I saw an advertisement for the patch last night. One statement just didn’t ring true with me.
They claimed their product would stop the urge to smoke. I think they have it wrong. I don’t think they know what they are talking about with that statement. I think they want MONEY. LOL
When we are smokers, nicotine is a physical need, not an urge.
The pleasure receptors scream until they get their satisfaction.
What does this mean to you?
The “urge” is built upon the habit part of smoking not, the physical need.The need-cotinine addiction goes away within a relatively short time after we stop ingesting it.
Yes there are a few weeks of withdrawal symptoms. It’s worked it’s way into every part of our system and takes that amount of time for our system to eliminate it completely. The pleasure receptors that are used to getting nicotine die off and are replaced with ones that have never known nicotine so you don’t need it anymore. I contend when we’ve stopped using it for awhile, we aren’t physically addicts any longer. (unless we use it again)
As long as we keep using nicotine, we have the NEED to use it. So why prescribe it to quit smoking if it keeps you physically addicted?
Because quitting is a two part process. The urge to smoke is actually the ritual we’ve built with all our memories of smoking. We reach for one because it’s all we’ve known 20 times a day for how many years?
I believe the NRT can help to relieve the need for nicotine while we observe our actions and begin to break the ritual/habit part of smoking. The ritual/habit part of smoking is rather mindless. We don’t consciously remember or even think about how great each cigarette was we smoked at the end of each day. We just do it. It satisfies the need for nicotine and the rituals we’ve built around that need.
So, I’m not against the NRT. I’m against becoming as dependent on it as smoking. I’m against using it until you are fearful of getting off of it and you believe it is all that has kept you quit. (becoming psychologically addicted as well as physically addicted to the cure and making it as important as cigarettes were)
I'm not too fond of the lozenges or the gum because they are self dosing and many will actually use more nicotine than they were getting as smokers thus risking dependence on them.
The need is the chemical addiction, the urge is the ritual. Unlearning the ritual is what takes time. Give yourself the time.
To the manufacturers: You're getting your money. Get it right would you?
