Quit Smoking Today Without Using Nicotine Replacement Therapy (nrt)

Making use of dangerous drugs such as Prozac or Zyban are not really the way to go about stopping your addiction to nicotine. In a way it is just like replacing one dangerous drug with another. So to is using NRT, so there has to be another way to stop smoking without using nicotine replacement, and there is. In fact there is a wealth of information available in the form of self help, but it is hard to stop smoking and even harder when you are on your own in this quest.

You have to deal with the dependency on nicotine in the correct way. Cold turkey may have worked for some of the more hardier personality types like General De Gaulle perhaps, but we are not all cut of the same cloth. Nicotine addiction affects the person physically, emotionally and psychologically. It is not a simple addiction to deal with particularly if you have people around you who still smoke.

Many states in the US have instituted free counseling services for smokers and it has been found that these work very well. They provide a support system, and this makes a very good alternative to using NRT. Some very good results have been seen from these services, and smokers are twice as easily able to stop with this support as without it.

Nicotine just happens to be one of the most habit forming substances we know of. It is for this reason that support is vital for the smoker who is trying to stop. This support starts at home with his family and extends, through friends, so-workers, employers and obviously the counseling service they are making use of. Encouragement is vital in this attempt to break the habit and ex-smokers swear that the support they receive is one of the chief reasons for achieving success.

Any smoker who wants to stop is able to receive all the information they need from local support groups, hospitals, employers, health clubs, and health insurance companies. The best support does however come from trained counselors who specialize in this are of expertise.

Group or individual counseling may be sought, and as we said before this is available free in some US states, over the phone. These counselors know that there is more to stopping smoking than just stopping, they realize an addiction of this type also has its physical, emotional and psychological side-effects.

The addiction to nicotine is a very strong addiction, the drug remains in the body for as many as three to four days after stopping and then the withdrawals symptoms start. These symptoms are understood by counselors and they will be able to help you recognize them and overcome them. Withdrawal symptoms may last as little as a few days or as long as a few weeks so you need all the support you can muster. It is during this stage that the smoker is most likely to start smoking again, just to ease the withdrawal symptoms.

With nicotine replacement therapy, you are still subjecting your body to the effect of nicotine. Research has indicated that people who make use of counseling as apposed to NRT are seen to be four times more likely to achieve success when stopping smoking.