So while you are probably correct in saying I have a better chance quitting cold-turkey (by evidence of head-count alone, but the links point to it as well), I think I still have a great chance quitting with the patch
Better chance vs "still have a great chance"- I'd assume if you were serious about this you would go with better chance rather than "still have a great chance."
You lack commitment grasshopper, Continuing your quit using NRT after you have admitted that it is not the
BEST option for success means only one thing.
You have left yourself an out- you'll blame the ineffectiveness of the patch when you fail.
The more I read from everyone the more it seems like no one thinks the patch does anything to lessen the withdrawal once you finally stop nicotine altogether. I feel like it has to help in some way. You're training your body to receive less of the chemical.
The patch helps alright. Helps you stay hooked on nicotine. I used it for a year, sometimes two at a time. When I stopped using the patch I went right back to dipping like a didn't miss a beat. Before you claim I didn't use it right, I must confess it was the second time I tried to quit with the patch. The first time I used it exactly, I resumed dipping within a week .
I also quit with the gum, chewed it like a beaver on meth. Did it help me quit? Sure, helped me quit dipping skoal. Course when I got done with the program I went right back to dipping.
Know what big Pharm suggested recently? After seeing the studies saying that the success rates for quitting with NRT's sucked more than Monica Lewinsky on spring break, they proclaimed that people just needed to stay on them LONGER!!!!!!!!!! Are you fuckin kiddin me? UST leaked a memo at one point, wish I could find that post, but the jist was this; a cigarette, or a can of chew, or a cigar, were all delivery mechanisms for their real product..... nicotine. The memo went on to discuss the reality that the packaging was irrelevent- the product is nicotine. This is from the mouth of BIG TOBACCO itself.
Now make this mental leap- does BIG PHARMACEUTICAL REALLY care about your smoking?or dipping? I mean ,these are the companies that sell the cancer drugs and the pain killers, and all the other meds you'll need when your dying from smoking or chewing. Do you really believe they have a financial interest in your ass quitting tobacco? NAAAHHHHH, but they can sell you wellbutrin, and the other magic pills, AND .....
here it comesThey can sell you NICOTINE . How much money do you think the makers of NRT's are bringing in? First time I tried it, it was prescription only. I was 17 then. I wonder what made it over the counter? Could it have been the truckloads of money the pharm companies spent? naaaaahhhh
Think I'm full of conspiracy shit dont ya?
Lemme ask you this, whats the difference between Camel snus and a nicorette lozenge? Neither is tobacco and they are both nicotine delivery systems.
Different brand names?
Different manufacturers?
Ones in the shape of a cough drop and one is a disolvable mint or paper thing?
But whats the product??????Still no???Ok, if you think the step down thing is really going to work to help you ween of nicotine, as you say "You're training your body to receive less of the chemical" why don't you just quit by using less and less dip? Bet you tried that, didn't work did it. I was the just dip on weekends, or during whatever special thing. Then it was I'll cut back to x amount of dips per day, then was I'll go longer and longer between chews. If you dipped for 7 years I'd bet my box edition lifesize Starwars princess Leah with articulating grip that you tried something similar. Did it work???
Whats the difference between a step down NRT and cutting back from dip? Why not start smoking to quit chew or use snus, or cut down to bandits or leaf.
" but NRT'S are safe" is what I would say if I were you. WRONGO again, nicotine still has effects on your body and some forms of NRT is tied to various cancers.
There is no difference- your changing seats on the bus.
I know you want there to be a patch or a pill or some gum or a magical unicorn riding quit fairy to make this easy, but sorry brudda ain't no such thing. People that succeed using NRT's do so "in spite of the NRT" not because of it.
Your draggin out your physical withdrawl for a month, that shit could be over in 72 hours. I honestly hate to see anyone make the same mistakes I did. ( repeatedly)
Get pissed, and get quit
sm