Gum or the patch

Wisbar · 04-12-2007, 11:33 AM

Okay, so the time has come for me to quit smoking. Just wondering what the former smokers here used to help them quit... I will go insane if I try to quit cold turkey. I've been smoking for like 10 years and about a pack a day for way too long

*Edit People not old enough to buy a pack need not reply... I need serious help

jeeptillidie · 04-12-2007, 11:35 AM

In all honesty I used this crap I saw on TV called smoke arrest. It worked from the first day I tried it. I paid a lot for it but it was worth every penny. Its a series of teas, herb pills, and crap like that. How or why it worked I dont know but it did.

Wisbar · 04-12-2007, 11:41 AM

Hmmm... I think I have seen it on tv as well, I will look into that. Cost isn't really an issue at this point. I figure if it cost me a lot now and works than it saved me all the money I throw into them, as well as probably my life

**woody-77** · 04-12-2007, 11:42 AM

Just quit....that's what I did....I smoked for 11 years from when I was 18 - 29....it was the dumbest thing I ever started....

my doctor told me if I continued to smoke I would have a heart attack by the age of 35 after I completed my stress test....this was my major motivation to quit...

I smoked a pack and a half a day....It is very hard for the first 2 weeks or so....keep a pen or something handy to chew on and make sure everyone around you knows you just quit smoking and are going to be an *** for a few weeks....

I tried the patch and gum....neither worked for me....stopping cold turkey was the only way I could do it....

FreemasonJeeper · 04-12-2007, 11:45 AM

I got hypnotized. The first time it was in a group session and that didn't work. About a year later, I did a one on one session, it cost alot more but it seems to have worked....so far anyway. It's been two years this month. I walked in a smoker and left a nonsmoker. I'm not going to lie, it's still hard, even today, but it was alot easier than the times I tried cold turkey.

Wisbar · 04-12-2007, 11:50 AM

I'm thinking I don't want to quit, but I know I have to and there in lies the problem. Woody, would you say you were more mentally set on quitting when you quit cold turkey, versus when you tried the patch/gum?

jeeptj19992001 · 04-12-2007, 11:58 AM

cold turkey...................
you don't need no stinking crutch....

did it after 25 years of dipping cope

**woody-77** · 04-12-2007, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wisbar

I'm thinking I don't want to quit, but I know I have to and there in lies the problem. Woody, would you say you were more mentally set on quitting when you quit cold turkey, versus when you tried the patch/gum?

I had tried the patch and gum a few times before going to the doctor but probably wasn't as commited to quitting as I was after the stress test....

I tried the patch after the doctor told me about the possibility of a heart attack....I was smoking again after about 4 days of using the patch....

I decided it would be best to just quit....finished the pack I had and haven't picked them up since.

You have to have support from friends and family when you quit....they need to understand how you will act when not smoking...and with or without the patch or gum you have to have strong will power....

There are many times I want a cigarette...especially when drinking a few beers...you just have to tell yourself not to do it....

When you quit try not to get into situations where you need a cigarette....ie. at a bar, drinking with buddies...etc...until you know you can handle it without a smoke...

Also a good thing to do is reward yourself with something you want after the first 2-3 weeks of quitting....I bought myself a dirtbike.....

Baotchi · 04-12-2007, 12:34 PM

It's been 34 days since I last quit smoking. I have been smoking a pack a day for several years also (~10).

This is not the first time I quit, and I tried everything.

I am currently on patches, and it's the second time I quit with them.

It works pretty well, like gum or other methods I guess... You really need to want to quit. I wanted to be able to jog again, and get back to the gym (which both I can't do or don't want to do while I smoke).

I don't even think about smoking with a patch on. Even if I drink wine or a beer, even after a meal.

Patches deliver nicotine to your body as smoking would, so you can quit the "smoking" habit first, then decrese the nicotine doses from 21mg (1 pack a day) to none. It's easier than, because the habit is gone, only thing left is nicotine addiction.

I quit cold 2 or 3 times before, and worked also, even made me more proud maybe. I feel like quitting with patches is like cheating, and less rewarding.

I just didn't feel like going trough the "pain" and "feeling bad" things cold quitting involves.

Do what you think is best, I know patches worked better than gum for me, and I know I can cold quit also, just didn't feel like it.

atljeeplady · 04-12-2007, 12:40 PM

Wellbutrin (sp?) worked for me. It's an antidepressant but was found to help people quit smoking.

**PhilipJ** · 04-12-2007, 12:55 PM

A buddy of mine took almost a full pack of cigarettes, cut the papers and mixed the tobacco with coffee grounds and then made a pot of coffee. Then he drank all of it. Cured him of both his caffeine and nicotine addictions. He said the combined taste was so nasty and revolting that from then on he couldn't do one without thinking about the other and that the flavor would creep back into his mouth when thinking about doing so.

But he was a crazy bastard, so that might not work for ya.

Shorty · 04-12-2007, 01:28 PM

Wellbutrin... helps with the anxiety of quitting

here is how I look at it

Are you addicted to nicotine or the act of smoking?

If your addicted to nicotine I would do wellbutrine/zyban and a patch or gum

If its the act of somoking wellbutrine and weening helped me i.e.. one week I quit smoking in the car on the way work and so on then stopped all together. I still want one every once and awhile. But I am definitly done with it. GOOD LUCK!

remember if you cave once or twice don't consider it a failure, keep on quitting you'll get it.

Wisbar · 04-12-2007, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atljeeplady

Wellbutrin (sp?) worked for me. It's an antidepressant but was found to help people quit smoking.

I've quit once for 3 months with Zyban. I think it is the same thing or same principle. It actually did work pretty well and kinda made me forget about smoking. Oh well, I think I am going to go get the patch today and try that out first. If that doesn't work I will take more drastic measures

**Snacks** · 04-12-2007, 01:34 PM

I smoked for 6-7 yrs and quit cold turkey. If you can't do that try cutting back before you buy anything to "try" and help. If you can't do it with out an aid, your chances of starting again are greater.

SpoiledRotten · 04-12-2007, 01:54 PM

I have never smoked so I don't really know how hard it is "supposed" to be to stop. My dad smoked since he was about 12 until he was about 42. He has suffered with asthma all of his life and the cigs certainly didn't help. He went to the doctor for a checkup one day and was told that he was getting the beginning signs of emphysema. He left his cigs in the garbage can at the doc's office and never picked up another one. That would tell me that it all depends on how bad you really want to stop. He quit cold turkey without all of those expensive crutches that are in place just to pad other people's pockets. That shows me my dad was/is a real man. Good luck to you. I hope you "really" want to quit too.