NRT's

[mightyboosh]

I'd like to know the site consensus as to what constitutes a quit. Is it giving up setting fire to tobacco or is it a total absence of nicotine however it's delivered. 

 

[jillar]

Although I quit cold turkey, I find nothing wrong with using NRT's to keep you from setting fire to tobacco. There's no one way fits all method in stopping imo so if it's with help from NRT's I'm all for it. 

The benefit for me in quitting cold turkey was that I didn't have to kick nicotine withdrawal down the road which is what happens with most NRT's.

[johnny5]

I would say that once you put that last cigarette out for good, you can say that you have quit.

 

The ultimate goal is to be completely nicotine free but if a NRT can help you get to that point, that is great.

 

I quit cold turkey but it took me a number of attempts.  If a NRT helps you out in the beginning, that is cool...as long as you work towards becoming completely nicotine free in the end.

[Sazerac]

In my, not so, humble opinion,

the minute you stop delivering Nicotine to your system is what constitutes a quit.

 

I understand there are many paths to the center but, the real issue here is nicotine addiction.

Nicotine Addiction is all that matters in the conversation.

 

Sure, if NRT's get you to the place where you no longer deliver an addictive substance to your body then, I am all for it.

The point is dealing with Nicotine Addiction.

The rest is inconsequential.

 

I have seen over the years here,

addictions to NRT's, flagrant abuse of NRT's

and  also initially 'earnest' quitters that will not deal with Nicotine Addiction.

I cannot help them.

 

My focus is helping people that understand or are willing to understand Nicotine Addiction.

 

It is all about the NOPE.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by Sazerac

[Reciprocity]

I'm not as hard line on this as Sazerac, although I understand her stance and respect it.

In my mind there's the nicotine addiction issue and to get past that clearly you have to stop putting nicotine into your body but, weening completely off nicotine can wait for those who feel they can not quit cold turkey (I was a cold turkey quitter, by the way).

 

The biggest hurdle to me in quitting is your day to day life habitual smoking routine. Whether you smoke cigs or vape, it's the "garb a smoke" reaction to so many daily life events that is the hardest thing to get past and takes the longest period of time to reconstruct your life. I get the fact that some may want to soften the early quit challenges by continuing to feed nicotine via a properly controlled NRT program. It has clearly worked for some, as has prescription medication such as Zyban and whatever else that's called. I do believe that stopping the flow of nicotine ASAP is also a requirement but just not at the very start of one's quit. What concerns me more than the patch programs are these gums, sprays and lozenges. Those items seems like candy to me. Therefore, more difficult for people to control the dosage plus the temptation to combine any number of NRT's without appropriate medical consultation. Too many want to believe there's a magic bullet out there somewhere that will eliminate the hard work aspect of quitting and that's just not the case. 

 

No question, there are potential issues with NRT's but they have done a lot of quitters a service and continue to do so if used appropriately.

 

 

[notsmokinjo]

I'm an NRT quitter coming up on 2 years smoke free and I think I used NRT for 9-12 weeks. I used gum but it was only ever going to be a short term thing, the NRT.  Previously I had a long term quit I threw away that was cold turkey. The thing is I can tell you the time, the date, the day if the week I had my last smoke but I am not sure when my last NRT gum was....I know it was after I joined here...I know it was after another member commented that they were NRT free and I went...oh, I should do that.

 

Now here's my spin.... Cold turkey is best BUT everyone is different and it's not the best for me ....so for me, right from the get go I was like "I'm a junky, my drug of choice is nicotine...I am addicted, but I am also addicted to the ritual and routine of my smoking, and I am addicted to the psychological aspect (which is the lies you nicotine addiction tells you to get a hit)...knowing myself I knew the first thing I had to deal with was the habit/routine and the psychological...the physical bit would be easy...retraining my self to function as a non smoker not so easy. So I went into the NRT gum thing as... The box says I should be having 1-2 4mg per ever hour...so I'd have 1 and see how long I could go between them...I'm a bit competitive, even with myself...so if I didn't have my first nrt gum until 9:30am then that was my new start time...no NRT before then....i wasn't clock watching for my next hit, I was clock watching to beat my last pb. I would alternate a normal Chewie for an NRT so even now if I feel a bit like I need a smoke and I chew any old NOT NRT gum the crave goes. After the first week I was on the 2mg gums and my whole quit I bought 1 pack of 30 and one pack of 250 and I still had more than half left when I stopped using them.

 

NRT is fine if you need it...it does prolong the whole crave phase but the two golden rules any NRT user needs to have....go in admitting you are an addict and go in with an exit plan.

 

Honestly I needed NRT and if I could go back I wouldn't change how I quit.

Edited September 21, 2019 by notsmokinjo

[Doreensfree]

My opinion ...

I have tried to quit hundreds of times ...if not thousands ...some quits .lasting 30 minutes ...

I've used every thing possible ...every NRT.... hypnosis.... acupuncture....you name it I've done it ..

The only way thing that has worked for me is cold turkey and Allen Carr.....

Having said that...I say get yourself to Rome( Freedom)....any way you can ...as long as you stick to the recommended dose ...and use NRT properly ..then go for it ...it's better than dying from Emphysema...

What I have discovered..You have to want to quit ..otherwise nothing will work ,it has to be a 100/0 commitment...