Hell Just Froze Over! (NiQuitin CQ)

Member Name: QueenElf

Product:	NiQuitin CQ
Date:	25/03/07 (326 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Disadvantages: The time has ro be right for you.

Hi friends. I’m not too good on titles but I do hope this one grabs your attention because I have some good news for all the “would-be non-smokers” out there.
I AM NOT GOING TO PREACH, SO READ ON.
Sorry about that but I am a non-smoker now and for years I hated the people who nagged me to give up. I am not going to nag and I respect the wishes of all smokers to be allowed to puff their ciggies in peace, because I think the ban on smoking is going too far , despite the fact that I don’t smoke anymore and haven’t had one since 2nd November 2006.

I was the dedicated smoker. The person who said that I would give up smoking when Hell froze over because I enjoyed smoking and had no intention of even trying to quit. The reason I gave up was because I was in debt and the more I worried about my debt, the more fags I smoked.
I started as many people of my age-group (50- something), did at the age of fifteen behind the girls’ toilets at grammar school. It was the 1960’s and smoking was really cool then. Oh God, this is going to be so embarrassing, but it was a packet of five Woodbines in those days. Needless to say I was hooked by the age of eighteen and was getting through a pack of twenty a day. I loved going out with my friends and buying those lovely coloured cigarettes, (I can’t name them but most people will guess what they were). I did give up for a short while when I was pregnant with my daughter, but even then it was temporary and soon I was back to twenty a day. I carried on smoking until, by the age of forty I was on forty a day.
Friends who know me well (and here I mean my Internet friends as well), know that I haven’t worked for six years now because of health problems.
Living on sickness benefits I was soon heavily in debt and it took a lot of courage to face up to that. (that’s another story.) Now I was lighting up a fag when I had one already smouldering in my ashtray…it was time for me to face up to my addiction. I couldn’t afford to smoke and manage to eat, pay my bills and look after my two cats. My older cat needed treatment at the vet’s and I borrowed money to pay for it. I had to do something and so I visited my doctor with trepidation. I was going to have to admit that I had been smoking up to sixty fags a day and I knew I was going to get a lecture.

This is where a good, responsible doctor can make the difference. Instead of lecturing me he sat and listened as I poured out my heart to him. I told him I had no willpower and that I was ashamed of myself. He sat there silently. I went on to say that I knew I was endangering my health and that I couldn’t expect any sympathy. In short I said all the things I had expected him to say to me. He sat there with his fingers steepled together and just watched me squirm.
Then he calmly said that he was going to refer me to the Welsh charity that helps people quit smoking. I had to come back in ten days and if he considered I was genuine then he would prescribe the nicotine replacement products at no cost to me. (I have to point out here that due to health problems I am exempt for life for paying for prescriptions).

I went home and cried. I would have to phone the number given and speak to someone else.
Fortunately I was able to see a counsellor within a few days and she went over the different options with me. I opened up my heart and said that I was being forced into doing it because I couldn’t afford to smoke. The reply came back that if I really didn’t want to quit then somehow I would find the money. She was right, but the reasons are not applicable to this review. Spread out in front of me was every conceivable aid to wean me off nicotine and I was allowed to try the different gums, lozenges, etc to see if they would help. I’d already filled in a questionnaire about my smoking habits and between us we agreed I would start on the NiQuitin CQ® patches. There are three strengths with the patches to gradually wean the smoker off the habit. As a very heavy smoker I started on the highest dosage… 21 mgs of nicotine delivered over twenty-four hours via a flesh-covered patch. The full course is six weeks on the 21 mgs patches, followed by two weeks on the 14mg and then two weeks on the 7mg. To help me over the first week I was also given a small amount of the gum to use in case of emergencies. Again, I must point out that this is highly unusual, but because my blood pressure was high and my general health poor, it was decided that the few risks outweighed the benefits I would gain from giving up. Normally it is not advised to use two products together. My doctor gave me two weeks supply of the patches and one of the gum. After that I would have to see him again to report on my progress.

The first few days were hard and I did use a fair amount of the gum as well. However, by the third day I was waking up without the urge to reach for a packet of fags. This was my breakthrough. For other people it could prove different, but for me I had to get over the urge to have a cigarette within moments of waking. There were the other triggers. The cigarette after the meal, the ones smoked whilst working on the computer or watching TV. Then there was the stress cigarette. I faced this problem on the fifth day when my elderly cat lost the use of her legs and I had to rush her to the vet. The treatment cost me sixty pounds so there was no way I was going to have a fag and waste what I had gained. I was so glad of the gum that night when I wasn’t sure if my cat would live or die.
Looking back now I can see that the twenty-four hour patches were absolutely essential to me. The idea behind these is that the addict still has a small amount of nicotine in the body on waking and before the new patch is put on. I did find it hard initially to get out of bed and have a thorough wash before my cup of coffee, but this was something I could not put off.
It is essential that the new patch is put on a different part of the body and that has to be clean and dry. Failure to do this can result in a skin rash, although this usually responds to a dab of calamine lotion. I’ve heard people complain of rashes but on average it’s very mild and a small price to pay for quitting the weed!

After the first two weeks I went back to my doctor and he went through a general check-up. Already I was losing my smoker’s cough and although I don’t think he believed me when I said that I had not cheated, not even one puff, he said that I was doing well and could just phone up for my next prescription. By now I had stopped using the gum, it wasn’t that much help and irritated my stomach. The next test came at Christmas. I wanted to visit my daughter and grandson in London, but I suffer from a mild form of agoraphobia and was terrified of making the journey on my own. I think that was the nearest I come to buying a packet of cigarettes, but I bought some sweets instead. I also treated myself to a new hairstyle.
It was wonderful seeing my family and not have to keep going outside in the garden to have a cigarette. I saw much more of my grandson and even went for a quick drink with my daughter on Xmas Day in a very smoky pub!

I was surprised at how easy it was to give up smoking on the patches. I am convinced it’s because I knew I had to give up, but also because the patches really did help a lot. Remember I said that the first phrase was six weeks on the 21mg patches? By the fourth week I was finding it hard to sleep. This is a side-effect of having the nicotine in the bloodstream for twenty-four hours. By the end of week five I had gone down to the 14mg patches and I then went on to the 7mg patches. I put my last patch on my arm on the 30th December 2006. I had given up two weeks short of the programme. I haven’t smoked since, even when my cat was put to sleep in early January.
Was it willpower and the effect of the patches? Remember I had no willpower. I didn’t want to quit smoking and if anyone had said I was going to be a non-smoker some five months ago I would have questioned their sanity. I was literally so addicted that sometimes I craved a cigarette while I was still smoking one , now you can’t get more addicted than that!
I count myself now as a non-smoker, if I didn’t then all my hard work would have been in vain. I have been out in the company of smokers and I still love the smell… I think that may always stay with me. But I have broken the barrier and saved myself at least £70 per week.

I must apologise for the length of the review. I could have split it into two, but I know from my own experience that I would never have read two reviews on smoking three months ago.
This method really does work and I want people to know about it. If you have a health condition then pester your doctor, you might get the patches on prescription. Otherwise search the Internet, I found the patches at £12.24 for a weeks supply on one site. That’s better than over £30 per week, isn’t it?

Good luck if you are giving up and remember you are not on your own.
Lisa. X

Summary: The best step you ever take.