I am 21 years old medical student. I have the habit of smoking from the past 1 year. In the short time I became very addicted to it that I smoke 15-20 cigarettes a day. I realized it's cause and decided to quit smoking. I stopped smoking for 2 days. Now it became more harder like cough, sleeplessness, anxiety to smoke, and so on. As a medico I know these are withdrawal symptoms. But how to get rid of it? please help me.

Dr. Saul PereiraPsychologist47yrs exp

91% (40637 ratings)

Ask Free Question

Withdrawal symptoms vary from person to person and I hope that this is just that. However, many times when giving up addictive habits, the body does act strangely, sometimes because of psychosomatic factors and at other times just because of the absence of the substances. This is an attempt by the body to entice you back to the abuse by suggesting that you cannot manage without these chemicals. If you are weak you will succumb. If you are firm this attempt will fizzle out and disappear. Often when we have just given up a habit, the mind and the body is looking for a justification to return to the abuse, and so these reactions are surreptitiously proposed ? it is trying to give you a good excuse to relapse. Do not give this any attention. You have made a very good decision so do stick to it. After 21 days it will be a little easier. You are on the right track and you make me proud that you are doing this on your own. When you succeed, you must be proud of this as your own achievement. Stay determined and win this battle.There are some people who are on a reactive mode and will quit only after they have got a disease or reach the worst condition in their abuse. In addiction parlance this is called ?Hitting Rock Bottom?, that is, you will cease the abuse only when you have suffered the worst affect of the substance. Sometimes that stage may be a terminal stage and there is no turning back: it has become too late. You must live by the adage that ?Prevention is better than cure?. To quit do the following: When quitting, you must take one day at a time. If you look too far ahead you will get discouraged and will give up. If you sit and count the number of days you have given up, that will also focus too much on achievement. You must focus on the here and now, on that day to be precise. After all quitting is not that easy due to many factors. So even if you fail one day, you must try and try again. Very few people succeed in their first attempt. Your persistence will eventually pay off. The urge to discontinue is hampered by many factors but the worst of them is the conditioning. In fact these conditions can exist all through the day unlike other addictions. But your desire to want to stop is the most important factor. It is important to find out about the ill-effects of smoking to have a reason that alarms you about continuing in the habit. The information is really scary but true and you must remind yourself about this every day. The nicotine in tobacco smoke stimulates the heart beat to raise the blood pressure in no time at all. So you must avoid it like the plague: it is just very bad medicine for you. In fact it is highly toxic too. You will need to stop smoking or consuming any tobacco related items with immediate effect. You should start vigorous exercises, gradually increasing it over a period of time. Do deep breathing exercises every time you feel like smoking (try Yoga), and replace the oral urge with some healthy food substitute to satiate the need. You may also take hard candy or chewing gum. If the urge is too strong, then use nicotine chewing gum or nicotine patches, for a little while until the smoking drive reduces, substantially. You may also join Smokers Anonymous in your city where the support is really extraordinary for like-minded people who are also in the same situation. Keep yourself occupied or engaged with interesting activities during the times when it is most tempting. Keep the company of non-smokers for some time i.e. at least for the first 21 days. Above all announce it to everyone that you have quit smoking. Here?s a piece of very good advice: even if you accidentally/willfully take a cigarette, it is not the end of the world ? you can start the cessation all over again. You must persevere with the best support until you defeat this addiction. Counseling is very useful in the initial stages and when temptations are at their highest. 

8 person found this helpful