And now for the rest of the story. Forgive me Paul Harvey.
YOU have to decide you want to quit. It has to be YOUR decision. Not a nagging from you significant other. Not from your friends and family. And not even from your new daughter. It has to be your decision and it has to be arrived at freely and be a decision you have made that is as serious as any in your life. Maybe the most serious. Then and ONLY then is it possible to quit smoking. First things first. You have to own the decision.
Once you have made the decision, the work begins. Do not try to quit cold turkey. With all the help available, there is no reason to put your body through the pain and agony. DON'T DO IT.
Most people don't realize that smoking is addictive in two way - physiological (your body's addiction to a very powerful drug) and psychological (your addiction to the act of smoking and all the things you "have to have" but don't know it. The act of lighting a cigarette, watching the smoke, the "pulling a drag," the sensation when it hits the back of your throat, even the holding and gesturing with a cigarette). Your mind is addicted to these events. And in the end, it is this addiction that causes you to start smoking again. NOT THE ADDICTION TO NICOTINE.
The first few weeks of quitting focuses on ridding your body of all the chemicals associated from smoking. Nicotine being the addictive one but there are others. Your body WILL NOT LIKE being deprived of this drug you are addicted to. You will feel like crap. The purpose of the patch is to slowly decrease the amount of nicotine entering your body. Your body metabolizes the drug and so by the end of the "Step Down" procedure, your body no longer contaings very much nicotine. Over the next few weeks and months, your body slowly gets used to not having nicotine. After a few months, your physiological need for nicotine - your drug addiction - is essentially over. Your body no longer requires nicotine to function. You stop feeling like crap. All that stuff. This is when most people think it is over. Problem is, the battle is just beginning.
A few words about using drugs to help. First of all, the patch "Step Down" system is the best way for your body to handle the process. It allows your body to slowly adjust to the change in the amount of drug in your system. DO IT. Another is a drug that works on the brain and the cravings associated with smoking addiction. It is sold under the brand name Zyban. There may be a new drug or they may have a generic that has another name but the original drug (and still maybe the best - consult your doctor) that's out there. The original drug first used was Wellbutrin (generic name is Bupropion HCl), the generic form was marketed as Zyban. They are all the same drug. The original use was to treat depression (and your insurance may cover the drug Wellbutrin from your doctor but not Zyban. Talk to your doctor about it because it is expensive) but they found it was very useful in controlling the urge to smoke. Since the drug is designed to treat depression, it may make you feel "weird" in a sense. It affects the chemistry in the brain and some people complain it makes them tired, etc. Even though there are these side effects, DO NOT STOP TAKING THE MEDICATION until your doctor tells you to. To sum up, us the patches as a "Step Down" to reduce the nicotine level and use the Zyban to reduce the cravings. That should be your bottom line. Start there.
Once you have beaten the nicotine, the real monster raises its head. The psychological addiction. You miss smoking after a meal. You miss watching the smoke rise from the cigarette, you miss blowing the smoke after an inhale, you miss the cigarette with the beer. The list is long and any one of them will get you. It is just like you can't stand it anymore. You resist and resist and resist and then one day, you bum a cigarette and light up. The addiction to nicotine IS NOT causing you to smoke that cigarette. It is the feeling in your throat of that first drag, it is the blowing of the smoke, it is the mix of alcohol and cigarettes that finally gets you. For most people, this is when they "Go off the wagon" and start smoking again. They feel they have lost and figure they will smoke for awhile and then quit again. That cycle repeats itself over and over in many people. They quit, sometimes for years, and then just have to go back to the act of SMOKING not because of the addiction that has been over for a long time.
When this happens, just smoke the damn cigarette and enjoy it. Don't feel guilty about it. Don't say I smoked one so I might as well say its over and buy a pack. Just smoke the one and forget about it. Stay the course you were on. One cigarette will not cause the addiction to be back. Just let it be the one that "Let the pressure off" so to speak. It may happen again in a few weeks or months. NO PROBLEM. Just let it pass and don't use it as an excuse to start back smoking.
As one poster said, he still wants a cigarette after many, many years. That's the psychological addiction still there. When I quit, it was a full 10 years before I stopped wanting one in a bar, after a meal, taking a break, etc. While nicotine addiction gets all the attention, for a huge number of people, it is the psychological addiction that finally gets them to start back.
That is why it is so important to stay on the Zyban until your doctor says to quit. It helps with the psychological side of things. It works. It will, many times, make the difference between staying quit or not.
This will probably be the most difficult and drawn out thing you have ever tried to do. It will not be over in 6 months. It may not be over in 6 years. The dual addiction is that powerful. You can do it but it will take everything you have to make it happen.
Hope this explanation will come in handy when things start to get rough when you thought you had it beat.
Daryl
i remember when they were 40.00. they are still in the box because i dont wanna waste them. so if any of u all have advice for me ill read it carefully and take it to consideration, i appreciate it.
when it gets tough just look at a pic of your daughter. if that wont stop you nothing will!
![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
