Archive for the ‘quit nicotine’ Category
One of the most popular ways smokers can to stop smoking, is known as “cold turkey” The phrase smoking cold turkey means to stop smoking instantly with no gradual reduction i.e. just stop and give your system a short sharp shock.
How effective is it and how can you increase your chances of success?
Let’s find out.
Quitting smoking cold turkey means to stop smoking without using any nicotine replacement therapy aids like gum, patches or inhalers.
Quitting smoking cold turkey is the most popular method – but not the most successful.
Why?
“Cold Turkey” is the most difficult method of quitting smoking, due to the extreme symptoms the receiving no nicotine causes.
You can improve your chances for permanently quitting cigarettes, with the cold turkey method, if you follow a few guidelines, which we outline below.
First let’s look at how difficult it is to stop using cold turkey.
Withdrawal of nicotine causes the following problems that include: irritability, fatigue and nausea and they will be intense and always be there in the first few weeks after giving up.
The most difficult period is the first the first 72 hours – however, the symptoms and severity reduce and eventually cease altogether.
Ways to increase your chances of success
1. Drink lots of water to flush out your system several liters a day is recommended
2. When cravings hit – THINK of all the reasons you are quitting and concentrate on why you don’t want to smoke. Focus totally, on the benefits of why you have given up for a few minutes.
3. Get support. If you can do cold turkey with someone else or get support and help from groups, either on the Internet or in your community.
4. Keep yourself busy and occupy your day. The busier you are, the less time you’ll have to think about the withdrawal symptoms.
Your chances of success depend on:
Simply, how much you really want to quit.
In addition, whether or not you believe you can do it – if you think you can do it you will. If you think you cant you will not succeed.
If you want to quit smoking more than you want the cigarettes – and you believe that you can quit, then you’ll be successful.
Waiting for Nicotine levels to drop
If this level of nicotine is not maintained, then the smoker will experience varying degrees of drug withdrawal.
As long as any nicotine remains in the bloodstream the body will keep craving it and give the feeling of cold turkey. Within a few weeks withdrawal sypmtoms will cease altogether as Nicotine levels drop to zero and cravings disappear.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Many smokers can’t take cold turkey and go for patches, gum and inhalers to feed the body Nicotine as they stop smoking.
Chances of success with NRT are double that of quitting smoking by “cold turkey”
At the end of the day, it depends on willpower – cold turkey with the right mindset works. If you lack will power try NRT.
When you are forced to give up smoking!
Many smokers are forced to stop smoking for long periods as they cant smoke.
For example, when flying, in restaurants and when there at work, or they choose not to smoke, when their with young children.
NRT is helpful for them and there are also a number of herbal ways of giving up smoking and one that looks set to become very popular is Nicotine water, which is simply water with Nicotine.
So, when cravings set in the smoker can simply sip it and many will find this a very simple convenient method.
Finally
Cold turkey is effective but needs willpower for those who are forced to cut down or lack will power there are a number of products to help beat the craving, if you choose not to smoke or can’t smoke.
Sacha Tarkovsky
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/smoking-cold-turkey-beating-nicotine-cravings-56864.html
Smoking is hard to quit because it causes addiction. Although for a non-smoker quitting may seem easy, in reality it’s pretty hard. According to a recent study, on average it takes smokers 7 times before succeeding quitting for good. But this shouldn’t discourage you.
In order to succeed in quitting you first have to have a plan. You can’t expect to just quit without putting any effort into it. You should create a plan, and you should try to stick to it. What you should do is try to follow a few basic quit smoking steps.
The basic 6 Quit Smoking Steps
The first quit smoking step is to be determined. First you should set a quit date. Write it down in your agenda, on your calendar, tell your family and friends, let everybody know that you are quitting. This way you will also be sure to get their support. A very important thing you should do when starting a process like this one is to throw away everything related to smoking. A helpful tip is to stay away, at least at the beginning, from smoking areas and cigarettes.
The second quit smoking step is to fight your nicotine addiction. This sure won’t be easy, but you have to do it. Every time when you feel the need to smoke try to take a deep breath. Also drinking a lot of liquids, preferably water, will also help. You may need to put something in your mouth in order to replace the cigarette sensation. You can use a chewing gum. Distracting your attention from smoking by doing something else is a tip you may need to use.
A balanced diet is one of the 6 quit smoking steps. You have to be very careful what you put in your stomach. Avoid fat food and try to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.
Reorienting your life is a necessary step in this process. Plan to do something you enjoy every day of your life. Developing new habits like regular exercises can be a good idea.
One of the quit smoking steps is to think positive and try to visualize the success. Try to change your appearance, avoid stress, remember smoking doesn’t do you any good and develop a positive life outlook.
The final step to quitting is to be persistent. Persevere with the quit smoking plan, keep remembering the reasons why you quit smoking and always turn down cigars that other people may offer you. Don’t let yourself distracted and encourage others to follow your example.
Jonathan Fraser
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/every-single-bizarre-quit-smoking-step-122447.html
As the health hazards of smoking become more obvious and laws against the habit become for forceful, many people trying to quit smoking by hypnosis are having more success than with other methods. Smoking is understood to be an addiction to nicotine and not just a habit that is hard to break and some consider the approximate 65 percent success rate as being a good return.
One of the main misconceptions about hypnotism is that people can be made to do just about anything. However, they cannot be made to do something their subconscious would refuse. Many people have been able to quit smoking hypnosis because the suggestion is placed in their subconscious that they are a non-smoker and the conscious mind does not know any better.
When a person is under hypnosis, it is really just a totally relaxed state of mind in which the conscious mind opens and allows thoughts and words to enter the subconscious. The subconscious mind will interpret most of what it hears as fact and if told they do not smoke, their efforts to quit smoking by hypnosis will be successful.
Remaining Smoke Free Is Conscious Decision
Once the person is no longer in this state of deep relaxation, depending on the strength of the suggestion placed in the subconscious, they may rekindle their smoking addiction. Nationally, the success rate to quit smoking by hypnosis is 65 percent on the first session. The success rate increases for those attempting to quit smoking by hypnosis a second time.
Other behavior modifications can be influenced and typically a hypnotherapist or a hypnosis clinic will offer help to quit smoking by hypnosis as well as achieve weight loss. The acceptance of being able to quit smoking by hypnosis is such that some hypnotherapists are offering a do-it-yourself kit, which includes visual stimuli as well as recorded suggestions.
The quit smoking kits are available to be played either on a home DVD player on a home computer and can be used over and over until the desired change in behavior has been achieved. Some hypnotherapists believe these are merely gimmicks and will not provide any beneficial results while others, including people who have successfully achieved their objective, stand behind their success.
Those trying to quit should consult with a certified hypnotist to ensure they truly know how to enter a person’s subconscious mind and plant suggestions the correct way. This technique will certainly be of great benefit to you if used wisely. Enjoy it along with your cigerette free lifestyle.
Dane Bergen
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/quit-smoking-by-hypnosis-for-better-health-114163.html
It is now a fact that smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general. It is also a fact that quitting smoking has immediate as well as long term benefits. Smoking cigarettes with lower machine-measured yields of tar and nicotine provides no clear benefit to health.
Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. In fact, smoking tobacco is the major risk factor for lung cancer. People who smoke are 10 to 20 times more likely to get lung cancer or die from lung cancer than people who do not smoke. The longer a person smokes and the more cigarettes smoked each day increases the risk for developing lung cancer.
People who quit smoking have a lower risk of lung cancer than if they had continued to smoke, but their risk is higher than people who never smoked.
You Can Quit Smoking! If you have tried to quit you know how hard it can be and the reason is that nicotine is a very addictive drug. Usually people make two or three tries before they successfully quit. Each time you try to quit and fail, you can learn what works for you and what situations are problematic. If you use proven cessation treatments it can double your chance of success.
Studies have shown that these five steps will help you quit and quit for good. You have the best chances of quitting if you use them together.
First, set a quit date and get rid of all cigarettes, ashtrays and lighters. Don´t let people smoke around you. When you quit, don´t smoke at all! Not one single puff or cigarette.
Second, get support from telling your family and friends. Tell your co-workers that you are going to quit and want their support. Ask them not to smoke around you or offer you cigarettes. Talk to your health care provider and get individual, group, or telephone counseling. The more help you have, the better your chances are of quitting.
Third, learn new skills and behaviors so you distract yourself from urges to smoke. Talk to someone, go for a walk, or get busy with a task. When you first try to quit, change your routines. Use a different route to work and drink tea instead of coffee. Eat breakfast in a different place. Drink a lot of water and other fluids.
Fourth, Medications can help you stop smoking and lessen the urge to smoke. The FDA has approved six medications to help you quit smoking and a couple of them, like Nicotine gum, are available over-the-counter. Your health care provider can advice and you should also carefully read the information on the package. These medications will double your chances of quitting and quitting for good.
Fifth, You shall be prepared for relapse and difficult situations. Most relapses occur within the first three months after quitting. Don’t be discouraged if you start smoking again. Remember, most people try several times before they finally quit.
The following are some difficult situations you may encounter: Avoid drinking alcohol. Drinking lowers your chances of success. Being around smoking can make you want to smoke. Many smokers will gain some weight when they quit, usually less than 10 pounds. Eat a healthy diet and stay active.
Keith George
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/quit-smoking-this-year-50199.html
Smokers who want to quit smoking may use nicotine patch to relieve themselves from the withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine patch only has one-third of nicotine usually found in cigarette smoke. So, it can help you to reduce your dependence on nicotine. But what if you exercise while using a nicotine patch? Will it cause any complications?
First, you need to understand how the patch works. Nicotine patch is available in three dosages: 21mg, 14mg, and 7mg. Its objective is to reduce the consumption level of nicotine gradually over time, usually in a period of 12 weeks. When you apply the patch on your skin, the nicotine will enter your blood stream through the skin. You will begin to cut down the dosage according to the schedule as advised by your doctor. Then you stop completely at the end of the treatment period.
Exercise can provide many health benefits. In quitting smoking, exercise can reduce stress and help to shed off unwanted weight. Many smokers fear weight gain when they stop smoking. To convince yourself that exercise can improve your health, especially after quitting smoking, record your resting pulse on the day you quit. Monitor your pulse again after six weeks. You will notice a sharp drop in your pulse. This means there’s improvement in your heart.
Recently, an Austrian research concluded that regular exercise can help smokers using nicotine patch to quit smoking. In the study which involves 68 subjects, 80% of the participants who exercise remained smoke free at the end of three months compared to 52% who didn’t exercise.
However, some researches believe that strenuous exercise can lead to nicotine toxicity. When you exercise, your skin temperature increases, your blood vessels expand, and your circulation improves. This will double the absorption of nicotine from the patch into the blood stream. As a result, you may suffer from a heart attack.
The two missing elements in the Austrian study are: do the participants who exercise have their patches applied and how strenuous are the exercises performed. Since no studies can confirm this concern, it is suggested that smokers remove the patches two hours before engaging in any strenuous exercise.
If you plan to use nicotine patch, your chances of quitting will be higher when combined with regular exercise. Just remember to take the patch out before you start the exercise. Daily exercise can help you to ease the withdrawal symptoms. You should consult with your doctor before you begin this program. Your doctor can help you to plan a schedule to reduce the dosage of nicotine patch.
Andy Lim
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-if-you-exercise-while-using-nicotine-patch-71897.html
If you want to quit smoking it can be very helpful to do a little preparation first. This preparation will allow you to preview the challenges ahead and it will give you a way to decide how to cope with those challenges before they become a problem. The idea is to learn to disassociate yourself entirely from nicotine and the feelings you might have for it while at the same time coping with nicotine withdrawl symptoms. A day or two of this type of preparation can mean the difference between success and failure.
Making Peace
For a lot of smokers, cigarettes are almost like little friends with personalities and human-like qualities. These “friends” have been with us through good times and bad and that bond that must be broken. To do this, you should really look at your cigarettes and analyze the entire smoking experience. You’ll discover that there is nothing magical about any of it and as much as you might love your cigarettes, they sure don’t love you back. You are emotionally attached to paper, tobacco, a filter, and some added chemicals and this makes no sense whatsoever. With that realization, you can begin to separate yourself from cigarettes and it will be that much easier for you to quit.
Trial Runs
A trial run isn’t really a quit attempt but rather it is a way to educate yourself about what to expect. It is very simple – you just go as long as you can without smoking and then when you finally do light up, you take note of what happened and why. For example, if you smoke when you go out then you know you need to stay home for a while. If you just couldn’t fight the nicotine fit any longer then you need to learn how to do that. If you light up just for something to do then you need to train yourself to find an alternative. This is a guilt-free way to quit without quitting and to gather all the facts you need to be successful. Knowledge is power and this knowledge can be very powerful indeed.
Arm Yourself
Your trial run should reveal what you’ll need help with when you quit. Some people need something to do with their hands, some people need to eat, other people just need a way to make it past the nic fits. If you think you’ll need something to munch on, go grocery shopping. If you think drinking a ton of ice water will help, make some ice cubes. If the sight of an ashtray gives you the shakes, throw them all away (do this anyway). Gather up everything you think you’ll need so you won’t be able to blame the lack of these items on your decision to give up and smoke.
Your Last Cigarette
Now that you are ready to quit there is the matter of that last cigarette. Savor it, enjoy it, smoke it nice and slow and when you are done you can put it out knowing that it was your last one. It can be extremely helpful to time it to coincide with your bedtime so you can go to bed satisfied and wake up 8 or 10 hours into your quit. Without even trying, you’ll already be about 1/3 through your first day!
Rich Danger
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/preparing-to-quit-smoking-103265.html
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an estimated 44.5 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes and may suffer from a nicotine addiction. But, what exactly is a smoking or nicotine addiction? Well, the medical community has defined a smoking addiction as an uncontrollable dependence on cigarettes to the point where stopping causes emotional distress! These very same proponents are generally advocates of the addiction disease model, which promotes the hypothesis of chemical dependency and the affects of substances on the brain. Let’s examine that hypothesis for a moment! If discontinuing smoking causes emotional distress, is not rational to conclude that the emotional stress was present before the addiction occurred? Furthermore, is it not also rational to believe that the emotional distress is the direct cause of the addiction? In my opinion, absolutely, unequivocally yes!!
The questions are; what is the root cause of this emotional distress, and what role does nicotine play in alleviating that distress? First, let’s examine the affects of nicotine on the body and mind. It is true that nicotine is a psychoactive drug that stimulates electrical activity of the brain. And, it also has a calming effect, especially at times of stress. As with every addiction, smoking merely diverts people from their emotional pain! While everyday stresses can exacerbate the situation they are not the main cause of the emotional pain that needs to be calmed. Generally, underlying emotional trauma caused by family dysfunction is at the root of the addiction. This emotional trauma batters the self-esteem and self-confidence levels which lessens the ability to cope with everyday stresses, whereby causing anxiety. So, in my opinion, liberating oneself from that anxiety is the key to nicotine addiction freedom. Consequently, when you remove the anxiety smoking becomes repulsive!
The medical community’s response is a direct contrast to the underpinning cause of nicotine addiction and has closely followed the disease hypothesis with the introduction of the drug Chantix. Chantix was released by the FDA in the United States (in June 2006.) The drug is believed to block nicotine from reaching receptors in the brain whereby reducing the so called cravings to smoke. In addiction, Chantix is a partial agonist that activates release of 35 to 60% of the dopamine that nicotine would have caused to flow if sitting on the exact same receptors. This release of dopamine is believed to produce the same emotional effect that nicotine delivers without the damaging effects of smoking. Dopamine has many functions in the brain, including important roles in behavior and cognition, motor activity, motivation and reward, sleep, mood, attention, and learning. So, let me get this straight! The solution for overcoming a nicotine addiction is to acknowledge emotional distress as a component, dismiss it, and then trade one psychoactive substance for another!
Sadly, prior to the release of Chantix there was clear evidence that it caused side effects such as nausea, mood alterations, drowsiness, vivid dreams, and allergic rash in up to one-third of patients. But, that isn’t even the half of it! Now, after about 4 million smokers have taken Chantix, about 40 suicides have been reported to the FDA associated with Chantix and about 400 cases of suicidal thinking or behavior from this psychoactive drug. The Food and Drug Administration issued the following warning on February 1, 2008:
FDA ALERT: FDA is issuing this Alert to highlight important revisions to the WARNINGS and PRECAUTIONS sections of the full prescribing information for Chantix regarding serious neuropsychiatric symptoms. Serious neuropsychiatric symptoms have occurred in patients taking Chantix. These symptoms include changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal ideation, and attempted and completed suicide. While some patients may have experienced these types of symptoms and events as a result of nicotine withdrawal, some patients taking Chantix who experienced serious neuropsychiatric symptoms and events had not yet discontinued smoking. In most cases, neuropsychiatric symptoms developed during Chantix treatment, but in others, symptoms developed following withdrawal of Chantix therapy.
Chantix has been promoted as having a 44% success rate at 12 weeks. However, that figure is really rather meaningless since half of Chantix clinical trial users who successfully quit smoking for 12 weeks while using it had relapsed to smoking within a year. Source (whyquit.com)
The Real Reason you Smoke
The key is to realize that nicotine does have a calming effect on the mind. As with all addictions, smoking merely diverts people from their emotional pain or distress. While everyday stress can exacerbate the situation it is not the primary cause of the emotional pain that needs to be calmed. Generally, underlying emotional trauma caused by family dysfunction is at the root of the addiction. This emotional trauma batters the self-esteem and self-confidence levels which lessens the ability to cope with everyday stress or in the case of smoking, anxiety. Therefore the key to overcoming a nicotine addiction is to restore self-esteem by liberating oneself from the dysfunctional patterns that cause anxiety. Plain and simple, when you remove the anxiety and restore self-esteem smoking will become repulsive.
Take a moment to ask yourself a couple of questions; what has caused the anxiety that you need to calm with smoking, and why does smoking make you feel better?
So, if you want to crumple up your last pack and walk away forever, you need to get to the bottom of the emotional pain and anxiety that provokes you to calm it by smoking.
Best wishes,
David Roppo
The Addiction Freedom Coach
For more information on how to overcome a smoking addiction subscribe to my free e-guide below, or feel free to contact me at 724-203-4575 for more information about my 90 day Quit Smoking Forever Program.
http://www.5stepstoaddictionfreedom.com
David Roppo
I watched my brother and sister struggle to quit smoking.
I was raised in a non-smoking home and though I had a few relatives who smoked by and large most of my family didn’t. However – my younger brother became a two pack a day smoker and smoked till the day he died. Incidentally he died at age 61 – way pre-mature – with every health related problem you can mention. My sister, the youngest of us, is still puffing away, even though she has had double- pneumonia twice, has COPD and is on oxygen 24 hours a day. Do you have any idea just how dangerous it is to smoke around an open oxygen bottle? She has convinced herself that she can’t quit and has given up. How sad!
I was talking to a friend of mine a few years back who smoked and I asked him why he smoked. He told me that he enjoyed it. He enjoyed something that will for sure shorten his life by 10 to 12 years. Something that will destroy his lungs and heart. Something that contributes to all kinds of organ failure (yes that’s true), that damages your skin and eyes, and Oh Yes – makes you stink! I forgot – it’s also proven to damage a man’s virility. As a man, that’s reason enough by itself not to smoke!
After you read the above can you still say – "I’m not sure I want to quit smoking?" Of course you want to stop smoking -but you don’t think you can! That’s the biggest obstacle to overcome. Smoking is an addiction and nicotine is one of the hardest things to give up especially since the tobacco people have tweaked the plants to increase the nicotine content to make sure the hook is well imbedded.
That’s what our site is dedicated to – to be YOUR Stop Smoking Source! We offer lots of ways to help you get unhooked and STAY unhooked, that’s our goal. But you have to want to quit smoking. That decision is yours and yours alone. But I know you can do it!
My advice – make the decision to quit smoking today. Don’t put it off another day! Let us help you to quit!
Dewey Kearney
I watched my brother and sister struggle to quit smoking.
I was raised in a non-smoking home and though I had a few relatives who smoked by and large most of my family didn’t. However – my younger brother became a two pack a day smoker and smoked till the day he died. Incidentally he died at age 61 – way pre-mature – with every health related problem you can mention. My sister, the youngest of us, is still puffing away, even though she has had double- pneumonia twice, has COPD and is on oxygen 24 hours a day. Do you have any idea just how dangerous it is to smoke around an open oxygen bottle? She has convinced herself that she can’t quit and has given up. How sad!
I was talking to a friend of mine a few years back who smoked and I asked him why he smoked. He told me that he enjoyed it. He enjoyed something that will for sure shorten his life by 10 to 12 years. Something that will destroy his lungs and heart. Something that contributes to all kinds of organ failure (yes that’s true), that damages your skin and eyes, and Oh Yes – makes you stink! I forgot – it’s also proven to damage a man’s virility. As a man, that’s reason enough by itself not to smoke!
After you read the above can you still say – "I’m not sure I want to quit smoking?" Of course you want to stop smoking -but you don’t think you can! That’s the biggest obstacle to overcome. Smoking is an addiction and nicotine is one of the hardest things to give up especially since the tobacco people have tweaked the plants to increase the nicotine content to make sure the hook is well imbedded.
That’s what our site is dedicated to – to be YOUR Stop Smoking Source! We offer lots of ways to help you get unhooked and STAY unhooked, that’s our goal. But you have to want to quit smoking. That decision is yours and yours alone. But I know you can do it!
My advice – make the decision to quit smoking today. Don’t put it off another day! Let us help you to quit!
Dewey Kearney
I watched my brother and sister struggle to quit smoking.
I was raised in a non-smoking home and though I had a few relatives who smoked by and large most of my family didn’t. However – my younger brother became a two pack a day smoker and smoked till the day he died. Incidentally he died at age 61 – way pre-mature – with every health related problem you can mention. My sister, the youngest of us, is still puffing away, even though she has had double- pneumonia twice, has COPD and is on oxygen 24 hours a day. Do you have any idea just how dangerous it is to smoke around an open oxygen bottle? She has convinced herself that she can’t quit and has given up. How sad!
I was talking to a friend of mine a few years back who smoked and I asked him why he smoked. He told me that he enjoyed it. He enjoyed something that will for sure shorten his life by 10 to 12 years. Something that will destroy his lungs and heart. Something that contributes to all kinds of organ failure (yes that’s true), that damages your skin and eyes, and Oh Yes – makes you stink! I forgot – it’s also proven to damage a man’s virility. As a man, that’s reason enough by itself not to smoke!
After you read the above can you still say – "I’m not sure I want to quit smoking?" Of course you want to stop smoking -but you don’t think you can! That’s the biggest obstacle to overcome. Smoking is an addiction and nicotine is one of the hardest things to give up especially since the tobacco people have tweaked the plants to increase the nicotine content to make sure the hook is well imbedded.
That’s what our site is dedicated to – to be YOUR Stop Smoking Source! We offer lots of ways to help you get unhooked and STAY unhooked, that’s our goal. But you have to want to quit smoking. That decision is yours and yours alone. But I know you can do it!
My advice – make the decision to quit smoking today. Don’t put it off another day! Let us help you to quit!
Dewey Kearney