I've just joined today after deciding to quit using patches. I've smoked for 20 years and have attempted to quit many times but this is the first time I've tried NRT.
I normally go cold turkey and have go to 2-3 weeks many times but then always fall over, often after I have had a drank.
Im wondering if anyone can give me any advice re patches.
I've been reading a lot of websites e.t.c. with people recommending just cold turkey and saying patches just delay the inevitable.
Can you knid people give me some of your own experiences, Ive been thinking of reducing the patches to make the period less, maybe 4 weeks or something?
Anyone got any advice???
Just would like to hear some personal experiences of using patches...
many thanks in advance
Dibble
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I went cold turkey, so can't offer you specific advice about patches. But I have seen a lot of people here quit successfully using NRT. Don't feel you *have* to go CT if it's not right for you. The important thing is you quit, and stay quit.
Going for a swim in cold water. Some people throw themselves straight in and spend a couple of minutes gasping in shock before they can swim. Some people just can't do that and prefer to wade in bit by bit and acclimatise themselves. Whichever, it really doesn't matter, as long as you get in there and keep swimming.
hi dibble, good luck with the patches, i used them myself on my last two quits, i've found that only the full fat ones do anything for me, so i wear them until i forget about the mechanical instint to smoke, this time that took about 2 weeks, then i stop the patches and don't bother with the lighter patches, so a kind of delayed cold turkey, which is kind of delaying the inevitable like you say but is cool for people like me who just can't get through the full cold turkey
I went cold turkey, so can't offer you specific advice about patches. But I have seen a lot of people here quit successfully using NRT. Don't feel you *have* to go CT if it's not right for you. The important thing is you quit, and stay quit.
Going for a swim in cold water. Some people throw themselves straight in and spend a couple of minutes gasping in shock before they can swim. Some people just can't do that and prefer to wade in bit by bit and acclimatise themselves. Whichever, it really doesn't matter, as long as you get in there and keep swimming.
Good luck,
H
thanks H, with the swimming ****ogy Im the latter so fingers crossed !
hi dibble, good luck with the patches, i used them myself on my last two quits, i've found that only the full fat ones do anything for me, so i wear them until i forget about the mechanical instint to smoke, this time that took about 2 weeks, then i stop the patches and don't bother with the lighter patches, so a kind of delayed cold turkey, which is kind of delaying the inevitable like you say but is cool for people like me who just can't get through the full cold turkey
cheers, Ive got three boys 7 and under, as you can probabaly imagine there are periods of stress during my life that don't go too well with cold turkey
I quit about 20 years ago for almost 5 years. At that time I used patches. They are great for alleviating the physical withdrawal symptoms while you get your head around the psychological / habitual addiction to smoking.
My short opinion is that you need to have your head in the right place to quit successfully, and that NRT such as patches is like a safety blanket during the first few weeks...
So long as you use them properly, and don't expect the patches to wean you off the weed (you need to do that yourself!), they can greatly help in taking the edge off the cravings.
Going for a swim in cold water. Some people throw themselves straight in and spend a couple of minutes gasping in shock before they can swim. Some people just can't do that and prefer to wade in bit by bit and acclimatise themselves. Whichever, it really doesn't matter, as long as you get in there and keep swimming.
Thats a fantastic way of describing it H. Thats exactly right.
I quit using patches Dibble. My first smoke free day was the 4th of April. I sort of 'relied' on the patches as my lifeline.
The first few days i put them on my arms but soon realised they gave me dead arms so i started to stick them to my hips. That worked very well as trousers kept them secure. I would recommend a certain brand as the wonderfully clear ones are annoying to keep stuck in place. The big round brown ones are better!
I used the full strength clear patches for the first 2 weeks, then came on this forum and had a moan about them not sticking and was advised to use the others. I used the brown ones for the next 2 weeks properly then started to put them on later in the day and take them off before bed earlier and earlier for another 2 weeks.
Then, i don't know if i changed my body wash or something, but for some reason the patches started to itch.
It was a really, really irritating itch and the only relief i got was when i took the patch off and had a bloody good scratch!
So now we are up to 6 weeks. I decided i had had enough of patches but bought a box of 'step 2' just incase.
Because i cut down from the first step i spent the next couple of days light headed and a bit divvy but wouldn't use the patches again as i was now sure i'd be okay. I decided it couldn't kill me it was just going to be unpleasant for a while.
It will be 100 days for me this coming tuesday. I NEVER would have belived i could do this. I went into this 45% sure i would give up then the competitive side kicked in and i wanted to prove the people wrong that said i'm never manage it.
I feel wonderful. I smell great. I can keep money in my purse for days on end without having to spend it on little white toxic sticks!
I hope you keep it up Dibble, you will love it when you start to see and feel proper results.
All the very best of luck!
Ps- forgot to say, when i did quit the patches there was no awful effects for me. So when people say you are just delaying the inevitable thats not always true. The nicotine withdrawal didn't effect me at all at this stage. It would have done at the begining though.
Thats a fantastic way of describing it H. Thats exactly right.
I quit using patches Dibble. My first smoke free day was the 4th of April. I sort of 'relied' on the patches as my lifeline.
The first few days i put them on my arms but soon realised they gave me dead arms so i started to stick them to my hips. That worked very well as trousers kept them secure. I would recommend a certain brand as the wonderfully clear ones are annoying to keep stuck in place. The big round brown ones are better!
I used the full strength clear patches for the first 2 weeks, then came on this forum and had a moan about them not sticking and was advised to use the others. I used the brown ones for the next 2 weeks properly then started to put them on later in the day and take them off before bed earlier and earlier for another 2 weeks.
Then, i don't know if i changed my body wash or something, but for some reason the patches started to itch.
It was a really, really irritating itch and the only relief i got was when i took the patch off and had a bloody good scratch!
So now we are up to 6 weeks. I decided i had had enough of patches but bought a box of 'step 2' just incase.
Because i cut down from the first step i spent the next couple of days light headed and a bit divvy but wouldn't use the patches again as i was now sure i'd be okay. I decided it couldn't kill me it was just going to be unpleasant for a while.
It will be 100 days for me this coming tuesday. I NEVER would have belived i could do this. I went into this 45% sure i would give up then the competitive side kicked in and i wanted to prove the people wrong that said i'm never manage it.
I feel wonderful. I smell great. I can keep money in my purse for days on end without having to spend it on little white toxic sticks!
I hope you keep it up Dibble, you will love it when you start to see and feel proper results.
All the very best of luck!
Ps- forgot to say, when i did quit the patches there was no awful effects for me. So when people say you are just delaying the inevitable thats not always true. The nicotine withdrawal didn't effect me at all at this stage. It would have done at the begining though.
karen, thanks very much for this, your story really gives me even more determination to press on...
I'm now in week three of the patches and I've had only one or two times where I have felt a little angry/frustrated (like you do with cold turkey) and I'm now a lot less worried about the time I start reducing.
Thanks again...I'm also going to take your advice to start using them a little later and taking them off later...
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