COPD and Can’t Commit to Quitting Smoking

Thank you for your understanding and support. I appreciate your feedback.

Quitting is very important to the term you can live with COPD. Your condition
depends on how long you smoked and how much you smoked . It also will get worse faster if you don’t quit. Every time you smoke you do more damage to your lungs . They are not going to heal if you stop . The rate the disease progresses slows if you quit . I knew a person who smoked all the time she was on oxygen . She did finally quit. Everyone has to quit sometime . Not to be unkind I say. But to be honest . I wish you love and light,
Crystalena

I quit years ago. It took 3 tries. What finally worked for me was the patch. I've had to give up marijuana which is much easier to do. Don't give up. Use distractions when you need to smoke.Best of luck.

I really need to quit. I'm having so many health problems. What really helps. I really want to quit. Please help. I tried on my own but I kept falling right back to the cigarettes.

https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/896706/
Hello @rgomez08 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can attest that it feels like there is nothing harder in this life we can do than quit smoking!! I posted a link that I made previously, and I do not know if you read it?
I was a dedicated smoker for over 42 years, so I know what torture even the thought of quitting is like.
I always say the best way to quit smoking is the one that works for you. Each person is different and different things work.
I will NEVER regret quitting smoking. I can honestly say I am so grateful for the courage and strength it took. And after 8 years I still have moments I want one...but I will not go back!
The best thing I did for myself when I was trying to quit was I read about Allen Carr's Easy Way to Quit Smoking book and I got it. It made the difference for me and allowed me to take charge of my addiction to nicotine and not let nicotine rule my every thought.
This book changed my life. While I read on the psychology behind addiction, I went to the Dollar Store and got red hot cinnamon candies to use every time I wanted a cigarette. That lasted about two weeks and then I was able to just go one day at a time...with my head held high because I went one more day without a smoke.
I feel that if you REALLY want to do something, you can. YOU have the power inside your own mind right this minute! Ask yourself this question: Will I regret quitting something that is killing me? Or will I regret that I keep smoking? I think you know that answer!
Have you ever heard of the Allen Carr book, Easy Way to Quit Smoking? You can find it used on EBay for not very much money...less than the cost of a pack of cigarettes!

I was like so many. I could not quit smoking. There are a couple sites that you can try that helps you to quit smoking. They also give a free patch to start your journey.

In 2023 in March I got very sick. My COPD got very bad. I had a very hard time breathing and when I tried a cigarette my throat just closed up and I coughed a lot. The third day with this infection I put down my smokes and basically quit cold turkey that day. It took 3 weeks and a lot of antibiotics before I got better. I have not touched a cigarette since than.

The funny part is I still get the urge to lit one up. I have resisted those urges and still smoke free.

Stop buying them. Chew toothpicks . Every time you crave go outside and breath . Take a shower. Run or walk fast around the block . If you smoked in your house start washing curtains . Three days of crave. Recognize it as a habit trying to get back in control. Reject it . Take another shower. Try to get the smell out of your hair . Find anything to do that takes you away from them . MOnce you get three days behind you the craving slips away a bit every day . Take another shower . When you get upset or nervous drink a glass of water . Go for a walk . Think of it as cleansing your self .You can do this if you truly want to . It’s work . But Win! 🥇 Best wishes and love to all of you. Crystalina

Smoking does not handle the stresses of life . I think it causes more . A thing , if you can imagine this, which you may be able to avoid. Maybe not . Is an oxygen line to your nose ( the cannula). I went to an ER on June 14, 2023. I was having trouble breathing . They did some tests on me and decided I had to spend the night with an oxygen line on my nose. They did a CT and diagnosed me with Emphysema. I went home with an oxygen tank . They set up my home with a standing oxygen concentrator. So this is almost 2 years later . I have had an oxygen hose on my nose 24/7 . Think about that fact . When you walk around your house it gets caught on many things , backtrack to free it . It gets a kink because you put it under your waistline for an anchor to protect it from rubbing on your nose . You learn to put water ( distilled water ) on your oxygen machine . You learn because in a week or two your nose will drip with blood if you don’t. Then there is the learning to get dressed. Clothes on , clothes off, oops I have to redo that. &< #%!=€
Your spouse walks thru the room , snags the line with his foot. Pulls it completely off of your face. Tells you there is a better way to string it . (He pulls it around a bit …)
You learn to put your hand near it or on it when you sleep so you can keep it in your nose . You wake up breathing through
your mouth. It is dried out and you need water. I have an island in my kitchen with two stools . Just think of a way to tangle an air line on that . I’ve done that hundreds of ways. The air line gets caught on corners . Furniture legs etc . It crawls under the corners of throw rugs. Stuck again . It’s 10 feet forward and then 8 back to untangle it . It has to be changed ever so often also . I hang the new cannulas out of the bags to let the plastic smell gas off. Then there are the portables . OMG , that is a whole other nightmare. I used one for a few months . It actually did not work for me . I have a tank on a cart now . Think of that at the grocery store . I have put it in my cart -the oxygen tank cart and all , in my shopping cart . Eeek . It looks dangerous and it IS. Think of it falling . The cart falling over . Boom , it’s a bomb . I don’t do that anymore. I can’t use a portable oxygen concentrator That isn’t enuf air for me . I move slow and methodically. People try to help . Let me get your hoses straight, Let me untangle this. Let me get it out of the high traffic area . Let me get you some slack. Let me, let me, …. Etc . I could go on & on . There are a hell of a lot of things you MIGHT save yourself from .
SO suffering with nicotine withdrawal does subside . 24/7 Air needs DO NOT.

JUST LOSE THE DAMN CIGARETTES !
Get up and put your big boy/girl pants on and SAVE YOURSELF ! I had to get this off my lungs.

It is hard. I used lozenges, the mini ones.
Hardest thing I ever did. We have not only the physical
withdrawal, but our habits surrounding the smoking - a ritual - to overcome.
I used strong-tasting gum, black licorice, peppermint, etc to help with the times when the craving was strongest. Have something handy to fidget with.

You can do this. I promise you can.
You will never regret quitting. You will always regret not quitting.

Yes and still am. Unfortunately, cigarettes comfort me (only in my head) while I know they are making my condition worse. Keep trying is all I can say. Best of luck.