Quitting Smoking
I have been a non-smoker for approximately: 4 months & 2 weeks!
Thats not exactly a record by anyones’ standards nor is it the longest I have managed to give up smoking for but the important thing is that it has been relatively painless ! I am not writing to plug Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) by the way but I can not deny that NRT has made quitting a lot less painful & stressful than going “cold turkey” for want of a better term. For me Nicotine Gum worked mainly because it gives me something to do with my mouth but for other people there are various patches, a lozenge, micro-tabs, sublingual NRT & other products to take the sting out of quitting. Depending what jurisdiction you are in, you may even be able to get your NRT products on the National Health Service but even if you cant, NRT products work out a lot cheaper, fiscally speaking at least, than smoking!
Previous to this I had read the late Alan Carr’s book & theres no doubt it works for some highly motivated individuals but after reading his thoughts on other ‘addictions’ I found it hard to take his book seriously anymore! Carr may well be the Dale Carnegie of motivational quitting for some but his psychobabble about other addictions is quite frankly bullshit!
For the serious smoker like myself who was going through two packs of cigarettes a day, Nicotine Replacement products gave me a fighting chance of giving up & provided the second half of a proven way of quitting, the first part of course being a certain degree of willpower. I have read the various advice from the National Health Service & I most certainly fitted the ‘profile’ of a ‘heavily addicted smoker’, for example that first cigarette in the morning being the one I craved most.also, I disliked going anyplace where smoking was prohibitted! there are plenty of helpful resources, helplines, free dvds, websites dedicated to stopping smoking which are provided by the likes of the NHS Direct website, the various NRT product companies and they are a fantastic help in the first few days/weeks which everyone should avail of. My attitude was that giving up smoking, or more accurately the prospect of giving up smoking is daunting enough so we should take all the help we can get & most of it is free !
It has to be said that some willpower is required when using NRT to give up smoking, mines was most certainly health based but other ‘triggers’ may be financial gain, social pressure, employment requirements in fact there are a myriad of reasons for giving up compared to only one for remaining a smoker ie addiction! Whatever your motivating ‘trigger’ you can also reap the other rewards as a direct consequence of quitting eg, I have just opened a new savings account with £100 I have saved this month, which is a welcome bonus on top of the direct health benefits that initially motivated me! Setting a date to quit is generally agreed to be an important factor in successfully quitting smoking using NRT, I just happened to have used the new Year period for it’s tradition of making ‘resolutions.’
I can only speak from my own personal experience as I am no expert by any means but it has not been too hard which has amazed me as I dreaded being without a cigarette for anymore than 15 minutes! sure, there have been temptations but munching on a piece of Nicotine Gum does a fantastic job of deflecting those cravings in the first few days. For me personally, 4mgs gum was the only real option as thats the reccomended strength for heavy smokers but it also comes in 2mgs & even 1mgs strengths for the less dedicated tobacco devotee! it is also my understanding that Nicotine itself, the main addictive ingredient in cigarettes & of course NRT products is not a particularly excellent drug to be taking but it is a hell of a lot better than the tar, carbon monoxide & other carcinogenic chemicals that one inhales when smoking as they are the nasty chemicals that will do the real hurt & eventually kill you painfully! Nicotine in NRT products comes in controlled, small dosages which are free of the carcinogens associated with smoking eg, tar & God knows what else! Plus it is my experience that the therapeutic levels of nicotine in NRT gum do really work as a mild appetite suppressant which has kept me from eating the house down!
In conclusion, it is early days yet but I am confidant that I will be successfull in staying off smoking for the foreseeable future….I think! The really incredible thing about giving up smoking is that it really is not that hard using NRT, it is just the thought of giving up or more accurately the distorted perception of what a life without cigarettes entails that prevented me from giving up earlier! though if I ever decide that smoking is an option again (this will obviously mean that I prefer being broke & dead) I will of course, make a point of writing the rationale behind it……if I get the chance….!
(updated: 14/04/2010)
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