Every experienced smoker knows what nicotine withdrawal is. At least once, but he tried to get rid of the bad habit, although the attempts most often 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 needs to be done.
How to stop smoking?
The share of people who smoke on the planet is huge - it is almost 1/5 of all the inhabitants of the Earth, and it is constantly growing. 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 get rid of the bad habit, the smoker will be seriously disappointed: he is faced with the manifestations of nicotine addiction and withdrawal symptoms.
Indeed, the craving for nicotine is one of the strongest drug addictions, because this substance can be integrated into biochemical processes in the body, and from there it is not easy to "smoke".
It is also difficult to lose the psychological desire for a cigarette - a strong desire to smoke in a given situation (under stress, excitement, joy). Hence the huge number of failures in attempts to quit smoking.
Most people who suffer from nicotine cravings wonder if it is best to quit smoking all at once or gradually? Or maybe buy pills or an electronic cigarette or go to a psychologist to find the right motivation. There is no single answer. The approach to quitting 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 a short experience and moderate addiction: for heavy smokers, it is better to resort to special therapeutic measures. Otherwise, even with a successful failure, the risk of relapse is high, and this will only strengthen the addiction.
Therefore, the correct smoking cessation should be based on the following components:
- The preparatory or motivational phase.
- Actually refusing cigarettes (better sharp).
- Organization of proper nutrition.
- If necessary, substitution therapy, psychological support.
Stages of withdrawal from nicotine
Most often, a person returns to a cigarette because he could not foresee all the nuances of parting with it in advance, he did not find clear motivational reasons why he wanted to do this, and he also did not ask for the support of loved ones. The intention to get rid of the addiction must be firm, otherwise the breakdown cannot be avoided. There are two main steps in the process of quitting cigarettes, each of which is detailed below.
Prepare
First you need to understand yourself and find the reason why the bad habit appeared. It helps many to find the right motivation to give up cigarettes, because someone began to "make friends" with cigarettes for society, others smoked to show their maturity at a young age. Perhaps the need for such dubious self-expression has already disappeared and it's time toyou stop smoking.
In the notebook, you should also write down what life situations make you reach for a cigarette. Whether it's going out on a break with colleagues, smoking while waiting for the bus, after eating, during excitement - knowing the problem from the inside and getting rid of it thoroughly is much easier.
The next most important point of the preparatory phase is to provide a clear motivation that will make you quit smoking. This is incredibly important, because in the absence of a motive, on the first or second day of giving up cigarettes, the thought "is this pain really necessary? "". A man must know exactly why he suffers, and the reasons must be difficult.
Common motivations for quitting include:
- The desire to conceive a child or save loved ones from secondhand smoke (for example, during a woman's pregnancy, at the birth of a baby)
- The desire to maintain health or cure diseases that have appeared, to prolong life (usually this is the strongest motive)
- The desire to do sports, to get a normal weight, figure, appearance
- Love, falling in love - many give up a bad habit for the sake of a relationship if the other half does not smoke
- The desire to save - sometimes the financial situation forces you to quit smoking
Basic
The ideal option is to stop smoking immediately, although not everyone succeeds. Therefore, for those who smoke for a long time and in large quantities, experts advise to first give up cigarettes for 48 hours. Thus, it will be possible to understand what awaits a person, and it is important to approach it from the positive side. The benefits will be huge: at the beginning of the second day, it will become easier to breathe, maybe the headache will stop, because there will be no immediate vasospasm from taking nicotine.
After successfully weaning for 2 days, you should think about continuing a healthy lifestyle. Happiness will smile only to those who take all measures to reduce nicotine withdrawal, will not allow a bad habit to overshadow consciousness and win.
In order not to break free, here are some tips for the behavior of an ex-smoker:
- When a depressed mood sets in, which happens to almost everyone who has given up cigarettes, it is worth remembering the motivation and what the state of mind is - artificial, not real. It is necessary to drive away bad thoughts from yourself, thinking only about the good - about the upcoming improvement of life, well-being, health.
- When you quit smoking, it's best not to be alone. This is the biggest risk of reaching for a cigarette, so you must actively spend time with relatives, friends and children.
- It is necessary to distract yourself from the thought of the cigarette. This is possible if you completely load yourself with chores - clean, wash the dishes, cook a delicious dinner, watch an interesting movie - anything, just so that you don't sit idle with thoughts of smoking.
- You should often remember your chosen motivation and reward yourself for each new day without a cigarette, for each small victory over the next desire to smoke. The only condition is that it is not recommended not to organize prizes in the form of eating sweets or other products.
- We have 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, crack the seeds, drink tea with herbs - mint, oregano, currant leaves, drink cold water in small sips.
Sports can help you 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 mouthwashes, using aromatherapy at home to get rid of the bad habit. We must not forget about reducing visits to places where others smoke - there is no need to unnecessarily provoke yourself, especially in the first weeks after giving up cigarettes.
"Antinicotine" diet and weight gain
As you know, when you give up a bad habit, many people start gaining weight. But this does not happen at all because of a lack of nicotine, but because of a sudden change in eating habits. If earlier hunger could be replaced by a smoke break, now it overtakes a person with a vengeance. In an effort to "catch" the strongest urge to smoke, most rely heavily on crackers and chips, sweets and candies, nuts and seeds. Almost all such foods are high in calories, and sometimes frankly harmful due to the abundance of transgenic fats and preservatives. So, a quick set of 8-10 kilograms is to blame for another bad habit that has replaced smoking.
Ex-smokers often increase their total caloric intake by increasing the number of meals, eating at night, arranging a second breakfast and additional snacks. Overeating is often also due to the improvement of appetite, because with regular smoking it is not in the best shape.
In this situation, there is only one way out - monitor the intake and consumption of calories, eat only healthy food, lean more on 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, prunes, etc.
Some foods rich in ascorbic acid are necessary to compensate for the acute lack of this acid, but also to 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 get through nicotine withdrawal easier and faster without gaining extra weight and feeling bad:
- Give up too strong tea, plenty of coffee, replace them with mineral water, juices, so as not to damage blood vessels that are already affected by cigarettes.
- Do not abuse salty, spicy, fried and smoked foods because of irritation of taste buds and increased desire to smoke.
- It has more fiber, because it will help to quickly remove the decomposition 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 huge.
What is the best way to stop - suddenly or gradually?
The expert's answer is unequivocal - you must stop smoking immediately. Of course, heavy smokers, whose experience counts for decades, will not be able to fight this habit so easily, but they should seek medical help. The doctor will choose the best way to quit smoking, but even in such a situation, the person will most likely be offered a one-time refusal with therapeutic support.
When a person gradually gives up, reducing the number of cigarettes a day, switching to light brands, he only prolongs his suffering.
The body strongly resists, not getting the usual dose of nicotine, as a result, you have to fight literally constantly, every hour, feverishly counting the cigarettes smoked and the ones left for the day. In any case, it will lead to a breakdown or an imperceptible increase in the number of cigarettes, and the fight against the bad habit will not move even a step. 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. There is another drawback to gradual weaning – neither psychological nor physical dependence is reduced. So, does the smoker need additional suffering, moreover, it does not bring any benefit to his body?
Separately, electronic cigarettes should be mentioned. This modern gadget, contrary to advertising, does not contribute to smoking cessation at all. Of course, due to the absence of tar and acrid smoke, damage to health is reduced, the lungs are cleaned, coughing stops and the skin is cleansed.
Addiction to electronic cigarettes remains, because nicotine continues to enter the body, and over time its dose increases due to the possibility of smoking even at 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 agents
Many buy nicotine patches, gum and tablets in an effort to quit smoking. Such preparations contain a minimal amount of nicotine that will enter the body and reduce the symptoms of withdrawal from nicotine. The use of such means makes sense, but only for heavy smokers. During treatment, you can get rid of psychological addiction - from going out on a break, smoking after eating, during stress. But hoping that drugs will do everything for a smoker is not worth it.
Sooner or later, a person will still have to give up nicotine itself, which is embedded in the receptors and gives a strong physical addiction. Therefore, any pills and drugs are only auxiliary methods of solving a bad habit, nothing more. If you apply them correctly and do not increase the dose, but reduce it, a certain relief of the task will be achieved, and with your own desire and willpower, everything will work out!