Tips to help you quit smoking
Filed under: Shopping, Health, Lifestyles, March 2010
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- NHS quit smoking
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- Tips for quitting smoking
It's vital to make sure you are mentally ready to give up. You have to consider how you will cope in certain situations where you may be tempted and have a plan in place to cope when the cravings start. It's recommended you speak with your GP as a starting point; they will be able to recommend an appropriate program for you. Alternatively, try one of the trained experts on the NHS helpline. You may be advised to join a local group session before you start going smoke free. Meeting the group will help you to prepare to give up and provide encouragement when you start.
Your GP may try you on tablets if medically appropriate. The two most commonly prescribed are Zyban and Champix. Zyban changes how your body reacts to nicotine. You take the tablet one or two weeks before quitting and then for a couple of months after. It should help quell cravings and see you through those difficult early days. This treatment is only available through prescription.
Champix works by reducing the craving for cigarettes and easing the effects if you smoke. Tablets are taken one or two weeks before quitting and the treatment lasts twelve weeks in all. This treatment is only available through prescription. There are a number of over the counter treatments available like gum, patches, microtabs, lozenges, inhalators and sprays. All of these can help, you just need to decide which one will suit you most.
Top Tips
Write down why you want to quit and keep the list with you. Set a date and stick to it. People who cut down gradually tend to smoke more of each cigarette so nicotine levels remain the same.
Tell friends and family you are stopping. You will get support and smokers will leave you alone.
Prepare for withdrawal symptoms. They peak after 12-24 hours and gradually ease within a month.
Monitor situations where you may weaken. Avoid drinking alcohol in the first few weeks and cut down on tea and coffee. Try fruit juice and water.
Keep a diary or mark days off a calendar after all, you won't want to undo all that hard work.
Look at the positives. You will smell better, feel better and taste your food more. You will also have more money. You may put on a little weight as your taste returns but just try to stick to a healthy diet and avoid fatty or sugary foods.
Should you fail, examine what caused this to happen. You will be better prepared next time. Most people who successfully quit have tried three or four times before.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John said 5:58AM on 3-09-2010
Stopped for good 2 months ago!! I recommend Niquitin Minis !!!! They ROCK!!
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Jan Goodyear said 10:08AM on 3-09-2010
Well done John, I gave up on 8th Feb, into my 5th week now. I've been exercising every day for half an hour and it's amazing the HUGE difference it has made. With the money I'm saving I'm buying things for the home and have treated myself to some CDs too! Keep it up.
To everyone who has recently given up - well done! I am surrounded by friends and family who have never smoked so they don't realise just how hard it is. With each week that passes I go into "smug mode" :-D, I just can't help it!! :-)
roland said 2:19AM on 3-09-2010
Having not had a cigarette now for thirteen months i think i can say that i have stopped smoking although i still get the urge to have one. However, what makes it hard is the constant adverts in different media that promote 'quitting' smoking as it reminds the likes of me about it who then spend some time thinking about it. It would be far easier to quit if we were not reminded about smoking but I guess that's the marketeers strategy of the products they represent as really, they don't want you to quit. If the whole planet stopped smoking they would go out of business.
A tip from me - Don't as the guidance given above says tell people you are stopping or quiting smoking - Simply don't smoke and tell yourself and others that you have not had a cigarette for however long eg 2 days, 2 weeks or 2 months etc. That's how I got through it as it's hard enough actually going without a cigarette (I didn't use any substitutes eg patches) but the pressure is slightly off as you don't feel if you did have one, that you have cheated on the whole world as you never said you had stopped in the first place. The time will come when it will be safe to do that like I think the time has now come for me.
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krissy said 5:31AM on 3-09-2010
I have stopped smoking several times and I think every time you stop even for a few months is a step to stop definitely.
I used patches and it work for me because I do it my way.
When I start smoking again, it s probably because I am weak. I heard so many people telling me that the patches are not working that I cannot help telling them the truth about it : it s not a miraculous treatment otherwise as soon as you put a patch you won't feel the cravings or as soon as you remove a patch you don't crave either. I m sorry to say that the first few weeks, I do smoke with my patches on because the cigarettes I have match the peak of craving. I believe it s scientifically and biologically true. But it does not taste the same and I gradually decrease my consumption as well as the dosage of the patches, til 0 ciggie. And to me, after 2-3 months, when I cannot bear the low dosage patch because it s getting too much nicotine in my system, then the real fight starts ! Every time, I put on weight as a substitute to cop with my stress surely and I did not like it at all, as in the end I did not feel well enough with these extra pounds (not to say stones) ! However, I felt better in term of breathing, smell, breath, sleep. It may be just me after all ... Good luck in your way to quit, it s definitely the best way ! x
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Tracey Wallace said 7:16AM on 3-09-2010
Well what can I say, quitting smoking is sooo hard, it been since December the 8th for me, I have fallen at the gates a few times, having just the one here and there, I surpose its better than the 20 a day down to 4 a week, but now its been nil for 3 weeks, I'am on the patches, on the 15mg now and doing well, not craving so much, but today is a very bad day, that good old voice is back in my head saying you want one just the one, you are constantly fighting your head, but it is getting easier I must amit, I would not be able to do it without the patches, they do help and when you do have just the one it does taste foul and smell foul, so just keep reminding yourself why you are quitting, remind the voice in your head why you are quitting after a while it will silence the voice, people who are quitting will know of this voice that I am talking about, good luck to all, you know its for the best.
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Tracy said 9:43AM on 3-09-2010
I know exactly what you mean when u say voice in your head, i,ve been fighting with this for over a year now, ( stopped for 4 years and stupidly started again just over a year ago) thought i was mental!! Really want to stop again but seems so much harder this time. Not a day goes by that i think "right tommorrow i'm going to stop" I did it cold turkey last time and eventually got through it. I've tried all the nicotine replacement remedies, kitchen cupboards like a chemist no smoking shelf!!! HELP!!
Tracy
Simon said 9:11AM on 3-09-2010
Smoking is brilliant. I especially love smoking a big phat joint at the weekend.
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bree said 10:54AM on 3-09-2010
I agree Simon. I love smoking and as a fully grown adult I am fully aware of the consequences but if we gave up everything that was bad for us, we just aswell slash our wrists now. Just off for a ciggy now.
jon said 9:54AM on 3-09-2010
I read, just read ! I smoke a book in two days and feel better for it !
I read the bible , pray and sing hymns . That takes away my cravings , I tell you it just works !
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steve said 10:02AM on 3-09-2010
i put all my old fag ends in a jar of water and when i wanted one i just took of the lid and that did it for me but not before a meal yoc can keep some packets to and look on the back at what smoking can do the throat cancer one did it for me
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andy said 10:15AM on 3-09-2010
On Week 3 " the voice in the head" is so true. Lot of the advice is good above and goes against the experts. I have just stopped smoking . Stopped for 1 minute then 1 hour then 1 day then 1 week now heading for 1 month then hopefully 1year. But boy am I getting fat.
No patches or nicotine substitutes for me as wanted to try to break the cycle immediatly rather than spread the "weening off" over a number of months. Each of us is different though.
Goal to quit is simple worked like a dog al my life and want to enjoy things as I get older not be in a chair with emphasemia or struggling with heart and circulation problems. Wanna play football with the grandkids not be a burden to my kids.
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Anna said 7:46PM on 3-09-2010
Well Congratulations
Great to hear you have stopped. Me it is 5 weeks today. Just woke up one morning and thought enough, no more and now I smoke my invisible cigarette when the cravings get bad and it really helps. Do all the actions and inhale and exhale and it 's great without the horrible taste and smell and more money to buy cakes and sweeties and yes I am also getting fatter but it will pass. I am saving so that my Husband and I can go on a really nice Holiday next year.
So you keep focused and don't worry about puting on weight, you'll loose it again when the time is right.
Flossyfay said 10:51AM on 3-09-2010
I gave up smoking 980 days ago, yes i still keep count! My boyfriend talked me into giving up and with his support and a couple of weeks getting prepared for giving up i made it!
I still have days where i think i could light up and "de-stress" but every day gone by without one is a day i'd be stepping backwards if i lit up. I was smoking from a very early age till i was 30, without really having a try to give up. from 20-30 yrs i was smoking 20 a day, so i classed myself as heavy smoker.
My tips, plan ahead! 2 weeks before u are due to give in, go to your doctors for help, patches is what i used, so stocked up on those. week before i cut down to 3 a day, my 3 important ones - the get up and go one, the mid day calming one and the de stressing one after kids gone to bed.
Week 1, i set my alarm half hour before needing to get up, would stick a patch on and nap for half hour then get up and go about my usual stuff, keeping my hands busy, doin things where you'd need clean hands - craft, cooking..... each week i'd follow directions on the packs and reduce the patch size till it was all about will power to stay off them after the patches were gone. I had the chewing gum ready at hand... just in case, but never used them, when i really needed one, i snacked on a few nuts or chopped up fruit.
It's about recognising when you goto reach for one and the whole habit of what you do when u prepare to have a cigerette.... recognise why, and change the direction of thought and get your hands busy.
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John said 11:29AM on 3-09-2010
I really want to give up smoking! I have tried patches and the stupid shaped and clumsy inhaler, which made me cough everytime I inhaled. Has anyone tried these new electric cigarettes that light at the end, deliver nicotine into your system and allow you to inhale and exhale a vapour that resembles smoke (water vapour I believe).
If anyone has tried them, could they please let me know how they got on because I don't want to waste £50 plus on something that isn't going to work.
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J said 5:43PM on 3-09-2010
John, I got my e-cig 4 weeks ago today and I haven't looked back. Gave up smoking ciggies from the minute it was charged and I hadn't really intended to stop smoking - I just liked the gadget aspect! They have literally been a lifesaver for me.
If you want to give it a go, try www.vaporstation.co.uk. They sell really good kits for excellent prices - you can be up and running for less than £35 with a 6 month guarantee on their products, although for a heavy smoker, you might need something more substantial as the batteries on the smaller kits need charging every few hours.
Have a look on one of the forums, eg www.ukvapers.com for some really sound advice and reviews.
Good luck whatever you decide
Anna said 7:46PM on 3-09-2010
Hello John
I looked at those on the internet just over 5 weeks ago and thought what the hell am I going to spend all that money yes approx £50 and a few days later thought i'm going to do it this time and I haven't had not one cigarette. You know what I use, and I know this will sound absolutely crazy but it works. My Invisible Cigarette. I imagine that I am holding the ciggie and I do all the actions as if i am holding it then inhale as if I am taking in smoke and exhale as if the smoke is leaving my throat and do you know this definitely helps me. Sure I am eating non stop too but this will pass. Try your Invisible Cigarette it is truly amazing mind over matter and change the pattern in your mindset
Good Luck
pauline said 1:37PM on 3-09-2010
I swopped smoking for vaping with an E Cig - absolutely fantastic! I have tried all the methods of stopping smoking, but guess I didnt really want to enough. Vaping gives me the nicotine I crave, but without all the other nasties from the ciggy.
I dont smoke cigs at all now, and cannot see why I would return to them.
Vaping all the way for me - its brilliant!
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Ian said 2:29PM on 3-09-2010
Only vaping [E-Cig] worked for me after trying all the other stuff, Went from 50 A Day to zero, Never looked back.
minimag said 12:59PM on 3-09-2010
I tried to give up cigarettes several times before I finally did it. Once I gave up for 9 months, then I thought I would only have one socially. That was a Very Bad Mistake because one led to another and so on. You are kidding yourself if you think this is ok, you are still a smoker. I finally gave up smoking successfully on 9th March 2001. My advice to others trying to give up is: NEVER GIVE UP GIVING UP. IT IS HARD, BUT YOU CAN DO IT
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Karen said 3:40PM on 3-09-2010
I was smoking since I was 12 yes 12, now i am 37. I wanted a baby so much i could not even give up for that either so I know how it gets hold. Now I have an 8 year old daughter and she said to me back in September last year (mum if you love me and want to see me grow up and have my babies then please stop smoking). I stopped there and then. Yes I used patches and lozenges but kept forgetting to use the patches and only had a lozenge when i thought I wanted a cig. Well I can honestly say I am still off the cigs and believe me I want one but I have to say my daughter means a hell of a lot more than a cig. I have even booked and paid our next holiday and that feels good too.
Hope this true story can help others.
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