Ready to quit smoking? While you may have tried to quit before, chances are you’ve never quite been able to make the change permanent. Stopping isn’t easy by any means, and often it takes a whole team of support from friends and family combined to find any resemblance of success. On top of that, you’ll go through numerous smoking cessation products as you try to find one that works best for you. But as intimidating as it may seem, kicking the habit for good is entirely possible if you know all the tips and tricks. That’s why we’ve come up with this FAQ about smoking cessation that will give you the knowledge you need to stick with it. Many of the answers to these FAQs have surprised smokers everywhere but have helped things go a lot more smoothly.
While quitting cold turkey may work for some people it almost always leads to relapses. Nobody who attempts the cold turkey methods seems to quite understand just how addictive nicotine can be. The cold turkey method relies entirely on willpower, so you are basically pitting your mind and body against each other.
Most people use nicotine replacement therapy to stop smoking, because it is more effective than quitting cold turkey. As addictive as nicotine may be, it’s not necessarily the thing that makes smoking dangerous (doesn’t cause cancer). Nicotine replacement helps soothe your tobacco cravings without the tobacco and toxins! When using replacement therapy, you use a controlled amount of nicotine and gradually take more and more of it away, until you have weened yourself off it.
If you’ve been smoking for years, you’d probably think that quitting takes years too. However, the truth is that replacement therapy can be completed in a matter of weeks. Depending on the person, you might go through a round of nicotine replacement in 8 to 12 weeks.
When you quit smoking, undoubtedly you will experience cravings, especially during times of stress. However, although this may happen often to many people, the good news is that most cravings don’t last more than a few minutes, so it’s easy to push through it.
Unlike dieting, it’s not the keeping with long-term that makes it difficult. The first couple weeks will not be easy. You’ll experience withdrawal and cravings that will make you want a cigarette again, but it’s these couple weeks that you want to stick with it for sure. It gets much easier later. While you may have cravings in the future, they won’t be as bad as they are at first.
You have successfully quit when cigarettes no longer have power over you. When you can go through a stressful day and not feel like you need to grab a cigarette, then you know you’ve kicked the habit. While a relapse could happen during a stressful life-changing event, quitting should be even easier the second time.
You may be surprised to learn that there actually are quite a few smoking cessation prescription treatments available. Drugs like Chantix can ease withdrawal symptoms and actually react with your brain to make smoking less pleasurable. Antidepressants can also work to decrease your desire to smoke, but of course they come with plenty of side effects.
Weight gain is always a concern for many people who are quitting, but it really shouldn’t be. The risk of weight gain is nothing compared to the damage being done to your lungs. Besides that, weight gain can be easily avoided by consuming healthy fats and getting regular exercise. It can also reduce stress enough that you can cut your cravings in half.