Do you have experience with quitting smoking or nicotine replacement therapy?

It takes about 48 hours for the nicotine to leave your system. Longer if you’re very overweight. So the PHYSIOLOGICAL cravings should be gone in 2 days or so. But then there is the PSYCHOLOGICAL “habit” to deal with.

Long ago, my Dentist told me (I smoked three packs a day; one before I even left the house each morning) someday something would scare me so much I’d quit.

Long story short: a routine appointment to my ENT doctor found a red mark on my vocal chord they thought was cancer. I quit smoking before the biopsy was even done. It didn’t help that my neighbor had his vocal chords removed and had the hole in his neck.

Turned out to be a benign nodule. I’m clean since 1993. Cold turkey.

Just remember! There’s NO GUARANTEE that you’ll get “warning signs” before the big disease. You won’t. Some day you’d wake up and have cancer. Or heart problems. Or any of the other related diseases.

I quit cold turkey but it wasn’t easy.

I guess the thing about quitting is that no matter what method you use, it will not be east.

The biggest obstacle for me was changing my daily routine of which smoking had become an integral part of.

In my case, I used the patch. However, the patch does have certain side effects (increased blood pressure and heart rate, e.g.) that lead me to highly recommend you see a doctor before attempting the patch. that said, the patch does effectively treat the physiological aspect of your addiction, but not the psychological. for example, part of my “habit” was to have a smoke (actualy, 3 smokes) every work day promptly at 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM. And, for weeks after i quit, at those appointed times i would automatically rise from my desk and reach for the pack of cigarettes in my shirt pocket – of course, upon discovering there were no cig’s in my pocket i’d recall that i quit! it’s kind of an interesting obervation. also, i found (and almost everyone i know who quit found) that nicotine cravings are replaced by an increased appetite which of course leads to weight gain if not kept in check. the patch can help mitigate increased appetite. good luck!

@avalmez

Working out helped me.
Bringing something new into your routine is a good way of shaking things up.

I quit in January. I also quit drinking at the same time. If you ask me, if you drink, you will never be able to quit smoking unless you quit drinking as well.

If you’re not ready to quit, then just keep drinking and smoking until you decide you’ve had enough.

good luck! you can do it!
I quit smoking a few weeks ago after smoking for 8 years..
Nicotine replacement? No
Therapy: No
Support group? No
I just decided that it was enough, and that quitting was more about moral fiber than anything, I thought that I might want to live a little bit longer after all…

I tried the patch and I hated that. The darn things kept falling off and then I’d wonder why I was wigging out. I’m on my 4th day without cigarettes and I’ve been using nicotine gum. So far, so good. I haven’t killed anyone or anything like that!

I quit cold turkey a month ago.. already the stench of cigarettes alone is enough to keep me me away. What was I thinking? Walking around with that stench all over my hands and clothes… (puking noise)

This is my second attempt at quitting smoking, I quit once cold turkey for almost 4 years… this time I did try the patch the side effects were horrible nausea headaches fatigue, nightmares. The best thing to do is to go places where can’t smoke, maybe a friends house, the movies a park. After awhile you will realize what a difference it makes not smoking. You will never really not want to have a cigarette, you just get used to not having one. The one thing I tell people is that you really just have to want to do this for yourself and not have anyone pressuring you into it. Good luck!! I haven’t smoked since August 08.

i guess the patch affects different people differently. i experienced only the two side effects i mention above. i’m not trying to advocate for the patch, but for those who are able to use them they work if you’re committed to quitting to begin with. and that’s NOT to write that those who’ve experienced intolerable side effects are not committed.

nicorette made me sick when i was quitting. i just the patches and it was better for me. of course you might like the gum. just see for yourself.