WhyQuit.Com  |  About Us  |  Contact Us  |  Link to Us  |  What's New?

What All Successful Quitters Have in Common - Tomorrow there will be hundreds of millions of comfortably recovered nicotine addicts alive on planet earth and they will all have one thing in common - today they did not put any nicotine into their bodies.  A 1990 study found that 93.5% who lapsed and "tasted" one cigarette during the first three months of quitting went on to experience full relapse to smoking. It's what we call the "Law of Addiction."

Most mastered the "Law of Addiction" through repeated relapse and the school of hard-quitting-knocks. In fact, only a tiny percentage learned it at education oriented forums such as this. But continuing ignorance of nicotine's true power carries the potential to someday combine with other relapse factors to again deprive them of freedom. An understanding of the power of one puff of nicotine to trigger full and complete relapse is critical.

Open Lies and Hidden Truths - We nicotine addicts have been lied to by so many for so long that it's growing harder and harder to believe anyone.  Probably the most damaging and deplorable lies of all are being told by those seeking to increase their product or procedure's market share by false marketing that seeks to convince smokers that few nicotine addicts successfully quit cold turkey, that you have to be a superhero to do so, or that it requires Herculean effort to succeed. 

To the contrary, even today with smokers being drowned in a sea of quick-fix cures that include alternative nicotine delivery devices, designer drugs that mimic nicotine, magic herbs, hypnosis, Smoke-Away, acupuncture, lasers, and every gimmick and ploy imaginable, the American Cancer Society's 2003 Cancer Facts and Figures report asserts that 91.4% of all successful long-term quitters quit entirely on their own. More recently, a 2006 Australian study found that 88% of all successful quitters quit smoking cold turkey and that cold turkey quitters were twice as likely to succeed as those using the nicotine patch, nicotine gum, nicotine inhaler or Zyban (bupropion).

Sadly, organizations like the Cancer Society totally ignore achievement when it comes to recommending how to quit. Might it have something to do with the millions of dollars it has received for the sale of its trusted logo to those selling NRT? When it comes to magic quitting cures there is only one with the potential to keep you 100% nicotine free and it's "you!"

Smokers Make Easy Prey - We all dream of a cure for nicotine dependency but we must not close our eyes and minds to actual quitting results in an arena where the most ridiculous or even fraudulent quitting scheme imaginable should statistically generate quitting testimonials from 10-11% of users at six months and 5% at a year (the "on-your-own" quitter's own natural quitting odds). It makes nicotine addicts naturally ripe for fraud, it's costing millions their lives, and instead of governments battling against it, most have become active participants in fostering it.

Let's pretend that we quickly concoct a new magic quit smoking product called Billy Bob's Lima Bean Butter. What's amazing is that the 10-11% who should be able to quit for 6 months while eating our magic product (unless our product somehow undercuts their own natural odds of success) will each deeply believe that our butter was almost entirely responsible for their success. No one will be able to convince them otherwise. It's almost a waste of breath to even try.

We could make our butter look even better than 10-11% by surrounding it with quitting tools known to have their own proven effectiveness, tools such as ongoing group or telephone support, cessation education programs, coping skills development, quality self help materials (which are rather rare), cognitive behavioral therapy, and group or individual counseling. It's a way to steal instant credibility and it occurred in almost all early NRT, Zyban and Chantix clinical studies.

Imagine regular AA meetings where alcoholics come together to educate, inspire and support mutual successful ongoing recovery. Imagine the group achieving some rather amazing recovery rates in the 20 to 40% range at six months. Now imagine someone trying to package and sell the program over-the-counter to alcoholics for $200 as a stand alone, in-home, personal recovery tool by falsely representing that users will experience the exact same odds of recovery as those attending live AA meetings. How long would it take for allegations of consumer fraud to start flying once it was noticed that 93% buying and trying the program were relapsing to alcohol within six months?

California, Minnesota, Quebec, London, Western Maryland, U.K., and Australia, it should bother all of us that after more than two decades of widespread use we have yet to see a single real-world quitting survey in which those using buying and using cessation pharmacology products performed any better than those quitting entirely on their own. Such smoker quitting surveys are relatively inexpensive, quick and easy to generate, and successful quitters have absolutely no reason to lie about how they finally achieved success.

But those with a financial stake in NRT quickly dismiss quitting method performance surveys as "unscientific." What should be dismissed as totally unscientific is the randomization of smokers self-seeking replacement nicotine (not cold turkey quitters), to either nicotine or placebo devices, in clinical NRT studies that the pharmaceutical industry knew back in 1982 were not blind, as has been falsely asserted ever since.

Frustrated Expectations Key to Billions in NRT Profits - NRT researchers pretended not to notice that nicotine is a psychoactive chemical which produces a recognizable dopamine/adrenaline high. Not only does nicotine cause the brain's dopamine pathways to generate a prolonged "aaahhh" reward sensation, it stops the killjoy enzyme MAO B from engaging in normal dopamine clean-up. The result is a dopamine high lasting far longer than cocaine's. Nicotine also excites the brain's fight or flight pathways which perks the senses, accelerates heart rate by up to 20 beats per minute, shuts down digestion, pumps stored fats and sugars into the bloodstream thus avoiding hunger pains, and constricts peripheral blood flow which actually drops the temperature of fingers and toes by up to 5 degrees.

Pretend for a moment that you heard about a nicotine gum quit smoking study at the local hospital that was offering participants three full months of free nicotine gum. There was only one catch. Half of those signing up would be randomly assigned to receive placebo gum instead, which contained no nicotine. Would you be able to tell if the nicotine gum you were assigned to chew was a nicotine-free placebo instead of the real thing? So could far too many of them.

If you joined hoping to receive three months of free nicotine gum would you have stuck around once you realized your expectations had been frustrated? If a significant percentage of other placebo group members recognized full-blown withdawal and dropped out too, shouldn't the study's ultimate finding that twice as many nicotine gum users quit smoking as those chewing placebo gum be delcared a bad joke, a victory of stolen expectations?

As shown by the June 2004 Blind Spot study, anyone asserting that NRT studies were truly blind or that their results are "science-based" has their head in the sand. Additionally, an April 2005 study assessing blindness found that three times as many assigned to the placebo group correctly guessed that they had been using the placebo as guessed nicotine. Is it even possible to use placebos when comparing performance to a psychoactive chemical generating a dopamine/adrenaline high? Probably not.

Just as big a problem, is it possible to randomize expectations where one quitter seeks a product that promises to lessen and diminish the quitter's withdrawal syndrome while the other (the cold turkey quitter) expects to fully and successfully encounter and overcome their withdrawal syndrome? Probably not. Contrary to continuing pharmaceutical industry assertions, those wanting to quit smoking cold turkey were never invited to complete against self-selecting smokers seeking months of free replacement nicotine. I submit that if honest competition had occurred there would have been no need for these words or this page.

NRT Cover-up Hides Findings Which Would Diminish Sales - I'm beginning to believe that clinical NRT studies may reflect the worst junk science ever perpetrated upon humans. Shamefully, true science has turned its collective head as those with a stake in nicotine sales were allowed to redefine "quitting," to label one of earth's most deadly natural insecticides and most destructive teratogens "medicine," to term its use "therapy," and, in declaring success, compare those who had quit using it to those who had not. But who has greater culpability, those who have knowingly engaged in junk science nicotine shell games, or government agencies and health organizations which continue to hide critical NRT findings that would allow smokers to make informed, intelligent and reasoned decisions?

What percentage of over-the-counter NRT users are still not smoking at six months? Wouldn't this be an important fact to know if planning to quit? I challenge you to locate an answer at any government, health or commercial website advocating NRT use. A March 2003 study, conducted by NRT industry consultants, combined and average all seven over-the-counter NRT patch and gum studies and found that only 7% of study participants were still not smoking at six-months.  It's actually worse than 7%. The same industry consultants published a November 2003 study which found that as many as 7% of successful gum quitters and 2% of patch users were still hooked on the gum or patch at six months.  Obviously these were two entirely different studies but even so the math for nicotine gum (7-7=0) screams deceit.

Seventy percent of surveyed U.S. smokes say they want to quit and more than 50% of U.S. smokers have now attempted quitting with NRT and failed. Millions have now failed at multiple NRT attempts. How many priceless periods of quitting confidence does the average smoker have in them before joining the 50% of all adult smokers losing an average of 13 years of life? What is a quitter's odds of success during a second or subsequent NRT attempt? Is it important information? As with the 7% OTC NRT six month rate, try to locate any government or health organization quit smoking website that tells quitters their odds during a second nicotine patch attempt. I've been unable to locate any.

The pharmaceutical industry, government health agencies and health non-profits have known since as early as 1993 that if you have already tried quitting once with the nicotine patch that your odds during a second attempt drop to near 0%.  Yes, unlike cold turkey, where the odds of discovering the power of one puff of nicotine to foster full relapse actually increase with each failed attempt, the repeat NRT quitter's odds of success dramatically decline with subsequent use.

What lesson is eventually learned by repeat use of the very chemical we're dependent upon? Look closely at quitting attempt representations at sites advocating NRT use. If NRT success rates actually do decline with repleat use shouldn't their use of what are primarily cold turkey quitting attempt statistics to create false expectations for repeat NRT use be considered criminal? I believe that toying with the very chemical we were dependent upon has interfered with natural self discovery of the Law of Addiction through the school of hard-quitting-knocks and substantially contributed to stalling the decline in the U.S. smoking rate.

Smokers are not being told that at least 36.6% of all current nicotine gum users are chronic long-term users of greater than 6 months ( Tobacco Control, Nov. 2003).  Unlike the gum, which traps some nicotine, the nicotine lozenge fully dissolves, delivering up to 25% more nicotine. We have absolutely no reason to believe that the number of quitters getting hooked on the cure isn't at this moment climbing higher.

If you are able to get your brain's dopamine, adrenaline and serotonin pathways adjusted to again functioning without nicotine at the exact same time that you are feeding them nicotine, you should be extremely proud of yourself because you are in fact a superhero.  But if you are among the 93 out of 100 first time OTC NRT users who quickly relapse, or among the nearly 100% who fail during a second or subsequent attempt, do not grow discouraged as you are in some wonderful wonderful company.

Nicotine addicts are not breaking free because of weeks or months spent toying with replacement nicotine but in spite of having done so. Our core dreams and desires for freedom are not altered by standing in front of any weaning product or even Billy Bob's Lima Bean Butter. It is "you" who'll do the work. As long as you locate a source of ongoing support and keep your day #1 dreams vibrant and alive long enough to allow you to again become entirely comfortable within nicotine-free skin, you'll eventually be free to award full credit to any product or procedure you desire. But the truth is, the glory will be 100% yours!

It should be noted that the below NRT studies focus almost exclusively on over-the-counter (OTC) replacement nicotine products used as stand alone recovery tools. Obviously, the 7% OTC NRT six-month rate should increase when used in conjunction with any program having a support, education or counseling component, depending upon the intensity and quality of the program. But with an almost complete absence of NRT compliance programs in U.S. cities, and less than 1% of all quitters turning to the Internet for cessation assistance, the below studies accurately reflect how almost all replacement nicotine products are today being used.

Keep in mind that a 7 mg. nicotine patch delivers the nicotine equivalent of smoking seven cigarettes a day. In the end, all drug addicts who successfully recover must give-up their drug. In fact, all successful quitters eventually go cold turkey. At that moment the rule becomes the same for all ... no nicotine just one day at a time ... Never Take Another Puff, Dip, Suck, Chew or Patch!

Looking back to the early studies, there is no debate but that bupropion use demonstrates an early advantage over placebo of roughly 10-15 percentage points at six months. What is of concern is that its six-month advantage gradually diminishes over time with a number of studies now reporting little or no difference between bupropion and placebo group performance rates between one and two years. But why?

It would seem that ending bupropion use somehow brings with it its very own adjustment period with increased risks of relapse. We know that it elevates dopamine levels -- to a much lesser degree than nicotine -- along with elevating serotonin and norepinephrine. Although for many quitters it clearly takes the anxiety edge off of early withdrawal, it is probably important to appreciate and anticipate that there is likely additional brain pathway re-sensitization (and the need for conscious adjustment to that re-sensitization) that will be necessary once bupropion use ends.

Although adverse reaction risks associated with bupropion use are very real, including a 1 in 1,000 risk of seizures, they pale in comparison to the continuing risks associated with ongoing dependency upon smoking nicotine. Do not let anyone scare you into believing that any medication risk could possibly come close to the 50% risk of death associated with your chemical addiction to smoking nicotine.

That being said, it is also important to note that should you start taking bupropion and be forced to stop due to an adverse reaction, there is absolutely no reason why you will not be able to continue to remain nicotine free. Yes, for some it takes the edge off but edge or not the next few minutes are all that matter and each will be entirely do-able!

If you should give bupropion a try, be sure and read the prescribing information sheet that comes with it, stay alert for the adverse reactions listed and if at all concerned immediately pick-up the telephone and contact your physician or pharmacist.

Hypnotism and Acupuncture

The traveling hypnotist and your local acupuncturist will never tell you that all objective independent study evidence to date has found both procedures ineffective in helping smokers quit.  Why?  They will not share objective independent study findings because they know just how badly you want to break free and know that you're willing to pay hard earned money for a quick and painless cure.

That being said, the absence of current objective evidence does not mean that some practitioner might not eventually develop a procedure that is in fact effective. But ask yourself, if you developed a quitting procedure that was highly effective wouldn't you want to have it either independently evaluated or open and transparent for all eyes to evaluate for themselves?

It is also important to note that the most worthless product or procedure on earth can be given the illusion of effectiveness by being combined with tools that are effective. Education, understanding, new coping skills, counseling, physician involvement, group or individual support from ex-smokers, friends or society, financial incentives, and bupropion (Zyban/Wellbutrin) have all demonstrated varying degrees of "real-world" advantage. When combined with any product or procedure they have the ability to make that product or procedure look vastly superior to its true merits if any).

"How Effective is Hypnosis?"

"How Effective is Acupuncture?"

Ten Free, Healthy and Productive Quitting Aids

There is only one quitting aid that can 100% guarantee success and it is you! This can be the most amazing temporary journey of adjustment and healing you have ever made if you will only expand your mind to believe that encountering and overcoming each and every challenge is a very necessary part of a full and complete recovery. The real quitting took place on the day that nicotine took command and control of your mind, quickly suppressing all memory the amazing sense of inner quiet and calm you once called home. Stop being afraid. Fully embrace your journey home to where neurochemical flow in response to life not nicotine's two-hour blood serum chemical half-life!

1.	A detailed list of your reasons for quitting.
2.	An understanding of how our "reasons for quitting" serve as the wind beneath the recovery wings of every successful ex-smoker.
3.	An educated mind that understands the core principles of chemical dependency upon nicotine and how to break its grip so that true healing can at last begin.
4.	A no-nonsense nicotine-free source of rock solid motivational support that will stay in your corner for at least 90 days (a dedicated friend, a local support group, a telephone quitline committed to nicotine cessation, or an online forum such as Freedom from Tobacco).
5.	Three days of acidic fruit juices to counter low blood sugar symptoms and accelerate depletion of the alkaloid nicotine within your body.
6.	A sense of recovery patience that abandons the big bite concept of quitting forever and instead embraces a manageable and do-able one day at a time recovery philosophy that celebrates each hour, challenge, and day of healing and freedom as the complete victory each reflects.
7.	A positive can-do attitude!
8.	Slow deep dopamine generating breaths into the bottom of both lungs, a nice cool glass of refreshing dopamine generating water, and taking a brief moment to feel a sense of real pride and dopamine generating accomplishment as your healing survives yet another less than three minute crave episode and you move one wonderful step closer to again comfortably engaging life as you!
9.	A big big dopamine generating hug, if available, or a bit of self-love or self-like if not.
10.	Always remembering the one rule that if followed provides a 100% guarantee of permanent success to each of us- no nicotine today, Never Take Another Puff!