Day 14 is not going well... The novelty factor of getting through the early days has worn off and although I will NOT have a cigarette, I am now worried about my quit method and the fact that all I have really done is swapped one form of addiction for another ..
I've been using 6-7 Niquitin minis per day (at regular intervals, like medicine) from the start. But today I just seem to be waiting for the time I can have my next one.
I know, of course, that eventually I will have to wean myself off them. And that 2 weeks into my quit is probably a bit early to be panicking about it! But it would be good to hear from anyone who has quit successfully in a similar way. Because I'm starting to wonder if things only get better for those who go cold turkey and get the nicotine out completely - and if so then what am I doing? The thought of going CT is horrendous for me, but so is the thought that I'm just prolonging the agony.
Muddled and slightly depressed
Sue
Written by
nsd_user663_36288
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I felt just the same as you regarding NRT. I was obsessed with not having patches and came off them after only six weeks. I think it's tough for everyone regardless of the quit method though. I do think in hindsight I was probably too eager to bin the NRT and probably made it harder on myself in the longrun. Us NRT'ers seem to feel less like quitters whilst we still fill our bodies with Nicotine on a daily basis. I think it's just a mindset we get into??
Don't become obssessed by the nicotine in NRT, it's not the same and is a LOT easier to control/or give up than smoking
I was using 2mg lozenges when I started my quit...after they ran out , the chemist only had 1mg, so used them for couple of days then read Allen Carr again and stopped the lozenges altogether (after 6 days) - I guess I was a bit paranoid about starting a new habit.
The lozenges helped the pangs/craziness of the first few days (I don't know if I would have succeeded without the lozenges). After 6 days I had a few cravings for the lozenges (not ciggies!!!). After 10/11 days I've had the 'i quite fancy a fag/lozenge' and the lost/empty feelings but these have been fairly easy to dismiss...on day 48 now!!!
sorry to hear your panicking honestly thats normal and as you say you dont want to get addicted to something else you wont though with dropping the dose over a period of time you will suddenly start to forget to use the nrt because your body has adapted to not having the nicotine inside and you will realise in your own time that you dont need to use the nrt anymore you will get through this just remember to take each craving as it comes and keep hands and mind busy and before you know it the time between the cravings will get longer untill one day you will realise that you have gone a whole day without even thinking about a ciggy :eek:
you may think that wont happen but i promise you it will
Hey Sue , I can't speak about NRT from personal experience but surely patches can be weaned over time?
What I can say from experience is that we all have bad days. I assumed that, as each day went by it would get slightly easier, for me that hasn't really been the case. I think Monday & Tuesday this week, days 25 & 26, were amongst the worst I have had. But then the next two days were great.
Big thanks everyone - honestly the support here is invaluable. Pip - you're right, it's a mindset, and I must stop feeling like a bit of a 'fraud' for using NRT.. I realised when I read your post, Dave, that a craving for the LOZENGE is exactly what I'm having - but yes it's just to relieve that empty/lost feeling. But I HAVE had days where the gaps between those feelings have been far, far longer than today (where there weren't any gaps at all!), so it was helpful to be reminded (thank God and thanks Carol!) that it WILL get easier. And that as GTAT says, we all have good days and bad...
And I have discovered that cleaning the cutlery drawer (am I the only person who cannot understand why it is always full of crumbs?) is an excellent distraction!
I also used niquitin minis ( 1.5 mg ) to help me when i stopped. My initial plan was to stick a pill under my tongue whenever I felt the need for a cig. This seems to have worked (for me) and my initial usage of 10/12 pills p/day settled down to about 6/7 p/day and continued like that until about the 6 week mark.
The recommendation with the minis said that after 6 weeks to gradually reduce the number taken to 2/3 p/day and then stop ( or some words like that) ..... This didn't work for me ---when I tried to cut back I got "longings", I missed having something to put in my mouth when ..thoughts.. came along (sweets mints etc. didn't do it). I'm being careful not to refer to these wants as cravings because the weren't that strong if you know what I mean. Some times I would pop a mini (or 2 or 3) in to relieve the tension and I think I then overdosed on nico as my body wasn't used to sudden bursts at that stage, got headaches, tension, moody etc. Cutting back didn't work for me.
Then I "talked to myself" and decided to stop --- 1/11/2011, I think, I stopped. There were 2/3 days of nervousness, adjusting to having no crutch. I honestly don't think there was anything more than my own tension/fear of having to go it without help, but it worked and I found stopping easier than cutting back.
However I was 6/7 weeks into my quit at that time you are just 2 weeks.
BE CAREFULL ...... but we all work with different timescales so, do what you feel is right for you.
Please try not to get yourself too worked up about the NRT. It is helping you stay quit! Use as many minis as you need. It is still relatively early days for you. As the days and weeks progress it will get easier and you won't need so many. You have to do what is right for you so long as the aim is to stay quit I am using patches AND 4mg lozenges so I think you are really brave to just use the minis.
Be kind to yourself and your quit and you will be able to wean yourself off them when the time is tight for YOU.
More thanks to all you wonderful fellow quitters - I now feel less anxious, more positive, and have a clearer idea in my head about how to make my method work best for me. It is sooooooo comforting to know that others have successfully negotiated a similar path - and very comforting to be aware of the potholes ...
There is so much wisdom and support here - membership of this site should be 'prescribed' by all the health professionals and plastered across all their literature as THE best quitting aid of all!
you're doing great...you're not a fraud for using NRT! I'm just going cold turkey as that method didn't work for me. If you feel like NRT is helping you not to smoke, then hell girlfriend, suck a lozenge!
You can always crack the NRT nut later (it'll be a much smaller nut as you're not pumping yourself full of other chemicals and you can gradually reduce/lower the amount of NRT). Chin up, feel proud as you've kicked those fags out into the cold.
Heres my 2 pennoth, im sure that is spelt wrong but never mind. first the amount of nicotine in a patch, even the strongest is nothing compared to the amount u get from inhaling it into your lungs. That is a huge amount and rapidly goes into the blood stream. Using nrt is the same as weaning off any addictive drug like painkillers antidepressants or sleeping pills, you gradually reduce the amount that your body is dependant on, and after you can tolerate the lower dose you lower it again, and keep doing this till your on none at all.During this time period which for me will be 3 months you can break the glue between associations like drinking coffee ,waking up, using the phone etc and smoking,so that u can do all of these things without a cigarette. Its going to work for me cos it makes sense to me, cold turkey doesnt work for me as its too much of a shock to my system cos i was a chainsmoker that smoked with everything except the shower. iv been quit now for 6 and a bit weeks and have since become addicted to jammie dodgers fig rolls sugar free polos the frozen planet masterchef and this forum but i dont care cos at the end of the day all of those new addictions are not really going to harm me very much even if i balance them against one cigarette a day all of those new addictions together are less harmful. breathe. The barefoot doctor says addictions are part of the human drive to thrive and are necessary, He compares it to a bowl of fruit and we can choose to try a bit of everything but when we smoke or use crak ,etc its like only eating oranges and more and more all the time ... cant be good for us... a bit of everything in life is what we need. iv gone on a bit and im partly thinking out loud and partly passing on what im learning about addictions...
I am a computer programmer!!! some will call me nerd/geek others will say 'quite clever maybe'. I would say I am reasonably intelligent...I am however full of vodka tonight so feel free to ignore my drunken ramblings...I have looked at the NHS stats regarding relapse rates...generally they are 90% for ct and 93% for nrt...not great encouragement it must be said, however it proves how difficult stopping smoking is...looking at cold hard stats the Oct 11 quit should now be down to about 2 from the 20+ in our signatures...this is obviously not true due to amount of posts from the oct11 crew...go team!!!(if someone could come up with a brit equivalent...c'mon west country & west mids and the odd person from lancs & kent [glos/som/herefd] yokels ;)...This forum helps everyone due to the support mechanism in the early stages and the friendships made along the way...also the embarrassment of being the first to fail comes into play...Our stats are way higher than 7%/10% and anyone who falls of the wagon is quickly encouraged to get back on it. I say we all* deserve a pat on the back for our quits and massive pats for helping others on their quits...nsd...beat the stats!!!!
Dave , what a thoughtful post, especially for a man full of voddie!
I too have thought about the fact that well over half of us are still going and how that compares with national stats. I also put it down to mutual support, and being able to wind up Francob
You two make me laugh!!!! But yeah us October quitters are doing so well compared to national statistics so that is well wicked. Thanks for being there guys and I think our October group is brilliant. Dave you must be a genius if you can write a post like that full of Wodka....I'd be saying wibble, wibble in the corner.
So proud of us all, we're doing great. I do believe NHS quit smoking support staff should tell people about the online help available for quitters. This forum has been a huge factor in the success of my quit.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
WELL DONE ON GETTING TO DAY 14 
I am using patches AND 4mg lozenges so I think you are really brave to just use the minis. 
any advice from champix users?
Will NRT help me stop overeating?!
