Give and get support around quitting
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Stop smoking products
I have tried all, but not recently. Is there one that has been successful for most?
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I used the nicotine patches. 21 mg for 3 weeks; 14 mg for 2 weeks; and 7 mg for 1 week. It helps to take the edge off but does not totally eliminate your craves. Others have been successful with Chantix or Wellbutrin. Some people do not respond to these prescriptions at all or they have severe side effects. Bottom line - nothing will quit for you. Whatever you choose to use, education about this addiction is very important. Read, read, read. The more you know, the less scary it is. Also this place is a very good place to get support from people who understand how tough it can be to quit. So stay close to this site and the people here. Best wishes to you!
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Welcome to our community!
You can get a better idea of what might work best for you by doing some reading and investigation. I'm glad you are here to do that!
The most important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. Here is a link to a free PDF version of it:
http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go the the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmokingonline.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested in My Quit Plan http://www.becomeanex.org/my-quit-plan.php
After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort. I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another. I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
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I'm using the gum so far it's worked like Jennifer mentioned nothing can do it FOR you. You still have to work. Alot of people here used the patch I guess it's up to the person. I knew that I liked the hand/mouth motion so that was something I had to focus on not saying the patch wouldn't have worked for me but I just found more easier and comfortable using the gum. I think it's a 12 week program. I also use the lozenges in really tough times. NRT is used to curve the physical withdrawals while we work on the psychological part the mind is where your quit is determined! You have to make it up in your mind NOPE (Not one puff ever..again) I know "ever again" might sound a little scary but I promise it's not! It get easier over time. Sometimes we just have to get through one second at a time but as long as we stick to NOPE those thoughts and feelings of emptiness with die to a point where you wouldn't believed you ever smoked (Yep it get that much easier) but we have to push through! Welcome to the EX family!
Kimberly
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I did not use anything but my daughter used the patches and has been quit for over a year and a half.
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I used the patch,gum lozenges, Welbutrin.I guess they all worked because I successfully quit.
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All in one quit? I was tempted to buy the patches but something kept telling me that wasn't the route for me so I'm just doing the gum program and lozenges when I'm really on the edge (which is rarely ever) I also saw a "quit tea" online but I'll just stick to what I'm doing I've been pretty successful so far.
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91.4 % of Successful quitters - defined as one Year or more quit - used Cold Turkey or some form of cutting back until quit date - no meds, NRTs, acupuncture, etc.. So why don't people know about it? Who makes money when you stop cold turkey? Nobody! Study after study can advocate for this or that but statistics speak for themselves.
Here we call it Smart Turkey! Set a date and keep that Date no matter what! Do the reading and you will discover how! It's FREE and doable - not easy!
Don't worry - it isn't torture - it's FUN!
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Thank You. If the govt. and medical profession continue to allow scumbags to manufacture, sell and advertise cigarettes, why would any sane person think that they would sell you something that could make you all well again? If that junk really worked, then the people making it would have raised the roof with advertising and if it were truly a safe solution, you wouldn't need a prescription for it. I have been off the crud for about 2 weeks and I feel a little derailed most of the time but I do know that there are a couple or areas where we all seem to agree. You need to prepare to quit and you need a strong resolve. Simple its not, and as we all go through our routines this is brought home again and again. I am a taper down and stop guy. I have seen more success from this than anything else, but the bottom line is you need the confidence to do the work. I will say this, and I believe its a fact. The physical withdrawal symptoms of nicotine addiction are pretty benign and not why we go back to smoking. These withdrawal symptoms are too vague to drum up that all consuming need. The conditioning in my brain had turned nonsense into this immutable fact. I can't survive without them. Really? Then why do people who are forced by medical reasons to quit not show more dramatic physical reactions. For me, my imagination and memory were the biggest obstacles, stumbling blocks, addicts in the equation.
Incident (Example, true story). Coming home from a movie, I ran into a drunk driver on my motorcycle at about 45 mph. In the hospital for about 4 or 5 days. They don't let you smoke in the rooms and since my logical mind knew that I needed to stay there if I ever wanted to walk again, there was no problem. The physical withdrawal was benign, nothing at all. The mental addiction or conditioning was trumped ( please excuse the expression) by absolute logical need and a total lack of the physical ability to do anything about it. I knew I couldn't get away and smoke so I forgot about it until I was sent home.
This is horrible to say but, I believe that some of the people who insist that nicotine dosing products and substitutes allowed them to quit, work for either the manufacturers of that junk or tobacco companies ( these may be one and the same people for all I know. That would be interesting to know. Who makes the junk? )
I did some work on the electrical system for a new branch of a local Vapor Shop. This place was really luxurious and in their defense, no pretense was made that they had any intention to help you quit. There were no quitting guidelines, literature on quitting or any other references to quitting smoking. It was straight up just another opportunity to inhale something containing nicotine into your lungs. Fact is some of the bug juice may be hazardous and the nicotine dosing can be pretty high and hence dangerous. Also this stuff smells like something appetizing in some forms which means that it might be ingested accidentally. Not good since nicotine is highly poisonous. Its insane that we would allow something that is an unknown to come to market with so few controls. Just goes back to what I said at the top or this particular rant. Assume anyone selling you anything, especially anything that will Make you Quit smoking is lying. Just my insane paranoia? Maybe
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I used 10 patches over 11 days then I forgot to put it on 2 days in a row and just stopped using them. (I forgot my 3rd day and got through fine)
