Double Your Chances
of Quitting Smoking
Courtesy of the American Cancer Society
Among current
Consider Using Medicines to Help You Quit
Research has shown using a quitting
smoking medication, such as bupropion (Zyban), varenicline (Chantix), or the nicotine patch, gum, nasal spray, inhaler,
or lozenge, can double your chances of successfully quitting. Bupropion is a non-nicotine,
prescription medicine that helps reduce cravings. Varenicline
is a drug that helps lessen nicotine withdrawal symptoms and lowers the pleasurable
feelings people get when smoking. Using a nicotine replacement product can
address uncomfortable physical withdrawal symptoms, giving you the chance to
concentrate on changing the "habit" or routine of smoking. Talk to
your doctor or health care provider about setting up a medicine strategy that
will work for you. Depending on your smoking habits and previous attempts to
quit, your doctor may recommend using one or more of these medicines. It is
likely, though, that your doctor will not recommend using buproprion
or varenicline with nicotine replacement products. It
will depend on your health and the safety of using both at the same time. Chantix, in particular, has not been available long enough
for us to know whether it is safe to use NRT (nicotine replacement therapy)
with it.
Get Self-help Materials to Guide Yourself Through
the Quitting Process
Materials are available to help you
quit smoking, no matter where you are in the process. You can use the materials
to learn how to prepare for your quit attempt, develop strategies to help with
cravings, and prevent relapse once you have quit. The self-help materials offer
proven methods that are easy to follow and can keep your motivation high. The
American Cancer Society’s "Break Away From the Pack" series has
been shown to double your chances of quitting successfully. This material is
available for those who are willing to quit smoking. For more information on
"Break Away From the Pack" or other self-help materials from the American
Cancer Society, call 1-800-ACS-2345 (1-800-227-2345).
Find Out About Support Programs Near
You
The American Cancer Society can
tell you about smoking cessation resources in your community. These may include
classes, support groups, Internet resources, or medication assistance
referrals. It is important to have support from several different sources
during your quit attempt, including family, friends, doctors, and stop smoking
professionals. Call 1-800-ACS-2345 for more details.
Use Telephone Counseling Programs
You may be able to use a telephone
counseling program, such as the American Cancer Society’s Quitline® tobacco cessation program, in your area. You can
receive quitting strategies and support over the phone, at times that are
convenient for you. Telephone counseling programs have been proven to double
your chances of successfully quitting. Your state may sponsor a Quitline program, or you can enroll in the American Cancer
Society’s Quitline program clinical trial.
Here are some general tips to help you try to quit:
Talk to your doctor, nurse, or
pharmacist about which medicines are right for you.
Write down your reasons for wanting
to quit; keep the list with you for extra motivation.
Throw away all of your cigarettes
and ashtrays.
Substitute the activities you do
with smoking and other
Set a quit date and plan ahead to
help deal with cravings.
Tell your family, friends, and
coworkers about your plans to quit.
Have alternatives to smoking
available, such as peppermints, carrot sticks, or cinnamon sticks.
Stay busy.
Avoid situations that always
trigger an urge to smoke.
What are the social benefits of quitting
smoking?
Social
benefits of quitting smoking:
- You will feel in control instead of your cigarettes controlling you.
- You feel an enhanced sense of self-esteem.
- Your family will be healthier now and in the future.
- Your healthy appearance will improve.
- You won't have to leave any non-smoking gatherings just to have a
cigarette.
- Your bank account will improve.
- Compared to smokers, people who quit smoking are more likely to exercise regularly
and exercise will help quitters to stay off cigarettes and avoid or
minimize weight gain.
Specific
benefits to women who quit smoking:
- If women didn't smoke during pregnancy, fetal and infant deaths
would be reduced by approximately 10%.
- Women who quit smoking before pregnancy or during the first 3 to 4
months of pregnancy have the same low risk of having a low birth weight
baby as women who have never smoked.
- Women who quit smoking in the later stages of pregnancy, up to the
30th week of gestation, have infants with higher birth weight compared to
women who continue to smoke.
- 2 years after your last cigarette, your risk of cervical cancer
reduces.
- Non-smokers reach menopause 1 to 2 years later than smokers.
Specific
benefits to seniors who quit smoking:
- Smoking in later life has also been associated with higher rates of
physical disability, poorer self-perceived health status, higher levels of
- depressive symptoms, and lower levels of physical function, bone mineral
density, pulmonary function, and muscle strength.
- Seniors quitting smoking is an important factor in bringing about
improvement in general health and well-being.
Life
expectancy:
- If you quit before age 35, your life expectancy is the same as
non-smokers.
- If you quit between the age of 35 and 65, add 5 years to your life
expectancy as compared to someone who continues to smoke.
- If you quit between the age of 65 and 74, add 1 year to your life
expectancy as compared to someone who continues to smoke.
Expert Gives Quitting Smoking Tips
Courtesy Jessica
Wagner
Question: What do acetic acid, ethyl acetate, ammonia and benzoic acid all have in
common? Answer: According to the Wellness Connection at
It's not just nicotine.
Of those 599 ingredients, studies
done by the American Cancer Society prove there are 43 chemicals packed into
cigarettes that can cause cancer. With all of this information, many people
wonder why smokers everywhere don't drop cigarettes.
But there's more to it than just
that.
Because of nicotine, the addictive
ingredient found in cigarettes, quitting smoking can be as difficult as kicking
hard drugs. Although the withdrawal symptoms of these hard drugs are much
worse, some chemical dependency counselors believe the addiction to cigarettes
is more powerful than cocaine or heroin.
Carrie Belair
is one of those counselors. Certified through the state of
"I have seen people with my
own two eyes put down crack pipes, put down hypodermic needles for heroin, but
they will not let you take away their cigarettes," said Belair, who works in the Wellness Connection in the
And according to the ACS, although
smoking related diseases caused by cigarettes account for 419,000 deaths a
year, it is still legal and on the market. Many wonder why.
Among those are members of groups
like truth.com or stand.org who strongly advocate the cessation of cigarette
smoking. These groups usually target younger people--mostly teenagers--and give
scenarios as to how cigarette smoking can be deadly.
Belair, also an advocate for smoking cessation, believes these programs help
children and teenagers put down cigarettes and pick up healthier lifestyles.
She talked about how these programs defer youths from smoking cigarettes and
keep them away, usually for good.
"If we can delay the onset of
youths of any substance to later in life, there's a greater chance that they're
never going to pick it up," Belair said.
"I'm 35 years old. Chances are today that I'm not going to pick up a
cigarette after being a non-smoker for 35 years. And a lot of studies have
shown that this is effective."
Along with preventing young people
from starting smoking, quitting smoking at a young age as well can bring
drastic improvements in a smoker's health.
Within the course of 15 years, a smoker's
health can return almost back to normal. The sense of taste and smell are among
the first to come back, Blair said.
The Ohio Tobacco Use Prevention and
Control Foundation breaks down the benefits of quitting at a young age in the
span of a year.
TUPCF shows that within 24 hours,
the blood pressure, pulse rate and chance of a heart attack all decrease.
Carbon monoxide and oxygen levels in the bloodstream return to normal. Within a
year, the likelihood of a heart attack is cut in half, and in 15 years, the
risk of coronary heart disease is that a non-smoker.
Although these health benefits
prove to be promising, it sometimes takes smokers two or three attempts to quit
before they finally do. Oftentimes, cravings get in the way so much that it
makes those trying to quit feel hopeless. This is when Belair
calls upon the "4 Ds."
These exercises allow for smokers
to diverge their attention away from their cravings and onto healthier ways to
surpass their urge to have a cigarette.
Smokers are first advised to take a
deep breath, the first of the 4 Ds. Next, they should drink plenty of water
throughout the day. This replenishes their bodies and allows for cravings to
pass. If cravings become too powerful, Belair
suggests smokers do something else like exercise.
The fourth attempt should be to
delay reaching for a cigarette. Belair advises that
the urge to smoke will pass.
"If you know that every night
after you eat dinner, you smoke, pick up a hobby, especially something with
your hands," Belair said.
"If you know that every time
you walk from Olscamp to Founders you light a
cigarette, do something else."
Junkie Thinking - Excuses to Smoke"
JUNKIE THINKING: "One Puff
won't hurt"
RESPONSE: "One puff will always
hurt me, and it always will because I'm not a social smoker. One puff and I'll
be smoking compulsively again."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I only want
one."
RESPONSE: "I have never wanted
only one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day every day. I want them all."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just be
a social smoker."
RESPONSE: "I'm a chronic,
compulsive smoker, and once I smoke one I'll quickly be thinking about the next
one. Social smokers can take it or leave it. That's not me."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm doing so
well, one won't hurt me now."
RESPONSE: "The only reason I'm
doing so well is because I haven't taken the first one. Yet once I do, I won't
be doing well anymore. I'll be smoking again."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just
stop again."
RESPONSE: "Sounds easy, but
who am I trying to kid? Look how long it too me to stop this time. And once I
start, how long will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again?
In fact, when I'm back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee do I have that
I'll ever be able to stop again?"
JUNKIE THINKING: "If I slip,
I'll keep trying."
RESPONSE: "If I think I can
get away with one little "slip" now I'll think I can get away with
another little "slip" later on."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I need one
to get me through this withdrawal."
RESPONSE: "Smoking will not
get me through the discomfort of not smoking. I will only get me back to
smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal and I'll have to go through
it all over again."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I miss
smoking right now."
RESPONSE: "Of course I miss
something I've been doing every day for most of my life. Bud do I miss the
chest pain right now? Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment? I'd rather be an
ex-smoker with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant
desire to stop doing it."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I really
need to smoke now, I'm so upset."
RESPONSE: "Smoking is not
going to fix anything. I'll still be upset, I'll just
be an upset smoker. I never have to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need;
it's a want. Once the crisis is over, I'll be relieved and grateful I'm still
not smoking."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I don't
care."
RESPONSE: "What is it exactly
that I think that I don't care about? Can I truthfully say I don't care about
chest pain? I don't care about gagging in the morning? I don't care about lung
cancer? No, I care about these things very much. That's why I stopped smoking
in the first place."
JUNKIE THINKING: "What
difference does it make, anyway?"
RESPONSE: "It makes a
difference in the way I breathe, the way my heart beats, the way I feel about
myself. It makes a tremendous difference in every aspect of my physical and
emotional health."
Quitting Smoking Tips From CDC
1. Don't smoke any number or any kind of cigarette. Smoking even a few cigarettes a day can hurt your health. If you try to smoke fewer cigarettes, but do not stop completely, soon you'll be smoking the same amount again.
Smoking "low-tar, low-nicotine" cigarettes usually does little good, either. Because nicotine is so addictive, if you switch to lower-nicotine brands you'll likely just puff harder, longer, and more often on each cigarette. The only safe choice is to quit completely.
2. Write down why you want to quit. Do you want to feel in control of you life?
o To have better health?
o To set a good example for your children?
o To protect your family from breathing other people's smoke?
Really wanting to quit smoking is very important to how much success you will have in quitting. Smokers who live after a heart attack are the most likely to quit for good-they're very motivated. Find a reason for quitting before you have no choice.
3. Know that it will take effort to quit smoking. Nicotine is habit forming. Half of the battle in quitting is knowing you need to quit. There are many ways smokers quit, including using nicotine replacement products (gum and patches), but there is no easy way. Nearly all smokers have some feelings of nicotine withdrawal when they try to quit. Give yourself a month to get over these feelings. Take quitting one day at a time, even one minute at a time-whatever you need to succeed.
4. Half of all adult smokers have quit, so you can- too. That's the good news. There are millions of people alive today who have learned to face life without a cigarette. For staying healthy, quitting smoking is the best step you can take.
5. Get help if you need it. Many groups offer written materials, programs, and advice to help smokers quit for good. Your doctor or dentist is also a good source of help and support.
Countdown to quitting smoking...
What you do in the weeks and days preceding your official quit date is critical to your success. Use some of these strategies to increase the likelihood of sticking to your plan:
· Change your routine
· Begin exercising or start a new activity
· Make healthy food choices
· Reduce or avoid alcohol
· Identify strategies for lowering your stress
· Build a survival kit (sugarless gum/candy, supporters' phone numbers, healthy snacks, relaxing music, etc.)
· Make tobacco use inconvenient
· Clean your ashtray after each use
· Keep track of tobacco use
· Decrease the number of cigarettes you smoke each day as you move closer to your quit date
· Wait 5 minutes before lighting up
· Switch to a brand you find distasteful
· Read about quitting
· Talk with friends and family members who have successfully quit
· Sit in the nonsmoking section of restaurants
· Avoid situations you link with tobacco use
· Discuss quitting aids such as nicotine replacement with your doctor
· Postpone lighting your first cigarette of the day by 1 hour.
Expert offers tips to quit smoking...
As local residents welcome
the new year, many are hoping to say goodbye to a
habit they've spent years trying to give up.
About 440,000 deaths in the
Many people choose New Year's to begin trying to kick the habit.
Laurie Groskopf started smoking when she was 15 years
old. After smoking for 20 years, she gave up cigarettes and chose to help
others end their dependence on nicotine.
"It's still the best
thing I ever did for myself," she said.
More than 18 years later, she is the northern outreach specialist in
Rhinelander for the University of Wisconsin Center for
Tobacco Research and Intervention.
As a longtime smoker, Groskopf had to work to quit -
and she knows what works.
For those trying to quit smoking in 2005, Groskopf
recommends using a combination of counseling and over-the-counter or
prescription medications instead of trying to quit cold turkey.
Using medication and counseling makes smokers two to three times more likely to
quit than simply trying to stop on your own, she said.
That message is getting through, according to local pharmacists.
As he sees sales of
Slim Fast and other diet drinks for people seeking to lose weight pick up in
the first week of January, pharmacist William Weiler
of Sniteman Pharmacy in Neillsville said sales of
anti-smoking products also increase.
"Everybody is trying to quit smoking or lose weight," he said.
The anti-smoking devices seem to work, and the nicotine patches, which
gradually lower a person's intake of the drug, seem to be the most popular
option Weiler said.
"Of course you still need to have the desire to quit," he said.
Everybody has a different reason to quit smoking, Groskopf
said, which can include health problems, the health of loved ones affected by
second-hand smoke, the cost of cigarettes or anger from substance dependence.
"For a lot of people, it's that feeling that nicotine and cigarettes have
control of their lives," she said.
In her days as a smoker, Groskopf remembers worrying
about having enough cigarettes for the next day and venturing out on cold
nights to buy another pack at the convenience store.
"It takes more
than just willpower to quit," she said. "It takes a plan of
action."
The formula for success for Groskopf included
avoiding alcohol, eating sensibly, getting enough sleep and exercising more.
Most smokers make three to five failed attempts or more before they quit
forever, Groskopf said.
Though people get discouraged when their attempts fail, Groskopf
recommends they evaluate what went wrong and make an informed plan to quit
again. Every attempt to quit - even if it's for just 24 hours - should be
congratulated, Groskopf said.
"Just because they tried to quit, it's a success," she said.
Courtesy of Andrew Dowd,
Reasons people quit smoking...
·
It makes me uncomfortable to know that I am hooked on nicotine.
·
I dislike the way my hair, hands, teeth, clothes, and home look and smell
like those of a smoker. I probably spend more time and money cleaning them than
a nonsmoker does.
·
I am concerned about how my smoking habit affects the health of my family
and friends.
·
My opportunities for employment may be limited because I smoke.
·
I worry that smoking may shorten my life.
·
I am embarrassed by the way other people look at me when I light a
cigarette in a public place.
·
I could afford to buy more of the things I want if I didn't spend so much
money on cigarettes.
·
I am (or would like to become) pregnant, but I'm worried about how my
smoking habit might affect my baby.
·
I think others have a lower opinion of me because I smoke.
·
I wish I had more control over my smoking habit.
·
I worry about becoming a burden to my family if I get sick due to
smoking.
·
Making a list of reasons to quit smoking is a good first step toward
getting yourself motivated to quit smoking. Keep your list with you before you
quit and for several weeks or months after you quit. Review it whenever you are
struggling with the quitting process. Add to your list whenever another reason
to quit occurs to you.
Deep Breathing Exercise:
This deep breathing exercise was developed by the
University of Arizona Health Sciences Center. It's an
excellent exercise to use every day:
Deep breathing is a key relaxation skill for
new non-smokers. When you smoked, if you inhaled deeply, you probably were
breathing in a way which actually promoted relaxation. People who stop smoking
often forget to continue such deep breathing and therefore experience increased
tension. This exercise will show you how to breathe without cigarettes in a way
which slows down the pace of your whole body and therefore promotes general
relaxation.
Correct deep breathing should be done with
your belly muscles. The idea is to let your stomach go out as far as possible
as you inhale. In this way you will fill your lungs more completely. Put a hand
on your abdomen and, as you inhale deeply, feel your stomach expand as though
it were being filled like a balloon. Now let the air out and feel your stomach
return to its normal position. As you do the exercise, pause comfortably at the
end of each exhalation until you feel ready to take the next deep breath. You
can achieve even greater relaxation if you close your eyes during deep
breathing and let your mind focus on a restful scene or a word like calm or
anything else which gives you a peaceful feeling.
Keeping your eyes closed, breathe in deeply,
let your stomach expand until your lungs are filled.
Now pause for a moment and then exhale until you have emptied your lungs. Pause
for a moment. Take another deep breath in, filling your lungs from the bottom.
Hold a moment...and now let the air flow out, focusing your mind on restful
thoughts. Keeping the pace regular, again breathe in deeply...hold a
moment...and now let the air out, feeling more and more relaxed. Take another
breath in...hold it for a moment...now gently breathe
out, letting the tension escape from your body. Once more breathe in...pause a moment...now exhale, feeling deep relaxation.
Courtesy of the Quittsmokingsupport.com
Hypnosis
Hypnosis in private sessions may be beneficial, although
there is no strong evidence to confirm claims made in small studies that it is
any better than other interventions. Group sessions appear to be worthless.
Much depends on the trust a person has in the therapist; the process is
effective only if the subject can feel completely at ease in the vulnerable and
passive state necessary for hypnotic susceptibility. When the subject is very
relaxed, but not asleep, the hypnotherapist will
quietly suggest motivations for not smoking. Effective hypnotherapy reinforces
a positive self-image while the subject is in deep relaxation; this helps many
people avoid the depression that accompanies withdrawal. The session usually
takes about an hour and requires one follow-up. The patient is also taught
methods of self-hypnosis to use at home.
Hypnosis therapy is designed to help you focus on your
smoking patterns and to change your attitudes about smoking in ways that will
help you quit. Hypnosis often involves 1 to 4 hour long sessions and may
include the development of a personal program tape to use at home after or in
between sessions.
While you are hypnotized, the therapist gives you suggestions
to help you stop smoking. The procedure may help with relaxation and withdrawal
symptoms.
Your chances of quitting after just one hypnosis session are
low, but may improve with multiple sessions. However, there is little evidence
that the hypnotic state helps people quit above and beyond the suggestions
provided by the therapist. In addition, hypnosis can be both expensive and time
consuming. If you choose this method, be sure to check the costs, time
commitment and your therapist's qualifications.
Gradually Quitting
Ways of Quitting:
Switch Brands
·
Switch to a brand you find distasteful.
·
Change to a brand that is low in tar and
nicotine a couple of weeks before your target date. This will help change your smoking
behavior. However, do not smoke more cigarettes, inhale them more often or more
deeply, or place your fingertips over the holes in the filters. All of these
will increase your nicotine intake, and the idea is to get your body use to
functioning without nicotine.
Cut Down the Number of Cigarettes You Smoke
·
Smoke only half of each cigarette.
·
Each day, postpone the lighting of your
first cigarette 1 hour.
·
Decide you'll only smoke during odd or even
hours of the day.
·
Decide beforehand how many cigarettes
you'll smoke during the day. For each additional cigarette, give a dollar to
your favorite charity.
·
Change your eating habits to help you cut
down. For example, drink milk, which many people consider incompatible with
smoking. End meals or snacks with something that won't lead to a cigarette.
·
Reach for a glass of juice instead of a
cigarette for a "pick-me-up."
·
Remember: Cutting down can help you quit,
but it's not a substitute for quitting. If you're down to about 7 cigarettes a
day, it's time to set your target quit date and get ready to stick to it.
Don't Smoke "Automatically"
·
Smoke only those cigarettes you really
want. Catch yourself before you light up a cigarette out of pure habit.
·
Don't empty your ashtrays. This will remind
you of how many cigarettes you've smoked each day, and the sight and the smell
of stale cigarettes butts will be very unpleasant.
·
Make yourself aware of each cigarette by
using the opposite hand or putting cigarettes in an unfamiliar location or a
different pocket to break the automatic reach.
·
If you light up many times during the day
without even thinking about it, try to look in a
mirror each time you put a match to your cigarette–you may decide you
don't need it.
Make Smoking Inconvenient
·
Stop buying cigarettes by the carton. Wait
until one pack is empty before you buy another.
·
Stop carrying cigarettes with you at home
or at work. Make them difficult to get to.
Make Smoking Unpleasant
·
Smoke only under circumstances that aren't
especially pleasurable for you. If you like to smoke with others, smoke alone.
Turn your chair to an empty corner and focus only on the cigarette you are
smoking and all its many negative effects.
·
Collect all your cigarette butts in one
large glass container as a visual reminder of the filth made by smoking.
Courtesy of the
National Cancer Institute
Nicotine Substitutes:
What to Expect
If
you're hooked on nicotine or if you've tried quitting before, think about using
nicotine replacement therapy. This method gives you a small dose of nicotine
to help cut down the urge to use tobacco once you quit. Nicotine gum, lozenges,
and "the patch" are sold over the counter at your drug store. Other
forms of nicotine replacement, such as nasal sprays and inhalers, need a
doctor's prescription. Nicotine replacement therapy costs about the same as a
pack of cigarettes per day. You will only have to use replacement therapy for a
short period of time.
How
Nicotine Replacement Works
Nicotine
substitutes treat the very difficult withdrawal symptoms and cravings that 70%
to 90% of smokers say is their only reason for not giving up cigarettes. By
using a nicotine substitute, a smoker's withdrawal symptoms are reduced.
While
a large number of smokers are able to quit smoking without nicotine
replacement, most of those who attempt quitting are not successful on the first
try. In fact, smokers usually need several attempts before they are able to
quit for good.
Lack
of success is often related to the onset of withdrawal symptoms. By reducing
these symptoms with the use of nicotine replacement therapy, smokers who want
to quit have a better chance of being successful.
For
smokers, nicotine blood levels will vary, depending on individual smoking
patterns such as the time between cigarettes, how deeply the person inhales,
the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and the brand
smoked. Smoking delivers nicotine to the bloodstream very quickly - within a
few seconds. Nicotine replacements generally work more slowly, and the amount
of nicotine in the bloodstream is less than that from smoking.
Getting
the Most from Nicotine Replacement
Nicotine
replacement therapy only deals with the physical aspects of addiction. It is
not intended to be the only method used to help you quit smoking. It should be
combined with other smoking cessation methods that address the psychological
component of smoking, such as a stop smoking program. Studies have shown that
an approach - pairing nicotine replacement with a program that helps to change
behavior - can double your chances of successfully
quitting.
The
US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Clinical Practice
Guideline on Smoking Cessation recommends nicotine replacement therapy for all
smokers except pregnant women and people with heart or circulatory diseases. If
a health care provider suggests nicotine replacement for people in these
groups, the benefits of smoking cessation must outweigh the potential health
risk.
The
most effective time to start nicotine replacement is at the beginning of an
attempt to quit. Often smokers first try to quit on their own, then decide to try nicotine replacement. Nicotine
replacement therapy should not be used if you plan to continue to smoke or use
another tobacco product. The combined dose of nicotine could be dangerous to
your health.
Smokers
who are pregnant or have heart disease should consult with their doctor before
using over the counter nicotine replacement.
Courtesy of the American Cancer Society
"Quitting
Smoking" - A Fate Worse Than Death?
People
sitting in at smoking clinics are amazed at how resistant smokers are to giving
up cigarettes. Even smokers will sit and listen to horror stories of other
participants in sheer disbelief. Some
smokers have had multiple heart attacks, circulatory conditions resulting in
amputations, cancers, emphysema and a host of other disabling and deadly
diseases. How in the world could these people have continued smoking after all
that? Some of these smokers are fully
aware that smoking is crippling and killing them, but continue to smoke anyway.
A legitimate question asked by any sane smoker or nonsmoker is,
“why?”
The
answer to such a complex issue is really quite simple. The smoker often has
cigarettes so tied into his lifestyle that he feels when he gives up smoking he
will give up all activities associated with cigarettes. Considering these
activities include almost everything he does from the time he awakes to the
time he goes to sleep, life seems like it will not be worth living as an
ex-smoker. The smoker is also afraid he
will experience the painful withdrawal symptoms from not smoking as long as he
deprives himself of cigarettes. Considering all this, quitting smoking creates
a greater fear than dying from smoking.
If
the smoker were correct in all his assumptions of what life as an ex-smoker
were like, then maybe it would not be worth it to quit. But all these assumptions are wrong. There is life after smoking, and withdrawal
does not last forever. Trying to convince the smoker of this, though, is quite
an uphill battle. These beliefs are deeply ingrained and are conditioned from
the false positive effects experienced from cigarettes.
The
smoker often feels that he needs a cigarette in order to get out of bed in the
morning. Typically, when he awakes he
feels a slight headache, tired, irritable, depressed and disoriented. He is
under the belief that all people awake feeling this way. He is fortunate though, because he has a way
to stop these horrible feelings. He
smokes a cigarette or two. Then he
begins waking up and feels human again.
Once he is awake, he feels he needs cigarettes to give him energy to
make it through the day. When he is
under stress and nervous, the cigarettes calm him down. Giving up this wonder drug seems ludicrous to
him.
But
if he quits smoking he will be pleasantly surprised to find out that he will
feel better and be able to cope with life more efficiently than when he was a
smoker. When he wakes up in the morning, he will feel tremendously better than
when he awoke as a smoker. No longer
will he drag out of bed feeling horrible.
Now he will wake up feeling well rested and refreshed. In general, he
will be calmer than when he smoked. Even
when under stress, he normally will not experience the panic reactions he used
to feel whenever his nicotine level fell below acceptable levels. The belief that cigarettes were needed for
energy is one of the most deceptive of all.
Almost any ex-smoker will attest that he has more strength, endurance,
and energy than he ever did as a smoker.
And the fear of prolonged withdrawal also had no merit, for withdrawal
symptoms would peak within three days, and totally subside within two weeks.
If
any smoker just gives himself the chance to really feel how nice not smoking
is, he will no longer have the irrational fears which keeps him maintaining his
deadly addiction. He will find life will
become simpler, happier, cleaner, and most importantly healthier, than when he
was a smoker. His only fear will now be
in relapsing to smoking and all he has to do to prevent this is - NEVER TAKE
ANOTHER PUFF!
Preparing Yourself for
Quitting Smoking
Many
smokers have successfully given up cigarettes by replacing them with new
habits, without quitting "cold turkey," planning a special program,
or seeking professional help. The following approaches include many of those
most popular with ex-smokers.
Remember
that successful methods are as different as the people who use them. What may
seem silly to others may be just what you need to quit - so don't be embarrassed
to try something new. These methods can make your own personal efforts a little
easier.
Pick
the ideas that make sense to you. And then follow through - you'll have a much
better chance of success.
PREPARING YOURSELF FOR QUITTING...
Decide positively that you want to quit. Try to avoid negative thoughts about how difficult it might be. List all the reasons you w