So you want to quit smoking?
4 April 2008No SMOKING please.
You have finally decided to quit smoking - good choice, in fact an excellent choice but once you have decided to go to that step, make a plan, write it down, and commit to it. Studies show that its better to quit smoking with a plan and assistance than it is to do it by sheer will-power and determination.
According to Anti-Smoking.org “… Sadly, eighty percent of smokers who quit do so without being in any program – and studies show that 95% of these self-reliant quitters fail, and go right back to smoking within 12 months. It’s the same rate of recidivism as with heroin. So you may wish to consider getting some help this time around!”
A Cochrane Review study done in 1996 and updated in November, 2007, found that nicotine replacement therapies like the patch, gum or inhaler increased chances of quitting by 50% to 70%.” As these therapies can be so much more effective than just will-power alone, its suggested by most physicians that you try one or more until you find the match.
So what options are available besides white knuckling? My personal success happened with Zyban, a prescription drug marketed as Zyban or Wellbutrin (a prescription antidepressant ) that happened 8 years ago, after I had smoked for 15 years. It helped me quit forever in only 3 months. My sister also tried this drug and ended up at the emergency room with an allergic reaction that involved breathing difficulties and hives, so choose carefully. Other treatments I have tried include but not limited to, hypnosis, nicotine patches, and nicotine gum, which for me personally all failed to help me quit completely, I could stop for a while but would be back to 20-25 cigarettes a day again within three months, luckily I never had to try the prescription nicotine inhaler. I really hated fighting one addiction with a prescription drug that could have turned into another addiction, however at the point I finally managed to stub out that last cigarette I was desperate to stop. For those who have tried conventional methods and are looking for new ideas to help them keep moving forwards, look at “Ten Unusual Quit Smoking Tips” It talks about everything from cravings to coping techniques, and if you are really serious there is a PDF download of Joel Spitzer’s Quitting book.
Smoking is proven to be detrimental to your health, and we all know the smart thing to do is to never start smoking in the first place, but that isn’t a practical piece of advice for most people myself included, the thing is we start, we get addicted, we realize its terrible for our health and then we try to quit, and then we try to quit again, and then we really get serious about quitting, and then we try again. It’s a vicious cycle that many people who have tried to stop smoking have battled and lost more than once. The best advice to going the distance and finally kicking this habit seems to be: Don’t do it alone!Get help, talk about it, you can find a local meeting in your area for Nicotine Anonymous where you can find other people in the same situation that you are in. You can stop smoking, you should stop smoking.
If the health aspect isn’t enough to convince you, and the ingredients in cigarettes don’t scare you, think about this, smoking stinks, it makes your house smell, your car smell, and your clothes smell and therefore YOU smell! That do it for you?
For further information you can go to the CDC website for thier fact sheets on smoking cessation.
Make an adjustment, stay healthy ~ be happy: Call Dr. Paul or Dr. Susan at
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