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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How To Stop Smoking?

nearly 2 packs of marlboro cigs a day for 22 sad but faithful years i quite 4 weeks ago and panic happened. I bought 1 pack instead of a carton and slowly over several bad days devoured them. The next week my habit was finding butts and lighting but that is gross but then I found myself getting peoples that had been throw out for days or minutes and the brand di not matter. Then I thought about druggies may put something in them for their effects so I took my paranoia to the local store a purchased another pack. I brought them home and made my wife who quite the habit also, hold them and we shared. That was wrong but she is stronger and will only smoke 1 at night. Halfway into my 2ndweek smoking a little2-3 over a day I developed a dry cough but no brown mucous. I got mucinex for a 4-5 day spell and never cough up any thing i then went a couple days with a generic filtered cigar and began getting aweful headaches which I assumed is the stronger nicotine withdrawel? I cannot function so I am back to 5 a day and no cough or headaches? Now what?????????
posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2014
Twitter Tue, 9 Oct 2018 Answered on
Twitter Mon, 22 Sep 2014 Last reviewed on
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Addiction Medicine Specialist,  's  Response
ok....several points
first you need to realize the problems with smoking. the lung problms, the brown phlegm should fit pretty well with this. Then, what you are missing is nicotine replacement. Chantix has very slight nicotine like effects and mainly blocks the effects of cigarettes. It will likely produce some slight wihtdrawal symptoms. Then you need to work on triggers. There are obvious cues to make you think of lighting up a cigarette. Each time you have one of them and don't smoke, put a gold star, or a green stick-up note, or a bit of colored duct tape onto the spot where you didn't smoke. Soon, you will be surrounded by positive signals that you do not need to smoke.
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How To Stop Smoking?

ok....several points first you need to realize the problems with smoking. the lung problms, the brown phlegm should fit pretty well with this. Then, what you are missing is nicotine replacement. Chantix has very slight nicotine like effects and mainly blocks the effects of cigarettes. It will likely produce some slight wihtdrawal symptoms. Then you need to work on triggers. There are obvious cues to make you think of lighting up a cigarette. Each time you have one of them and don t smoke, put a gold star, or a green stick-up note, or a bit of colored duct tape onto the spot where you didn t smoke. Soon, you will be surrounded by positive signals that you do not need to smoke.