~ ~ I almost feel like I'm tempting fate putting fingers to keyboard to write this review.
Let me explain. After 43 years smoking I am now on my 19th day without a cigarette.
Tempting fate? Well, the thought in the back of my mind is; "Is it too soon to be writing this review? Should I perhaps not a wait a while longer to make sure that the cure is permanent and that I'm not going to relapse back into my old ways?"
I believe that would be the case if I were writing simply to praise my own outstanding willpower, and to tell you all how wonderful I am for being able to quit. The truth however is that when it comes to cigarettes and smoking I HAVE no willpower, and believe me, there is NOTHING particularly wonderful about quitting smoking, a habit that I have thoroughly enjoyed for most of the 43 years I have practiced it.
The truth is that without the product I am going to write about here, NiQuitin QC Lozenges, I honestly don't think I would have been able to get through the first hour without a smoke, never mind nearly a fortnight!

~ ~ Anyways, let's get back to the present.
For about the last 7 or 8 years I have been suffering increasing ill effects as a direct result of my smoking. If truth be known, I've obviously been affecting my health for far longer than this, but it's only in the last 3 or 4 years that the effects became patently obvious. The main symptoms were continuous and bad congestion in my chest. This manifested itself most in the early mornings and late evening. I would quite literally cough up my lungs and guts when I first got out of bed in the mornings (at the same time as smoking my first few cigarettes!) and the same process would be repeated late at night. Often I would have difficulty getting off to sleep because of the continuous coughing. Anytime I got a cold or flu I ended up with a serious chest infection (the last time only last month) and would end up being out of work for three or four weeks and swallowing various antibiotics like smarties to try to shift it.
I've also been a serious golfer all of my life. I used to think nothing of playing a couple of rounds a day, but have only achieved this feat once in the last 3 or 4 years. (It nearly killed me, and I took about a week to recover!)
Of course, not being a stupid fella (at least, I don't think so) I suppose I realised in my heart of hearts that it was my smoking that was causing this deterioration in my general health and well being. But, of course, being a serious and dedicated smoker, I rationalised and denied this to all and sundry, including my family, friends, family doctor, and anyone else who tried to talk to me about it. And I'd tried quitting before and found it impossible, so why put myself through all that agony when I already KNEW I was bound to fail!
But all the time the realisation was slowly dawning on me that smoking was really something I was going to HAVE to attempt to quit, otherwise I was going to put myself into an early grave like my late parents.

~ ~ I had the operation on the morning of Wednesday 14th March. By that evening, despite my firm resolve to quit and despite being in much pain, dosed to the eyeballs with morphine, a drain hanging out of my neck, and feeling like death warmed up, I was down in the "smoker's shed" at the front entrance to the hospital puffing merrily away! This is a measure of the physical and mental throttle hold that nicotine has on its victims! This continued until lunch time the following day. Then my wife telephoned me while I was out having a smoke. I was honest with her and told her I was still smoking. The disappointment and despair in her voice literally cut me to the very core, and was sorer than any scalpel the surgeon had wielded the previous day! I promised her (and myself) there and then that come hell or high water I was finished with the fags.
When she came to the hospital to visit me that evening I was suffering badly, not just from the pain of the operation (although that WAS pretty severe) but from acute and serious symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. I hadn't had a cigarette all day, but was literally hanging onto the edge of the cliff by my fingertips.
She went into her bag and came out with this box of lozenges called "NiQuitin QC". Seemingly she had explained my predicament to our local pharmacist (who she knows very well) and he had suggested them as an aid to quitting he'd heard very good reports about. To be honest, I was sceptical, as I had in the past tried just about every "patented cure" known to man without any success. But what the hell, I thought, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So I decided to give them a go.

Pictures of NiQuitin CQ CQ Lozenge

Niquitin CQ Lozenges

~ ~ What NiQuitn CQ does is to give you your required dose of nicotine, but in the form of a pleasant mint flavoured lozenge. Nicotine taken in this form is a relatively harmless drug in terms of your health, although obviously still HIGHLY addictive. The lozenges come in either 4mg or 2mg tablets. The 4mg (strongest) lozenges are recommended for smokers like myself, who have their first cigarette within the first half hour of waking, and who are heavy smokers. The 2mg tablets are for smokers who generally DON'T smoke first thing in the morning, and have a lighter and less well established smoking habit/addiction.
The idea is that you let the lozenge slowly dissolve in your mouth, moving it often from one side to the other, and thus the absorbed nicotine enters your system and reduces/removes the almost unbearable urge to have a cigarette. The manufacturers, GlaxoSmithKline, provide you with a comprehensive information leaflet with the product that tells you all the do's and don'ts, who the product is suitable for and who it isn't, and any unpleasant side effects to look out for. There's also a planned dosage recommended that is designed to gradually wean you off nicotine entirely after a 12 week treatment period. For the first six weeks it recommends you take a lozenge every one to two hours; then for the next three weeks one every 2 to 4 hours, and for the last three weeks one every 4 to 8 hours. The maximum dosage is fifteen tablets in a day.

~ ~ Some of the side effects are worth a mention. For the first 3 to 4 days after I started using the lozenges I experienced a severe dose of the hiccups as I reached the end of each mint. This "wind" also manifested itself in other directions, if you get my drift. (Phew! What a pong!)
This has now subsided, much to the relief not only of myself but of the rest of my family. (Heh, heh)
Despite the manufacturer's claim that the lozenges also help to suppress your appetite and thus help you not to gain any weight when you quit smoking (a common side effect of giving up the weed) I actually gained half a stone in the first week. This was probably caused by my drinking even MORE gallons of coffee than normal, and constantly snacking on choccy biccys while I did so. I also developed an uncontrollable urge for Walker's Ready Salted crisps, and for the first week was getting through about a dozen packets a day! This now seems to be gradually righting itself, and my weight is now only 5 pounds above my normal 12st 10lbs.
I have also been experiencing a wee bit of difficulty in sleeping, which again is listed as a common side effect of nicotine withdrawal. At this point in time that is still on-going, but as I generally make do with very little sleep in any case this isn't a major drawback in my case.

~ ~ What will these lozenges cost you?
They come in packs of 36 or 72. The 36 tablet pack costs around €14 here in Ireland. The 72 tablet pack is the better buy at around €25, but if you're going to try them then obviously try the smaller pack first to see whether or not they are going to work for you. They are an "over the counter" medication, so you don't need a doctor's prescription to obtain them, although I believe they would be available on prescription if cost were a factor to you and you're doctor was agreeable to prescribing them.
They're also freely available on the Web, and are even listed for sale on eBay! So shop around for the best price.