foreverlora
New member
l know the health risks of smoking, and most of us know quitting
smoking is the single biggest improvement in health for a smoker. Not
that this information makes it any easier to quit. No matter if you
are a teenager or a old time pack-day smoker, it can be difficult to
stop.
To increase your chances of success, you must be motivated, have
social support, understanding of what to expect, and a personal action
plan. You can learn to change your smoking habits, manage your
desires, and join the millions of people who quit smoking.
Learn how to identify and reduce stress that can be hidden.
Smoking is a habit of both psychological and physical dependence. The
act of smoking is based on a daily ritual, and at the same time, the
nicotine from cigarettes provides a temporary high which is addictive.
If you remove the usual dose of nicotine, your body will feel the
physical symptoms of withdrawal and cravings. To quit smoking
successfully, you will need to address both the habit and addiction in
order to change your behavior. You must also treat the symptoms of
nicotine withdrawal.
How to alleviate the feelings of discomfort without tobacco
Managing unpleasant emotions such as stress, depression, loneliness,
fear and anxiety are some of the most common reasons why adults smoke.
When you have a bad day, it may seem that your cigarettes are your
only friend. Smoking can make temporary feelings like sadness, stress,
anxiety, depression and boredom evaporate into thin air. As much
comfort as a cigarette gives, it is important to remember that there
are healthier (and better) ways to keep unpleasant feelings in check.
This may include exercise, meditation, using sensory relaxation
strategies and simple breathing exercises.
For many, an important part of quitting is to find alternative ways to
deal with these difficult emotions without smoking. Although
cigarettes are no longer part of your life, painful and unpleasant
feelings, are not going to disappear.. Thus, it is worth spending the
time to think about different ways that you are going to deal with
stressful situations and everyday irritation, for those moments you
would reach for a cigarette.
Make your own way with your quit smoking plan. Customizing a game plan
for your personal needs and desires can be a great help. List why you
want to stop and then keep a copy of the list in places where you
normally keep your cigarettes, such as your jacket, purse or car.
Reasons to quit smoking could include:
I'm going to feel healthier and have more energy, whiter teeth and fresher life.
I will reduce my risk of cancer of a heart attack, stroke, premature
death, cataracts and wrinkles.
I will make myself, my partner, friends and family proud of me.
I will not expose my children and others to the dangers of my secondhand smoke.
I want a healthy baby (If you or your partner is pregnant).
I will have more money.
Source: Line Out Guide Smokefree.gov
Questions to Ask Yourself
To successfully quit smoking, you must identify and deal with the true
nature of your addiction and techniques that work for you.
These types of questions can help:
Do you feel the need to smoke after every meal?
Are you more of a social smoker?
Is it a very bad addiction (more than one pack a day)?
Is the smoking associated with other addictions such as alcohol or gambling?
Are you open to hypnotherapy and / or acupuncture?
Are you a person who is open to discuss your addiction with a
therapist or counselor?
Are you interested in getting into an exercise program?
Take time to think about what type of smoker you are, the moments of
your life that requires a cigarette, and why. This will help you
identify which tips, techniques or therapies may be more beneficial to
you.
Start your plan to stop smoking with START
S = Set a date.
T = Tell your family, friends and colleagues that you plan to quit.
A = Anticipate and plan for the challenges you will face.
R = Remove cigarettes and other snuff products for your home, car and work.
T = Talk to your doctor about what helps people quit smoking.
When you stop, you may feel dizzy, restless, or even a severe
headache, because you're missing the immediate release of sugar, which
comes with nicotine. It can also be an increased appetite. These
linked sugar cravings should only take a few days until your body gets
used to keep blood sugar levels slightly higher than usual in those
days by drinking plenty of juice (unless you are a diabetic). It helps
to prevent the symptoms of craving and helps the body to readjust back
to normal.
Tips for managing your desire for another cigarette
Cravings after meals
For some smokers, not ending a meal with a cigarette, can seem daunting.
TIP: Replace this time after a meal with something like a piece of
fruit, a dessert (healthy), a square of chocolate or chewing gum.
Alcohol and cigarettes
Many people like to smoke when they drink alcohol. Tip: Try to drink
in pubs, bars, restaurants, or at friends where smoking is prohibited.
Try chewing on a straw or toothpick instead of smoking.
Desire for smoking in social situations
When friends, family and colleagues smoke around you, it's twice as
hard to stop or prevent a relapse. TIP: Your social circles need to
know that you're changing your habits, talk about your decision to
stop. Let them know they can not smoke when you're in the car with
them or
take a coffee break together.
At your workplace, do not take all your coffee breaks with smokers
just do something else, or find non-smoking colleagues to be around on
your breaks.
Additional tips for dealing with cravings and withdrawal symptoms
Be Active: Keep distracted and busy, take a walk.
Keep your hands / fingers busy: Squeeze balls, pencils and paper clips
are good substitutes to meet this need for tactile stimulation.
Keep your mind occupied: read a book or magazine, listen to the music you love.
Find Oral Substitute: Keep things around to pop in your mouth, like
gum, when you
are craving for a cigarette.
Good choices are the mints, candies, carrot sticks or celery, chewing
gum, and sunflower seeds.
Drink plenty of water: Flushing toxins from your body reduces
withdrawal symptoms and cravings pass quickly.
Looking for new ways to relax and deal with depression or anxiety.
There are many ways to improve your mood without smoking. Keep a
journal of wishes. For the first week of quitting, make entries in a
diary to monitor your progress daily. Note the moments in your life
when you feel like a cigarette, because they are your triggers for
smoking. Are there certain people or environments that trigger your
cravings? If you smoke, how do you feel? Note other things you can do
to feel the same way. Later, when you have a bad day, you will be able
to return to the
comments you wrote in one week to gain perspective on how far you have come.
Get support from others
Let your friends and family in on your plan to stop smoking and tell
them what you will need for their support and encouragement to quit.
Find someone who wants to quit smoking as well. You can help each
other survive hard times.
Keep the pounds off
Weight gain is a common problem when you quit smoking. It is true that
many smokers gain weight when they stop smoking, ususually, averaging
3-5 pounds. The weight gain is due to the need for oral gratification.
Smoking is often replaced with a self-calming mechanism to eat.
Maintain a healthy weight, it is important to find healthy ways to
deal with stress and other unpleasant sensations other than eating.
Eating a healthy diet and exercising is a great way to maintain your
current weight.
Manage changes in mood
Mood swings are common after quitting due to nicotine withdrawal. They
will be particularly pronounced if you have been using cigarettes to
manage your moods and relieve stress, depression or anxiety, for
example. After quitting, you may be more irritable, frustrated,
nervous,
angry or depressed than usual. You may also experience headaches,
sleep disturbances and difficulty concentrating. However, these
changes usually improve within 1 or 2 weeks as toxins leave the body.
There are other healthy ways to manage your moods. Let your friends
and family know what you are going through and ask for understanding.
Find the resources and support to stop smoking.
There are many different methods that have been successful in helping
people quit smoking, including:
Quitting smoking cold turkey.
Systematically reduce the number of cigarettes smoked.
Reduce intake of nicotine gradually over time.
Using nicotine replacement therapy or without drugs to reduce nicotine
withdrawal symptoms.
The use of support groups to nicotine.
Trying hypnosis, acupuncture, or advice using cognitive behavioral techniques.
Your smoking could be managed in the first method you try. More
likely, you should try different methods or a combination of
treatments to find those that work best for you.
Pharmacotherapy
Drugs for quitting smoking can relieve withdrawal symptoms and reduce
cravings and are more effective when used as part of a program to stop
smoking completely monitored by your doctor. Talk to your doctor about
your options and if an anti-snuff is good for you.
Nicotine replacement therapy
Nicotine replacement therapy involves "replacing" cigarettes with
other nicotine replacements such as nicotine gum or the nicotine
patch. It works by delivering small doses of nicotine through the body
to relieve some withdrawal symptoms without the tars and poisonous
gases found in cigarettes. This type of treatment helps smokers focus
on breaking their psychological addiction and to facilitate the focus
on learning new behaviors and coping strategies.
Medicines without nicotine
These medications can help you stop smoking by reducing cravings and
withdrawal symptoms without the use of nicotine. Drugs such as
bupropion (Zyban) and varenicline (Champix) are intended for
short-term use.
Non-drug treatments
There are several things you can do to stop smoking that have nothing
to do with nicotine replacement therapy or prescription drugs.
Hypnosis
This popular choice has been successful. Forget everything you may
have seen about hypnotists, hypnosis works for you in a state of deep
relaxation in which we are open to suggestions to strengthen your
resolve to quit smoking and increase the negative feelings about
smoking. Ask your doctor about quitting a qualified hypnotherapist in
your area or visit the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH)
guidelines on choosing a qualified professional.
Acupuncture
One of the oldest known medical technology, acupuncture is believed to
work by triggering the release of endorphins (natural painkillers),
which allows the body to relax. As an aid to smoking cessation,
acupuncture may be useful in the management of tobacco withdrawal
symptoms.Ask your doctor about a referral or finding a local doctor of
the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM).
Behavioral therapy
The nicotine dependence is related to the usual behavior (the
"rituals") which are involved in smoking. Behavioral therapy focuses
on learning new coping skills and to break those habits. The American
Lung Association offers a free online smoking class that focuses on
behavioral changes. To find a local behavioral therapist, you should
contact your doctor or search on a combination of behavioral and
cognitive therapy (ABCT ").
Therapies motivation
Self-help books and websites can provide a number of ways to motivate
yourself to quit smoking. A well known example of this is to calculate
the savings. Some people have managed to find the motivation to quit
just calculate how much money to save after quitting. You savings may
be sufficient to pay for summer holidays.
To help a family member to quit smoking
It is important to remember that you can not make a friend or family
member quit smoking, the decision must be theirs. If they do make the
decision to quit smoking, you can offer support and encouragement and
try to relieve the stress of quitting. Consider the various treatment
options available, and talk through the smoke, just be careful never
to preach or judge. You can also help a smoker overcome the desire by
pursuing other activities with him or her, and keeping tobacco
substitutes such as gum and candy at hand. If a loved one slip or
relapse, making them feel guilty is the last thing you want to do.
Praise the time they were not smoking and encourage them to try again.
Most smokers make several attempts to quit smoking for good.
Parents of adolescents who smoke
Most smokers try their first cigarette at the age of 11 years, and
many are dependent on the time they turn 14. This can be troubling to
parents or guardians, but it is important to appreciate the challenges
and peer pressures teenagers face when it comes to quitting smoking.
The decision to stop must come from the adolescent smoking themselves.
the American Lung Association offers tools to help teens quit smoking.
Tips for parents of teens smoking
Try to avoid threats and ultimatums. Find out why your teen smokes,
they may be accepted by a peer group, or could even want your
attention. Talk about what changes you can make in your life to help
them stop smoking. Be patient and support your child through the
process of abandonment. Set a good example for your children do not
smoke. Parents who smoke are more likely to have children who smoke.
Ask your children if have friends who smoke. Talk to your children
about how to refuse a cigarette. Explain the dangers to health and the
unpleasantness of physical snuff consumption (such as bad breath,
stained teeth and nails).
It***8217;s important to establish a smoke-free policy at home. Do not let
anyone smoke inside, at any time.
The smokeless snuff, also known as moist snuff is not a safe
alternative to cigarettes. It contains the same chemical addictive
nicotine in cigarettes. In fact, the amount of nicotine absorbed by
the smoke of snuff can be 3-4 times the amount delivered by a cigarette.
What to do in case of relapse
Smoking cessation did not work, now what? Having a small lapse does
not mean you're a smoker again. Most people try to quit several times
before discarding the habit for good.
Identify the triggers or hot spots and learn from their mistakes. You
are not a failure. This does not mean that you can not stop forever.
Do not let one slip into a mudslide. Throw the rest of the pack away.
It is important to get back on track of non-smoking. Find the trigger.
Exactly what did you smoke? Decide how you will address this issue the
next time you get up. Learn from your experiences. What was most
useful? What went wrong?
If you use medication,c all your doctor if you start smoking. Some
drugs can not be used if you smoke at the same time.
smoking is the single biggest improvement in health for a smoker. Not
that this information makes it any easier to quit. No matter if you
are a teenager or a old time pack-day smoker, it can be difficult to
stop.
To increase your chances of success, you must be motivated, have
social support, understanding of what to expect, and a personal action
plan. You can learn to change your smoking habits, manage your
desires, and join the millions of people who quit smoking.
Learn how to identify and reduce stress that can be hidden.
Smoking is a habit of both psychological and physical dependence. The
act of smoking is based on a daily ritual, and at the same time, the
nicotine from cigarettes provides a temporary high which is addictive.
If you remove the usual dose of nicotine, your body will feel the
physical symptoms of withdrawal and cravings. To quit smoking
successfully, you will need to address both the habit and addiction in
order to change your behavior. You must also treat the symptoms of
nicotine withdrawal.
How to alleviate the feelings of discomfort without tobacco
Managing unpleasant emotions such as stress, depression, loneliness,
fear and anxiety are some of the most common reasons why adults smoke.
When you have a bad day, it may seem that your cigarettes are your
only friend. Smoking can make temporary feelings like sadness, stress,
anxiety, depression and boredom evaporate into thin air. As much
comfort as a cigarette gives, it is important to remember that there
are healthier (and better) ways to keep unpleasant feelings in check.
This may include exercise, meditation, using sensory relaxation
strategies and simple breathing exercises.
For many, an important part of quitting is to find alternative ways to
deal with these difficult emotions without smoking. Although
cigarettes are no longer part of your life, painful and unpleasant
feelings, are not going to disappear.. Thus, it is worth spending the
time to think about different ways that you are going to deal with
stressful situations and everyday irritation, for those moments you
would reach for a cigarette.
Make your own way with your quit smoking plan. Customizing a game plan
for your personal needs and desires can be a great help. List why you
want to stop and then keep a copy of the list in places where you
normally keep your cigarettes, such as your jacket, purse or car.
Reasons to quit smoking could include:
I'm going to feel healthier and have more energy, whiter teeth and fresher life.
I will reduce my risk of cancer of a heart attack, stroke, premature
death, cataracts and wrinkles.
I will make myself, my partner, friends and family proud of me.
I will not expose my children and others to the dangers of my secondhand smoke.
I want a healthy baby (If you or your partner is pregnant).
I will have more money.
Source: Line Out Guide Smokefree.gov
Questions to Ask Yourself
To successfully quit smoking, you must identify and deal with the true
nature of your addiction and techniques that work for you.
These types of questions can help:
Do you feel the need to smoke after every meal?
Are you more of a social smoker?
Is it a very bad addiction (more than one pack a day)?
Is the smoking associated with other addictions such as alcohol or gambling?
Are you open to hypnotherapy and / or acupuncture?
Are you a person who is open to discuss your addiction with a
therapist or counselor?
Are you interested in getting into an exercise program?
Take time to think about what type of smoker you are, the moments of
your life that requires a cigarette, and why. This will help you
identify which tips, techniques or therapies may be more beneficial to
you.
Start your plan to stop smoking with START
S = Set a date.
T = Tell your family, friends and colleagues that you plan to quit.
A = Anticipate and plan for the challenges you will face.
R = Remove cigarettes and other snuff products for your home, car and work.
T = Talk to your doctor about what helps people quit smoking.
When you stop, you may feel dizzy, restless, or even a severe
headache, because you're missing the immediate release of sugar, which
comes with nicotine. It can also be an increased appetite. These
linked sugar cravings should only take a few days until your body gets
used to keep blood sugar levels slightly higher than usual in those
days by drinking plenty of juice (unless you are a diabetic). It helps
to prevent the symptoms of craving and helps the body to readjust back
to normal.
Tips for managing your desire for another cigarette
Cravings after meals
For some smokers, not ending a meal with a cigarette, can seem daunting.
TIP: Replace this time after a meal with something like a piece of
fruit, a dessert (healthy), a square of chocolate or chewing gum.
Alcohol and cigarettes
Many people like to smoke when they drink alcohol. Tip: Try to drink
in pubs, bars, restaurants, or at friends where smoking is prohibited.
Try chewing on a straw or toothpick instead of smoking.
Desire for smoking in social situations
When friends, family and colleagues smoke around you, it's twice as
hard to stop or prevent a relapse. TIP: Your social circles need to
know that you're changing your habits, talk about your decision to
stop. Let them know they can not smoke when you're in the car with
them or
take a coffee break together.
At your workplace, do not take all your coffee breaks with smokers
just do something else, or find non-smoking colleagues to be around on
your breaks.
Additional tips for dealing with cravings and withdrawal symptoms
Be Active: Keep distracted and busy, take a walk.
Keep your hands / fingers busy: Squeeze balls, pencils and paper clips
are good substitutes to meet this need for tactile stimulation.
Keep your mind occupied: read a book or magazine, listen to the music you love.
Find Oral Substitute: Keep things around to pop in your mouth, like
gum, when you
are craving for a cigarette.
Good choices are the mints, candies, carrot sticks or celery, chewing
gum, and sunflower seeds.
Drink plenty of water: Flushing toxins from your body reduces
withdrawal symptoms and cravings pass quickly.
Looking for new ways to relax and deal with depression or anxiety.
There are many ways to improve your mood without smoking. Keep a
journal of wishes. For the first week of quitting, make entries in a
diary to monitor your progress daily. Note the moments in your life
when you feel like a cigarette, because they are your triggers for
smoking. Are there certain people or environments that trigger your
cravings? If you smoke, how do you feel? Note other things you can do
to feel the same way. Later, when you have a bad day, you will be able
to return to the
comments you wrote in one week to gain perspective on how far you have come.
Get support from others
Let your friends and family in on your plan to stop smoking and tell
them what you will need for their support and encouragement to quit.
Find someone who wants to quit smoking as well. You can help each
other survive hard times.
Keep the pounds off
Weight gain is a common problem when you quit smoking. It is true that
many smokers gain weight when they stop smoking, ususually, averaging
3-5 pounds. The weight gain is due to the need for oral gratification.
Smoking is often replaced with a self-calming mechanism to eat.
Maintain a healthy weight, it is important to find healthy ways to
deal with stress and other unpleasant sensations other than eating.
Eating a healthy diet and exercising is a great way to maintain your
current weight.
Manage changes in mood
Mood swings are common after quitting due to nicotine withdrawal. They
will be particularly pronounced if you have been using cigarettes to
manage your moods and relieve stress, depression or anxiety, for
example. After quitting, you may be more irritable, frustrated,
nervous,
angry or depressed than usual. You may also experience headaches,
sleep disturbances and difficulty concentrating. However, these
changes usually improve within 1 or 2 weeks as toxins leave the body.
There are other healthy ways to manage your moods. Let your friends
and family know what you are going through and ask for understanding.
Find the resources and support to stop smoking.
There are many different methods that have been successful in helping
people quit smoking, including:
Quitting smoking cold turkey.
Systematically reduce the number of cigarettes smoked.
Reduce intake of nicotine gradually over time.
Using nicotine replacement therapy or without drugs to reduce nicotine
withdrawal symptoms.
The use of support groups to nicotine.
Trying hypnosis, acupuncture, or advice using cognitive behavioral techniques.
Your smoking could be managed in the first method you try. More
likely, you should try different methods or a combination of
treatments to find those that work best for you.
Pharmacotherapy
Drugs for quitting smoking can relieve withdrawal symptoms and reduce
cravings and are more effective when used as part of a program to stop
smoking completely monitored by your doctor. Talk to your doctor about
your options and if an anti-snuff is good for you.
Nicotine replacement therapy
Nicotine replacement therapy involves "replacing" cigarettes with
other nicotine replacements such as nicotine gum or the nicotine
patch. It works by delivering small doses of nicotine through the body
to relieve some withdrawal symptoms without the tars and poisonous
gases found in cigarettes. This type of treatment helps smokers focus
on breaking their psychological addiction and to facilitate the focus
on learning new behaviors and coping strategies.
Medicines without nicotine
These medications can help you stop smoking by reducing cravings and
withdrawal symptoms without the use of nicotine. Drugs such as
bupropion (Zyban) and varenicline (Champix) are intended for
short-term use.
Non-drug treatments
There are several things you can do to stop smoking that have nothing
to do with nicotine replacement therapy or prescription drugs.
Hypnosis
This popular choice has been successful. Forget everything you may
have seen about hypnotists, hypnosis works for you in a state of deep
relaxation in which we are open to suggestions to strengthen your
resolve to quit smoking and increase the negative feelings about
smoking. Ask your doctor about quitting a qualified hypnotherapist in
your area or visit the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH)
guidelines on choosing a qualified professional.
Acupuncture
One of the oldest known medical technology, acupuncture is believed to
work by triggering the release of endorphins (natural painkillers),
which allows the body to relax. As an aid to smoking cessation,
acupuncture may be useful in the management of tobacco withdrawal
symptoms.Ask your doctor about a referral or finding a local doctor of
the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM).
Behavioral therapy
The nicotine dependence is related to the usual behavior (the
"rituals") which are involved in smoking. Behavioral therapy focuses
on learning new coping skills and to break those habits. The American
Lung Association offers a free online smoking class that focuses on
behavioral changes. To find a local behavioral therapist, you should
contact your doctor or search on a combination of behavioral and
cognitive therapy (ABCT ").
Therapies motivation
Self-help books and websites can provide a number of ways to motivate
yourself to quit smoking. A well known example of this is to calculate
the savings. Some people have managed to find the motivation to quit
just calculate how much money to save after quitting. You savings may
be sufficient to pay for summer holidays.
To help a family member to quit smoking
It is important to remember that you can not make a friend or family
member quit smoking, the decision must be theirs. If they do make the
decision to quit smoking, you can offer support and encouragement and
try to relieve the stress of quitting. Consider the various treatment
options available, and talk through the smoke, just be careful never
to preach or judge. You can also help a smoker overcome the desire by
pursuing other activities with him or her, and keeping tobacco
substitutes such as gum and candy at hand. If a loved one slip or
relapse, making them feel guilty is the last thing you want to do.
Praise the time they were not smoking and encourage them to try again.
Most smokers make several attempts to quit smoking for good.
Parents of adolescents who smoke
Most smokers try their first cigarette at the age of 11 years, and
many are dependent on the time they turn 14. This can be troubling to
parents or guardians, but it is important to appreciate the challenges
and peer pressures teenagers face when it comes to quitting smoking.
The decision to stop must come from the adolescent smoking themselves.
the American Lung Association offers tools to help teens quit smoking.
Tips for parents of teens smoking
Try to avoid threats and ultimatums. Find out why your teen smokes,
they may be accepted by a peer group, or could even want your
attention. Talk about what changes you can make in your life to help
them stop smoking. Be patient and support your child through the
process of abandonment. Set a good example for your children do not
smoke. Parents who smoke are more likely to have children who smoke.
Ask your children if have friends who smoke. Talk to your children
about how to refuse a cigarette. Explain the dangers to health and the
unpleasantness of physical snuff consumption (such as bad breath,
stained teeth and nails).
It***8217;s important to establish a smoke-free policy at home. Do not let
anyone smoke inside, at any time.
The smokeless snuff, also known as moist snuff is not a safe
alternative to cigarettes. It contains the same chemical addictive
nicotine in cigarettes. In fact, the amount of nicotine absorbed by
the smoke of snuff can be 3-4 times the amount delivered by a cigarette.
What to do in case of relapse
Smoking cessation did not work, now what? Having a small lapse does
not mean you're a smoker again. Most people try to quit several times
before discarding the habit for good.
Identify the triggers or hot spots and learn from their mistakes. You
are not a failure. This does not mean that you can not stop forever.
Do not let one slip into a mudslide. Throw the rest of the pack away.
It is important to get back on track of non-smoking. Find the trigger.
Exactly what did you smoke? Decide how you will address this issue the
next time you get up. Learn from your experiences. What was most
useful? What went wrong?
If you use medication,c all your doctor if you start smoking. Some
drugs can not be used if you smoke at the same time.
Last edited by a moderator:
