Laser therapy for quitting smoking question

[Backstage_Gal]

Hi there, I have been smoking for 43 years. I tried the tips (in the 80's), the patches, gum, the pills( forgot what they are called), hypnosis (lit up in the parking lot right after paying $100), nothing has worked. My brother says nothing will work until your mind is ready for it, and I dont think mine is really ready, but I do want to quit.

So I have been considering laser treatment, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with this before I spend $350 plus the "special supplements". I dont trust the ad sites for their raving comments...

Thanks for any feedback on this.

 

[themarquis]

What is being ... um ... lasered????

Unfortunately, the odds are it is not going to be effective, like all "quick cure" stuff out there.

I had a lot of problems with quitting. What helped me? Finding a new hobby!! Yes, I took up knitting, and every time I thought about lighting up, I just forced myself to knit! Keeping your hands and mind busy is 99 percent, it turns out!

The only other thing I know is that the studies that have been done clearly indicate that something like nicotine gum or patches help people. Quitting "cold turkey" (the way I did it, actually) statistically does not work as well. Wellbutrin is also a great quitting aid -- it actually works on the receptors in your brain that control addiction. I took Wellbutrin for a while (not related to smoking) and the thought of smoking just did NOT seem interesting the whole time I took it! It really can help.

Best of luck to you -- I hope you think about talking to your primary care doc to see what might help (nicotine or Wellbutrin, etc.) before you consider an untested laser treatment that is designed to line the pockets of the people who promote it.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Thanks for the reply.

You know what is funny is that one of the people in my office I affectionatly refer to as knitfreak. Maybe I will enlist her to to get into that hobby. Although she just met a man online and got engaged in the span of 6 weeks (which is a whole other story), so her mind is not so much on knitting and spinning anymore....

I think I'll postpone the laser stuff for now

 

[luvindisneyworld]

Until you are ready to quit nothing you are going to do is going to help.
You have to want it.

Wellbutrin was a Wonderful thing for me I was taking it for depression and it got to the point that I did not want to smoke.

I really hope that you will find something that works.

I had been quit for a couple of years or longer and started back when we were building our house we went through alot of crap and I just had to have a cigarette and thats all it took so i have been smoking again now for about 6 months and I hate it. So DH and I are both going to quit New Years thats our resolution, he dont smoke he dips. But he is wanting Nicorette and I am getting the patches for me.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Until you are ready to quit nothing you are going to do is going to help.
You have to want it.

Wellbutrin was a Wonderful thing for me I was taking it for depression and it got to the point that I did not want to smoke.

I really hope that you will find something that works.

I had been quit for a couple of years or longer and started back when we were building our house we went through alot of crap and I just had to have a cigarette and thats all it took so i have been smoking again now for about 6 months and I hate it. So DH and I are both going to quit New Years thats our resolution, he dont smoke he dips. But he is wanting Nicorette and I am getting the patches for me.

Thanks for the advice. I really think I am not mentally ready, as much as I hate the social stigma.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

Thats the hardest thing if you are not mentally ready to quit and want to quit it is just so hard to do anything.

I swear it is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. It gets a hold on you like no other.

Thanks for the advice. I really think I am not mentally ready, as much as I hate the social stigma.

 

[#1MMFan]

I think your brother says it really well. Quitting is 99% being in the right mental state, otherwise you're likely to fail, or to restart. Best of luck.

 

[lvs_eeyore]

I tried the laser treatment and I wasnt quite ready to quit and it did not work for me at all. I spent 200 dollars for just a few hours of relef from the need of cigarettes

 

[rabx5]

I would try Chantix first. I have heard great things about it and a lot of insurances are now paying some of the cost.

Feb. 16th will be 2 years for me. I used the patch for a week. I went through HUGE withdrawals and was horrible that first week without nicotine-the withdrawal is horrible-but you have to be strong and push through it. The physical withdrawal is nothing compared to the mental withdrawal and changing your routine. No sugar coating here

You have to be completely ready to quit. You have to want it more than that cigarette.

I wish I could tell you how easy it is, but it simply isn't. Yes, I crave a cig a few times a week yet but I just get past it



I really hope you can quit. Talk to your doc about the Chantix before the laser treatment.

Jodi

 

[DVC Sadie]

I, too, am going to try the laser treatment to quit smoking and hopefully this WILL work for me. I am so ready to not smoke anymore.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thanks for the advice. I really think I am not mentally ready, as much as I hate the social stigma.

If you are not mentally ready, save the quitting until you are.

Curtail your smoking and become a "closet smoker" and only smoke at home. I know that sounds weird but it is baby steps.

I am planning on quitting again on Jan 6th. I had been quit for 5yrs and fell off the wagon in July. We moved, election, etc....you know the excuses.

I call myself a cig-a-holic. It only takes "something" I am am back to smoking. It is an addictive drug.
When I am quit, I still want to smoke. It is a daily choice for me.

I do it cold turkey.
DH has used Welbutrin.