Not everyone is cut out to quit cold turkey.
Living without the nicotine and fighting the urges can be too much for many.
I honestly, don't feel I could've quit successfully the first time without using the patch.
You see, when you quit you are trying to unlearn reaching for that cigarette every 10 minutes and fight the lack of nicotine at the same time. And often you are reaching for it more often because now you aren't getting the nicotine when you reach for it.
If someone had tied me down for a week, I might have been able to do it cold turkey but there was no one around to untie me and guard my quit when I was using the bathroom.
After over 6 1/2 years of being nicotine free and being on this board and another for the first year + of my quit I've seen alot of quits come and go and in doing so I would recommend using the patch if you are going to use an nrt.
First, you aren't controlling the dosage. Who in their right mind would give an addict the key to the dispensary?
2nd, Wearing the patch has absolutely no similarities to smoking and you don't pop some nicotine gum or a lozenge every time you get a crave and become dependent on that.
I forgot to put it on the 4th day but it was home about 10 minutes away and I knew I could make it home if I needed it. The end of my second week, I forgot to wear it two days in a row and I knew I didn't need it any more.
One more thing, I kept a patch in my wallet for my entire first year quit because if I wanted to smoke too badly, I had promised myself I would put on that patch and wait an hour rather than smoke a cigarette.
It was my security blanket. The knowledge that plan was in place kept me free from ever going back.
