So pitiful it's depressing - Smoking Cessation Message Board

janetJ · 09-12-2007, 03:03 PM

Hi, I started Chantix sometime in July. I made my quit attempt after 2-3 wks on the pill. First attempt lasted 3 days. Bought a pack, but smoke so little, it lasts a week. I then quit for a week, smoked for a week, quit for a week and a half, bought some again...
Well, this has been the pattern the entire time. Last week, I gave up attempting and bought a pack after 2 days of not smoking. They ran out yesterday, haven't bought them yet, but wondering if I should give up trying. When do you decide you just can't do it? I feel like such a failure when I read succcess stories on here. It gets me so down; feeling like there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to quit, too.

It's not even cravings that are getting me. I haven't craved since being on Chantix. But I haven't stopped "wanting" to smoke, either. I do want to quit....
I guess I just don't want to give up the "habit" part of it.
I don't even know. They taste horrible, of course, due to the Chantix, and it's not worth it after I have it, but yet I keep going.

So I guess my question is, is it even worth it. Should I give up? Maybe try again in a few years or whenever? When do I decide this is just another failed attempt?

Thanks for any thoughts you'd like to share.

velveeta · 09-12-2007, 03:33 PM

Chantix is not magic and will not make you quit. You have to make the decision to quit. Chantix will make the quit a bit easier than cold turkey, in my opinion. I did not think Chantix would work for me. I smoked 30 years 1-2 packs a day. I am quit 6 months and have no intention of ever smoking again. Chantix put me in what I call a calmer state so I could concentrate on breaking the habit part. Chantix gave me the chance I needed to give nicotine the slip! I feel great and I want you to not give up. You will truly feel so much better! Please don't give up

janetJ · 09-12-2007, 08:03 PM

Oh yes, that's the rest of my problem - the week and a half I had not smoked, I did not notice/feel anything different. (Except that I was putting on some pounds!)
I hear and have read here people who say they instantly feel better - at least in some aspect. I felt no different, so I wondered what I was quitting for.

I know I have to want this - and I do - so I guess it's a question of if I am wanting it enough, maybe. I never imagined it to be this difficult.

janetJ · 09-13-2007, 11:56 AM

Thank you. I've been smoking 17 yrs. I started very young, so I can't really remember myself as a "non-smoker".
To my surprise, driving is the absolute hardest for me. Kind of surprising. I quit my morning cigarette a couple months ago, and have yet to go back to it, even when I have cigarettes. But driving... that's a whole other story!!

I think of continuing on, letting myself smoke 2-3 a day, as I have been, but I am on my last refill of Chantix, and do not believe I will only have that many once I go off of it. I was really hoping to have this beat before the end of my prescription.

Anyway, thanks for the reply, to both of you. Keep up the GREAT work!!!