Don’t pick your birthday to stop when New Year’s has just passed. Do it now. Can’t do it now? Do it Monday. In fact, do it every Monday. It’s a fight. If you fall down, start it back up again. It’s the fight of your life (or should I say for your life)!
Try all of these tips to help you:

• If you decide to quit after your current (last) pack, throw away one cigarette for every one you smoke.
• Count (figuratively or literally) all the money you’re saving by not smoking.
• Throw away (not give away) all cigarettes, cigars, matches, lighters, humidors, cigar cutters and anything else you associate with smoking. You’ll realize how sad it is if and when you find yourself rummaging through the garbage to get a fix.
• Tell everyone (loudly) that you’ve quit. Empower them to help and hold you accountable. Enlist another smoker friend to go through the journey with you.
• If you do fall off the wagon, smoke a different cigarette brand. Odds are you won’t like it as much, and that will help combat the natural ease you have with smoking.
• Contact your physician and ask for help.

Here’s a marvelous best-practices schemata of appropriate interplay between a physician and a patient trying to stop smoking.


If your physician and you decide to place you on a patch or otherwise medicate you, follow instructions carefully and precisely.

More tips:

• Practice deep breathing. Part of the euphoria of smoking is nothing more than the physiologic sensations produced by deep inhalations.
• Keep other things in your mouth. Mints and chewing gum (low-calorie) are great. Brushing your teeth also serves many purposes. Drinking water when you want to smoke will often remove the urge.
• Make it past the first day. Then make it past the first week.

I personally love the START method, which includes several of the above methods. Let me know if it works for any of you.
S: Set a quit date.
T: Tell your friends, family and associates that you’re quitting, and enlist their help.
A: Anticipate and act on the plan you’ve set and challenges you’ll meet.
R: Remove (trash) cigarettes, cigar and other paraphernalia from your environment.
T: Talk with your physician about options and additional support.
For those of you affected (either first or second-hand), this is huge and important. I really wish you all the best. I welcome any comments or questions.

Order your copy of Dr. Sterling’s new book Behind The Curtain: A Peek at Life from within the ER at jeffreysterlingbooks.com, iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and wherever books are sold.
Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com (SMA) and 844-SMA-TALK offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress, like us on Facebook @ SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and follow us on Twitter at @asksterlingmd.

Ok. On our New Year’s resolutions list, we’ve covered diet and exercise. Now what? Of course. Several of you have promised me that you would stop smoking for the new year. (I’ve made my list and am checking it twice.) The thing about smoking is there really is no time like the present to stop.
You’ve all been asked what things you’d take with you on a desert island. I’ll pose and answer the opposite question, but not on an island but regarding your life. Getting you to stop smoking is certainly one of the three gifts I’d offer you if it was within my power. This post won’t be about the dangers of smoking. (I’ll continue to hit you over the head with those at every opportunity.) Given that I’m into producing positive outcomes, I’m going to discuss with you effective means to stop smoking and the benefits of stopping.

The question on your mind is obviously how to stop. Personally, I’m of the Yoda mindset. You know, when he was teaching Luke Skywalker, he famously said, “Do or Do not. There is no try.” I can hear you now, “But Doc, I’m addicted!” Sure you are. There are many things in medicine about which I’m absolutely sure. One of these is the most effective way to stop smoking is to quit. Cold turkey. The moment you’re motivated. Not only is this premise supported by the data, which I’ll discuss momentarily, but here’s the benefit of over 20 years in clinical emergency medicine practice and having seen hundreds of people stop, stay stopped, and letting me know months and years later that they stayed stopped. Despite being addicted, people are amazingly able to quit cold turkey, and they will do it in one of five circumstances.

When they develop the will

After the birth of their first child

After their first heart attack

After their first stroke

When they die

For those of you convinced that you can’t, here’s a fact: Today there are more former smokers than current smokers.

I want to point out that I appreciate the difference between cigarette smoking and nicotine dependence.  My particular concern for your health lies in the delivery of smoke (containing over 7,000 other toxins, approximately 70 of which can cause various cancers) into the airway system that is supposed to deliver oxygen throughout your body for the maintenance and health of your organ systems.  Still, I want you to know I understand and appreciate the difficulty of smoking cessation.

• Nicotine dependence in the most common chemical dependence in the U.S.
• Quitting smoking often requires multiple attempts.
• Nicotine withdrawal produces bothersome symptoms (e.g., irritability, reduced concentration, increased appetite with possible weight gain and anxiety).

The good news is more than two-thirds of smokers profess a desire to stop smoking, and yearly over half of smokers attempt to stop. That’s likely a result of knowing that no matter when you stop, you will improve your health outcomes. Each incremental inhalation of cigarette and cigar smoke produces damage better left unproduced. Let’s just hope you don’t wait until it sets up permanent damage. Consider a sampling of the following benefits that are sitting there waiting for you.

• Reduction of the risk for cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx (voice box), mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach and cervix, as well as certain leukemias
• Reduction of the risk for heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease
• Reduction of the risk for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Reduction of the risk for infertility

In a subsequent post, I’ll review specific methods and tips to help you and/or your loved one stop. Today’s as good of a day as any.
Order your copy of Dr. Sterling’s new book Behind The Curtain: A Peek at Life from within the ER at jeffreysterlingbooks.com, iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and wherever books are sold.
Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com (SMA) and 844-SMA-TALK offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress, like us on Facebook @ SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and follow us on Twitter at @asksterlingmd.