Stop Smoking Help Blog

Werner Michael answers:

You have to want to give up. Willpower is the most important tool you can have. You have to be in the right frame of mind, otherwise you will fail.

I’d choose a suitable day to try to give up. One where you know you won’t be under stress or be around other smokers/temptations to smoke. Isolate yourself from potential threats (go for a nice walk in the countryside, or just sit at home watching a good film). Tell yourself how good you are resisting the temptation. From there, it’s just one day at a time. You have to stay focussed at the beginning, but soon the days and weeks and months will roll by. You might have some lapses, but don’t let them defeat you. You can give up!

I don’t know if you drink alcohol or not, but I find that alcohol is the number one cause that occasionally makes me want to smoke. So if you drink, I recommend reducing the amount you drink or stop altogether for the first few days.

Good luck!

Werner Michael answers:

Contact the Quitline and join a Quit Smoking Clinic.

Werner Michael answers:

Well quitting smoking is very difficult for those who smoke many times a day. But tell him to be brave and don’t use any patches or medicines (I recommend) because they can be dangerous in many cases. But when he will quit smoking by himself, without using any medicines, then he will become confident, it increases confidence in man, it makes you brave.

Werner Michael answers:

I hope the prescription is for Chantix. I work in the smoking cessation division of a county health department, and that stuff (on the market for just under a year) is helping hard core smokers who have smoked for as many as 65 years.

Smoking is a habit as well as a physiological, and psychological addiction. You need to be dealing with all three. Here are some of the things that have worked for my clients: positive self-talk, deep breathing, chewing on straws, or tooth picks, eating carrot sticks, celery, and pretzels instead of smoking. Taking a short walk . Getting rid of all cigarettes and ashtrays once the quit date is set. Set a quit date and commit to it, taper down on your way to the quit date.

As his wife try to catch him doing something right, and compliment him on that. Be supportive and understanding. The only thing tougher to kick than nicotine is heroine. Understand that once he does quit there may be a few days of irritability. Offer some incentives of your own like a favorite dessert or dinner after X time of no cigarettes. Maybe a back or foot rub. Any relaxation techniques are good for your husband to help take the edge off.

Good luck to you both. He can do it. How do I know? I smoked 1.5 packs a day for 41 years and quit (cold turkey–ewwwwwwww don’t recommend that method) 3.5 years ago.

Werner Michael answers:

Nah, scaling back never works.

He’s got to quit cold-turkey, with or without any of the various aids. He needs to get rid of cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays. Not put away, but get them out of the house.

Have lots of stuff for his mouth to do–hard candy, mints, gum, etc. Later he’ll have to wean himself off those, too.

Tell him how proud you are of him. Tell him how nice it is to kiss him now. Tell him how much better the apartment smells. Tell him you know this will help him live longer, look and feel better, and free him from an addictive need that can take a person outside in the dead of a winter night or in a thunderstorm. (“OMG, I’m out of cigarettes!”)

Help him by taking him to places where he won’t smell others smoking. Ask his friends not to smoke around him for a while, until he’s more firmly quit.

And forgive him if he backslides–but encourage him to get right up and try again.

Werner Michael answers:

When you are a regular smoker your brain gets used to the nicotine. Once you quit it creates a chemical imbalance in your brain because you took away a chemical that has become part of the regular system. This most likely causes headaches, depression, and cravings. It is also why using gum and other methods that have some nicotine in them help people quit. It reduces the amount of nicotine slowly over time to help the brain functions learn to balance and operate without the nicotine. I would recommend just using one of those systems offered in drug stores or use your own such as going from say a pack a day to half a pack for a week then a quarter of a pack for the next week to 2 a day for a week to one a day for a week then one every other day for a week to none. This way the brain should balance out and he should be much healthier and happier! Good Luck!

Werner Michael answers:

There’s nothing you can do about them smoking. You can voice your concerns but that doesn’t mean they will quit. They have to make up their minds to do it themselves. Go ahead and voice your concerns, though.

Werner Michael answers:

Be harsh.
If he doesn’t respond well to encouragement point out all the bad things about smoking.
* The devastating effects it can have on your health.
* How it restricts you when you go out.
* How he smells ( well make sure he is crazy over you – unless you want to get jibbed )
* The expense of it all.

Every time he doesn’t smoke a packet tell him to put the equivalent of what that would normally cost in a jar. At the end of the month treat yourselves to a smoke free night out, using this money – then see which he prefers.

Hope I helped
Emily
x

Werner Michael answers:

Quiting smoking….
Been there done that.
1. Hypnosis……didn’t work for me
2. Nicorette…..didn’t work for me
3. Cold turkey…..almost killed me
4. Cyntax……never tried
5. What is the succesful method?
—He needs support from both the family and the work environment…..
And most importantly he has to have His WILL really-really strong.
I was a smoker and although I gave up smoking for a while now, I am still worried that at anytime, i could be a smoker again.
Good luck to you in helping your Dad!