The title pretty much says it all. Anyone who has tried quitting smoking knows saying it sucks is an understatement. I decided to go with the patch since my employer will pay for either the patch or the gum, and I have tried the gum in the past and hated it. The problem with the gum is no matter what flavor it has this peppery taste and you have chew it like it was chewing tobacco. Chew and park it on your gums repeating this for 30 minutes or until the peppery taste subsides. The patch of course I have found has it's on problems. The most apparent and immediate is that it hurts to wear it. Yep that's right. It doesn't hurt in a my skin is having an allergic reaction kind of way, instead it actually tenses your muscle at the site of the patch and makes it sore. I noticed this within a minute of putting it on. I asked my friend who recently quit using the patch and is now nicotine free about this. He said that for him it was a side affect that never went away. So I guess I have 8 weeks of sore arms to look forward to. I can't speak about the lozenge, but I have a feeling it probably still has the same peppery taste as the gum (but I guess the plus side is that it doesn't cause you physical pain.
Unfortunately the method I would really like to try I'm not a candidate for. The Nicotrol inhaler looks similar to a cigarette holder and to a certain degree you smoke it. But since I have asthma and use inhalers for that there is no reputable doctor out there that will prescribe me it. Oh, and did I mention that if you use it as often as you were previously smoking a $50 supply lasts only about 3-4 days? That adds up quick but it obviously helps the oral fixation part of it. This is the part of smoking that I am having the hardest time with. I haven't gotten a buzz from a cigarette since I started smoking but the taste of the menthol goodness on my tongue and throat is hard to replace. At the very least mints and cough drops just aren't doing it for me.
What I would like to see is some sort of program similar to what was in The Fifth Element. In case you haven't seen it I would like to stress that you should. It is a great campy Sci-Fi flick that ranks up there with Galaxy Quest. Anyway, in The Fifth Element Bruce Willis's character is either trying to quit smoking or it is so heavily regulated that cigarettes are dispensed from a machine that limits the number of cigarettes you can have in a day. Not only that, but the cigarettes have such a large filter on them that it doesn't appear that you could get more than a couple of puffs. This seems like a great way to quit. You still get to smoke, but your nicotine intake is still being gradually reduced. I realize that the sooner you stop smoking the better. While nicotine is a highly addictive substance, all the other chemicals in cigarettes making smoking even worse so nicotine replacement therapy is the lesser of the two evils. I also realize the tobacco industry would do everything in their power to prevent tobacco from being regulated so heavily. All I'm trying to say as I approach my 24 hour mark without a cigarette is that given the choice I would probably prefer the Korben Dallas method of smoking cessation.