Quitting smoking options that won't break my bank? (Other than cold turkey)

Hey there, I’m looking to quit smoking without going cold turkey. I’ve seen the gym/patches in Watson’s but found them to be over double the price of cigarettes which I know I won’t end up continuing due to cost.

Wondering if anybody knows any ways to get any quit smoking gum, mints, spray etc… Without breaking the bank

Buy this brilliance , read it and you will stop smoking.

He even encourages you to keep smoking while reading as once you start reading you will stop smoking! The gums, mints, sprays etc. are just a waste of money, what you need to do is break your bodies reliance on nicotine, the substitutes just feed that addiction.

I quit 8 years ago whilst reading his book and have not been interested in smoking again since. Was a heavy smoker for 20 years or so with many failed attempts over the years.

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Think about the long-term return. You need patches for a few weeks but cigarettes for many many years.

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The government used to offer free Champix for anyone who wanted to quit. I’ll try to see if the program is still available. It’s quite expensive normally and from my friends who’ve tried it it seems pretty effective.

Edit: Apparently the program is still active. Just search for a 戒煙門診 (quit smoking clinic) in your area. There’s also a phone number on the cigarette packs and you can call them to ask where the nearest clinic is. The Chinese name of the medicine is 戒必適.

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I’ve never been a smoker so I can’t give any advice. But I’d like to give encouragement.

My mom smoked for 50 years but finally quit at age 60 (yes, she started at age ten!). About a year after she quit she was diagnosed with emphysema and had to carry around oxygen for the rest of her life. However, quitting made it so the disease didn’t get worse and helped her to live 15 more years.

If she could do it, so can you! I’m really proud of smokers who quit because I can only imagine how difficult it is.

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Go cold turkey. It’s the only way to do it. Here’s some encouragement (coming from a smoker of 20 years): smoking is the stupidest thing to be addicted to. You pay money and only harm yourself. There is absolutely not a single good thing about it. Only negatives. Get rid of the habit. Quit today. It’ll suck for about a month but at least you know you won’t be addicted to the stupidest thing.

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Everyone is different but I used nicotine free cigarettes on occasion to get the habit/fixation of inhaling smoke then just cut back on the real smokes. By the way the fake smokes are nasty but maybe worth a shot.

If I were you, I’d steer clear of Champix.

I used it for a couple of months, and experienced vile side-effects: horrific dreams, constant farting and diarrhea. The worst was bad tinnitus. And it hasn’t gone away after five years. I have constant screaming in my ears. Of course, due to my years of rock 'n roll, I had a bit of tinnitus, but that stuff seriously exacerbated it.

It did work, though.

This medication is amazing. I couldn’t quit cold turkey and failed multiple times before. Champix really works… It even made me cut back on my drinking.

The government won’t cover the cost for foreigners but it’s worth it. I think the pills are 50$each and you take two a day for 3 months. Not cheap but I’m smoke free for over a year. Small price to pay for success

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Weird, I didn’t have any issues. Maybe a bit of depression, but quitting smoking is a hard life change. I personally felt the stuff I read online about dreams was overblown.
Glad it worked for you

Cold turkey worked for me every time. Yeah, every time I move house I end up smoking as I pack/unpack. Not sure why. A few years “clean,” and can still smoke socially.

Booze, same thing. Cold turkey every time. Longest period of teetotaling about one year. Still on/off the wagon. Situational factors always drag me back, but not to where it influences by job. Just a couple too many once in a while.

Mine was covered.

Just completing my 19th year of quitting. Ask yourself, am I ignorant or weak? The only two reasons people continue smoking. Ignorant, because you don’t know it’s killing you and causing so much suffering to people around you (add selfish too, if you like), because if you knew why would you continue? Which brings us to the second reason: You are weaker than the habit. Yes, that’s right, you are weak. I realised this and decided I could never allow mere overwhelming addition to tobacco for more than 20 years be stronger than my will power. Here I am 19 years later smuggly lecturing weak minded individuals. The moment you are stronger than the nicotine you will not need any patches. Until then stay ignorant. I say this with brotherly love. Peace!

The only thing that worked for me was a vaporizer. You still get the feel of smoking but it’s far less addictive. I vaped for six months after quiting and now I don’t do anything. $1500-$2000 NT to buy a vaporizer and liquid.

Interesting. My specialist at China medical assured me they only covered Taiwan ID card holders

There were conditions, though. I had go go in every two weeks for the scrip. First go to the clinic and blow into a CO2 detector to check that I wasn’t smoking.

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Good for you and glad to hear it worked.

It worked for eight months, then the rugby World Cup started …

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