How to quit smoking on your own at home

A long-time smoker can smoke 40-45 cigarettes a day. Of course, such an amount of nicotine and tar entering the body every day cannot but affect health. However, it is extremely difficult to say goodbye to a negative habit. Firstly, cigarettes become part of all daily rituals. They fit into life so “organically” that they are associated with rest, relaxation, respite, and also “help” in moments of nervous tension. Secondly, the body itself begins to consider the incoming substances as something important, and includes nicotine in metabolic processes. That’s why it’s so difficult to get rid of a bad habit, because you need to convince yourself, but the body will “demand.”

It is not surprising that many long-term smokers try to follow the “gradual withdrawal” method, simply reducing the number of cigarettes they smoke daily. In practice, this method does not allow you to completely quit smoking. The harm can be reduced, but only slightly. You can get rid of potential or existing health problems only after completely quitting smoking.

However, many are afraid to suddenly quit smoking. Although a smoker with 20 years of experience may still be a very young man, 35-40 years old, and his body will be able to fully recover even after such “pollution.” However, many people are interested in what happens if you quit smoking abruptly? Smokers are afraid of mood swings, arrhythmias and heart rhythm disturbances, excess weight gain, and so on. Let's figure out whether it is really dangerous to suddenly quit smoking and whether the human body can react negatively to quitting cigarettes?

How can a woman quit smoking?

No matter how strange it may sound, women are better at quitting smoking through willpower, without substitutes and tricks with drug support. Of course, you can’t do without stress; there will be difficult days when a cigarette seems to be the only way to cope with the stress on the psyche. However, as practice shows, women punish themselves less for breakdowns and quickly return to life without cigarettes.

A woman’s behavior is greatly influenced by the atmosphere of the family and home: if there are some family reasons (for example, a chronically ill child or adult), then women succumb to them more easily and quit smoking.

Psychotherapeutic methods, especially NLP books based on the Allen Carr method, have shown good effectiveness with female audiences. Throwing for company, with girlfriends or to spite a rival are also very feminine options.

Prepare to endure the first two weeks

The first two weeks are critical to your success. If you can be successful the first time, your chances of quitting smoking increase significantly. Try to stay distracted, stay busy, and take care of yourself. Have fun and avoid stress.

Take your time Spend time with friends more often. Go for a walk, ride a bike, go to the gym or to the movies. Pamper yourself.

• Keep your hands busy. Twist a pen or something else in your fingers.
• Drink more water.
• Meet people who can help you. Everyone understands how difficult it is for you. Don't try to quit smoking alone.
• If you are left alone with your temptations, you give them the opportunity to grow.
• Relax and breathe deeply.

Avoid provocative situations

• Don't hang out with smokers. No matter how friendly and supportive your smoking friends are, they increase your risk of relapse.
• Practice saying, “No, thank you, I don’t smoke anymore.”
• If you feel at risk of smoking, leave immediately.
• A change of scenery may help.

Talk to yourself Most temptations only last 10-20 minutes. Take a break and the craving will pass. Tell yourself:

• “I refuse to believe that smoking is stronger than me.”
• "I will never smoke again."
• "I decided to be a non-smoker."
• "Here and now".

The power of the mind: how to manage life through thinking

How can a man quit smoking?

Men are rational, and therefore they need convincing facts. A book and video with psychotherapy (the same Allen Carr), advice from doctors - practical, without intimidation and cliques, support from friends and company - real masculine methods.

Playing sports - running, gym, team sports - are also powerful male motivating and supporting factors. Many note that if a man asks “help me quit smoking!”, then he is provided with very effective support, without ridicule or puzzling questions. Men understand that such a request requires great fortitude and the ability to admit one’s own difficulties. Not only personal communication, but also forums and groups on social networks can provide such support.

Anti-smoking pills, review of the most effective drugs

There are no drugs that can completely discourage the desire to inhale tobacco smoke. The effect of the drugs is different - they weaken the severity of the withdrawal syndrome and help the body recover faster. Anti-smoking tablets can be found in any pharmacy; let’s look at popular and helpful drugs.

Lobesil (Tabulttae "Lobesilum")

A powerful remedy for people trying to stop smoking. The main active ingredient is lobeline. This is an effective natural alkaloid contained in Indian tobacco and has a complex effect on the body. If you follow the recommended course, the following effects are observed:

• the frequency of headaches decreases;
• irritability decreases;
• eliminates nervousness.

Lobesil regulates the functioning of the respiratory system, as a result, more oxygen enters the quitter’s body, and accelerated withdrawal from nicotine occurs. Drink 1 tablet up to five times a day for a week. Then the dosage is gradually reduced.

Brizantine

An effective drug widely used in the treatment of nicotine addiction. The main active ingredient irritates cannabinoid receptors, thereby increasing brain activity. As a result, internal resistance to smoking increases and the desire for psychoactive elements, including nicotine, decreases.

The dosage depends on the degree of craving for tobacco. The stronger the desire to smoke, the more tablets you can dissolve (up to six per day). As soon as the intensity of unpleasant symptoms begins to decrease, the dosage is reduced. They have been drinking Brizantine for three months.

Zyban

The best foreign drug, the main active ingredient of which is amphetamine. This is an atypical antidepressant that suppresses the production of norepinephrine and dopamine. It is these hormones that are responsible for the formation of nicotine addiction, so Zyban will also help those who do not have willpower, but want to get rid of the habit.

In Russia, Zyban is extremely difficult to find - the drug is not certified in the country, and therefore is not sold in pharmacies. Those who want to say goodbye to the craving for tobacco will have to look for a remedy on European websites.

Herbal composition Nekorit

The best domestic herbal remedy that has a pleasant taste and helps reduce the desire for tobacco smoke. The product contains a complex of extracts:

• clary sage;
• motherwort;
• chamomile;
• rosehip;
• oregano.

If you have a desire to smoke, you need to dissolve 1-2 tablets. The duration of the course can be any, the main thing is that no harmful desire arises.

Champix

A strong medicine that will help get rid of the addiction for those who cannot control themselves and desires and have a long history of smoking. The main active ingredient of the tablets is varenicline, which reduces the need for nicotine and relieves some of the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome.

According to the official instructions for use, take one tablet twice a day with plenty of water. The dosage is increased gradually, at the beginning of the course they drink half of 500 mcg once a day, from the fourth day one piece a day, and from the eighth day they go to a dose of 1 piece. 2 times a day.

The disadvantage of Champix is ​​that it has many side effects. Men and women who quit smoking experienced nausea, bronchitis, increased body mass index, headaches, and in some cases, suicidal thoughts. The downside is the price - up to 1,700 rubles per package.

How to quit smoking for a teenager?

Ways and methods to quit smoking that are ideal for adults are, in most cases, of little use for teenagers. This is due to the peculiarity of early smoking - teenagers smoke not for the sake of “physiological” benefits (to raise blood pressure, for example), but to increase the level of socialization and status in their group.

The immaturity of the motivational sphere, and the central nervous system as a whole, does not allow the use of methods of volitional refusal, including using an elastic band on the wrist or substitution.

But at the same time, treating smoking with folk methods that cause an aversion to cigarettes works well: adding chitin to cigarettes, soaking in milk, using herbal decoctions. Persuasion on behalf of an authoritative person is also perceived adequately by adolescents. Of course, for the success of any method, contact between parents and the teenager is necessary, their joint work on a bad habit: without reproaches and scandals, without unreasonable intimidation (finding and checking information on the Internet is a matter of minutes for a teenager).

Why you need to get rid of a bad habit as quickly as possible

Only the deaf have never heard of the fact that smoking is harmful. However, not everyone fully understands the consequences of this habit, and some are not aware of it at all. This leads to insufficient motivation and you can spend years getting ready without taking the decisive step towards fighting addiction.

Here are just a few facts that explain the need to combat nicotine addiction:

1. It has been found that inhaling tobacco smoke increases the risk of developing lung cancer by 23 times in men and 13 times in women. The likelihood of developing laryngeal cancer also increases.
2. 90% of the causes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are also due to smoking.
3. Smokers have a 40% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
4. Every year, 600,000 people die from secondhand smoke. Among them may be relatives of the smoker.
5. Tobacco smoke also increases the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). If at least one of the parents is susceptible to this addiction, his child may die unexpectedly while sleeping. Children aged 1-12 months are at risk.

There are other factors that can make you think. For example, loss of time. It takes an average of 4 minutes to smoke one cigarette. If a smoker needs a pack a day, more than an hour is wasted. 40 hours accumulate in a month, and 480 hours or 20 days in a year. This is time stolen from family or from a favorite activity.

Smoking also takes a toll on your wallet. On average, a Russian smoker spends 120 rubles a day on cigarettes. The amount accrues in a month is 3,600 rubles, and in a year - 43,200 rubles.

Not everyone is able to quit smoking at home. This is due to familiar surroundings and situations that evoke strong, uncontrollable desire. In this case, a temporary move or travel will help, perhaps in the company of non-smokers. With this approach, you can quit abruptly without postponing the matter. The opinion that this cannot be done has not been confirmed by research.

Read also: Confession of love to a girl

Nuances of refusal for pregnant women

It is very risky to use methods of nicotine replacement therapy (both pharmaceutical and folk remedies) in pregnant women: nicotine penetrates the placenta, has a very negative effect on the fetus’s body, on the course of periods of its development, and affects the growth and development of the child after birth.

It should also be remembered that the use of medicinal plants during pregnancy is risky. First of all, infusions, decoctions, tinctures do not have a standardized dosage: the same herb collected in different places can have a stronger or weaker effect. This is either dangerous - half a glass of immortelle decoction with an increased concentration of active substances can cause bleeding, or it is ineffective - then the point of using herbal medicine is lost.

The hormonal background of a pregnant woman contributes to sentimentality, tearfulness, and weakness. This is what you should “play” on - to convince the woman of the dangers of smoking at this time, to convincingly prove the harm that nicotine brings to the fetus and child subsequently. Your loved ones may have to control every cigarette, but this is worth doing for the health of the mother and child.

And yet, during this important, often difficult period, it is better to avoid home methods of treating tobacco smoking: seeing a doctor will be more effective and safer.

Nicotine withdrawal

Chronic smoking is defined in medicine as tobacco or nicotine addiction.

Nicotine is a psychoactive substance that causes physical dependence at the level of neurotransmitters, causing the production of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is responsible for joy, pleasure, determination. A drop in dopamine levels stimulates a person to actively search for ways to increase it. Since the smoker’s brain experiences a constant deficiency of this neurotransmitter, only the intake of nicotine in the body raises this level. When dopamine levels drop, a person experiences feelings of anxiety, restlessness, and an automatic urge to smoke.

Changes occurring in the quitter’s body day by day

Many people, thinking about how to quit smoking more easily, are afraid of potential problems that they love to scare newbies with. The unknown is scary, that's common knowledge. In order to dispel these fears and convince that it is possible to avoid problems when quitting or prevent the emergence of difficulties with quitting, the “Smoking Quit Calendar” mentioned above was created. It has already been mentioned as a TOP tip.

In the first days without cigarettes, the body works in two directions: it experiences stress from the lack of the usual (nicotine and the smoking process) and at the same time it recovers (blood oxygen saturation increases, the bronchi are cleared, vascular tone is normalized). Accordingly, sensations, thoughts, and emotional states are associated with these processes. The “Calendar” gives advice on how to reduce the negative impact of this period, how you can support yourself, how not to relapse and not get better.

When the difficult first 10-15 days are over, restoration and cleansing begins at deeper levels, for example, after the bronchi become healthier, the bronchioles are cleansed and skin cells are restored. At the same time, physical dependence has practically disappeared, but the craving for rituals, the process of smoking, and social and environmental factors remains. “Calendar” will also tell you how to cope with psychological dependence without nerves.

Main signs of nicotine addiction

1. An irresistible craving to take a substance.
2. Difficulties in controlling one’s own behavior in conditions where it is impossible to obtain this substance in a timely manner.
3. The development of withdrawal syndrome, a state of withdrawal (withdrawal) in situations when the substance stops entering the body.
4. The appearance of signs of tolerance, that is, the need to constantly increase the dose of the substance.
5. Narrowing the range of interests, the ability to refuse other pleasures and events if during them there is no opportunity to use a psychoactive substance.
6. Continued use of the substance even when severe physical or mental health disorders appear.

All these signs are present in nicotine addiction, so smoking is considered not just a bad habit, as previously thought, but a chronic disease.

The average duration of nicotine withdrawal syndrome lasts about a month.

Many heavy smokers, hoping to reduce the discomfort that occurs when quitting smoking, switch to using electronic cigarettes. But modern gadgets, although less harmful to health, since they do not contain tar and acrid smoke, still contain nicotine, which continues to support addiction.

Nicotine withdrawal is a combination of various symptoms that have varying degrees of severity and cause psychophysical discomfort.

Nicotine withdrawal syndrome is characterized by a whole complex of symptoms:

• insomnia;
• muscle pain;
• mood swings;
• thirst, feeling of dry mouth;
• increased cough, shortness of breath;
• increased appetite;
• psycho-emotional lability: anxiety, irritability, short temper, aggression, apathy, depression;
• disruption of intestinal function: alternation of diarrhea, constipation;
• hand tremors;
• decreased performance;
• headache;
• instability of blood pressure, heart rhythm disturbances (tachy- and bradyarrhythmias);
• mental dependence.

According to statistics, 70-80% of all smokers tried to give up this bad habit at least once, but were unable to cope with the consequences of withdrawal symptoms.

Are “breakdowns” dangerous?

We are all not perfect. A person is subject to vices and weaknesses, and the craving for smoking is just one of them. You need to fight your weaknesses, but you need to understand that the fight can be long, and defeat in one battle does not lead to defeat in the war. Only a small percentage of former smokers are people who were able to quit cigarettes the first time, while the rest took several attempts.

It is important not to stop and continue to move towards the goal. If you fail, then work on your mistakes. You need to understand what exactly prompted you to smoke again. Perhaps stress or lack of motivation is to blame. Go back to the beginning and work through each step again, and then try again. Everything will work out!

Support

In fact, in any team there will be a person who will support your initiative. Quit smoking together. Share your experiences and information about how to cope with rejection easier.

Enlist the support of your family and friends. If you live with someone who smokes, ask them to do so somewhere else. Remove from the house everything that reminds you of smoking - lighters, ashtrays.

If you are alone in your desire, do not despair. Every minute in Russia and the world people decide to quit smoking and are looking for like-minded people. Smokers Anonymous meetings are held in Moscow. You can ask for advice, share your experiences and fears, and get answers and support on specialized forums, for example, Nosmoking.ru and Ne-kurim.ru.

Connect social networks

It sounds funny, but those smokers who talk about the progress of their struggle with the bad habit on social networks achieve success Using Facebook, Twitter To Quit Smoking: How Social Media Helps You Overcome Addiction much more often than those who try to fight the craving for cigarettes offline .

Facebook or Twitter makes you feel like other people are supporting you. In addition, social networks are full of motivational stories of those who have already given up smoking. And the more we get acquainted with other people’s successful cases, the more we believe in our own victory.

Write down triggers and eliminate them from your life

This recommendation is partly related to the point above. The point is that often we could not smoke. But there are situations that actually make us reach for the pack. These are the so-called Know Your Smoking Triggers.

Calculate them: for several days, scrupulously describe all the moments when you lit a cigarette. "I'm drinking my morning coffee." “I lit a cigarette to talk to a girl.” “I went out into the yard with my colleagues and smoked for company.” Then try to modify at least those situations that are repeated day after day.

For example, if you are used to smoking a cigarette with your morning coffee, start drinking tea. Or switch to healthy breakfasts altogether: you’re unlikely to want to smoke with your oatmeal.

Try to develop a replacement strategy for each trigger you discover. You won't get rid of your addiction right away, but you can significantly reduce the amount of nicotine you consume. And this is a serious step on the path to success.

Replace smoking with other pleasures or activities

The ideal time to How to Curb Stress While You Quit Smoking to quit smoking is on vacation. There is no stress that causes you to reach for a cigarette. There are plenty of interesting activities.

All you have to do is not take cigarettes with you on a rafting trip down a stormy mountain river or go on a bus tour of Europe, where no one will slow down or ventilate the Louvre to give you the opportunity to smoke, and you will be surprised to find that you can easily do without smoke for several years now. busy and interesting days.

The main thing here is to take away from such an experience the realization: “I smoke not because I want to, but because I’m just bored and have nothing to do with myself.”

Sounds so-so, right? Try to get rid of boredom. Look for activities that can replace cigarettes. And you will quit smoking.