Any experienced smoker knows what nicotine withdrawal is. At least once, but he tried to kick a bad habit, although attempts mostly failed. Maybe it's the wrong approach? In this article, we analyze how best to quit smoking and what exactly needs to be done to do it.
How to quit smoking?
The percentage of people who smoke on the planet is huge - it accounts for almost 1/5 of all Earth's inhabitants and is constantly increasing. At the same time, many people dream of quitting smoking, although far fewer people try to do something about it. Usually, after the first attempt to kick a bad habit, a smoker will be severely disappointed: he will face manifestations of nicotine addiction and withdrawal symptoms.
In fact, the craving for nicotine is one of the strongest drug addictions, since this substance can be integrated into the body's biochemical processes and it is not easy to "smoke" it from there.
It is also difficult to lose the psychological desire for a cigarette - a strong desire to smoke in a certain situation (under stress, excitement, joy). Hence the large number of failed attempts to quit smoking.
Most people who suffer from nicotine addiction wonder if it is best to quit smoking all at once or gradually? Or maybe buy pills or an electronic cigarette or see a psychologist to find the right motivation. There is no single answer. The approach to smoking cessation should be formed taking into account individual characteristics of character, health and smoking experience. It is quite possible to quit smoking yourself, but only with short experience and moderate dependence: heavy smokers are better off resorting to special therapeutic measures. Otherwise, even with a successful failure, the risk of relapse is high, which only increases the addiction.
Proper smoking cessation should therefore be based on the following components:
- preparation or motivation phase.
- Actually rejection of cigarettes (better sharp).
- Organization of proper nutrition.
- If necessary, substitution therapy, psychological support.
stages of nicotine withdrawal
Most often, a person returns to a cigarette because he could not foresee all the nuances of parting, did not find clear motivations for wanting to do this, and also did not enlist the support of loved ones. The intention to get rid of the addiction must be established, otherwise a breakdown is inevitable. There are two main steps to quitting cigarettes, each of which is detailed below.
preparatory
First you need to understand yourself and find the reason why the bad habit appeared. For many, this helps find the right motivation to give up cigarettes, as some began to "befriend" cigarettes for society, others smoked to show their adulthood at a young age. Perhaps the need for such dubious self-expressionalready gone, and it's time to quit smoking.
You should also write down in a notebook the life situations in which you reach for a cigarette. Whether it's a smoke break with colleagues, smoking while waiting for the bus, after eating, when you're excited - knowing the problem from the inside and getting rid of it thoroughly is much easier.
The second most important point of the preparation phase is a clear motivation that leads you to quit smoking. This is incredibly important, because without a motive, on the first or second day of stopping smoking, a thought like "Is this agony really necessary? ". A person must know exactly what he is suffering for, and the reasons must be serious.
Common reasons for quitting smoking are:
- Desire to father a child or save loved ones from exposure to second-hand smoke (e. g. , during woman's pregnancy, childbirth)
- The desire to maintain health or to cure any diseases that have arisen, to prolong life (usually this is the strongest motive)
- Desire to play sports, achieve normal weight, figure and appearance
- Love, falling in love - many give up a bad habit in favor of the relationship when the other half does not smoke
- The desire to save money – sometimes the financial situation forces you to quit smoking
basic
The ideal is to quit smoking immediately, but not everyone succeeds. Therefore, experts advise those who smoke for a long time and in large quantities to first abstain from cigarettes for 48 hours. Thus, it becomes possible to understand what awaits a person, and it is important to approach this from the positive side. The benefits will be enormous: by the beginning of the second day, breathing will become easier, perhaps the headache will stop, because there is no momentary vasospasm from taking nicotine.
After a successful refusal for 2 days, you should think about continuing a healthy lifestyle. Luck will smile only on those who take all measures to reduce nicotine withdrawal, do not let the bad habit overshadow their consciousness and win.
To stay on track, here are some ex-smoker behavior tips:
- When depressed mood sets in, which happens to almost everyone who quits smoking, it's worth remembering motivation and what a state of mind is—artificial, not real. It is necessary to drive away bad thoughts from yourself and think only about the good - about the upcoming improvement in life, well-being and health.
- When quitting smoking, it's best not to be alone. This is the greatest risk when reaching for a cigarette, so you need to actively engage with relatives, friends and children.
- It is necessary to be distracted by thoughts of a cigarette. This is possible if you fully engage yourself with chores - cleaning, washing dishes, cooking a delicious dinner, watching an interesting movie - all just so as not to remain idle with thoughts of smoking.
- You should often remember the chosen motivation and reward yourself for every new day without a cigarette, for every small victory over the next smoking craving. The only condition is that it is advisable not to organize rewards in the form of eating sweets or other products.
- We need to find a substitute for cigarettes. If you want to smoke, it is safe and harmless to eat a carrot, an apple, a piece of celery or rhubarb, click seeds, drink tea with herbs - mint, fireweed, currant leaves, drink cold water in small sips.
Exercising can help you stop smoking again - swimming, running, walking, but also various relaxation techniques, breathing exercises and even hypnosis. Also, experts advise brushing your teeth more often, using mint mouthwash, and using aromatherapy around the house to distract yourself from a bad habit. We must not forget to reduce visits to places where other people smoke - no need to provoke yourself unnecessarily, especially in the first few weeks after quitting smoking.
"Anti-nicotine" diet and weight gain
As you know, many gain weight when you break a bad habit. However, this does not happen at all from a lack of nicotine, but due to a sharp change in eating habits. If the earlier hunger could well be replaced by a smoke break, it is now catching up with a vengeance. In an effort to "grab" the strongest cravings for smoking, the majority lean heavily on crackers and chips, candy and candy, nuts and seeds. Almost all of these foods are high in calories and sometimes frankly harmful due to the abundance of transgenic fats and preservatives. So a quick pack of 8-10 kg is the fault of another bad habit that has come to replace smoking.
Ex-smokers often increase their total calorie intake by increasing the number of meals, eating late at night, organizing second breakfasts, and additional snacks. Overeating is also often due to an improvement in appetite, because regular smoking doesn't keep it at its best.
In this situation, there is only one way out - to monitor the intake and consumption of calories, eat only healthy foods, eat more vegetables and fruits, so as not to smoke again. It is better to refuse chips and crackers in favor of fresh carrots, apples, apricots, cucumbers, plums, etc.
Some foods rich in ascorbic acid are necessary to compensate for an acute deficiency of it and also help improve well-being. These include raspberries, currants, citrus fruits, spinach, sauerkraut, etc.
There are also some dietary recommendations to help you get through nicotine withdrawal easier and faster without gaining weight and feeling unwell:
- Give up too strong tea, a lot of coffee, replacing them with mineral water and juices, so as not to damage the vessels already affected by cigarettes.
- Do not abuse salty foods, spicy foods, fried and smoked foods due to irritation of the taste buds and increased desire to smoke.
- There is more fiber as it helps to quickly remove the breakdown products of cigarette smoke from the body.
- Don't drink alcohol. Alcohol, especially strong, contributes to the loss of control over the situation, while the risk of smoking is enormous.
What's the best way to quit - abruptly or gradually?
The answer of experts is unequivocal - you need to stop smoking immediately. Of course, heavy smokers, who are believed to have decades of experience, will not easily break the habit, but they should seek medical attention. The doctor will choose the best way to quit smoking, but even in such a situation, most likely, the person will be offered a one-time refusal with therapeutic support.
If a person gradually quits, reducing the number of cigarettes per day and switching to light brands, he only prolongs his torment.
The body strongly resists and does not get the usual dose of nicotine, as a result you literally have to constantly fight, hourly, feverishly count the smoked cigarettes and remain for the day. In any case, this will lead to a breakdown or an imperceptible increase in the number of cigarettes, and the fight against a bad habit will not go one step further. In addition, light cigarettes contain many more harmful substances that replace the somewhat reduced nicotine content, and the damage to the body can be even greater. Another disadvantage lies in the gradual refusal - neither the mental nor the physical dependence is reduced. So does a smoker need additional suffering, besides, it does not benefit his body?
Separately, note electronic cigarettes. This modern gadget, unlike advertising, does not contribute to smoking cessation at all. Of course, the absence of tar and acrid smoke will reduce harm to health, cleanse the lungs, stop coughing, and cleanse the skin.
Dependence on an electronic cigarette persists as nicotine continues to enter the body and its dose increases over time due to the possibility of smoking in the workplace. Therefore, with a strong desire to recover without harm, there is only one option - to give up cigarettes once and for all.
antinicotine drugs
To quit smoking, many buy nicotine patches, gum and pills. Such preparations contain the minimum amount of nicotine that enters the body and reduce the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. The use of such means makes sense, but only for heavy smokers. During treatment, you can get rid of psychological dependence - from a break from smoking, smoking after eating, during stress. But hoping that the drugs will do everything for the smoker is not worth it.
Sooner or later, a person still has to give up nicotine itself, which is built into the receptors and causes a strong physical dependence. Therefore, all pills and medicines are just tools to get rid of a bad habit, nothing more. If you use them correctly and do not increase the dose, but reduce it, then some facilitation of the task will be achieved, and together with your own desire and willpower, everything will work out!