Key takeaways
- Quitting smoking starts with recognizing the need.
- Coping strategies and support systems are crucial.
- Nicotine replacement therapies offer effective solutions.
- Celebrate small victories to stay motivated.
- Smokefree Clinic provides resources for quitting.
Anyone can say ‘I can quit smoking.’ In fact, some people can go an entire day without feeling any difficult withdrawal symptoms.
But once the second day begins, most smokers start to feel the enormous hit of anxiety and stress that follows.
However, as soon as you realise that pushing onward despite the withdrawals is the key to quitting, you’re setting yourself up for success. More importantly, you recognise the value of stopping smoking, even if you’re feeling the extreme weight of your symptoms.
In this post, let’s take a look at the common challenges of quitting smoking, even if it’s just for a day or two.
Chat to an Aussie GP today
Friendly phone consultations
TGA-authorised Aussie doctors
Nicotine vaping scripts available
The Start of Your Quitting Journey
Recognising the need to quit is the start of any smoker’s cessation journey. Even if it starts with something silly, like betting against a smoking friend who can quit smoking the longest for a set period of time, is a start for any smoker’s quit journey.
While it’s entertaining to win a bet by quitting smoking, it’s actually enough to feel the benefits of not smoking for one day, one week, one month, or how long they’ve both set the quitting period for.
Saying ‘I can quit smoking’ and giving it a go is enough to change your life and improve your health, even if you have no long-term plans to quit (at least not yet).
Starting a quit journey and not overthinking it – whether for entertainment or serious purposes – is already highly beneficial.
Your first attempt (and any other failed attempts you might have) teach your mind about what made it difficult enough to push you back into smoking. Your failed attempts teach you what to be prepared for in your next tries.
Failure is part of your quit journey, and it’s important to keep on going despite failing – each attempt is a step in the right direction until you eventually succeed.
Psychological Barriers to Overcome
Now, let’s discuss the typical psychological barriers of quitting smoking – your cravings and triggers. While these are psychological barriers, they’re something you can physically feel. Withdrawals can manifest as irritation, irritable bowel movements, hot and cold flashes, nausea and tiredness.
These are your body’s reactions due to the absence of nicotine in the body. This relatively harmless but highly addictive chemical can spike dopamine levels, making you feel instantly pleasured with every hit. However, your brain will keep on disrupting you once it detects low to zero nicotine in the body.
The disruptions can make you irritable and annoyed and make you feel frequent mood swings. These symptoms lessen significantly after the first week of quitting and much more after the first month of quitting.
The absence of nicotine is the primary reason why you feel these symptoms, but with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and pharmacy-available nicotine vaping products (NVPs), you can lessen and manage your cravings and withdrawals better.
Developing Coping Strategies
Aside from NRT products, you can stop smoking for good with sustainable and repeatable coping strategies. To avoid feeling stressed, irritable, and annoyed during strong withdrawal episodes, you can try a number of activities that can keep you from feeling the extreme craving for a cigarette.
Here are some helpful activities you can try to keep yourself busy and cope better with your withdrawal symptoms:
- Meditation
- Exercise
- Creative Activities
- Joining a Support Group
- Writing/Journaling
- Talking to a quit mate
Social Pressures and Support Systems
At this point, you’re confident you can handle your withdrawals and cravings as long as nothing triggers them. Unfortunately, you’re more likely to smoke again – even after a year of stopping – if you’re in an environment and social group that keeps on smoking.
If the people you work or are friends with are still smoking, any progress you’ve made is in significant trouble as you’ll keep on craving cigarettes. Any understanding colleagues or friends will support your decision to quit, and may even join you in doing so.
Having a quit mate is always a great help in any effort to quit smoking and raises both motivated smokers’ chances of succeeding in each attempt.
The bottom line is, who you hang out with dictates the success of your quit attempt, even if it’s just for one day. Even two friends having a friendly banter as to who can stop smoking the longest may have a better chance of quitting for good than people actively quitting but are with friends who still smoke in front of them.
Exploring Nicotine Replacement Therapies
One of the best ways to quit smoking is to know more about how you can manage your nicotine intake without smoking (and eventually wean off from it). Let’s learn more about them below.
Go Through First-Line Solutions First
Some motivated smokers can handle cold turkey just fine and see success within a few tries, but oftentimes, smokers have strong withdrawals that can draw them back to lighting a stick.
That’s where nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products come in. These are readily available and stocked at your local pharmacy.
NRT products are the most trusted quitting option available for motivated smokers. They might not imitate cigarettes, but they contain a small dose of nicotine that may be enough to alleviate your withdrawals. These come in the form of patches and gums for easy and convenient nicotine delivery.
While NRTs can be effective, they don’t work for everyone. If these haven’t done the trick for you, you may now be eligible for a nicotine prescription to use nicotine vaping products (NVPs).
Chat to a GP
As mentioned, NRT products have worked for many successful ex-smokers. But, you might have ingrained behaviours and triggers that only something that mimics a cigarette can successfully address, such as the hand-to-mouth motion, and needing something to use while having a drink with friends.
That is where NVPs become very handy in helping you fight the urge to consume tobacco.
You need a nicotine prescription before you can purchase NVPs, so you’ll need to consult with a GP to help you on your smoking cessation journey.
And, if your GP deems it necessary, they can write you a nicotine prescription for NVPs. You can chat to your usual GP more about this.
Visit Your Local Pharmacy
Once you have your nicotine prescription, you can pop down to your local pharmacy. Over 2,200 pharmacies across Australia hold these products in-store, but any pharmacy can order these in for you if they don’t currently stock them.
Both your pharmacist and GP can advise you on how best to use the product, such as the initial setup, and the number of puffs to take when you feel withdrawals.
Celebrating Success and Staying Motivated
No matter how small a victory might seem, don’t forget to celebrate it. Quit successfully for one day? Reward yourself with a treat – maybe a small cupcake or a little amount going towards a vacation. For every small victory, make it monumental to keep yourself motivated throughout your smoking cessation journey.
The rewards should be proportional to the accomplishments you achieve. If you’ve quit for one whole year, that deserves a vacation or something you’ve always wanted for a long time. You can ask your family or friends to celebrate with you as you achieve your goals from baby steps to big accomplishments.
Summary
‘I can quit smoking’ is a great challenge to set for yourself. Even if you fail after one day, you can proudly say you’ve tried, and you’ve experienced the joy of not smoking for at least one day and lessons that will help you quit for longer in each of your future attempts.
Now, whether you’re quitting just for one day or for the rest of your life, we can help you.
Smokefree Clinic gives you access to many medically reviewed and trustworthy resources that can inform and aid you in your path to wellness, so have a look around!
If you’re ready to get started, Smokefree can connect you to friendly Australian healthcare professionals who excel in helping patients quit smoking for good, including using responsible vaping products where appropriate.