Saturday, October 31, 2009

How do I get my dad to quit smoking?

My mom quit smoking with no help about three or four years ago, but my dad still smokes. He really wants to quit, but he just can't. And I also know that he has to want to quit and be determined to quit...and he is...he just can't. He is 47 years old, if that helps. Do you have any ideas? I'm really worried for him.
Answer:
Just remind him daily that you love him and please stop smoking so he can continue to love you back.
Check him in for rehab center, or threatenin him
Tell him to go to his doctor and tell them he needs help quiting and they will put him on pills to wing him off.
sweetie all you can do is be there for him and show him you love him. addictions are hard to deal with. i have a food addiction and i can't get over it, i can't imagine what it would be like to be addicted to something more sinister.
seek help. one of the best ways is to sit down and talk to him and tell him how you feel. also go to a rehab center.
Talk to him about it. Tell him how it is really effecting your family, health, and moolah. If that doesn't work try a patch. Or keep stealing his ciggys and trashing them.
I tried for years and my Dad did'nt quit until he decided on his own to quit. He might listen to a Dr more than you though. Hopefully, he doesn't smoke inside the house. If he does he should seriously start smoking outside for your health.
tell him it hurt to see him that way
There's this really neat new laser surgery out. It's not too expensive (between 150-350) and what it does is it kills the cravings. I have a friend who got it done and she said it fifn't hurt at all. A month later she has no interest in having a cigarette!
Start coughing around him. And if he goes outside, go outside and stand next to him when he smokes but like be loving about it. Take the cigarette out of his hand, throw it away and put your hand in his hand instead. Then look him straight in the eye. Then sad puppy face.

My god, I should be a movie director.
You need to talk with him. Tell him that you are worried that he won't be there to walk you down the aisle when you get married if he keeps smoking. Don't nag him but just tell him that you wish he would think about quitting. He can get a patch from a doctor and that really helps. Also, he has to break the addiction of the "hand to mouth." Tell him to take white plastic drinking straws (the size of McDonalds), cut to the length of a cigarette, stuff with cotton from a cotton ball, and then place one in each clean ashtray. Then he can puff away on those. It feels good. It only takes 3 days to get the nicotine out of his body, then he has to break the enjoyment of smoking. Good luck.
hypnosis works for people that have a hard time quitting.
http://www.quitsmoking.com/info/articles...
There's a new medication called Chantix that helps with controlling nicotine cravings. It's expensive, but some insurance companies will pay for it, as it has about a 40 percent success rate. You can also try reminding him that it would be nice if all his grandchildren got to know him. My mother smoked for about 20 years, then quit, but the damage was already done. My son was 3 when she died, and only has vague memories of Grandma.
Congradulations on you wanting to help your Dad to quit smoking. Go to phillipmorris.com and get informatin on quitting smoking they have free phamplets on how to quit smoking. Best Wishes and Happy Smoke Free Living!
Duct tape his mouth shut and if he tries to smoke, use a taser...( yes I know it's drastic, but smoking kills...both my parents, one grandparent and one of my bosses died from smoking...)
try your best to explain to him. if he is not listining just frighten him by saying that you will leave the house.
There are special gums/patches sold to lower the urge for the nicotine in the cigarette. Your father should be able to get it from your area's pharmacy or through doctor's prescription.

Or if he is really able to do it without those patches or gums, decrease the quantity of cigarettes smoked over time.
Make him watch the " Why do you think" anti-smoking commercials.
Ultimately it has to be his choice. Quitting smoking is very difficult, so be understanding and patient with him. My best advise is to sit him down and tell him how much it would mean to you for him to quite smoking, that you love him and your worried about his health and you want him to around for a while (your wedding, future grand kids, etc). Also, you give him so ideas of how to quite, like the patch, gum, and hypnosis. Good luck!
give him patches and the gum works!! he can do the rewards system! which is every time he wants to but doesn't smoke he can put a dollar in a jar, but every time he does smoke he must take a dollar out. then at the end he gets something he really really wnats or needs! make sure you really support him!
There is a book called Allen Carr's Easy Way to Quit Smoking. I t seems simplistic but it addresses the rooot of it all. I still smoke as I read it but for the first time in my life.I look forward to quitting. Give it to him for Father's Day and support him as he reads it. And don't talk down to him while he is going through the process. Support, not lectures is what he needs.
Write a uleogy for him. Read it to him. I have heard this being done, and people have been so touched and scared, they quit for good.

"My father was an awesome man. Hard worker, loving, he was always there for me~ until now. I miss him so much already. *sob* He was the first example of a true man to me, a real hero. The man who no other will ever live up to in my life. I love you Daddy, tell Jesus I said Hi. *sob*"

Try that, maybe he'll remember that when he lights up another cigarette.
The thing is, you really can't make someone quit doing anything unless they want to, especially if they are addicted to that particular thing. To be successful requires personal desire, willpower and effort. If the person isn't 100% ready to give up the habit it will be nearly impossible for them to do so - or for you to get them to do so.

That said, you can compassionately express to your father that you worry for his health and you want him to be around in the years to come. Don't present too much pressure or chide him though, because he might get defensive and feel like he's just being nagged.

If he does want to quit you can help him by encouraging him, helping him to get rid of items in the home which remind him of smoking (ash trays, matches, lighters,) and other things. Buy him substitutes like candies, peppermints, gum, toothpicks. Find some activity he might enjoy that requires working with his hands - smoking is very much a way to occupy the hands and mouth... if you keep them busy with other things the desire isn't so bad.

Staying busy in general helps. Exercising, being outside, and otherwise being physically active tends to reduce that feeling of needing a smoke.

If he can't quit cold turkey, you can try to encourage him to cut down. Make goals. If he smokes a pack a day now, try to get him to agree to smoke only 15 cigarettes for the next couple of days. Then maybe just 12 a day. Keep reducing in small incriments every couple of days, before going completely off the habit.

It could be harder if he drinks alcohol or coffee, because those items tend to lend themselves to going along with a smoke. I know when I quit smoking it was very hard when it came to my morning and evening coffee because I had always had a smoke with them. I finally quit drinking the coffee too and it helped break that desire.

Those are all just some tips. But in the end, he can only do it if he really wants to. You can just be there to help and encourage him if he needs it. Good luck!
some people have stronger will power than others here it looks as if your dad needs a bit of encouragement, try motivate him into doing something that distracts him from smoking and take him to non smoking places another thing is calculate with him how much he spends on cigarettes per month and per year and how much he would spend in 5 years this tends to turn people off due to the shock of how much money their actually wasting,
It has got to be one of the hardest things to do, and the fact that cigarettes are available everywhere make it so much worse. Here is what I had to go through, and although I won the battle, the war is not over, there is always a temptation.
1) Lots of Vitamin C
2) Get rid of all smoking related items in the house
3) Make a pact, if he quits, you could maybe give up a vice of your own
4) Pray
5) use patches or gums as a last resort, since they provide nicotine
6) make sure he stays active, keep him busy so not to relax and have a smoke. I had to give up my morning coffee, that was my weak moment.
Good luck, be supportive and try to understand what a difficult process it is. Basically, its going through drug withdraw.
The best way for anyone to quit and not be craving for a cigarette ever after is to be shamed into it. This happened to me accidentally 20 years ago and I have never wanted to smoke again since. If you try it by will power alone the craving will be there continuously.
After I had quit for about 10 years I heard a Tony Robbins seminar in which he basically used the same method of shaming smokers.
if you do figure this one out please tell me, im trying to get my friend to quiet but every time i ask him he just tells me its to hard. so if you have any tricks i would like to know.
I have a friend who quit smoking this way.

You take a regular cigarette and light the end as you would to smoke, and then put it out by smashing it against something flat.

Then take a straw and cut it to the size of a cigarette (like someone above said) and stuff one end with cotton, tissues or whatever.

Dump some burned tobacco out of the end of the cigarette you lit and put out. Take that burned tobacco and put it in the straw.

That way there will be burned tobacco in the middle of the straw with cotton at each end containing it.

When he takes a drag, it will taste like a cigarette, but there will be no nicotine to keep him addicted.

Hope this helps!

If not, try the Nicoderm CQ, Nicorette Gum, or Commit Lozenges, like always.

Also, http://www.smokersoption.com offers a cigarette that is entirely filter flavored with menthol or cinnamon (cinnamon is HORRIBLE). There is no tobacco, meaning no nicotine obviously and the menthol are pleasant.

Or at http://www.mintsnuff.com/ they offer a "chewing tobacco-like" mint chew or puch that, even if you arent a chewing tobacco user, but a smoker, can help the oral fixation during a craving.

Otherwise, just be there for him and tell him that you want him to live a long life and be there for you when you need him.
You have probably already told him how much you afraid that
you may lose him before he gets to see his grandchildren. Be supportive and pickup any literature you can find, wrap it up like a gift and give it to him. I quit after 30 years of smoking and 7 years later cannot understand how I could have smoked for so long. If you are not old enough to purchase Nicorette yourself, give your hard earned money to
someone who is and buy your dad some Nicorette gum. If he
follows the directions, he will be able to quit. For me, it was
easier to get over the nicotine addiction then it was to break
the habit. Your dad should try to smoke at times he normally
wouldn't and don't smoke at times he usually does. He should do this for a few weeks to begin to break the habit of
smoking after a meal, with a cup of coffee or whenever he usually stops to light up. Read up on the subject and let him
know you will help him quit. Do not follow him around to check if he is smoking once he says he has quit. Asking how
he is doing too often will only remind him about smoking.
Realize that he will get crabby and touchy because of the
withdrawal and be prepared to go out of your way to assist
him with his normal chores to help relieve the 'stress' that he will use as an excuse to light up. Many people that quit smoking sleep a lot more but this will eventually wear off. There is actually less stress when you quit smoking because
the nicotine is a stimulant. Without that stimulant and until his
body adjusts his energy levels may be lower. After a couple of weeks he will have a ton of energy because he will be able
to take in more oxygen so get him out for exercise. He will probably gain weight for 2 reasons. One is his heart rate will
slow down and so will his metablolism. The second reason is
the habit of putting that cigarette in his mouth may be replaced with food. If you really want to help him make sure
there are plenty of carrots and celery or other crunchy low calorie snacks for him to munch on. It will be easier for him to quit if he knows that he will have help and understanding. He may also want to succeed because you worked so hard to assist him and he may not want to disappoint you. It may
take several times before he is successful but if he keeps
trying he will succeed. Good Luck.
Steal his cigarrettes, and hide them somewhere where he cannot find them LOL

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