Hello. A friend has asked for help on quitting smoking a pack a day.
He has smoking about 10 years and is 26, married and no children yet.

I would think that there are a couple of good web sites that give some
good counsel, pros and cons of "patches" and "pills" etc. as well as
just common sense advice. LMK what you got. Any of you that know me,
know that I am pretty
easy to please. If not, I just ask for clarifications.

Hello Pendleton-ga!

What a pleasure it is to answer another question for you! And what a
nice gesture and creative way to come up with different ideas for your
friend in a most worthy cause!

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Good Counsel and Common Sense Advice

There seem to be mostly two schools of thought when sharing counsel
and common sense: (1) dissemination of sound medical information and
advice, and (2) blatant scare tactics. I?ve included links to both
depending on your friend?s specific personality and needs.

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/goodtips.htm
This is a lengthy list of tips for quitting smoking. Some are in the
form of personal affirmations (e.g., ?I am better than this habit,?
etc.) and some are good, sound advice regarding withdrawals, cravings,
and the like. My husband is considering printing off this list to
share with his patients that express a desire to quit smoking.

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/how2quit.htm
The CDC has links to various publications that are now available
online containing approaches to tobacco cessation. This site also
includes links to Surgeon General reports, research summaries, and
tobacco cessation campaigns.

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/benefits.htm
Here is a list of benefits (some obvious, some not so obvious) that
are derived from tobacco cessation. It orders them by time frame,
starting with 20 minutes after quitting (lower blood pressure and
pulse rate) and continues on to 15 years (risk of cardiovascular
disease becomes that of a nonsmoker).

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/skin.htm
For the vain, here is an explanation of what smoking can do to one?s skin.

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/lungphotos.htm
Here are some scary pictures of smokers? lungs. Of course, these are
mostly autopsy photos, sending a not-so-subtle hint.

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/scary.htm
This is a list of scary facts regarding the hazards of smoking. Most
of the list focuses on various cancers that are due to tobacco smoke.
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Pros and Cons of Patches, Pills, etc. 

http://www.docguide.com/dg.nsf/PrintPrint/7CF8F232FB073D3D8525672B00517A7E
This is an article posted at Doctor?s Guide, an online medical news
site, that talks about a clinical trial comparing nicotine replacement
(i.e., ?the patch?) with Zyban, a prescription drug used in tobacco
cessation. The long and the short of it is that Zyban proved to be
more effective than both nicotine replacement alone and placebo. The
side effects of Zyban were comparable to placebo and nicotine
replacement. Your friend can read the full article for details of the
study.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010601/2251ph.html%2c
From the American Academy of Family Physicians, this is a patient
handout describing the various methods of nicotine replacement that
are available (gum, patch, nasal spray). It lists the benefits and
also the drawbacks of each method.

http://www.medpharmacy.com
This online pharmacy lists the price of Zyban (along with other
prescription medications). Thirty pills cost $119 and 60 pills cost
$179. Zyban is usually taken twice daily, so 60 pills represent a
one-month supply. Of course if your friend?s insurance covers the
prescription this may not accurately represent his out-of-pocket cost.
This price seems to be a fairly consistent price among other online
pharmacies.

The cost of Nicotine replacement varies significantly since there are
many forms, and most of those forms are available without a
prescription.
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Online Support Groups

I found a couple of good sites that sponsor free online support
groups. Each site has similar features so your friend can peruse each
and decide which one best meets his needs.

http://www.quitnet.com
This is a site that began in 1995 (it claims to be the first online
tobacco cessation site) and provides personalized cessation programs,
online support groups, testimonials, ?anniversary? celebrations,
counseling services, various informational ?brochures,? and much, much
more.

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com
This site also has online support groups, and additionally offers
newsletters and daily email alerts, links to useful resources, tobacco
cessation products, and of course, plenty of educational material. I
found much of their material to be useful in answering this question
in particular.
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Thank you for an interesting question! I wish you well in helping your
friend and wish your friend the best in attaining his goal to quit
smoking. You said ?no children yet? in your question?if they are
planning to have children, this is indeed one of the greatest things
he can do to prepare a safe and healthy environment for his family.
Best wishes to you and yours. If anything is unclear, please let me
know how I can clarify the information for you. You are, indeed, a
great customer. Thank you, again!

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga


Search Terms Used:
quit smoking
tobacco cessation patch versus zyban
cost zyban
cost nicotine replacement

Hello Boquinha. Wow what a great research you did!!! Thanks ever so
much. There much food for thought and many, varied, excellent ideas,
thoughts, etc.
Great job!
BTW--- I don't have a Pennsylvania map yet. I applied twice, but now
that I think of it, I may have put my Texas (I live in Mexico)address.

FYI-- I read your chemistry work. Cool. I am a chemist by training and
thought that was neat what that father did for his daughter and what
you researched. Your answers were right on! Kind took my back in a
time warp.   smile.

God bless you to know and do His will!
John P.

Check out the picture here:
http://www.hd.co.harris.tx.us/tobacco/smokelungs.htm

Hello John! 

Thank you for your kind words and 5-star rating! It is a pleasure to
do research for you! As for the PA maps, I hope you can get them
soon--we're enjoying our packets and learning and enjoying so much!!
Did you know that there are working farm bed and breakfasts here?? I
even got to answer a question about them, using those packets as a
reference! So, I'm especially grateful for your PA question! And
that's interesting that you're a chemist! I don't usually do blatant
homework questions (nor do I personally feel okay with it ethically),
but I made an exception with that case. I sincerely hope that the
information helped that parent help his child. Best wishes to you and
your friend!

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga

Hi John,

I didn't see your question earlier.  Wish I had.  Boquinha has given
you some great information and a lot of good links.  Hopefully your
friend will find at least some of them useful.  However, as a former
smoker, I'd just like to pass along a bit of additional advice based
on personal experience.  I was a very heavy (3+ packs/day) smoker for
30 years and quit cold turkey more than 7 years ago.  It was without a
doubt the most horrible experience of my life.  I happen to be
extremely strongwilled or I doubt I'd have succeeded.  And even now
I'll say that had I known what I was letting myself in for, I would
never have tried to quit.  No, I won't go back to it now, and let all
that suffering be for naught, but tell your friend it simply WON'T be
a walk in the park no matter what the "authorities" or his/her
well-intentioned friends might say.

Now, all smokers are different, and for those whose habit is just
that, a mere habit, much of the conventional advice will work without
the terrible physical and mental suffering I went through.  But for
those who truly have developed a dependence on nicotine it simply will
not.  Tell your friend to be prepared for a host of physical, mental
and emotional symptoms.  In my case I thought I'd developed some dread
disease and even the doctor merely shrugged when I asked whether
quitting smoking had anything to do with how I felt. "Oh, that takes a
little time," she said.  "Don't you feel better now that you've quit?"
 Aaarrrggg.

I've found out since that that's typical.  When someone tries to quit,
a few weeks into it they'll start getting those same well-intentioned
remarks: "Now, aren't you glad you quit?  Don't you feel so much
better?"   Aaarrgghh I say again.  NO, you don't feel better.  You
feel terrible and then some.  To those do-gooders I say, "Get a clue,
folks.  People don't smoke because it makes them feel bad.  QUITTING
makes them feel bad; not the other way around!"   Good grief.  As for
emotional symptoms, well I turned mean as a snake and no, it didn't
pass in a couple of weeks.  It lasted months, while I ricocheted
between suicidal and practically homicidal and every nasty state in
between.  Mentally?  Well, all I can say is I'm not now, nor will I
ever be the same.  I just cannot think like I could before.  My mind
is less than it was, and that's that.

Nicotine is NOT like other drugs, forget that notion put forth by the
media and others.  Not only can a person function and function
extremely well while using nicotine, a heavy smoker has (through a
well-documented biological process resulting in the physical creation
of additional dopamine receptors) accustomed his/her body to a certain
level, not just of nicotine, but of the dopamine that is
stimulated/released by the nicotine.  He/she NEEDS that level just to
function NORMALLY.  Deprive a smoker of nicotine and you deprive his
body of dopamine, the lack of which results in these awful symptoms. 
Yes, in time, the body adjusts.  But it's not quick and anybody who
expects it to be is heading for failure.  In my case it took almost
three YEARS before I began feeling anywhere near normal again. 
Furthermore, I'd likely have fallen off my wagon had I not, a year
into it, decided to get some Zyban.  I took that for three months, and
it turned the corner for me.

Yes, I was a diehard case, I know that, and I'm not trying to be
discouraging.  But there is precious little factual information out
there as to exactly what happens when someone tries to quit.  I don't
know if they think that by telling someone how awful it will be they
won't be able to convince them to try or what.  For my part, I think
it's worse to lie - to say it will be fine in a couple of weeks and
you'll be so happy and feel so good.  When you don't, then you are
more likely to give up than if you know the truth about the battle
you're facing, and set about arming yourself with the right weapons. 
Tell your friend not to try it without the Zyban.  Check out the
research and testimonials on that - they're pretty right on.

Ok, sorry to ramble so, but as you can tell, I have a strong opinion
on this subject.  Wish your friend all the best, and do encourage
him/her that it IS possible - just going to be probably the most
difficult thing he/she's ever done.

Best of luck,
Byrd

Hello John!

Posting to say, "Happy Holidays!"

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga