After your visit
Your Quit-Day Plan After a Smoking-Cessation Visit
A prescription is only one part of quitting smoking. A practical quit-day plan identifies your usual triggers, the support you can use, and the medication instructions you agreed on. If a previous attempt did not last, use what you learned to make this one more specific.
What to do next
- Choose your quit date with your care team and confirm when each prescribed medicine should start.
- List situations linked to smoking, such as coffee, driving, stress, or breaks at work. Plan an alternative action for each.
- Remove cigarettes and smoking supplies from the spaces you control. Tell a supportive person what help you want.
- Arrange follow-up and consider free support through 1-800-QUIT-NOW or Smokefree.gov.
When to contact your care team
If you smoke after your quit date, contact your support team and review the plan rather than assuming the attempt is over. Follow the specific medication instructions and ask about troublesome side effects. Seek immediate help for severe mood changes or thoughts of self-harm.
Put it into practice
Make one realistic plan for a difficult moment: “After dinner I will walk with my neighbor instead of smoking on the porch.” Keep the plan somewhere visible. Bring details of what worked and what did not to follow-up; that information is useful, not a reason for blame.
Notes for your next visit
Write these in your own notes or on a printed copy. Bring them to your follow-up.
- My quit date and medication start instructions:
- My strongest trigger and replacement action:
- The person or service I will contact during a craving:
Sources and further reading
General education for adults. Follow your clinician’s individual plan and the current instructions for your prescribed product. If instructions conflict, ask your clinician or pharmacist to clarify. For a medical emergency, call 911.