Cold turkey or Nicotine products?

[sowanttostop]

Do nicotine replacement products work or is cold turkey the best?  I have been on and off the patch, gum lozenges for over a year and inevitably keep smoking. 

[TW517]

You may have answered your own question if none of those helped you for over a year.  There are a lot of people on this site who have benefited greatly by using NRT's.  All I know is that, like you, they didn't work for me.  I couldn't (or wouldn't) stop using the NRT's and would eventually just return to smoking, or both.  I think the more you educate yourself on the proper use of NRT's, the better chance you have of some benefit from them.  For me, I had it in my head that they didn't work for me, so I went cold turkey.  Just remember, no product will do the quit for you.

[prjimm01]

I would say they are not working for you.  Maybe try Chantix or Cold turkey.  the main thing is to QUIT SMOKING. 

[maryfreecig]

I'm a strong believer in participating in a fellowship of quitters, and in learning all that you can about nicotine addiction. Recovery comes one step at a time. Facing it alone and cold turkey is fine if you are extremely motivated to quit. Otherwise, it takes time and patience to relearn life without the cigs--support can help you stay on track. 

[elvan]

I, too, think education and support are keys to successful quits.  The more you learn about nicotine addiction and recovery, the better prepared you will be for your quit.  You have to always remember that this is not an event...it is a one day at a time journey.  I can recommend a couple of blogs to you that I did NOT write but that I found particularly helpful...start with JonesCarpeDiem‌'s What To Expect In The First Four Months You have to understand that smoking does nothing FOR you, only TO you.  When you sign in to this site, there is an option to click on a link "My Quit Plan" which is in the upper left corner.  It will suggest many really valuable things to you.  I tracked cigarettes, wrote down triggers, and planned for what I would do INSTEAD of smoking when the triggers happened.  I KNEW they would happen, that's just life.  Just the tracking is very enlightening because you see what is pushing you in the WRONG direction.  You CAN do this, every single person on this site has been where you are now...some quit and stayed quit the first time and some were serial quitters.  Smoking stuffs our emotions down so we don't deal with things the way are supposed to.  We actually grow emotionally when we quit and it is so worth it.

Welcome to EX

Ellen