Question for smokers-->quitters!

[aznmist]

Hi. I was wondering if any of you have tried those nicotine patches?

Question 1: Do they really help stop the craving?
Question 2: If you gave a non-smoker a patch..will he become addicited to the patches?

Thanks

 

[deftron]

yes

no

 

[ohtwell]

Don't know. I've never tried them. I quit cold turkey.

Don't know on this one either.

 

[Gaard]

Hi aznmist

You thinking about quitting? Go for it dude. I'm on my 17th day after 22 years of a pack a day addiction. It was a real bltch for the first few days but after that it's been a piece of cake. I never used either the patch or the gum...just chewed on a lot of plastic straws. Do it! Once you get over the hump (5 days for me) it's clear sailing.

 

[rickn]

I've quit cold turkey twice, once after smoking 6yrs and then after 1 yr. I can actually still smoke socially -- I mean sometimes when I am at a social gathering I'll smoke, and that has never caused me to start back up. I hate the smell when I get home though, NASTY. The 2nd time around I did the nicotine gum. Didn't really seem to make much of a difference. Just substitute some sexually activity everytime you wanna light up

 

[Cyberian]

<< Just substitute some sexually activity everytime you wanna light up >>

That's kinda tough if you smoke 2 packs a day!

 

[glen]

gum doesn't work
patches don't work
get a scrip for zyban

 

[rickn]

<< That's kinda tough if you smoke 2 packs a day! >>




heheh, sarcasm my friend

2 packs is pretty bad. I would smoke a pack or pack and a half a day

 

[sandorski]

Yes, the patch works great at stopping the cravings. The biggest problem that I had(besides smoking again after a week ) was that I always had this feeling that I forgot to do something. My limited experience advice would be: Pick a particular brand of patch and stick with it. I used Nicoderm for a week the, because it was cheaper, began using Nicotrol. That was a big mistake for I found myself going through an adjustment similar to the first couple days with Nicoderm.

I tried Zyban once too, but after 2 weeks broke out with the itchiest hives. If you choose to go this route be aware of the side effects.

 

[Jarwa]

Cold turkey worked for me. Well, kind of cold turkey. I did use three of the Nicotrol inhalers during the first week or week and a half. The cravings were a bitch. The inhalers worked, I guess you could say. I tried not to use them at all, but I guess using three of them is better than starting back.
Oh, I started back smoking after about four months, though. I need to go cold turkey again. You just gotta have the will power. (not that that's an easy thing) Now that I know I can quit, I just gotta do it all over again. I smoked for about 15 years or so.

 

[MrMilney]

I smoked for 12 years (started when I was 11) and by the end I had a two to three pack a day habit. The patch really helped take the edge off the physical addiction for me. I've been smoke-free for over 5 years now. The psychological addiction is another story though. As recently as a year ago I still had the additional craving for a cigarette after dinner or first thing in the morning. And there are times when I'll walk by someone smoking outside and it smells so good!

What we need is a patch for the brain.

 

[Aceman]

<< << Just substitute some sexually activity everytime you wanna light u >>





<< That's kinda tough if you smoke 2 packs a day! >>



Geezus!!!!!! I'm too damn old and past my sexual prime to do that for my 2-3 pack a day habit! I'll live longer smoking my cigarettes!:Q

And as for the questions.......Go cold turkey. The only truly proven method to quit. I've quit twice in my 15 years of smoking for around 6 months at a time going cold turkey. (I quit both times to ensure that I passed my run for my physical fitness test at my Army schools.) First 3 days are PURE HELL! then after a week the physical addiction loosens its hold and after a few months to years the mental addiction leaves.

 

[poopaskoopa]

My stepfather quit smoking with the gum. He would chew on one for hours, takes it out of his mouth, and would put the damn gum on the table. His sorry ass excuse was that he was gonna chew on it later(yeah, WTF, I know...). He's usually a really clean guy, and was never hurting for money, but damn.... Anyway, it's been 2 years since he quit smoking. He quit chewing a short time later also. I don't know if it was him, or my mother making him quit chewing though.

 

[PliotronX]

1 - YES, most definitely! Before using the patch, I had tried cold turkey several times and each time unsuccessful. I really needed to stop because I was just getting more and more sick, and the prices of cigs skyrocketed from $1.80/pack to about $4.50/pack. Not to mention it was getting banned in many places. I picked up the "step 2" Nicoderm CQ patches because I smoked about 10 or less cigs a day, and it worked out great. Although it was pretty expensive, it was cheaper than continuing the habit. After a few hours of taking off the very last patch, my body went crazy for a solid 10 minutes which actually felt more like 10 hours. But it was a lot easier to battle through it because I had already gotten over my psychological addiction during the couple of months when using the patch. So I just toughed it out, and my body felt better than ever after that. That was a little over a year ago, and I feel so much better. I rarely get colds, and when I do, it isn't anywhere near as severe as when I was smoking. When I work out, I don't get short of breath nearly as easily. After a few months of quitting, it was also fairly easy to resume hanging out with friends while they smoked without asking for a hit.

2 - A non-smoker's body will become dependant on the nicotine, the time it takes depends on their bodyweight and other psychological factors (like addictive personalities).