Stop Smoking - Smoking Cessation Tips & Information

Smoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. This is primarily done as a form of recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through the lungs.

Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use.

Today, medical studies have proven that smoking is among the leading causes of diseases such as stenosis, lung cancer, heart attacks, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and can also lead to birth defects. The well-proven health hazards of smoking have caused many countries to institute high taxes on tobacco products and anti-smoking campaigns are launched every year in an attempt to curb smoking.

Looking for Another Reason to Quit? How About These...

Smoking causes impotence
Smoking causes emphysema and bronchitis
Smoking causes Cancer of the mouth, esophagus and larynx
Smoking causes peptic ulcers and stomach cancer
Smoking causes high blood pressure
Smoking causes heart disease
Smoking when pregnant increases the baby's heart rate and blood pressure
Nicotine from cigarette smoke enters mother's breast milk, and can lead to malnutrition in the baby.

Click Here to Add this Lens to Your Favorites

What to Expect During Nicotine Withdrawl

The Process is Tough, But the Payoff is Huge

As much as you have to look forward to when you stop smoking, the road to success is filled with potholes, bumps, and blocks. Without diminishing your enthusiasm for quitting, you have to be realistic that this isn't an easy process for anyone.

First, you have to go through withdrawal, which is perhaps the worst part of your journey to becoming smoke-free. Over the years that you smoked, your body chemistry adjusted to the nicotine input.

Your system is literally addicted to the nicotine and won't give it up without a fight. That's where your commitment comes in handy. Withdrawal is both a physical and emotional process.

Your body has to re-adjust to the reduced nicotine levels and you're going to notice the signs it gives as it tries to talk you into meeting the usual demand. At the same time, you have to make an emotional adjustment so that you don't rely on smoking as a coping mechanism.

The most common withdrawal symptoms that you can experience when you stop smoking include irritability, anxiety, headaches, inability to concentrate, increased hunger and of course - an overwhelming craving for nicotine.

As with any lifestyle change, the first few days are going to be hard, so don't start this on Monday morning when you have a busy week at work or school to contend with. If possible, take a day off on Friday and start that morning.

Clear away your unwanted smoking items -- ashtrays, lighters, and cigarettes -- out of the house and not be around the same smoking cues that you'll have at work or in a social setting.

The early days of withdrawal aren't easy - on you or on those around you. Make sure you talk to those you love and let them know what you're doing so that they can provide a support system when you need to vent.

The Easy Way to Stop Smoking

Join the Millions Who Have Become Non-Smokers Using Allen Carr's Easyway Method

The Easy Way to Stop Smoking: Join the Millions Who Have Become Non-Smokers Using Allen Carr's Easyway Method

by: Allen Carr

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 07/09/2009)
List Price: $14.95

Reader Review:
"I quit after 40 years of smoking at least one pack a day, and it was just as easy as Allen Carr said it would be. I think the key is to give in and accept what Carr is telling you.

I didn't think I was ready to quit. I thought I enjoyed smoking, and some days, a cigarette was my only incentive to get out of bed. I had bought the book on a whim, for some day far off in the future when I'd be "ready" to quit. I had bought a carton of cigarettes on Saturday, and then on Sunday I was bored and decided to read the book. Had my last cigarette before I was halfway through. Next morning at work, a friend asked me if I was ready to go outside for a smoke break and I said "Well, I don't smoke anymore, but I'll go outside with you."

No withdrawal pangs, just a feeling of relief that I didn't have to smoke any more, and that it wasn't going to be hard at all. All the smoking triggers that I worried about -- car trips, after meals, phone calls, stressful times at work or at home, leaving work and lighting up, having a beer at the bar -- none of those things triggered the urge. The urge is gone. Wish I had found the book earlier."

Avg. Customer Rating:

Usually ships in 24 hours

Helpful Resources:

Programs & Resources that Can Help You Quit

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
800-358-9295
http://www.ahcpr.gov/

American Heart Association
800-AHA-USA1 (800-242-8721)
www.americanheart.org

American Cancer Society
800-ACS-2345 (800-227-2345)
http://www.cancer.org/

American Lung Association
800-LUNG-USA (800-586-4872)
http://www.lungusa.org/

Office of Smoking and Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
800-CDC-1311 (800-232-1311)
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/

Quitline® phone counseling program in their area by calling the ACS at 1-800-ACS-2345 (1-800-227-2345).

Commit Lozenges 4 mg Original Flavor Lozenges

The Trusted Name in Smoking Cessation Products

Commit Lozenges 4 mg - 9 Pop Pacs, 24 Lozenges Each - 216 Original Flavor Lozenges

Amazon Price: $102.99 (as of 07/09/2009)

Customer Review:
"This product saved my life. These lozenges, along with my sincere desire to quit smoking, saved my life. I was a heavy, heavy smoker. 3 packs a day. I was using the Nicorette gum which while helpful to many, didn't work for me I was getting discouraged when a friend suggested a try this new lozenge. Well, that was the key for me. It's been over two years now since I've touched a cigarette.

Now I want to make sure I'm clear here. Commit Lozenges alone will not do it. You have to sincerely want to quit and be willing to do what it takes. If you're there, the you might find these as helpful as I did."

The Real Cost of Smoking

powered by Youtube

Get the Help You Need

Smoking Cessation Support Groups Can be a Valuable Resource

The decision to quit smoking was not easy and you made it because you know it is best for you. You want to be successful so you are willing to take any precaution against failure. One way to insure that you succeed is to surround yourself with support. People who support you can encourage you when you feel like giving up, or will remind you of why you quit smoking. They can also keep you on track by making you be responsible for the promises you have made regarding your decision to quit.

Tips for making the most of your support group:

Your support group consists of all those who care about you and want to be there for you to encourage and aid you in whatever way you need them to. They can be your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, boss, church members, pastor, or a professional support system like your healthcare provider, therapist, nurse or a community group for those who have quit smoking. Your group can be all or just a few of these persons.

A good support to have is to delegate one person to be the one you are accountable for regarding if you have stayed on task or not. This will help to stop you from "cheating" and sneaking a cigarette.

Don't let anyone be a negative influence or a "nagger". Let everyone know that you are making this decision to quit smoking and you need to have positive supporters who will encourage you to achieve your goal.

Be your best supporter by believing in you. Believe that you can be successful. Support your goal by deliberately stating what it is that you dislike about your smoking habit. Admit your dependency on the nicotine and do not underestimate the negative impact it has had on your body. An ideal way to support your own goal is to keep a Smoke Free Journal so that you can record all the important steps you take from day 1 right though the milestones - week 1, month 1, your 3 month anniversary, 6 months, and 1 year of being smoke free. Recording your failures and triumphs will inspire you later down the road. It may even inspire someone else to succeed.

Support your goal not only by clearly defining when and how you will quit smoking, but make sure that you have the information that you need to cover all the bases regarding any obstacle you may encounter on your journey to being smoke free. Talk to others who have quit successfully to find helpful tips that they may be able to pass on. Feedback concerning any quit smoking aids will also be helpful. Anything that you can do to make your journey smoother and allow you to stay in control of the situation will support you and uplift you and give you the push you need to succeed in your bid to quit smoking.

Quitting smoking is not something that is easy to do alone. Having a support group not only keeps you accountable for doing what you set out to do, your support group can remind you why it is important to you during those times when the cravings may make you forget momentarily. They can help keep you focused. Never forget that you are breaking an addiction and support is vital.

Quit Smoking with Acupuncture

An alternative approach to giving up smoking

Acupuncture is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine that dates back to ancient times. During an acupuncture session very fine, metal needles are inserted at very specific points on the body that correspond with one or more of the energy meridians.

Acupuncture can be used to support anyone who is giving up smoking. It is especially good for anyone who is already on prescription medication and who doesn't want to take any more drugs.

When acupuncture is used to help give up smoking the needles are usually inserted in locations on the face. The stimulation of the energy meridians at these points helps to reduce cravings and reduce the symptoms of addiction.

It is always best to seek a recommendation or referral from your doctor when looking for a suitably qualified acupuncturist. A lot of the alternative health fields remain unregulated, dependent on your Country of residence, and this leaves scope for unscrupulous practitioners to offer their services with little or no training.

Also, be prepared to interview your prospective acupuncturist to ask what success they have had in helping people who want to give up smoking.

Don't be afraid to ask for testimonials from other clients when you go to the acupuncture clinic.

An alternative for the needle-phobic person who wants to quit smoking is to locate a practitioner who uses lasers rather than needles.

In fact 'laser-acupuncture' is showing a higher success rate in stopping smoking programs than traditional acupuncture.

Using acupuncture to support you in your attempts to give up smoking is just one of the alternative options I shall be exploring here. If anyone has any experience of using acupuncture to stop smoking perhaps they would share their experiences with us?

How To Quit Smoking Even If You Don't Want To, by Barbara Miller

Teaches Readers to Tap Into their "Self Power"

How To Quit Smoking Even If You Don't Want To

by: Barbara Miller

Amazon Price: $15.61 (as of 07/09/2009)
List Price: $17.35

Reader Review:
I almost hate to review this book because it will publicly link my name with smoking. It is worth it, though, because this review may help someone else to ditch cigarettes. I thought I needed all the help I could get to stop smoking. I liked the approach this author has and I still refer to this book. It has a no nonsense approach that appealed to me and works well into the process of stopping smoking. I recommend this book to anyone who is considering breaking their smoking habit.

Avg. Customer Rating:

Usually ships in 24 hours

Medications to Help You Quit

powered by Youtube

Too Addicted to Quit?

New Homeopathic, All-Natural Treatment Offers Hope

Things people would normally never dream of ingesting are pumped into the lungs and bloodstream every time a cigarette is lit. Chemicals like Butane, Carbon Monoxide, DDT (insecticide), Lead, even Polonium-210 (radioactive fallout), just to name a few. You know it's bad for you, so why is it so hard to quit?

An article in New Scientist reveals that in addition to altering the body's dopamine levels, nicotine also causes hormone changes in smokers that alter their perception of time when they try to abstain. In a lab test, researchers studied how smokers and non-smokers estimate elapsed time. Initially, the two groups had similar abilities in time perception, but when tested again after abstaining for a day, most of the smokers estimated much longer time intervals, as much as 50 percent longer!

No wonder you're irritable when you try to quit.

And that doesn't even take into account all the other symptoms your body must deal with to break the strong addiction to smoking, and you've felt them, which is why it can be very hard to succeed. But you don't have to go it alone, you can arm yourself against those nagging symptoms today, which may be just the help you need to kick smoking for good.

A liquid oral spray, Smoke Deter is absorbed quickly into the blood vessels under the tongue. The sublingual application is the preferred method to deliver homeopathic ingredients to combat your symptoms so you can feel better quickly.

Stopping Smoking News

Smoking News items from Web Sites around the World

Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

Smoking Cessation at Twitter

fitnessslim Jul 9, 2009 @ 9:34 pm

Updated my blog with Use NLP For Smoking Cessation http://bit.ly/fAeJK
RJE43 Jul 9, 2009 @ 9:07 pm

http://bit.ly/JMXy2 Quit Smoking: Pre-cessation Patch Doubles Quit Success Rate: ScienceDaily.. http://bit.ly/7x7Ac
smokeanywhere Jul 9, 2009 @ 5:50 pm

Quit Smoking: Pre-cessation Patch Doubles Quit Success Rate http://bit.ly/Sjyu0
smokeanywhere Jul 9, 2009 @ 5:20 pm

Quit Smoking: Pre-cessation Patch Doubles Quit Success Rate: "People who use the patch before quitting are .. http://bit.ly/T9AsF
manongdave Jul 9, 2009 @ 4:56 pm

productive day, I think...some patients to follow up on for home health, and smoking cessation/appetite suppression referrals for my friend

powered by Twitter Search

Does Your Employer Offer a Smoking Cessation Program?

Quitting smoking is hard, but there are people you can turn to for help, including your employer. Smoking leads to serious medical problems that can cost companies a lot of money, so employers stand to benefit from helping their employees go smoke-free.

For example, employees who smoke have health care costs that are 40 percent higher than nonsmokers. Smokers also miss work 1.5 times more often than nonsmokers. Between additional medical care and lost productivity, employers end up spending approximately $4,400 extra per year in today's dollars for each employee who smokes.

In recent years, many companies have taken steps to help their employees quit smoking. Smoking cessation is one of the most cost-effective health care benefits available, so it's a win-win situation: Employers save money while employees improve their health. And, because cigarettes are so expensive, employees who quit will save money, too.

"Only 5 percent of smokers are successful in stopping tobacco use unaided. That means 95 percent of people need some kind of assistance. Employers have to think of tobacco use as an addiction rather than as a bad habit," said Ron Finch, EdD, vice president at the National Business Group on Health. "Smoking cessation is one of the most effective preventive services that employers can provide and should be covered in health plans as well as part of health promotion programs."

A workplace quit-smoking plan may be part of a larger employee wellness program or it may stand on its own. The plan should also include counseling sessions where "coaches" talk about different ways to quit smoking, including teaching employees how to manage the urge to smoke. These sessions can be in person or by phone. The plan also may include access to prescription and over-the-counter medications that help people quit. Smoke-free workplaces protect employees from secondhand smoke and help people quit for good.

One challenge for employees is that they may not know the services available to them. In a survey from the National Business Group on Health, more than one-quarter of employees were unsure if their employers offered smoking cessation benefits. Of those who knew their companies did offer benefits, 25 percent didn't know what the benefits were.

If you smoke and would like your employer to help you quit, here are some tips to help you begin this effort:

Begin the conversation with your doctor. Find out what your doctor recommends regarding cessation medications. For more information on how to quit and setting up a personalized quit plan, go to http://mytimetoquit.com.

Ask HR about existing programs and policies. Your company may offer benefits that you don't know about or are not signed up for.

Request benefits. Your company may be willing to help if the demand is there. Let your employer know that its workforce is ready to quit smoking and would benefit from a companywide effort.

This information is courtesy of Pfizer Inc.

NicoDerm CQ STEP 1 Clear Nicotine Patches

Quitting is Important - Take the Time to Do It Right

NicoDerm CQ STEP 1 - 3 Week Kit - 21 Clear Nicotine Patches

Amazon Price: $57.11 (as of 07/09/2009)

Customer Review:
"I was a horrific smoker for 22 years - I smoked well over a pack and a half a day... I am not proud but with the aid of the patch. I quit! I am now entering my 38th week with out a smoke...not even a drag! I encourage others but I don't preach... nobody likes and ex-smoker :) Just remember that what your doing is hard at the end of step one if you do not feel you can handle going to step two...stay on step one and extra week or two..everyone's different and we all can't follow the schedule on the box. Do what feels right for you! I went from Step one to step two and I couldn't handle it...I was cranky and I cried and... I stepped back up to Step one for an extra week and I was fine! Give it a try and All the best of luck to you.... and if you screw up you screw up ... take a deep breath and try it again."

Recommended Products to Help You Quit

Stop Smoking News from Medical News Today:

Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

Share Your Feedback!

How is your battle with nicotine going?

Lensmaster

KevinC wrote...

Well I'm sitting here with a smoke in my hand, so I can't tell you how I quit yet. Your info here gives me even more reasons to quit.
Kevin
http://www.squidoo.com/newbie_network/

Posted July 02, 2007

Lensmaster

Martin_Avis wrote...

What an informative lens! I'm sure it will help a lot of people.

Martin Avis
http://www.squidoo.com/easy_time_management/

Posted June 26, 2007

Squidoo

Stop Smoking - Smoking Cessation Tips & Information

Contents at a Glance