Pregnant and Quitting Smoking...how do I ease the withdrawal symptoms??

Question

I'm 5 weeks and 4 days pregnant. As soon as I found out last Sunday that I was pregnant I made the decision to quit immediately. Trouble is it's been easier said than done. I normally smoked 25-35 cigarettes a day. Now I smoke about 2 or 3 cigarettes a day. When I find the withdrawals are getting really bad I'll have a few puffs off of the cigarette and put it out. I want to quit completely but it's so damned hard!! Going from 25-35 smokes a day to none seems to be next to impossible so I've managed to drastically cut down to only a few smokes a day tops. I wanted to use the patch but doctor advised against it. How can I completely quit?? I'd like to hear from ex-smokers who had the same problem. (And preachy non-smokers who've never smoked can keep their holier-than-thou opinions to themselves. Sorry but I find people who've never smoked have no idea what it's like and they end up being condescending).

Answer 1

I smoked for 14 years, non-stop, I never tried to quit. The past year, I have felt the need and want to quit but was scared and just never tried. Then all of a sudden, I was gagging every time I took a drag and didn't know why, I figured that all my thinking about quitting was getting to me so I decided to cut down too. Starting on a Monday, I didn't smoke at all but was really craving by the evening. The next day I had 4 cigarettes ( I too did the butt out thing, which made my cigarettes last throughout the day) and I felt lousy that I went all day without one and couldn't do it again but I went on. Wednesday, I smoked 2, and Thursday I smoked 1. Friday, was the day that I felt that I could really do it and didn't smoke any. On Saturday night I took a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant and that the gagging feeling was morning sickness lol. It has now been almost 3 months and I have never felt better about myself. Some nights I have dreams that I am smoking again and I feel tremendous guilt but when I wake up I am so happy that it was just a dream and that I am still a non-smoker. It takes alot of courage and strength to quit but you can do it...I found that chewing gum, especially flavored gum that tastes and smells nice really helped. I stayed away from minty gum because it reminded me of smoking (that's all I used to chew when I was a smoker). There are also other things like staying away from places where smoking is allowed inside (I didn't go to my sister's for about a month because they smoke in their house). You will start to notice how cigarette smoke smells and how it stays in everything it touches and it should help you to stay away from it and of course, having a baby growing inside of us just makes it all the more easier.

Answer 2

Since you have cut back so much; I don't know if you would want to take this drastic a measure. You can get dried sea salted peanuts in the produce section of your local supermarket. leave them in the shell and parch/roast them till the peanut is medium brown; eat four or five of them when feel like smoking there is some chemical that is leached out that tricks your body into thinking you just smoked thus relieving physical cravings even the aftertaste is similar to that of cigarettes leaving the mental part to deal with.. I had to quit to live that was enough motivation for me; You on the other hand are doing it for a much more important reason giving Life and Love after all You are Your Child's Mother. Talk to the baby before it is born; there will come a time when you can't shut them up they become magpies; Congratulations.

Answer 3

Its hard but you are doing the right thing. I quit when I was pregnant too. Here's how: I read in a book what happens to the baby when you smoke. It constricts thier blood vessels not allowing the baby to receive all the nutrients it needs. That is why it causes low birthweight. You may think low birth wieght is not a big deal and many people that smoke do not have babies with a below average wieght, yet that baby would have been bigger coming out if the mother didnt smoke. If the baby doesnt recieve as much nutrients as possible then you are depriving the kid of better brain development, vision development, growth and many other things. People say, oh my baby came out fine and I smoked, but the baby would have come out BETTER if you didnt! thats what made me quit, the guilt of knowing I am hindering my babies chances for having as much as possible.

Answer 4

I smoked for 7 years and I just quit a month ago. You HAVE to go cold turkey cause if you even let yourself think you can have another one, then you will. But if you KNOW that you will not allow your self anymore then you will eventually forget about it. I did. It was hard the first aouple days and I havent really thought about it since. Just think about the baby inside of you and how it is trying to grow. If you get a craving then try to occupy yourself with somethign else like researching baby names or shopping online for cute baby stuff. Take a walk. Chew gum. Breath. But dont smoke. It is bad for you and your baby and take advantage of this situation and quit for good! Once the baby is born, second hand smoke will be even worse! Good luck!

Answer 5

Suck on hard candy, chew gum or eat carrot sticks. I know it sounds funny but it works. To keep your mind occupied take a walk, read a book or get on a site that has a chat room for people going through what you are going through. The withdrawl will not last forever. Hang in there. But remember that a couple of cigarettes a day is not helping ....it is just going to prolong the withdrawl symptoms.
Good Luck...it will be really hard for the first week but after that you are home free. And congratulations!

Answer 6

I am not a smoker and never have been but I just wanted to tell you that I think it is great that you are quitting for the health of your baby. I am sure that this is very hard. I am not sure if this will help but when you want one try eating sunflower seeds it keeps you busy and seems to ease stress. Good luck!

Answer 7

because you smoked so many before it'll be very hard to stop completly just smoke less & less until you dont have the urge anymore also make it harder to get to the cigarettes like only keep a few in the pack at a time & when you do have a craving try to do something that will keep your mind off of it. you can do it!!!! good luck

Answer 8

Well, it's getting murkier and murkier with every passing minute......It's difficult to assume that Srinivasan had no idea about his Son in law’s activities...he may not be directly to blame, but can’t evade the moral responsibility: it’ll be better if he quits. As to the opposition charges, it’s laughable, if not ridiculous, isn’t it??…the opposition, wherever they are in power are wrapped up in corruption; what moral ground do they have to accuse someone else???. ON the contrary this scandal has shifted the limelight from their continuous routs in various Assembly elections.

Answer 9

I feel you. Think about this- everytime you take 1 puff you could kill your baby. You can damage them in some way. That would be enugh for me.

When you want one, chew gum. Sunflower seeds worked for me. Walk as often as you can and drink water. I had to keep my body and mouth busy (without eating everytime i wanted to smoke) without getting fat.

Congrats on the pregnancy and good luck with the quitting!!

Answer 10

today is day 21 for me for quitting.. i broke and had one a cpl days ago and it was nasty..

I'm using the patch... though it's not recommended by your dr, maybe you should ask him/her again... that you'd like to try it..

the other thing is wellbutrin... it is an anti-deperssant, however, it is marketed by another name as a stop smoking aid (starts with a Z).. this is a potential option for you.

good luck, hang in there, you'll feel amazingly better once you start to get rid of the withdrawls.