Me smoking bahut krta hu. Isse me pareshan hu or chhodna chahta hu. Lekin ye aadat nahi jati. So please help me.

Question

Hello lybrate user.....The good news is that you definitely can quit it completely. The bad news is that smoking cigarettes for long time is nicotine addiction which causes structural changes in our brain due to which quitting it becomes difficult. So its possible but not easy without help. Usually people start smoking with friends just for experimentation and later for enjoyment and still later to relieve stress in life, but what they forget is that gradually smoking becomes a compulsion in their life and then whenever a stressful situation arises they smoke. Nicotine hijacks the pleasure seeking center in our brain and this hence the previously pleasure giving food items or activities are no more pleasurable to the same extent. You start spending more and more time in obtaining and smoking cigarettes. We have medications which decreases craving and helps in quitting smoking completely. Along with medications making simple changes in lifestyle and bringing about stress management in life can have miraculous help in quitting smoking addiction. I hope that you quit smoking in the near future and resume a healthy life. Take care

Anuj Khandelwal · Accepted Answer

Hello lybrate user.....The good news is that you definitely can quit it completely. The bad news is that smoking cigarettes for long time is nicotine addiction which causes structural changes in our brain due to which quitting it becomes difficult. So its possible but not easy without help. Usually people start smoking with friends just for experimentation and later for enjoyment and still later to relieve stress in life, but what they forget is that gradually smoking becomes a compulsion in their life and then whenever a stressful situation arises they smoke. Nicotine hijacks the pleasure seeking center in our brain and this hence the previously pleasure giving food items or activities are no more pleasurable to the same extent. You start spending more and more time in obtaining and smoking cigarettes. We have medications which decreases craving and helps in quitting smoking completely. Along with medications making simple changes in lifestyle and bringing about stress management in life can have miraculous help in quitting smoking addiction. I hope that you quit smoking in the near future and resume a healthy life. Take care

Anuradha S.Kumar · Answer

Start dng exercises, surynamaskar. Strt etng sme soothng effect chocolate lik mint flavour.

Saranya Devanathan · Answer

Dear lybrate-user,
Please try to stop smoking at the earliest. It has many health benefits in the long run.
When you stop suddenly, you may get withdrawal symptoms like restlessness, irritability, lack of concentration, increased hunger, sleep disturbance, headache, impatience, anxiety, depression, etc. If you have them please don’t get back to smoking, take nicotine gum or lozenge or patch. They are available in all medical shops. You don’t need a prescription from doctors.
Use 2 mg gum if you smoke less than 25 cigarettes/day. Use 4 mg gum if you smoke more than 25 cigarettes/day. First 6 weeks, use 1 gum every 1 – 2 hours. Reduce it in week 7 – 9 to one gum every 2 – 4 hours. In week 10 – 12, reduce it further to 1 gum every 4 -8 hours. By 3 months, you will be able to stop both cigarettes and gum fully without any withdrawal symptoms. Please feel confident that you can do it and give yourself some gift for doing it like vacation or books or new mobile. Smoking is a chronic relapsing condition like diabetes and B.P. So please don’t worry if you restart smoking. Start all over again to stop. You will learn the situations that make you smoke and avoid them. Please think of health benefits and money saved often.
Plan how to avoid relapsing situations, like smoking friends, along with alcohol, stressful feeling or depression. Delay, drink, deep breathe, distract and discuss are the helpful tips. Increase of non smoking zones, gift yourself for stopping smoking. Even chewing cinnamon may delay. Please remember that the urge to smoke comes and goes like waves. Delay and see whether it goes away. It will like a passing cloud.