Any experienced smoker knows what nicotine withdrawal is. At least once, but he tried to get rid of bad habits, although most attempts ended in failure. Maybe it's all about the wrong approach? In this article, we will analyze the best way to quit smoking and what exactly needs to be done for this.
How to stop smoking?
The proportion of people who smoke on this planet is huge - almost 1/5 of all the inhabitants of the Earth, and is constantly growing. At the same time, many people dream of quitting smoking, although fewer people try to do something about it. Usually, after the first attempt to get rid of a bad habit, a smoker will be very disappointed: he is faced with the manifestation of nicotine addiction and withdrawal symptoms.
Indeed, the desire for nicotine is one of the strongest drug addictions, because this substance can be integrated into the biochemical processes of the body, and it is not easy to "smoke" from there.
It is also difficult to lose the psychological desire for cigarettes - a strong desire to smoke in certain situations (under stress, pleasure, joy). Hence the large number of failures in attempts to quit smoking.
Most people with nicotine addiction wonder if it is best to quit smoking all at once or gradually? Or maybe buy pills or electronic cigarettes or go to a psychologist to find the right motivation. There is no single answer. The approach to quit smoking should be formed taking into account individual characteristics of character, health, smoking experience. It is quite possible to quit smoking on your own, but only with short experience and moderate dependence: it is better for heavy smokers to use special therapeutic measures. Otherwise, even with successful failure, the risk of relapse is high, and this will only strengthen the addiction.
So, proper smoking cessation should be based on the following components:
- Preparation, or motivation stage.
- Actually the rejection of cigarettes (sharper).
- Proper nutrition organization.
- If necessary, replacement therapy, psychological support.
Nicotine withdrawal stage
Often, a person returns to cigarettes because he could not foresee all the nuances of breaking up with him in advance, did not find a clear motivational reason why he wanted to do it, and also did not get the support of loved ones. The intention to get rid of the addiction must be firm, otherwise damage is inevitable. There are two main steps in the process of quitting smoking, each of which is detailed below.
Preparation
First you need to understand yourself and find the reason why the bad habit appeared. For many people, this helps to find the right motivation to quit smoking, because someone starts to "make friends" with cigarettes for company, others smoke to show their maturity at a young age. Maybe the need for dubious self-expression is gone, and it's time to quit smoking.
You should also write in a notebook what kind of life situations make you reach for a cigarette. Whether it's going out for a smoke break with colleagues, smoking while waiting for the bus, after a meal, during fun - knowing the problem from the inside and thoroughly eliminating it is easier.
The most important thing in the preparation stage is to give a clear motivation that will make you quit smoking. This is very important, because if there is no motive, already on the first or second day of quitting smoking, thoughts will arise like "is this torture really necessary? ". A person must know exactly what he is suffering from, and the reasons must be serious.
Common motivations for quitting smoking include:
- The desire to conceive a child or save a loved one from passive smoking (for example, during the wife's pregnancy, during the birth of a baby)
- The desire to maintain health or cure an illness that has appeared, to prolong one's life (usually this is the strongest motive)
- The desire to play sports, get a normal weight, figure, appearance
- Love, fall in love - many give up bad habits for the sake of relationships if the other half does not smoke
- The desire to save money - sometimes financial circumstances force you to quit smoking
basic
The ideal option is to stop smoking immediately, although not everyone succeeds in doing this. Therefore, for those who smoke for a long time and in large quantities, experts advise first to stop smoking for 48 hours. Therefore, it is possible to understand what awaits a person, and it is important to approach this from the positive side. The benefits will be enormous: at the beginning of the second day it will be easier to breathe, perhaps the headache will stop, because there will be no momentary vascular spasms from nicotine intake.
After successful refusal for 2 days, you should think about continuing a healthy lifestyle. Fate will smile only on those who will take all measures to reduce nicotine production, will not let bad habits overshadow awareness and win.
In order not to miss, here are some tips for the behavior of ex-smokers:
- When the mood of depression begins, which happens to almost everyone who has stopped smoking, it is worth remembering the motivation and state of mind - artificial, not real. It is necessary to expel bad thoughts from yourself, think only about the good - about the future improvement of life, well-being, health.
- When quitting smoking, it's best not to be alone. This is the biggest risk of reaching a cigarette, so you need to engage in active hobbies with relatives, friends and children.
- It is necessary to be distracted from thoughts about cigarettes. This can be done if you completely burden yourself with chores - doing the cleaning, washing the dishes, cooking a delicious dinner, watching an interesting movie - whatever, so as not to be left idle with the thought of smoking.
- You should often remember the chosen motivation and reward yourself for each new day without cigarettes, for each small victory over the next desire to smoke. The only condition is that it is advised 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.
Sports can help to stop smoking - swimming, running, walking, as well as various relaxation techniques, breathing exercises and even hypnosis. Also, experts advise brushing your teeth more often, using mint mouthwash, using aromatherapy at home to distract you from bad habits. We must not forget about reducing visits to places where other people smoke - there is no need to provoke yourself unnecessarily, especially in the first week after quitting smoking.
"Anti-nicotine" nutrition and weight gain
As you know, when you give up bad habits, many people start gaining weight. But this does not happen at all from a lack of nicotine, but because of a sudden change in eating habits. If before hunger could be replaced by breaking smoke, now it hits a person with a vengeance. In an effort to "grab" the strongest desire to smoke, the majority rely heavily on crackers and chips, sweets and candies, nuts and seeds. Almost all such foods are high in calories, and sometimes dangerous because of the abundance of transgenic fats and preservatives. Therefore, a quick set of 8-10 kilograms is the fault of another bad habit that has replaced smoking.
Ex-smokers often increase their total calorie intake by increasing the number of meals, eating at night, organizing second breakfasts and extra snacks. Overeating is often also caused by increased appetite, because with regular smoking it is not in the best shape.
There is only one way out in this situation - to monitor the intake and use of calories, eat only healthy food, lean more on vegetables and fruits so as not to smoke anymore. It is better to refuse chips and crackers in favor of carrots, apples, apricots, cucumbers, fresh prunes, etc.
Some foods rich in ascorbic acid are needed to compensate for an acute deficiency in them, and also help improve a person's well-being. These include raspberries, currants, citrus fruits, spinach, sauerkraut, etc.
There are also some nutritional recommendations that will help you survive nicotine withdrawal more easily and quickly without gaining excess weight and feeling unwell:
- Give tea that is too strong, a lot of coffee, replace it with mineral water, juice, so as not to harm the vessels that have been exposed to cigarettes.
- Do not abuse salty foods, spicy foods, fried and smoked foods because of irritation of appetite and increased desire to smoke.
- There is more fiber, because it will help to quickly remove the breakdown products of cigarette smoke from the body.
- Do not drink alcohol. Alcohol, especially strong, contributes to the loss of control over the situation, while the risk of smoking is great.
What is the best way to stop - suddenly or gradually?
The expert's answer is unequivocal - you need to stop smoking immediately. Of course, heavy smokers, whose experience is counted in decades, will not be able to overcome the habit easily, but they should seek medical help. The doctor will choose the best way to stop smoking, but even in such a situation, the person will most likely be offered a one-time refusal with therapeutic support.
When a person stops gradually, reduces the number of cigarettes per day, switches to light brands, he only prolongs his punishment.
The body strongly resists, does not get the usual dose of nicotine, as a result, you have to fight literally constantly, every hour, feverishly counting the cigarettes smoked and the rest for the day. In any case, this will lead to damage or an imperceptible increase in the number of cigarettes, and the fight against bad habits will not move a single step. In addition, light cigarettes contain more harmful substances that replace the relatively reduced nicotine content, and the damage to the body can be higher. There is another downside to gradual withdrawal - neither mental nor physical dependence is reduced. So, does a smoker need additional suffering, especially since it does not bring any benefit to his body?
Separately, it should be noted electronic cigarettes. This modern tool, contrary to advertising, does not contribute to smoking cessation at all. Of course, due to the absence of tar and pungent smoke, the harm to health is reduced, the lungs are cleared, coughing stops, and the skin is cleared.
Dependence with electronic cigarettes remains, because nicotine continues to enter the body, and over time, the dose increases due to the possibility of smoking even at work. Therefore, with a strong desire to recover without harm, there is only one option - once and for all to quit smoking.
Antinicotinic agents
Many in an effort to quit smoking buy nicotine patches, chewing gum and tablets. Such preparations contain the minimum amount of nicotine that will enter the body and reduce the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. The use of such funds makes sense, but only for heavy smokers. During treatment, you can get rid of psychological dependence - from going out for a smoking break, smoking after a meal, during stress. But hoping that drugs will do everything for smokers is not worth it.
Sooner or later, a person still needs to release the nicotine itself, which is built into the receptors and provides a strong physical dependence. Therefore, any pills and drugs are just additional methods to get rid of bad habits, nothing more. If you use it correctly and do not increase the dose, but reduce it, a little relief from the task will be achieved, and together with your own desire and will, everything will work out!