Why Quitting Gradually is Smarter

Smokers will all agree: Nicotine addiction is only one reason why they have trouble quitting. Yet, all other methods using drugs deal only with the nicotine.

HABIT—the conditioned associations between certain familiar activities and lighting up – can be even more powerful than the chemistry itself. Breaking the links is crucial – and may be why your prior attempts failed when using methods that didn’t have behavior change programs.

The SmokeSignals program is comprehensive. It works on MANY physical and psychological factors that must work together. Particularly for hardcore smokers, it is not enough to pick a quit date and slap on a patch. What you need is a systematic way to prepare for quitting.

HOW DOES TAILORED TAPERING DO IT SO WELL?

1. SmokeSignals breaks the link between smoking and your related associations. Instead of enjoying a smoke in a familiar setting, the device prompts you to smoke on cue. That process “reprograms” you to smoke when it signals. Like, well...Smoke Signals.
   
2. Nicotine is weaned gradually from your body. Logically, after years of tobacco addiction, you can imagine –or remember painfully – how violently your body reacts to withdrawing abruptly from nicotine. Our scientists do not believe there is any virtue in the misery of withdrawal. In fact, SmokeSignals is sensitive to your comfort levels and adjusts accordingly. That is a major difference in stopping smart.
   
3. Relearning takes time. SmokeSignals is not a magic bullet. True behavior change does not happen overnight. In fact, the program encourages you to take as long as you need to be successful, comfortable, and smoke-free forever. You decide when to move forward faster or slower. On average, successful quitters take 40 days.
   
4. Scheduling your cigarettes evenly through the day proved even more important than just reducing them. Giving up your lowest preference cigarettes is not hard. What’s tricky is moving your favorite ones to less pleasant times and settings. That’s what SmokeSignals does for you – in ways that you will find agreeable.
   
5. You learn coping skills and practice them hundreds of times, such as learning to postpone a cigarette until it is scheduled. No one can teach these many personal techniques… you alone can discover those that work for you and incorporate them into your day. This preparation for quitting is paramount to preventing relapse, which sadly concludes over 94% of traditional quit attempts within a month .
   
6. Cravings are cut by spreading nicotine intake evenly through the day. Nicotine fades so gradually and is delivered so regularly that users experience fewer withdrawal symptoms or urges.
   
   

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   *Cinciripini, P.M., Wetter, D.W., McClure, J.B., (1997), Scheduled Reduced Smoking: Effects on smoking abstinence and potential mechanisms of action. Addictive Behaviors, 22, 6, 759-767
   
   *Pomerleau, O.F., & Pomerleau, C.S. (1984), Neuroregulators and the reinforcement of smoking: Towards a biobehavioral explanation. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 8, 503-513.
   
   *Fiore, M., Bailey, W.C., Cohen, S.J., et al., (2000). Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service.
   
   *Cinciripini, P.M., Lapitsky, L.G., Seay, S., Wallfisch, A., Kitchens, K., and Van Vunakis, H. (1995). The effects of smoking schedules on cessation outcome: Can we improve on common methods of gradual and abrupt nicotine withdrawal. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 388-399