What does smoking cold turkey refer to?
Quitting cold turkey refers to, in simple words, quitting at one go. This is in direct contrast to quitting gradually in which you slowly reduce the number of cigarettes smoked before quitting completely. Cold turkey is where you decide to quit and quit all at once instead of gradual reduction. The most important benefit of this method over gradual reduction is that there is no scope for delaying quitting. Its done and over with in a single shot.
Quit smoking cold turkey – withdrawal symptoms
Although this technique is one of the most popular, there are some negatives in following it. For one, it is a very drastic technique as it does not give you any chance to get used to the absence of cigarettes or nicotine and you are left to deal with a number of challenges all at once. The biggest challenge is to remain strong in the first few days when symptoms of quitting, known as withdrawal symptoms, are generally very strong.
Some of the common withdrawal symptoms are:
- Cravings for nicotine and cigarettes
- Fatigue and lethargy
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Incessant coughing
- Irritability and mood swings
- Depression
- Constipation
- Increased appetite
- Inability to concentrate
- Sweating and restlessness
These symptoms may be mild to very severe and may last for a few days to a few weeks, depending on a number of factors. Factors such as duration of addiction, the extent of addiction, the amount of will power and the drive to quit come into the picture and affect the severity and duration of these symptoms.
Proper planning and research should be done before resorting to quit by this method. This makes the whole process that much simpler by taking away excess stress and tension from your mind about dealing with quitting and the related after-effects. It also ensures that you take quitting cigarettes well psychologically and stay quit for good.
