How to quit smoking

* Medical Care – Drug companies have developed medication to help the campaign against smoking.  For example, the antidepressant Bupropion lessens nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms.  This drug is comparable to most nicotine replacement therapies.  Studies show people have successful stopped smoking in as short as three months with this method.

* Alternative Medicine – There are a number of alternative medical care available to help you quit smoking.  These include meditation as well as herbal supplements and drinks to control nicotine cravings. 

- Meditation will allow you to relax your mind and body.  Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. Meditation often involves turning attention to a single point of reference, in this case smoking cessation.  It will help you be more focused and assist in removing your cravings.  The deep breathing techniques that is involved in meditation will effectively help to oxygenate your body and relieve anxiety and stress, making you less likely to crave for that stick of cigarette. 

- Hypnosis and NLP are also alternatives that will help to get to the root of the psychological need for a smoke.  Hypnosis is a distinctive, often trance-like mental state that is induced by an organized pattern of suggestions which are usually verbal in nature.  The suggestions may be directly induced by a clinical hypnotherapist in the presence of the subject, but may also be self-induced.  This would normally require a few sessions for it to be effective in helping to quit smoking.  Or you could click here to access a gentle and pleasurable hypnosis online that gives you 100% money-back guarantee if it doesn’t work on you to help you to remove your cravings for that stick of cigarette and quit smoking. 

- As for herbal supplements and drinks, these have been known to work as well.  There are some very special plants available to us that we can use to support our healthy wholeness and to help to quit smoking although this is not advertised. Have personally seen a few friends on whom this method has worked and the process is very simple.  No hassles and no challenges.

* Using Patches – Another way of quitting smoking is by making use of patches.  Patches which can be purchased at any pharmacies or by doctor’s prescription have been known to help people solve their smoking addiction.  The percentage of success though is not high.  Nicotine replacement therapies are other tools that can help to manage nicotine cravings, withdrawal symptoms and resulting in smoking cessation.

* Another tool to quit smoking is through an ancient Chinese medical technique called acupuncture.  Acupuncture involves the insertion of extremely thin needles through your skin, to various depths at strategic points on your body.  This usually involves a series of weekly or biweekly treatments in an outpatient setting.  Acupuncture has seen success in the field of smoking cessation.

* Belonging to a support group where members provide each other with providing and evaluating relevant information pertaining to smoking cessation, relating their personal experiences, listening to and accepting others’ experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks can help a smoker succeed in his quest to quit smoking.  A support group can be very valuable in terms of the support that is given.

* Most important of all is to focus on the goal and the desired outcome.  The methods are numerous and many.  However, the end result is to quit smoking.  Without commitment and determination, the number of smokers are not able to overcome their bad habit of smoking.  Unless they have a strong commitment to themselves and a burning desire to quit smoking, they will not be able to overcome their smoking habit for good.

For example, many smokers choose to quit “cold turkey.” This is clinically referred to as abrupt cessation meaning that you simply go from being a smoker to a non-smoker in a day. The term is actually slang for the cold, bumpy, pale skin of a plucked turkey that most narcotic addicts develop with abrupt cessation; it doesn’t actually occur with smoking cessation. Like other methods, but to a greater degree, relapse prevention for former cold turkey smokers is especially difficult because today you have a high volume of nicotine in your body, and tomorrow, you will have none. Nicotine addiction creates uncomfortable physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms that must be the primary focus of your relapse prevention plan.

Consider these quit smoking tips and relapse prevention plan elements:

• When you made the decision to stop smoking, you were only half-way to your goal of becoming smoke-free. The other half of your plan must be relapse prevention. You not only want to stop – you also want to stay smoke-free.
• Know your enemy! Regardless of your smoking cessation method, be sure you know the symptoms of nicotine addiction withdrawal. Understanding why you feel anxious or irritable, and knowing that these symptoms will soon pass makes your relapse prevention plan more powerful than nicotine’s call!
• Keep a “relapse record.” Every time you feel tempted to smoke, write down where you were at the time, what was happening, and how you were feeling. Since nicotine addiction is both physical and psychological, relapse prevention involves understanding all your “triggers” that make you want to smoke; you have to know what they are before you know how to resist them.
• In addiction terminology, there is a distinct difference between a “slip” and a “relapse.” If you’re in a social situation, for example, and you smoke a cigarette or two, then realize the danger you’re in and stop, this is a slip. A relapse, however, is a return to smoking full-time, just as you did before you quit. If you have a slip, don’t make the mistake of telling yourself that you’ve failed and you might as well keep on smoking. Your relapse prevention plan should include how you will handle slips without a return to smoking.
• What if you do return to smoking? Understand that this may indeed happen because of the powerful nature of nicotine addiction. Some people stop smoking for a year or more, and then, for various reasons, return to smoking. If this happens to you, or has already happened to you, also understand that most people seldom get anything right the very first time they try it. Life just isn’t that easy. Have the courage to try again. And again. And yet again, until you reach your goal of long-term smoking cessation.

Poet Maya Angelou wrote that “You did the best you knew how at the time. When you knew better, you did better.” Applying this concept to smoking cessation and relapse prevention, here’s what you need to know to do better: (1) Nicotine addiction is strong, but you can choose to be stronger, (2) Relapse prevention must be a part of your complete smoking cessation plan, (3) Every time you slip or relapse, you will learn valuable lessons about your smoking triggers, and (4) Never stop trying!

There are numerous immediate benefits of quitting smoking. Within eight hours of your last tobacco use, nicotine and deadly carbon monoxide levels in your body decrease by half, and oxygen levels return to normal.  Within twenty-four hours of your last tobacco use, whether you use stop smoking aids or not, all nicotine and carbon monoxide is eliminated from your body.  Your lungs begin to expel excess mucous caused by smoking.  This is usually the point when you experience urges to smoke and realize that easy ways to stop smoking are a myth.  Within forty-eight hours, all nicotine has left your body; your sense of taste and smell improves greatly but your urges to smoke are still powerful, and you may find that stop smoking aids help you resist the urge to “feed your addiction” to nicotine.   Within seventy-two hours, your bronchial tubes relax and your energy levels increase as the urge to smoke begins to wane.  Within three months of being smoke-free, your circulation has improved, your lung function increases by 30%, and all your breathing is further increased by 10%.

There are a variety of medical stop smoking aids that are not easy ways to quit smoking but they are very helpful, especially during the initial forty-eight hour nicotine withdrawal period.  Regardless of the method you choose to quit smoking, the first necessity is joining a quit smoking support group.  Like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, support groups provide you with the motivation and encouragement to succeed.  A non-smoker, even if he/she is your physician can’t possibly understand what you’re going through; others who are using stop smoking aids or quitting “cold turkey” do understand.

Two prescription medications, Zyban and Chantix, can help stop urges to smoke. Zyban is a form of bupropion, an antidepressant medication marketed as Wellbutrin.  Quite accidentally, it was discovered that bupropion not only relieved depression, but also could be used as a stop smoking aid.  Zyban increases the same brain chemicals as nicotine, so a smoker’s urge to smoke is diminished.  However, it can take Zyban up to 7-12 weeks to affect urges to smoke.

The new stop smoking aid on the market is Chantix (varenicline).  This mediation works to make quitting smoking easier by blocking the nicotine receptors in your brain; you won’t get that “smoker’s high” if you don’t receive nicotine into your central nervous system.  Chantix works just like Narcan, a drug that blocks opiate receptor sites in the brain.  The most common side effects of Chantix are nausea, sleep disturbance, constipation, gas and vomiting; tell your physician if you experience these side effects, none of which are life-threatening and can be easily treated.  Chantix is pricey, but covered by major prescription plans.  Phizer Pharmaceuticals often offer Chantix coupons for new users; ask your physician about this.

Many physicians prescribe a minor tranquilizer like Valium or Klonopin along with Zyban or Chantix to help, on a short-term basis, with the anxiety caused by nicotine withdrawal.  Caution must be used with these addictive drugs; there’s no sense in replacing one addiction with another!

A new and unique stop smoking aid that is receiving a lot of attention in the medical world is the use of Low Level Laser Therapy.  LLLT is based upon acupuncture principles, but instead of using needles on specific points of the body, LLLT directs soft, painless laser beam into these points.  By stimulating your body’s feel-good endorphins, you will feel decreased urges to smoke.

Since there is no easy way to stop smoking, smokers who decline to use stop smoking aids still find the “cold turkey” method as the only thing that works in the long run. Although nicotine is a toxic chemical, it is the cigarette or cigar smoke itself that causes the majority of health dangers.  Nicotine gum and patches are still very popular and inexpensive, gradually reducing the amount of addictive nicotine you use in order to decrease physical cravings.  There is no right or wrong way to stop smoking; there is only your way.

Steps to Smoking Cessation

Decide to Quit

You may despise the cost, the smell and the hassle of smoking, not to mention the detrimental health risks, but in order for you to truly kick the smoking habit, you must make up your mind that it’s time to stop. The first step in smoking cessation is for the smoker to decide to quit.

Seek Help and Expert Advice
You can ask your doctor to help motivate you, and also speak with your pharmacist. They will have pamphlets available on tons of stop smoking medication and tips, as well as a variety of stop smoking programs, self-help books, and even telephone hot lines. You can discuss which stop smoking aids would be most effective for you. Reach out to ex-smokers too and find out what worked for them.

Also, check with your insurance agent. The cost of your smoking cessation medication (e.g., a quit smoking pill), any counseling, as well as your stop smoking program may be covered by your insurance, alleviating any financial strain on your part.

Nicotine Gum and Patches
Try nicotine gum or nicotine patches as a smoking cessation aid. You chew nicotine gum when you have a craving for a cigarette. The gum contains nicotine. By chewing the gum, you gradually get your system used to living without nicotine. This eases your withdrawal symptoms and decreases your desire to smoke.

You wear a nicotine patch for 24 hours, and put a new one on every day. The patch puts nicotine into your system, and also allows your body to slowly adjust to life without nicotine. You use the most concentrated patches for the initial weeks and then gradually reduce the dosage over the following weeks. Both the nicotine gum and the nicotine patch are smoking cessation aids intended to be used for about three months.

There are other types of medical treatments for smoking cessation in the form of nicotine replacement therapy which comes in lozenges, inhalers and nasal sprays. Check with your doctor to see if nicotine replacement therapy should be in your stop smoking program.

Prescription Quit Smoking Pills
Prescription medication in a pill form can be prescribed by your physician to aid in your smoking cessation. Zyban, for example, is a popular smoking cessation prescription pill that does not contain nicotine. Studies have shown that Zyban has helped smokers quit more easily than without the drug.

Unlike other nicotine replacement therapies, Zyban does not inject more nicotine into your system. With nicotine patches or gum, you should cease smoking so that your body doesn’t take in too much nicotine. But with the Zyban smoking cessation program, you can go on smoking at the start of taking medication. Set a ‘final smoking date’, and then continue with Zyban after this quitting date.

Treatment with Zyban has shown to reduce some of the nasty withdrawal side effects of quitting smoking such as irritability, frustration, anger, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness and depression. Zyban also reduced the craving for a cigarette and the desire to smoke.

Herbal Quit Smoking Alternatives
If you prefer to go the all natural way, then you can try a herbal-based stop smoking program. Herbal treatments, in the form of pills or patches, are a smoking cessation option without the use of nicotine or drugs. This all natural homeopathic formula removes your desire to smoke using natural herbs and extracts. If you do smoke while using the herbal treatment, it would leave a very unpleasant taste in your mouth. Taking the pleasure out of smoking makes it an easy habit to drop.

Find the Plan for You and Quit for Good
There are many smoking cessation options available today. The key is to find the ideal smoking cessation option that fits your personality and your lifestyle. Create a custom made stop smoking plan that is perfect for you, and you will be butting out for the last time and cashing in on a smoke free lifestyle.