Smoking - tips on how to quit Email this page to a friendShare on facebookShare on twitterBookmark & SharePrinter-friendly version There are many ways to quit smoking. There are also resources to help you. Family members, friends, and co-workers may be supportive. But to be successful, you must really want to quit. Most people who have quit smoking were unsuccessful at least once in the past. Try not to view past attempts to quit as failures. See them as learning experiences. It is hard to stop smoking or using smokeless tobacco. But anyone can do it. Know the symptoms to expect when you stop. Common symptoms include: • An intense craving for nicotine • Anxiety, tension, restlessness, frustration, or impatience • Difficulty concentrating • Drowsiness or trouble sleeping • Headaches • Increased appetite and weight gain • Irritability or depression How bad your symptoms are depends on how long you smoked. How many cigarettes you smoked each day also plays a role. FEEL READY TO QUIT? First, set a quit date. Quit completely on that day. Before your quit date, you may begin reducing your cigarette use. But remember, there is no safe level of cigarette smoking. List the reasons why you want to quit. Include both short- and long-term benefits. Identify the times you are most likely to smoke. For example, do you tend to smoke when feeling stressed or down? When out at night with friends? While drinking coffee or alcohol? When bored? While driving? Right after a meal or sex? During a work break? While watching TV or playing cards? When you are with other smokers? Let your friends, family, and co-workers know of your plan to stop smoking. Tell them your quit date. It can be helpful if they know what you are going through, especially when you are grumpy. Get rid of all your cigarettes just before the quit date. Clean out anything that smells like smoke, such as clothes and furniture. MAKE A PLAN Make a plan about what you will do instead of smoking at those times when you are most likely to smoke. Be as specific as possible. For example, drink tea instead of coffee. Tea may not trigger the desire for a cigarette. Or, take a walk when you feel stressed. Remove ashtrays and cigarettes from the car. Put pretzels or hard candies there instead. Pretend-smoke with a straw. Find activities that focus your hands and mind. But make sure they are not taxing or fattening. Computer games, solitaire, knitting, sewing, and crossword puzzles may help. If you normally smoke after eating, find other ways to end a meal. Play a tape or CD. Eat a piece of fruit. Get up and make a phone call. Take a walk (a good distraction that also burns calories). CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE Make other changes in your lifestyle. Change your daily schedule and habits. Eat at different times, or eat several small meals instead of three large ones. Sit in a different chair or even a different room. Satisfy your oral habits in other ways. Eat celery or another low-calorie snack. Chew sugarless gum. Suck on a cinnamon stick. Go to public places and restaurants where smoking is prohibited or restricted. Eat regular meals, and don't eat too much candy or sweet things. Get more exercise. Take walks or ride a bike. Exercise helps relieve the urge to smoke. SET SOME GOALS Set short-term quitting goals and reward yourself when you meet them. Every day, put the money you normally spend on cigarettes in a jar. Later, buy something you like. Try not to think about all the days ahead you will need to avoid smoking. Take it one day at a time. Even one puff or one cigarette will make your desire for more cigarettes even stronger. However, it is normal to make mistakes. So even if you have one cigarette, you don't need to take the next one. OTHER TIPS Enroll in a stop smoking support program. Hospitals, health departments, community centers, and work sites often offer programs. Learn about self-hypnosis or other techniques. Ask your health care provider about medications that can help you quit nicotine and tobacco and keep you from starting again. Find out about nicotine patches, gum, and sprays. The American Cancer Society's web site, www.cancer.org, is an excellent resource for smokers who are trying to quit. The Great American Smokeout can also help some smokers kick the habit. Above all, don't get discouraged if you aren't able to quit smoking the first time. Nicotine addiction is a hard habit to break. Try something different next time. Develop new strategies, and try again. Many people take several attempts to finally kick the habit.
Smoking - effects on your body Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco smoke that causes smokers to continue to smoke. Addicted smokers need enough nicotine over a day to ‘feel normal’ – to satisfy cravings or control their mood. How much nicotine a smoker needs determines how much smoke they are likely to inhale, no matter what type of cigarette they smoke. Along with nicotine, smokers inhale about 7,000 other chemicals in cigarette smoke. Many of these chemicals come from burning tobacco leaf. Some of these compounds are chemically active and trigger profound and damaging changes in the body. Tobacco smoke contains over 60 known cancer-causing chemicals. Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body, causing many diseases and reducing health in general. Dangerous chemicals in tobacco smoke The most damaging components of tobacco smoke are: • Tar – this is the collective term for the various particles suspended in tobacco smoke. The particles contain chemicals, including several cancer-causing substances (carcinogens). Tar is sticky and brown, and stains teeth, fingernails and lung tissue. Tar contains the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene • Carbon monoxide – this odourless gas is fatal in large doses because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood. Each red blood cell contains a protein called haemoglobin that transports oxygen molecules around the body. However, carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin better than oxygen. This means that less oxygen reaches the brain, heart, muscles and other organs • Hydrogen cyanide – the lungs contain tiny hairs (cilia) that help to clean the lungs by moving foreign substances out. Hydrogen cyanide stops this lung clearance system from working properly, which means the poisonous chemicals in tobacco smoke can build up inside the lungs. Other chemicals in smoke that damage the lungs include hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, organic acids, phenols and oxidising agents • Free radicals – these highly reactive chemicals can damage the heart muscles and blood vessels. They react with cholesterol, leading to the build-up of fatty material on artery walls. Their actions lead to heart disease, stroke and blood vessel disease • Metals – tobacco smoke contains dangerous metals including arsenic, cadmium and lead. Several of these metals are carcinogenic • Radioactive compounds – tobacco smoke contains radioactive compounds that are known to be carcinogenic. Effects of tobacco smoking on the body Inhaling tobacco smoke causes damage to many of the body’s organs and systems. Effects of smoking on the respiratory system The effects of tobacco smoke on the respiratory system include: • Irritation of the trachea (windpipe) and larynx (voice box) • Reduced lung function and breathlessness due to swelling and narrowing of the lung airways and excess mucus in the lung passages • Impairment of the lungs’ clearance system, leading to the build-up of poisonous substances, which results in lung irritation and damage • Increased risk of lung infection and symptoms such as coughing and wheezing • Permanent damage to the air sacs of the lungs. Effects of smoking on the circulatory system The effects of tobacco smoke on the circulatory system include: • Raised blood pressure and heart rate • Constriction (tightening) of blood vessels in the skin, resulting in a drop in skin temperature • Less oxygen carried by the blood • ‘Stickier’ blood, which is more prone to clotting • Damage to the lining of the arteries, which is thought to be a contributing factor to atherosclerosis (the build-up of fatty deposits on the artery walls) • Reduced blood flow to extremities (fingers and toes) • Increased risk of stroke and heart attack due to blockages of the blood supply. Effects of smoking on the immune system The effects of tobacco smoke on the immune system include: • Greater susceptibility to infections such as pneumonia and influenza • More severe and longer-lasting illnesses • Lower levels of protective antioxidants (such as vitamin C), in the blood. Effects of smoking on the musculoskeletal system The effects of tobacco smoke on the musculoskeletal system include: • Tightening of certain muscles • Reduced bone density. Effects of smoking on the sexual organs The effects of tobacco smoke on the male body include: • Lower sperm count • Higher percentage of deformed sperm • Genetic damage to sperm • Impotence, which may be due to the effects of smoking on blood flow and damage to the blood vessels of the penis. The effects of tobacco smoke on the female body include: • Reduced fertility • Menstrual cycle irregularities or absence of menstruation • Menopause reached one or two years earlier • Increased risk of cancer of the cervix • Greatly increased risk of stroke and heart attack if the smoker is aged over 35 years and taking the oral contraceptive pill. Other effects of smoking on the body Other effects of tobacco smoke on the body include: • Irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines • Increased risk of painful ulcers along the digestive tract • Reduced ability to smell and taste • Premature wrinkling of the skin • Higher risk of blindness • Gum disease (periodontitis). Effects of smoking on babies The effects of maternal smoking on an unborn baby include: • Increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth • Low birth weight, which may have a lasting effect of the growth and development of children. Low birth weight is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, being overweight and diabetes in adulthood • Increased risk of cleft palate and cleft lip • Paternal smoking can also harm the fetus if the non-smoking mother is exposed to second-hand smoke. If a parent continues to smoke during their baby’s first year of life, the child has an increased risk of ear infections, respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia and bronchitis, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and meningococcal disease. Diseases caused by long-term smoking A lifetime smoker is at high risk of developing a range of potentially lethal diseases, including: • Cancer of the lung, mouth, nose, larynx, tongue, nasal sinus, oesophagus, throat, pancreas, bone marrow (myeloid leukaemia), kidney, cervix, ovary, ureter, liver, bladder, bowel and stomach • Lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema • Coronary artery disease, heart disease, heart attack and stroke • Ulcers of the digestive system • Osteoporosis and hip fracture • Poor blood circulation in feet and hands, which can lead to pain and, in severe cases, gangrene and amputation.
10 Tips for Quitting Smoking I recently celebrated my one-year anniversary of quitting smoking. Well, of finally quitting … like most smokers, I had tried to quit many times and failed. But this quit stuck, and I’d like to share the top 10 things that made this quit successful when the others failed. 1. Commit Thyself Fully. In the quits that failed, I was only half into it. I told myself I wanted to quit, but I always felt in the back of my mind that I’d fail. I didn’t write anything down, I didn’t tell everybody (maybe my wife, but just her). This time, I wrote it down. I wrote down a plan. I blogged about it. I made a vow to my daughter. I told family and friends I was quitting. I went online and joined a quit forum. I had rewards. Many of these will be in the following tips, but the point is that I fully committed, and there was no turning back. I didn’t make it easy for myself to fail. 2. Make a Plan. You can’t just up and say, “I’m gonna quit today.” You have to prepare yourself. Plan it out. Have a system of rewards, a support system, a person to call if you’re in trouble. Write down what you’ll do when you get an urge. Print it out. Post it up on your wall, at home and at work. If you wait until you get the urge to figure out what you’re going to do, you’ve already lost. You have to be ready when those urges come. 3. Know Your Motivation. When the urge comes, your mind will rationalize. “What’s the harm?” And you’ll forget why you’re doing this. Know why you’re doing this BEFORE that urge comes. Is it for your kids? For your wife? For you health? So you can run? Because the girl you like doesn’t like smokers? Have a very good reason or reasons for quitting. List them out. Print them out. Put it on a wall. And remind yourself of those reasons every day, every urge. 4. Not One Puff, Ever (N.O.P.E.). The mind is a tricky thing. It will tell you that one cigarette won’t hurt. And it’s hard to argue with that logic, especially when you’re in the middle of an urge. And those urges are super hard to argue with. Don’t give in. Tell yourself, before the urges come, that you will not smoke a single puff, ever again. Because the truth is, that one puff WILL hurt. One puff leads to a second, and a third, and soon you’re not quitting, you’re smoking. Don’t fool yourself. A single puff will almost always lead to a recession. DO NOT TAKE A SINGLE PUFF! 5. Join a Forum. One of the things that helped the most in this quit was an online forum for quitters (quitsmoking.about.com) … you don’t feel so alone when you’re miserable. Misery loves company, after all. Go online, introduce yourself, get to know the others who are going through the exact same thing, post about your crappy experience, and read about others who are even worse than you. Best rule: Post Before You Smoke. If you set this rule and stick to it, you will make it through your urge. Others will talk you through it. And they’ll celebrate with you when you make it through your first day, day 2, 3, and 4, week 1 and beyond. It’s great fun. 6. Reward Yourself. Set up a plan for your rewards. Definitely reward yourself after the first day, and the second, and the third. You can do the fourth if you want, but definitely after Week 1 and Week2. And month 1, and month 2. And 6 months and a year. Make them good rewards, that you’ll look forward to: CDs, books, DVDs, T-shirts, shoes, a massage, a bike, a dinner out at your favorite restaurant, a hotel stay … whatever you can afford. Even better: take whatever you would have spent on smoking each day, and put it in a jar. This is your Rewards Jar. Go crazy! Celebrate your every success! You deserve it. 7. Delay. If you have an urge, wait. Do the following things: take 10 deep breaths. Drink water. Eat a snack (at first it was candy and gum, then I switched to healthier stuff like carrots and frozen grapes and pretzels). Call your support person. Post on your smoking cessation forum. Exercise. DO WHATEVER IT TAKES, BUT DELAY, DELAY, DELAY. You will make it through it, and the urge will go away. When it does, celebrate! Take it one urge at a time, and you can do it. 8. Replace Negative Habits with Positive Ones. What do you do when you’re stressed? If you currently react to stress with a cigarette, you’ll need to find something else to do. Deep breathing, self massage of my neck and shoulders, and exercise have worked wonders for me. Other habits, such as what you do first thing in the morning, or what you do in the car, or wherever you usually smoke, should be replaced with better, more positive ones. Running has been my best positive habit, altho I have a few others that replaced smoking. 9. Make it Through Hell Week, then Heck Week, and You’re Golden. The hardest part of quitting is the first two days. If you can get past that, you’ve passed the nicotine withdrawal stage, and the rest is mostly mental. But all of the first week is hell. Which is why it’s called Hell Week. After that, it begins to get easier. Second week is Heck Week, and is still difficult, but not nearly as hellish as the first. After that, it was smooth sailing for me. I just had to deal with an occasional strong urge, but the rest of the urges were light, and I felt confident I could make it through anything. 10. If You Fall, Get Up. And Learn From Your Mistakes. Yes, we all fail. That does not mean we are failures, or that we can never succeed. If you fall, it’s not the end of the world. Get up, brush yourself off, and try again. I failed numerous times before succeeding. But you know what? Each of those failures taught me something. Well, sometimes I repeated the same mistakes several times, but eventually I learned. Figure out what your obstacles to success are, and plan to overcome them in your next quit. And don’t wait a few months until your next quit. Give yourself a few days to plan and prepare, commit fully to it, and go for it! BONUS TIP #11: THINK POSITIVE. This is the most important tip of all. I saved it for last. If you have a positive, can-do attitude, as corny as it may sound, you will succeed. Trust me. It works. Tell yourself that you can do it, and you will. Tell yourself that you can’t do it, and you definitely won’t. When things get rough, think positive! You CAN make it through the urge. You CAN make it through Hell Week. And you can. I did. So have millions of others. We are no better than you. (In my case, worse.) See also:
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