Why Do They Say Stop Smoking Cold Turkey?
Question by beggin?4?mercy: Why do they say stop smoking cold turkey?
My husband and I are planning to quit smoking after the holidays. We have heard that it is best to set a date, and go from there. I have read the many pamphlets and talked to doctors, so I know what “they” say to do, but I don’t understand one thing. Why would they say quit cold turkey? Any type of drug that your body is addicted to needs to slowly be taken out of your system. If you stop suddenly, you are going to have withdrawals, which, from experience I can say are much worse than the thought of what will happen if I didn’t quit. I don’t understand. Is there something different between nicotine addiction and pain medicine addiction? I used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. I have cut back to a half of a pack. Next week, I am going to cut back to 5 cigarettes a day. I am hoping when the holidays are over, it will be easier for me to quit by doing this. What do you think? Will it hurt my success rate if I wean myself off of them or do they just say to stop cold turkey for another reason? I have had mutiple failed attempts at quitting, so I really want it to work this time. I was able to quit when I was pregnant for obvious reasons, but for some reason, I can’t quit without that large of a motivation. Yeah, yeah, my life depends on it, but if you don’t smoke, you don’t understand that you feel like you are dying when you first try to quit. Like I said earlier, I would choose dying of lung cancer over the withdrawal symptoms. So, how do I make it easier on myself?
Best answer:
Answer by Zak B
Nicotine patches. They do help.
Answer by Lefty
There is no easy way to quit smoking, and when you take into account that the experts have said on numerous occassions that Nicotine is more addictive than heroin, I can see their point. The best thing I can offer you is this.
1.Plan a date not to far in the future, a couple of weeks is best
2.Decide on the method you wish to use, ie patches, gum, lozenges
3.dont talk to your friends and relatives about your plan, those who want you to succeed will be ok but those who dont have the courage to quit also will do what ever it takes to help you fail, like blowing smoke in your face and offering you ciggies every chance they get.
4.On the night you are giving up dont smoke every ciggie you have, leave a few in a packet and throw them in a drawer in an area you dont frequent, this becomes relevant when you go into panic and think “oh crap I have run out of ciggies, which triggers your desire to attend the local shop or servo to buy a pack
5.avoid coffee, cola, and Booze, and places you would normally go and enjoy a smoke
6.Day 1, get up and head to the shower, you have been a non smoker for 8 hours, at this point there is no nocotine left in your body (unbelievable but true, nicotine only lasts a couple of hours which is why you have the desire to have another smoke so often
7.apply your first patch, use gum or take a lozenge and head for bed, go back to sleep for a few hours, you are now around 12 hours non smoker
8.Lunch time rolls around and youre half way to a full day of not smoking, this is easy, have a light lunch, if you can sleep have a rest, if not a little light exercise wont hurt, then yes another lie down, drink plenty of water through out the day,
9.Dinner time comes and your worst part of the day is about to hit, your about to eat your first big meal that is usually followed by a ciggie and then a night of sittin in front of the TV smoking, GO TO BED EARLY
10.Day 2 get up and shower strait up, apply patch 2 or lozenge, gum, have a light breaky and go back to bed, drink plenty of water and get plenty of rest for the first few days.
Over activity hightens your craving for nocotine also, after the first 3 or 4 days you will be rested and feeling good about your self, you have accomplished a tiny step in the road to becoming a permanent non smoker, start back on your usual routine, less the ciggies, look at your hands, notice the yellow stain is almost completely gone from your fingers, your going to come across things you do in every day life that trigger smoking, like stopping at a red light, just jumping in the car, having a meal, drinking a coffee, each time you have this little trigger remind your self that you no longer smoke. As a treat on day 1 of week 2 head off to the movies, a place of non smoking and for the first time in ages watch the whole movie without the nagging feeling of oh crap another 1 1/2 hours till I can smoke. It is going to take a long time but the craving and triggers get less everyday, it takes a lot of thought to quit, reminding yourself many times that you no longer smoke is the key, dont give in to the triggers, just remind yourself “I no longer smoke and smile when you win. Good Luck with quitting