So, looks like I tried to quit in 2005. For the record, I failed. Big time. Got much worse for a while there.
Now I'm trying again. I have a wife and two stepdaughters to worry about (among other things). I've got a sister dying of an incurable disease and a best friend facing the end of his life due to esophagal cancer. He's in his 30s!
I only started smoking about 5 years ago. Bad, I know. But supposedly that will make it easier to quit.
Visited a doctor for a routine physical the other day, and he read me the anti-smoking riot act. Name it, he said it. "You stink." "You have ashtray breath." And much worse.
He prescribed Chantix. I had my last cigarette at 11 a.m. Friday. I took my first pill at 11:05. I have not wanted one since.
Still, I'm reading some things about this product that worry me. And my doc claims to have a 100% success rate, which I think is horseradish. I don't see any dispute about how it works: Nicotine attaches itself to receptors in your brain that release a small amount of dopamine. Chantix blocks those receptors, thus breaking the physical nicotine addiction. Behavioral addiction, on the other hand, needs to be addressed by the patient.
And it looks like there are some danged troublesome side effects in a tiny minority of users. "Stop using if you have thoughts of suicide." WHAT?!?!?!
So I'm being real careful and alerting my wife of things to look out for. If my behavior changes, the drug goes.
I tried cold turkey. I failed. I tried gum. I failed. I tried the patch. I failed. I don't blame the methods. I lacked the will power.
So here we go again: Round 500 in the I'm-going-to-quit-and-I-mean-it-this-time marathon. Will it work? Well, three days without so much as a craving is a good sign. If it's the drug, great - for now. If it's psychological, even BETTER!
I still taste the tobacco residue in my mouth, even after three days. Here's hoping that goes away soon.
DMiller, did you have more success than I did?
