Dr C: “I support going cold turkey on cigs!”
Health officials are advising smokers against quitting outright, saying NHS support and e-cigs are better – but Dr C is fuming!
I don’t agree with I telling people not to bother going cold turkey. Although it’s true that only three in 100 people succeed that way, we shouldn’t discourage them. If quitting outright for this month’s Stoptober campaign – which asks smokers to give up the habit for October – is too hard, you can try another way. You don’t just get one chance!
WATCH FOR TRIGGERS
In my experience, the things that see patients fail at quitting are alcohol and other people. If your friends are smokers, giving up smoking potentially involves either not spending time with them or having to get them on board. Plus they’re likely to say, “It’s only one, it doesn’t matter”. And you’ll be more prone to agreeing if you’re drinking, as alcohol lets your guard down.
If you live with a smoker, then going cold turkey would be difficult because you’re smelling smoke and seeing cigarettes lying around. Ask your partner or flatmate to smoke outside, and to keep cigarettes out of sight. Also tell everyone around you that you’re quitting.
TIME IT RIGHT
Timing is important, too. If I were treating a patient for anxiety and they had a house move or exams coming up, I would help them with their anxiety first, get through their exams, and only then try to stop smoking.
Gums and sprays help some people, but I maintain that e-cigs are the single most useful tool we’ve come up with yet. They give you the nicotine – which isn’t harmful to your health – but without the cocktail of harmful chemicals that do the damage.
E-cigs mimic the ritual of smoking, too, giving your brain what it’s looking for. Public Health England’s review found that vaping isn’t risky and it has helped 20,000 people every year quit smoking. If you try e-cigs and they don’t work, it may be that you need a higher dose to replicate what your body had become used to from regular cigarettes.
EXPECT TO FEEL LOUSY
Lots of people who quit tell me they feel worse; they’re coughing up brown stuff and feeling breathless, but that’s your lungs reawakening because smoking paralyses the systems that clear mucus. Get through that and you’ll feel so much better.
Distraction is good, too. A study found that playing Tetris for three minutes killed cravings. Finally, if you want to give up for Stoptober, then great, but this isn’t your only chance. If you’re starting a new job, for example, it’s fine to wait a month.