I used the patch that first week. I think it helped. I'm still a non-smoker seven years later, anyway...

Just passed the 7 month mark - cold turkey. Only thing I did was read Allen Carr's book.

Tried patches before. Haven't had dreams like that since the 60's and I don't mean the good dreams.

6 months next week!

Diogenes: Still better than Chantix.

I can't believe that stuff hasn't been banned.

USE PATCHES. CAUSE ITS GAY. LIKE HOMO BUTT SEX

UNLIKE COLD TURKEY

WHICH IS LIKE HEAVEN

I quit about 10 years ago, used the patch for a few days to get me started.
So far so good...

cmunic8r99: Breaking physical and psychological addictions require more than just slapping a patch on your arm and calling it a day.

/smoker
//working on being a nonsmoker

Yep, it took a lot more than just willpower for me. It took many, many lifestyle changes. It took me a long time to quit, but I haven't gone back, and my current lifestyle makes it so I can't go back to smoking.

cmunic8r99
Breaking physical and psychological addictions require more than just slapping a patch on your arm and calling it a day.

/smoker
//working on being a nonsmoker


This so damn much, you have to retrain your brain. Yes nicotine is the addiction, but the psychological habit is just as bad.

/In the same boat
//down to half of what I used to smoke.

When I used the patches, I dreamt I was being beaten by the Baseball Furies from the Warriors.

/Five years cigarette free

Is this the thread where we talk about dreams we've had while on the patch?

When I was on the patch, I had a dream that I was back in the neighborhood I grew up in. One of the neighbor kids was delivering newspapers (and he was still a kid in the dream, though I was my then-real age of 30). He excitedly came out of one of the houses on his route, urging me to come in, there was something I simply had to see.

I went into the house, and a few people were gathered around a dining room table, watching a pet rabbit perform tricks. The trick I remember most is the rabbit lying on his back, wriggling across the table. On his stomach was a slice of bread. He was buttering it with a knife in one of his paws. He was also smoking a cigarette.

I then went outside and saw someone who had bullied me in high school, in a lift bucket working on a telephone pole. I told him he had to go in and see the rabbit.

/stopped wearing the patch to bed that night
//non-smoker for 11 years next month

Diogenes: Still better than Chantix.

I think the crazy dreams from my attempt at Chantix trumped even sleeping with a fresh nic patch on.

Holy god, there is a ball of children! Rolling this way! SHOOT IT! Shoot the one with the red diaper!

Thanks, Chantix.

15 years now cigarette free. Cold turkey after being laid up with the flu for about 3 days without a smoke. But I did eat jello by the bucket full for some reason throughout the cravings

realmojo: When I used the patches, I dreamt I was being beaten by the Baseball Furies from the Warriors.

/Five years cigarette free

Did you tell one of them you'd shove that bat up his ass and turn him into a Popsicle?

Good job on non-smoking. I smoked 13 years before I finally quit.

Endive Wombat: I smoked a pack a day for almost 10 years. I quit 2 years ago, cold, farking, turkey and have not looked back since.

You do not need drugs, hypnotherapy or any other quackery. Simple will power.

This. Smoke-free for the last 8 years.

Coincidentally, this is my first day quitting (for the 10th or so time). Got a scrip for Zyban and it's helping with the cravings. I did this before and got through a month without smoking, but went to a bar one night.......game over.

I've seriously cut back on my drinking though so that should keep me out of the bars, and I'm training for a 5k which is motivating on it's own - running and smoking don't mix.

theorellior: A long time ago, a friend of mine tried to quit and decided to use the gum. He didn't read the direction and just chewed it like normal gum. He got completely buzzed on nicotine, because you're supposed to chew it and then let it rest in your mouth so you extend the dose out over a period of time.

Maybe they've reformulated the gum by now, but I always thought that was a FAIL, user-interface-wise.

My friend is quitting dip and is using the gum to ween himself off. I used to smoke and have dipped myself on occasion. He told me how awesome the gum was and gave me a piece to try. I chewed it like any normal piece of gum. After about 15 minutes I had a whole body high, it was awesome. I could see my friend now becoming addicted to the gum.

Quit cold turkey twelve years ago.

Yes, it sucked. Yes, my friends informed me that I was a complete and total a-hole for a few weeks. I lived, they made it through.

Good luck to all.

Whether or not you use the patch doesn't determine if you end up quitting for good or not. But they do help make quitting less painful, and they worked out well for me when I quit.

I think one of the problems is people start off on the highest dose and slowly work their way down to the weakest patch. You should really start off on the weakest patch. Sure you're going to feel some withdrawal, but that's the point - you're weening yourself off. If you start off on a high dose patch, you're probably giving yourself more nicotine in one time than you would if you actually smoked, and then you have to keep buying more as you work your way down, just wasting more money and prolonging the problem.

I wore the step 2 part of the patch for about 5 days, before deciding that I wasn't going to get addicted to a patch. Great buzz when you first put them on.

It saved my life, and the lives of my coworkers.

Did anyone else have to kick other habits while quitting smoking? I had to give up coffee, simply because I always had both at the same time while at work. We were actually allowed to smoke in the office, all day long.

I enjoyed them both so much together I had to also give up coffee for the time being, and didn't drink it again for a long time. I did start again, but gave it up again almost a year ago because I was drinking 8-10 cups at work between 7-10 a.m.

Used the patch. Quitting was one of the hardest things to get through. Smoke free 1 year later and I still have dreams of smoking

The patch worked for me on the first try, after numerous failed attempts using other methods.

/12 years since my last cigarette

They just prolong the pain. You still go through the up and down swings in your nicotine levels. If you go cold turkey, most of the nicotine is gone in a couple days and then you no longer have the cravings from the drop in nicotine levels.

Can someone explain something to me about the whole smoking thing?

I understand that smoking is dangerous and expensive. So I can see why people want to stop *smoking*. But I don't understand why people who are addicted to nicotine want to break their addiction. I've never heard of anyone getting sick from regularly intaking nicotine; it's always about the method they use to get it.

I realize it might be a weaker addiction, but I'm physically (and perhaps mentally) addicted to caffeine. It's not considered a problem though, because consuming it (in itself) doesn't make people sick.

Instead of making gums/patches that are designed to aid in quitting - why don't they make ways of getting nicotine that AREN'T meant to break the addiction? Give smokers a healthier way to get their buzz - without quitting. Why is that never discussed?

Don't vaporizers do this? Why aren't they more popular?

cmunic8r99: Like I said before...

Breaking physical and psychological addictions require more than just slapping a patch on your arm and calling it a day.

/smoker
//working on being a nonsmoker

No need to quit, Obamacare is free, even for lung cancer!

Never tried the patch, but I quit smoking cigarettes via CVS-brand, citrus-flavored nicotine gum.

Highly recommended, but only if you are a gum-chewer.

/2 years

Scurvy Dog: Did anyone else have to kick other habits while quitting smoking? I had to give up coffee, simply because I always had both at the same time while at work. We were actually allowed to smoke in the office, all day long.

I enjoyed them both so much together I had to also give up coffee for the time being, and didn't drink it again for a long time. I did start again, but gave it up again almost a year ago because I was drinking 8-10 cups at work between 7-10 a.m.

Coffee is like a serious vice for me. If the doctor told me tomorrow I had to quit coffee... I'd be dead. I would have thought that trigger would have made it harder. I think the way I approached it, and it was purely fly by the seat of my pants, was after being sick as hell for those few days I looked at it from a "one day at a time" kind of thing instead of telling myself I was going to quit. Then after about 3 weeks I just thought I didn't want to undo what I had accomplished at that point. I was a 2 packer a day.

/side effect for me in the long run was that food tastes way better and I tend to eat more.
//I sound fat.

Read Allen Carr's book while using the patch, worked for me on the first try.

jeblis: They just prolong the pain. You still go through the up and down swings in your nicotine levels. If you go cold turkey, most of the nicotine is gone in a couple days and then you no longer have the cravings from the drop in nicotine levels.

No, if you use them as recommended, they prevent you from having to go through nicotine withdrawal at all, which is one of the most difficult barriers to quitting smoking.

Do any of you other former smokers ever have dreams about smoking? A few times a year I have one of those, and in the dream I know I have GOT to stop or I'm going to get hooked again.

Filed under, "No shiat, Sherlock." There's more to cigarette addiction than nicotine. Hell, nicotine isn't even remotely half of it.

That's why I use electronic cigarettes. It may not get me off nicotine, but it got me off tobacco, and gave me a whole lotta new toys to play with, which satisfies my inner geek, plus lots of good E-liquids to sample and review and stuff.

/Tobacco-free since 08/10.
//Up yours, Nicorette.

Scurvy Dog: Is this the thread where we talk about dreams we've had while on the patch?

May as well.

When I was on the patch, I had odd dreams but no nightmares. My dreams were in black and white and had an odd metallic feel to them. The edges were blurry and they felt metallic in some way.

/having a ciggie as I type
//I've lost all desire to quit smoking, I only want to find a regular source for the cheaper native cigs

no. one of the most difficult ways to quit smoking is to continue to rape your mind by THINKING that this stuff is addictive. Which is not. Nothing is. It's all what the govt tells. To sell shiat. Like patches. Seriously if cigarettes were addictive I'd want to continue using them as a non-smoker. But I don't cause I like the taste of fresh air.


farkityfarker: jeblis: They just prolong the pain. You still go through the up and down swings in your nicotine levels. If you go cold turkey, most of the nicotine is gone in a couple days and then you no longer have the cravings from the drop in nicotine levels.

No, if you use them as recommended, they prevent you from having to go through nicotine withdrawal at all, which is one of the most difficult barriers to quitting smoking.

Scurvy Dog: Do any of you other former smokers ever have dreams about smoking? A few times a year I have one of those, and in the dream I know I have GOT to stop or I'm going to get hooked again.

The only thing I catch myself doing a few times a year is reaching for my shirt pocket out of old habit. I don't have craving for a cigarette, but some times something will trigger that "reach for one" habit that I had for so long back then.

Scurvy Dog: Do any of you other former smokers ever have dreams about smoking? A few times a year I have one of those, and in the dream I know I have GOT to stop or I'm going to get hooked again.

Yes, after over 12 years I still have such dreams. It's always a relief to wake up and realize it was just a dream.

Is there a patch for alcohol?

And those "invisible cigarettes" when you're whacked out on datura. what's up with that.

Jon iz teh kewl: no. one of the most difficult ways to quit smoking is to continue to rape your mind by THINKING that this stuff is addictive. Which is not. Nothing is. It's all what the govt tells. To sell shiat. Like patches. Seriously if cigarettes were addictive I'd want to continue using them as a non-smoker. But I don't cause I like the taste of fresh air.


farkityfarker: jeblis: They just prolong the pain. You still go through the up and down swings in your nicotine levels. If you go cold turkey, most of the nicotine is gone in a couple days and then you no longer have the cravings from the drop in nicotine levels.

No, if you use them as recommended, they prevent you from having to go through nicotine withdrawal at all, which is one of the most difficult barriers to quitting smoking.

Believe what you wish, but it's a well-established fact that nicotine is an extremely physiologically-addictive substance.

bemis23: Coincidentally, this is my first day quitting (for the 10th or so time). Got a scrip for Zyban and it's helping with the cravings. I did this before and got through a month without smoking, but went to a bar one night.......game over.

I've seriously cut back on my drinking though so that should keep me out of the bars, and I'm training for a 5k which is motivating on it's own - running and smoking don't mix.

I smoked filterless Pall Malls for 25 years. Ten days after first starting on Zyban, I quit smoking. It's been almost two years. Zyban made it easy for me.

The patches didn't do anything aside from making me act funny I ended up going cold turkey, but then took it up again 6 years later. I am about to go cold turkey again when I turn 39.

moops: cmunic8r99: Breaking physical and psychological addictions require more than just slapping a patch on your arm and calling it a day.

/smoker
//working on being a nonsmoker

Yep, it took a lot more than just willpower for me. It took many, many lifestyle changes. It took me a long time to quit, but I haven't gone back, and my current lifestyle makes it so I can't go back to smoking.

Working at a gas station?

farkityfarker: Scurvy Dog: Do any of you other former smokers ever have dreams about smoking? A few times a year I have one of those, and in the dream I know I have GOT to stop or I'm going to get hooked again.

Yes, after over 12 years I still have such dreams. It's always a relief to wake up and realize it was just a dream.

A relief indeed. It's been almost 11 years for me, and I've come to the realization that I will probably have those dreams every now and then for years to come.