How do I manage to avoid cigarettes permanently?? How to deal with situations in which I run the risk of relapsing? Here you will find testimonials from smokers, strategies for self-control and possible places to go to help you lead a long-term life without smoking.
Last updated 13.10.2021
Scientific advisor: Prof. Dr. Anke Steckelberg
Created on 13.12.2019
Next planned revision: December 2022
Prof. Dr. Anke Steckelberg
Prof. Dr. phil. Anke Steckelberg studied teaching at vocational schools with a specialization in health; received her doctorate in health sciences on the topic of evidence-based health information and then worked at the universities of Hamburg and Bremen. The scientist researches and teaches on the topics of evidence-based health information and critical health literacy. She has been a professor at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg since 2016.
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Table of contents
Testimonials
How former smokers deal with withdrawal? Add to info basket
Many people find the smoking cessation period difficult. The risk of relapse is high, especially in the initial phase. Here, former smokers talk about their experiences and how they personally deal with the risk of relapse.
What needs to be considered in the acute detox phase and what needs to be considered in the long term during smoking cessation is also explained by expert Dr. Vitzthum, therapeutic director of the Institute for Tobacco Cessation and Smoking Prevention at Vivantes Klinikum Neukolln.
Angelika Grosse
smoked heavily for almost three decades. How she managed to quit smoking.
Angelica Grosse
Smoked heavily for nearly three decades. How she managed to stop smoking.
Dieter Schmidt
quit smoking from one day to the next before a serious operation.
Dieter Schmidt
Stopped smoking from one day to the next before a serious operation.
Florian Neuland
has tried to quit smoking several times. How I finally succeeded.
Florian Neuland
Has tried to quit smoking several times. How it finally worked.
Meier family
When their father was diagnosed with cancer, Alfie and her mother stopped smoking.
The Meier family
When her father was diagnosed with cancer, Alfie and her mother quit smoking.
After quitting smoking
How to get through the first two weeks? Expert Dr. Vitzthum gives tips.
After quitting smoking
How do I survive the first two weeks? Expert Dr. Vitzthum gives tips.
Long-term non-smoker
How do I stay a permanent non-smoker? Suggestions from expert Dr. Vitzthum.
Long-term non-smoker
How do I remain a non-smoker permanently?? Suggestions from Expert Dr. Vitzthum.
Testimonials
Some of the people shown in these testimonials introduce themselves with changed names at their own request.
Angelika Grosse
I am Angelika Grosse, born in 1963, was a heavy smoker for 28 years and have been a non-smoker since 2007. I always liked to smoke. I have
smoking also tasted. And I have never been very concerned about my health either.
In 2007 we got an offer from our employer to stop smoking. That is, it was a program from a health insurance company to become smoke-free in 10 steps. For me it was a great incentive to complete the program in the group. On the one hand, because they knew each other, they were colleagues who were well known. And the whole thing was connected with bets, z.B. if I make it to day X, then you buy me a meal.
The special thing about the program was that in the beginning it wasn’t about reducing smoking at all, but simply taking stock: How many cigarettes do I smoke a day?? And on which occasions and
what circumstances do I actually smoke? And after that it was all about,
to reduce tobacco consumption, that is, to smoke fewer cigarettes day after day to
smoking until the end of the day "X" came, who was then smoke-free.
I felt positive physical changes very quickly: the sense of taste and smell improved very quickly. The clothes no longer stank of smoke. I had less heart palpitations, the shortness of breath decreased, I slept better and all in all I saved a lot of money and time.
Withdrawal symptoms were of course an issue during my smoking cessation. Despite everything they never lasted long. It’s always just a few minutes when the craving for a cigarette was very strong. Of course, I motivated myself by trying new things. I simply treated myself to something nice as well. I bought a bouquet of flowers. I painted the apartment. I tried to drink a cup of tea instead of coffee. I used to have two cigarettes after coffee and breakfast. After the meal I brushed my teeth very quickly and went to smoke-free zones. I got some exercise in the fresh air and I just saw the positive things that I would gain by quitting smoking. Nordic Walking was for me
important compensation after quitting smoking And the more regularly I run, the more fit I become and the more my shortness of breath has decreased and I have been able to maintain my weight. I dreamed often and for months that I smoked. and I was glad when I woke up and it was only a dream.
Knowledge is healthy.
Dieter Schmidt
My name is Dieter Schmidt. I was born in 1953. I had been a very heavy smoker for 37 years. And stopped smoking from one day to the next in May 2016.
I started when I was in the armed forces at that time. It was such a – how to say – group dynamic. Many people have smoked and then you think: Okay, you belong – you smoke too. And then it’s like some kind of drug. You smoke and also think you can’t stop.
The reason I quit was because I had two heart attacks and I needed heart surgery urgently. And relatively quickly. I thought about it for a few days, I also realized that I had to quit. That was the step, of course, and that is also a "limit", when you are a "healthy" person I would go to a clinic and have heart surgery. That is quite a step! I then really decided for myself: you have to stop! Exactly one day before the surgery I smoked the last cigarette in front of the hospital and that was it for me.
I did not need a method to quit. It’s all in the head. Because: when I stop, I stop. And there I am consistent. I can’t go and say that I smoke only 10 cigarettes a day – that’s no good! I can’t get ahead with that. So: either – or.
I meant of course that I would be addicted. And if I then stop smoking, I would somehow miss a pleasure. But the opposite is actually true. I have noticed for myself that – when I stopped – I have a much higher enjoyment. By making food taste better! The air smells much more pleasant. And you’re much freer because you’re not necessarily looking for a place to smoke either.
I had neither withdrawal symptoms nor other "cravings" – as the saying goes – to have another cigarette. Not at all! Some switch must have been flipped and it said: No more smoking!
I haven’t touched a cigarette since that day in front of the hospital building. It’s always a mental thing, because I don’t just have my head between my shoulders to go to the hairdresser. But it should also rule over my body. And when the head says you have to
stop, then you have to stop. My head or my brain still determines what I do as a personality, what I do and what I don’t do.
Today I consider smoking as a mistake. I should not have done that. Because it probably also led to me having the two heart attacks. You can tell when you’ve had a shot across the bow like that got. Life is finite! One should always think about that.
Knowledge is healthy.
Florian Neuland
My name is Florian Neuland. I was born in 1987. I had been a heavy smoker since my early teens. In 2016, after 13 years, I finally managed to quit.
In principle I have tried all methods. I had nicotine gum, nicotine patches, acupuncture. I have read books, listened to lectures, watched videos… But in principle I have found for myself that the real point why it did not work out – was myself! The decision really had to come from within, it had to be my decision. And not the decision of others.
My health situation was not good at all in the end. I had developed severe asthma and almost permanent shortness of breath. I found myself in a real vicious circle. I woke up early and had trouble breathing and then had to have a smoke to trigger a coughing fit. When I had coughed myself free – only then could I breathe.
And the day I finally did it, the day I didn’t plan to quit. I woke up early, got surprisingly good air and thought: "Today is a good day not to smoke"!" I knew that it was basically the nicotine itself that was always crying out for the next fix. And I had that day off, I went to a spa, I sat in the sauna to consciously escape the call for the next train. I sat in the sauna, "detoxed" and at that moment I was able to just relax and leave the addiction aside for the time being.
When I got over this point, the point of the strong call for more, I knew -okay- I haven’t smoked for such a long time now and I would be stupid to go on now and smoke again after all. Then there was a little bit of motivation – because of what I had achieved so far!
Actually a madness, if one considers that that was only few hours. But they have already made proud! I think the inner attitude was finally there. It finally got to me on the inside. It came from the gut and not from the head that I want to quit now.
It is often recommended to get rid of everything that reminds you of smoking. And then really stopped from one moment to the next. With me it was more like, with half a pack of cigarettes in my pocket – which I actually still have somewhere to this day! – could stop. This simply gave me the certainty that if I had to smoke, I would have them ready to hand.
There were moments when I just wanted to smoke in the evening after all. You have habits, too, z.B. when sitting in front of the TV in the evening. That you go out in commercials and smoke one. Interestingly enough, I have done the same. I went out in the commercial NOT to smoke. I was just so used to it that I continued to do it, but without smoking.
Surprisingly, it was much easier than I thought it would be! I was always afraid of withdrawal symptoms, no idea what could happen. But when I just went through with it, none of my fears came true.
I had already started doing sports again a year before I quit. I climbed a mountain in the Alps as a smoker. And I almost didn’t get up the mountain. I had to stop so many times because I couldn’t breathe because I had to cough. As a non-smoker – one year later – I remembered the situation and I went there again and went exactly the same way and was surprised. I went back the next year and tested again. And it is easier for me again! And I also plan to go there again and again in the next years in the same day and just see what happens.
Healthwise I am very, very well today. The asthma has basically disappeared, you can say. I am a free, self-determined person. I’m not going to let a cigarette tell me how to live anymore. But I live my life the way I want to live it.
Knowledge is healthy.
Meier family
I’m Alfie Meier, I was born in 1992 and I was a heavy smoker for 5 years. I am Ines Meier, I was born in 1969 and I smoked heavily for 27 years. I quit together with my daughter in 2013, but started again after that.
In 2013 my husband got cancer. Then my daughter and I said, "We’re going to quit now!" For me, my dad getting sick was really the icing on the cake so to speak, that I would manage to quit. I always wanted to quit smoking. It always annoyed me. But because I was scared to death for my father and then the feeling that I was to blame for it – I made it.
It is extremely difficult to stop smoking. Especially when standing alone. So after 14 days the moment comes when I get annoyed, when I get irritated. Because you always have this need, you have to smoke one now. There is the crux: "Can I do it or can’t I do it??" I then take the cigarette to become calmer again? Or do I find something else? All this time I was looking for something to put in my mouth, like a substitute: chewing gum. Peppermint candies. I ate a lot of grapes or salt sticks. And my hands were just always busy painting, u.a. Painting by numbers. I started to write diary. So I didn’t have the chance to reach for a cigarette because I was busy all the time.
It meant a lot to me to quit with mom because I wasn’t alone. In the moments when one becomes weak, someone is then. Who then also says: "You come – I don’t smoke, you don’t smoke!" "We can do it together!" – That helped tremendously.
We then moved away from smokers. We had nothing to do with smokers anymore. Just to protect ourselves and not make it harder on ourselves. And we talked a lot.
After 4 years of being smoke free there came a situation where it was extremely difficult for me. I then took up the cigarette again after all. I said to myself, once in a while one is ok.
When my mom started smoking again, I was already very angry and disappointed. I also try to support her to make it to quit. I keep telling her too: It’s so expensive! Think about it, what could we do with it? We could go on vacation with the money! Or, or, or.
Yes! It stinks. It does not have to be. It is unhealthy and expensive. Actually, so many things speak against it. She is annoyed that I am annoyed that she smokes!
And I’m just annoyed when we’re somewhere and we can’t get in right away, z.B. when I go shopping and then she has to have another smoke.
When I smoke at home, I go out on the balcony. I try "secretly to smoke, that one does not see it in such a way. In principle it is unpleasant for me that they see it that I smoke.
I think why I managed not to smoke and she started again: I developed the right disgust on the subject of smoking. I don’t think I was ever really a non-smoker in my head. I was jealous when people smoked. I also wanted it again, the whole four years. From the head I probably never made it.
I wish my mom that she manages to quit as well. And in the long term. And that she then has exactly the same experience as I do. That she herself also says: "Oh – awesome!" She can taste more again or she can wear perfume again without smelling like smoke. And she has more money in her purse, which she could perhaps spend on her grandchildren. I wish her that!
In the 4 years I have made this experience. Actually I thought it was great!
Knowledge is healthy.
Expert interviews:
Expert Dr. Vitzthum from the Institute for Tobacco Cessation& Smoking prevention at Vivantes Klinikum Neukolln:
After quitting smoking
For many, quitting is one thing – persevering is another. Just after quitting smoking, there is this addictive pressure that comes from within. So it’s really important to have some immediate help at hand. Z.B. biting into a lemon or taking a hot or cold shower. Or maybe listening to loud or soft music, so that you create a strong physical counter stimulus. It also helps many people to brush their teeth 10 – 15 times a day. You can’t gain weight and the craving for smoking is always relatively low after brushing your teeth.
As a rule, it is often the withdrawal symptoms that scare you. And this is of course also a physical process, which some people underestimate a bit. That means that many people are used to getting such a "reward kick" very quickly from smoking to get. And we don’t have anything adequate for that in the normal world – which immediately has the same effect as smoking. And there it is also important again to prepare (substitute) rewards for it. It varies from person to person: for one person it might be a flower they enjoy, for another it might be something they’ve cooked themselves, and for a third person it might be some little gift they might not otherwise have treated themselves to.
Ex-smokers still know the smoking break. It is important to maintain this – only the content should be changed. The breaks remain, only now, for example, you go for a walk around the block, you drink something nice, you maybe do some pleasant activity, z. B. a pleasant phone call or listen to some music, so that I can continue to enjoy these islands of peace in my everyday life.
One part of quitting is the physical withdrawal and detoxification, the other part is of course habits and rituals. And there you can usually always proceed in such a way that you try to avoid certain triggers, to change them or to adjust your mental picture. So the classic coffee – you could replace it with tea, for example, so avoid it completely. You could drink from a different cup or in a different place in the home. You can also say to yourself: Well, there are also non-smokers who drink coffee!? Those would be the "classical possibilities, How to deal with any stimulus in everyday life.
Knowledge is healthy.
Long-term non-smoker
The initial euphoria after quitting smoking usually wears off a bit after 6 – 8 weeks. It is important to think about this again: What was it like when you stopped? What is difficult for me? What happened and what did I have to go through??
If you keep a diary when quitting, it can be a help to look at it again. Because one often forgets these inconveniences quickly, and thinks: Now I can smoke a cigarette again. I’ll manage to quit again, now I haven’t smoked for so long. This is often a fallacy. The slip can easily turn into a relapse.
Also helpful: that one looks back again altogether a little on it. What all have I experienced in the time? What is of my rewards already implemented, which I imagined at that time, before the smoking stop, what I will treat myself then? That are again so "Emotional nudges", which then bring you back again and keep your motivation high.
After 2 – 3 months one feels mostly already as stable ex-smokers and becomes also a little bit high-spirited and dares perhaps also again more to drink or goes perhaps also into the company of smokers. These are also again such situations where you might be offered a cigarette unexpectedly. It is always convenient to do a "dry run" to make and to prepare quasi secretly, quietly at home. Who will I meet there? How do I perhaps react to such offers? So that this moment of danger passes well and I don’t fall into a trap.
Everyone has a goal that they associate with quitting smoking. For one it is the health or the money or that one just smells different,
the smell, so to speak. Of course, these goals remain true – even after 3 – 4 months. And if you recall this – what was actually my goal that I was struggling to achieve when I quit, then this helps to get into that emotional state again. And then also the perseverance becomes again easier.