Join a support group in your community. If you’re unsure where to find one in your area, check with your health care provider, local hospital or health and human services agencies. Every community offers some sort of smoking cessation classes or group sessions of some sort.
Smoking is one of the most addictive habits on earth - it’s to your credit that you want to quit. Be aware that it may take several attempts before you can successfully kick the nicotine habit - but it’s also important to know that you can succeed.
Usually these symptoms pass within 3 to 5 minutes, so if you can distract yourself until they pass, you’ll bypass the destructive effects of lighting up another cigarette. Instead of reaching for your lighter and cigarette case, take yourself for a short walk. Keep a book of inspirational poetry or motivational phrases within reach or involve yourself in some task.
The first step in quitting is not simply throwing out that pack of cigarettes, but preparing yourself mentally to quit. You must begin to think of yourself as a non-smoker, rather than someone who’s kicking the nicotine habit. What’s the difference? By stating that you’re a non-smoker, you’re announcing it as an established fact; it’s a statement of who you are, similar to saying “I’m a banker,” or “I own my own company.” It’s all about mindset.
Once you’ve overcome the initial withdrawal symptoms from quitting smoking, realize that you’re over the first hurdle - now it’s simply a daily battle to stay away from the source of your addiction. Using these tips and techniques will help ensure that you’re successful at your ultimate goal. Congratulations! You’re truly a non-smoker now.
Withdrawal symptoms from quitting smoking last a relatively short period of time during the quitting process, but can cause unpleasant levels of discomfort during that time. Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal can include mood swings (anxiety, irritableness, short-tempered or cranky), inability to sleep, extreme fatigue, difficulty concentrating, coughing, headaches, stomach upset and the like. The craving to smoke is perhaps one of the most difficult symptoms to deal with - because if you give into that craving, you’ve eliminated all the effort you’ve put into having a smoke-free day.
The reasons for all this “nicotine backlash” are obvious - smoking represents such a health hazard, for smokers as well as those around them, that outlawing this habit is an obvious ultimate goal. Tobacco companies that once posed such a powerful threat at the federal government level have been hit by fines totaling billions of dollars over the past 20 years, and are resorting to expanding their overseas markets as the U.S. markets shrink.
Part of getting ready to quit smoking also includes things like setting a specific quit date - whether you go “cold turkey” or engage in a gradual cessation, set a firm date that tells you exactly when you’ll become a non-smoker. Get a calendar and circle the date in red marking pen - or use some other method of setting that goal in your mind. Don’t say “I’m going to quit in 30 days.” Say “I’m going to quit smoking on June 15th.” Make it a specific, measurable goal.
Smoking has already been banned in federal offices, and many communities are copying that legislation with bans on local, city and state offices. Some communities are even attempting to pass laws that would forbid smoking in the privacy of one’s own home, although at present most of those laws are meeting with limited success.
From minor inconveniences such as smell and staining of fingers, hair, clothing, furniture and draperies if you smoke inside your home to much more serious health effects such as strokes and a multitude of cancers - there is no doubt that smoking is harmful. And it’s not just harmful to the smoker - second-hand smoke also has the same harmful effects on those who live or work with smokers.
Eight hours after quitting, the carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal, and your oxygen level in your bloodstream increases to normal. At 24 hours your chances of suffering a heart attack decrease. At 48 hours nerve endings start to re-grow, and taste and smell sensations return to almost normal levels.
Next, change the environment in your home or office - wherever you (used to) smoke. Don’t let other people smoke in your house, or office - don’t hang out in places where smoking is almost mandatory - such as bars or nightclubs. Repaint the inside of your house, clean the carpets, wash the drapes - in short, make it obvious that a non-smoker lives here. After all that work of cleaning up, you won’t want to relapse and return to the habit of smoking.
Reduce the amount of stress in your life. Many smokers say that “smoking helps calm them down” after they’ve had a stressful day or a troubling event. In reality, just the opposite is true; smoking stimulates the body in a number of ways. It’s the fiddling around with all the smoking paraphernalia that “calms” the smoker down - the cigarettes themselves, the ashtray, the lighter, tipping the ashes off the end of the cigarette, etc. All those patterns of behavior are what constitutes calming routine for the smoker.
When you take a puff on that cigarette, you’re inhaling approximately 4,000 chemical compounds contained within the smoke. From tar to nicotine, several of these compounds are known carcinogens, meaning they’re cancer-causing. If you ask most people what are the most common diseases caused by smoking they’ll say lung cancer and emphysema - but surprisingly, heart disease is the biggest killer of smokers, at almost twice the rate of lung cancer and emphysema.
When you quit smoking, you need to change your daily routine that included cigarettes. For example, if you normally had a cup of coffee and a cigarette for breakfast, change that to a cup of tea and read the paper. Or check your email. Or have a healthy breakfast and a quick walk before you begin your daily tasks. Change the environment around you so that it doesn’t include time for smoking.