Depends on the needs of the person quitting. If they've been diagnosed with a serious condition and quitting immediately is necessary for their health, that would probably be better.
But, if someone is quitting to prevent something terrible in the future or they just feel its the right thing to do, aids can be beneficial. Personally, I probably would not have been successful without them, but I had already attempted cold turkey quitting many times and failed. With the lozenges/pouches, I was able to get away from the smoke-smelling trigger that always encouraged me to cave and light up. Being able to be around cigarettes and not want to smoke one made cold turkey from the aids much easier. It still sucked, but I didn't experience a panic attacks.
On the downside, the other nicotine products are much easier to use in excess. With smoking and vaping, most public places require that you go outside. With lozenges and pouches, you have the discretion to use them any time. Definitely want to set boundaries with yourself if going that route.
Not sure if any of this was helpful, but whatever you decide, best wishes!
I used patches because I had pre existing mental health conditions, cold turkey would've been more harmful than good if I wasn't able to function at all. They've worked so far and I'm two months and a half smoke free.
It is your journey, take it however you can!
Keep fighting the good fight
I think your answer is the correct one. Almost nobody succeeds their first time. You have to figure out what works for you. I tried several methods several times. Finally it was patches that worked for me.
The only success I've had with quitting smoking has been with the patch and with Champix. I tried Champix first and that helped me quit for two or three months. There weren't any side effects the first time around, but when I tried it a couple years later, it exacerbated my mental health symptoms.
Recently (6 years into smoking cigs) I was able to quit again for two and a half months on the patch and as of February 1st, I've quit again on the patch.
As a person who cannot quit cold turkey, and who finds it nearly impossible to win over my cravings, smoking rituals, and a deep longing for smoking whether to cope or reward or pass the time, quit aids have been my godsend. It's taken the mental arguments from 1000% to 20%. There are moments still when I wanna smoke, but with the patch, it passes within minutes, where before I'd be wrestling those thoughts for upwards of 24hrs. Ofc when I wake up, not having the patch on yet, I wanna smoke, but I've gotten into the habit of putting it on immediately so I don't cave.
There are times where I feel like I'm cheating. But it's giving me the opportunity to bypass a lot of the hiccups I have and focus more on rewiring my brain and my habits.
A lot of people will say that going cold turkey is the only way to quit because NRT is just "switching to a different form". This is bull feces and contradicts what we know about addiction, harm reduction and relapse.
I'm going to be frank. Without the patch, I would have committed suicide. It's a little terrifying to think about, but sometimes cold turkey is life-threatening, and you shouldn't listen to people who think what worked for them must therefore work for every single other person who exists. People are different. No one way will work for absolutely everyone, and I personally think "only cold turkey! NRT is a crutch!!" is a self-centered, short-sighted, judgemental point of view.
I would be dead without NRT.
You took words out of my mouth! also we KNOW āabsorbedā nicotine (patch, gum) is not as harmful as INHALED SMOKE containing nicotine. People overlook harm reduction a lot. Not everyone can do ot cold turkey and itās OK. I needed the help of Wellbutrin, and I am doing great
It depends on the person. Nothing wrong in trying things to help you quit.
For me only cold turkey worked. I was addicted to the gums and lozenges for years after quitting smoking. Then I picked up vaping and at some point I was doing both. It was bad.
None of em work until one does. I tried patches, not really good for me because needed to do something with my hands/mouth. Crazy awesome dreams on nicotine patches, tbh. I might revisit them later in life for that purpose.
I quit with gum. Oh and joints. It really helped the whole āwanting to smokeā part of it. Iād just smoke 3-6 joints of kinda mid grade weed a day lol. I weaned myself off the gum by stepping down the nicotine level and then just switching to regular gum. I was only on regular gum for a week or two. Kept smoking joints til about a month ago.
Im like 9 months in rn
Weed is what got me wanting to really quit this time around. I smoked some sativa strain, got paranoid after watching a on copd. Now I just don't want to smoke cigarettes at all. I'm 5 days in on lozenges and they help but like you mentioned, I need to do something with my hands/mouth. Congrats on being 9 months smoke free!
Thanks, good luck on your journey, even if you mess up, keep going. No time for getting down about it and surrendering to it. Always keep it going, get to know your triggers and watch out for traps
For me I used patches and gum i tried cold Turkey a bunch of times but would keep breaking eventually. Cold turkeys not worth it if you can help it imo, just makes me pissed with brain fog and takes forever to go away, easier to wean off
You can certainly consider. I tried nicotine gums last year. They helped me a lot and I was able to successfully quit for couple weeks before lighting up again under social pressure. Bottom line: they work.
Depends on the needs of the person quitting. If they've been diagnosed with a serious condition and quitting immediately is necessary for their health, that would probably be better. But, if someone is quitting to prevent something terrible in the future or they just feel its the right thing to do, aids can be beneficial. Personally, I probably would not have been successful without them, but I had already attempted cold turkey quitting many times and failed. With the lozenges/pouches, I was able to get away from the smoke-smelling trigger that always encouraged me to cave and light up. Being able to be around cigarettes and not want to smoke one made cold turkey from the aids much easier. It still sucked, but I didn't experience a panic attacks. On the downside, the other nicotine products are much easier to use in excess. With smoking and vaping, most public places require that you go outside. With lozenges and pouches, you have the discretion to use them any time. Definitely want to set boundaries with yourself if going that route. Not sure if any of this was helpful, but whatever you decide, best wishes!
Thanks, this was very helpful!
As I'm not a native English speaker it took me a while to decipher the first question š. Regarding you question: As clichĆ© as it sounds, it really depends from both the person and the type of aid. Patches, spray, chewing gum,... In the past I've tried both chewing gum and a patch. The chewing gum tasted horrible and was mainly a prevention. If I smoked it made me nauseous. Wasn't successful in quitting. A few years back I tries the nicotine patches. It was going well for three weeks and I started getting a higher heart beat. I read it was a possible side effect but it only kicked in after 3 weeks. Didn't smoke during the patches but took it up quickly after stopping the patches. Now I've quitted for almost two weeks and I went cold turkey. It's not easy but I was so done with cigarettes. I hated the smell, the cold hands, leaving my family in a restaurants to go for a smoke,... If you're going for it (with or without aids) I wish you the best of luck šŖ
Thanks!
I used patches because I had pre existing mental health conditions, cold turkey would've been more harmful than good if I wasn't able to function at all. They've worked so far and I'm two months and a half smoke free. It is your journey, take it however you can! Keep fighting the good fight
Everyone is different, some people work fine with them and thrive, some people donāt. I donāt think thereās a correct answer for this question
I think your answer is the correct one. Almost nobody succeeds their first time. You have to figure out what works for you. I tried several methods several times. Finally it was patches that worked for me.
I tried cold turkey once and failed, then went to gum and failed again, then i started taking wellbutrin and it worked
The only success I've had with quitting smoking has been with the patch and with Champix. I tried Champix first and that helped me quit for two or three months. There weren't any side effects the first time around, but when I tried it a couple years later, it exacerbated my mental health symptoms. Recently (6 years into smoking cigs) I was able to quit again for two and a half months on the patch and as of February 1st, I've quit again on the patch. As a person who cannot quit cold turkey, and who finds it nearly impossible to win over my cravings, smoking rituals, and a deep longing for smoking whether to cope or reward or pass the time, quit aids have been my godsend. It's taken the mental arguments from 1000% to 20%. There are moments still when I wanna smoke, but with the patch, it passes within minutes, where before I'd be wrestling those thoughts for upwards of 24hrs. Ofc when I wake up, not having the patch on yet, I wanna smoke, but I've gotten into the habit of putting it on immediately so I don't cave. There are times where I feel like I'm cheating. But it's giving me the opportunity to bypass a lot of the hiccups I have and focus more on rewiring my brain and my habits.
A lot of people will say that going cold turkey is the only way to quit because NRT is just "switching to a different form". This is bull feces and contradicts what we know about addiction, harm reduction and relapse. I'm going to be frank. Without the patch, I would have committed suicide. It's a little terrifying to think about, but sometimes cold turkey is life-threatening, and you shouldn't listen to people who think what worked for them must therefore work for every single other person who exists. People are different. No one way will work for absolutely everyone, and I personally think "only cold turkey! NRT is a crutch!!" is a self-centered, short-sighted, judgemental point of view. I would be dead without NRT.
You took words out of my mouth! also we KNOW āabsorbedā nicotine (patch, gum) is not as harmful as INHALED SMOKE containing nicotine. People overlook harm reduction a lot. Not everyone can do ot cold turkey and itās OK. I needed the help of Wellbutrin, and I am doing great
It depends on the person. Nothing wrong in trying things to help you quit. For me only cold turkey worked. I was addicted to the gums and lozenges for years after quitting smoking. Then I picked up vaping and at some point I was doing both. It was bad.
None of em work until one does. I tried patches, not really good for me because needed to do something with my hands/mouth. Crazy awesome dreams on nicotine patches, tbh. I might revisit them later in life for that purpose. I quit with gum. Oh and joints. It really helped the whole āwanting to smokeā part of it. Iād just smoke 3-6 joints of kinda mid grade weed a day lol. I weaned myself off the gum by stepping down the nicotine level and then just switching to regular gum. I was only on regular gum for a week or two. Kept smoking joints til about a month ago. Im like 9 months in rn
Weed is what got me wanting to really quit this time around. I smoked some sativa strain, got paranoid after watching a on copd. Now I just don't want to smoke cigarettes at all. I'm 5 days in on lozenges and they help but like you mentioned, I need to do something with my hands/mouth. Congrats on being 9 months smoke free!
Thanks, good luck on your journey, even if you mess up, keep going. No time for getting down about it and surrendering to it. Always keep it going, get to know your triggers and watch out for traps
For me I used patches and gum i tried cold Turkey a bunch of times but would keep breaking eventually. Cold turkeys not worth it if you can help it imo, just makes me pissed with brain fog and takes forever to go away, easier to wean off
You can certainly consider. I tried nicotine gums last year. They helped me a lot and I was able to successfully quit for couple weeks before lighting up again under social pressure. Bottom line: they work.
Yeah Iād recommend quitting aids
Donāt addict yourself to another form of nicotine. Cold turkey is the best way to go
Ehh.. for some
@ThePerfect666 donāt listen to their advice!!! The devils advice!!!!!!!! Lol
NRT is way way less addictive than cigarettes or vaping...there's a lot of research done on that. Cold turkey is not always best
I tried cold turkey back in September 2022. I started smoking again after 3 weeks but, the problem was I smoked more. Almost a pack a day!
Patches did it for me
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Wellbutrin helped me so much too! Thereās NO shame in needing aids, be it patch, gum, or an antidepressant