Calling It Quits

Depending on your point of view, either this year has been the 12 year of the new Millenium, or next year will be. In any event, as each New Year approaches we all tend to indulge in a little soul searching.

If giving up smoking is on your list of resolutions for this coming year, there are a few things you should know – some good news and some bad news, you might say.

Firstly, having given up, staying a non-smoker is not easy at the best of times; and perhaps surprisingly, over the holidays is often not the best of times. The extra stress and social pressure associated with Christmas and New Year celebrations can make maintaining your own personal smoke-free environment doubly difficult.

Achieving permanent non-smoker status may take three or four attempts – or even more; but don’t lose heart. A relapse is not a failure; it simply gives us an opportunity to reassess our smoking cessation strategy.

Of course, we all know we shouldn’t smoke, and we know quitting can be tough. According to some studies, 6 out of 10 people quit the hard way – by going cold turkey. However, today there are products available which take the pain out of the quitting process. These nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) can also double the chances that you will successfully stay a non-smoker.

Even so, there are still two important keys to quitting long term. You will need a strong personal commitment – a half-hearted approach won’t work – and good support from family and friends is almost essential.

When it comes to getting help to quit smoking you can count on your Self Care Pharmacist as one of your closest friends. Your pharmacist can help you select the most appropriate product to help you stop smoking, and those pharmacies with the Self Care health information have a series of "fact cards" which explain the best techniques for both quitting and staying a non-smoker.

Understanding the rule of "three 3s" in relation to nicotine withdrawal symptoms might also help:

· The first rule is that nicotine craving, when it comes, will last for about 3 minutes – so as a smoker you should hold out until it passes;

· Without NRT, the most difficult day to get through is day 3, when all the nicotine is out of the body and the initial enthusiasm to quit is possibly somewhat less;

· The desire to perform the ritual acts of smoking (holding a cigarette, lighting up and flicking the ash) will only last about 3 weeks.

Tobacco is the most commonly used so-called psychoactive drug and the one responsible for the greatest cause of preventable illness and death. But the problems caused by tobacco definitely are preventable; and for many people NRT offers the necessary help to quit smoking for good.

Nicotine gum, the first of the NRTs, was originally developed in the late 1960s to help provide Swedish Navy submariners with a nicotine substitute. Not only the gum but also patches and, most recently, a nicotine inhaler (shaped like a cigarette holder) or Zyban are available in Australia without prescription.