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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by zonked on August 30, 2011, at 17:02:06
I may be away from the board for awhile. I am cranky, anxious, and depressed (how ironic after starting a therapy that pulled me out of it!)
I am hoping nicotine withdrawal doesn't "throw" me out of the relief I was getting. The reason I decided to quit recently is that my insurance FINALLY authed the patches and I can't afford cigarettes. We're up to $6-7 a pack now in California.
If history is any indicator, I should be okay in about a week or two. I'm on 21mg/day. I've done this before and the first week is brutal. I just hope my meds/HRT is still working in the background...
Which leads me to an interesting idea: It can't be nicotine alone that's addictive in cigarettes. Because I am replacing it... so the additives must be addictive as well.
Yuck.
-z
Posted by sigismund on August 31, 2011, at 2:30:52
In reply to Typical quitting smoking symptoms.. ARGH!, posted by zonked on August 30, 2011, at 17:02:06
>We're up to $6-7 a pack now in California.
Cheap as chips. $15 here. Someone was buying 2 packets of some awful brand for 30. He could have bought a bottle of Irish whisky for that.
Posted by floatingbridge on August 31, 2011, at 3:40:59
In reply to Re: Typical quitting smoking symptoms.. ARGH! » zonked, posted by sigismund on August 31, 2011, at 2:30:52
Good luck Zonked. I'll miss you. Posting while cranky hasn't stopped anyone yet. FYI.
Take good care.
fb
Posted by Phillipa on August 31, 2011, at 10:56:13
In reply to Re: Typical quitting smoking symptoms.. ARGH! » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on August 31, 2011, at 3:40:59
Zonked agree with FB I also will be please keep posting don't want to be the only cranky one. Love Phillipa
Posted by Zyprexa on September 2, 2011, at 6:50:42
In reply to Typical quitting smoking symptoms.. ARGH!, posted by zonked on August 30, 2011, at 17:02:06
Have you tried wellbutrin sr? Mix that with patches and you have 2 times the success rate. Also you might go backwards and start with the smaller patch and smoke as little as you can without going nuts. It took me a couple of years to wean myself off of cigs. I started with wellbutrin sr and smoked like regular for the first week. Then all of a sudden it was like magic. I didn't want to smoke as much. I cut my smoking in half and felt better about it. Unfortunaly that was as far as it went. Only cut it in half. I kept taking the wellbutrin and started nicotine gum and got off smoking so I took less of the gum but found that I couldn't function at school. So I went back to smoking. Later I tried the lozenges and this time I didn't cut down on the nicotine, which I'm still doing today. Which is working I don't smoke. I can be around people smoking and I function well at work. Just got to keep taking the full dose of nicotine. I tried the patch but didn't like it as much. It does not have a controled relise. So when you put it on it does not start working right away, take 1.5 hours. Then you feel well for a while and it starts wearing off. The gum was better it started working right after you take it, the lozenges are the same. Only difference with the lozenge is you get all the nicotine out of it. The gum works great when you first start chewing but then it gets harder to get the same flow of nicotine because its in the gum. I also found that all that chewing was not so great. And the gum loses effectiveness when its not as fresh, date wise. Ie you can't take anywhere near the expiry date. The lozenges are just as strong 2 years after they expire. Which means you can get them cheaper online.
The important thing though smoke once in a while but give it you damnedest to avoid smoking, and don't smoke the whole cig.
Posted by Tony P on September 8, 2011, at 22:29:50
In reply to Typical quitting smoking symptoms.. ARGH!, posted by zonked on August 30, 2011, at 17:02:06
> ...I am cranky, anxious, and depressed (how ironic after starting a therapy that pulled me out of it!)
>
> Which leads me to an interesting idea: It can't be nicotine alone that's addictive in cigarettes. Because I am replacing it... so the additives must be addictive as well.
> -zAbsolutely right that it's not just the nicotine that's addictive and leads to withdrawal depression. I only found this out in one article & can't remember where (Wikipedia? Erowid?), but tobacco smoke contains at least one potent MAOI, harmaline, which hits your dopamine receptors like a snort of ... well, you know what I mean! Researchers actually had great trouble getting rats addicted to nicotine, unlike other substances. I am sure this is why Wellbutrin/Zyban helps many people - it's a dopamine agonist.
I'm currently slowly tapering my smoking. I've been trying all usual the nicotine replacement therapies, but there's definitely something missing. I don't tolerate Wellbutrin well, but I just started taking Modafinil (Alertec in Canada) and find it very helpful in getting past the morning blues & that need for a wake-up smoke. It's an off-label use for Modafinil, called an "alertness promoter" to avoid the stigma of "stimulant", but I find it's a wonder drug - promotes alertness, activity, positive mood with less anxiety or shakiness than caffeine or the various amphetamine derivatives -- and it doesn't cause insomnia! Almost too good to be true, which is probably why my medical plan won't pay for it ... arghhhh!!
Good luck,
Tony P
Posted by floatingbridge on September 8, 2011, at 22:39:30
In reply to Re: Typical quitting smoking symptoms.. ARGH! » zonked, posted by Tony P on September 8, 2011, at 22:29:50
Wiki.
This is the end of the thread.
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