Quitting smoking is tough- what practical support do smokers need to help them?

Question

What do smokers need to help them successfully quit?... is it just about being there to encourage them?
In a perfect world what would they want to help them kick the habit?
what do smokers REALLY NEED to hep them Quit??

Answer 1

Actually smokers don't want anyone to mention it. Just bringing it up makes you want to smoke. As long as they aren't smoking, keep your yap shut.

Answer 2

Support from those around them esp the ones who are smokers themselves counts for a lot.

But it really comes down to where the person is re their relationship with cigarettes/smoking.

As an ex-smoker, who was very unhappy with it (just before quitting), you have my sympathies. I agree with prev poster - check out Allen Carr's Easy way to stop smoking - it's THE book on quitting.


A few pointers -

change brands ;

change the routine/pattern when you do smoke;

change gaps between smoking;

slowly decrease how many you smoke;

go for as long a break as you can between smoking;

then go cold turkey (even if unsuccesful) a few times;

THEN quit.

Important thing is to NOT quit trying to quit.

They say the lung regenerates tissue at a rate that within two years the whole of the lung can be new.

Not sure if it was for yourself or just a general question, but nonetheless,

Best wishes and good luck.

Answer 3

Quitting smoking is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves, as you have already observed.
Congratulations on completing the first week - you are over the worst, but still need to maintain your resolve. It's just so easy to start thinking that just one won't hurt, but it does. Just one achieves nothing except feeling the need for another. Whatever you do, don't have just one.
Here's a few home-brewed tips that might be useful.
It's not just nicotine addiction - there are 50+ chemicals in cigarettes. Also the main problem is habit.
We have been used to having body sensations which we translate as 'my body needs something', which we have attempted to satisfy by having a cigarette.
When we try to stop smoking, we still get these 'my body needs something' sensations, and we still feel that we want a cigarette. We have to train our body to be more selective. When we feel we need something, we have to work out what it is that we actually need.
A glass of water is an excellent substitute if nothing else comes to mind, as it helps with the clearance of the toxic substances in our body. Another good substitute is a bag of salted peanuts, used in combination with the water.
Another thing to do is to find an activity which occupies the mind or body. Go swimming - nobody wants to smoke while they are swimming. Slowly, as our body adjusts and translates the 'want something' feelings into something other than cigarettes, then the feelings begin to go away. We know its not a cigarette that the body really needs, because as soon as we've had one we still have the feeling, and want another!
We will have a few bouts of feeling or even being short tempered. We must try to bite our lip, and control; ourselves. Recognise the short temper as being the removal of toxins which are trying to find a way out. They went in through the mouth, and they try to get out that way to. We must learn to keep our mouth closed, and force the toxins out the other way.

Answer 4

Smokers need their families and loved ones to be patient with them while they are going through the withdrawels!

I'd say that is the main thing I struggled with.

You can get extremely grouchy and downright frickin mean when all you can think about is a cigarette & you really can't help it.

Having your husband/wife/gf/bf whatever griping at you is the last thing you need at this crucial stage of the game. At one point my ex-husband told be I was being such a beeotch he'd rather me just smoke! Not only did that make me want to just throw in the towel right then and there but it also put a tremendous amount of guilt on my shoulders.

Support and patience are key factors.

I used zyban to help me quit and an online internet support group called quitnet.com. It really helped alot. If you can make it to day 3, you can make it period.

Answer 5

puff puff puff

join the club

will power if you reli want to stop non of the medication work's

just think if you put your £5 in a tin every time you need a packet of fags say 20 a day thats £35 quid a week add that up the hole year wow what a holiday you could have next year WILL POWER they say the first 4 days are the worst and after 2 weeks the nicotine is out of your sytem so your body wont crave a ***

try it

its easier said that done thou

am still trying IV only managed 2 days lol GOOD LUCK

Answer 6

the only way to quit is to stop cold turkey. just like that.

No more Nicotine. I quit nearly 2 years ago.

http://www.whyquit.com/joel/normlung.jpg
Above: Normal city dwellers lung.
Note black specks throughout indicative of carbon deposits from pollution.



Smoking's Impact on the Lungs
Smokers lung with cancer. White area on top is the cancer, this is what killed the person. The blackened area is just the deposit of tars that all smokers paint into their lungs with every puff they take.
http://www.whyquit.com/joel/cancer.jpg


http://www.whyquit.com/joel/emphysema.jpg
A smoker's lung with emphysema...

Answer 7

The 1st guy is correct , I quit 6 months ago ! I smoked for 38 yrs.
The smoker has to want to quit first , then once they make the DECISION
it easier on them . I uses nicotine gum .

Answer 8

Unless you have been a smoker yourself you wouldn't understand how hard it is to quit, smoking is actually harder to quit than it is for heroine addicts to come off drugs, but they get methadone and all the help they require, smokers get very little help or advice, so unless you have smoked you won't understand.

Answer 9

First you have to really want to quit, next you have to have will power, go to your GP's nurse and (If she was anything like my one a real help and support) ask for gum or nicotine patches, when I was giving up someone said to me try (when you get a craving) to sip water for a bit because it's not a continuous need but when it starts a least a sip of water might help. Good luck to the quitter.

Answer 10

I used Allen Carr's EasyWay to Stop Smoking. It's a book in case you've never heard of it, but most people have. No nicotine replacement, no willpower needed and no significant weight gain. It's an amazing thing.

Answer 11

I recently quit smoking, and really, I could only do it because I really wanted to. But it helped going out with friends who didn't smoke, because if I went out with a friend who did smoke, they would offer me a cigarette, and I would find it difficult to refuse. Take them out to a non smoking restaurant, so they can get used to eating, and not lighting up afterwards, and go to pubs where they have a non smoking area, so they can get used to drinking/socialising without the fags. Worked for me!