Quit Smoking AGAIN...

...perhaps this will be the last time I'll need to.
I smoked for 20 years, which is more than half of my life, and I'm really ready to quit and put my health first.
So far, I've been without a smoke for 10 days, and while I occasionally feel I want to smoke, a combination of nicorette and cinnamon sticks helps satisfy those urges. The nicorette obviously provides me with the nicotine my body has become so addicted to, while the cinnamon sticks make a nice roughly cigarette sized substitute to hold on to and suck on, etc.
I'm not planning on following the recommended treatment plan for nicorette this time, as last time it just left me addicted to the gum, and I then had to use the patch to get off the gum. At that time, those were the main nicorette placement therapies available. Now I could see myself going through a cycle of addiction to various nicotine products... the gum... the patch... commit lozenges... that little puffy inhaler thing that's available by prescription only... back to the gum, etc. But I'm not gonna let that happen. I'm already working on weening myself off nicorette by substituting regular gum for it when I can. I will probably always need something to hold in my hands and/or stick in my mouth, tho. And I don't mind that... as long as it's not cancer causing.

Quitting Smoking?

The doctor has placed me on Wellbutrin XL. Wellbutrin is the marketing name for the anti-depressant bupropion, which is also marketed as a quit smoking aid under the name of Zyban. The exact reason for the doctor prescribing this for me is unclear. She said it would help with my depression AND help me to quit smoking. We had discussed my mood, as I was seeing her about getting my Zoloft prescription refilled. And we had also discussed my cutting down smoking (as we do everytime I go to see her). When she left to get my Zoloft script, she came back with a script for the Wellbutrin, too. So... I just started on the Wellbutrin this morning. I will be taking one 150 mg Wellbutrin tablet every morning, and I will also continue to take 200 mg daily of Zoloft, but I will now be taking the Zoloft at night rather than in the morning. So far, I notice nothing from the Wellbutrin-- neither a lift in my mood nor a reduction in my cravings for cigarettes. But it is only my first day, so we'll see how it works out as it continues to build up in my body over the course of the next month or so.