Cutting nicotine patches in half

Factual Questions
1

I’m currently using Nicoderm CQ patches to quit smoking and it’s working.

My question is, can I cut these patches in half to reduce the nicotine intake as I progress?

These things are far more expensive than smoking and if you follow the 3 steps, you step down with each step. It would be MUCH cheaper if I just cut them in half to reduce the nicotine intake and I think I could get off of the patches faster like that. But I’m concerned with the way the patch works, that a cut edge may actually cause a higher nicotine intake.

Anyone have any experience with this?

2

This has been discussed here before. Do some searching.

IIRC the outcome was that some patches might be safe to cut, others definitely aren’t. If the nicotine goo oozes out onto the skin & just sits there soaking in rapidly you could get an overdose strong enough to kill you.

The more medically-expert the poster (which is NOT me) the more they thought that was a REALLY BAD idea.

3

The real cost of smoking is typically backloaded–at the end of your smoking habit.