Quitting help.

I managed to stop smoking and thought I'd share my experience in the hope that it might help someone.

Nicotine is extremely addictive but there is another factor--the physical habit of manipulating cigarettes. All things considered, nicotine isn't that bad for you; it's the 19 carcinogens that come with it. I found a cigarette substitute to help me past both hurdles.

First, consider how nicotine is delivered by smoking. The drug enters the blood very quickly and dissipates slowly, so there is a huge spike in the delivery with the first puff. There is enough nicotine in that first puff to satisfy the craving but once it's lit the rest of the dose is administered anyway; nobody ever takes one puff and puts it out, right?

I used a nicotine inhaler (prescription) that looks and feels like a cigarette. There's a sponge saturated with nicotine inside a plastic tube. When you inhale through the tube it acts just as a cigarette does, gives a big spike. I found that I could take one or two hits and put the tube away. By using the tube over and over I gradually reduced the dosage in those one or two hits.

Next I cut the ends off the tube so it didn't look or feel like the cigarette. It was only an inch long. Then I put it in unfamiliar places instead of where I always stored the tobacco and held it differently than I did cigaretts. I was trying to change the repetitive behaviors associated with smoking.

Over a period of a week by diminishing the dosage and changing the behavior I was able to finally give up the inhaler. Feeling like an idiot every time I sucked on that plastic tube helped too.

Don't get me wrong--it wasn't easy or pleasant. If one has the will power to quit cold it's better because using a nicotine substitute just prolongs the process but if the "taper off" helps like it did for me it's worth the extra few days of discomfort. Better that then continuing to smoke, right?

Finally I was told that a craving only lasted 3 minutes on average. Three minutes? I can stand on my head that long, right? Knowing that I didn't have to hold out all day helped a lot.

If you're insured your insurance will probably cover the inhalers. Goog luck, it's the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone around you.

for Chantix. I paid $150 for Nicotrol, the inhaler.