I thought the cravings were supposed to go away!!!!!

[driventoscore]

Good luck to you whatzurplan with quitting smoking.  I have been working on it also.  But the more I think about it the more I smoke.  Am also a Respiratory Therapist; & very well know the detriments to ones health.  See it every day.

Hang in there!

[KingAdrock]

If you're still craving nicotine, don't blow off the idea of getting some nicotine patches or gum. There isn't any shame in that. People often get hooked on the idea of "it's cold turkey or nothing". Personally I think this is because using gum or patches breaks the illusion that "I can quit whenever I want".

[MattH]

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@KingAdrock wrote:
If you're still craving nicotine, don't blow off the idea of getting some nicotine patches or gum. There isn't any shame in that. People often get hooked on the idea of "it's cold turkey or nothing". Personally I think this is because using gum or patches breaks the illusion that "I can quit whenever I want".

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Quite correct.

To quote an authoritative medical source:
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab000146.html

All of the commercially available forms of NRT (gum, transdermal patch, nasal spray, inhaler and sublingual tablets/lozenges) can help people who make a quit attempt to increase their chances of successfully stopping smoking. NRTs increase the rate of quitting by 50-70%, regardless of setting.

[By NRT they mean "Nicotine Replacement Therapy"]

Me again...

Even if the nicotine addiction proves impossible to kick, patches or gum are a good deal safer than smoking because many of the health effects from smoking are thought to be caused by other substances in the smoke rather than by the nicotine itself. Nicotine is not a good thing, so the ideal is to quit entirely, but nicotine gum or patches are vastly preferable to tobacco.

Recent medical data suggest that when a person quits smoking, some of the health benefits come VERY quickly and others take time to show up, so for any smoker the sooner he or she quits the better and the longer he or she can stay off tobacco the better.

But do not feel ashamed if nicotine products are required to stay off tobacco -- nicotine is an extremely addictive drug and for many people nicotine gum or patches will be the only possible way to kick the smoking habit.

Message Edited by MattH on 08-23-2008 09:41 PM

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for the encouragement, y'all!  I have to confess ~ I caved.  The "up" side to that is, I'm smoking about half of what I was smoking AND I was barely smoking enough for even a life insurance company to consider me "a smoker".

As far as the "other" substances in the smoke ~ I smoke all natural roll-your-own tobacco that doesn't contain the 4000+ chemicals found in regular cigarettes.  These things won't even stay lit if you don't keep smoking them, so it takes me about 2 hours to smoke one cigarette, which I really like.  If I were still smoking something made by 'big tobacco" I'd be smoking about 4 cigarettes in the time I currently smoke only one.

That said, I've decided I'm going to find a doctor (which I need to do, anyway) and get on Chantix for a couple of weeks.  I won't take it long term, as I'm aware of the side effects, but I won't need it for long, either.

Thanks again!

[MattH]

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@Anonymous wrote:
\As far as the "other" substances in the smoke ~ I smoke all natural roll-your-own tobacco that doesn't contain the 4000+ chemicals found in regular cigarettes. These things won't even stay lit if you don't keep smoking them, so it takes me about 2 hours to smoke one cigarette, which I really like.

Good luck. Remember the worst parts of smoke are not the additives, they are entirely natural products of combustion so if all else fails and you switch to OTC nicotine products that alone dramatically cuts the health risks.

[Anonymous]

A little FYI.  My friend recently went to a food show.  She and her husband found a new product called NJOY.  It has only been on the market for 15 months.  It is kind of like a cigarette, but without all of the harmful chemicals.  It uses a nicotine cartridge.  It works on batteries and you actually "smoke" it.  There is no fire of course, but you blow out "smoke" or water vapor.  Her husband has used it for 2 months now because he is a cop and they can no longer smoke in their units.  She even lets him "smoke" in the house.  He LOVES it.  I have seen it and plan to order it in the next couple of weeks.  One cartridge is equivalent to 2 packs of cigarettes.  Google it.  I was amazed by it.

[KingAdrock]

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@Anonymous wrote:

As far as the "other" substances in the smoke ~ I smoke all natural roll-your-own tobacco that doesn't contain the 4000+ chemicals found in regular cigarettes. These things won't even stay lit if you don't keep smoking them, so it takes me about 2 hours to smoke one cigarette, which I really like. If I were still smoking something made by 'big tobacco" I'd be smoking about 4 cigarettes in the time I currently smoke only one.

A lot of my friends smoke American Spirits, which are additive-free and are even available with organically grown tobacco. But on the side it clearly says "No additives does NOT mean a safer cigarette." And it really doesn't. Generally it's a lot less harsh to smoke, but any health difference is really just a spit in the ocean.

[MattH]

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@KingAdrock wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

As far as the "other" substances in the smoke ~ I smoke all natural roll-your-own tobacco that doesn't contain the 4000+ chemicals found in regular cigarettes. These things won't even stay lit if you don't keep smoking them, so it takes me about 2 hours to smoke one cigarette, which I really like. If I were still smoking something made by 'big tobacco" I'd be smoking about 4 cigarettes in the time I currently smoke only one.

A lot of my friends smoke American Spirits, which are additive-free and are even available with organically grown tobacco. But on the side it clearly says "No additives does NOT mean a safer cigarette." And it really doesn't. Generally it's a lot less harsh to smoke, but any health difference is really just a spit in the ocean.

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Entirely correct. While artificial chemicals get lots of bad press, the vast majority of toxins people encounter in daily life are entirely natural, such as the combustion products from tobacco, incense, cooking fires (a major major major health issue in Third World countries), etc. The big advantage of nicotine replacement products is precisely that although nicotine is not a good thing it also is not the worst component of tobacco smoke. The best available data suggest essentially all nicotine replacements -- patches, gums, inhalers, etc. -- are equally helpful for people wanting to quit smoking so the choice among them is a matter of individual preference.

Biochemically, many plant products actually evolved as chemical defenses to protect plants from insects; the strongest of these are considered poisons or drugs depending whether people enjoy their effects and the rest are considered herbs and spices. A few types of herbal tea have had to be removed from the market because they have turned out to be toxic.

So from a medical perspective, "herbal" and "natural" may or may not mean "safer," it depends.