Treatment Options

Helping Yourself

Plan! Plan! Plan! Planning is a key component in successfully quitting smoking. Because quitting smoking is such a difficult task to accomplish, you must be both mentally and physically prepared to go through the process of smoking cessation. Many of the techniques mentioned below must be implemented before and maintained throughout your smoking cessation process.

Preparing to Quit Smoking

1. Set a quit date so that you can prepare yourself for the day that you decide to quit smoking. It may be helpful to choose a date that has special meaning to you or a family member?for example, a birthday, anniversary, or special holiday. Mark that date on your calendar and inform family and friends of your quit date so they can help you prepare.

2. Give yourself about two weeks prior to quitting so that you have enough time to both mentally and physically prepare to quit smoking. During this time:
   • Keep a smoking diary to detail when and why you smoke. Write down how smoking makes you feel, so that when you have a craving, you can remember why you do not want to smoke anymore.
     
     
   • Prepare your environment for no smoking. Throw away any cigarettes, lighters, and ashtrays that you have. Clean anything that smells like smoke (clothing, sheets, furniture, and your car).
     
     
   • Take into consideration any previous attempts to quit and what went wrong. When you begin your next quit attempt, avoid things that did not help you quit before. Modification of techniques you tried on the previous attempt may be needed.
     
     
   • Make a list of activities and situations that trigger your need for a cigarette and what you will need to do in order to avoid these triggers. For example, if you always smoke a cigarette in the morning while reading the newspaper, prepare to read the newspaper at a different time of the day or in a different room where you do not normally smoke. If you smoke during your break at work, take a walk outside or around the building instead or get to know people in your workplace that do not smoke.
     
     
   • Join a smoking cessation support group. Many hospitals and community centers organize smoking cessation support groups. These groups are helpful to discuss your smoking cessation with others who are going through the same difficult and life-changing process as you. Other members of the group may have useful tips on how to successfully quit smoking. Having a support system?whether through a community group or family members and friends?is important and many times needed to help you successfully quit.
     
     
   • Consider household members who smoke?encourage complete refraining from smoking while you are present. Better yet, encourage other household members to join you in your smoking cessation efforts?it may be easier to quit if other household members are also trying to quit.
     
     
   • Enlist the support of your family and friends. Inform them that this if going to be a difficult process for both yourself and them. Ask them to help you avoid your cravings and situations that trigger your cravings. They may know triggers to smoking that you have that you never realized existed.

What to do during the quitting process

1. Achieving smoking cessation is a huge accomplishment. Reward yourself when you do not smoke. For each week of no smoking, buy yourself a new book, CD, or video. Take yourself out to a nice dinner or to a movie.
   
   
2. Save the money you would have spent on cigarettes in a jar. Use the money to reward yourself (over time the money saved on cigarettes can add up to hundred or even thousands of dollars?enough to go on a vacation or buy something nice), or even better, donate it to charity. This will help you to realize how much money you spend on your smoking addiction.
   
   
3. The 4 D?s: drink water, do something to avoid smoking, deep breathing to relax and decrease stress-induced smoking, delay smoking until something better comes along to do.
   
   
4. Carry a book or magazine with you to read when you have the urge to smoke.
   
   
5. Limit alcohol intake-Many people only smoke while they are consuming alcohol. Avoidance of alcohol can help to prevent the craving for a cigarette.
   
   
6. Exercise! Exercise! When you feel the need to smoke?hit the gym, take a walk, go for a run, or do some form of physical exercise. It gives you a rush of energy that may replace the nicotine craving. Additionally, exercise improves your overall health.
   
   
7. Chew on a straw or a piece of licorice. Many smokers need the hand-to-mouth connection involved in cigarette smoking. The straw or licorice can help replace this sensory need.
   
   
8. For those who smoke menthol cigarettes for the taste, try peppermint or hard candy to replace the flavoring.

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Note: The above information is intended to supplement, not substitute for, the expertise and judgment of your physician, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional. It is not intended to diagnose a health condition, but it can be used as a guide to help you decide if you should seek professional treatment or to help you learn more about your condition once it has been diagnosed.