Drinking/Smoking/Vaping? T2's

[Traceymac23]

I have always smoked and drank way too much alcohol way too much........before diagnosis I smoked 20-25 ciggies a day and if I had a drink that could e-a-s-i-l-y go up to 80 if I was on a real heavy session:***:

Since diagnosis I greatly reduced the alcohol intake to 1-2 nights a week(from 5) and got the fags down to 10 a day maximum

Since(and indeed during) my recent hospitalisation for sepsis I obviously have had no alcohol pass my lips(although seriously for the first few days I was greedily eyeing up the alcohol hand gel!!).......and I won't do at least until my antibiotics finish.

Having broken the back of the alcohol addiction(let's be honest.....that's what it was....or perhaps is?) I've not really missed it........feel fitter,have more energy and am spending more quality time with the OH instead of getting drunk. However kicking the nicotine habit is proving much harder.......the hospital gave me patches to take away and I have now ordered a vaping kit from Amazon which should help and I have got the daily intake down to 5 a day but struggling to maintain that.

Anyone got any ideas/experience?

 

[Rachox]

I neither drink nor smoke but just wanted to drop in to say well done on knocking your ‘addictions’ on the head

 

[Bluetit1802]

Be careful with the patches and only use them according to the instructions on the packet. I ended up with tachycardia when I used them irresponsibly. Well done on your achievements so far.

 

[Member496333]

Teetotal and quit smoking twenty years ago. Smoking is 90% habit, in my opinion. The nicotine dependency is gone within a fortnight...twiddling your thumbs with nothing to suck on is the hard part.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Teetotal and quit smoking twenty years ago. Smoking is 90% habit, in my opinion. The nicotine dependency is gone within a fortnight...twiddling your thumbs with nothing to suck on is the hard part.

Many years ago in my working days I stopped smoking, I bought a baby's dummy, and sucked that all day at the office. It worked for a few months.

 

[Traceymac23]

Teetotal and quit smoking twenty years ago. Smoking is 90% habit, in my opinion. The nicotine dependency is gone within a fortnight...twiddling your thumbs with nothing to suck on is the hard part.

That's why I have ordered a vape.......my fingernails are chewed to the quick!!

 

[DCUKMod]

I have always smoked and drank way too much alcohol way too much........before diagnosis I smoked 20-25 ciggies a day and if I had a drink that could e-a-s-i-l-y go up to 80 if I was on a real heavy session:***:

Since diagnosis I greatly reduced the alcohol intake to 1-2 nights a week(from 5) and got the fags down to 10 a day maximum

Since(and indeed during) my recent hospitalisation for sepsis I obviously have had no alcohol pass my lips(although seriously for the first few days I was greedily eyeing up the alcohol hand gel!!).......and I won't do at least until my antibiotics finish.

Having broken the back of the alcohol addiction(let's be honest.....that's what it was....or perhaps is?) I've not really missed it........feel fitter,have more energy and am spending more quality time with the OH instead of getting drunk. However kicking the nicotine habit is proving much harder.......the hospital gave me patches to take away and I have now ordered a vaping kit from Amazon which should help and I have got the daily intake down to 5 a day but struggling to maintain that.

Anyone got any ideas/experience?

Traceymac, bearing in mind you have had a very significant issue with your foot, you need to be protecting your CV system and micro blood vessels carefully. Not smoking is the biggest thing you can do in that regard.

I know it's easy for me, a life-long non-smoker, who has always disliked smoking intensely, to say, but it's true.

My mother was non-diabetic, but was a lifelong smoker and almost lost a leg due to her blood vessels becoming caludicated - probably by a clot. I say probably by a clot because she got astonishingly lucky to find that probably days from amputation the vessel clearer and the blood supply was refreshed. It was a dreadful, dreadful time for her. In hospital she stopped smoking in a nano-second.

When we went for a follow-up session with the vascular bods, the consultant was at pains to say that she must, must remain smoke free, as every cigarette increased the chances of a recurrence and he had rarely known anyone as lucky as she, in terms of the spontanbeous resolution.

She was mentally and physically scarred by it. We toher family members were only mentally scarred.

Have you looked at the NHS cessations resources?

 

[Listlad]

Many years ago in my working days I stopped smoking, I bought a baby's dummy, and sucked that all day at the office. It worked for a few months.

How did that go down with the office mates?

 

[Traceymac23]

Traceymac, bearing in mind you have had a very significant issue with your foot, you need to be protecting your CV system and micro blood vessels carefully. Not smoking is the biggest thing you can do in that regard.

I know it's easy for me, a life-long non-smoker, who has always disliked smoking intensely, to say, but it's true.

My mother was non-diabetic, but was a lifelong smoker and almost lost a leg due to her blood vessels becoming caludicated - probably by a clot. I say probably by a clot because she got astonishingly lucky to find that probably days from amputation the vessel clearer and the blood supply was refreshed. It was a dreadful, dreadful time for her. In hospital she stopped smoking in a nano-second.

When we went for a follow-up session with the vascular bods, the consultant was at pains to say that she must, must remain smoke free, as every cigarette increased the chances of a recurrence and he had rarely known anyone as lucky as she, in terms of the spontanbeous resolution.

She was mentally and physically scarred by it. We toher family members were only mentally scarred.

Have you looked at the NHS cessations resources?

I have been referred to the cessation clinic.......the patches and one of those white puffers are 'stage 1'.

I have been told all of the downside of smoking......even told that giving up is AT LEAST as important as medication but it's just really hard........I actually found myself having a ciggie THREE HOURS after the big toe was amputated........hated myself for it but still not enough to persuade me off of the weed altogether.........the addiction is so bad I can't sleep at night unless I know I've got a cigarette to wake up to!!

My partner is helping by NOT smoking or drinking in the house OR around me but I feel guilty for depriving her of something she enjoys

I do now keep a diary of when I have a fag and that helps me cut down.as it's like writing down a crime I've committed.

Perhaps listing the cigarettes smoked daily in with the daily 'BG and what you ate yesterday' thread will also bring it home to me just how much I need to jack it in!!

 

[Bluetit1802]

How did that go down with the office mates?

Rolling on the floor with laughter.

 

[Shas3]

Firstly good on kicking the addictions. On Cigs and Nicotine - As much as patches and vapes may help get off the cigarettes, I would say they are only only marginally better if at all. I would strongly suggest getting off them at the earliest. There are several apps and support groups. I used Livestrong’s app and another one called HealthUnlocked. The community on both were very supportive. Yes there is a physical and a bigger psychological component to it and it really takes a lot of effort... also in the initial nicotine-free days my blood sugar numbers (and hunger patterns) were completely out of whack... few weeks before things settle.. but totally worth it... give it a try

 

[DCUKMod]

I have been referred to the cessation clinic.......the patches and one of those white puffers are 'stage 1'.

I have been told all of the downside of smoking......even told that giving up is AT LEAST as important as medication but it's just really hard........I actually found myself having a ciggie THREE HOURS after the big toe was amputated........hated myself for it but still not enough to persuade me off of the weed altogether.........the addiction is so bad I can't sleep at night unless I know I've got a cigarette to wake up to!!

My partner is helping by NOT smoking or drinking in the house OR around me but I feel guilty for depriving her of something she enjoys

I do now keep a diary of when I have a fag and that helps me cut down.as it's like writing down a crime I've committed.

Perhaps listing the cigarettes smoked daily in with the daily 'BG and what you ate yesterday' thread will also bring it home to me just how much I need to jack it in!!

Traceymac, as I understand it, nicotine can be as difficult to give up as heroine for some people. It's action on the body and brain is insidious.

Referring back to my Mum, she was told that a single cigarett would impact on the vascular health. With each cigarette the vessels contract for a while. I can't remember al the details, but the vascular surgeon's ratioonale was compelling. By that stage Mum had been stopped smoking for several weeks, so he was just reinforcing things with her not to slip back.

 

[PenguinMum]

@Traceymac23 must wanted to wish you all the best...its a serious subject and not wanting to say otherwise but you do have a way of writing that makes me smile. Have you ever considered writing a novel?

 

[Listlad]

I have always smoked and drank way too much alcohol way too much........before diagnosis I smoked 20-25 ciggies a day and if I had a drink that could e-a-s-i-l-y go up to 80 if I was on a real heavy session:***:

Since diagnosis I greatly reduced the alcohol intake to 1-2 nights a week(from 5) and got the fags down to 10 a day maximum

Since(and indeed during) my recent hospitalisation for sepsis I obviously have had no alcohol pass my lips(although seriously for the first few days I was greedily eyeing up the alcohol hand gel!!).......and I won't do at least until my antibiotics finish.

Having broken the back of the alcohol addiction(let's be honest.....that's what it was....or perhaps is?) I've not really missed it........feel fitter,have more energy and am spending more quality time with the OH instead of getting drunk. However kicking the nicotine habit is proving much harder.......the hospital gave me patches to take away and I have now ordered a vaping kit from Amazon which should help and I have got the daily intake down to 5 a day but struggling to maintain that.

Anyone got any ideas/experience?

My ex wife smoked seriously for many years. A regular 20 a day gal. I tried so hard to get her to give up. She tried patches but always gravitated back to square one. In order to keep the costs of smoking down I bought her duty free cigs for many years but this of course encouraged her more. Since divorce I heard she had stopped smoking. She always said that she could not stop as the addiction was so strong. I think DCUKMod’s analogy with heroin is not far out in that sense.

 

[Jo_the_boat]

I now say that anybody who hasn't given up smoking isn't frightened enough. I smoked for 30 years, gave up 5 years ago. I have a blocked aorta due to smoking. I vaped but was told that its nicotine that contracts the blood vessels so stopped that too. For goodness sake give up the fags, it really will kill you.

 

[ally1]

I rarely drink alcohol, but did in my younger days.
I say I am a smoker but not smoked for a fair few months. I know I could easily start smoking again.
I have tried various things to stop smoking but I found vaping to help the most. Though I do still crave a cig after meaks

 

[Rosiegough_]

I enjoy vaping

 

[Shas3]

I quit cigarettes in 2011 cold turkey. It was all good till 2017 when i fell for the new age electronic heated tobacco product. After a year, i just got frustrated and decided to quit all nicotine. I must say the second quit was not necessarily easier... as painful... and on top my blood sugar numbers went haywire in the first few weeks. All i can say is vaping etc. can be a part of a quit strategy and it would be wise to treat them as such. All the best...

 

[HelenHak]

I vape. I will give it up eventually, just not yet. I feel that keeping everything else under control is enough for me to deal with. Giving up actual fags was the hardest thing of all. I wanted to go to sleep and not wake up again, hence the vaping.

 

[enb54]

It's been years, but I still get a craving for Old Port Colts cigarillos (Rum soaked, wine dipped). A soon as I turn 80 I may start smoking them again...