hi everyone----i started to read my quitting book and was thinking about sept 3rd. it says to start the hypnotic cd the day you quit but i think i have to start listending to it now. some day i don't smoke at all, some a few in the morning and some you would think i am the nicotne deamon myself. deda, from what i've read alot of people have there thyroids go hairwire after they quit. dr. thinks i'm nuts but i think becasue of it's location smoking can damage it. i have so many health peoblems right now and no answers dr. after dr. that it's making me crazy so of course i smoke more. i have always (my last 4 quits) done it either becasue i was facing surgery or had a bad case of bronchitis and just couldn't light one. i get up everymorning and the first prayer is to God to help me not smoke. this morning i got up and had pain behind my nose when i swallow and a sore throat. well i looked at my pk and i probably smoked just about a full one yesterday. BAD DAY!!! no excuse but it was. i can still remember my longest quit of 1 year and remember how wonderful and clean i felt. my last quit was about 18 mos. ago and i hated every day of it for 3 1/2 mos. of course at the time i had my gallbladder out, went through menopasue completely, was having problems at work and quit. i was so depressed that all i thought of were cigs. they danced in front of me every day for 3 1/2 mos. that's why i am so scared this time. the tension and deoression made me not be able to function. i can't take zyban or wellbutrin becasue they make me more anxious, the losenges mae me want to smoke so i'm not sur eif maybe the patch is the way to go. still thinking about it everyday but haven't decided when.

Hi ICC...(and cookiepls)

Yes, this thyroid disease really sucks. cookiepls, do you have thyroid disease too? I do at times think the thyroid was messed up from the smoking for 28 years....but then again, it runs in my family...and it is so darn hereditary. and my cousin got Graves, and she was even younger than I was when she was diagnosed, and she never touched a ciggy in her life, nor my auntie, her mom. A lot of us are just predisposed to it genetically, I think....maybe the smoking speeds up the damage.

One thing I did read, ICC, was that smoking was one of thee worst things if you have an autoimmune disease, (which most of us with a thyroid condition do have), and that the smoking can even raise our (anti thyroid) antibodies. When I read that...well...I just KNEW it was time to give em up...for good. See...this is what frightened me....my (deceased) brother, he was a year older than me, he was a heavy smoker too....and he got the Hashi's-hypo, and he really struggled to quit smoking....well, you know that when we have one autoimmune disease,, we are more susceptible to get another one?? He ended up with about.. at least 4 autoimmune diseases...including pulmonary fibrosis....a deadly lung disease, which is also autoimmune. He also had another (rare) AI disease, Wegener's Granulomatosis, (a seroius disease), and pernicious anemia, hemochromatosis, and many other seroius things went wrong. He struggled and struggled to quit, and he somewhat succeeded in the end....but it was too late already. I remember he told me on the phone one night, "Quit smoking, sis...don't wait until it's too late...like me" My poor, dear sweet brother...and he was only 46. We don't know if the smoking really caused all of those diseases, only God knows, but I'm sure the smoking didn't help his health improve. And you know, in every other way, he took great care of himself....but it wasn't enough. It was so sad, as he left behind a 14 year old son. This was 6 years ago, next wed., and I (still) miss him so much!!

So, I knew I had to quit, after I was diagnosed with this hashi's, if I truly wanted to get well....and of course, I did...BAD!! This dang disease is a
bit_ _!!! It tears down your health if you don't keep it under control, and take extra good care of yourself. So, I not only quit smoking, but also implemented many new lifestyle changes....a whole new, very healthy diet, exercise, meditation, prayer, relaxation, (cuz I'm pretty much a "type A" person)....plenty of rest...vitamins, etc. So my health was the #1 reason for my quitting, but there were a ton of other reasons too. I was just so sick of it...all the way around. The stink, the embarrassment and shame, standing outside in the cold.....being out in the garage all the time, worrying constantly about my health, making my kids and other family worry about me, spending good money, on something that's going to kill me if I don't stop, lookin' stupid....all kinds of good reasons.

ICC, it was hard at first....I'm not gonna lie, but honestly, every week got easier. And I think the more determined you are to quit, well...that just makes it easier, too. Today at almost 3 years quit, I really don't miss it at all...honestly. I NEVER crave them any longer. I think I had cravings (it was all mental, as I was on the patch, then later the gum) for a good year, off and on. They only last a minute or so...sometimes less....and we can all deal with that. You just have to get your mind geared up and just do it. I know there's always stress too...and it's hard to do when we're having problems. ICC...I quit almost 3 months after I was diagnosed with the hypo/Hashi's, and I was feeling like doo before I even quit...feeling real bad. Nothing will ever make me smoke now...I HATE it now, I really do. My dad (who I was very close to) just passed away in May, and I didn't even give one thought to smoking. Before, that would've sent me right back to a pack or 2 a day...the perfect excuse too!! :rolleyes:

I still have problems with my thyroid disease too, ICC, but it is getting so much better. This week tho, I found out my levels have gone a bit hypo, again...but I think it's because of some other meds I've been on have interferred with it. I thought, no wonder I've been so achey....I woke up this morning to a charlie horse in my calf that almost had me screaming in pain....and my back has been hurting so bad, and itching, and toe cramps, and on and on...it's a crappy disease, ...but things can be worse.

I know it's hard ICC, but you have to choose....my health, or these lousy cigs? What's it gonna be? I know you'd prefer good health. And we're here for you, every single day... to help you get through it, aren't we cookiepls??

If we could do it, we know that you can do it too, ICC, cause we thought we were hopeless too. It took me so many tries also....and I went over a year not smoking a couple of times before this quit....how stupid I was not to quit when I was young!! (I did,...but hubby didn't want to, and I didn't want to unless he did...how stupid of me!!! Maybe it was just an excuse to keep smoking....I was good at that!) ;) Excuses.....excuses....I made so, so, SO many!!!

Well, the patch does sound like it might be a good fit for you, ICC. (I would start with 21 mg's if I were you, to really keep those cravings to a minimum....and put one on around the same time every day. (Best to remove at night, as they can make your dreams really vivid, sometimes downright scary. You don't need it on at night anyway, but do put one on AS SOON as you get up!)

When I first quit, I used the patch, and I was doing so great on it.The good thing about the patch is, you get a nice steady steam of nicotine all day long. Where with the gum or lonzeges, you get spikes. I was doing fine, feeling fine, but my hubby was using the gum, and he would leave it lying all around the house, and one day I picked up and chewed a piece....that was a big mistake, (for me), cause I got SO addicted to that stuff, it wasn't funny. I just recently was able to get off of it!!

It feels so good to be 100% nicotime free now, just like I was before I ever started smoking. Someone once said (on this board), "Remember, we were all nicotine free for about the 1st 16 years, (or so) of our lives, and we all got by just fine without it". I thought that was such a good thought, so I tried to remember that every time I felt like I was going to cave in. Every thought we think is what gets us out of this addiction. I also kept telling myself how much I hated it...and wanted out.....you really must convince yourself that you hate it, and that you CAN live without it!!! You cannot succeed going around thinking, "I can't do this, I'm too weak, oh, I want a cigarette".....you MUST change that thinking!

We're here for you ICC....you can call out for us any time you feel you need some support or encouragement. :)

Good luck....
Deda