Emergency Room – Quitting Smoking

Transcript

“I’m glad you asked how you can quit smoking. Most health professionals would love to help you quit. Different strategies work for different people. You may know someone who quit cold turkey. If you can cut down to less than a quarter pack of cigarettes a day, your chance of success will be much better. Once you’re smoking a pack a week, which is about three cigarettes a day, it’s a lot easier to quit. You’ll also do much better if a partner or anyone else at home quits at the same time as you. It’s very difficult to quit smoking if someone close to you continues to smoke. There are other ways to help you quit too. Nicotine supplements can help your dependence on the physical movement and social aspect of smoking, but aren’t designed to replace tobacco forever. Your ER doc may have offered you a patch or some gum, but in most places, those products are over the counter.

It may be expensive out of pocket, but think about how much you will save by not spending all of that cash on cigarettes and other tobacco. You will need to wean off the patch or gum eventually. Talk therapy can be helpful with most addictions, including cigarettes. And if you want to quit without medicine, this is a great option. It can also help with the anxiety related to quitting. Your primary physician can also prescribe the brand prescriptions Wellbutrin or Chantix, which have been successful getting lots of people to quit. You have many options to help quit smoking. The most important step is for you to decide to do it. Do it for your kids, your partner, but most importantly, do it for yourself. We don’t want you to develop other complications of smoking like heart disease, COPD, or cancer.”