Smoking hurts. Not a little, but a lot. It provides a pleasurable sensation, but I've been there for the aftermath of the results and it can be brutal on a human body. Nicotine in all of its forms is highly addictive, extremely detrimental to health, and a carcinogen. Lung cancer, throat cancer, tongue cancer, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), and drastically higher risk of heart attacks and stroke.
If you've started and want to stop, I get it, it's not an easy ask. It is worth it, because you are worth it. Your future life measured in both years and quality are worth stopping not tomorrow, but today. Make your last pack of cigarettes, chew, or vape the last one you'll ever have. There are some effective methods out there that can help cut cravings.
Possibly the best thing on the market still is called varenicline or Chantix. It works by blocking the spot that nicotine attaches to the brain, it also lightly stimulates that area which can help reduce cravings and withdrawal. In one study, Chantix was 53% successful measured 3 months post study. It's also been found that Chantix can work again even if you go back to nicotine at a later time.
How to use varenicline/chantix:
1. Have your doctor prescribe it, or if you live in TX, join our online messenger-based clinic and I can send it for you and monitor its efficacy.
2. Start chantix: day 1 - 3 - 0.5mg tablet daily, day 4-7 0.5mg twice daily, day 8 and on 1mg twice a day.
3. Ok to continue smoking for first couple weeks while on Chantix (as opposed to patches where you stop right away). Set a definite quit date. Make it a big event on your calender, put in reminders, make a big deal of it. Stopping smoking is a big task, it deserves big recognition as the last day you'll ever take nicotine again.
4. Remove all smoking apparatus from your reach. Cigarettes, lighters, ash trays, anything that smells like smoke should be removed or cleaned. Reminders can trigger you biologically to crave nicotine again.
5. Change your behaviors, even small adjustments. For example if you always smoke when you sit in your favorite chair or smoke when you have your coffee in your favorite mug at the table, change how you do those things. Different mug, different chair, even different brand or flavor of coffee. Familiarity to environments you used to smoke can also trigger your brain to crave nicotine when it recognizes the patterns that surrounded your smoking times.
The journey can be difficult, medication can help, but it's still up to you to take that step.
You can be a nonsmoker whenever you like. Do yourself a favor and make it right now.
Take care!
Dr. Mia Guzman
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