I know 3 folks that quit that way this past year...only it was heart attacks. Now they lecture me.
I was hoping when I had my spinal fusion done they would keep in for a few days. They esnt me home after one day. My insisting they wheel me outside to smoke probably didn't help. I get very ugly. My wife ...she had to nudge me to get me to finish chewing my food because all the vicodin I was on. She made them take me back up when I started passing out with the cigarette in my hand.
Actually,I just hold the targets.I used to be a cannon cleaner......but I was FIRED!
1. Using Vicodin or any other pain med at a fixed and dose and interval is not addiction. It is the EXACT reason the med was created.
2. If the pain control is inadequate, the med should be adjusted upwards in dosage/frequency, or another added...there are many ways to do this, Po.
3."I worry about what I might replace cigarettes with. The odds are against me with an addictive personality and I don't want to be in a position where I find some other addiction. As lame as it sounds, it's the truth."
You and only you are in control of that. You DON'T have to "replace" anything with anything else. Awareness is the biggest thing (besides your talent) you've got going for you.
4. "Not a day or hour goes by that quitting isn't on my mind. I get so stressed if I think too much about it, I smoke more."
If Anxiety and Depression are underlying, or have come about as a result of Chronic Pain, then they should be treated if only to reduce those problems which are increasing your perception of the pain. It's a vicious cycle, Po', and you really shoud call your MD or go to a pain specialist (a really good one) and ask him/her to set aside time to talk with you. The meds commonly used (and if possible Effexor because of it's mechanism of action) will really help.
"I'm staring and wanting to delete all this. I am so pathetic." Po', this sounds like Depression. Anxiety is a feature and at times the most prominent feature of it.
I'm really trying to be your friend, and I wish you'd accept my advice and act on it.
BTW, you spelled Fibrosis correctly, but Emphysema is spelled this way.
Doc
I don't know why it's so easy for some and hard for others.
My grandmother couldn't and died from it. My mother still smokes and can't quite. She is 50 and looks like shes 70.
My brother in other hand quit as soon as his new girlfriend asked him to. He now is married to her and has 4 children, and never smoked again.
As of myself I never started smoking at all and never will. Good thing because it would probably be very hard for me to quit smoking.
Sound advice!
ZubaZ thinks good thoughts at Po' and suggests he read AND RESPOND to PMs.
You're preacin to the choir.
I have. Three 'pain management' specialists. They ALL wanted to treat me for depression. The first I had to beg for an MRI. That was when they found my spinal cord was squashed and I had to have a spinal fusion the next day.
The second said I also had stinosis (which the MRI found in my neck was squashing my spinal cord) in my 'lower' back now. But still wanted to put me on anti-depressants. I told him if he got rid of the pain I wouldn't be depressed. I demanded a third opinion. He sent me to...are you ready for this...his twin brother/doctor. You know what he thought? I begged for a mylogram which he insisted would show nothing was wrong and it was ALL in my head. When I went back a week later, he hid his face behind the file as he said there was a lot of problems and didn't bother to apologize for telling me the test would only confirm it was ll in my head.
I have had to make some decisions. After the spinal fusion, my wife broke down in tears and apologized to me. The dotor had gone to her after the surgery and told her he had never seen it so bad in someone my age and couldn't undertsnad how I was tolerating the pain at all. She said she was sorry because she thought I had been exagerating. She said the doctor told her he couldn't remeber ever having to file so much bone down on one person. I go for nerve blocks every three months for my lower back. I've had bone burned out of my right shoulder and need to do the left..and probably the right again.
One thing I heard from my doc and the neuro guy was that sometimes you have to decide how much pain you can live with. My neck was pretty bad..but that took years..so I built up a tolerance for it. I'm learning to do it with what I have left. I take the vicodin VERY sparingly..maybe 3 times a week if I can do without it and only before bed so I can sleep. Without it, the pain wakes me after 2 to 3 hours of sleep and I end up making some wierd wallpaper or another skinhit/photoshop pic at 3 in the morning.
The past 6 months I have hit an entire new level in what I can live with. I just keep adapting. I'm tired of doctors and drugs and surgery and tests. There is not one inch...not ONE that hasn't been examined, poked, scraped, CT, xrayed, or had something done to it on my body. At this point...depending on the pain..smoking is almost theraputic.
I appreciate the advice and that you care. I haven't given up on trying to quit. I just have so many other things stressing me out, I can't handle the stress of quittting. At least not right now.
Just a couple of things...don't wanna tax you (as the IRS says). Having the physical problem doesn't prevent the depression. It isn't an either/or. The opposite is true...it's more likely. I'm sorry you ran into MDs like them. What can I say? I'm sorry we never met when I was at MUSC. There are meds and other treatments, Po'. If you lose hope and give up, who loses? Only you.
You could discuss Duragesic skin patches...I used them with great success in my pain practice...in fact in one young woman with a crushed nerve to her left leg and withering of that limb. She was in terrible pain. I also treated her depression with great success. I really wish you'd talk with your MD about a trandermal duragesic skin patch. You can start at 25 microgram/hr. The patch is changed every 3 days. You cover it with tegoderm so it won't fall off if you sweat.
If you don't pursue it, or give up hope, no one will do it for you....that's for sure.
Like everyone here doesn't know what great friends you are.
Good luck, Po'. From the heart.
DrJ
I don't understand why you or anyone is under this misconception that I am friends with..HIM. It's really frustrating.
all the best Po i hope it gets better for you
don't give up ok
I must say that even though I used Chantix, it was by no means easy.
A lot of the addiction is in your mind. Think about this. People have always heard how hard it is to quit. Always hearing others saying " I have tried several times, to no avail." We have become "programmed " to believe we can't quit. Now think about this. A baby elephant is tied to a stake in the ground. It tries and tries to pull loose from his trap but can't. Eventually he stops trying. Later on, when he is fully grown, he still doesn't try, because he is programmed to think he can't. Even though now, as a fully grown adult elephant, he could easily pull up that stake. But because he believes he can't, he don't try.
Jim it's not just that it's in your mind it actually physically alterts your mind. Basically the earlier you start and/or the long your continue your addiction the stronger the change becomes in your mind. The good news is that you can change that but, it isn't easy. If we look at the habits surrounding or involved with our addictions then begin to change the habit and addiction connection it helps in quitting.
My smoking all though bad is how I manage my pain. Being looped up on hillbilly crank wasn't for me and the lovely loss of bladder control from heavy duty muscle relaxants wasn't appealing to me. I expected to lose my bladder control at about the same time I completely lose my mental facilties.
Right now, I'm looking into exercises and diet to manage my pain and in the process of changing my smoking habits connection. For example, no smoke with the first cup of coffee in the morning or any coffee, scheduling smoke breaks at weird atypical times, etc.
January 1, 2009.......and not a one!!.....kicked!..
been waiting all year for this..... ...congratulations mate!! ...massive achievement.......and Happy New Year!
I hope people still trying....or just starting....or starting, again....take heart from this....it can be done....keep at it...
Well, heres to another year.. maybe I can give up food this year !
