Smoking cessation.

randompersonrandom

randompersonrandom

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Welp. I got this cool new body only to find out that my basset-hound eye bags (mostly genetic, but probably not helped by my history of graves and smoking) are now that ONLY thing standing between me and a pretty-enough face. Went to the plastic surgeon, SPECTACULARLY failed the peripheral vision test (turns out my upper eyelids are in even worse shape than my lower), and scheduled an upper and lower blepharoplasty. Insurance will pay for the upper, and the lower's out of pocket. F it, this will be the END of little kids walking up to me and chirping "Did you know you have dark circles under your eyes?" (yeah, I do you little larvae, do your parents know they didn't raise you right?)

So between now and August 28th, I gotta get the last five pounds off cause they'll be adjusting the fat pads under my eyes and I don't want them changing shape after that. Also, the fellow said "and also, you need to lay off the smoking for two weeks before and two weeks after." "Boyfriend, if I could quit smoking for four goddamn weeks, I could just QUIT SMOKING." "Yeah, so about that. You smoke and we do this, you're gonna look like shit. I'm not playing, private practices usually make patients SIGN something that says 'I have been told this will look like shit if I keep smoking' before they do it. And speaking of which, you've gotten lucky for twenty years with graves and smoking. That likely won't last forever. I don't ride people about smoking, but I DO ride graves patients about it, because I've seen what eventually happens and you don't want to see that in the mirror, not when you just took all that weight off. You gotta pick; be pretty, or keep smoking."

Ok, that young man has got me scared straight. I'm tapering down my cigarettes; twelve a day this week, eleven next week, ten....but I know this is gonna hurt.

I'm already on tirz. Anybody know of anything else that might help on top of the chantix Ima start gobbling in June?
 
I am fairly sure ZYN's are still tobacco so still carcinogenic?
Nicotine replacement therapy? After smoking 40-60 cigs a day for 20 years I tried to cut down by putting a patch on and dropped to about 5 a day, so I put another one one and added in nicotine gum and stopped, so for me at least fairly high dose nicotine replacement , aiming for levels similar to smoking worked. Still addicted to nicotine 20 years later, but at least I don't have lung cancer or COPD.
 
Nicotine is not good for you . But smoking is extremely bad for you. The way nicotine is delivered in cigarettes is also super fast and extra addictive, so usually slowly reducing nicotine doses over time with patches or gum is easier than doing it with smoking as the nicotine is delivered in a more gradual less addictive way.
But even getting stuck on nicotine alone is still valid harm minimisation, and nowhere near as bad for your health as smoking. I really do not know enough on its effects on skin blood flow to know if nicotine alone is better than smoking, they do both alter blood flow, I think smoking is worse due to all the extra toxic chemicals, but not sure.
 
I haven’t smoked for a long time and when I did it wasn’t a lot of cigarettes per day (maybe 4 or 5) and was mostly a mental addiction rather than a physical addiction. My smoking was also sporadic and situational (i.e. traveling, drinking, stressed, etc.). The only reason I mention all of this is to appreciate that smoking is both a physical and mental addiction. I hear that the CDC’s app quitSTART is surprisingly good and may provide some behavioral techniques to help in your journey. The CDC also has a ton of resources here:

www.cdc.gov

How to Quit Smoking

The Tips From Former Smokers® campaign features real people suffering as a result of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.
www.cdc.gov www.cdc.gov

One thing that I think most people don't know is that you can actually combine Chantix WITH a nicotine patch, and research supports doing exactly that. The patch handles the physical edge while Chantix blocks the reward signal in your brain, so they're working two different angles at once.

Combination therapy of varenicline with nicotine replacement therapy is better than varenicline alone: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - PMC

Smoking is a major preventable cause of morbidity and premature death worldwide. Both varenicline and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) help achieve smoking cessation. However, limited evidence exists regarding whether combination of varenicline ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Good luck quitting smoking and with your surgery. Although for long term health, the former will pay you greater dividends.
 
The only way I could quit was cold turkey (or close to it). I quit for long periods a couple times before it took and I would use a patch for about a week so I didn't kill anyone then nothing. Its a hard few days but gets better quicker.

As long as you have nicotine in your system, you are feeding the addiction center in your brain. A lot of people do well tapering down, but some people are wired for addiction (raises hand) and I think for those people cold turkey (or close to it) may be what works best. It isn't going to be the best answer for everyone, but if you have a history of addictive behavior it is something to think about.
 
randompersonrandom said:
Welp. I got this cool new body only to find out that my basset-hound eye bags (mostly genetic, but probably not helped by my history of graves and smoking) are now that ONLY thing standing between me and a pretty-enough face. Went to the plastic surgeon, SPECTACULARLY failed the peripheral vision test (turns out my upper eyelids are in even worse shape than my lower), and scheduled an upper and lower blepharoplasty. Insurance will pay for the upper, and the lower's out of pocket. F it, this will be the END of little kids walking up to me and chirping "Did you know you have dark circles under your eyes?" (yeah, I do you little larvae, do your parents know they didn't raise you right?)

So between now and August 28th, I gotta get the last five pounds off cause they'll be adjusting the fat pads under my eyes and I don't want them changing shape after that. Also, the fellow said "and also, you need to lay off the smoking for two weeks before and two weeks after." "Boyfriend, if I could quit smoking for four goddamn weeks, I could just QUIT SMOKING." "Yeah, so about that. You smoke and we do this, you're gonna look like shit. I'm not playing, private practices usually make patients SIGN something that says 'I have been told this will look like shit if I keep smoking' before they do it. And speaking of which, you've gotten lucky for twenty years with graves and smoking. That likely won't last forever. I don't ride people about smoking, but I DO ride graves patients about it, because I've seen what eventually happens and you don't want to see that in the mirror, not when you just took all that weight off. You gotta pick; be pretty, or keep smoking."

Ok, that young man has got me scared straight. I'm tapering down my cigarettes; twelve a day this week, eleven next week, ten....but I know this is gonna hurt.

I'm already on tirz. Anybody know of anything else that might help on top of the chantix Ima start gobbling in June?
Click to expand...
I quit 18 months ago. It was literally on my mind every single minute. I visualized my right hand reaching for a smoke and my left hand slapping it. Every single minute. Try the e cig it eventually worked for me ....not the same and ur body knows but ur brain wont. Was all about the hand to mouth gesture and seeing smoke for me.

The smoking reduction i tried too. I bought 100's and would put 5 in a ziplock bag and smoke half at a time. Gave me 10 smokes for the day/night....
 
Smiter said:
ok I need this... And do not go to india or smoke gold flake kings.



huh? you go to graves to smoke??? errr...


eeeep!

But seriously, I moved into vaping. I dont know if patches and gum will work.
Click to expand...
I smoked at least 1 pack of Cowboy Killer (Marlboro box) for 47 years. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks, two weeks of those in ICU due to a very serious case of double pneumonia that almost killed me. The day I checked into the hospital was the smoke ever. That was 3.5 years ago, and I have zero desire to smoke. I call it the $500,000 quit smoking program.
lessthanhalf said:
I am fairly sure ZYN's are still tobacco so still carcinogenic?
Nicotine replacement therapy? After smoking 40-60 cigs a day for 20 years I tried to cut down by putting a patch on and dropped to about 5 a day, so I put another one one and added in nicotine gum and stopped, so for me at least fairly high dose nicotine replacement , aiming for levels similar to smoking worked. Still addicted to nicotine 20 years later, but at least I don't have lung cancer or COPD.
Click to expand...
As mentioned about, 47 years. Lung guy couldn't believe no COPD or breathing issues in the tests, and he still makes me do one yearly. Chest x-ray was clear to.
 
lessthanhalf said:
I am fairly sure ZYN's are still tobacco so still carcinogenic?
Click to expand...
They are not tobacco. This is from their website:
ZYN nicotine pouches contain pharmaceutical-grade nicotine salt, food-grade fillers, stabilizers, pH adjusters, sweeteners, and flavorings. Key ingredients include nicotine bitartrate dihydrate, hydroxypropyl cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, maltitol, gum arabic, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, and acesulfame K. They are tobacco-leaf free.

I used them to get free from tobacco (both smoking and chewing) and they were extremely helpful. The main reason I quit ZYN was because the nicotine still causes gum recession.
 
It took me 8 attempts to quit smoking for good because I kept getting well beyond the cravings and then deciding one cigarette would be no big deal. One cigarette will inevitably lead to buying a pack the next day and then it's all over again. Chantix did help me but with really bizarre psychological side effects. If you can do it cold turkey or with nicotine replacement I would try that first.

The best I can say is that you have to absolutely resolve that you are going to do it, pick a date and make preparations for that date, commit to never smoking another cigarette in your life, and recognize that it's going to be two weeks of white knuckling and then it will get easier and easier and eventually you will be free. Nicotine replacement long-term isn't super great but not nearly the health risks or social stigmata of smoking. You can do this.
 
I suggest being prepared to address the physical "something in the hand + bringing it up to the mouth habit" as well as the drug being in your body habit at the same time. Something like a vape pen accomplishes both but alternatively people use other instruments + nicotine replacement therapies in combination.
 
I posted, fell asleep, woke up and looked at this, and thought "Oh jeez. I should have been WAY CLEARER that I meant like is there a Chinese mystery powder that shows any promise in helping with smoking cessation." I SO appreciate everyone who took the time to share their knowledge and experience about the traditional methods and considerations, though.

Tirzepatide made me into "someone who doesn't drink." I wasn't an alcoholic, but I did have an awfully hard time stopping til I was drunk when I DID drink. Now I go to bars, order a mocktail or a nonalcoholic beer, and hang with my friends. I so want there to exist something like that but with cigarettes. I've white-knuckle quit before, sometimes for years, and it hurts SO MUCH. I've gotten so used to not hurting and would like to continue doing so if I can at all.

Ope, and "graves" = "graves disease," which is a thyroid autoimmune thing that comes with "and it can make your eyes swollen in a long-term way, and the chances of that are much higher if you smoke."
 
Last edited:
lessthanhalf said:
I am fairly sure ZYN's are still tobacco so still carcinogenic?
Nicotine replacement therapy? After smoking 40-60 cigs a day for 20 years I tried to cut down by putting a patch on and dropped to about 5 a day, so I put another one one and added in nicotine gum and stopped, so for me at least fairly high dose nicotine replacement , aiming for levels similar to smoking worked. Still addicted to nicotine 20 years later, but at least I don't have lung cancer or COPD.
Click to expand...
Tobacco is not carcinogenic and neither is nicotine. The "burning" is what makes it carcinogenic.....
 
randompersonrandom said:
Welp. I got this cool new body only to find out that my basset-hound eye bags (mostly genetic, but probably not helped by my history of graves and smoking) are now that ONLY thing standing between me and a pretty-enough face. Went to the plastic surgeon, SPECTACULARLY failed the peripheral vision test (turns out my upper eyelids are in even worse shape than my lower), and scheduled an upper and lower blepharoplasty. Insurance will pay for the upper, and the lower's out of pocket. F it, this will be the END of little kids walking up to me and chirping "Did you know you have dark circles under your eyes?" (yeah, I do you little larvae, do your parents know they didn't raise you right?)

So between now and August 28th, I gotta get the last five pounds off cause they'll be adjusting the fat pads under my eyes and I don't want them changing shape after that. Also, the fellow said "and also, you need to lay off the smoking for two weeks before and two weeks after." "Boyfriend, if I could quit smoking for four goddamn weeks, I could just QUIT SMOKING." "Yeah, so about that. You smoke and we do this, you're gonna look like shit. I'm not playing, private practices usually make patients SIGN something that says 'I have been told this will look like shit if I keep smoking' before they do it. And speaking of which, you've gotten lucky for twenty years with graves and smoking. That likely won't last forever. I don't ride people about smoking, but I DO ride graves patients about it, because I've seen what eventually happens and you don't want to see that in the mirror, not when you just took all that weight off. You gotta pick; be pretty, or keep smoking."

Ok, that young man has got me scared straight. I'm tapering down my cigarettes; twelve a day this week, eleven next week, ten....but I know this is gonna hurt.

I'm already on tirz. Anybody know of anything else that might help on top of the chantix Ima start gobbling in June?
Click to expand...
what about nicotine patches? so you can start working on finding other things to do with your hands?
 
I have quit and restarted so many times. I would seriously quit for several years, something hard happened and I'd reach for the cigs again...so frustrating. I always went cold turkey.
Last time it happened after being quit for several years, I did reach for a vape. I still vape...w/o nicotine, on occasion...keeps me from the cigs which I haven't touched now since 2003.
 
Not a Chinese mystery powder but my actual doctor put me on Zyban/bupropion/wellbutrin to help me quit vaping. And it was great! After 2 weeks I didn't want to vape at all and it was super easy to just put the thing down.

Until I got what I thought was the UTI from absolute hell, of course did my usual telehealth antibiotic order, got the meds, it got worse. Maybe not "worse" but the relief 24hrs into an antibiotic was not happening. So I went in person, got labs, negative cultures, bloodwork fine. Excruciating pain in my bladder.

Turns out it's a "rare" side effect that can cause urinary discomfort (read: pissing knives) or bladder spasms or something. I had to stop taking it and it got much better in a few days.

So I would technically suggest it for the smoking cessation but keep that in mind. I have never tried Chantix because my mom lost her shit on it and I've been too scared to lol 😭
 
Also, I went down the rabbithole of smoking cessation and Recigar/Desmoxan/Cytisine seems to be super popular. I probably would have tried it first but bupropion was free vs the $50 Amazon wanted for it and I'm cheap. I have not tried it obviously but may be worth looking into?
 
Buproprion is only available subsidised in Australia as a smoking cessation aid, but not as an antidepressant, which is pretty good evidence it is a cost effective method for stopping smoking.
There is increasing evidence that GLP's reduce consumption of possibly all addictive drugs, cigarettes included, but I do not think there is really solid evidence on cigarettes yet.
 
I smoked a pack a day for 25 years, quit with Chantix. It wasn’t even hard. I started taking it and about 2 weeks later I just didn’t care about smoking anymore and quit. It did give me crazy dreams but I think I only took it for about 8-10 weeks total. It’s been 12 years now. It’s eerily similar to the glp experience with eating.
 
update: tapering did not work for me. I couldn't seem to get below ten a day. I ran out of cigarettes and stopped making more. (I still have several more pounds of tobacco, my machine, and many boxes of the tubes, which I expect my dearest friend's husband may inherit soon.) I'm hitting a vape for now, and my last cigarette was a week ago.

I am deeply depressed and I hate everybody. You guys, my mom, my coworkers, both my cats, anybody else you can put in front of me. I wake up in the morning, feel horribly depressed, think "Wait, my life is WONDERFUL, what on earth do I have to feel depressed about?" then I look for my box of cigarettes, they're not there, and I remember that I'm depressed because I want a cigarette and can't have one. So I hit the vape, and it is not satisfactory, but nothing will be as satisfactory as holding a flaming stick to suck smoke into my lungs from, and so I am depressed.
August first, and my friend's husband gets the vape, and the backup vape. Then I'll be even MORE depressed for awhile, then less, then fine.
 
randompersonrandom said:
Welp. I got this cool new body only to find out that my basset-hound eye bags (mostly genetic, but probably not helped by my history of graves and smoking) are now that ONLY thing standing between me and a pretty-enough face. Went to the plastic surgeon, SPECTACULARLY failed the peripheral vision test (turns out my upper eyelids are in even worse shape than my lower), and scheduled an upper and lower blepharoplasty. Insurance will pay for the upper, and the lower's out of pocket. F it, this will be the END of little kids walking up to me and chirping "Did you know you have dark circles under your eyes?" (yeah, I do you little larvae, do your parents know they didn't raise you right?)

So between now and August 28th, I gotta get the last five pounds off cause they'll be adjusting the fat pads under my eyes and I don't want them changing shape after that. Also, the fellow said "and also, you need to lay off the smoking for two weeks before and two weeks after." "Boyfriend, if I could quit smoking for four goddamn weeks, I could just QUIT SMOKING." "Yeah, so about that. You smoke and we do this, you're gonna look like shit. I'm not playing, private practices usually make patients SIGN something that says 'I have been told this will look like shit if I keep smoking' before they do it. And speaking of which, you've gotten lucky for twenty years with graves and smoking. That likely won't last forever. I don't ride people about smoking, but I DO ride graves patients about it, because I've seen what eventually happens and you don't want to see that in the mirror, not when you just took all that weight off. You gotta pick; be pretty, or keep smoking."

Ok, that young man has got me scared straight. I'm tapering down my cigarettes; twelve a day this week, eleven next week, ten....but I know this is gonna hurt.

I'm already on tirz. Anybody know of anything else that might help on top of the chantix Ima start gobbling in June?
Click to expand...
No advice as I only quit cigarettes to pick up a vape…but your comment about kids had me DYING! 😂 You’ve got a wicked sense of humor!! Imma follow this thread for tips, cuz right now the only thing that I think could get me of nicotine is a very powerful shaman.

ALL the best of luck-with quitting and with surgery!
 
jafo111 said:
I smoked a pack a day for 25 years, quit with Chantix. It wasn’t even hard. I started taking it and about 2 weeks later I just didn’t care about smoking anymore and quit. It did give me crazy dreams but I think I only took it for about 8-10 weeks total. It’s been 12 years now. It’s eerily similar to the glp experience with eating.
Click to expand...
So it’s like the tirz of smoking? LOL
 
My approach to quitting after smoking up to 60 a day for 15 years was to overdo the nicotine replacement. Put one patch on and dropped to 5-10 per day , put 2 patches on and dropped to 1 or 2 , added nicorettes and got it to zero. Unfortunately still addicted to nicotine 20 years later, but have not smoked in that time at least.
 
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