To those of you who have decided that you needed to take control your life back from nicotine, let me be the first to congratulate you. You are about to embark upon a challenge that may be difficult but is extremely rewarding.
As someone who never smoked, I had to rely upon the advice of those I know who have successfully kicked the habit. Both my mother and my father quit after smoking for decades of sucking on the cancer sticks. As far as Dad goes,
the benefits of giving up smokinginclude his life being saved because his body was strong enough to recover from a serious car accident.
So, what are the best methods for how to quit smoking cigarettes? The first is to go cold turkey. Just make the decision to quit and not go back. And I can tell you from watching both of my parents,
this isn’t easy. The first week is the toughest, as everything seemed to remind you of a cigarette and the nicotine withdrawal is at its strongest.
When I asked my parents about how to quit smoking cigarettes and going cold turkey, I have to say I was very surprised by the answers I heard and the power that nicotine has over you. I am going to sum up in the bullet points below: • Both of my parents told me that they still think about smoking EVERY DAY, even though they have been free of nicotine for 21 and 12 years respectively. • For Dad, quitting was tougher because he quit while my mother was still smoking. So he was always around the smell, the ashtrays, the cigarette lighters, etc… • Both of them agreed with this quote: “Anyone who tells you it is easy to quit is full of @#$%!” (Mom said it and Dad enthusiastically agreed with it) • For my mother, her success in how to quit smoking cigarettes came down to her reason to quit smoking, not the methods to quit smoking. My brother just had his first child and my mother was told in no uncertain terms that she would not be allowed to have her grandchild at her house so long as she was smoking.
Grandma could visit her grandson, but her grandson would never be going to grandma’s house so long as she smoked.
She hasn’t smoked a cigarette since! So I guess it comes down to the fact that if your ‘why’ is strong enough, you can figure out the ‘how’. • Mom also told me that if she was ever diagnosed with an incurable disease and had six months to live, she would go back to smoking because she enjoyed it so much and thinks about it every day. I have to say that I was shocked to hear her say this, but it is just a testament to power that nicotine and the control it exhibits over the lives of smokers.
The second method to answer how to quit smoking cigarettes is to find a local support group to seek out the advice and support of others who have conquered the addiction as well as those who are going through the same struggles as you are. Nicotine Anonymous offers a listing of meetings in your area as well as other support to those looking to kick the habit.
Another of the methods for how to quit smoking cigarettes is to use some of the many smoking cessation products that are now available.
The FDA has a page regarding smoking cessation products that is continually updated for new products as well as consumer advisories. You should refer to it before purchasing any medication.
Many of these drugs, such as Zyban, work by slowly weaning patients off of their dependency of nicotine. There are risks and side effects associated with this that you must discuss with your doctor before taking any of these medications.
However, the one thing to be said for using ‘the patch’ or other nicotine withdrawal medications is that those who do use them seem to be more likely to not use cigarettes in the future.
The only methods of quitting smoking that do not come with these risks are going cold turkey, hypnosis and acupuncture. As far as hypnosis and acupuncture go, you should be warned that despite the claims of high success rates there is absolutely no evidence to support the fact that these methods to quit smoking are any better than going cold turkey.
So from looking at the methods to quit smoking, from going cold turkey to the medications, I think it comes down, more than anything else, to the mindset of the individual. Go back and take a look at what my mother said. I will relate it here once again in the box below
For my mother, her success in quitting smoking came down to her reason to quit smoking, not the methods to quit smoking. My brother just had his first child and my mother told her in no uncertain terms that she would not be allowed to have her grandchild at her house so long as she was smoking.
Grandma could visit her grandson, but her grandson would never be going to grandma’s house so long as she smoked.
She hasn’t smoked a cigarette since! So I guess it comes down to the fact that if your ‘why’ is strong enough, you can figure out the ‘how’.
It comes down to you finding your why. She never wanted to quit before that moment and resisted my urgings and my brother’s urgings for years. As soon as she found a reason strong enough to quit, she did. And when you find that reason, you can too.