How to stop Smoking – Steps to quit Smoking

Millions of smokers have been striving hard to get de-addicted from tobacco. But, find it really hard enough. But, if you have already decided to quit smoking, that should be the best beginning ever. Of course, it may not be easy enough to understand how to stop smoking, but there are a few effective ways to quit smoking.

Smoking has been considered to be the primary preventable cause of premature death. Smoking of cigarettes causes a plethora of diseases – cancer, heart disease, stroke, and lung disease, to name just a few. There are multiple smoking cessation aids or stop smoking aids available. But the key is to have confidence and quit smoking affirmations to stay on the right path. The first day without cigarettes would be rather tricky. It is essential to handle your first No Smoking Day and stay quit every consecutive day!

Why is it so hard to quit smoking?

Smoking is both a psychological addiction and a physical habit. The nicotine in the tobacco provides a temporary and soothing feeling of wellbeing or a high. The body is in a fix for the nicotine. Removing the fix can result in your body experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Due to the association with the feel-good experience with smoking, it is seen as a means of coping up with distress, anxiety or even boredom. Moreover, almost every action in your day can be a trigger for smoking and unless you replace those triggers with something more valuable, you find it hard to quit smoking. 

Yes, that is a huge question. We all know the terrible effects on your health that smoking can induce. But kicking the habit is extremely hard. Whether you are an occasional smoker or someone who consumes a pack a day, it is always highly challenging to quit the habit. That is because smoking has both physical and psychological connotations attached to it. The feel-good effect that nicotine offers gets hard-wired into your brain, and thus you begin relying on it to unwind, relieve stress and improve your outlook.

The right and effective ways to prevent smoking will involve addressing the habits that generally go with it. These events are called triggers and handling them effectively is the right way to quit smoking.

How to stop Smoking – a few tips that can be helpful enough

Well, there are several steps to quit smoking if you prepare well enough. Do note that it needs a lot of hard work and support from your loved ones. Thee are multiple stages of quitting smoking. Let us explore a few perfect ways to quit smoking.

#1. Medications

There are a few effective smoking cessation mediations available. Most of them are available over the counter and do not necessarily need a prescription. Do note that they will not stop your smoking triggers. They would be quite useful in easing the withdrawal symptoms and help you cope with the cravings.

#2. Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

Now that nicotine is the most essential constituents of a cigarette, the first step would be to replacing the cigarettes with other nicotine substitutes. These can include nicotine gum, patch, lozenge, inhaler, or nasal spray. It supplies your body with small amounts of nicotine sans the harmful ingredients like tar or other carcinogens. This would help reduce the psychological aspect the smoking addiction.

Experts suggest using multiple options of NRT than depending on a single product. This has shown an improved success rate of quitting smoking.

#3. Hypnosis

Recent studies have proved that self-hypnosis to quit smoking has been one of the excellent options. No, we are not talking about those stage hypnotists out there. Quit smoking hypnosis involves entering into a deeply relaxed state mentally. The key is to increase the negative feelings about smoking and cigarettes.

It can involve a host of activities. Listening to your favourite music, spending quality time with your loved ones, playing your favourite games, relaxing in the sun, Deep breathing exercises and playing a game. Drinking enough water can also help you keep yourself in a relaxed mood. If you rely much on your loved ones, there is every chance for you to stop smoking by hypnosis. The key is to avoid the stressful activities during a few days in the beginning.

#4. Acupuncture

A strange combination – Acupuncture and quitting smoking? But yes, acupuncture can be quite helpful in helping you to stop smoking. It has been believed to release the endorphins into your body. They act as natural pain relievers. They can be quite helpful enough in reducing the withdrawal symptoms efficiently.

In fact, acupuncture would be an excellent option to relieve you of the side effects you may suffer from the methods employed to quit smoking.

#5. Avoid Triggers

Triggers for smoking can be any of your day to day actions throughout the day. Maybe you are smoking with your morning coffee,  when you are in the toilet, when attending parties, travelling back home after a hectic day at work, or taking a break from office or school – they are just simple triggers and you need to replace the activities when you come across these triggers.

What happens when you quit smoking – A Timeline for quitting smoking

Well, quitting smoking is not as easy as you may presume it to be. With each of that puffs on your cigarettes, you are releasing hundreds of chemicals into your body. They have several types of effects on your body.

The timeline for quitting smoking should ideally involve the following effects and events. Understanding the quit smoking timeline can help stay prepared for the symptoms.

#1. 20 minutes after quitting

Within 20 minutes of your last cigarette, the positive health effects begin showing up. Your blood pressure and pulse rate will start getting back to normal. The fibres inside the bronchial tubes start moving freely. This can be quite helpful in reducing infections.

#2. 8 hours after quitting

The carbon dioxide levels in your body begin returning to the normal levels. Carbon monoxide replaces the oxygen in the blood cells. This lowers the amount of oxygen that your tissues can receive. With the carbon monoxide gone, you can experience increased levels of oxygen which begin to return to their normal levels.

#3. 24 hours after quitting

The risk of heart attack has been reduced by higher levels. Increased oxygen levels will help reduce the restrictions in the arteries and veins. That way, your heart and functioning improve. The nicotine levels in your blood would have decreased to the lowest level.

#4. 48 Hours after quitting

The nerve endings that may have been damaged over the years of extensive smoking. These nerve endings will begin growing. The senses that may have dulled previously will start improving. Your smelling and taste sensations will consistently improve.

#5. 72 hours of quitting

Your breathing should now considerably enhance. This results because of the relaxation in the bronchial muscles and tubes. Your lungs will begin working more effectively and efficiently. Their capacities to fill up the air will increase further.

#6. One week after quitting

If you have been able to move through one week without smoking, that should indeed be a milestone. In case you have not felt the need to smoke, or resisted the urge, your chances of quitting smoking increased considerably.

The timeline for quitting smoking as in the above discussion should help you stay more motivated to quit smoking. By one month of quitting smoking, you should be back to the best of your health.

Before we take your leave…

Any type of addiction is not worth it. Smoking is an addition that is indeed life-threatening. Quitting smoking is not easy. It takes a lot of efforts on your part before you can bunch up the positive energy to finally quit smoking. If you slip and relapse, do not ever look at it as a failure. You can always retry, and perhaps, the next attempt will have more vigour.

We would just assume the tips shared here will help you quit smoking. If that answers your query on how to stop smoking, we would think our efforts have paid off.