A question for those who used an aid to quit and have not smoked in at least 6 months.

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Have you or did you experience any major physical withdrawal?

We talk about the symptoms but only we know the extent of our own physical withdrawal.

So please share if you feel comfortable.

Myself, I went from the 21 mg patch after 10 days to nothing. My secret was keeping busy and getting dopamine a different way. I believe these are critcal to going through the initial withdrawal and would work for any persons quit.

Oh, and the reason I stopped using the patch after 10 days was only because I forgot to put it on two days in a row.

I still had the 2-3 weeks of withdrawal symptoms but my business minimized them.

What was your experience?

[Jennifer-Quit]

I am at abut 8-1/2 months smoke-free.  I did use patches for 6 weeks - 3 weeks at 21 mg, 2 weeks at 14 mg, and 1 week at 7 mg.  I did experience physical withdrawals but I don't think as strongly as I would have cold turkey.  I tend to have a short fuse anyway and really wanted to maintain my composure for the sake of my job the first few weeks - lol.  The psychological withdrawal is another thing and unfortunately I am still dealing with that.  Not to the extent that I did the first few months but I am still looking for ways to increase my dopamine level and get out of this "funk" that I feel I am trapped in.  I really don't want to put a negative message out there - I know, without a bit of doubt, that I will not smoke over it!

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Thank you.

I think most people who are quitting fear the physical withdrawal more than anything not realizing the psychological withdrawal is 90% and what takes most people back to smoking.

[j_tanner]

Apparently that was the wrong button, my comment ran away! Lol! Anyway, to repost, I quit cold turkey and noticed the withdrawals weren't nearly as bad as on previous quits. I think that with the right motivation and preperation, it becomes much easier to quit. A person who educates themselves, wants to quit, and works to minimize the fear of quitting won't have as much trouble.

i realize this is intended for people who used NRT, but I think it is also important to remember there may be other options worth pursuing. However, if it helps you maintain your forever quit, use it!

[newlife5]

this is totally driving me crazy.. everytime i write a response and someone else enters their response mine erases....

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Thank you. I agree. I tried to include everyone else who used any aid but information on what cold turkey quitters experienced is just as valuable and, even if you haven't quit for 6 months, if you went cold turkey or feel you are done with the physical withdrawal your information is welcome.

[newlife5]

okay im gonna try this one more time... i used the patch for the first 3 steps .. my withdraws were eliminated slowly  my body just didnt want to change... i smoke for 43 years and it took alot of time to transition ... i had muscle spasms digestive issues headaches cancer sores in my mouth and a few more.. the patch was a life saver.. i have been quit for 451  days now

[JonesCarpeDiem]

I have that trouble with explorer Izzy. No trouble with firefox

[newlife5]

im using firefox

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Is your adobe flash up to date?

[JonesCarpeDiem]

If you go to the top right of the menu bar (the one you tye web addresses in all the way to the right you will see three stacked grey bars. Click on addons and then plugins and see if you can update shockwave flash. (adobe) this site runs on it.\

You can also clear your cache by going to history top left and deleting/clearing the cache.

[newlife5]

thank you dale it was disabled and needed update

[Wanda45]

Dale I started my quit with Zyban and patches.  After about 3 weeks, I gave up the Zyban, because I was an emotional wreck.  I cried at the least thing, got angry, had many pity parties.  Told my daughter at one point that I felt invisible, that if I just ran away nobody would ever miss me.

After stopping the Zyban, I realized that a great majority of those emotions was the quitting itself.    A lot of the time, I didn't like the people around me, co-workers, family, friends, church, nobody...

I used patches from 21 mg to 7mg.  The emotions seem to get better after about 6 months by then I was on nothing buy my want to not smoke again.

For me the patches took the edge off.  I wasn't as jittery using patches, as I had been in prior attempts to quit.   Did they attribute any to the mood swings, not sure.

I am coming on my 11th month anniversary of being smoke free.

Great questions - thanks for asking.

Wanda

[Thomas3.20.2010]

Quitting Cold Turkey I felt flulike symptoms such as body aches, lack of sleep, indigestion, headache, dizziness, and irritability but it only lasted 3 or 4 days. The cough lasted longer as my airways continued to clear. The real challenge for me was in my Brain but I took the 130 day challenge for that and found my new normal allowing my emotions to balance out. I have never quit with pharmaceuticals so couldn't comment on them. NRTs never made any sense to me but I realize that many folks find them useful. 

[Mrs.Rum]

I used cinnamon nicotine gum for about 5/6 weeks.  Then started replacing it with Trident.  By 8 weeks I was off nicotine all together and not needing the Trident either.

[Giulia]

I used something called Smoke Away.  Sort of.  I say sort of because I never finished the bottle and never used the two other bottles that came in the kit - one of which I think had some nicotine in it.  I had zero physical withdrawal symptoms.  I don't think Ive ever experinced physical withdrawal - well, except for that empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.  But I call that a craving.  Cravings to me are all mental.  For me it was ALWAYS all  in my head.

[Ms.J_11-10-2013]

I used chantix and other than a headache and wild dreams I did well.  After I got off of it I had times when I wanted to rip someones face off and depression..  I can't really blame the Chantix tho because those are sympthoms of quitting...

And come to find out 434days later, I am diagnoised with perreniannual Smokitis, who'd of thunk!

Dang nab it anyway.

[freeneasy]

I used the 21mg for 9 week, the 14mg for around 6 and the 7 for about 5 for a total of 6 months- I also would use a piece of nicotine gum or a lozenge. maybe 3 or 4 a day in the beginning down to one a day at the end. When I finally stopped all together I don't recall having major cravings but I felt very tired for a couple of months.