Well, yeah...you do have to try. Really hard, as a matter of fact. And, as with other addictions, if you don't really want to quit, then you're probably not going to succeed in kicking the habit regardless of the method you use in the attempt.
So your first decision is "Do I want to quit?" If the answer is "yes", then go see your doctor/nurse practitioner and ask them for a prescription for Chantix. Why Chantix? Because the stuff works!
Note: I do not work for Chantix, Pfizer, nor any other company that might make some sort of profit from the medication. I simply want to let people know that quitting smoking can be done. Without wanting to kill someone even!
Follow me to the Smoke Free Zone.....
There are receptors for nicotine in the brain. When smoke is inhaled, nicotine attaches to these receptors. This sends a message to a different part of the brain to release a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine gives a feeling of pleasure. But it only lasts for a short time. The body wants to repeat this feeling. Based on research, it is believed that CHANTIX™ (varenicline) works by activating these receptors and blocking nicotine from attaching to them. However, CHANTIX does not contain nicotine.
It also cuts the cravings down to about half-strength or less.
So, luckily enough my health benefits include prescriptions and, even better, includes Chantix. When we went to the pharmacy check-out, the total for the starter month pack was a resounding $0. Cool, huh? But what you should do is check your provider's website and find out what the price was anyway. It was $230+ at mine, then $88 for the continuing month packs, but prices seem to vary.
Why get the price if it's covered by your insurance? Well, I used it as an extra incentive when my resolve would start to waver: "You paid over 200 bucks for these damned pills, you'd damn well better get it right the first time!" Doesn't matter that I didn't really pay for them - quitting smoking is truly a mental game, and that's part of it.
The first hurdle is a big one: Fear. Irrational, unreasoning fear.
A hundred questions and worries are going to run through your mind, each of them wackier than the last. The fear can be overwhelming - "Someone is trying to push you down a dark tunnel and you just know there's a masked lunatic wielding a chainsaw waiting somewhere in there to hack you to bits" kind of overwhelming.
This moment is why you have to have made a firm decision to quit. Before you take that first little pill, you're going to be swamped with that fear and you're going to hear every excuse imaginable in your head as to why you should wait...oh I don't know, another month or so maybe to give this quitting thing a try.
Suck it up and take the first pill. Then hie thee to the support site and sign up. I requested daily email notifications rather than a text message sent to my phone so I can just click on the link and go straight to my "home page". No procrastinating allowed and it's painless - really.
Okay. You've made the decision, you've got the prescription, and you've signed up for the support plan (which is there for you for an entire year, by the way). You've also bullied yourself into popping that first pill and now you're freaking out because you want a cigarette.
Well, light one up dude/dudette! You don't just quit cold turkey on these meds...it's a gradual process. GetQuit is set up for you to quit after taking the meds for a week. Personally, I quit after 18 days (the last three days I had one cigarette each), so don't get all hung up on that, okay? Your body, your pace.
The first activity is to write down every time you have a cigarette. I did columns on a pad of paper: Date, then the times. Made it easier to compare them. The first day I smoked as usual (harder than you would think, because writing it down each time like that makes you realize just how often you reach for a smoke). It established a baseline for me. Every day thereafter, I'd try to go a little longer between cigs - hour, two hours, two and a half, etc.. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but I'd plug away at it.
This is where a little extra assistance is needed (don't worry, most of this is part of the support plan and you'll have reminders and tips every day). Distractions and mantras.
Distractions can be anything from yard work (if weather permits), video games (the Wii is great because you have to use both hands..and it's fun!), exercise of some kind, be it walks, weights, or what-have-you, shopping - anything to keep your mind off how long it's been since you've had a cigarette. Because, believe me, smoking is going to be at the forefront of everything you think and do especially in the first weeks, and it's going to be quite a task to have a span of time where you don't think about it. Also, when you do find yourself reaching for a cigarette have something else there instead - I have Tic Tacs, Almonds (salted works better for me), and gum. CSI Bentonville was kind enough to give me an assist with additional links in a comment about pumpkin seeds.
Mantras will vary as you go along. From "I don't need a cigarette" all the way to "I don't smoke, I don't smoke, I don't smoke." I dropped the "anymore" off the end as another mind game: "I don't smoke anymore" reminds you that you did smoke and runs the risk of "well, one more puff won't hurt", while "I don't smoke" sounds more like you're already at the end stage. All mental, yes. But it helped me. There's also the "these damned pills cost..." thing, which comes in handy. LOL There's going to be a whole lot of mental noise going on while you're going through this process. As I said earlier, smoking is going to be the number one topic in your head and you're going to have to get creative to switch to another damned channel. But, yes, it does get easier - closer to the month and a half mark for me, possibly because it took me longer to actually quit than the week Chantix and GetQuit suggests.
I'm also extremely lucky to have Pat, who supported me (and is supporting me) through this whole thing. She'd buy my cigarettes without a word (pleased, actually, when it went from being a carton to single packs), offer words of encouragement when I was on shaky ground, expressed loads of confidence in my ability to stick through the program, and kept her temper when mine flared from the sheer frustration and withdrawal (we found out the hard way that, even after a month of being on the meds, you can't miss an entire day's worth of doses <wince>).
Along with CSI Bentonville, there were other dear-hearts here at DKos that offered me their support, so don't be afraid to go to Top Comments or an Open Thread to vent. I found that just getting involved in some diaries/threads would help distract me enough to get through a tough spot without ever having to bring smoking up.
Finally, after 18 days of having to answer "yes" to the daily "Have you smoked since you last checked in with us?" I'd had enough of myself and put my foot down. I woke Pat up where she was snoozing in her chair and crushed the half pack of cigarettes I had left and told her that was it. With tears in my eyes, embarrassingly enough. I also threatened bodily harm if she didn't promise to buy me a pack of cigs immediately upon request and without any questions, just in case. That was back on June 8th and we haven't had to test that promise. Lord knows, the roofing guys and especially the sewer installation guys really racheted up the tension levels and made me wonder if I was going to slip up. There are a few comments here on DKos that will attest to that - and many thanks once again to those of you who helped provide very needed distractions on those days!
While the Chantix manages to cut back the cravings to a manageable level, I can't emphasize enough how difficult it still is to, first, quit, then to actually stay quit. It boggles my mind that people have done this cold turkey - absolutely amazing, and they deserve medals. As do the people in their immediate vicinity when their tempers flared! I really don't think I'd have been able to do it without Chantix to keep the cravings under control.
So. I'm sure I've missed some things in here, but hopefully there's enough info to help someone out there. Some days are tougher than others and the beginning weeks are a trial for sure, but it can be done. If you've made the decision to quit smoking, I have every faith that you'll be able to do it, too.
I started taking Chantix Monday night, the 21st of May. My last cigarette was at 9:48pm on the 8th of June. I keep the sheet of paper with my cigarette progression near me at all times - because, miracle of miracles, I now have trouble keeping track of how many days I've been smoke-free.
Today is Day 29.
Thank you for listening/reading. And thank you for all your support.
Update [2007-7-7 16:6:0 by PatsBard]:
Cigarette Progression (by day)
1. 22
2. 17
3. 19
4. 18
5. 15
6. 16
7. 17
Then I started writing down what time I got up and held off having that first cigarette as long as I could.
8. 7
9. 8
10. 8
11. 10
12. 8
13. 10
14. 7
15. 9
16. 1
17. 2
18. 1
[UPDATE 2]
Also see Dallasdoc's diary: For Peter: Dallasdoc's Stop Smoking Guide