Whats the most effective way to quit smoking? -
I agree, Cold Turkey is the best way.
You will be miserable for about two weeks but as long as you can resist the urge for that long, it will get better until the cravings stop altogether. After that, the smaller cravings that will come later on wont be so hard to resist.
Medications will work to help you quit initially, but they will do nothing for any long term cravings
stop buying them ..thats what I did 12 years ago, and I was a two pack a day person.
And when you think about them, put money away, you will be surprised how much you will save up.
There are lots of ways, and very few work, but they work differently on different people so, you have to try any and all of them to find one that is effective for you.
I-d start with my MD and get some zyban and see if that doesn-t give you the extra self-control you need to quit (I myself took welbutrin and noticed a good jump in self-control).
You-re probably more comfortable with Western medicine, so I-ll start there. But we mustn-t forget the Eastern medicines yet.
There is a book, don-t ask me where I saw it, that has a new approach to cessation in that the concept underlying it is to escape from a terrible predator which is trying to kill you. Supposedly, it-s fabulously effective.
Again, there are lots of other American methods. Try anything that seems plausible.
But don-t forget Chinese herbs. Their methods have been used for 2000 years, and they are effective, perhaps more effective, than our pharmaceutical systems.
Acupuncture might work for you. Again, they-ve been in business for many years, and are very effective. Both herbalists and acupuncturists have to be licensed to practice in the US.
Energy medicine works on the concept that the energy pathways through your body are blocked somewhere, and by setting that energy free to flow, it can and will cure any problem your body could encounter. Chi or Xi is the name, and a site is www.kinginstitute.org. Treatment is similar to acupuncture, but using fingertips instead of needles.
I know how hard it is to quit, and I commend your desire to try again. Smoking killed my mom, only 62 years old, and it was a gruesome death to watch. She drowned because her weak lungs could not cough the fluids up.
Best wishes to you. God bless your journey and help you in this quest.
Debbie
chantix - doctor perscribed, but well worth it...just ask anyone who has tried other methods and then tried chantix. it really does work...
This site looks good:
http://www.anti-smoking.org/quitting.htm
counseling
Cold Turkey.
it is easier to stop smoking using the cold turkey method than by using any other technique. Cold turkey induces less suffering and creates a shorter period of withdrawal. Most important, cold turkey is the approach by which the smoker has the best chance of success.
Smokers must recognize that they are drug addicts. Nicotine is a powerfully addictive drug. Once the smoker has smoked for a fairly long time, the body requires maintenance of a certain level of nicotine in the bloodstream. If this level is not maintained, the smoker will experience varying degrees of drug withdrawal. The lower the level, the greater the intensity. As long as any nicotine remains in the bloodstream the body will keep craving its full complement. Once the smoker quits, the nicotine level will eventually drop to zero and all physical withdrawal will cease. Cravings for an occasional cigarette may continue, but this is due to past psychological conditioning and not to a physical dependence.
Cutting down on cigarettes or use of nicotine replacement strategies throws the smoker into a chronic state of drug withdrawal. As soon as the smoker fails to reach the minimum requirement of nicotine, the body starts demanding it. As long as there is any nicotine in the bloodstream, the body will demand its old requirement. Smoking just one or two a day or wearing a patch which is gradually reducing the amount of nicotine being delivered will result in the smoker not achieving the minimum required level, creating a chronic state of peak drug withdrawal.
This state will continue throughout the rest of the smoker-s life unless one of two steps is taken to rectify it. First, the smoker can stop delivering nicotine altogether. Nicotine will be metabolized or totally excreted from the body and the withdrawal will stop forever. Or, the smoker can return to the old level of consumptions accomplishing nothing.
Therefore, cold turkey is the method of choice. Once the smoker stops, withdrawal will end within two weeks.
After three days though, the hard part is over.
Hypnosis worked for me. Of course, hypnosis is a form of -cold turkey- but by far much less mental anguish going on during the initial critical part of quitting.
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