There are numerous reasons that quit smoking aids cost so much, not the least of which is the people who manufacture them are in it for the money.  And the market will bear a cost of $50 or so for a quit smoking aid with a proven track record.

The question you have to ask yourself is this: how much do you spend every month on cigarettes?  And what’s your health worth to you?

I am a non-smoker. My boyfriend has been smoking for over 6 years and he said it’s almost impossible for him to quit. However, we want to get married and I have told him that he will need to quit before we get engaged or I can’t marry him.

He’s trying to quit now and I’m very happy.  I don’t know much about quit smoking aids.  He has a filter that he attaches to his cigarettes which makes it less harmful.  I was wondering how effective these filters are?  Also, I want to get him something else that can help him quit.  I’ve heard about hypnosis and some other stop smoking aids.  Can anyone tell me which ones are better and where can I buy them?

First of all, best of luck to your boyfriend. Cigarette smoking is a form of nicotine addiction just like chewing tobacco. I HAVE SMOKED FOR FORTY YEARS and I finally quit.

Let me speak from my own experience and the knowledge of nearly sixty years of life has taught me.

Your boyfriend is now and will always be a nicotine addict just as I am. The difference is that I am not smoking.  The fail rate for smokers is actually higher than persons addicted to heroin, methamphetamines and cocaine.  Nicotine is an incredibly addictive substance -addiction to it takes a lot of drive and willpower to maintain.

Now, for the ways in which to quit:  Patches,  gum, Chantix and anything that delivers nicotine to the human body will keep a person addicted.  You would never give heroin to a heroin addict to help them quit, so why would giving nicotine to a smoker work?  As for Chantix, though it does not deliver nicotine it does deliver its drug to the brain and tricks the brain into sending endorphins into the bloodstream just as if it were nicotine.

Consider this advice. In the US, pharmaceutical manufactures make untold BILLIONS of dollars profits by playing on peoples lack of knowledge. Smoking cessation aids are a big business and have made many execs wealthy. If hypnosis, drugs like Chantix and all the other charms happen to work for a person than thank God.

The awful truth is this, once you deliver nicotine to your body and you do this repeatedly, your body will then become addicted to the drug. I have not smoked in nearly two years and believe me, I have tried everything to quit. The best way to quit and the way in which is most successful is JUST STOP. Your body will have its varying degrees of withdrawl symptoms, but tell yourself NO withdrawl symptoms could ever be as hideous as dying of lung cancer, emphysema, pancreatic cancer and the list goes on.

Ask any former smoker how they FINALLY quit and odds are nearly all will tell you they did it cold turkey. It’s not fun and it was the single hardest thing I ever did in my life. One fact that a former smoker must always keep in mind is that you are NOT stronger than nicotine. It held you in its deadly embrace and you finally pulled away from it. All it would take is for you to take ONE puff and you could and likely will be smoking again. Your brain is not able to understand a span of time when you are a nicotine addict. To your brain whether you quit for a day, a week, a month a year of ten years…it is as though it was YESTERDAY. You could pick up a cigarette and light up like you never quit.

I speak from the life of an older man, fifty – six years old. Trust me, no smoker with any brains wants to continue to smoke. Nicotine addiction is beatable. Thousands of people in the US quit successfully each year. The mere fact that our geniuses in our government have decided to tax cigarettes should be a motivation to throw them away. The sad fact is that our wondrus politicians know how hard quitting is and so they have found a great revenue source to line their pockets with folks money from taxing cigarettes.

In my humble opinion the best website on the planet to quit smoking is http://www.whyquit.com. Look for the videos and yes, sit and watch them. This man knows exactly what smokers go through when they quit. I know for me that I can never take another puff!

I wish your boyfriend well and may you both have a long healthy, and smoke – free life.

Nicotine Anonymous is a Non-Profit 12 Step Fellowship of men and women helping each other live nicotine-free lives. Nicotine Anonymous welcomes all those seeking freedom from nicotine addiction, including those using cessation programs and nicotine withdrawal aids. The primary purpose of Nicotine Anonymous is to help all those who would like to cease using tobacco and nicotine products in any form. The Fellowship offers group support and recovery using the 12 Steps as adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous to achieve abstinence from nicotine.

This is something that sounds like it could be useful and worth checking out.  Let me know if this is something that has worked for you.

A positive note from an ex-smoker:

I quit smoking in 1971. Except for a few cigars I haven’t smoked since and my last cigar was in 1977. Have you quit or are you trying to kick the habit? I quit cold turkey without a support group or any kind of medicine or other aid. Once I firmly decided to quit I had no trouble staying quit, but I did backslide several times on the way to successfully quitting. I never doubted I could kick the habit, though it was not easy to quit after years as a smoker.
Between my first serious attempt to quit smoking and my final successful attempt there was a span of six years and probably four or five tries to quit. It was not easy, and the hardest part was being around other people who smoked. In one of those tries I was smoke-free for nearly three years before I backslid into the habit. So I respect anyone who has tried–failed or succeeded–and I fully sympathize with those who have the habit and want to quit.

I found a time-line of some of the more immediate effects of quitting smoking.  Sometimes, even if you’re using a stop smoking pill, those good health effects seem so distant!  This might help to keep you motivated.  Print it out and keep it on your fridge!

* In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
* In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
* In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
* In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
* In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
* In 3 to 9 months coughing, wheezing, and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
* In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
* In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
* In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
* In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.

Not to mention how much better, healthier, your complexion will be and how much more fit you will be!

I read a study recently that showed that those who stopped smoking, with or without a quit smoking aid, before they reached 30 years of age lived almost as long as those who never smoked. Smoking cessation will almost always lead to a longer and healthier life. Stopping in early adulthood can add up to 10 years of healthy life and stopping in one’s sixties can still add three years of healthy life . Stopping smoking is associated with better mental health and spending less of one’s life with diseases of old age.  Some more reasons why it’s always worth it to take your health into your own hands!

A woman the other day recently quit smoking and is concerned with the little bit of weight she gained.  She was considering taking a pill, as she had used a quit smoking aid to help with her nicotine withdrawals.

My advice was that she should stick with her natural, healthy lifestyle.  Not only will moderate activity help her shed those pounds, but her lungs will begin the process of healing.  She’s off to a great beginning, and putting more chemicals into her body isn’t going to do her any good.  Lasting lifestyle changes are what make the difference in the long run.

Sleep problems are part of the process of getting over the nicotine addiction.   Using a quit smoking aid such as Zyban (also known as Welbutrin)  can have some side-effects that are pretty annoying.  Insomnia is one of Zyban’s most common side effects (it hit me hard when I used it to try to quit.)  You probably don’t want to mix medications, but there are some natural sleep aids out there that can do you a world of good in this situation.  Try a combination of chamomile tea before bedtime, or warm milk is great too, and spraying a lavender mist on your pillow.  Studies have shown that a warm bath will also help relax you.  Reading is a good way to get sleepy.  Valerian root and melatonin can be purchased at any pharmacy (often found in tea form or pill form).  Also try yoga in the evening, cutting out all caffeine and avoiding sweets in the evening.  If you can’t get any rest at all, check with your doctor, but trying these tips and getting into a good sleep ‘routine’ will usually clear up most insomnia.

Reader email:

I have gone 2 weeks without a smoke and am using Nicabate lozenges (similar to gum) and everything is going well. I am starting to worry about how I will survive when it comes time to give these up. Has anybody successfully quit with the aid of any form of NRT and was it difficult to give these up? Is it the same as trying to quit smoking cold turkey? If it is I won’t have much success.

Congratulations on already going for two weeks.  With quitting you have to make a conscious decision to quit or stay quit and you can do it. There is a relatively new drug out there called Chantix. It first came out some time last year. You need a prescription for it. It has no nicotine and takes the craving away. It really works, after a while you don’t want to smoke anymore.
Or set a date and quit cold turkey, it is not as hard as many ex smokers make you believe. The hardest with that is setting the date and then stick to it. The first day is very hard and you feel very vulnerable and only think of smoking, the second day is already better, the third even more. I quit 40 days ago, cold turkey, and feel great and usually don’t think about smokes.

The very best of luck and keep with it:)

This was a message from someone in response to an entry about using quit smoking aids:

I personally don’t trust any quit smoking method that deals only with physical nicotine addiction.  I tried several times to quit using patches, gums, herbs etc but none of these worked.

I had an especially horrible time on Chantix, having nightmares at night and anxiety attacks during the day.

Remember, smoking is more of a psychological addiction than a physical one. If you really want to quit you must discover the reasons why you smoke and then eliminate or change these thought processes. As soon as I dealt with my psychological reasons for smoking I quit, first time and more importantly for good.

Once you deal with the psychological side of smoking it makes the quitting process easy, no matter your level of addiction.

Quitting smoking does not require any patches, gums, herbs or anything like that. These methods are expensive, time consuming and simply do not work. All that is required is a bit of motivation, self belief and determination.