Quitting Smoking: Quick Tips to Help With Cravings

If you are actively quitting smoking, or trying to cut down on cigarettes, you will find that the following quick tips are easy to remember. They are also very effective in helping you make it through a craving.

The 4 Ds

• Delay: If you can delay lighting up for 2 or 3 minutes, the urge may pass.

• Deep Breathing: Taking 10 slow, deep breaths are recommended by stress management
experts to help people calm themselves. Instead of taking short, shallow breaths, be aware of how your abdomen rises as you inhale and falls when you exhale.

• Drink Water: Water helps to flush nicotine totally out of your body within 72 hours- if you do not smoke another cigarette or use nicotine gum, the patch or other such products..

• Do Something Else: Find something else to do for 10 – 15 minutes. It may help the urge to pass. You may find that you get engrossed in the new activity and forget about smoking the cigarette you were craving. Examples include: checking email, doing a crossword puzzle or suduko, brushing your teeth, cleaning a window, taking a short walk.

HALT- Don’t let yourself get too:

Hungry – Angry – Lonely – Tired

You’ve smoked for all these reasons in the past. You’ve satisfied your hunger with a cigarette when there’s no food around to eat (or when you are trying to cut calories). You’ve soothed difficult feelings like anger, sadness, fear, and loneliness with a cigarette. And you’ve lit a cigarette when you’re tired to keep you alert and focus.

Try these techniques. They work well when you use them. They will help you quit smoking.

Quitting Smoking: Choosing a Method to Quit

You have decided to quit smoking and now you have to decide how you will quit. There are several options. This blog will address the standard quit smoking methods: tapering, “cold turkey”, nicotine replacement therapy, and prescribed medication (Zyban and Chantix). Each of the methods has pros and cons. I recommend that you write down pros and cons in every decision related to the quit process. Actually seeing the lists helps you to make informed decisions rather than having the reasons “in your head”.

Tapering has the advantage of you continuing to smoke as you cut down your use. However, you will have cigarettes readily available when temptations occur to smoke “just one more because I deserve it”.

“Cold turkey” requires you to choose a quit date, quit, and remain quit despite discomfort from withdrawal from nicotine. An advantage is that the physical withdrawal lasts only about 72 hours, however, you still have to deal with the emotional withdrawal.

Nicotine replacement therapy helps you break the smoking habit, while using a different nicotine delivery system. This method is more comfortable, but at some point you will have to taper off the nicotine in order to quit completely. Some state health departments provide free nicotine patches and phone counseling for those wanting to quit.

Prescribed medication acts on neurotransmitters in your brain. They ultimately decrease the desire to smoke. Or they act on the pleasure center of the brain, so smoking is not as satisfying as it used to be. One disadvantage is that some insurance companies do not cover the costs of these meds for smoking cessation.

It is important for you to learn as much as you can about each method so you can choose the best quit method for you. Future posts will explore each of these methods of quitting smoking.

Smoking Cessation: Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?

How to Quit Smoking Guide

In my work with smokers, I assess their readiness to quit smoking. I have found James O. Prochaska’s (PhD) the (Transtheoretical) stage model of behavior change to be an effective way of assessing readiness. According to this model, there are 5 stages of change.

1. Pre-contemplation. Persons in this stage have no intention of changing their smoking behavior. These are the patients who tell me, ”I enjoy smoking and I’m not interested in talking with you about quitting.” With these persons, I still give a personalized message. “You have told me that you get bronchitis at least twice a year. One of the best things you can do to help your lungs and prevent heart problems is to quit smoking.”

2. Contemplation. Persons in this stage plan to take action on their smoking behavior within the next 6 months. Chances are, they know the dangers of smoking to their health, but they know they depend on nicotine’s effects (See Why Is Quitting Smoking So Difficult?). They are reluctant to quit now.

3. Preparation. Persons in this stage are planning to make changes in their smoking in one month. They may be collecting information on methods of quitting, and may have asked their health provider about medications to assist in quitting. They may have found out about cessation classes and/or support groups. They respond to ads about upcoming classes and they pick up materials from brochure racks on how to quit.

4. Action. These persons are involved in classes, seek information online on how to quit, and/or are taking medications to help themselves quit. They may have had contact with one of the “Quitline” programs sponsored by state health departments throughout the U.S. They may have bought a self help book about quitting and are keeping daily smoking logs to discover their triggers to smoking. They may be cutting down their use or they have decided on a date to go “cold turkey” by quitting on a specific day according to a plan they have developed.

5. Maintenance. These persons have quit smoking and are working hard every day – sometimes one craving at a time – to prevent a slip back to smoking. They are interested in learning how to remain quit for the rest of their lives. They can benefit from materials on healthy alternatives to smoking.

I will keep updating this blog so that you can learn how to quit smoking.