There are dozens of ways to quit smoking. Ex-smokers are ready to talk about their experiences, psychotherapists offer courses and write books, there are evidence-based and semi-magical ways to get rid of cigarettes. We couldn't stay away either.
Are there ways to finally get rid of nicotine addiction? Yes, there are. Thanks to them, you can live six months without cigarettes - just such a period is necessary in order to consider addiction overcome. Well, without strong motivation, as always, you can not do.
So, let's look at the most effective ways to quit smoking.
1. Take special drugs
Long-term smokers will have to consult a doctor, as it will be difficult for them to cope with nicotine addiction alone. After all, it is part of the blood, participates in metabolism, and if it suddenly ceases to enter the body regularly, a person experiences a kind of withdrawal. There is anxiety, irritability, irritability, up to panic attacks. So it is still better to enlist medical support. Your doctor will prescribe drugs to help eliminate or reduce the severity of a nicotine hangover.
Anti-smoking drugs are divided into three groups. The first acts as a substitute for nicotine, since these tablets contain nicotine or the alkaloid cytisine, which acts on the body in a similar way. They irritate nicotinic receptors, provoking the development of reactions, as with smoking. Therefore, a person does not develop an abstinence syndrome, that is, withdrawal, and, importantly, he does not inhale cigarette smoke, which contains an incredible amount of dangerous substances. The disadvantage of pills is that they remain addicted to nicotine, albeit in small doses.
Drugs of the second group act on those parts of the brain in which cravings for cigarettes are formed. And tablets of the third group, by binding to nicotinic receptors, block the formation of reactions due to which a person experiences the pleasure of smoking, and cause disgust for this process.
2. Use patches and nicotine gum
Patch and nicotine gum also help to alleviate the severity of a nicotine hangover during the period of weaning from cigarettes. They supply the body with a minimal amount of nicotine, and the person functions more or less normally. But the insidiousness of these drugs, as well as drugs of the first group, is that when the smoker weans from cigarettes, he will have to wean from their substitutes.
3. Get Hypnosis or Coding
These methods of resisting a bad habit are not officially recognized by medicine, however, they work. If you decide to try hypnosis or psychological coding, contact a specialized clinic. You will receive counseling and therapy.
What does it look like? The psychotherapist introduces the patient into a hypnotic trance and inspires smoking cessation. However, the psychotherapeutic effect is carried out without hypnosis. The main thing at the same time is to remember that no suggestion will help if you yourself do not firmly decide to part with a cigarette. Hypnosis can simply reinforce motivation.
If you can not cope with the desire to smoke and break the coding, it is advisable to immediately visit a doctor. It will enhance the encoding or remove the received settings.
4. Sign up for acupuncture
By influencing certain points on the body, doctors have been treating many diseases, and for more than one millennium, including smoking. At certain points on the ears, the doctor sticks special needles, and the person ceases to feel the need for nicotine. For some, one or two sessions are enough, and for others, six are enough. An effective method, however, it is not suitable for those who are panicky afraid of injections.
5. Turn to traditional medicine
There are a lot of traditional medicine recipes that get rid of addiction. Here is one of them, very effective. Soak the cigarette in milk, dry it and smoke it. This is such a disgusting thing that forever discourages the desire to smoke, moreover, the very thought of a cigarette can cause an attack of nausea.
The most effective in the fight against smoking plantain. Prepare an infusion from it: one tbsp. l. crushed leaves, pour a glass of boiling water and leave for an hour. Drink a quarter cup four times a day or twice a day: in the morning and in the evening, half a glass.
Mix 1 tbsp. l. fresh leaves of horseradish and plantain large. Chew the mixture 2 times a day for 5 minutes, and swallow the juice.
Prepare a decoction of oats: two tbsp. l. brew a glass of boiling water, bring to a boil and leave for an hour. After that, strain and drink 0. 4 cups 4-5 times a day for a month and a half. At the same time, treat the gastrointestinal tract.
All sorts of conspiracies and prayers have a good effect on the unfortunate lovers of smoking. And you can find a folk healer even in a big city.
6. Work hard
According to psychologists, hard work, busyness, emergency work helps to overcome the craving for smoking. A person switches to a project, all thoughts are only on it, and the number of cigarettes smoked is sharply reduced, or even completely disappears. After all, there is simply no time to go to the smoking room. And to enhance the effect of this method, it is worth getting a job in a company where smoking is generally prohibited.
7. Exercise
During sports, as with any other physical activity, the body begins to actively secrete pleasure hormones - endorphins. They evoke feelings of pleasure and thus help overcome the discomfort associated with quitting tobacco. Therefore, it is worth signing up for a gym or aerobics. Although jogging at a moderate pace, brisk walking or cycling also helps relieve stress. If you want to smoke - put on your sneakers, and go ahead. In fifteen minutes you will be "let go".
8. Eat Right
Spicy foods, alcohol, coffee and tea exacerbate the desire to smoke, so during the period of weaning from nicotine, give up these products. And here is a list of products that should be constantly on the table:
- Celery Leaves – Reduces stress hormones.
- Citrus fruits and sweet peppers - due to the high content of vitamin C, strengthen the immune system.
- Milk - according to American studies, a glass of milk drunk before a cigarette spoils its taste.
- Water - it helps to remove toxins from the body, including nicotine. A glass of water before a puff dulls the urge to smoke.
- Dark chocolate - increases the level of serotonin, which is urgently needed for a person who has given up cigarettes.
- Green smoothie - smoothies from leafy vegetables contain a lot of chlorophyll, which helps to remove toxins from the body.
- Herbal infusions - soothe the nervous system, relieve anxiety, irritability, heart palpitations.
9. Get some privacy
Take a vacation and go off the beaten path where there are no shops or cigarette stalls nearby. You should know that there is no place to buy a pack of cigarettes, you can't follow it 50 kilometers. Live in such conditions for a month, but do not play the fool, but do something useful. Dig up beds for neighbor grandmothers or weed weeds, chop firewood for them for the winter, collect all the garbage in the area . . . Exhaust yourself physically, and the desire to smoke will go away.
10. Read Allen Carr's The Easy Way to Quit Smoking
This famous book has really helped many people. You can buy it, or you can download it or borrow it from someone. The author of the book started smoking at the age of 18, and quit this harmful activity at 49. After that, he founded the international network of clinics "The Easy Way", which helps to quit smoking using his method. Try it and you, because if it helped many, it will help you too.
11. Call a specialized center
There are special advisory centers for assistance in quitting tobacco use (CTC). By calling here and reporting your desire to quit smoking, you will receive specific help from a psychologist or doctor. The doctor will tell you about the most effective ways to quit, taking into account the general health of the applicant, and psychologists, for their part, will facilitate the process of weaning from nicotine.
Whatever way you choose to get rid of a bad habit, remember a few more tips:
- do not smoke in the morning on an empty stomach - have breakfast first;
- do not smoke on an empty stomach - do it half an hour after eating;
- smoke a strictly defined number of cigarettes for yourself: one hour after breakfast, lunch and dinner;
- if you feel like smoking more often, drink water or coffee.