Something I don't understand about quit smoking aids

[Ando85]

I've always wondered what is the point of quit smoking aids such as gum, lozenges, or patches. The goal to quitting smoking is to rid oneself of the addiction to nicotine, correct? So, how does having an alternate nicotine source help? It seems sort of counter productive as wouldn't you just be continuing to fulfill the addiction?

Isn't the point to rid yourself of the addiction entirely instead of just shifting the way it is administered? It sounds like the same thing as quitting cigarettes by replacing it with dip or chewing tobacco.

To me quitting cold turkey which is difficult seems like the only effective option. Of course I could be completely wrong about this and is why I'm asking.

EDIT: Alright from what I gather from most of the responses is that quit smoking aids are a healthier way to get nicotine or they are used to gradually taper off.

So with the first one you basically will just chew nicotine gum, use a patch, or a lozenge for the rest of your life instead of smoking?

For the second method of tapering off I could just compare this to gradually reducing the amounts of cigarettes you smoke a day. I've read from various sources that that is just prolonging your suffering by doing this. The whole "not enough puff" thing comes to mind. Sure, the aids aren't as harmful as actual cigarettes but are still fulfilling an addiction that tapering off is supposed to eventually eliminate entirely right?.

 

[BlackStar42]

Not many people have the willpower to go cold turkey. The idea is to slowly cut down using the alternatives, which are less harmful than smoking a cigarette.

 

[Little Woodsman]

The point of the gum, lozenges, patches etc... is that they help break the habit of lighting up
a cigarette, so that once the habit is broken the user can then try to tackle the chemical addiction
without having to deal with the habit at the same time.
Cold Turkey is definitely one effective quitting method, but different methods work better for different people.
What I always recommend to smokers is that they measure how many cigarettes they smoke in an average day,
and make that their limit--never smoke more than that limit. Then decrease that number slowly.
(Say a man finds that he smokes 20 cigarettes on an average day. He makes that his limit and for a week
never smokes more than 20 a day. The next week he cuts back and never smokes more than 19 a day. The following
week he cuts down to 18 a day etc...) Then when s/he is down to five or so a day look into quitting cold turkey,
or other quitting methods.
I've never really smoked, but this was pretty much the method I very successfully used to quit sweetened
beverages.

 

[Slaanesh]

Not many people have the willpower to go cold turkey. The idea is to slowly cut down using the alternatives, which are less harmful than smoking a cigarette.

aaaaand /thread.

Having nicotine gum or patches is a hell of a lot healthier than sucking some smoke into your lungs.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

Sorry for the maybe silly, and very possibly off topic, question, but where does the saying 'cold turkey' come from?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

It's not about stopping your addiction to nicotine for most smokers, it's the fact that they don't like the actual act of smoking, the lung cancer that it causes, and the fact that they constantly smell like smoke. If they can get the same nicotine fix without the need to actually smoke cigarettes and inhale toxic smoke into their lungs then that's what they want.

 

[Queen Michael]

Sorry for the maybe silly, and very possibly off topic, question, but where does the saying 'cold turkey' come from?

From Wikipedia:

"Here are several explanations of the phrase's origin:

A narrowing of the meaning "suddenly or without preparation," from cold turkey being a dish that requires little preparation; originally used for heroin addicts.

From the American phrase talk turkey meaning "to speak bluntly with little preparation".

Some believe the derivation is from the comparison of a cold turkey carcass and the state of a withdrawing addict ? most notably, the cold sweats, goose bumps.

Reference to the periods after Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays where cold (leftover) turkey was likely to be eaten, coinciding with the end of those holidays' characteristically high alcohol consumption."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

It's very hard to go Cold Turkey if you've been a chain-smoker for a long time. Yes, smoking aids contain Nicotine, but they don't contain as much as cigarettes. The idea is they they be used as a halfway house, easing your brains dependence on Nicotine until you are strong enough to drop it completely; and until you are, it's giving you the hit of Nicotine without all the other harmful substances you consume when you smoke a cigarette. So, even when it isn't fixing the problem, it's at least not making it any worse.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

SNIP

Thanks. Guess I should have looked around a bit more than not at all.

 

[Rawne1980]

Tell you what, take up smoking for 5 or more years and then go cold turkey .... come back and let me know how that works out for you.

My wife tried quitting cold turkey ... I bought her the bastard gum. She got irritable, snappy and was constantly stressed .... personally I didn't notice a difference (only joking if you read this my love)....

I'll be sleeping on the sofa from now on.

 

[lechat]

think it's all been said but i would add that nicotine replacement when used correctly is very effective in cutting down cigarette cravings and if 20 years down the track you find your self addicted to gum or tablets then it is still an improvement

 

[adamsaccount]

The tar and carbon monoxide in tobacco is the worst thing. The nicotine is a secondary poison.

 

[Dags90]

Aside from everything else people are saying, they're also useful for sating your nicotine fix during extended periods where you won't be able to smoke, like a long flight.

 

[Baneat]

The theory:

Quit smoking aids are supposed to wean you off the drug by easing you into the removal of the activity itself, leaving only the addictive chemical. It's supposed to be easier to quit just nicotine rather than quitting nicotine and the whole experience of smoking at the same time,

The reality:

They do not help. You reinforce the idea that a: it's supposed to be easy to quit and b: you never deal with the fact that you're addicted to nicotine properly as your behaviour undermines you. This is why the quitting rates (Which are depressingly low) are the same cold-turkey or aided.

I quit cold-turkey, it's an experience you just have to suck up and push through don't kid yourself on.

 

[Strazdas]

I've always wondered what is the point of quit smoking aids such as gum, lozenges, or patches. The goal to quitting smoking is to rid oneself of the addiction to nicotine, correct? So, how does having an alternate nicotine source help? It seems sort of counter productive as wouldn't you just be continuing to fulfill the addiction?

Isn't the point to rid yourself of the addiction entirely instead of just shifting the way it is administered? It sounds like the same thing as quitting cigarettes by replacing it with dip or chewing tobacco.

To me quitting cold turkey which is difficult seems like the only effective option. Of course I could be completely wrong about this and is why I'm asking.

the idea here is to gradually lower the consumption. you do patch a day at first, then patch every second day, then patch a week and then quit finally. it is assumed to be easier to quit when you lower the habit over time instead of just instantly quitting.
also nicotine patches are healthier than cigarettes.

 

[Tanis]

Not many people have the willpower to go cold turkey. The idea is to slowly cut down using the alternatives, which are less harmful than smoking a cigarette.

You-Have-No-Idea
(Okay, MAYBE you do, but then it'd ruin my intro.)

Quitting 'cold turkey' is SO DAMN HARD.

I started smoking, behind my father's back, in Middle School.
-Long story.

So when I decided to quit smoking, behind my parents backs, in high school.
Well, this was before the whole 'patches n' gum n' fake cigs...'

It's a long, hard, process that turned me into a bit of an assholes during the 'detox'.
Hardest thing I'll probably have to do, short of cutting off one of my own limbs.

You kids these days have no idea how lucky you are to have all these things to help you quit.

 

[Eleuthera]

Most people (I believe) quit smoking for heatlth reasons, and the nicotine isn't the (main) health risk while smoking. Getting the addictive fix without the smoke and tar is already a big step up. And as others have said slowly lowering your nicotine intake is easier through patches (not sure about gum) than by just smoking less.