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How I finally Quit Smoking! - September 4, 2005

 
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Maurice
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 12:02 am    Post subject: How I finally Quit Smoking! - September 4, 2005 Reply with quote

How I finally Quit Smoking!


By Sue E, Journalist


I have been smoking cigarettes for thirty odd years. The habit started when I was at college training to teach, I can't remember it is so long ago. I think it was quite stressful, it was a stressful time. It was something that many people did at that time, you would just get into it, it was not that big a deal, like it is now. I just got into it, because really, lots of people were doing it. It was like on and off at first, I suppose about five years in it became more than a social thing, and became a habit.

I have wanted to stop for some time, it was just because of health reasons, real health reasons. I started having problems with my health about six years. About three years ago was the first time I tried to stop smoking, with the patches. The nicotine patches supposedly give a level of nicotine through the skin over twenty four hours. I started at 21 milligrams and you are supposed to reduce it over a period of time. They are like a big flesh colored plaster and you place them on your body and they are supposed to stop the craving. The patches did not work, because the patches would not stick to my skin, I am a very "hot person"! They just would not stay put - like stick to my arm, not saying they would not work on someone else, just not me.

The next attempt was with the gum, quite soon afterward. The gum is pretty disgusting, but that was not the reason it did not work, it just did not get rid of the withdrawal symptoms. It did not give up enough nicotine, I was chewing it and doing whatever it was you were supposed to do and it just did not give me enough nicotine. I tried it for just a couple a days and it just would not do it. I was just "climbing up the walls". So I just stopped using it - there was just no point.

The next thing I tried, it was actually a trial..... was the lozenges. It was just like the gum, except they also gave you a headache. That lasted a day.

After that, the government was really pushing people to stop including my doctor so I booked into one of the surgery things. You book with a nurse and all, so I went on the patches - but these are partly subsidized by the government. They worked ok if they stayed put, but it just did not happen. So after that I just "jacked it in" for a while. It wasn't until last year when I went cold turkey. I was able to last about three or four days. On of the reasons is the euphoria thing for awhile and you think you cracked it, and then when the withdrawal symptoms kicked in...there was just no chance. I tried this on and off for a month, I just could not get passed the withdrawal symptoms.

I gave up giving up for about a year. I was talking to someone at work about taking drugs to stop withdrawal symptoms. So this person turned around and says someone they knew took Zyban, and it worked! So what happened is that the person who took it came by and talked to me at work. She was telling me about how it worked for her, so I asked about side-effects, like depression, etc.. She never had any, but she never read about the side effects and so she reckoned that was the reason she never noticed them.

When I went to see my doctor, I was asked her about my smoking and past attempts, and she volunteered putting me on Zyban. So before I went on it I had to visit the nurse who would explain the side-effects and how to use them. She order me the prescription, and a few days later I was able to get them.

I was very happy to try them but was not confident that they would work and then there were the side-effects. I was very aware I was taking these things. You wait to see if they are working and monitoring your feelings. So low and behold, after a very few days, I started not thinking about smoking. I was actually a conscious effort to think about smoking. The way you take them is one a day and after six days then you are on two tablets a day. The way they work is on the part of the brain that has the withdrawal symptoms and it kind of numbs it. Basically for me this happened quite quickly within a few days.

Within two weeks you have to stop smoking. What happened was I actually stopped smoking about eight days in to it. I just stopped thinking about it, it just was not an issue - you just stopped thinking about smoking. Of course it is not that simple. I did have one panic attack when I started taking two tablets a day. It was not terrible, just a panic attack, may not have been about it but it did happen. You just don't think about having a cigarette. On the final day of the two weeks, I tried one pack just out of a panic like you are never going to have another - one pack of cigarettes. Then I just gave up, that was it - end of story - I just stopped. And it was such a relief! I took the tablets for another six weeks without incident.

It is nearly four months since that last pack I smoked. Well, I don't say I will never have another cigarette, but I am not bothered about it. But I think there will be a point where I don't think about it at all. I am still waiting for that other shoe to drop, for it all to go a bit"pear shaped". It is very hard to believe it actually worked. That is probably why I am still cautious, that it worked. I feel not quite so negative about not smoking, like when I first stopped, just less of an issue.

I would say it is worth a try if you can get it, but not all doctors are keen on it. But it is worth a try.
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