Quitting Is A Journey – A Very Long Journey

So, quitting is a journey? A journey that is pretty darn long? Yes, it is! I think that a lot of smokers who want to quit fail to realize that successful smoking cessation is something that is done over a long period of time. And by a long period of time I am talking about your whole entire life. This is why so many smokers fail to be quitters in the first place. A smoker who thinks that quitting can be done with some sort of magic aid and denies the fact that they are going to really have to work at it, is a smoker that has set themselves up for failure.

The truth is that stop smoking aids can help tremendously with the process of quitting and can even make the process a whole lot easier, but it does not mean that a stop smoking aid will totally eliminate the work that needs to be done – the work a smoker must put in in order to abolish their addiction.  Likewise, there are no magic techniques or tips that can take the responsibility off of a smoker when it comes to doing their part in warding off addiction and cravings.

Quitting smoking is a journey. It is a journey that requires continuous effort and a journey that never really ends. Yes, it is very much possible to quit cigarettes. The point of this post isn’t to dissuade you from trying to quit cigarettes and to make you think that quitting successfully is absolutely impossible. Rather, the point of this post is to get you to realize that the process of quitting isn’t something that can zapped away and is something that you must always work at. What I mean by always working at it is that you are always going to need to push yourself mentally to fight off and deal with cravings. Cravings do get better over time but they will most likely never go away. So, if you are able to let a craving pass with willpower and focus then you’ll be just fine. Just know that it will require effort. Now, go start (not) smoking!

Quitting Cold Turkey Offers Benefits Other Methods Don’t

I guess one of the biggest upsides to quitting cold turkey is the fact that there is no fooling around. This stop smoking method is black and white entirely. There is no in between here. You either totally cut off your supply to cigarettes or you don’t cut off your supply to cigarettes. That is just how it works when you decide to go cold turkey. A person who wants to go cold turkey usually is at the point where they really to quit and they want to do it now meaning that they probably aren’t going to be interested in nicotine patches, nicotine gum, smoking aids, medications, hypnosis, or any other methods/products that assist you in smoking cessation.

The reason why this approach to quitting, not fooling around with other products or methods, is a good one is because it brings the smoker right to the point of quitting and that is quitting. A smoker going cold turkey decides that they want to quit and so they stop smoking cigarettes. They do not prolong the situation by feeding their bodies nicotine through nicotine replacement therapy, they do not simply cut down on cigarettes, and they do not dance around the problem. A cold turkey quitter is taking quitting head on and dealing with the worst of it from the start. And this is why in some cases quitting cold turkey is the best way to quit.

The truth is that the worst of nicotine withdrawal symptoms are over within the first few days. Now, this isn’t to say that a smoker won’t experience withdrawal or cravings after the first few days, because they sure as heck will, it’s just that it is a whole lot easier to cope after making it through that initial period. Taking this into account, if a cold turkey smoker can make it through the first few days then they can probably deal with the rest of their days as a non-smoker. There is a catch though. Smoking cessation is hardly a cut and dry science, especially when it comes to quitting smoking cold turkey. What this means is that different smokers are going to experience different levels of withdrawal, some smokers will be better than others at coping with cravings, and most importantly quitting will not be the same for all smokers! This is something that is extremely important to realize.

So, what does all of this mean? Basically, it means that quitting smoking cigarettes cold turkey can be a great way to stop smoking but it is also one of the hardest ways to quit. It offers the most amount of gains for the smoker but it also requires a ton of work. In the end, though, it is definitely worth it to commit to going cold turkey. A smoker quitting cold turkey needs to be aware that it will be difficult, be ready for the withdrawal and cravings ahead, and learn how to use effective coping strategies. Keeping these things in mind, a smoker really can stop smoking without the use of any aids, products, nicotine replacement therapy, or anything else for that matter.

Quitting Cold Turkey Is A Battle

The thing about quitting cold turkey is that it is a whole lot harder than most smokers come to realize. While most smokers can appreciate their level of addiction and their need to continue smoking, some fail to realize the severity of quitting cold turkey. Just because you say to yourself, “This cigarette right here is the last cigarette for me and I don’t care, I’m stopping after this one no matter what!”, does not mean that you will follow through. In fact, it probably means just the opposite. Now, I don’t have any statistics to whip out for you but I will say with fair certainty that most smokers who attempt to quit smoking cold turkey fail to do so. The reason I say this is because going the cold turkey route brings one to their knees and then has them suffer to the fullest extent.

You see, when you break an addiction to nicotine all of a sudden you are going to experience nasty and unpleasant physical withdrawal. And amidst that intense physical withdrawal you will experience incredible cravings for another cigarette. Smokers are very familiar with feelings of intense cravings but most smokers have not gone through with the physical withdrawal associated with quitting cold turkey. Some of the physical withdrawal symptoms include headaches, cramps, sweating, and cold symptoms. In addition, smoker’s quitting cold turkey will experience mental withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, trouble sleeping, irritability, and even depression. These physical and mental withdrawal symptoms are just a few of the many potential side effects of quitting. The point is that quitting smoking is already extremely difficult in itself and it is even harder to quit cold turkey meaning that the negative side effects you experience will be more intense.

The mental and physical withdrawal symptoms are your bodies way of saying, “Smoke another cigarette already and give me some more nicotine!”. You’ll already be craving another cigarette at a very intense level when you quit cold turkey and the withdrawal symptoms will make those cravings even worse. In order to pull off quitting cold turkey you need to have an amazing will power to do so. You also need to know what you are getting yourself into because going the cold turkey route isn’t just not smoking another cigarette; it is not smoking a cigarette and dealing with extreme unpleasantness. So, if you’d like to quit cold turkey then realize it is going to be an incredibly difficult battle to win and that in order to win the battle you are going to fully commit. And by committing I mean putting forth all of your energy towards coping with withdrawal because saying that you “aren’t going to smoke another cigarette” isn’t going to do it.