How to Quit Smoking

In order to stand a chance of quitting, by whatever method, you have to want to quit. If you answer yes to all of the questions below - you are ready to quit. You have taken your first step grasshopper.

1. Are you quitting for yourself - not because of pressure from a someone else?


2. Have you chosen a date when you want to quit by?


3. Have you thought about what it will be like when you are a non-smoker?

1. Nicorine Replacement Therapy (NRT): Weaning yourself off nicotine using nicotine gum, patches, inhalators, lozenges


2. Will Power: Mind over matter - basically cold turkey


3. Hypnotherapy: Re-programming your mind to not crave nicotine


4. Acupunture: Thin needles placed in you ear lobe. No one is exactly sure how this works - but some people swear by it


5. Allen Carr's easy way: Supposedly a combination of powerful pursuasion, logical argument and a bit of hypnotherpy thrown in. You can read his book or attend a therapy session

• Nicotine Gum: Good if you used to use smoking in stressful situations. The action of chewing can be stress-relieving. All those football managers can't be wrong.


• Nicotine Patches: Good if you want a discreet way of weaning yourself off nicotine with little fuss or bother.


• Nicotine Inhalators: Good for people who miss the habitual holding and puffing on cigarettes. Some people say they feel silly holding them - but I'd rather be silly than dead.


• Nicotine Nasal Sprays: These things give you a kick of nicotine straight into the bloodstream. You may need to use this only occassionaly if you have really intense cravings.


• Nicotine Lozenges: These are good for people who want to use gum - but dentures or a bad tooth prevents them.


• Hypnotherapy: If you want to stay away from nicotine entirely but don't think you have the will-power to go cold turkey, hypnotherapy is for you. It may not work if you are a heavy smoker with bad cravings.


• Acupuncture: If you have used acupunture before - you may want to consider it to cure your smoking addiction.


• Allen carr: Wether reading his book, or attending an easy way therapy sessions Allen Carr claims to cure heavy or social smoker without nicotine replacement or (much) hypnotherapy. The course and the books are very repetative and may involve some neurolinguistic programming that finally convinces you that smoking is not a good thing to be doing.
  

Nicotine is a physically addictive chemical and some of the compounds you have ingested will have damaged your body. You will feel some or all of the following symptoms when withdrawing from nicotine:

Cravings: Each one lasts 3 -5 minutes, and may be strong. Over time however, cravings will happen less often.

Coughing: Smoking damages with cilia that lines your lungs. It's the cilia's job to remove mucus and crud from your lung lining enabling you to breathe easier. When you stop smoking - the cilia start doing their job and you have more crud to cough up. Nice.

Irritability, depression or anxiety: These feelings should pass in three or four weeks.

Increased appetite: You may me able to taste and smell food better after quitting - making it all the more irresistable.

Insomnia and an increased tendency to dream: Nicotine makes it harder for your body to absorb caffeine. When you are free of nicotine and have your regular 6 cups of tea or coffe a day the caffeine floods straight in receptors turning you into a hyper wreck who can't sleep. Drink less, or weaker caffeinated beverages if you value your sanity.

So, you've quit. Big big congratulations to you. So how long will it take for you to feel the benefits and return to full health? It's not as long as you might think....

12 hours: Your blood oxygen level will have increased to normal and carbon monoxide levels will have dropped to normal.

48 hours: Damaged nerve endings have started to regrow and your sense of smell and taste are beginning to return to normal.

72 hours: Your body is now nicotine free! But this is when your nicotine receptors will be screaming the loudest and cravings will be intense. Keep yourself occupied and don't give up.

10 days to 2 weeks: You are no longer physically addicted to nicotine. Well done! You may still feel cravings though as cigarettes has been a physchological crutch for you. Stick with it.

2 weeks to 3 months: Your heart attack risk has started to drop. Your lung function is beginning to improve.

3 weeks to 3 months: Your lungs should be clearing up, walking should be easier and any chronic cough should have stopped.

1 year: You have halfed your chances of developing heart disease one of the country's biggest killers.

5 to 15 years: You are now no more likely to have a stroke than a non-smoker (smokers are 2-4 times more likely to die of strokes).

10 years: Your risk of lung, mouth and throat cancer has halved.

15 years: Your heart is thanking you. It's recovered and it's as if you never smoked.