Hello,
I’m Ali Riza from Turkey. I’m 33 and I smoked for 13 years, about 40 cigarettes per day, also pipes and cigars. There are countless failed attempts of mine. I do want to quit for good, but I can’t understand where I make the mistakes.
First of all, I thought those cigarettes were a “support” for me. They seemed to be helping me to cope with stress and to concentrate while I was doing my job. I finally understood that smoking is not a support, as I was smoking just to feel “normal”. Once I quit, I’ll always feel normal, I know this. I may even feel better. But the problem is the fact that I can’t get through first few weeks without smoking.
As I told before, I’m continuously making attempts to quit smoking but they end with failure. I have tried using NRT many many times but it certainly makes the situation worse for me. I can’t use bupropion or varenicline due to some medical condition.
Each failed attempt makes me less hopeful. I have tried tens of times. Each failure makes me feel that I have to smoke for the rest of my life, until smoking kills me. 3 years ago, my father died because of smoking. Yesterday, I visited him at his rest. I told him I wouldn’t smoke anymore. But after a few hours, I found a cigarette in my hand.
I can’t control my addiction; on the contrary, my addiction controls me. There were days I smoked more than 70 cigarettes per day. I understand that this is a major problem of mine, but I can’t find a solution.
The only method I can quit is cold turkey. Let me explain the reason: I can’t use varenicline or bupropion due to a medical issue. There were countless failed attempts of mine while using all forms of NRT but once I could stop for about 30 days without taking any supportive products. Then why did I start again? Just because of foolishness. I encountered a crisis and thought smoking would help. That was one of my biggest mistakes. I’m trapped again and I can’t get out of this trap.
I know that I’m a drug addict. I’m terribly addicted to a drug named nicotine. It’s legal, but it’s lethal. I arrived at a point where I don’t know what to do. I need help of yours...
