Stop Smoking

Congratulations to all those people who are planning to quit. You have taken the first step! Here is an informative article that helps you to develop your stop smoking plan to ensure success. This article discusses steps you should take to help you stop smoking, including how to get support, any alternate medicines that are available and any other helping hands you may need to stop smoking. So get ready to put your stop smoking plan in motion today.

Steps you should take to stop smoking

Set a good time to quit – Decide on a date to quit within the next two weeks. You may also pick an important date in your life such as your birthday, anniversary, New Year’s Day etc. It may also be good idea to keep your quit date over weekend, especially if you smoke more in your office.
Remove cigarettes from every where – You will have a strong temptation to smoke again so a good idea will be to remove all cigarette packs, ash trays, lighters and matches from your home, office and car before your quit date. This will curb your natural inclination to light up “just one cigarette” again.
Seek support of friends and family – Inform your friends, family members and colleagues about your quit date and tell them seriously that you have finally planned to quit. Request them to support your decision and tolerate your behavior because most people experience mood swings and are irritable, especially during the first few days of quitting. You may ask your friends not to smoke around you and better still, you may ask them to try quitting with you!
Plan ahead for dealing with temptation – In the initial few days you will experience a strong craving for nicotine. Plan out how you will curb this craving. For instance you may take up activities like walking, spending more time with friends or watching TV to get pass the cravings.
Consult a doctor – Talk to your doctor about your decision to stop smoking. Find out what smoking cessation aids will work best for you. If the popular smoking cessation medicine – Champix (Varenicline) will be suitable for you and how it can help in relieving from nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Your doctor should be eager to support your decision to choose a healthy life and say goodbye to cigarettes.
Seek counseling – Even if you are taking stop smoking medication you will need constant motivation to break your habit, especially if you’ve been smoking for years. Please seek the help of a professional counselor to avoid smoking cessation relapse.

Getting support and a helping hand to make it easier to stop smoking

There is huge awareness of the harms of smoking and several initiatives exist to help people kick cigarettes out of their lives. There are many government and non-government stop smoking support services are available all over the world. Furthermore, there are several stop smoking clinics online that provide support and motivation to people on their path towards stop smoking. Besides, you may also seek the support of professional counselors who will be able to guide you towards your quitting goal.

These stop smoking support services provide information about various stop smoking treatments available on the market and how these aids may help you to quit. However, the biggest advantage of these support groups is that these help people to keep motivated as they try to stop smoking. People can discuss their experiences of nicotine withdrawal symptoms and the difficulties they face in breaking the psychological addiction to smoking. Counselors provide a patient ear and can also share the experiences of other people who have successfully beat their habit. Listening to success stories and meeting people in person who have successfully quit goes a long way in helping people remain smoke free.

Alternative medicines available to help you stop smoking

Although only stop smoking medications like Champix (Varenicline) and Zyban (Bupropion) have been scientifically proven to be helpful in helping people to stop smoking a lot of people make use of various alternative therapies. The effectiveness of most of these alternative medicines is yet to be proven but many people have found them to be useful stop smoking aids. We have discussed here some of the more popular alternative therapies available to help you stop smoking:

Acupuncture – The Chinese art of acupuncture makes use of hair-thin needles which are inserted into specific points in the ear. For help in between sessions, tiny balls are tabbed with invisible tape to the ear. When a craving for cigarettes hits, the smoker is instructed to press gently on the ball, which stimulates the acupuncture point. Although acupuncture is a commonly used stop smoking therapy, further research is needed to prove its effectiveness as a stop smoking aid.
Hypnosis – This is another popular therapy that many people have found to be effective in helping them to stop smoking. In this technique, people learn to relax and shift their mind away from smoking. You can learn to do self hypnosis or get the help of certified hypnotherapist to help you relax. As with acupuncture, this may not be effective for everyone and further research is required to prove its effectiveness.
Herbs – Herbs like lobelia (lobelia inflata), St. John's wort (hypericum perforatum) and ginseng are also used to help people quit smoking, though again, their effectiveness as smoking cessation aid is yet to be proven

There are many other alternative medicines and therapies that people make use of such as herbal stop smoking tea, homeopathy, meditation, detox, dream therapy, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, yoga therapy etc. Research more about these therapies and find out which will work best for you. You should also seek the advice of your doctor to work out the best stop smoking medication for you.