Was it your new year’s resolution to cease smoking?
What a great health change to stop smoking this year. This is the single best gift you can give your body to be smoke free going forward.
We all know stopping smoking is difficult – but help is at hand! Different things work for different people at different times……the trick is to keep trying until you find the best way to get smoking out of your life, and your family’s life.
What sorts of options are out there, what will it cost, and will it really work? These are questions my patients often ask and the answers are listed here. Your pharmacist or doctor can help you even further to find out what path to a smoke-free life will work best for you.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
Nicotine is the addictive part of the cigarette smoke, and it is safer to satisfy your nicotine craving with one of these products, than to take in the poisons in cigarette smoke. Over time, you can gradually reduce the amount of nicotine by reducing the strength and how often you use the nicotine replacement. Getti ng the right dose is really important, otherwise you will feel ill, or still be craving a cigarette. Your pharmacist or GP will ask you some questions, and recommend options depending on your individual situation. Some products can be subsidised by the government on script. Gum, patches, lozenges, inhalers……..so many ways to beat the cigarette!
Tablets to reduce the nicotine cravings – if you really find you are dependent on nicotine, it is known that use tablets to help you quit smoking makes it more than twice as likely that you will really quit. There are two types of tablets available, Champix (Varenicline)and Zyban(bupropion). The government provides a government subsidy for one course of these medications per year. They help reduce the cravings for a cigarette. To see if this is right for you, see your GP. As a GP, I have seen people quit smoking who have been smoking for 60 years using these medications, so they do work!
Fake cigarettes (ENDS – electronic nicotine delivery systems), Hypnotherapy, Acupuncture – we all know people who have quit using these! They aren’t too harmful, and can really help the quit smoking effort.
All of these are cheaper than continuing to smoke…… So ask your GP or pharmacist today and join the thousands of Australians giving smoking the flick in 2013!
Okay so now we have talked about the medical ways to help giving up smoking…
What about ways to strengthen that good ol’ will power! (Or won’t power!)
Here are some useful tips to give up anything….
- Recognise that urges come in waves……if you are CRAVING a cigarette or a chocolate or whatever is your poison….it may seem impossible that you will be able to resist for the rest of the day! But usually people find if they can just hang in there and resist for 10mins, the craving passes. So just take it a minute at time when the urge hits.
- Think about your values and think positive! “ I take care of my body” “ I am really getting healthier and healthier in 2013” “ I am going to be so much fitter by the time city to surf comes around” “ I really believe my kids need me to be healthy:”- hard to hold on to that thought and do something that damages your health at the same time.
- Get organised in advance. So you know that your hand is going to be itching for that wine glass at 5:30pm, or that when stress hits you, you will find the pantry irresistible….so plan ahead. We are all creatures of habit – and this can work for us as well as against you. Beat the after work drink by going straight out for a walk or to the gym and nowhere near the pub of fridge. Plan ahead your stress strategy – make a list and put it by the phone or in your hand bag so it will prompt your mind when you need it. Here are some suggestions from my patients……call a friend, play a game on my phone, suck ice, go in the shower and sit under the water for 10 minutes, listen to music, file my nails….anything to distract! But it needs to me near to hand, and not involve a big, big box of chocolates.
- Recognise a slip is not a failure – turn it around fast! Most humans change gradually- not every can do a 180 degree turn with style! If you find yourself half way through the cigarette….. or the packet of cigarettes….don’t spiral into guilt. All too often we think like this – “ O h dear, I knew I could not give up smoking, I’ve done it now, I am so weak, I might as well smoke the rest..” No! Not true! Finish your chocolate, cigarette, glass of wine, and calmly get rid of the rest of the temptations…and get back on that horse! The person who occasionally slips up is going to still get many more health benefits than the person who goes back to their bad habits full time at the first sign of trouble. Be kind to yourself, and give it another go.
- The best way to break a bad habit is make a new one…….think about the good things you would like to bring in to your life, not just the bad ones to remove. And make is something you can really enjoy. To stop smoking and start watching box set of favourite TV show…..good idea! Stop smoking start walking the dog with a friend at the end of the day……..even better idea!
- This leads in to the idea of rewards. I take my hat off to those who stop smoking and use the money they have saved to go for a holiday at the end of the year……no way I can hold out that long for a reward! I find most people are the same – they need daily and weekly good things to happen as a result of their choice – otherwise it gets hard to stick to. When we first give up smoking, sugar, alcohol or caffeine, we may feel pretty crummy…that detoxification process can be no fun. Keep going by knowing the facts about the big difference you small change is going to make (for smoking, go to http://www.icanquit.com.au/media/4528/040141_benefitsofquittingfs.pdf, for all those encouraging facts, like that at 1 years your risk of a heart attack is ½ that of a smoker) and reward yourself with something in the here and now! Get that manicure, plan that weekend away, go to the movies and buy yourself that new X-Box game you have been wanting – just do it soon, and make sure you keep the motivation high.
Good luck with those new years and better health resolution, and remember if you need some help, your GP has helped many people just like you turn their health around, so come on in and get some professional help if you could use it.
