How to Quit Smoking ? Quitting smoking is no walk in the park. Many people say that it’s the hardest thing and they’ve ever done.
It’s so easy to start smoking, but quitting is altogether different. Fortunately, there are lots of things that you can do to make your experience easier when you’re kicking the habit.
This article will outline some of the best tips and tools that you can use if you really want to quit smoking. Anything from practicing meditation to rebuilding your relationship with tobacco could help. Ultimately, it’s up to you. You’re the only one who understands your addiction and therefore only you know what is best.
For many, this process will involve a bit of trial and error. You may want to invest in the help of a coach, therapist, or even a psychiatrist. These people will be able to help you focus on your goal of quitting while providing you with all sorts of other solutions and techniques that may or may not help.
Why It’s So Hard to Quit
Smokers are addicted to a chemical found in tobacco called nicotine. Nicotine is very addicting. This drug is responsible for the focus boosting and calming effects that tobacco has on the individual.
Unfortunately, when nicotine is consumed on a daily basis, people will start to become physically dependant on it. If they don’t get their regular dose of nicotine, they will become stressed out and agitated. Ironically, these two feelings are often similar to the very same ones that led people to smoke in the first place.
This downward spiral is a clear indication that somebody is stuck in an addictive loop. And, while smoking might not be on the same level as an addiction to heroin or crystal meth, the psychological impact can be quite similar.
Because of the ease with which smoking can be adapted into everyday life, many people are able to maintain a smoking habit without losing friends, family, jobs, or anything else besides money. Because of this, their smoking habits become part of their identity, a part of their life.
When they quit, this creates a significant absence that feels like a hollow void that follows them throughout the day. People can also become addicted to the motions and rituals of smoking, especially if they enjoy hand-rolled smokes.
Quit Smoking Timeline & Withdrawal Symptoms / Side Effects
When you quit smoking side effects are known as withdrawal symptoms, and they occur because your body is not used to functioning without nicotine supporting it.
These symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how long you have been smoking.
Symptoms commonly associated with quitting smoking include:
- High blood pressure
- Irritation and mood swings
- Difficulty thinking, brain fog
- Difficulty sleeping
- Feeling hungry and gaining weight
- Being twitchy, jumpy and easily startled
- Constantly thinking about or craving cigarettes
Quitting Smoking Timeline
Nicotine withdrawal starts to set in between 4 and 24 hours after your last cigarette. Most people notice this as a return of the familiar irritation and agitation that they are supposedly reducing by smoking.
Symptoms continue to grow stronger until about the 3 day mark, when symptoms peak and then begin to wean slowly over the coming weeks. People who have smoked for years may find that some of their symptoms last for up to three weeks.
The benefits of quitting smoking will also start to become apparent quite quickly. 20 minutes after your last smoke, your pulse returns to normal, and by the 8-hour mark your blood oxygen levels return to normal as nicotine and carbon monoxide make their way out of your bloodstream.
After two days your senses of taste and smell should start to improve, and by the end of the third day, you should find it easier to breathe deeply. All of the nicotine should be released from your body by now, hence the symptoms of withdrawal being at their peak.
Within a couple of weeks your circulation will start to improve, and before the year is up your lungs will start to return to good health. Over the following few years, your risk of heart attacks and strokes will continue to decrease.
How to Stop Smoking
If anyone tells you that the best way to quit smoking is to “just stop!” then they’ve obviously never tried to quit smoking. You’ll need to have a few tools and tricks in your bag if you want to make a successful effort. Here are a few things that you can do to help improve your chances of success.
Nicotine replacement
Nicotine replacement therapy is a form of treatment that involves swapping out smoking for another form of nicotine consumption. At the end of the day, you’ll still be addicted to nicotine. However, you’ll be able to offset most of the health risks associated with the physical act of smoking.
Many people also find that it’s easier to get over their habit when they’ve already switched to a nicotine replacement alternative. Common choices are nicotine gums, lozenges, and vapes.
Alternatives to smoking (use vape to quit smoking)
There are also alternatives to smoking tobacco that you might want to take up. You can use vape to quit smoking or you can switch to another, non-addictive herbal substance to smoke. Lobelia is a common choice as it contains a much milder substance that still targets the nicotine receptors.
Using e-cigarettes to stop smoking
E-cigarettes are another common option for people who want to quit smoking. You can choose to use e-cigarettes that contain nicotine, or you can use another substance. Many choose to vape CBD.
A CBD vaporizer starter kit will include vape CBD cartridges and allow you to start vaping right away. The benefits of CBD are numerous: it’s a great supplement for reducing anxiety and promoting relaxation, and it can help to balance mood just as well as nicotine. On top of that, it’s non-addictive!
Avoiding triggers
For the first few weeks it’ll be especially important to avoid any situations or people that frequently trigger you. This means that you’ll want to distance yourself from high-stress environments or anywhere that makes you feel uncomfortable or unstable. If your job makes you stressed out and anxious, try and book some time off while you quit smoking.
Therapy and counseling
Smoking is not nearly as intense of an addiction as some of the more powerful drugs out there, and not everybody who smokes has an underlying emotional or mental health condition. However, many smokers are simply looking for a sense of soothing reassurance. A therapist can help you pinpoint exactly what it is that you’re getting out of smoking and teach you how to find that somewhere else.
Group support
There are groups similar to Alcoholics Anonymous that focus on helping smokers find support among others who have shared their struggle. Attending a group support session will help you feel understood and provides an opportunity for you to learn about what worked for others who have quit smoking.
Replace the motions and ritual
Many people find that there is a sort of psychological addiction associated with the motions of smoking. The very act of rolling a smoke (if you hand-roll your own), putting it to your lips, lighting it, and holding it as you smoke is soothing. Many people find that they need to replace the motion and oral fixation in order to stop craving a cigarette.
There are lots of things that you can do. Chewing something, like a toothpick or a stick of licorice, can replace the oral fixation. Finding something to do with your hands, like crafting or writing, can keep you occupied.
Dropping your tobacco
Some people have found success by tricking their brains into dissociating from tobacco by simply emptying their cigarettes onto the ground.
Whenever you walk by a cigarette butt, for example, pick it up and instead of looking at it as tobacco that one might enjoy, look at it as something unwanted and unnecessary and sprinkle the tobacco out onto the ground.
You can do this with any tobacco you have leftover; some have found success even by purchasing packages of cigarettes and then simply emptying the smokes or throwing them out in some symbolic way.
The ten-minute rule
When you quit smoking, you’re still going to want to smoke. Whenever you feel a craving creep up, strike up a deal with yourself: you’ll wait just ten minutes.
Find something that you can do to occupy your time for ten minutes and you’ll be surprised at how quickly time flies before you think about having another smoke. When the next craving comes up, strike the same deal.
Start exercising
Exercising is a great way to produce natural feel-good hormones and to fill your time with something healthy and productive. Exercise can also help to repair your cardiovascular system following a heavy smoking habit.
Meditate and relax
Meditation has been used for thousands of years to help people find relaxation and relief during times of stress and anxiety. It’s a great tool for helping anybody who is working on overcoming addiction.
Conclusion
Quitting smoking isn’t easy, but it can be done. If you take to heart some of the tools and tricks offered in this article then you’ll surely find that it becomes much easier to quit smoking. Practices like meditating and taking supplements like organic CBD can make the whole process much easier for you.
