Nicotine patches, gum, and e-cigarettes can help satisfy some cravings, but they cannot replace the ritual of smoking cigarettes. That first drug topic.
Bruce Holladay, 69, is a retired educator from Mill Valley, California who knows all too well the power of nicotine. Holladay believes he’s tried 100 times over the past 50 years. But he always returned to his lifelong one-day relationship with Marlborough Lights.
His final attempt in August, the Cold Turkey Gambit without nicotine replacement therapy, set off an intolerable maelstrom of cravings that lasted for months. It was like, and then I had these tremors for 10 to 15 minutes,” he said.
But this time, Holladay joined a support group at Stanford Health Care and brought a strong social component to the quest. He described the effect as “not wanting to let the team down” and learned to avoid stressful situations such as watching the news. I have found that it will definitely work.
Late June marked a year since I took my last drug.
He gained weight, but no longer rolled up easily on hikes. And I’m sure he won’t go back to smoking.
Asked about the possibility of drastic government intervention to force Americans to quit smoking, Holladay paused and thought about half a century ago when he first smoked as a college freshman. “Without that nicotine rush, I probably would have walked away and never smoked again,” he said. Anything is fine.”
Robert Chiarito contributed a report from Chicago.
