You CAN quit smoking!Mar 16 '02 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Quitting is the single most IMPORTANT decision you will make in your lifetime. It is well worth the fight to a smoke-free life!
You CAN quit smoking. It is not an impossible task as we have all heard or read about. I'm living proof to this statement! We can all quit, and I'm here now to speak with you about how I learned to quit. I smoked for approximately 13 years. I was a pack per-day smoker. I spent most of the past few years justifying my right to smoke. Heck, "Cancer only happens in other families." "I'll quit before I get really sick." "I can quit next year, I'm too busy now." "So-in-so's uncle was 95 when he died & he smoked 3 pack a day!" Do any of the above statements pop into your mind whenever you get the "urge" to quit? Perhaps during a simple cold virus that turns into a deadly case of bronchitis? I quit on January 8, 2002. Here's what I've learned during my quit: BEFORE YOU QUIT 1. You must be totally dedicated to quitting. Once you put out your last cigarette SMOKING IS NO LONGER AN OPTION. 2. Do alot of research before you quit. Get motivated. Learn about the withdrawals and how long they last. Get educated! A great place to get information is at www.whyquit.com. Cold hard facts. 3. Talk to you doctor about different ways to quit. Since your doctor knows your health best, he/she may want to prescribe medicine to help you quit. He/she may suggest using the patch or gum which is available over the counter. (More on the patch below). 4. Join a support group. A free one is at www.quitnet.com. Another wonderful support group, which used to be free but costs a fee now is at www.quitsmokingdiaries.com. I believe it costs $29.95 for 6 months. WELL worth the price for excellent support & support of other quitters. 5. Set your quit date. Tell everyone this is your quit date & to please support your decision to quit. Ask them not to smoke around you. Ask them to lend an ear for the first couple of weeks. Get support wherever you can find it! 6. Change your daily routine around. One thing you will find is after you quit smoking, your whole schedule is messed up. Something is "missing" and all of this pressure can cause you to slip and start smoking again. If you change around your routine BEFORE you quit, you will be better emotionally quipped for when you need it the most. 7. Cut down on your smoking a week before you quit. Don't smoke in your car or your house now. Start eliminating places to smoke so your not tempted after you actually quit. 8. Go to the dentist and have your teeth cleaned. 9. The day or so before your quit, do alot of your laundry and clean up your car & home. Get all that smoke smell out. THE BIG QUIT Ok, your quit date has arrived! Welcome to a smoke-free life! 1. Throw out all reminders of smoking. Get rid of any cigarettes you have in the house by first soaking them in water! 2. Drink TONS of fluids now. It will help flush out the nicotine in your system. 3. Seek your support group as often as you need to now. Remember that the urge to smoke will go away whether or not you smoke! 4. Remember that you didn't learn to smoke in 1 day, so you won't learn to be an ex-smoker in 1 day! Take it one day at a time. One minute at a time if need be! 5. You will NOT die from the withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms only last a few days and get easier with each hour that goes by. There IS a light at the end of the tunnel, believe it or not! THINGS TO REMEMBER AFTER YOU QUIT ~~ Always keep your guard up! The smoking urges tend to creep up when you least expect them to. Be prepared ahead of time. ~~ Celebrate your milestones! Whenever you reach a milestone (1 week, 1 month, 2 months etc..) go out & buy yourself something special. Or have your "better half" take you out on the town. You deserve it! ~~ NEVER give in to the mind games! You might frequently hear yourself thinking, "Just one puff can't hurt." or "What's one cigarette?". Baloney! Just one puff may send you back to square one. Your not quitting for a year, your quitting for a lifetime! ~~ If you do slip up and smoke (But you won't!!), just remember to throw away any new cigarettes you have, and get back to your quit! Don't throw in the towel and smoke the whole pack. You'll only feel worse afterwards. IF YOUR THINKING OF USING THE PATCH... A brief description of the patch... a nicotine replacement therapy. They come in patches in 3 different steps. Step one is 21 mg of nicotine, step 2 is 14 mg of nicotine and step 3 is 7 mg of nicotine. Please ask you doctor about using the patches first. I used Step 1 last year & had heart palpitations from them. So they could actually be very harmful. During this quit I started with Step 2. I used patches for a total of 4 weeks in all. It helped TREMENDOUSLY. THINGS TO REMEMBER It will usually take a smoker numerous times to actually quit smoking for good. Remember that each time you try, you are becoming a stronger person and more able to make the next quit successful. You need to be in a really good frame of mind to quit permanantly. Remember that nicotine is harder to quit then heroine! So, do alot of research and literally scare yourself into quitting. Get online to a lung cancer support group and read about these people trying to live through losing a lung! Withdrawal symptoms are never as bad as this!! Take a cold hard look at what your future might be like and decide if that's where you want to go. Remember that this is a life-style change. It will not be easy, nothing ever is, but it is a change that we all need to make! Smoking kills, that's a fact of life. If anyone would like more information or someone to speak with before/during their quit, please feel free to email me. My email is listed on my profile page. I wouldn't hesitate to talk to you, in fact, I'd be honored to help.  |
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