The easy way to stop smoking

Stop Smoking

2007-12-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

Smoking tobacco is an age-old practice. The act of tobacco smoking involves burning tobacco leaves, dried or cured and inhaling the smoke. The reason for smoking may be anything from pleasure sake to self-medication to social or ritual purpose and to a form of addiction. The tobacco smoke is inhaled through many forms like cigarettes, cigar, pipe, bidi and hookah.

Cigarettes:

Cigarettes are the most common form used for smoking. It consists of a paper rolled in to a cylindrical shape, the inside of which is stuffed with tobacco leaves. Modern day cigarettes have different type of tobacco leaves stuffed into it and in addition to that come with a filter at one end.

Cigars:

The cigars come in different shape. They have cylinder of tobacco rolled in tobacco leaves. Cuban cigars are still world famous for their quality.

Pipes:

Pipes are different from cigarettes and cigars in that they have a small chamber for combustion purpose and a small stem that ends in a mouthpiece for inhaling. Pipes are made of different materials like clay, wood etc.

Hookahs:

Hookahs, also called sheeshas, are water pipes working on water-filtration method. They are indirectly heated; Hookahs are more used for smoking hashish or opium.

Health effects:

The effect of smoking in any form is not good for health. Nicotine, an addictive stimulant is found in the tobacco smoke. Though the initial effect of nicotine on the beginners and irregular or first time users is one of increasing alertness and memory with mild euphoria, its long term effects on the chronic users are not encouraging. Regular smoking results in confusion, insomnia, restlessness, metabolic disorder, appetite suppression etc. It has been established after prolonged medical research that lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases etc., are the results of consistence smoking. The negative effects of smoking, proved after many tests and analysis of results have strongly led to the formation of a strong lobby for anti-smoking. This group persuades smokers to quit smoking to stay fit in their life. According to the antagonists of smoking, the non-smokers are subjected to passive smoking, which is equally dangerous because the smoke coming out of the cigars etc is being inhaled by the non-smokers.

Hypnosis is the state of deep sleep in which the sleeping person is controlled by another person. Using hypnosis, a smoker is made to quit the habit. Normally, a habitual smoker retires to bed with a vow not to smoke from the next day. But the very first thing he does after getting up in the morning is to light his cigarette. Because, people do not have that much of conviction in their ability to discard their habit. Under hypnosis, new and positive thoughts are pushed into your subconscious mind, making it easy for you to quit the habit. Though the subject of hypnotism itself is very controversial, it has cured many people of smoking ailment.

The habit of smoking is wide prevalent with younger generation being enticed into this bad practice. People, afflicted with this, find it very difficult to give it up. The degree of binding they have with the smoking becomes so strong that they are unable to break it. We see smokers admitting that they smoke heavily but unable to come out of that. But considering the serious health effects to which the smokers are exposed, that may cost their lives, they had better stop smoking today itself, without any postponements.

Lung Detox Program involves cleaning lungs. Actually, the lungs of a smoker get charred and become black with each smoke. The smoker may be under the impression that he blows out the maximum smoke and inhale less. But, the fact remains that 90% of the smoke get into the body and only 10% is exhaled. The residue of nicotine and tar gets deposited on the lungs, which make the lungs become black. It has been found that lungs which were spoilt by one year smoking require 15 smoke-free years to get back to its original colour. For people waiting for 15 years will be very difficult. Here, the Lung Detox programs come to the rescue of all.

Smoking habit is very difficult to give up. Rather than the legislation and compulsion, it is the education of evil effects of smoking, associated with emotional attachments that will bring the change.

Stop Smoking Pills: Good or bad?

2007-12-22T16:35:00.000-08:00

Your resolution to quit smoking is just a pill away-- that's how some of the pill manufacturers advertise their products. The main enemy for the quit smoking researchers is nicotine. How to tame this greatest killer of humanity year after year is a matter of concern for all researchers.

In the recent past, they have developed many wonder drugs, claiming that they have almost made it, but soon many unanswered questions cropped up. Is it really possible to stop smoking by taking recourse to pills? If so, for how long the pill diet has to continue? Nicotine's chemical reaction on the body is their main target. Having known this, will they succeed to mimic or block nicotine's destructive powers? Researchers have also found out that certain pills have within them the in-built double-benefit scheme! They help you stop smoking and drop weight! Is it good or bad?

They say that the best friend is the worst enemy. Cigarettes were your best friend. Now suddenly you want to quit smoking. Naturally the worst experiences, call them sufferings, will meet you on the way. But it's time you cross each hurdle, without losing confidence and without giving up the race. All should be well, in the end!

Now, there is no doubt that enemy number one is nicotine. Strike this enemy so hard that there is no need to strike again. There is perfect agreement amongst the researchers on the subject. A revolutionary medicine is being developed, which when hits the market on a commercial scale, could be in the form of potion or pill. It is called Methoxsalen. This drug is also developed on the scientifically accepted fact that cigarette smoking is an addiction developed by human body's earnest desire, obsession for nicotine.

Curb the desire, say the scientists who developed this drug; elimination of this craving is possible, the researchers fervently believe! They have great hopes on this new discovery, which they hope, will produce precedent-shattering results!

Are they right this time? Logically speaking, it seems that they are moving on the correct track! It is just like removing thorn by thorn! They are out to develop ways and means to prevent nicotine to reach up to the brain. It is the brain that does the duty of producing happy and enjoyable sensations when you smoke. When the brain stops giving such signals, what will the poor addict do? He is now not interested in lighting another cigarette at all, and at the end of the day he finds that the packet is almost in tact.

Woman and Smoking

2007-12-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

God created women to represent beauty, love and purity on earth, give birth to human progeny and mother the human race. Woman, with her power of will, have reached the pinnacle of social and professional success today. Her intellectual genius and worth do not require any testimony but physically she remains as delicate and requires purity for her healthy survival. She is always supposed to be immaculate in every aspect that is why smoking cessation is all the more necessary for her as nicotine has worst consequences on women. Many researches have discovered that women are more susceptible to nicotine and have a slower metabolic cleaning system of nicotine from their body than men.

Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor that tightens blood vessels and restricts blood causing permanent damage to arteries. We have already read about the affects of smoking on human body and mind. The women, who smoke, suffer all the corollaries of tobacco use, like the way men do, as for example, increased risk of various cancers like lung, larynx, pharynx, mouth, kidney, esophagus, pancreas, kidney, and bladder and respiratory diseases. But to add on to the list of jeopardy women smokers are 12 times more prone to die from lung cancer than women who do not smoke. Also,- women smokers are ten times more likely to die from bronchitis and emphysema. Post-menopausal women and women on birth-control pills are at the top of the ‘risk chart' because smoking-related diseases can cause them death. Medications like Chantix are available; to help in quit smoking by overcoming the withdrawal effects like cravings for a smoke.

There is accurate awareness on many health risks of tobacco or cigarette smoke that are solely related to women. Let us know the affects of smoking which are unique to women and realize why smoking cessation is necessary;

Smoking affects on Menstruation, Menopause
Smoking women experience unusual vaginal discharge or bleeding in most of the cases.
The components of nicotine in the female body increase the frequency of secondary amenorrhea or absence of menstruation as well as irregularity of periods.
Smoking women reach natural menopause at least two years earlier than non-smokers or those who quitted smoking.

Smoking affects and oral contraceptives
Women who are smoking and using oral contraceptives are ten times more at risk of heart attack and stroke compared to those who are smoking but not taking contraceptives.
They are more at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as blood clots.
As the risk increases with age, the use of oral contraceptive is not recommended to a woman who is smoking and is over 35.

Smoking affects on Hormones
The benefits of Estrogen replacement therapy are many times negated by the increased cardiovascular and other health risks associated with cigarette smoking
Smoking women are at more risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke during the use of estrogens
Please let your doctor know about your tobacco before beginning hormone replacement therapy.

Smoking affects and Infertility
Many studies proved that smoking women have reduced fertility.
Smoking women were found to take more than one year to conceive.
Recent researches have represented the fact that the fertility of smoking women was 72% then that of non-smokers.

Smoking & Libido
During sexual arousal, the labia, clitoris, and vagina also swell up with blood enhancing sensation and arousal. As nicotine restricts blood flow that have a negative effect on sensation and arousal.

Smoking affects on Pregnancy
Tobacco chemicals passed to fetus from the blood stream of pregnant mothers.
Smoking during pregnancy results in preterm delivery, premature rupture of membranes, placenta previa, miscarriage, neonatal death.
The birth weight reduction depends on the quality of cigarettes a woman smokes during pregnancy; the more she smokes during pregnancy, lower the birth weight.
Recent studies refer to the reduction of the flow of blood in the placenta due to nicotine, which limits the amount of nutrients that reach the fetus.

Smoking affects on Infant health
Cigarette smoking increases the chances of sudden infant death syndrome including infant and prenatal deaths.
Babies born to smoking mothers suffer from learning disorders, attention deficit disorder and disruptive behavior.
Infants, whose mothers smoked during the time of pregnancy, have the same nicotine levels in their bloodstream as smoking adults. They go through nicotine withdrawal syndrome during their initial days of life.
Babies born to smoking mothers are on average 200 grams (8 ozs) lighter than babies born to non-smoking mothers.
Toddlers born to smoking mothers experience more ear aches, respiratory problems, colds, and illnesses requiring pediatrician visits compared to children born to nonsmoking mothers.

Not only a woman is victimized by tobacco use and cigarette smoking, the well-being of her baby is also endangered. If you understand the reasons behind the unquestionable necessity of quit smoking , there are many anti-smoking medications available, and Chantix is one of those medications that can be a boon, to the woman as well as her child.

Stop Smoking Pills

2007-12-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

Stop Smoking Pills

Chantix(Varenicline) can make your Quit Smoking effort easy. Chantix(Varenicline) enables smokers to see the light at the end of the tunnel, where they can live a healthy life sans smoking. Smoking is one habit difficult to kick; leaving no escape route for a smoker once he becomes nicotine dependent. Chantix be the last straw to redemption.

Quit smoking is a thought uppermost in the minds of most smokers, though it is a task easier said than done. Hence in the battle against smoking, quitters (smokers who quit smoking) are the winners eventually. If you are bent on quitting the momentary kick of the pull and drag of the unholy smoke, and win over the tempestuous craving of nicotine, Chantix(Varenicline) can simplify the task to a great extent.

Chantix(Varenicline), the latest smoking cessation pill is all bound to attain a cult status among the anti-smoking drug brigade, as it is seen to be the most efficient campaigner against the menace so far. Smoking will no more be fun, as Chantix(Varenicline) cuts off the usual thrill and the kick that nicotine induces in your brain. And withdrawal symptoms of quitting smoking won't be anymore a bitter pill to swallow, as Chantix(Varenicline) eases and soothes the symptoms.

Stop Smoking Pills

Habits are easy to acquire, hard to give up. Smoking is a hazardous human vice that is very difficult to lose once it gets into your system. In spite of health activists organizing workshops on quit smoking and the talk shows on the many evils of smoking, there is a spate in the number of people falling to the lure of this old, disastrous habit.

People keep smoking even when they know the dire consequences of the catastrophic performance that they duly observe, day in and day out. We talk of quit smoking, but it is easier said than done. Only people, who have undergone the trials and tribulations, trying to give up this costly habit, would be able to comprehend the immensity of the term “Quit Smoking.” One needs to be very determined and practical in any approach towards giving up smoking. Only a methodical and gradual approach, accentuated with a strong will to quit would help you in the fight against the menace of tobacco and nicotine.

Take a step by step approach, one at a time.

Getting ready to Quit Smoking:
Choose a date when you will start your quitting plan. If you have a smoking friend who also wants to quit, ask him to join you.
Try to answer when and why you smoke; the particular timings and situations e.g. after lunch or with evening snacks etc.
Try to change your smoking pattern: don’t keep the cigarettes handy, don’t use the usual hand for smoking, try another hand etc.
Buy the brand that you don’t enjoy smoking.
When you feel like smoking, try postponing it and chew a sugar free gum or drink water.
Don’t empty your ash tray; it will remind you how many cigarettes you have already smoked in a single day.

Quit Smoking Day:
Hide the ash tray and throw away the cigarettes; in short just get rid of them.
Hang around with people who don’t smoke, avoid the company of smokers for a while.
Stay busy and change your daily routines: have breakfast in the garden instead of the kitchen table etc.
Keep chewable gums and candies handy; eat them when you crave for a cigarette.
Feel happy about not smoking for the whole day and reward yourself with an outing or a movie with friends.
Visit the dentist to get your teeth cleaned and the nicotine stains removed, brush them regularly and resolve to keep them shining always by not smoking again.

Maintaining Quit Smoking:
It’s ok if you feel irritated or sleepy; these may be the withdrawal symptoms. You’ll be fine in a few days.
Feel good that you are able to quit. Think about your family, as now you are getting healthier and no more a health risk.
Don’t remain hungry, eat to your fill. Hunger may mislead you as a craving for the cigarette.
Do regular exercise or go for a walk.
Collect the money(that otherwise you would have spent on cigarettes) everyday in a piggy jar
If you trip from the plan once and smoke, don’t get discouraged. Start again with a new hope; you can as you did it earlier.

Stop Smoking Hypnosis

2007-12-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

For thousands of years, the power of proposal has played a foremost role in healing in cultures as olden as India, Persia, and Greece. Hypnotherapy uses both the control of submission and trance-like states to access the earnest levels of the mind to affect affirmative changes in a person’s manners and to treat a range of health surroundings. In 1958, the American Medical Association (AMA) approved the use of hypnotherapy as a valid medical treatment.
Stop smoking hypnosis
Hypnotherapy is a tool for creation positive changes in one’s life. Even though encountering troubles is a part of livelihood, we carry within ourselves the resources to decide troubles and to lead a fulfilling life. Hypnosis is not magical, nor occult. It is a normal state of mind. Therapeutic research and psychological experiments have brought hypnosis out of the realm of magic. The hypnotic skill is one striking and instructive effect of a common human capacity to experience changes in consciousness. Hypnosis produces a highly relaxed state during which a client’s conscious and subconscious mind is paying attention and receptive to therapeutic suggestions. It facilitates modify on many different levels (mind/body/spirit). Hypnosis utilizes the powers of the hidden mind, the part where all information of past events and experiences are stored, while bypassing the mindful mind, the critical thinking part that sensors all information coming in. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis; the hypnotherapist is merely a facilitator in that process.

Hypnosis is a safe procedure when practiced by a trained professional hypnotherapist. It produces a very pleasant and refreshing experience. Modern hypnotherapy is utilized for a variety of difficulties. Typical applications are, but are not incomplete to, stress management, weight administration, smoking cessation, pain management, memory and concentration improvement, and self enhancement, as well as help with issues related to eating disorders, depression, phobias, anxieties, insomnia, addictions, sexual troubles, and self esteem. In the field of medicine, hypnosis is frequently used pre- and post-operatively to lessen the amount of anesthesia needed, to lessen blood loss, to relieve pain, and to hasten the healing process. Dentistry utilizes hypnotherapy to aid patients who experience a fear of dental work, TMJ and bruxism, tongue biting, overproduction of saliva, or gagging and to control bleeding during oral surgery.
Now stop smoking hypnosis
The professional hypnotherapist makes an initial assessment as to whether hypnotic treatment is advisable. The client will be asked to discuss the appropriateness with his or her physician, if the troubles is of a medical nature, prior to treatment with hypnotherapy. A client history is taken in order to assess whether there are emotional or physical conditions which might prohibit the use of hypnotherapy. Treatment will vary depending on the severity of the trouble and may take from one to several sessions. Characteristically, treatment with hypnotherapy is short term.

Because of the abuse of hypnosis by stage hypnotists, there are several misconceptions about hypnosis. One is that the customer loses consciousness. You will be aware of the whole thing at all times. Loss of control is another misconception. The client is always in control throughout the session. If the client wishes to terminate the trance state, he or she may do so by simply opening the eyes. No one can be made to do anything against his or her will. Stage hypnotists like their audiences to believe that the hypnotist has total control over the subjects. However, professional hypnotherapists will make it clear that the client is in control.

Managing Cravings

2007-12-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

When you really crave a cigarette

Keep in mind: The advise to smoke will come and go. Try to wait it out. Or seem at the plan you made preceding week. You wrote downward steps to take at a time like this. Try them! You can also try these tips:
Keep other things approximately instead of cigarettes. Try carrots, pickles, sunflower seeds, apples, celery, raisins, or sugarfree gum.

Wash your hands or the dishes when you want a cigarette very badly. Or take a shower.
Stop smoking pills
Learn to relax fast by taking deep breaths.
Take 10 slow, deep breaths and hold the last one.
Then breathe out leisurely.
Relax all of your brute force.
Picture a peaceful, pleasant scene.
Just get away from it all for a moment.
Think only about that peaceful image and zilch else.

Light incense or a candle instead of a cigarette.

Where you are and what is going on can build you crave a cigarette. A change of scene can really help. Go outside, or go to a unlike room. You can also try changing what you are doing.

No stuff what, don't think, "Just one won't hurt." It will hurt. It will undo your work so far.

Remember: Trying something to beat the urge is always better than trying nothing.

Withdrawal: How You May Feel When You Quit

Common approach of smoking withdrawal include:
Feeling depressed
Not being able to sleep
Getting cranky, frustrated, or mad
Feeling anxious, nervous, or restless
Having trouble thinking clearly
Feeling hungry or gaining weight

Not all and sundry has feelings of taking out. You may have one or many of these problems. And they may last different amounts of time. The medicines described in this show can help.

What To Do If You Do Slip

Don't be dispirited if you slip up and smoke one or two cigarettes. It's not a lost cause. One cigarette is better than an entire pack. But that doesn't mean you can safely smoke every now and then, no matter how long ago you quit. One cigarette may seem harmless, but it can quickly lead back to one or two packs a day.

Many ex-smokers had to try stopping many times before they finally succeeded. When people slip up, it's usually within the first three months after quitting. Here's what you can do if this happens:
Understand that you've had a slip. You've had a small setback. This doesn't make you a smoker again.

Don't be too hard on yourself. One slip up doesn't make you a failure. It doesn't mean you can't quit for good.

Don't be too easy on yourself either. If you slip up, don't say, "Well, I've blown it. I might as well smoke the rest of this pack." It's important to get back on the non-smoking track right away. Remember, your goal is no cigarettes - not even one puff.

Feel good about all the time you went without smoking. Try to learn how to make your coping skills better.

Find the trigger. Exactly what was it that made you smoke? Be aware of that trigger. Decide now how you will cope with it when it comes up again.

Learn from your experience. What has helped you the most to keep from smoking? Make sure to do that on your next try.

Are you using a medicine to help you quit? Don't stop using your medicine after only one or two cigarettes. Stay with it. It will help you get back on track.

Know and use the tips in this booklet. People with even one coping skill are more likely to stay non-smokers than those who don't know any. START to stop again!

See your doctor or another health professional. He or she can help motivate you to quit smoking.

Staying Quit
Sticking With It
Beating an addiction to nicotine takes a lot of will power and determination. You should feel great about yourself for making it so far. Now's the time to focus on sticking with it.

Keeping Your Guard Up

Your body has changed since you began to smoke. Your brain has learned to crave nicotine. So certain places, people, or events can trigger a strong urge to smoke, even years after quitting. That's why you should never take a puff again, no matter how long it has been since you quit.

At first, you may not be able to do things as well as when you were smoking. Don't worry. This won't last long. Your mind and body just need to get used to being without nicotine.

After you've quit, the advise to smoke often hits at the same times. For many people, the hardest place to defend against the urge is at home. And many urges hit when someone else is smoking nearby. Look at your Craving Journal to see when you might be tempted. Then use the skills you've learned to get through your urges devoid of smoking.

Fighting The Urges

Review the tips in this guide to help you fight the urge to smoke. These tips are meant to help you stay a non-smoker.

Staying Upbeat

As you go from end to end the first days and weeks without smoking, keep a positive outlook. Don't blame or punish yourself if you do have a cigarette. Don't think of smoking as "all or none." Instead, take it one day at a time. bear in mind that quitting is a learning process.

Keep Rewarding Yourself For Not Smoking

Now that you aren't buying cigarettes, you probably have more spending money. For example, if you used to smoke one pack per day:
After You've saved
1 day $5
1 week $35
1 month $150
1 year $1,820
10 years $18,200
20 years $36,400

Think about starting a "money jar" if you haven't already. Put your cigarette money aside for each day you don't smoke. Soon you'll have enough money to buy a reward for yourself.

What you should do on Your Quit Day

2007-12-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

Step by step quit smoking

This is the day you start your life without smoking! Tell everybody who surrounds you that today is your quit date. Ask this people to help you at least the first few days and weeks. Their support will be a great helping hand for you.
Using Your Support Program
If you have a wish to use a support program, use it fully. Visit their meetings. Use your telephone quitline. Visit your Internet site. The more help you get, the more likely you will quitsmoking.
If you are using medicine to help you quit, follow the directions. If you don't, can go back to smoking. Also, don't be anxious to stop using drugs. Stick with it for at least 12 weeks. Or follow your doctor's prescription.

Full up your day.
Watch the movie.
Study.
Take long walks or run.
Go bike riding.

Spend most of the time at places, where smoking is forbidden. Some good places are malls, libraries, museums, theaters, department stores, churches.

Some people miss cigarette in their hand. You can hold something else. Use a pencil, a paper clip, a marble, or a water bottle.

If you miss having something in your mouth, try toothpicks, cinnamon sticks, lollipops, hard candy, sugarfree gum, or carrots.

Drink a lot of water and juice. Avoid alcohol. When you drink you are most likely to start smoking again.
Stay Away from What Tempts You
Don’t smoke after you eat – get up and go away from the table. Brush your teeth or go for a walk.

Instead of smoking while driving, try something different: you can listen to a new radio station or your favorite music. Change your route. Or take the train or bus for a change.

Try to stay away from things that remind you about smoking. Do it constantly for the next few weeks. These may be:
Watching your favorite TV program
Sitting in your favorite chair
Having a drink before dinner

Try not to visit places where smoking is allowed while you’re quitting.
You should know that most people don't smoke. Try to stick around non-smokers if you must be somewhere you'll be tempted to smoke, for example at a party or in a bar.

Overview of the Basic Steps I

2007-12-22T15:31:00.001-08:00

I Quit Smoking
Just thinking about quitting may make you nervous. But your chances will be better if you get prepared first. Quitting works best when you're ready. Before you quit, START by taking these five significant steps:

S = Set a quit date.
T = Tell family, friends, and co-workers that you are about to quit.
A = Await and plan for the challenges you'll face while quitting.
R = Remove cigarettes from your home, car, and work.
T = Talk to your doctor about quitting and ask for help.

Getting ready to Quit

Set a Quit Date

Choose a date within the next two weeks to quit. That gives you enough time to get prepared. But it's not so long that you will lose your wish to quit.

Think about choosing a extraordinary day:
Your birthday or wedding anniversary
New Year's Day
Independence Day (July 4)
World No Tobacco Day (May 31)
The Great American Smokeout (the third Thursday of each November)

If you smoke at work, quit on holiday or during a day off. That way you'll already be cigarette-free when you get back.

Stop Smoking Cigarettes

Quitting smoking cigarettes is easier with the help of others. Tell your family, friends, and co-workers that you plan to quit. Think about how they can help you.

Someone likes to have people ask how things are going. Others find it nosy. Tell the people you care about right how they can help. Here are some ideas:
Ask everyone to comprehend your change in mood. Repeat them that this won't last long. (The worst will be over within two weeks.) Tell them this: "The longer I go without cigarettes, the quicker I'll be my old self."

Does someone related to you smoke cigarettes? Ask them to quit with you, or at least not to smoke when you are around.

Do you take any medicines? Tell your pharmacist you are quitting. Nicotine alters how some drugs work. You may need to adjust your prescriptions after you quit smoking.

Help To Stop Smoking

Get help from other people. You can try to discuss with others one-on-one or in a group. You can also get support on the phone. You can even use an Internet chat room. This kind of support assists smokers quit. The more support you get, the better. But even a small thing can help.

Await and Plan for the Challenges You'll Face While Quitting

Expecting challenges is an important part of getting prepared to quit.

Most people who go back to smoking do it during three months. Your first three months may be tough. You may be more tempted when you are nervous or feeling down. It's hard to be ready for these times before they occur. But it lends a hands to know when you need a cigarette most.

Look over your Craving Journal. See when you may be excited to smoke. Plan for how to deal with the urge before it strikes.

You should also anticipate feelings of withdrawal. Withdrawal is the uneasiness of giving up nicotine. It is your body's way of telling you it's becoming smoke-free. These feelings will go away soon.

Remove Cigarettes and Other Tobacco From Your Home, Car, and Work

Getting rid of things that remind you of smoking will also help out you get ready to quit. Try these ideas:
Make things sanitary and fresh at work, in your car, and at home. Wash your drapes and clothes. Shampoo your car. Buy yourself flowers. You will take pleasure in their scent as your sense of smell gets back.

Get rid of all your cigarettes and matches, your lighters and ashtrays. Don’t forget the ashtray and lighter in your car!

Go to your dentist to clean your teeth to get rid of smoking stains. See how great they shine. Try to keep the teeth that way.

Some smokers leave one pack of cigarettes. They do it "just in case." Or they want to demonstrate they have the willpower not to smoke. Don't! Saving even one cigarette just makes it easier to start smoking again.

Don't use other forms of tobacco as an alternative to cigarettes

Light or low-tar cigarettes are just as harmful as standard cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco, cigars, pipes, and herbal cigarettes also damage your health. For example, bidi cigarettes are just as terrible as regular cigarettes. Clove cigarettes are even worse. They have more tar, nicotine, and deadly gases. All tobacco products have damaging chemicals and poisons.

Medicines That Help With Withdrawal
Pill to stop smoking
When you quit smoking, you may feel different at first. You may feel dull, stressed, and not yourself. These are signs that your body is getting used to life without nicotine. As a rule it only lasts a few weeks.

Most people just can't handle how they feel after they quit. They start smoking again to feel well again. Maybe this has happened to you. Most people slip up in the first week after quitting. This is when feelings of withdrawal are toughest.

There are medicines that can help with feelings of withdrawal:
Bupropion SR pills
Nicotine inhaler
Nicotine lozenge
Nicotine nasal spray
Nicotine patch
Nicotine gum

pill to stop smoking

With these medicines you can double your chances of quitting for good. Ask your doctor for recommendation. But remember: Medicine alone can't do all the job. It can help with cravings and withdrawal, but quitting will still be tough at times.

Here is more information about the different medicines.

Nicotine Gum, Patch, Inhaler, Spray, and Lozenge (NRT)

Nicotine gum, patches, inhalers, sprays, and lozenges are called nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). That's because they change nicotine from cigarettes. NRT can help with withdrawal and lessen your need to smoke.

You must have a prescription to get the inhaler and nasal spray. But you can buy nicotine gum, nicotine patches, and nicotine lozenges without the prescription.

Other Medicines for easy way to quit smoking

Bupropion SR is a medicine that has no nicotine. You must take a prescription to buy these pills. They seem to assist with withdrawal and lessen the urge to smoke.

Some people have other effects when using bupropion SR pills. The side effects include dry mouth and not being able to sleep.

This medicine isn't right for:
Pregnant women
People who have seizures
People with eating problems
Alcoholics

Ask your doctor, dentist, or pharmacist if this medicine is okay for you. Make sure to use it the way your doctor prescribes it.

Overview of the Basic Steps

2007-12-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Thinking About Quitting

2007-12-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Why quit smoking?
First, you should come to a decision for sure that you want to quit. Second - assure yourself that you'll do it. It's OK to have different opinion. Don't let that prevent you from quitting. There will be times every daytime that you don't feel like quitting. You will have to deal with it anyway.
Find reasons to quit that are important to you. Think of more than just health reasons. For example, think of:
How much cash you'll bank by not buying cigarettes
The time you'll spend for yourself instead of taking cigarette breaks, hurrying up out to buy a pack, or searching for a lighter.
You won’t cough as much.
You will be a better example for your children
Write down all the motivation why you want to quit. List ways to fight the urge to smoke, too. Stick your list where you'll see it repeatedly. Good places are:
Where you put your cigarettes
In your folder or bag
In the kitchen, on the frige
In your car
When you look up for a cigarette you'll find your list. It will remind you why you desire to stop.
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What's inside a Cigarette?
Your body not only gets nicotine when you smoke.
There are more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke. Some of them are also in wood lacquer, the insect poison DDT, arsenic, nail polish remover, and rat poison.
The ashes, tar, gases, and other poisons in cigarettes destroy your body all the time. They damage your heart and lungs. They also make it impossible for you to taste and smell things in the right way, and fight infections.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report of the Surgeon General. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000.

Reasons for Quitting
Here are some examples of reasons to quit:
I will feel healthier immediately.
I will have more liveliness and better focus.
My sense of smell and taste will be better.
I will have whiter teeth and fresher breath.
I will cough less and take breaths healthier.
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I will be recovered the rest of my living.
I will minor my risk for cancer, heart attacks, strokes, early death, cataracts, and skin wrinkling.
I will make sure my partner, friends, family, kids, grandchildren, and co-workers they can be proud of me.
I will be overconfident of myself.
I will feel more in charge of my life.
I will be a superior role model for others.
I will have more money saved.
I won't have to think of: "When will I get to smoke next?" or "What do I do when I'm in a smoke-free place?"

Even a little second-hand smoke is risky.
Second-hand smoke can become the reason cancer in non-smokers. It can also cause inhalation problems and heart disease. People who breathe second-hand smoke get infected more easily. And they often die in younger age than those who don't breathe it.

Pregnant women who breathe second-hand smoke have many dangers:
They may lose their children.
Their babies may be of a very low weight.
Their babies can die of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
Their children may be irritable, restless, and get ill more often.
Their children are more likely to have problems at school.

Children who breathe second-hand smoke have difficulty too. They are much more likely to get breathing problems like asthma. They also are more likely to get ear and lung infections (like pneumonia).

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 10: Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. National Cancer Institute, August 1999.
There's no better time to quit than right now.
Women who smoke have problems with getting pregnant.

Why is Quitting So Hard?

2007-12-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

Several ex-smokers say quitting was the hardest thing they ever did. Do you feel passionate? You're probably addicted to nicotine. Nicotine is in all tobacco products. It makes you feel calm and satisfied. At the same time, you feel more alert and focused. The more you smoke, the more nicotine you need to feel good. Soon, you don't feel "normal" without nicotine. It takes time to break free from nicotine compulsion. It may take more than one try to quit for good. So don't give up too soon. You will feel good again.
Stop Smoking Cigarettes!
Quitting is also hard because smoking is a big part of your life. You enjoy holding cigarettes and puffing on them. You may smoke when you are stressed, bored, or angry. After months and years of lighting up, smoking becomes part of your daily routine. You may light up without even thinking about it.
Smoking goes with other things, too. You may light up when you feel a certain way or do certain things. For example:
Drinking coffee, wine, or beer
Talking on the phone
Driving
Being with other smokers
You may even feel painful not smoking at times or in chairs where you usually have a cigarette. These times and places are called "triggers." That's because they trigger, or turn on, cigarette cravings. Breaking these habits is the hardest part of quitting for some smokers.
Quitting isn't easy. Just reading this direct won't do it. It may take more than a few tries. But you learn amazing each time you try. It takes will power and strength to beat your addiction to nicotine. Keep in mind that millions of people have quit smoking for good. You can be one of them!

Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking

2007-12-22T14:42:00.001-08:00

Smoking hurts nearly every organ of the body; causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general. Each year in the United States the poor health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 438,000 deaths, or nearly 1 of every 5 deaths. More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, different injuries, suicides, and murders together.
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Cancer is the second leading cause of death and it is among the primary diseases causally linked to smoking.
Smoking results about 90% of lung cancer deaths in women and almost 80% of lung cancer deaths in men. The danger of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes, and about 13 times higher among women- smokers contrasted with never smokers.
Smoking is the reason why cancers of the bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx (voice box), esophagus, cervix, kidney, lung, pancreas, and stomach, and causes acute myeloid leukemia appear.
Rates of cancers related to cigarette smoking differ extensively among members of racial/ethnic groups, but are usually highest in African-American men.
Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the primary cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smokers are 2–4 times more likely to get coronary heart disease than nonsmokers.
Cigarette smoking roughly doubles a person's risk for stroke.
Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by thinning the blood vessels (arteries). Smokers are more than 10 times as likely as nonsmokers to increase peripheral vascular disease.
Smoking is the reason abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Cigarette smoking is associated with a tenfold enlarge in the risk of dying from chronic obstructive lung disease. About 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung diseases are connected to cigarette smoking.
Cigarette smoking has many bad reproductive and early childhood effects, including an increased risk for childlessness, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Postmenopausal women who smoke have lower bone mass than women who never smoked. Women who smoke have a larger than before risk for hip breakage than never smokers.

see also:
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