Why are some people able to quit smoking cold turkey? Im using nicotine replacement gum and it is still hard.? -
You have to determine what you are really addicted to. Is it truly the nicotine or is it the action?
I am/was addicted to the action. If you are interested, try the electronic cigarette. You can save nearly half per year, still get your nicotine (or not if you use no nicotine cartridges), and take care of the addiction to the action.
I tried both the patch and the gum and was successfully miserable for about 8 weeks. After all of the nicotine was out of my system on the patch, I still found myself reaching for a pack of smokes.
I tired everything, gum, patches, hypnosis, inhalers, acupuncture, everything, nothing worked until i went cold turkey.
The thing about cold turkey was that it was bloody terrible, but over faster, every single day, every HOUR I was further away from smoking and that doesn-t happen with the replacements, you NEVER get enough nicotine to kill the craving, but always have SOME in your system and the -stopping- period lasts for months and months before you are nicotine free.
I know these methods work for millions, but for me, cold turkey was the only way.
(I cried every single day for the first 5 weeks or so lol, it was brutal, but worth it)
I am still smoking and have for sixty years now. I wish I had an answer for you. I went through Smokenders twice 20 years ago. Smoking was not recognized as a serious addiction then and I assiduously dealt with all the -psychological- aspects of my habit. I come from a family replete with alcoholism and I don-t drink at all! When I was in the Smokenders programs I saw many men who simply QUIT, cold turkey and without great complaint. I DO think it is much harder for women and it may have something to do with the extra fat cells that we carry in our makeup. I think somehow the nicotine may be harder for women to purge from their systems - taking longer and thus making withdrawal more difficult.
Also years ago the gum was by prescription only and doctors and dentists would only give you a prescription for ONE box. Even then I would say the gum was better than the smoking. I feel it is the components in the smoke that is much more harmful to your body and lungs than the nicotine, although that is undoubtably the addicting component.
I hope you will persevere in your efforts as the pain and suffering right now will pass and you will be free of the addiction soon.
You just have to get to the point where you-re disgusted with cigarettes. I recently quit. I had to just tell myself that they are nasty and expensive. I don-t go outside with the smokers at work now either so I-ve stayed out of a lot of gossipy drama. I have asthma too, so I-m saving money on Claritin now too because I don-t have to take it as often. I-m actually losing weight now. I gained 10 pounds when I quit, lost it and I-m still going with the weight loss. I can jog further and more intensely. I feel a lot better.
Try out some effective, simple and drug-free methods to quit smoking naturally. Try to review some companies that provide products that will help you to quit smoking naturally without any drug medication that could lead to negative long-term effects for the rest of your life. Good luck.
I used to smoke 200/day. Used to smoke even while eating. I used to get up at night to smoke.
Quit cold turkey in 1967 and never smoked again.
Fear was the key.
The American Surgeon General-s report, the study report of the Royal School of Physicians (UK) and the obituary of the Time correspondent written by himself two days before he died of lung cancer (The last line - it is too late for me, may not be for you) were all published in March 1967.
I quit on 21st March 1967 5-30 pm.
Great question - but who knows?
My Dad always tells how in the 1970-s when he used to smoke, he walked into a room and lit a cigarette and saw that he had two other ones going at the same time in the living room. At that point he said, -This is ridiculous-, and quit at that very moment never to smoke again.
I guess when I have trouble breaking a habit, I always go back to that. He-s much stronger than me, lol - but it helps to know that sometimes we complicate things and like to believe we don-t have the ability to stop something that we-re in complete control over.
Did that help you? Probably not. But I guess sometimes it-s mind over matter. Good luck. :-)
The degree of addiction depends on many factors, including genes. Some people don-t get addicted at all, others mildly or moderately, some can never stop.