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Pharmacy Links

GENERAL CARE OF THE BODY: HOW TO STOP SMOKING—THE TRIAL RUN

12/03/09

The first thing to do is to discover how intense the habit is in your case. You may find out that you can cut down from a packet of cigarettes a day or the continual puffing on a pipe to one smoke after each meal. Try it. Smoking that little is almost always harmless. If it does not work—and it usually does not—go back to smoking again for a few days. Then set the day, preferably a Monday, when you will come to grips with the habit and break it by the technique that follows.

Breaking the habit

Day 1: Do not smoke in the morning except for one cigarette after breakfast. Do not smoke your favourite brand, but substitute for it a cigarette you do not care for, preferably one that has a filter; or use a cigarette holder with a filter.

Day 2: No smoking in the morning. No smoking in the afternoon except for one cigarette after the noon meal, substituting for your favourite brand as described above.

Day 3: No cigarette, except one at night if you really need it. Plan a busy day and evening, avoiding social gatherings, which encourage smoking. Go to a movie theatre, a library or some other place where smoking is impossible or difficult.

Days 4-6: Eating, chewing gum, sucking sweets, and so on are very helpful. Do not worry about gaining weight during the first week or so when you are breaking the smoking habit. It also helps to find something to do with your hands, such as knitting, or simply twirling a key ring or handling the coins in your pocket. If you find yourself nervous and jittery, especially on the fourth, fifth, and sixth days when you have no cigarettes at all, take some aspirin or a sedative which your doctor may prescribe for you. Day 7: If by now you are not proudly boasting that you have broken the smoking habit, but are going around biting your nails and feeling a nervous wreck, then you will either have to make it by sheer will power, or, preferably, visit your doctor, who will help you over the difficult withdrawal period with heavier sedation and the encouragement he can give better than anyone else.

Caution: Watch your weight. People who give up smoking usually gain weight. After the first week or so, or when you no longer crave a smoke, check your diet as I suggest in the next chapter.