I am responding because I saw your post in general community chat.

Try hypnosis.

Why has my subject line been changed?

Nicotine is a poison. Drop for drop it is three times as deadly as arsenic about twice as deadly as strychnine and almost twice as deadly as the Diamond Back rattlesnake's poison.

It takes about 100mg of rattlesnake poison to kill a man. It takes about 60mg of nicotine to do the same.

I wouldn't reccomend smoking while using an NRT. While it probably won't kill you. Smoking one cigarette raises the heartbeat by about 20 beats more a minute. By using an NRT on top of that, you are only going to put more strain on your heart.

Personally, I agree with the pharmacist. NRT's are just another nicotine delivery system and trying to ween off them is only going to cause chronic withdrawal which will only make the person physically crave cigarettes for longer.

It is now coming to light that NRT's do not give people an advantage.

The funny thing is that I bet if this was 5 years ago. She would have been pushing those NRT's on you. Since now the newest wonder drug is out. Chantix. Pharmacists don't seem to push NRT's as much anymore.

I have seen people quit smoking using Chantix and I have seen many people go back to smoking once they sto pusing the drug.

People keep looking to drugs to help them stop doing something, BUT all those drugs have one major drawback. They don't change how the person see's smoking. As long as the person as the same misconceptions and the same beliefs in the cigarette. They are at risk to start smoking once they remove the drug.

Chantix has some risky side effects. I have seen people develop arthritis type symptoms. Have nose bleeds from it. Horrible stomach cramps and now the FDA has ordered Phizer to put a warning out that there is a risk of suicidal thoughts associated with the drug.

When it first came out. They said that it had 6 major side effects, but they actually have a full list of side effetcs and it is 165.

There was a famous musician who was using it and got drunk and went on this rampage. Most people focus on this story about the negative side effects of Chantix, BUT actually something more disturbing happened after that incident.

After the famous musician went on his anger rampage, people started to come forward about their own experiences and experiences of loved ones on this product.

Within a short time. About a week. 55 suicides linked to people taking Chantix were reported and many more people feeling overwhelming suicidal thoughts. Not to mention uncontrollable rage.

While this is a small amount compared to the amount of people taking Chantix. One person killing themselves is too much not to be acknowledged and also Chantix has only been out on the market for around 2 years. That is not very long compared to the decades and decades of people being able to quit smoking before Chantix.

Quitting can cause depression when quitting, BUT Suicidal thoughts and actually trying to kill yourself is NOT a quit smoking withdrawal symptom.

If it were, I can guarantee that the good ole spin doctors of Phizer would let us know that people commit suicide whether or not they are on Chantix.

And also to point out too, something that Phizer doesn't want to let people know. A lot of people were having suicidal thoughts and rage and depression while they were still smoking and on the drug.

How often have we heard of people killing themselves over quitting smoking? I personally never have. Most people just go back to smoking. Again, if there were a history of it, we would know from Phizer, because they will do what they need to do to take the focus off the negative effects of their drug.

And yes, some people that experience these negative side effects have had a history of mental illness, depression etc. Which brings me to another serious issue I have with Phizer.

In their clinical studies. People that had medical issues such as depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, mental illness, overweight etc. were omitted from participating in these studies. So when they put this drug out into the real world. All these people became guinea pigs for this "medication".

Yes, someone always has a bad side effect to medication. Penicillin almost killed me when I was kid, BUT people do need to know what this medication can do negatively to some people. No one should have to die to quit smoking.

Don't think that Phizer is on our side. They exist for one reason only....to make as much money as they can. Just look at Lipitor or whatever it is called. Now it is coming to light that it really doesn't do all the things that it was supposed to do and it made billions of dollars.

I also saw on MSNBC something that also made me think that the pharmecutical industry is just a greedy machine.

They had a segment on a experimental heart medicaiton that Phizer pulled, because it was killing too many people in their trials.

A spokesperson for Phizer said that the ywere very dissapointed that the medication had to be pulled. The reason? Not because it might help people. Not because it might save live, BUT ( and I quote) "it was projected to be the biggest selling medication ever from Phizer."

Personally, I believe that the pharmecutical industry instills fear into people to make them think that they cannot quit smoking at least not without their help.

If you want to quit smoking. Check out Allen Carr's book: The Easy Way to Quit Smoking.


Eric

I freed myself on 7/7/04

The patch is an excellent way of quitting.
It took me about 10 days to get used to not smoking to get my nicotine, and about 30 days to forget for an hour or so that I used to smoke.
I started out on Step 2 with Nicoderm CQ (14mg/day), used that for two weeks, and then went to 7mg Equate patches (Walmart brand).

If you smoked more than a pack of regular cigs (not lights or ultra-lights) per day, try starting out with the 21 mg patches. I tried those but they made me nauseous.

Weening yourself off of nicotine is going to be a hell of a lot easier than cold-turkey.

I quit cold turkey and it was not bad at all. I have tried to quit with other ways and it was hell.

The difference, I got educated. I actually started off this quit for the first two days using the patch and was climbing the walls. It wasn't until a read an article that talked about how a lot of the anxiety when we quit is mostly from ourselves creating it. and if we stop and really analyze the crave, we can see that it really isn't as bad as we build it up to be.

I stopped panicking and self analyzed myself and realized that a lot of the anxiety and panic I was feeling was just that. Me feeding it.

I took off the patch right then and there and I expected the next few days to be harder because of it. To my amazement. Not only were they not harder, they were better, because I was no longer feeding my withdrawal with my own built up anxieties.

However you want to quit is up to you, BUT I'm going to lay down some facts for you to consider.

By Quitting cold turkey. Almost all nicotine is out of your system within 72 hours. This is when withdrawal symptoms peak and start to decline. Within 10 to 14 days, all physical withdrawal usually ends, but it is really only the first few days when withdrawal is mor noticable. From then on, you will be dealing with what is known as association triggers. These are places, situations and events that will remind your subconscious that you smoked during these times. These might bring on urges to smoke, BUT it is important to realize that it is NOT from a physical need for nicotine.

By using an NRT, you're going to experience physical withdrawal for the duration of using the product. While the first few days might be eased with using the product. As long as you have nicotine in your system, BUT not your usual comfort level. You will experience physical craves for nicotine.

So if for instance you use the patch. You will be in withdrawal for roughly 10 weeks, on top of association the triggers that may cause the urge to smoke.

Also, don't believe the hype that NRT's double your chances of quitting smoking. This data comes from very flawed clinical trials and not real world scenarios. All you have to do is look around and see the real world results are no where near what is claimed. The pharmecutical industry makes billions of dollars a year on NRT's, BUT where are all these fantastic results? They are just not there.

Yes, you can quit using an NRT. Many people have,but I honestly don't think that it is easier to do so and the most important thing that you must do is change how you see smoking and no NRT or even cold turkey is going to do that for you. Get educated. Learn about nicotine addiction. Learn why you smoke besides the generic " I'm addicted to nicotine."

Look at my test results on how addicted I was supposed to be in my post "Don't believe experts at face value and you'll see that those results would have instilled fear into me trying to quit smoking and they were completely wrong.

The pharmecutical companies instill fear into people quitting smoking. This isn't a conspiracy theory. It is called advertizing. How do you get someone to use your product? By telling that your product is superior and that the other product is inferior. The pharmecutical companies tell people that they cannot quit without help. That they cannot quit cold turkey and they have something perfect to back up their claim. People's past failed quit attempts. When the reality is people have been quitting for years and years before quit smoking aids came on the market.

Fact: There are more ex smokers in the U.S. than smokers. So what does that tell you? That quitting smoking is not as hard as it is made out to be.

Here is a 2003 report.


In 2003, an estimated 21.6% (45.4 million) of U.S. adults were current smokers; of these, 81.0% (36.8 million) smoked every day, and 19.0% (8.6 million) smoked some days. Among those who currently smoked every day, 41.1% (15.1 million) reported they had stopped smoking for at least 1 day during the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit. Among the estimated 43.4% (91.5 million) of persons who had ever smoked, 50.3% (45.9 million) were former smokers.


So in 2003 45.4 million people were smokers while 45.9 million people were ex smokers.

Don't believe the hype that the pharmecutical industry wants you to believe.

YOU CAN QUIT SMOKING!

Why am I so passionate about this topic? Because think if a person tries to quit smoking with an NRT and fail. What do you think is going to go through their minds? That quitting smoking is so hard for them, that they couldn't even do it with a quit smoking aid. They are going to feel hopeless and that is completely unfair.

How do I know this? Because I used to be one of those people. I have tried to quit with the patch, zyban, the gum, the louzenge and even herbal remedies. Each time was a failure and it made me feel like a failure and that I was never going to be able to quit smoking.

It wasn't until I got educated on nicotine addiction that I realized it was changing how I thought about smoking that was going to make me successful, because knowledge made me realize that I gave cigarettes way too much credit and that's what made quitting hard.

It's not quitting that's hard. It is quitting believing in the cigarette that can be hard. Remove that thinking and quitting smoking can be much easier to do.

And another fact that the pharmecutical industry doesn't want you to know.
According to the American Cancer Society 2003 report, which is their latest report. Roughly 90% of people that successfully quit smoking, quit cold turkey.

Australia did their latest report in 2006 and found roughly 88% of the people who successfully quit smoking did so cold turkey.

We are in a day in age when quitting cold turkey seems mystical and almost like an urban legend, because smokers believe that they cannot do it.

Anything is hard to do if you do not know how to do it. Anything is scary if you don't understand it.

Again, I reccomend reading Allen Carr's book and also google quit smoking cold turkey and you will find a site that will educate you on the myths and misconceptions people have about smoking, quitting and life after smoking.


Eric


I freed myself on 7/7/04

I tried cold-turkey; didn't work.

For me, the patch was the only way it was going to happen. And, since *anything* is better than actually smoking, the patch was a good way for me to do it.

quit for 3 years using zyban - then pressure got to me - started smoking agin 6 months ago and now trying to quit with patches - delayed putting one on - then put the first one on in the morning for about 1 hour - had a massive row with some one and took it off - waited a couple of hours so i could smoke again - (dunno if couple of hours is enough...) - feel really wound up and know that the thought of having one would make me feel better, then imediatly worse....stuck between a pillar and a post - I think with any giving up technique - doc should suggest a pill that will calm you down - perhaps st johns wort or something... as smoking is 1 habitual, 2 smoke when stressed 3 smoke when bored i can break 1 and 3 but stuck on 2!!! but did it before and can do it again - i hope!!! -In the past put a patch on and smoked - felt really ill, i think it does defeat the object however you tend to do it once and try not to do it again. but people need to know how long if they put a patch one - if they do remove it - when is it safe to smoke or to have a puff?

Get off the soapbox, Eric.

Allen Carr was a charlatan who profited from people's despair(and gullibility) over kicking the habit.
If you weren't so bent on portraying the pharmaceutical industry as "evil", you might have discovered that Allen Carr's success rate was quite abysmal.

In short, quitting smoking is a terribly difficult process for most. If worshiping ancient mayan Gods works for someone, then more power to them, and congrats! There is no "one size fits all" solution to nicotine addiction. Whatever works for you, go for it!
Patches work for some, gum for others, hypnosis for still others and even accupuncture and laser therapy on occasion. And yes, even a few people quit following Allen Carr's mumbo jumbo! By all means, try some or all of the various strategies. And never let some zealot like Eric dissuade you from exploring all available options! Good luck!

Randy

I quit smoking using the electronic cigarette. I had quit once using the nicotrol inhaler but I found it to be nowhere near as effective as the ecigarette. That lus every refil cost about 200.00 plus a doctor's visit.

WHATEVER you do.. DO NOT use an NRT and continue smoking. It can cause a dangerous elevation in blood pressure. The only NRT proven safe to alternate with smoking if the inhaler and that is for a limited tim.

You can overdose on nicotine so don't try the gum and the patch and still smoke. Please go see your doctor and get a professional opinion about how you should stop.

I totally agree with you.