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Before you ask, no no cold turkey. So i wondered how other quitters have gotten on. Have heard patches plus gum or lozenges is more successful than patches alone.
I tried patches and could not bear to come off them missing that nicotine feeling.i started vaping and don't miss cigs.
I'm in the cutting down fags, vaping more category at the mo. Next week I'll be limiting my fags to one in the morning and one after a meal. I'm at the point now where the smell puts me off most of the time
Vape for me too. cut down the Nic gradually to zero.
10+ years off the cigarettes now.
Patches/gum didn't work for me, but try everything available until something works is my advice.
I used patches when I quit. First attempt I found the patches way to strong and was basically off my t!TS for a bit.
Second time I realised like a lot of people that the biggest cause of failure was booze. So before a night out (maybe not so much a problem right now) I would cut a patch into eighths and take that out with me. I would fiddle with cocktail sticks to keep my hand occupied and when I felt the urge stick a bit of patch on. When the night out was over I might have all 8 bits of patch on, but I took them off before bed.
My big problem with nicotine replacement is that you're never actually getting rid of the nicotine, and that's what you need to do in order to kick the addiction.
Anyway, ten years or so off the tabs now. Miss them all the time though, bloody loved smoking. 🤔
Just get a decent e-cig. I tried patches and all that nonsense. None of it worked.
I just concluded that I just like smoking. Vaping is the good bits of smoking without the slow lingering death bit (so far. fingers crossed).
I was smoking 20 a day for decades. Since I got the e-cig 6 or 7 years ago, I've never had a fag. I never will either. I hate the smell of them now.
I've now got the strength of my e-cig liquid down to 0.6% of nicotine, but I carry on doing it because I enjoy it, and obviously I just like to irritate the kind of whiney, miserable, joyless bastards who hate people smoking, but also now bleat on about people vaping.
... from whom we'll probably hear from now.
Another option is snuff, you get a good 'hit' and don't end up with congestion on the lungs (as I personally found from vaping). Ozona is good.
Second time I realised like a lot of people that the biggest cause of failure was booze.
Yep....
Before you ask, no no cold turkey. So i wondered how other quitters have gotten on. Have heard patches plus gum or lozenges is more successful than patches alone.
I think everyone is different.... for me personally I find quitting booze is easy but I appreciate that for others it's a nightmare. If nothing else though I agree it lowers your guard.
In a wider picture for me personally I found patches etc. don't lead to a sustained quitting.
1st time I quit for 3yrs with patches/gum....but I was never actually free. I ALWAYS felt something missing....
2nd time I did cold turkey and FOR ME (not saying for you) that left me feeling like I'd actually beaten it.
Divorce/redundancy/booze... were the stupid things got me back.
I now only smoke when I'm riding as pretty much the rest of the time I use an e-cig. I just find them easy and expensive to break.
How good is that?
Dunno but when the baseline is smoking it's got to be much better ....
Subjectively I can usually climb a hill and have a smoke before most of my non smoking mates get up....
I think those of us still smoking in 2021 are almost by definition the ones with the worst addiction. I also tried champix and it sent me totally doolally... and I think its probably linked.
For me personally I think patches are the worst case.... and vaping and e-cigs might not be as good as quitting completely but way better than smoking
Snuff isn't a whole lot better than smoking from a health point of view though is it ?
(genuine question, I've never tried it)
You only need two patches.
Stick one over each eye and you won’t be able to find your fags
I gave up 10 years ago after many failed attempts, I tried cold turkey, patches , accupunture even tried medication from the doctors nothing worked. I was recommended to read the Allen Carr book details below,I haven't smoked in 10 years, still get the odd craving once a year or so, but I highly recommend reading the book before attempting to give up.
Its available through your local library too.
https://www.allencarr.com/easyway-stop-smoking/how-to-quit/
Good luck
before i gave up cigarettes (25 years of smoking average 20 a day i reckon), i'd tried patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers, hyphnotherapy, zyban and champix - all with varying levels of success / failure.
all of them kept me off the fags for a time (longest period was 1.5-2 years) but always ended up smoking again. out of those i'd say the patches and champix were the most effective, however i personally wouldn't recommend champix as i had some quite acute and long lasting mental health side effects (it's a re-purposed anti depressant).
the only thing that i found has worked has been vaping. bought a decent vape 7 years ago and i reckon i've probably smoke less than a pack of fags in that time (and even then i'ts been 'for old times sake' when drunk and haven't enjoyed them) - i don't think i've had a fag this year and can't see i will
the two things that make smoking so difficult to give up is the physical addiction to nicotine and the habit and routine of smoking / sticking something in your mouth every hour / nipping out for a fag break.
the good thing about vaping is it perfectly replicates these two things and it makes it easy to not smoke fags. the bad thing about vaping is it perfectly replicates these to things and you are neither breaking the physical addiction nor the habit.
there is also a great unknown about the long term health effects of vaping, the only thing we can say for certain is that it's not a bad for you as smoking (but then again heroin is not as bad for you as smoking, but probably not the best route for knocking the tabs on the head).
the other bad thing about vaping s that it not just replaces the nicotine addiction & habit from one form to another, is that (at least in my case) it re-enforces it and you end up using your vape more often than your smoked cigarettes, which seems to be anecdotally true with a number of people i know who switched from fags to vapes.
still at least i'm not inhaling all the crap in cigarettes (just the the crap in the vape fluid) and my lungs are definitely in better condition than they were, gone are the feelings of wanting to vomit at the top of every climb, and hangovers are not half as bad as they use to be!
long term though, the vape needs to go
I've never smoked and never will, but I do teach about the Clinical Pharmacology of nicotine. Cigarettes deliver approximately 1-2 mg per dose. Define the number of doses per day (20?) so about 20 mg/day, then replace with patches.
Patches deliver a dose, say 10 mg per patch over a sustained period. Your body will be used to a steady-state of X mg/day. If you switch to patches, be sure to initially match the daily dose. The patch delivery is very slow and smooth, so no spikes you might get from smoking, but the same overall average.
Once you've switched over daily dose, to patches, then start to taper downwards.
I stopped about 25 years go after around 20 years smoking. A combination of Allen Carr's book, cold turkey, and relacing a smoking adiction with a jogging addiction.
I didn't follow Allen Carr's method exactly but there is good stuff in the book. The idea that helped me was to keep in mind the idea that withdrawal symptoms are a good thing because it is your body getting back to normal.
I stopped years ago.
I was on 30 - 40 a day.
My method involved using the weakest nicotine gum and only chewing it when I was really craving a smoke.
The stuff tasted disgusting at first but after about a week I really enjoyed flavour. I then realised the whole enjoying a smoke thing is your addicted brain tricking you in getting the fix.
After a couple of weeks, I was down to 1 or 2 pieces of gum a day.
After 6 weeks switched to normal gum.
Thing is I really enjoy vaping and having adhd nicotine is good for me.if you get a good quality vapour then it's unlikely to break on a ride.i like mouth to throat which replicates smoking although j have not tried mouth to lung which produces the vast amount of smoke you see.
Vaping. Might be super uncool but it works. How long you stay on the vapes or whether you ever come off them is up to you but quitting cigs is so so so hard. Quitting vaping is hard also but no where near as bad. I think it's because by this point you are addicted to the nicotine and the habit whilst cigs have so much more in them that you crave.
When you start off vaping don't worry if you've got it in your mouth 24hrs a day. It's better than smoking and you need to swap the habit to start off with.
I vaped for over another year after i swapped from smoking but did eventually stop it too and was surprised at how much easier it was
Benefit of vaping is you can start to reduce the amount of nicotine until you reach zero. Then all you have to give up is the physical routine rather than the addiction
Thing is I really enjoy vaping and having adhd nicotine is good for me.if you get a good quality vapour then it’s unlikely to break on a ride
Seems unlikely unless it's specifically designed to throw at the ground.
I manage to break most parts of the bike and myself on a regular basis.
30 - 40 a day before I stopped. When the doctor asked me about my habit I told him ”if I coughed up my left lung I’d light a cigarette while pondering what just happened!” Tried many things over the years but only thing that worked for me was Champix. Used it for 14 weeks and never had a cigarette in the 12 years since. Don’t miss it at all but none of my mates can believe I’m still off them! I’d definitely recommend Champix.
I tried quitting a few times before giving the champix tables a go and they worked a charm for me. They work by blocking your nicotine receptors so a while after you stop taking them the nicotine in the cigarettes you are smoking (or any other form of nicotine you try and ingest) simply stops working. So then it's just a case of breaking the physical habits of actually going out regularly before you stop the 12 week run of tablets. I'd happily recommend them to anyone wanting to give up though I believe some people do have some slightly interesting side effects (they gave one of my mates some very trippy dreams)
I also had a bit of extra motivation in that Littleginge was very much on his way when I started doing this; I expect that played a big part in me stopping and not going back.
Steve xc how often do you crash.i just put mine in the top pocket of my backpack by itself so it's out of the way even if I crash.
Patches plus gum or inhaler. I had the inhaler
As someone mentioned smoking makes peaks and valleys of of concentration. Patches provide a constant amount, about the average of your peaks and valleys. That means you still get cravings for a 'peak'. That's when you take a bit off the gum/inhaler. That eases over time and you LL find you just need the patch. That's when you drop down to the next lower patch strength. Repeat etc.
If you get a rush, or feel like you've drunk too much coffee, your patch is too strong. You can trim them down an tape down the cut edge. They say not to but it's fine. I ended up on 1/2 a patch of the lowest strength before dropping them entirely.
You can wear the patch overnight, which helps with the 1st one of the day craving. Some people found they had vivid, disturbing dreams. Itf that happens and it bothers you take it off at night.
MOST IMPORTANT - nicotine interferes with your body's ability to process caffeine. You need to cut your caffeine intake in half to compensate, especially if you are a coffee drinker. It won't be as soon as you start the patch, it takes a few days for then nicotine in our blood to drop. When it does, if you haven't lowers your caffeine you may find yourself dizzy, hyper, over excited. Some people think that's the nicotine withdrawal or that they are having a break from reality. It is just the caffeine. Mix your coffee half and half with decaf so you can have the same number of cups and you won't notice.
You only need two patches.
Stick one over each eye and you won’t be able to find your fags
© Lee Evans.
Worked for me, was on about 20-30 rollies a day until I gave up about 15 years ago. Was the only option back then though vaping didnt exist
Vaping is by far the most effective way for substitute nicotine delivery systems based on people I know (and I understand there are studies that support this). Allen Carr is also effective, a friend used it successfully and ended up working for him and becoming a good friend of his.
I used the Allen Carr book as did cohorts of the time. Been off tobacco for 15 years or so. You kind of take what you need from it. If you want to stop just let the book do it's thing. All the best. 👍
Vaping is by far the most effective way for substitute nicotine delivery systems based on people I know (and I understand there are studies that support this
There was one meta analysis by Cochrane that I know of. It said there may have been a mild effect but the samples and effect were too small to be definitive but the electronic cigarettes may be slightly better than nrt at stopping smoking cigarettes.
The aims are different though. The goal of NRT is to get you off nicotine. Vaping is to get you off cigarettes. You still vape nicotine though. And vaping has its own risks
Quitting tobacco. Any exeriences of patches?
They're difficult to light.
I found the 24 hr patches had erm “unexpected all night long” benefits 😳 Mrs FFJA at the time highly recommended patches... But you might want to take it off at night!
Patches lozenges and vape for me. Stopped for 18 months until I lost my marbles and started again. Need to do it again but it’s a bit much at moment.
found the 24 hr patches had erm “unexpected all night long” benefits
Just coming into the newsroom - chemist are reporting mid aged men on mountain bikes stampeding in demanding NRT patches. Later on, women with pictures of men on their phones asking 'has my husband been in..,?'
+1 vaping.
Don't get one of those huge clouds things, they're rubbish except for showing off.
Don’t get one of those huge clouds things, they’re rubbish except for showing off.
Until you start using a vape you don't know what the cloud will be like though.
Blatant hijack...
Anyone used a Juul pod vape? I'm considering one for when I'm out on the bike as it's small and light enough to put in a pocket without feeling it whilst pedalling
Until you start using a vape you don’t know what the cloud will be like though
There's normally quite a lot of blurb telling you what to expect, and you can make a pretty good judgement from the type of atomiser it has (sub-ohm makes big clouds, basically). You get e-juice in various types, so you can choose big cloud or not.
For a first vape I'd recommend going to a decent vape-shop. Ask your friends for a good local. They should be able to give you a bit of advice, and maybe let you try a couple.
I'm using one of these:
https://www.vapetown.co.uk/products/joyetechegoaioecostarterkit
at the moment. It's cheap, the battery lasts all day, and it doesn't draw unnecessary attention to itself. Oh, and it stops me wanting to smoke.
You can spend a fortune on super e-cigs, and I've tied many of them. I haven't found anything better than this, though.
I smoked for a few years when I was younger but having raced prior to that I became increasingly aware of my lifestyle and how unfit I was. I used patches and they were brilliant for me.
I started on a high dose and gradually worked down over many weeks to the smallest size.
I managed to quit when my wife (girlfriend at the time) continued to smoke in our small flat.