When you quit smoking, you’ll start to experience positive changes in your health almost immediately. It’s never too late to quit. Stopping smoking is often tough, and different approaches will work for different people.
If you’ve had enough of cigarettes, help is available through smoking cessation programmes and Nicotine Replacement Therapy.
Free stop smoking services are offered in pharmacies, GP practices, Health and Social Care Trust premises, and community and voluntary organisations.
Studies have shown that you are four times more likely to quit with help. Local Stop Smoking Services, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and support from your family and friends can make all the difference when you are quitting, so make sure you are familiar with all the help available.
Tips and advice
Some helpful tips to keep you on track include:
- set a specific date on which you want to stop smoking and stick to it
- let people know so they can support you as you try to quit
- try to encourage a group of your friends or family to stop with you and support one another
- change your routine to avoid situations when you usually smoke
- don’t fall into the trap of having ‘just one’ cigarette – one cigarette can easily lead to another
- instead of smoking, occupy your hands with a stress or tennis ball
- when you feel like smoking a cigarette, try texting or ringing a friend – it will help the craving to pass and take your mind off it
- avoid eating high-energy, high-sugar snack foods in place of cigarettes – try fresh fruit, a low-fat yogurt or sugar-free gum instead
- avoid skipping meals or eating sweets, as both cause a rapid rise and fall in blood sugar levels which make cravings worse
- keep active – walk more, go for a swim or a cycle, dance to music at home, do some vacuuming, gardening, or wash the car
- put the money you’re saving on cigarettes away so that you can buy something you really want – it can help motivate you when things are tough
Improving your health
Smoking causes:
- lung cancer (smoking causes around 85 per cent of all lung cancer deaths)
- heart disease
- bronchitis
- strokes
- stomach ulcers
- leukaemia
- gangrene
- other cancers, for example, mouth and throat cancer
Smoking can worsen colds, chest problems like bronchitis and emphysema, and allergies like hay fever.
It also has unpleasant side effects such as wrinkles and bad breath.
Smoking can also make you cough, sneeze or feel short of breath when you exercise.
If you quit and then relapse, accept it, work out why it happened, and focus on how you can avoid it in future.
It takes several efforts for many people to quit for good but if you are determined, you will do it.