There are dozens of ways to quit smoking. Ex-smokers are quick to tell their experiences, psychotherapists offer courses and write books, there are evidence-based and semi-magical ways to get rid of cigarettes. We couldn't even stay away.
Are there ways to finally get rid of nicotine addiction? Yes I'm here. Thanks to them, you can live six months without cigarettes: just such a period is necessary to consider the addiction outdated. Well, without strong motivation, as always, you can't do it.
So, let's take a look at the most effective ways to quit smoking.
1. Take special medications
Long-term smokers will need to see a doctor, as it will be difficult for them to cope with nicotine addiction on their own. After all, it is part of the blood, participates in metabolism, and if it suddenly ceases to regularly enter the body, a person experiences some kind of withdrawal. There is anxiety, irritability, irritability, up to panic attacks. So it's even better to enlist medical support. The doctor will prescribe medications to eliminate or reduce the severity of the nicotine hangover.
Anti-smoking drugs are divided into three groups. The former acts as a nicotine substitute, as these tablets contain nicotine or the cytisine alkaloid, which acts on the body in a similar way. They irritate the nicotinic receptors, causing the development of reactions, as with smoking. Therefore, a person does not develop a withdrawal syndrome, that is, abstinence, and most importantly, does not inhale cigarette smoke, which contains an incredible amount of dangerous substances. The disadvantage of the pills is that they remain addicted to nicotine, albeit in small doses.
Drugs of the second group act on those parts of the brain where cravings for cigarettes are formed. And the tablets of the third group, binding to nicotinic receptors, block the formation of reactions due to which a person feels the pleasure of smoking and provoke disgust with this process.
2. Use nicotine patches and gum
The nicotine patch and gum also help relieve the severity of a nicotine hangover during the weaning period from cigarettes. They provide 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 of the first group drugs, is that when the smoker weans off cigarettes, he will have to wean himself 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 performed without hypnosis. The main thing at the same time is to remember that no tips will help if you yourself do not firmly decide to part with a cigarette. Hypnosis can simply strengthen motivation.
If you are unable to cope with the desire to smoke and break the coding, it is advisable to visit a doctor immediately. It will improve the encoding or remove the received settings.
4. Sign up for acupuncture
By affecting certain points on the body, doctors have been treating many diseases and for more than a millennium, including smoking. In some places on the ears, the doctor sticks special needles and the person stops feeling the need for nicotine. For some, one or two sessions are enough, for others six are enough. An effective method, however, is not suitable for those who fear injections in a panic.
5. Switch to traditional medicine
There are many traditional medicine recipes that eliminate addiction. Here is one, very effective. Dip the cigarette in the milk, dry it and smoke it. This is such a disgusting thing that it discourages the urge to smoke forever, plus the very thought of a cigarette can cause a bout of nausea.
The most effective in the fight against plantain smoke. To prepare an infusion from it: a spoon. 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 large plantain. Chew the mixture 2 times a day for 5 minutes and swallow the juice.
Prepare a decoction of oats: two tablespoons. L. brew a glass of boiling water, bring to a boil and leave for an hour. Next, strain and drink 0, 4 cups 4-5 times a day for a month and a half. At the same time, it treats the gastrointestinal tract.
All kinds of conspiracies and prayers have a good effect on the unfortunate smoke lovers. And you can find a folk healer even in a big city.
6. Work hard
According to psychologists, hard work, frenzy, emergency work helps to overcome the urge to smoke. A person switches to a project, all thoughts are only about it, and the number of cigarettes smoked is drastically reduced or even completely disappears. After all, there is simply no time to go to the smoking room. And to increase the effect of this method, it is worth finding 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 joining a gym or aerobics. While jogging at a moderate pace, brisk walking or cycling also helps relieve stress. If you want to smoke, put your sneakers on and go ahead. In fifteen minutes you will be "let go".
8. Eat well
Spicy foods, alcohol, coffee and tea exacerbate the desire to smoke, so during the nicotine weaning period, give up on 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 - thanks to the high content of vitamin C, they strengthen the immune system.
- Milk - according to American studies, a glass of milk drunk before a cigarette spoils the taste.
- Water - Helps remove toxins from the body, including nicotine. A glass of water before a puff relieves the urge to smoke.
- Dark chocolate - increases the level of serotonin, which is urgently needed for a person who has quit smoking.
- Green Smoothie: Leafy vegetable smoothies contain a lot of chlorophyll, which helps remove toxins from the body.
- Herbal infusions: calm 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 cannot follow it for 50 kilometers. Live in such conditions for a month, but don't be stupid, but do something useful. Dig the beds for the neighbors' grandmothers or weeds, cut firewood for them for the winter, collect all the garbage in the area. . . Physically exhausted and the desire to smoke will vanish.
10. Read Allen Carr's The Easy Way to Quit Smoking
This famous book has really helped a lot of 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 the age of 49. He later founded the international network of clinics "The Easy Way", which helps quit smoking using his own method. Try it and you, because if he has helped many, he will help you too.
11. Call a specialized center
There are special counseling centers for assistance in the cessation of tobacco use (CTC). By calling here and reporting your willingness 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 the psychologists, for their part, will facilitate the nicotine weaning process.
Whichever way you choose to get rid of a bad habit, remember a few other tips:
- do not smoke in the morning on an empty stomach - have breakfast;
- do not smoke on an empty stomach - do it half an hour after eating;
- smoke for yourself a strictly defined number of cigarettes: one hour after breakfast, lunch and dinner;
- if you feel like smoking more often, drink water or coffee.