A Guide to Quit Smoking Patches, for Dummies
If you’re looking for information about quit smoking patches and where best to find them cheap online then this article is going to be for you. I’m guessing that you might have tried to give up before just using the willpower / cold turkey method and found it a little bit tricky to say the least!
So it’s my mission to give the full scoop on using nicotine patches and also a natural alternative that can actually help you give up in 30 minutes or less guaranteed. Stay tuned…
One of the main reasons that giving up can be such a problem is that not only does your mind crave the smoke but also your body starts to require the effects that cigarettes give you.
This double whammy tag team fight against your willpower and can very often lead to failure in your attempts at smoking cessation.
As suggested earlier, one great alternative to giving up cold turkey style is to use a bit of Nicotine Replacement Therapy to help you in the smoking war in the form of a nicotine patch!
Here’s how stop smoking patches work…
credit: You wear a patch on your shoulder that releases a small amount of Nicotine into your bloodstream and the idea is that this fights the withdrawal symptoms smoking cessation can cause or ease them at the very least, then it’s up to you to beat any small cravings that still occur. (Nicorette patches work in the much the same way as quit smoking gum.)
Patches have been a major success for the Nicotine replacement companies and are recommended by many doctors as well. (Although as you can tell from my many spelling mistakes on this site I’m not a doctor so please get professional advice before trying any new medications 
But I’m sure like me you know many people who have tried the patch and found it to have no effect at all and I guess your wondering if you’re going to be wasting your money in forking out the considerable amount of cash required for a whole series of patches.
When you get the patches you just stick them to your shoulder and away you go…they are rather like a small band-aid and once applied release a small amount of Nicotine into your blood stream.
So if you smoke a pack of 20 cigarettes a day you would put on the 21 mg patch and that would give you enough Nicotine to see you through the 24 hour period.
Once you feel comfortable at this amount you can start to step down the dose and phase out the patch altogether.
(If you smoke less than 20 a day there are 7mg and 14mg patches to suit your needs, and once again you should speak to your doctor about what will be the best way to go)
Applying the smoking cessation patches
You cannot just pop the patch anywhere…here are a few things you need to look for:
- Dry skin
- Hairless skin
- Clean skin
- The patch can be worn for up to 24 hours a day but if you have trouble sleeping with it on you may decide to only use the patch for 16 hours or so.
Will it work?
Patches can double your chances of quitting but the emotional and social cravings will still have to be overcome and, besides hypnosis, there is not a lot you can do about this more subtle side of the addiction. Patches only give your body the Nicotine it needs and your willpower will need to do the rest.
Can I smoke whilst using a patch?
The answer on the packet I have in front of me says that if you smoke while wearing a patch you may see all kinds of horrible side effects and symptoms like headache, dizziness and fainting so the best answer I can give is that it’s really not good to smoke while wearing the patch as you might get a nicotine overdose.
(Although there is a cynical side to my personality that thinks if I was going to market a patch that helps you stop smoking the first thing I would put on the packet would be a warning like “If you smoke while using this product you may DIE” straight away your success rate would go through the roof. What they really mean is “If you smoke while using this product we will have failed and you may tell your friends that our products are rubbish and then our business might go bust! So please, please do try to give up to make us look good”.)
No Magic Bullets
At the end of the day, these patches are a great idea in theory and when they came out people where going crazy thinking that finally there is a magic bullet to giving up with no effort. Who would not want to take a little pill or wear a little patch that instantly made smoking a thing of the past?
BUT the truth is that you will always have the urge to smoke on some level and the question is how are you going to deal with that long term. The patch is not going to instantly remove your need for smoke.
If you would like to try Nicotine patches you will likely have to spend $1000+ to go through a full program which is not cheap. First try looking on eBay and you may be able to find some cheap nicotine patches; I just saw some discount nicotine chewing gum on there today. Try to get nicotine patches online first.
Final Thoughts
Patches are a good option but become great when you use them in conjunction with other stop something aids and add layers to you stop smoking efforts.
I smoked for ten years and finally gave up a year and a half ago by using patches, hypnosis and drinking water which is a plan I show others now in my email newsletter.
It’s never easy but there are smart ways to make it easier on you.
