Staying Quit Support And Resources

The first two weeks of nicotine withdrawal are the hardest. Every quit experience feels different; it will be harder for some people than others. If you’ve tried one approach in the past and it didn’t work, consider trying another. Every try builds on what you’ve learned and gets you closer to success.

Be Prepared:

• Use your customized quit plan.
• Set your quit date.
• Choose your reasons for quitting.
• Identify your triggers.
• Prepare for cravings.
• Get rid of nicotine reminder
• Ask for assistance from your doctor.
• Find additional support from an 802Quits Quit Coach.
• Tap into your personal support network.

When your Quit Day arrives, how will you react? Everyone is different, but you can take pride in knowing that when you wake up on your Quit Day, you are now officially nicotine-free.

Your quit plan can help get you through. Do your best to carry out your quit plan each day and be prepared for as long as you need until the urge for nicotine is easier to manage.

• Make sure all of your nicotine products are gone.
• Know what types of situations trigger nicotine use for you.
• Start your day remembering your reasons for quitting.
• Put together a “stress relief bag”:
  • Hard candy or mints.
  • Drinking straws or coffee stirrers.
  • A stress ball or something else to keep your hands busy.
  • A picture of a loved one or pet.
  • A note from a child or from yourself to help keep you going.
• Avoid places you normally smoke, chew or vape so you’re not tempted.

Feeling better—breathing easier and having more energy—can happen in a matter of days, but it can take up to six months to feel fully free from nicotine. Being nicotine-free for six months is a milestone to staying quit, don’t forget to celebrate your milestones along your quit journey.

Action strategies are things you can do that help you manage cravings. There is no way to know ahead of time which will work for you, so it’s best to have lots of choices. You may find that some work better than others in certain situations. The only way to know for sure is to try them out.

Action Strategies Should:

• Be easy to do. The easier it is, the more likely you’ll do it.
• Be something that’s pleasant. If it’s unpleasant, chances are you won’t want to do it!
• Help stop or at least reduce your urges. If it doesn’t reduce your craving for a cigarette or e-cigarette, chew, snuff or vape, you need to find something else that will.

Action Strategy Examples:

• Practice the 4Ds:
  • Take a DEEP breath.
  • DRINK a glass of water.
  • DO something else.
  • DELAY for 10 minutes.
• Connect with other quitters who know what you’re going through.
• Distract yourself until the craving passes. Most cravings last only 3-5 minutes and you could:
  • Think about the money you are saving.
  • Think about what you could buy with your savings.
  • Take a walk.
  • Watch a YouTube or TikTok video online.

See below for more quick and easy distraction ideas.

If you can get through that nicotine withdrawal craving by distracting yourself, you’re one step closer to reaching your goal. When you think about quitting as one 5-minute achievement at a time, it can feel a little easier to accomplish.

• Delete your old text messages or update your phone’s contacts list.
• Delete old emails from your computer or phone.
• Change your shirt or shoes. This can act as a reset and help you feel better.
• Carry a ping pong ball and a rubber band. Try wrapping the rubber band around the ping pong ball, it may sound silly, but it helps keep your hands busy.
• If you’re at work, walk around the floor or building and think of it as a non-smoking break.
• Take your car to a car wash or vacuum the interior.
• Brush and floss your teeth. It will help distract you and give you fresh breath too!
• Think of at least 5 songs with people’s names in them.
• Take a sunflower seed snack break—working through those shells can be a challenge and a healthy way to spend 5 minutes.
• Peel an orange even if you don’t feel like eating it. It takes 5 minutes just to get all that white stuff off.
• When you feel you want a smoke break, go to the restroom, wash your hands and check yourself in the mirror – you’ve got this!
• Play with distraction putty or a worry stone to keep your hands busy.
• Take a quick walk and count your steps along the way and see if you can do a few more each day.
• Clean up around the house or tackle cleaning a closet. Bonus: no cigarettes and a fresh, spotless home.
• Play solitaire or another game on your phone or computer, but not if your workplace doesn’t allow it!
• Practice the 4Ds from the Action Strategies above.

Come up with your own list of distractions and tips that help you manage your cravings. Think about the times of the day when you crave nicotine the most and match up with a distraction. For example, if you always smoke or vape in the car, turn on the radio instead and sing along with the song. Most songs are three to five minutes. Once you’re done, your craving should be gone.

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Quitting smoking, vaping or other nicotine is like learning a new skill—the most important thing to do is practice. Every time you try to quit, you learn something new, and every try counts, so make sure that you give yourself credit for all the work you are doing to quit.

When you’re trying to quit completely, all a slip means is that you need a little more practice handling certain triggers or situations. Do not let the slip get in your way! Staying nicotine-free can be difficult. If you do have a relapse, remember, many people slip! Think of how far you’ve come on this journey to a nicotine-free life that will give you more freedom to enjoy other things.

Remember:

• A slip is just a slip – it doesn’t mean you’re a smoker, vaper or nicotine user again.
• Your reasons for quitting and why they are important to you.
• If you need a little more help to stay quit, reach out to an 802Quits Quit Coach.
• It’s natural to sometimes feel down or have some negative thoughts about nicotine cravings, don’t let those temporary feelings get the best of you.
• Don’t rationalize and think you can have even “just 1 puff” of another cigarette or “just 1 vape-hit”.
• Plan ahead for risky situations (boredom, drinking alcohol, stress) and decide what action strategies you will do instead of using nicotine.
• Reward yourself for not using nicotine.
• Celebrate your milestones for staying quit.
• 1 pack of cigarettes a day can cost over $3,000 per year. Use the money you save from not buying cigarettes or other products on something meaningful to you.
• Be proud of your quit journey and share your story with others.
• Begin to think of yourself as a non-smoker and nicotine-free.
• You are human, take a deep breath and get back on track.

E-cigarettes are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an aid to quit smoking. E-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), including personal vaporizers, vape pens, e-cigars, e-hookah and vaping devices, may expose users to some of the same toxic chemicals found in combustible cigarette smoke.