Quitting with patches - advice?

[chime]

Hi guys,

 

I'm new to this forum and currently on my 5th day of not smoking. Quit cold turkey a bunch of years ago and stayed off it for a long time until some stressful stuff happened in my life and I was dumb and started smoking again. 

 

I've been back to smoking for 2 years and wanted to quit again for almost as long, but could never make it beyond a few days. Finally had enough and decided to try out a crutch, aka patches. Woke up 5 days ago and decided I would just try it, and so far I've been staying strong. 

 

Why I'm posting this: I don't really like the idea of the patches. It feels like a cop out, like I'm just prolonging the withdrawal process. At the same time, I work a stressful job in the medical field and worry to not be able to perform adequately at my job while battling nicotine withdrawal at its full force. If any of you have quit with patches: How bad does it get when you stop using them, after however long? Was it as bad as cold turkey for you, or did the time you were on patches improve the experience somewhat? I definitely went through withdrawal symptoms when I switched from smoking to patches, so I have the small hope that maybe I can quit the patches too and the first few days won't be quite as bad with brain fog/getting the shakes/all the other fun stuff. 

 

I would appreciate any input! Have been reading the forum a bunch these past few days, and it has helped me. You guys are great! 

[intoxicated yoda]

Hi @chime.  First of all, using patches to quit isn't a cop out.  Whatever crutch you need to break the habit of lighting up is valid.  Patches, gums, lozenges, etc. are viable options to actual smoking and no one will show up at your house to revoke your quitting card just because you used a legitimate tool to quit smoking.  This quit I didn't use any type of NRT so I can't really speak to what type of withdrawal you may get from the patches.  However, my research has led me to believe that the nicotine might not be as addictive as the other chemicals in the cigarettes such as the pyrazines so I wouldn't stress about withdrawal from the patches yet.  Get yourself off the cigarettes first.  You can cross that bridge with the patches when you get to it.  There have been quite a few here who did use NRT to quit so I'm sure a few of them will be along soon to tell you their experience.  Congratulations on 5 days smoke free.  That's a huge accomplishment.  Welcome aboard the train.  Take a seat and hold on tight.  The trip is well worth the price of the ticket.

[jillar]

Welcome aboard the train @chime and congratulations for taking back your freedom I agree with intoxicated yoda, using NRT'S is not a cop out so get that out of your head.

As far as the patch goes we have quite a few members who used them at the start of their quits. I didn't so I'll let them give you any clues. I have read on several different posts that as their quits progressed they forgot to put one on in the morning and that's how they stopped using them. 

I'm glad you've been reading the forums. There's a lot of good info there starting with the pinned posts.

I'm looking forward to your success

[Gus]

Hello @chime! I quit smoking by using the patch. 3 year anniversary the 17th. You do what you gotta do to put the smokes out for good. I used the patch because I suffer from severe anxiety and do not use any medication to treat it so I needed the assist. I started with Stage 2 then after a couple of weeks dropped down to stage 3 and used those for a few weeks until I forgot to put one on one day and didn’t realize it for hours so I was like, “I guess I’m quit.” LOL Not going to lie. The initial 2-3 weeks was very hard for me. I was practically bed bound and cried nonstop for days and days. I could not have survived quitting cold turkey. Sure you have to eventually go through total withdrawal but it isn’t such a big deal on the patch. Like I said, I literally forgot to put the patch on one day. Keep hanging around here and you will have all the support you’ll ever need. Good luck with med school. It is very wise to stop smoking now because there will NEVER be a ‘best time’ to quit. See you around!

[chime]

Thanks for your replies!! This forum really is awesome! 

 

I shouldn't have said patches seem a cop out to me, didn't wanna sound like I disregard anybody's (or my own) success with them, I was just worried I'd end up dragging out the withdrawal phase using them.

 

Sounds like, especially reading your post @Gus (thank you so much for sharing your experience, and congrats on 3 years, that's huge!) that maybe going off the patches won't be like stopping smoking day 1 again. I really worry about that cause I currently can't take time off work, and I'm a nurse so I kinda gotta be 100% all of the time. But when you feel like it's time to quit and you wake up one day and know that it's THE DAY then you really shouldn't postpone it even if the circumstances might not be ideal, in my opinion. Reading your posts made me think that maybe I can get through this and not be a total wreck at work once I stop using the patches. Thank you, for the kind words and support as well, everybody! 

[DenaliBlues]

You can do this, @chime! Welcome to the train. 5 days without smoking is AWESOME! 
 

I used the patches (and lozenges/gum) until I built up my other quitting “muscles.” I was a very heavy smoker and needed to quit asap without lead time to prepare mentally, so some extra reinforcement helped. I ended up accelerating the step-down to get off of the patches because after a few weeks it became clear that the NRT was prolonging my withdrawal discomfort. (Plus they were driving my skin bonkers.) But by then I had developed other coping skills to lean on to make it through that final withdrawal. Wasn’t pretty, but I made it… and 2+ years later am a very grateful nonsmoker.

 

Everybody’s strategy is unique, you’ll figure out what works for you. Every quit that sticks is a good quit!

 

Stay close to the forum, let us know how you progress, and learn all you can about addiction. Knowledge is power and the community here is super supportive.

 

Glad you found us!

 

[despair not]

Hi welcome

Congratulations on your new quit.

I didn't use patches so I can't offer advice but looks like 6ou been given good advice above already.Good luck with your quit however I do it.Stsy close to the board here during your early stages it's really helpful.

[Doreensfree]

Hello and welcome to this magical place ..

Congratulations on your fabulous quit …

All roads lead to Rome ( Freedom).If Patches help you get there …Great …just get there !!!.

We are here to help you get there …to help you along …

Stay close …read all you can ..join in..make friends …play games …all these will move you along in your quit …

Looking forward to getting to know you better 

[WeegieWoman]

Hey, I quit using the patches, I think they are literally the best thing ever, I couldnt have done it without them!!  Its defintely not a cop out, its a very useful tool, they realllllly help, and you can just work down the strength of the patch over time.  Coming off the patches wasnt then like going cold turkey, I worked down the strength over time and then found odd days where i had forgot to put on the patch!  Thats when I thought i was ready to come off them when that kept happening, i suppose i did use them as a crutch in the beginning, but i needed that! We had lots of smoking rituals and my new ritual was putting on the patch, setting me up for the day!  Good luck with it!

[Brioski]

Welcome and congrats chime!!! This literally is the best forum, the ppl here are incredibly kind and supportive, and funny! Lol. 
I quit cold turkey, but it was bc I was suffering from not only wheezing, breathing stuff from smoking but anxiety, some other medical stuff, and I landed in the hospital for two years in a row (around this time lol) and kind of had to say this is it. I went 3+ days cold turkey in the hospital and then drs were like “want some help? Pills? Patches? Etc?” And I was like ummm I guess not bc isn’t the worst over?  And a rough time very much was had. I wonder if nrts would have helped me. So no, nrts are certainly not a cop out. You do u!! And you already have quite a formidable quit down! You can do this rooting for u

[Mona]

Hi chime,

 

Welcome to QuitTrain.  The quitting process takes time regargless of whether or not you use NRT's.  Here is my experience:

 

I quit smoking three times.  The first was cold turkey.  The second was with the patch used for the full 8 weeks with 4 weeks of step 1 (21 mg of nicotine).  The third was with the patch for less than 8 weeks (maybe 5 weeks...I don't remember exactly how long) and I only used the step 1 patches for the first few days but used the step 2 patches for at least a couple of weeks.  I went through terrible physical withdrawal with the cold turkey quit.  I felt bad for a month and then slowly started to feel better.  I had virtually no physical withdrawal symptoms with the second quit.  With the 21 mg patches, I hardly even craved a cigarette which I found quite unbelievable.  I did experience some withdrawal symptoms with the third quit but not too bad.  With NRT, I found it much easier to focus on the mental aspects of quitting when I wasn't simultaneously suffering physical withdrawal.

 

When I was done with the patches, I did not have any withdrawal symptoms that I was aware of.  With quit #2, I went from Step 3 patches (7 mg) to nothing.  With quit #3, I cut some of the Step 3 patches in half, so went from 3.5 mg of nicotine to nothing.  I didn't want to take any chances because I used the patches for a shorter period of time and was afraid that I might suffer some withdrawal which I did not want to do.

 

Good luck and best wishes for a successful quit!

 

[jillar]

How are you doing @chime?

[Sirius]

I quit using patches and I took my time with it.

 

Using patches breaks up the quit into two parts.  While on the patch you still get nicotine but you break the habit of not smoking.

You get used to not smoking, taking the smoke breaks, having something in your hands.

 

Tapering off wasn't fun but it was manageable.   When I stopped using the patch I felt like I was missing something but wasn't sure

what it was.  Still had smoking dreams.  Still had occasional nicotine fits.  Still have to be 100% committed and serious about your quit.

 

Still, it was something I could deal with; especially with the resources and people at the Quittrain.  

 

 

Edited March 13 by Sirius

[Kate18]

Good for you for attacking the problem again.  If patches work, then they work. If they don't, then you'll know it and think of something else. If you're in the medical field, you're smart enough to figure this out.

 

I was a serial quitter with gum, patches, tapering, and whatever else there is that is kind of quitting but not quitting. The imminent arrival of Covid to our shores is what got me to quit. It was having a reason strong enough. I believed that if I got Covid, after all the negative news I'd heard about fulminant lung infections, then I'd die.   So I quit cold turkey, and a week later the first case of Covid was discovered in the USA, north of me about 20 miles. I took it as a sign to stay quit.

 

When a person finds their "WHY?" then they quit.

 

I'm struggling for quitting something else, and hearing myself as I write to you. I have some "WHY?" searching of my own to do.

 

Good luck to you. What you did once, you can do again, I'm sure of it. Keep us posted!