Smoking Cessation

Top 10 Tips to Help Smokers Quit

Counselors from the California Smokers’ Helpline provide their top-10 tips for quitting successfully. “Quitting smoking can feel like an overwhelming task,” said Dr. Gary Tedeschi, who serves as the Helpline’s Clinical Director. “If you break it down into smaller steps it starts to seem more doable.”

1. Figure out why you want to quit. Do you want to improve your stamina? Save money? Whatever gets you fired up, write it down. A strong reason can get you started. And it will help you stay quit when you’re tempted to smoke.

2. Make a plan. Think about when you’ll want to smoke. Plan something else for those times, to keep your hands busy and your mind off cigarettes. Common triggers are stress, alcohol, and socializing. What’s your plan to get through these times without smoking? Examples: drink water, talk to a nonsmoker, take a walk, make a telephone call to a friend, listen to music....

3. Call 1-800-NO BUTTS. People who call the Helpline are twice as likely to quit for good. A trained coach will help you with your plan to quit and offer support along the way. It’s free, and it works!

4. Seek out support from friends and family. Discuss your plan to quit with the people you trust. Let them know what they can do to help. In return, they will enjoy cleaner air and a longer, happier life - with you still in it!

5. Use a quitting aid. Nicotine-replacement therapies and other FDA-approved medications are helpful and may be available through your health care or Medi-Cal benefits. Products like nicotine patches and gum make withdrawal easier. They also increase your chance of success. Talk to your doctor about which quitting aid is right for you.        My Note:  These may help some folks, but -  many addicts really like drug therapies, promises of no pain, promises of 'it will be easy', and the false hope of not ever feeling the least bit uncomfortable ! 
But, what the heck, if prolonged nicotine withdrawal is your thing, or doing withdrawal from nicotine over and over again is what you do, and you have already done it a dozen or so times, then go for it...  Does this sound a little like going from whiskey to wine, then to beer. then to water?  At the tail end of your nicotine delivery system use ("NRT" - Nicotine Replacement Therapy -  'therapy' makes it sound almost credible doesn't it?!) you will still have nicotine in your blood stream/brain, and then what?  You will still have to go through a short period of nicotine withdrawal.   

6. Make your home and car smoke-free. This will help you stay off smoking. And as your sense of smell improves, your nose will thank you!    My Note: Destroy all cigarettes, matches, lighters  & ashtrays (these are your "drug paraphenalia")- shred the cigarettes & flush them down the toilet or into the dumpster mixed with cat litter. If you are giving them away what kind of a friend are you to the person you give them to?  If you keep your stash of cigarettes, "just in case", or "I can show that I'm strong enough to resist them",  if you cannot bring yourself to destroy your cigarettes & related drug paraphenalia then just what sort of lies & mind games are you playing with yourself?

7. Set a quit date. Choose a date when you will quit. This shows you’re serious.   My Note: Why not  right away? or will you kick it out there into the future and then find a million reasons to postpone..... ie. not just now, I'm under too much stress.... I have just too much on my plate now.....  I'm in a 'complicated' relationship and I just don't know if he/she could handle this too.... etc etc  Do the research - read up, learn the suggested ways to avoid smoking again, make your list of why you do not want to smoke again & carry it with you 24x7 & re-read it many times each day, read the ebooks cited above- over and over again, join a help line and just do it! God gave you a brain, for goodness sake use it.

8. Quit on your quit date. Sounds obvious, right? But what good is a quit date unless you actually try to stop smoking? Planning is good - doing is even better.

9. Envision yourself as a nonsmoker. After you quit, you have a choice to make. Are you a smoker who’s just not smoking for now? Or are you a nonsmoker? For nonsmokers, smoking is not an option in any situation. Choose to see yourself as a nonsmoker.

10. Keep trying. Most people make several attempts before they quit for good. Slips don’t have to turn into relapses - but if they do, remember each time brings you closer to your goal. If you keep trying, you will succeed!