Which is the best way to quit smoking for good, cold turkey, or gradually reduce your intake?

Question

Additional Details

id say gradual reduction would work best cos it would be like weaning a baby off milk, you wouldnt suddenly stop the baby drinking liquids and suddenly give it solids.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Cold turkey.
If you gradually reduce then you are feeding your addiction and still have to go through withdrawal symptoms.
Doesn't matter if you give in, just stop again. You can treat it as a trial run to get used to not having cigarettes. It is hard for me to have a drink without a cigarette so I've not been drinking much, although after the first couple of times it's not so bad. I still join my mates when they go out for a smoke, it seems to help get rid of the craving without having to take a puff!)

What's with the thumbs down you cyber scrooge? It works for me!

Answer 2

unfortunatly i dont know and could use the same advice as you,sorry i wasnt no help and good luck
x

Answer 3

The gradual way does not work... and frankly, its lame. (Just being honest). Most people just keep smoking that way, or find excuses to have "just one".

I recommend cold turkey if you smoked less than a pack a day. If you smoked a pack or more, go with the Patch.

As well, here is a site that I used when I quit and it helped a lot. Everyone on it is quitting as well or has been quit for years. Everyone has used different methods and are really supportive (its free as well). Do take the time to look at it... it will answers all of your questions and get you on track:

http://www.quitnet.com

Good luck!

Source(s):

paramedic

Answer 4

Try going cold turkey if you can. I did, took about 3 weeks of constant craving before I felt like I didn't want one any more but was well worth it as that was about 6 months ago and haven't touched one since. Some of my friends who gave up at the same time are still using patches and gum, I think this really just prolongs the craving. Still, do whatever works for you. Good luck!

Answer 5

Cold turkey because you will never quit if you so call gradually reduce,you will for a while and before you know it your back where you started.

Answer 6

Truthfully, I've done a lot of research about quitting smoking and if you are determined to stop smoking for good then hypnosis is the way to do it.

A person that quits cold turkey only has about a 3% chance of actually staying quit. Whereas a person that uses a hypnosis program is 10 times more likely to quit and stay quit.

The reason for this is simple. Once you've purged your body of the toxins (about 1 or 2 weeks) it's all mental. You're mind remembers how calm you felt after a cigarette or how it made you feel better. You've got to overcome the "mental" addiction to quit and this is where hypnosis helps.

If you want to know more about how to stop smoking for good you can visit my website below. I sincerely wish you well and know you can do it if you really want to!

Source(s):

Owner of http://www.TheStopSmokingSource.com

Answer 7

Gradually reducing your intake is not going to work. You can quit cold turkey - I know alot of people who have succeeded that way, you could use NRT patches or gum as well. I quit by reading Alan Carr - Easyway, best book I have ever read. I have never looked back and I never intend to smoke again. The first thing you need to do is, to not think of it as giving up. It makes you think you are denying yourself something, which your not. You are setting yourself free :))

Source(s):

Gave up 6 months ago - smoke free me :)))

Answer 8

Definitely "cold Turkey"but it is REALLY tough.
I smoked for 36 years and intermittently tried to cut down but it never worked for me. I just went back to a pack a day.
In 2003 I was on holiday in a place that did not allow smoking indoors so had to go outside in the rain to smoke which was not pleasant.
I decided to quit.
It was awful. I craved them but was strong enough to stay off them and am still off them.
Please try to get off them and good luck.

Answer 9

cold turkey worked best for me....and dont smoke black and milds or anything like that every once in a while because it brings back cravings for cigarettes!

Answer 10

the best way is to reduce your intake gradually to make it easy.
you could do it, by reducing by 2 cigarettes everyday.
good luck

Answer 11

I spent more money on trying to give up than I did on cigarettes :
Hypnosis - several different attempts
Acupuncture
Imitation cigs
Patches when they were £50 per prescription.
Finally, I gave up cold turkey and determined I would never, ever give in.
It worked.

Answer 12

I smoked for over 10 years........

One Friday evening, I was at work & had a sore throat, sore head, & a sore chest.

I said to myself, "Don't be so bl00dy stupid".

I then gave away all my fags etc.

I have never smoked since & never will.

That was 38 years ago. I am in super health.
My wife smokes. She is 10 years younger than me, & is thin as a rake, coughs, & is in very poor health, Bad circulation, Hardening of the arteries, Short of breath. She is at the doctor almost every week.

Source(s):

Need I say more. You can & will stop smoking, but only if you really want to. (My wife will never stop, 'cos,
1. She does not want to
2. I pay for them.

Smoking will kill her !!!

Answer 13

Gradual reduction has been shown to be a very poor and unsuccessful way of giving up cigarettes. It leaves the nicotine addiction pathways in the brain fully active and therefore the cravings do not diminish as you decrease your level of smoking. Statistically NRT + group therapy via a smoking cessation clinic has helped the most people give up.

Source(s):

GP for more years than I care to remember

Answer 14

Neither of these methods are any good.

They don't work because they give nicotine the power, not the smoker. By cutting down or going cold turkey constant thought is given to cigarettes. When quitting the last thing you want to have on your mind is cigarettes. In fact you want to try and think about them as little as possible. The vast majority fail to quit in the long run using these methods.

Smoking is more of a psychological addiction than a physical one. If you really want to quit you must discover the reasons why you smoke and then eliminate or change these thought processes.

Once you deal with the psychological side of smoking it makes the quitting process easy, no matter your level of addiction.

Visit our site to join our inspirational 12 day e-course. You can also download our free book '36 Powerful Superfoods' to help fight weight gain and start mending damage caused by smoking. For more information and to post your opinion about the products you have tried, visit the following website.

Good Luck and Good Quitting

Source(s):

http://www.SuccessfullyStop.com/Blog

http://www.SmokingProducts.YourUserRevie…

Answer 15

Have you ever heard of Allen Carr? Read his book or listen to the cd/ go to his classes it is the BEST method i swear! Just give up cold turkey but not before understanding why you smoke (the Carr method tells you this- seriously it is much much easier). Cutting down only means that you don't really want to quit you are just smoking less to make yourself feel better - been there done that! Trust me read the book, it is NOT scary OR anti-smoking at all, so don't be worried!! it is the best and most empowering support you could have! Plus it is FAST. Best wishes for a smoke free happy life!

Source(s):

smoked 30-40 a day for many years- LOVED smoking! quit 2006 cold turkey without any cravings or bad feelings using Allen carr book

Answer 16

I'd say gradually reduce, as if you suddenly stop, the stress will get so high and you'll just want to start again.