Quitting smoking

Quitting smoking can dramatically improve your health and help you live longer. It lowers your risk of heart disease, lung disease, kidney failure, cancer, infection, stomach problems, and diabetes.

Quitting smoking can also lower your chances of getting osteoporosis, a condition that makes your bones weak.

Quitting is not easy for most people. It usually takes several tries to completely quit. But help and support are available. Quitting smoking will improve your health no matter how old you are, even if you have smoked for a long time.

It’s a good idea to start by talking with your doctor or nurse. It is possible to quit on your own without help. But getting help greatly increases your chances of quitting successfully.

When you are ready to quit, you will make a plan to:

• Set a quit date.
• Tell your family and friends you plan to quit.
• Plan ahead for challenges, such as cigarette cravings.
• Remove cigarettes from your home, car, and work.

They can give you advice on the best way to quit. They can also give you medicines to reduce your:

• Craving for cigarettes
• “Withdrawal” symptoms (symptoms that happen when you stop smoking)

Your doctor or nurse can also help you find a counselor to talk to. For most people who are trying to quit smoking, it works best to use both medicines and counseling.

You can also get help from a free phone line (1-800-QUIT-NOW, or 1-800-784-8669) or go online to www.smokefree.gov.

When you stop smoking, you might have symptoms for several weeks. These can include:

• Trouble sleeping
• Feeling irritable, anxious, depressed, or restless
• Getting frustrated or angry
• Having trouble thinking clearly
• Increased appetite or weight gain

These symptoms can be hard to deal with. This is why it can be so hard to quit. But medicines can help.

f you feel anxious or depressed, tell your doctor or nurse right away. They can talk to you about your symptoms and recommend treatment if needed.

If you ever have thoughts of hurting yourself or someone else, call for emergency help (in the US and Canada, call 9-1-1). In the US and Canada, you can also call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

A counselor can help you figure out:

• What triggers you to want to smoke, and how to handle these situations
• How to resist cravings
• What you can do differently if you tried to quit before

You can meet with a counselor in 1-on-1 sessions or as part of a group. There are other ways to get counseling, too, such as over the phone, text, or online.

Different medicines work in different ways:

• Nicotine replacement therapy – Nicotine is the main drug in cigarettes and why they are addictive. These medicines reduce your body’s craving for nicotine. They also help with withdrawal symptoms.
• There are different forms of nicotine replacement, including skin patches, lozenges, gum, nasal sprays, and inhalers. Most can be bought without a prescription. Also, health insurance might cover some or all of the cost.
• It often helps to use 2 forms of nicotine replacement. For example, you might wear a patch all the time, and also use gum or lozenges when you get a craving to smoke.
• Varenicline (brand names: Chantix, Champix) – This is a prescription medicine that reduces withdrawal symptoms and cigarette cravings. It can increase the effects of alcohol in some people. Avoid or limit drinking while taking it, at least until you know how it affects you.
• Even if you are not yet ready to commit to a quit date, varenicline can help reduce cravings. This can make it easier to quit when you are ready.
• Bupropion (sample brand names: Wellbutrin, Zyban) – This is a prescription medicine that reduces your desire to smoke. It is also available in a cheaper generic version. Doctors do not usually prescribe bupropion for people with seizures or those who had seizures in the past.

It might also help to combine nicotine replacement with bupropion or varenicline. In some cases, a person might even take both bupropion and varenicline. Your doctor or nurse can help you figure out the best combination for you.

Vaping is using electronic cigarettes, or “e-cigarettes.” Sometimes, people wonder if vaping can help them quit smoking.

Doctors recommend using medicines and counseling to quit smoking. These methods are effective ways to help people quit. But for people who tried these and could not quit, switching to vaping might be an option. There are some things to remember:

• Vaping might be less harmful than smoking regular cigarettes. But e-cigarettes still contain nicotine as well as other substances that might be harmful.
• If you try vaping to help you quit, it’s important to switch completely from regular cigarettes to e-cigarettes. Using both might increase the risks of harm.
• It’s not clear how vaping can affect a person’s health in the long term.

For these reasons, doctors recommend that if you try vaping to help you quit smoking, you still make a plan to quit vaping eventually.

If you are interested in trying vaping to help you quit smoking, talk to your doctor or nurse first.

It’s really important for the health of your baby that you quit. Ask your doctor about your options, and what is safest for your baby.

The longer you have smoked, the higher your chances are of having health problems. But it is never too late to quit smoking. It helps your health even if you are older or have smoked for many years. The best thing you can do to lower your chance of having a health problem caused by smoking is to quit.

You might gain a little weight. This can be frustrating. But remember you are improving your health by quitting smoking. You can help prevent gaining a lot of weight by staying active and eating a healthy diet.

If you don’t quit on your first try, or if you quit but then start smoking again, don’t give up hope. Lots of people have to try more than once before they can completely quit.

It might help to try to understand why quitting did not work. There might be something you can do differently when you try again. It can help to figure out which situations make you want to smoke, so you can avoid them.

You should:

• Get regular exercise. Any type of physical activity, even gentle forms of movement, is good for your health. Physical activity can also help reduce stress.
• Stay away from people who smoke and places that make you want to smoke. If people close to you smoke, ask them to quit with you or avoid smoking around you.
• Carry gum, hard candy, or something to put in your mouth. If you get a craving for a cigarette, try 1 of these instead.
• Don’t give up, even if you start smoking again. It takes most people a few tries before they succeed.