Most people who want to quit smoking at some point or another find themselves in the same boat. They put on a patch. They stock up on gum. They wait it out until the cravings subside. For some, that’s all it takes. But what about when you’re already a week into three patches and thinking about a cigarette every other hour with nothing seeming to satisfy the itch anymore?
The reality is that patches and gum are effective for about 20% of people who use them. Not great, but not horrendous, either. The issue is that a solid four out of five people who use only patches and gum to get their fill get right back into smoking again. But it’s not a lack of willpower or determination. It’s the reality that when it comes to smoking addiction, there are two components, chemical and behavioral, and typical replacement resources only tackle one.
Why Standard Methods Are Never Enough
Nicotine patches provide a steady dose of nicotine through the skin; nicotine gum gives you your fix through chewing. Both allow for an alleviation of withdrawal symptoms while establishing a new, healthy habit in place of the previously unhealthy one. Sounds good, right? To any medical pamphlet, it makes sense.
But here’s the kicker that medical pamphlets fail to convey adequately: smoking is a ritual. It’s the hand-to-mouth action. It’s the deep breath. It’s the five-minute refresher from stress. It’s the social aspect of taking a break with coworkers to go outside. Thus, when you cut out the cigarette but allow the patch to put it in your body, you’re on your own for the chemical component with the behavioral aspect shouting even louder in protest.
Here’s where most people falter. They’ve managed their nicotine-dependent cravings. Yet their brain is still conditioned for the entire routine to be ignored. Having coffee in the morning is missing something without a cigarette. Stressful moments compound stress when no action accompanies it. They’ve managed their physical dependence but succumbed to the psychological component that continues to draw them back into their old habits.
You’re Not Alone – The Behavioral Component Is Powerful, Too
Research shows that behavioral addiction can be as powerful as chemical dependence, and sometimes more so. There’s a reason that people report dreaming of cigarettes months after they quit, the neurological pathways established create such familiarity that they don’t just disappear overnight because your nicotine levels stabilize.
For example, someone who smokes a pack a day for ten years has consumed 73,000 cigarettes during their lifetime (assuming 20 cigarettes per pack×365 days=7,300×10 years). That’s 73,000 opportunities for muscle memory, stress relief associations from lighting one up and cigarettes providing dopamine surges that come from those simultaneous actions either opening or closing the necessary mouth and hand components. A patch can quell the physical appetite for nicotine but can’t satisfy what’s to be done with the hands or provide the inhale-exhale rhythm that we yearn for.
Thus, it’s no surprise that many people who quit ultimately seek alternatives that focus more on physical actions rather than reinserting nicotine into their systems.
Some people get by with something like a Caffeine Vape, a nicotine-free option, that gives their hands something to do and allows them to breathe with functional benefits that supplement anything they’ve ever needed from smoking and nothing they need from smoking ever again.
For others, it’s about breathing exercises, fidget tools or even cinnamon sticks, whatever provides the hands and mouth something to do in those most critical moments where cravings hit hardest.
Where To Go from Here When Patches and Gum Aren’t Enough
When you need more than gum and/or a patch, it’s time to develop a holistic approach toward quitting which focuses on supporting both parts of the addiction, from chemical to behavioral and everything in between.
Prescription intervention is always helpful in times of need.
Medications like varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Wellbutrin) work differently than replacement options prescribed above; varenicline ultimately blocks nicotine receptors in your brain so that if you slip up while quitting, it won’t feel as satisfying because your body won’t necessarily let it be, and Bupropion, in its antidepressant form, keeps cravings and withdrawal symptoms at bay for good measure.
These both have higher success rates than patches alone, especially when accompanied by counselling, and in the most challenging methods of physical alternatives, efforts combined with recommended management through counseling provide even more success during the critical first few weeks.
Behavioral therapy, too, approaches addiction from a psychological perspective where cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on trigger management, for example, do you smoke after meals? When your boss yells at you? When you’re bored? The sooner you can assess your habits and triggers, the sooner you can more appropriately replace your unhealthy needs for healthier substitutes.
Habit-replacement tools also focus on what to do with your mouth and hands that aren’t as riskier substitutes for cigarettes, they span from toothpicks and carrot sticks to oral fixation devices specifically for ex-smokers or inhaler-like products without nicotine or anxiety apps with deep breathing exercises. Ultimately, anything focused on quitting, as long as it’s keeping hands busy which would typically have been lit up, is in success’s favor.
How To Find What Actually Works for You
The biggest takeaway from all of this is there’s no such thing as one universal solution, it might work for one person and fall flat for another. Some people need support group-like structures with subsequent accountability while others strive off independence and collaboration instead to try new tools and see what clicks over time.
A few tips to ease this transition before considering which tools work best are as follows:
Track your patterns for clear insights before quitting or after starting to struggle, keep a simple log for a week and evaluate when you’re having cravings, what you’re doing and how intense those cravings become. You’ll notice trends you never paid attention to before, for example, many people notice they crave cigarettes during specific activities more often than at certain times of day. This will help direct your efforts thereafter since you’ll know your most common triggers.
Physical activity sounds too simple to work but time and time again evidence shows otherwise, especially because even a quick ten-minute brisk walk can reduce cravings significantly, there’s no need to work out or break a sweat, but just enough effort to give your body another state of mind works wonders for quelling cravings, even keeping them at bay until something more manageable can be explored. Bonus: Many people fear gaining weight when quitting but implementing exercise as part of your routine helps thwart this concern before it becomes an issue.
Social support always makes a difference whether it’s an online community trying to quit smoking on Reddit or an organized group with pamphlets to be distributed, or just friends and family who know you’re trying to quit, this makes for reporting any progress along the way easier which provides accountability, daily check-ins since no one wants to disappoint someone who invested time in holding them accountable, and they’ll happily celebrate milestones that may go unnoticed without any effort made along the way.
When Is It Time to Adjust Your Strategy?
If you’ve gone three to four weeks trying the same thing without results, it’s time to change what’s not working out for you as this does not equate failure, it merely means that current efforts aren’t aligned with assessed needs yet.
Signs it’s time to switch methods include you’re constantly craving cigarettes despite nicotine replacement efforts, extreme situations have you more worried about needing a smoke than you’ve decreased cravings elsewhere or you’re experiencing negative side effects as compared to needing consistent effort through medication without reliable adjustments.
Don’t be afraid to even combine efforts, prescription medication helps pack its own punch but counseling tailored efforts combined with practical replacements are often necessary for anyone quitting for the first time, for research shows that those who ultimately succeed are those who implement multiple tools during those first few challenging days/weeks/months before finding new normals become celebrated patterns over time.
The Reality of Relapse
Most successful quitters tried multiple times before they got it right permanently, but that’s not beneficial news when you’re currently struggling, but rather good context when considering people choose to resume normal smoking habits only for relapse purposes ultimately, but this means no progress has been lost, everything learned pre-relapse exists for future opportunities which teach smokers more about their greatest triggers and what strategies are most helpful moving forward.
If relapse occurs, and trust me, it will, the only way this counts as failure is if it prevents you from getting back on track sooner rather than later, one smoke does not mean you have to become a regular smoker again, analyze and assess what brought you back into your old habits, adjust appropriately, and charge onward, especially since those who’ve only gotten it right periodically are more apt to assess differently than those who’ve smashed hidden pitfalls into pieces avoiding them forevermore.
Ultimately if patches and gum aren’t enough, or rather, they’re not enough for you, there’s plenty more where that came from, nicotine is only part of the addiction challenge, and by employing more thoughtful replacements dealing with behavioral adjustments gives people a better fighting chance at success than trying to force methods clearly cutting it without forcing yourself along the way which does no good either. Find what works for you as soon as possible, even if it means trial and error, and get back on track regardless.