Smoking Cessation

The good news is that your body will already start to feel better after twenty minutes:

• Twenty minutes after your last cigarette, your blood pressure and heart rate become normal.
• After eight hours, the carbon monoxide content decreases and approaches normal levels.
• After eight hours, you become calmer.
• After twenty-four hours, the risk of heart attack decreases.

Although you have decided to quit smoking, you will probably encounter obstacles that make sticking to your resolution hard: like the power of nicotine withdrawal and the force of habit.

Withdrawal symptoms include:

• difficulty concentrating
• feeling depressed
• feeling worried
• restlessness
• irritability

What you can do for yourself: It is good to set a date when you will stop smoking, so you have time to prepare. Start by thinking about when and why you smoke. You can also think about the cigarettes you smoke and how important they are to you. 

A reward to yourself when you have been smoke-free for a certain period of time can give you the motivation to remain smoke-free.

Initially, nicotine withdrawal may be difficult, but it subsides after a few days. If you are craving a cigarette, you should know that the desire often goes away within minutes. There is also help with nicotine withdrawal. At pharmacies and in some grocery stores you will find several non-prescription drugs that make it easier to give up cigarettes. Prescription-free drugs that help you quit smoking are, for example, chewing gum and nicotine-containing patches.

When it comes to the power of the habit, you can try to avoid certain places where you were smoking. 

It can also be good to eat some extra snacks when you stop smoking as blood sugar levels drop.

And keep in mind that you will now benefit from:

• better breath
• healthy heart
• white teeth

Resist smoking even when it feels difficult. It gets easier with time. 

By stopping smoking, you also don’t expose others to passive smoking. 

Nicotine replacement therapy

Nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) deliver the nicotine your body is craving in a much safer form than cigarettes. Over time, you reduce the amount of nicotine you consume until you have hopefully curbed your cravings entirely. These therapies include:

• patches
• gums
• inhalers

Smoking cessation medications

Prescription drugs such as Chantix or Zyban alter chemicals in your brain in order to ease cravings and withdrawal symptoms. With some of these medications, you’re able to concurrently use nicotine replacement therapies such as a patch or gum to ease severe withdrawal symptoms. Some even let you continue smoking at the beginning of the program, to coordinate with your chosen quit date.

Alternative therapies

Some therapies address the mental and physical habits you have developed around cigarettes. These therapies include:

• hypnosis
• acupuncture
• meditation

Some people who quit smoking use these therapies alone, while others use them in conjunction with medication or nicotine replacements.

If you have tried to quit smoking but have not succeeded, you can seek help to quit. You can also seek help if you have major problems with withdrawal, which often occur during the first weeks of stopping.

• Consulting
• Psychological treatment
• Individual assessment and prescriptions if needed.