The most popular methods used to quit smoking and not in any particular order are: -

1) Will power 2) Cutting down 3) Hypnosis 4) Patches, Gum, Lozenges 5) False Cigarette 6) Zyban 7) Acupuncture 8) Shock event

There is no doubt that each of these methods has been successful in helping someone to stop smoking. The work in slightly different ways to each other and I will attempt to describe each method and in my opinion pros and cons of each

1) Will power This is probably most used method for stopping smoking and one that does work. Actually a certain amount of will power will be required no matter what method of quitting smoking you use. Unfortunately will power can of suggests a fight and suggests that if you are strong minded you will succeed and that if you fail you are weak minded. The description will power is not helpful as far as stopping smoking is concerned because of perceived battle that word suggests. A better word would be 'decision'. Just make your decision and then that can be that. But make it a final decision and not some halfhearted attempt and then you can quit successfully.

2) Cutting down This involves will power with idea of feedback that you are succeeding plus knowing that you are gradually weaning yourself off any perceived chemical dependency of cigarettes. In theory it sounds great because if each day you smoke one less cigarette you know you are getting closer to stopping. Unfortunately in order to know how many cigarettes you are smoking you have to count them and then know at any particular moment of day how many you have had and how many more you can have. This method means that you have to think about smoking much more than if you were smoking freely. If something is on your mind more often, it then make it harder to stop it. If you really want to succeed with using cutting down method, don't get into counting each cigarette.

A better tactic is to decide to leave out certain cigarettes such as one at 10:30 or one after lunch. This way you don’t have to count how many you are smoking and yet you know you are cutting down.

My symptoms were frightening. They ranged from vision loss with numbness and tingling in my limbs, to complete paralysis in my left leg. The hardest thing I had to deal with though was a mind-numbing exhaustion that just would not go away no matter how much sleep I would get. I literally felt as though I was weighted down with bricks. Even though I took a lot of anti-fatigue medications, I still needed to sleep as much as eighteen hours in a day, just to be able to function. In spite of this and to my frustration, I would still awaken in a fog.

I felt I was missing out on my life. Sleeping was absolute last thing I wanted to do. If I decided to push it though and sleep less, I would pay price by having to sleep more to “undo damage” of overdoing it. I found myself becoming bitter with my new reality.