Hi I'm new to posting! Looking for advice on nicotine patches 😊

[Battypatty92]

Hi everyone!

I'm just finishing day 10 of being smoke free using nicotine patches and hoping for some advice from those who have quit using this method before 😊.

Originally I started using step 1 of niquitin clear strips which I found a nightmare. The strips fell off almost constantly and they were making me feel buzzy/sick. Although I smoked 13 roll ups a day (more if drinking/stressed) for the last 8 years I think those patches were too strong for me despite being advertised as for smokers of more than 10 a day.

I'm on day 3 of using nicotinell step 2 which is working so much better for me luckily!

I was hoping to get advice on what time frames to work towards with the patches (how long to use each step of patches for) as I've seen posts elsewhere that indicate you don't need to use them for as long as the manufacturers tell you.

So far I've had a very easy and pleasant quit experience to the point where I almost feel like I'm cheating with the patches aha! It's been an interesting 10 days because I consider myself to have a very addictive personality and only started my quit journey as I thought I'd try a patch for a day to test how it works in preparation for the future.. It worked so well I just carried on.. So I'm apprehensive about the cold turkey approach but equally do not want to become too dependant on the patches and delay nicotine withdrawal if its a horrible and noticiable experience going from 7mg patch to nothing?

Any help or tips would be very welcome 😁😁

[Vicky68 1 Year Smoke Free]

My doctor had me use each patch step for 30 days and the quit was pretty easy. I got to where I would forget to use them. But he said those who used them the full 30 days had a better long term quit ratio. I have gone almost two years now with no problems

[Battypatty92 in reply to Vicky68]

That's so handy thank you Vicky! Did you notice a difference when you reduced the strength?