Chef Salad, I am glad you quit smoking. My experience with quitting differs from yours; I tried and failed to quit many times using the patch and the gum, but I was finally successful going cold turkey, without using any form of NRT(nicotine replacement therapy).
NRT refers to the patch, the gum, the lozenges--all of those methods of putting nicotine in your body other than cigarettes. NRT products are a multi-billion dollar a year industry (because they don't typically work). They have also done some studies that suggest that most of the people buying NRT products have bought them before. They carefully rig their "studies" to show how effective NRT is, when in fact, a large percentage of quitters go back to smoking after the patch finally comes off.
My suggestion to smokers is to quit using nicotine, not just cigarettes. Cigarettes are just a delivery device for nicotine, and the patch and the gum just prolong the agony of withdrawal. Get it over with quickly and get on with your life.
I'm genuinely glad you quit smoking, Chef, and I think people should do whatever it takes to get off of cigarettes. But if NRT products have failed you in the past, consider going cold turkey this time--even though it may sound very unappealing. |