Hello. New to group and wanted to introduce myself. Im 37, smoker, 20-30 cigs/day, and was diagnosed with copd last week. Reading through this site, I realize I have alot of questions for my doc. I do not know what stage I have, or what % of lung functioning I have, a referral to a pulm was not discussed. I was given chantix and dulera and a two-week follow up appointment.
I am on day 10 of chantix and my quit date is october 30th. I have already cut my number of cigs down, sometimes only smoking half, and i've switched from menthol to nonmenthol. I am kicking myself for not putting down the cigs immediately, but i'm trying to do it right this time so it lasts forever. I am mentally preparing for the quit. Little worried about the side effects of chantix, i'm agitated and emotional...but I live a pretty stressful life so its difficult to distinguish b/t side effects and my everyday stress. I have quit many times, for 5-6 months, but something "stressful" always happens and I start back. Staying strong during stress is my biggest problem, I always go back to that darn cigarette. Needing to find and practice better coping skills so I don't turn back once I quit. I'm glad I found this group and am excited to meet people so we can help each other along this journey.
There are alot of acronyms being used here. I have figured out what some of them mean (ie sob means shortness of breath) but there are many I dont know. Is there a list of them somewhere? I guess I will figure all that out as I do more research.
Thanks for reading, I know this was a long post!