Most of us want to fast forward through the rest of the year and #quit2020. But that would let a crisis go to waste. What if #Quit2020 also meant many of the 34 million American smokers quit smoking? Smoking accounts for 500,000 avoidable deaths every year and is the leading cause of morbidity – a sobering statistic as we hit 182,000 deaths from Covid-19. The release of the Surgeon General’s smoking cessation report is timely to drive change and save lives.
First Steps to Liberation
This hard journey starts and stops at you. Understand and confirm your desire to quit. If you have quit before, that is proof that quitting is possible. And if you failed, was it due to the presence of other smokers, alcohol use, habitual coffee smokes? Were you concerned about weight gain when quitting smoking? The weight gained can be lost (mini nicotine lozenges reduces gain), while lung damage, heart disease and cancer from smoking is harder to shake off.
Set a quit date and spread the word. Share the news with a core group of loved ones. If they are encouraging that’s good, as you would not want to disappoint them – if not, use that negative energy to prove them wrong. At times, strangers on social media can be better cheerleaders.
For free resources – check out smokefree.gov or text Q-U-I-T to 47848.
Next, you need to quit, there is NO cutting down. Your best chance is going cold turkey. That turkey needs to come with a side of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to increase your odds of success.
Written by: Avinesh S Bhar, MD, a Sleep specialist in Florida