My husband probably wanted to throw me out of the window when I tried to quit on my own.
I was beyond a witch! Worse, I felt like I truly wanted to beat something to a pulp if I could not get a cigarette! I had even contemplated picking half of a cigarette up off the street in order to get my "fix"! How nasty would that have been! Truly, it really seems like an act of desperation, but, until you have been there and know how that feels, then it probably will not make much sense to you! Nicotine substitutes are meant to help assist and try to stop all of the cravings, as well as try to get the withdrawal to lessen.
Most of the replacements tend to start with a high level of nicotine, and gradually "wean" a person off the addiction.
Things such as nicotine gum, nicotine transdermal patches, and nicotine inhalers tend to go this route.
I could not use the nicotine transdermal patches.
They are meant to transfer the nicotine through the skin, one level at a time.
However, I cannot stand the feel of anything sticky on my person, including bandages! Therefore, when I tried this version, I was probably working myself up into a worse state than I was originally in, since I hated the feel of the bandages so much! I actually got to sleep in it one night, but woke up and had to tear it off.
I had a square burn-like mark on my upper shoulder for several days after.
Therefore, apparently, this patch was not for me! I did wonderful, however, with the nicotine gum.
Since I was a gum chewer as it was, it felt okay to have a piece in my mouth.
However, I learned to move it around inside my mouth often, or else it would begin to tingle my gums or tongue if it touched that area for too long.
It was a bit more costly than I wanted, but I had quit when these had just come out, so it seems to be a lot cheaper nowadays, as opposed to several years back! Nicotine nasal spray can be prescribed by a doctor - if you can handle the nasal spray.
This may sound like it works well for you, but go and pick up a rather cheap saline nasal spray from the local drug store.
Double check with the saline spray to make sure you can handle such an item.
I used to use nasal spray when I was pregnant and needed nose relief, but I used it when necessary! I am not sure I could use it several times a day.
One of the newest forms out there are nicotine lozenges.
These have yet to gain a trend-setting crowd of want to-be non-smokers, but I did try some that a friend of mine had.
They had the same tingling to them as nicotine gum, but need to be completely dissolved in the mouth (no chewing or biting) in order to be effective.