| Different people, different opinions, some say it work's, some say it
doesn't. I gues it may help, but it's also like a placebo. If you have
a strong mind, it will help you.
Birgit_still_smoking
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| The Nicotine patch requires a prescription from your Doctor in the
U.S.. The insurance Companies won't cover the cost unless you also
sign up for a course in smoking cessation at a local hospital, after
completion of the course they will refund your prescription price. If
you decide to just do the patch and pay for it yourself, it costs about
the same in the U.S. as a pack a day cigarette habit costs you, so no
excuses about it being too expensive, I believe it cost about $150. for
the 6 weeks of patches for each of us.
As far as how it works, myself and my SO both quit at the same time
two years ago. If I remember correctly, we each had 2 weeks on each
strength patch, or 6 weeks total, however, this time period can be
flexed and adjusted by your doctor, many seem to make it 8 weeks. Just
about the time we would get used to one level of nicotine we would bump
down to the next level and go through some more withdrawal for a week,
then get used to it and so on. Then after quitting the last level it
seems as if we had a few more cravings for a couple of days and then it
was over except for an occasional desire to light up once in a while,
these cravings continued on getting further and further apart until
today, when I don't even think about it for the most part.
I tried to quit several times over the years and always started again
very quickly because of the irritability and bad temper it produced and
strong cravings. The patch seemed to eliminate the irritability,
and 80% of the cravings. I'm not sure it would have been as easy if I
quit alone, but the two of us made it a contest. I must admit that part
of quitting was telling myself that I could never smoke again, this
made it easier then saying "if I don't feel comfortable I'll start
again, I can always quit later"!
Thanks to the patch we are accomplished non-smokers today, wondering
why we ever smoked for so many years......but I know why, it was so
hard to quit.......until the patch came along!
At least now I don't wake up in the morning and have mental arguments
with myself over why I should quit, and worry about what damage it is
doing to me.....it is one thing less to worry about!
I do agree that you really have to want to quit very much to make even
the patch work, but it takes 80% of the battle out of quitting. Now I
smell nicotine on others and wonder if they know how it smells, and
how it clings to clothes and breath.....when I smoked I couldn't smell
it like I can today, smelling it now, as strong as it seems, I can
really believe its got to be horrible for your lungs, nose, throat and
skin.
One last thing, when I put the first patch or two on my arm, it burned
for about an hour, then I seemed to get used to it, I never was sure
why I had that reaction to it, but it would leave a red mark once it
was removed. They recommend you put each patch in a different location,
this is so your skin won't become irritated.
BB who is so happy not to be smoking anymore!
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