What works and what doesn't work?

I'm approached all the time to sell products that claim to help a smoker quit. One company claimed that cravings would vanish by smelling a cinnamon scented wand. In a very unscientific experiment, I gave them out to all of the participants in one of my workshops. One third said that the wands did remove the craving, one third said the wands did nothing and one third said smelling the wand caused an increase in cravings. Another man swore that when he rubbed a Peruvian amulet, his cravings went away.
I firmly believe that regardless of how outlandish a quitting method seems, that every method will work for some, but no method works for everyone. Some products will work because of the placebo effect, which if the user believes strongly that a method will work for them, then with the power of their own mind, they will be successful. So when a client will ask about any alternative method used for quitting, I have to admit that I am biased. I've been facilitating cessation classes for 19 years and I often hear, "This class is my last resort--I've tried everything and nothing works." (which includes acupuncture, & hypnosis). The individuals that attend my classes are the ones that have tried all the other methods and products and found they didn't work.

So what does work? Smokers are like individual snowflakes, each connected to their cigarettes in various ways. So instead of endorsing any particular product or method, I encourage smokers examine how they relate to their cigarettes. When do they smoke? What habits are associated with smoking? What physical effects do they feel when quitting? By looking at how they are connected to their cigarettes, will tell them what aspect they need to work on to be successful and often it is not just one aspect but many.

Rather than spending money for products claiming to be a magic wand to quit but probably won't work, except to line the manufacturer's pocket with the smoker's money, practice changing one aspect of smoking. Break one habit, such as not smoking in the car anymore, only smoking outside. Practice going outside for a smoke break with your friends but don't smoke. Talk to your doctor about different medications, it may take trial and error to find a combination that works for the individual.

The first step when you're not ready to quit

Quitting is a process and not a one time event but often smokers think that they should just wake up one day and quit. Instead, take it one step at a time. Don't know where to start?

Before you can make any changes, know where you are by keeping a diary of when you smoke--what time, what you are doing, how you are feeling. You will start to see patterns which will tell you what aspects you need to deal with.

Monitoring your smoking, will show you your habit cigarettes--after a meal, talking on the phone, many of these you know but a smoking dairy will tell you also about the times that you aren't aware of--when that cigarette seems important. This method will also make you more conscious about your smoking. So often smokers don't even realize they are smoking-it becomes a totally unconscious habit, just like driving becomes after years of practice. Keeping a diary will make each cigarette a conscious choice.

After keeping a smoking diary for a while, you will know when you are ready to take the next step towards becoming a former smoker by looking at your patterns and deciding which one to tackle first or what skills you need to learn to overcome the different ways you are connected to your cigarettes.

Believe in progress, not perfection.

Success Factors When Quitting

There are thousands of products offering a 100% guarantee that you will quit smoking but while every method will work for some, no method works for everyone. But successful quitters do have several factors in common.

Build Desire: Quit smoking because it is important to you. Find your own reasons for being becoming smoke free. Often people trying to convince smokers to quit, give their own reasons instead of looking at what is important to the smoker. See how smoking is incongruent with your values and what is truly important to you. Until you want to do something, you won't do it.

Undercover Limiting Beliefs: A belief is just something that you tell yourself over and over again. What are you telling yourself about your cigarettes? What are they giving you that you think you can't get someplace else? What "can't" you do--how can you change this belief and see that often we say we "can't " do something when we really mean, "I don't want to."

Confront Fears: Smoking is something most smokers have done for so long that it becomes part of a person's identity and when quitting, the question is How will I change? Who am I, if I'm not a smoker? What is it that you are afraid of-if you quit? Loss of identity? Fear of pain from withdrawals? Loss of control? Weight gain? No way to deal with stress?

Take Action: What are you willing to do? Quitting is a process that a smoker moves through instead of a one time event. What is the first step that you are willing to do? Maybe that is just gathering more information about different methods and products available. Maybe it is something simple like leaving your cigarettes in another room, so you have to think about smoking one, instead of automatically reaching for one.

Believe in progress, not perfection. Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things you can do but it is the most important thing you can do for your health.

Would you give up kissing and sex for your cigarettes?

Most smokers know that smoking causes lung cancer but they may not know that smoking is responsible for over 30% of ALL cancers including mouth and lip cancer. Pete had cancer of the lips from smoking cigars. While the plastic surgery did a great job at reconstructing his lips, Pete said that the numbness from the sugery, "Took all the fun out of kissing."

While 1 out of 3 Americans will develop cancer, the number 1 killer is heart disease. Smoking is a major cause because of the damage that it does to the blood vessels but it's not only the heart and brain affected (major cause of strokes as well) but it also affects the blood vessels to the penis and is a primary cause of impotency.

So the problem with smoking may not be that you die too young but live too long with the effects of smoking. Is giving up kissing and sex for your cigarettes worth it?

Turning the Fears of Quitting into Confidence of Becoming Smoke Free

Fear often holds a smoker back from even trying to quit. I remember being afraid of success, "If I quitting smoking, What will I do?" Smoking has become part of our identity, "Who am I, if I'm not a smoker?" Others have tried to quit so many times that there is a fear of another failure. The fear of gaining weight will stop some smokers, especially women, from ever trying to stop smoking. Other fears include how to handle stress without smoking, fear of pain from withdrawals, fear of being out of control and many others.
But very quickly, within a few weeks, after a smoker has quit, the smoker feels like a non-smoker and the fears present before have evaporated. A successful quitter will replace quitting fears with the fear of relapse but instead, smokers get cocky and think "I can control my smoking", or "One won't hurt". Often quitters have a selective memory, "It wasn't that hard to quit." All of these thoughts are early warning signs of slipping right back into full time smoking. Because the one fear that most smokers underestimate or overlook should be the fear of the power of addiction to nicotine. No other drug is as additive as nicotine but when speaking of addiction, it's not the intoxication of a drug but how fast the drug creates changes within the brain structure of the user--and nicotine beats all drugs in that category.
So when quitting, confront the different fears that arise, there are solutions to every problem but don't give up the fear of relapsing. See that one cigarette as your greatest enemy to what it is that you truly want-a healthy, smoke free life.

Have an Emergency Plan to Avoid Relapsing Back into Smoking

There have been two recent plane crashes in the news. One ended with the survival of all the passengers and crew, the other in tragedy with all aboard lost. In a crisis situation, the pilot has only a few precious minutes to make life or death decisions. Pilots spend hours training for a crisis, hoping they will never have to use this training. In the two plane crashes, one pilot put his emergency plan into action and the other pilot supposedly had put the plane on automatic pilot.
Relapse is a plane crash. The question is, "Do you have an emergency plan or will you rely on your automatic pilot?" Your answer will tell you whether you will continue as a non-smoker or will relapse back into full time smoking.
An emergency plans starts with identifying early warning signs--thoughts, feelings, actions and high risk situations that might lead to having a cigarette.

"One won't hurt."
"Nobody's going to know if I just have one."
"It's the only way to relieve my stress."

All of these thoughts are early warning signs of a relapse and your emergency plan needs to go into action. If you rely on your automatic pilot--your brain--your conditioning is that for 10-20-30-40 years (how ever many years you have smoked), your brain says--light one up.
Instead, you need an emergency plan to avoid that conditioning. How can you change your thinking or what can you do differently? Do you have high risk friends? Practice telling them "No" when they offer you a cigarette. Take time to create an emergency plan and practice, practice, practice so that you can put your plan into action to avoid a crash landing back into smoking.

Myths about Snus and smokeless tobacco

The new tactic of the tobacco companies is to promote smokeless tobacco and snus as a way to quit smoking but those forms of tobacco are dangerous too. Here are some myths taken from: http://oralcancernews.org/wp/

Debunking the myths
Myth: Smokeless tobacco products are a safe alternative to tobacco smoking.
Fact: Here is the bottom line–smokeless is not harmless. The list of serious illnesses connected to any form of smokeless tobacco is almost too long to print, but includes mouth cancer, cancer of the pancreas, tooth loss, and bone loss around the roots of teeth.

Myth: Smokeless tobacco contains less nicotine than cigarettes.
Fact: The amount of nicotine absorbed from a can of spit tobacco is equal to the amount delivered by three to four packs of cigarettes. Nicotine is absorbed more slowly from smokeless tobacco than from cigarettes, but more nicotine per dose is absorbed from smokeless tobacco than from cigarettes. Also, the nicotine stays in the bloodstream longer.

Myth: Nicotine and all the other poisons disappear when you spit out the tobacco.
Fact: When chewers place snuff or smokeless tobacco in their mouth, cheek, or lip, they give nicotine a free pass to do its nasty thing. A high dose of nicotine enters the bloodstream and is then carried throughout the body. It takes its toll on many parts of the body, including the heart and blood vessels, hormones, metabolism, and brain.

Myth: A little dip or chew won’t hurt–it’s a harmless habit!
Fact: Even a little smokeless tobacco has enough nicotine in it to get a user hooked, if he keeps using it. Smokeless tobacco contains nicotine, the same drug that makes cigarettes addictive. Holding an average size dip or chew in the mouth for 30 minutes delivers as much nicotine as about three cigarettes. Some smokeless tobacco users sleep with it in their mouths so they keep getting nicotine through the night. That’s an addiction, not a habit.

Myth: Smokeless tobacco use will improve your social and romantic life.
Fact: Just the opposite! Chewing and dipping carry a heavy social price, especially when it comes to dating. Bad breath, ugly gum disease, and stained teeth are universally unappealing. The bulging cheeks, gunk stuck in the mouth, and spitting required by most smokeless tobacco is hardly date-bait. Surgery for oral cancer can result in removal of parts of the face, tongue, cheek or lip, a difficult scenario for a great love connection.

Myth: Americans are getting the message that smokeless does not equal harmless.
Fact: If grades were given for this sort of thing, the Nation’s spit tobacco grade would be a barely passing grade of “D.” Rates of spit tobacco use by high school males are high. Nationally, about one in seven high school males currently use spit or smokeless tobacco products, and in some states that number is one out of four.

For the total Department of Defense male population, the rate of smokeless tobacco use is 21.6 percent, significantly exceeding the rate in the general population.

Myth: If you spit for five years or less you won’t get cancer or heart disease.
Fact: Research reported at the Mayo Clinic and other well-respected organizations indicates that any amount of smokeless tobacco use is dangerous, regardless of whether it’s used for a few years or a decade. Smokeless tobacco users have a greater risk for oral cancer than non-users. Oral cancer can form in as little as five years of regular use.

Myth: Smokeless tobacco is easy to give up–you can quit any time you want to.
Fact: Since smokeless tobacco contains nicotine, it’s as addictive as a cigarette, and users will experience the same withdrawal symptoms. These are usually strongest the first week after quitting. The worst is over after two weeks.