Want to stop smoking or using tobacco products? These health benefits and tips may help you quit

JANUARY 24, 2025

Quitting smoking and other tobacco products is difficult. But many people have shown that it is possible. Tobacco can be found in cigarettes, cigars, dip, chew, snuff or vape products. Nicotine is the chemical found in tobacco plants and products.

There are many good reasons to stop using tobacco. You may be concerned about your health, want to save money, have more energy, be a positive role model or family and friends may be voicing concerns.

Remember that it takes time, patience, and practice to quit nicotine. In fact, it may take more than one try to quit for good. Don't give up. You can learn to feel good again without depending on nicotine.

Why can it be hard to quit smoking and tobacco?

Quitting tobacco, also known as tobacco cessation, is hard because tobacco use is addicting. When your body becomes dependent on chemicals, that's when habits turn into addictions.

When you use nicotine, it triggers your brain to release a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is a very pleasurable, gratifying substance, and the brain becomes addicted to it.

Over time, usually one-to-two hours after smoking, your nicotine levels fall. Due to the decrease in nicotine levels, your brain will generate a craving for nicotine to release more dopamine. This leads you to want to use more tobacco to satisfy that craving.

Check out our quit smoking and tobacco programs

What is the hardest day of quitting smoking?

You may feel nicotine withdrawal symptoms about one to three hours after stopping tobacco products. The toughest period as you quit smoking and using tobacco starts within about three days after quitting. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms can last a couple of weeks. After that, people usually say it gets easier.

Consider using medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make quitting more manageable. Talk to your health care provider or pharmacist about medications. There is a high relapse rate early on (or return to using tobacco) if medications aren't used. Counseling or a tobacco cessation program can also decrease your chances of relapse.

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What is the typical timeline to quit smoking?

There's no set timeline for stopping smoking or nicotine use. It varies for each person and depends on the methods you use.

Quitting tobacco cold turkey without any help is very difficult to do, even if you've started cutting back. With this method, if you haven't used tobacco all day, you'll likely be scavenging for a cigarette or nicotine product by lunchtime.

If you use medication to help you quit tobacco, it's recommended that you start certain medications two weeks before your quit date. You will then be on medications for three months once you quit smoking.

Once you stop medications, nicotine gum and lozenges could be your go-to for the rest of your life. Experts advise to keep those available, so you don't go back to smoking. Your brain will always have the receptor that tells you to smoke or use tobacco even years down the road.

Experts also suggest that you start changing behaviors that are paired with smoking before you quit. These can include not having coffee and cigarettes together or waiting for 30 minutes after a meal to smoke.

If you're going through tougher periods of life, such as the death of a loved one or a cancer diagnosis, you might be guided by a provider to use a nicotine replacement therapy. These can include a nicotine patch, gum or lozenge to help ease your nicotine cravings.

See a timeline of what happens to your body when you quit smoking

How successful is smoking cessation?

Almost 2 in 3 adults who have smoked cigarettes have quit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than that said they wanted to quit smoking.

Less than 1 in 10 adults who smoke cigarettes are successful at quitting each year, according to the CDC. However, less than 40% of adults who smoke cigarettes used proven treatments, like counseling or medication, when trying to quit.

Getting counseling and using approved medication together is your best chance for quitting smoking. Only 5% of adults in 2022 who smoked and tried to quit in the last year or successfully quit in the last two years did so, CDC reported.

What are some health benefits of stopping smoking and tobacco?

Stopping smoking and tobacco use has immediate and long-term benefits for your health. Within hours of putting down your last cigarette or tobacco product, your body begins to heal. Your heart rate and blood pressure start to return to normal levels, and carbon monoxide levels in your blood drop.

Two weeks to three months after quitting, your circulation and lung function improve. Your risk of heart attack continues to go down.

Other long-term health benefits include decreased coughing and shortness of breath. You start to have a lower risk of other lung and heart problems like COPD. You have a decreased risk of heart disease and stroke, in addition to some cancers, including:

• Cancers in the mouth, throat and esophagus
• Bladder cancer
• Lung cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Liver cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Colon and rectum cancer
• Acute myeloid leukemia

Learn more about health benefits of quitting smoking over time

Tips to combat nicotine cravings

Preparing yourself to deal with your cravings may prevent you from being blindsided by them. Take a moment to think about what triggers you to use nicotine and which strategies you can use to cope with them.

Below are examples of coping strategies:

• Use nicotine gum or lozenges as directed.
• Take deep breaths and practice mindful breathing.
• Get exercise, even if it's a 20-minute walk or easy bike ride.
• Create and repeat a mantra, such as, "I am not going back" or "I am stronger than this craving."
• Practice relaxation and visualization when you're feeling a craving.
• Avoid, escape and change. This can also help with a relapse prevention plan if you use these methods.
  
  • Avoid: Avoid situations you know are triggers for you to use nicotine.
  • Escape: If you find yourself in a situation that is a trigger for you to use nicotine and you can't avoid it, then escape. This may be helping do the dishes after a family dinner instead of going to smoke with your uncle, for example.
  • Change: If you can't avoid or escape it, find another strategy other than using nicotine. Reach for nicotine gum or a lozenge and use other strategies.

Always be on guard for triggers of a nicotine craving and have a relapse prevention plan in place.

Tools to help stop smoking and tobacco use

If you're considering quitting smoking or tobacco use, there are many programs that can help you. At UC Davis Health, our Stop Tobacco Program (SToP) will emphasize the following steps to help you quit:

1. Discuss quitting and treatment options, including medications, with your health care provider.
2. Pick a target date when you want to be completely done with tobacco use.
3. Change your behaviors around using nicotine, such as no smoking in your car or while drinking coffee.
4. Plan to get support from your health care team, friends and family, as well as our tobacco treatment team.

Quit smoking and tobacco with the help of UC Davis Health

UC Davis Health patients can take free virtual classes to help quit tobacco. Strategies to Quit Workshop is a 75-minute class that provides strategies to quit. Stop Tobacco Program (SToP) is an eight-session program that has a quit date built in halfway through the program.

This blog was written by Judy Hoppezak. She's a certified tobacco treatment specialist in UC Davis Health's Health Management and Education Department.