How to stop smoking
Written by Dr Kieran Seyan and reviewed by Dr Bhavini Shah
Smoking greatly increases your risk of lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and many other diseases. It's not surprising that two thirds of smokers want to quit. However, studies have shown that as little as 6% of smokers who try to quit actually succeed. It can take 30 or more attempts to quit before a smoker is actually successful.
In this article we explore methods that can significantly improve your chances of resisting temptation and quitting permanently.
Why you should stop smoking
Stopping smoking can improve your health and lower your risk of conditions such as cancer. It’s never too late to quit. Your body will begin to feel the benefits after just 20 minutes of your last cigarette.
Benefits of quitting include:
- Improved lung capacity by 10% within 9 months
- Improved sense of smell and taste
- Better circulation
- Risk of heart attack reduces
- Increased energy
- Breathing is easier
Why it’s hard to stop smoking
The main reason smokers find it difficult to quit is that nicotine is extremely addictive. It gives you a temporary high, making you feel more alert and even happier.
The feeling of having nicotine in your body becomes the norm. When you try to quit you may experience intense cravings and unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
Smoking may also become a habit. It may be a daily ritual to have a cigarette with your morning coffee or one after dinner. For more information, see why is it difficult to quit smoking?
Understanding that smoking is both physically and psychologically addictive can help you begin to truly tackle it.
Stop smoking ‘cold turkey’
Stopping smoking ‘cold turkey’ means doing so without any help from medicines or nicotine replacement therapy. This is the most popular method, but arguably the most difficult.
- 95% of people can’t quit 'cold turkey’
- Out of 100, only 3-5 people succeeded for longer than 6 months
“Cravings can make the temptation to smoke very strong when someone is going ‘cold turkey’. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe and many people find it difficult quit with willpower alone.” Dr Bhavini Shah
Stop smoking with nicotine replacement therapy
Smokers who use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or medicines tend to have a much higher success rate. In some cases, they can be 50-70% more likely to quit.
NRTs give your body the nicotine it craves, but without the toxic chemicals in cigarettes (such as tar and carbon monoxide). So, you won’t get the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms smokers often have when they try to quit.
NRT options include:
- Patches
- Gums
- Lozenges
- Tablets
- Inhalers
- Nasal sprays
The different treatments work in different ways. Nicotine patches slowly release nicotine into the bloodstream to reduce withdrawal symptoms, while inhalers give you an intense hit to combat cravings.
Stop smoking with prescription medicines
Prescription-only medicines such as Zyban, Champix, Varenicline and Cytisine can be extremely effective in helping you stop smoking. They don’t contain nicotine, but rather dampen cravings and reduce your addiction to cigarettes.
Cytisine is a prescription-only treatment that can help you stop smoking. It mimics the effect of nicotine while reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Varenicline reduces the rewarding effects of smoking in the brain. Helping to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
- Zyban was originally designed to treat depression, but it has also been shown to help smokers quit. Doctors are not yet entirely clear on the mechanism behind this effect.
- Champix works in the same way as varenicline and is taken in tablet form. It stimulates the nicotine receptors in the brain, mimicking the effect of the chemical. It also prevents nicotine from attaching to the receptors, meaning that if you do succumb to temptation and have a cigarette, the nicotine you inhale will have a less pleasing effect.
The available evidence suggests that smokers who take Champix are more likely to quit successfully than those who try to quit without treatment. Champix is currently unavailable in the UK as the product has been recalled. Varenicline works in the same way as Champix.
Lifestyle changes to help quit smoking
Making some small changes to your lifestyle and daily routine can significantly improve your chances of successfully quitting smoking:
1. Diet
What we eat can influence our physical and mental wellbeing. It can help boost our mood which may be handy when you’re trying to quit smoking.
Many people enjoy a cigarette after a meal, and studies have found that this may be because certain foods, such as meat, make cigarettes more satisfying. Other foods such as cheese, fruit and vegetables make cigarettes taste bad.
If you’ re trying to quit smoking, you could try:
- cutting back on meat
- eating more fruit and veg
- ending a meal with cheese and fruit
The same goes for drinks. Fizzy drinks, alcohol, tea and coffee can all make cigarettes taste better, so opting for water or juice instead could help to reduce your cravings.
2. Exercise
Physical activity can help relieve your withdrawal symptoms and reduce your cravings for nicotine. You’ll feel the benefits both during and up to 50 minutes after exercise.
When the cravings become too much, try doing something active instead of smoking. Just a walk around the block or even a stretch can be enough to release endorphins and give you the willpower to resist.
Exercise also reduces stress and releases endorphins (pleasure hormones) that will make you feel better about what you’re doing.
Mindset
When you decide to quit smoking it’s important to stay positive. Negative thoughts won’t help you to quit smoking, in fact they might put you off. Quitting can be incredibly hard, and you may be putting a lot of pressure on yourself.
Creating a plan and making other positive changes to your lifestyle will help support you in quitting smoking for good.
Keep the end goal in sight
Choose a quit date and plan to celebrate on this day. Whenever you feel like reaching for a cigarette:
- Write a list of all your reasons to quit on your phone or a piece of paper
- Look at your reasons-to-quit list
- Celebrate how far you’ve come
- Keep your hands busy
- Tell people you’re quitting smoking
- Remind yourself why you don’t want to go back to smoking
- Calculate how much money you’ve saved already
Dealing with withdrawal cravings
Common withdrawal cravings include:
- Restlessness
- Irritability
- Feeling frustrated
- Tiredness
- Sleep problems
- Difficulty concentrating
It’s good to come up with some ideas for what to do when you get a craving. This allows you to do something straight away to take your mind off any cravings. For example, if you’re at work or home, you could go and make a cup of tea or take a 5-minute walk in the fresh air.
After 2-4 weeks withdrawal symptoms should have passed. Find out more about what to expect when you stop smoking.
Get support to stop smoking
Stopping smoking together with other people can provide great moral support. If friends or family members also want to quit, suggest doing so together.
Your local NHS stop smoking service can also give you expert support at home, on the go or face to face. They can provide you with a free quit kit and professional advice over the phone, by email or by online chat.
Conclusion
There are loads of different ways you can stop smoking. Some people may go ‘cold turkey’, others may want to use NRT or medication. However, you decide to quit, don’t do it alone, reach out to friends and family for support.
References
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-stopping-smoking-what-works/health-matters-stopping-smoking-what-works
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4908897/
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/6/e011045
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/nicotine-replacement-therapy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10767721/
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M14-2805?articleid=2501853
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/
https://smokefree.gov/challenges-when-quitting/cravings-triggers/fight-cravings-exercise
