

One in ten women in the UK are still smoking at the time of delivery. Telling them that NRT is even more harmful than smoking will do nothing to reduce that number.

"Remember that the 2nd largest use of nicotine is as an insecticide."

Apparently its toxicity is the same as caffeine!

Can't remember the original study i read, but it is cited in whyquit.com (no idea how to do a link sorry). And there's a danish 2008 study that found nrt and smoking had the same effect in pregnacy in relation to not smoking. I will endeavour to remember original study .

My horrific withdrawals when I tried to come off nicotine cold turkey would suggest nicotine is more 'toxic' than caffeine.

Re I couldn't think, barely see, couldn't read, arms and legs like tingly weird jelly, couldn't drive (impossible to concentrate), entire face numb, night terrors throughout the night. This lasted 3 days with no sign of abating. I gave in, went on the patches with the nurse.

*Thingsdogetbetter
*
2008 is not the latest research. It is 10 years old.

OP, Why don't you look at the NICE guidance for the latest advice around smoking in pregnancy to make an informed choice yourself.

In my trust pregnant women who give up cigarettes for NRT have their Co2 levels checked regularly and those that reduce them significantly (can't remember the numbers) and thus reduce the risk to the fetus are given monetary incentives. - that's an NHS initiative. The latest.

The GP was giving the up to date advice and doing their job correctly.

It's good to see you're taking the steps to reduce the risk to your baby. It's not such a concern of them being addicted it's the risk of small birth weight, stillbirth, and cot death.

From the Smoking In Pregnancy Challenge Group's Key Messages document (linked above):

Licensed nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is safe in pregnancy: Licensed nicotine replacement products are safe to use during pregnancy and increase the chances of stopping successfully

The evidence they cite in support of this statement is a 2012 study of over 1000 women and a follow up 2 years later. The original study found no difference in outcomes between those who used NRT and those who didn't. The follow up study found slightly better outcomes in those who used NRT (although obviously the authors treat this result with extreme caution).

The most important finding, however, was that NRT on its own is not particularly effective for those trying to quit in pregnancy. Your best bet is to get in touch with your local specialist stop smoking services, who can talk you through the full range of options and can provide ongoing support, including if you want to try vaping.

Apparently its toxicity is the same as caffeine!

And yet 60mg of nicotine is considered a lethal dose for an adult whereas a can of Red Bull contains about 75mg of caffeine.

Happy reading HarmlessChap