Quit Smoking Advices

Smoking is a hard habit to get rid off. Nicotine, the colorless substance present in all tobacco products, is an extremely addictive drug, which makes it even harder for anyone to stop smoking. Now, we’re not saying this to discourage you from trying to stop smoking. Rather, this is merely to give you a realistic view of this habit.

Millions of people have aimed to stop smoking and successfully overcome their tobacco addiction. No doubt that it is a rigorous process of discipline and mental training combined with the right diet. If you have tried quitting before but didn’t succeed, don’t take this as weakness in you. This simply means that the timing wasn’t right, meaning, that you didn’t start with the true desire to QUIT. Or it could also be that you didn’t “arm” yourself properly to meet the challenge and overcome it. Trying to stop smoking is an endeavor that calls for mental and emotional preparation on your part, plan of action, and support resources.

1. Herbal Products

The therapeutic uses of herbs go a long way. Since the ancient times, herbs have been used to treat all sorts of discomforts, from anxiety and insomnia to fatigue and headaches. Herbs are classified by reputable botanical authorities as having certain known properties.

Herbal alteratives for instance are herbs that generally alter an existing condition in the body. It does this by strengthening or stimulating various systems and eliminating waste from the bloodstream.

Another herbal classification is the cardiovascular tonics. These are the herbs that strengthen the physical integrity of the heart and blood vessels, moderate blood pressure, and increase circulation.

Herbal carminatives help relieve intestinal gas and indigestion. They are often antispasmodic and can help in bouts of anxiety and mood swings. Carminatives are often used in combination with nerviness and sedatives which are herbs that help suppress or moderate nervous tension and anxiety.

2. Herbal Programs to Stop Smoking

The many properties of herbs have been recognized by some rehabilitation centers and used in many of their herbal stop smoking programs. Phase I of the herbal stop smoking program usually involves the complete withdrawal of tobacco from the patient’s system. At this stage, many symptoms will arise, the most obvious of which is anxiety and nervous tension. A blend of carminatives and nerviness may be used as support for the patient experiencing these withdrawal symptoms while trying to stop smoking.

Phase II of herbal stop smoking programs calls for alteratives, nutritives, and vulneraries. These herbal combinations provide the patient with support when the body starts to rid itself of nicotine and other toxins stored up over the years of tobacco use.

For the first few weeks of your non-smoking venture, it’s a very, very good idea to not be around other people who smoke. This is going to be difficult – especially because over the years, you’ve tended to gravitate toward those people who DO smoke just because you have something in common with them.
You probably won’t be popular for awhile, and might take your share of ridicule, but remember why you decided to quit in the first place. Then don’t tempt yourself until you’re a bit stronger.

It’s a common problem: You are trying your best to quit smoking but everyone around you still smokes. If you have a spouse or other family member who smokes, you are exposed to smoking every day. If your co-workers smoke, you probably have smokers around you at least five days per week. If your friends smoke, you’ll be exposed to smoking whenever you get together to have some fun.

So how do you maintain your resolve to quit when everywhere you look you see someone lighting up? How do you deal with the personal conflicts that can develop when you quit but your family, friends and co-workers don’t?

First, you must acknowledge the fact that you may be all alone in your efforts to quit smoking. This solitude may be frustrating and counter-productive but you must accept the fact that the people around you are not going to quit smoking just because you are. In fact, they may try to coerce or encourage you to start smoking again. When you quit you may be placing pressure to quit smoking, however unintentional, on the people in your life. They may resent it or are frightened by your quitting. Their natural, perhaps unconscious, response may be to make quitting more difficult for you.

So prepare yourself for the loneliness you may feel when you quit. Prepare yourself for the backlash that you may receive from the smokers around you. Be prepared to forgive and forget.

Next, take time to talk to the smokers in your life. Ask them for a few minutes to discuss the fact that you are quitting smoking. Sit down and let them know how very important quitting is to you.

Tell them that you need their support and ask them to be considerate whenever they want to smoke. Make sure they understand that you are quitting for you, not for anyone else. Make sure they understand that you do not expect them to quit because you are quitting. Invite them to quit with you but make it clear that quitting must be their own decision.

Lay out some ground rules that everyone can live with, regarding where and when they will smoke. Make it clear that you don’t expect them to totally change their smoking habits, but that you need cooperation to help you quit.

Set clear times and locations for them to smoke, or make sure you have someplace you can comfortably retreat to, should the smoker in your life need to light up. Make sure you have something to distract your attention, in another room, if someone is smoking near you. Start a new hobby or have a book on-hand, whenever you have to get away from the smoke.

When you get together with friends, you may find that the activities you participate in naturally involve smoking. Try going to a bar or bowling alley without having smoke all around you (unless you live in an area where smoking is banned indoors)!

You may find it necessary to adjust the types of things you do with your friends, to help you avoid being placed in a smoking situation. Try activities that are outdoors, or that involve exercise. Go places where smoking isn’t allowed. If your friends are truly your friends, they’ll understand and want to accommodate your needs.

Avoiding smoke at work may be difficult if your workplace allows smoking indoors. If necessary, request that your work area be moved to a non-smoking portion of your office. You may also ask to have your entire office declared "smoke-free." Consider getting an air filter to help remove the smell of smoke where you work.

If you have grown accustomed to your smoking breaks and the smoking buddies at your workplace, you face another type of withdrawal besides nicotine withdrawal: friendship withdrawal. Chances are, if you’ve worked someplace with a designated smoking area for any length of time, that you have made quite a number of friends or smoking buddies.

If you’re going to quit smoking successfully, you’re going to have to remove yourself from the smoking area. Naturally, this means removing yourself from the friends you’ve made. Realize, however, that just because you don’t smoke with these people, you don’t have to stop being friendly.

Let your smoking buddies know that you are quitting, and that you won’t be joining them any longer. But also let them know you wish to continue your friendship. Exchange phone numbers if necessary, and try to get together for lunch or other times convenient to both of you.

Quitting smoking even when other people around you are smoking doesn’t have to be difficult and a strain on interpersonal relations. Take some time to create an atmosphere where everyone knows that you are quitting and that you need their cooperation to succeed.

At the same time, be considerate of the other smokers, giving them their own freedom to smoke when they so choose. Working together with family, friends and co-workers, you can quit!

Have you ever heard of the saying, that the best way to succeed is to follow those who have succeeded? Smokers who have quit smoking successfully share common characteristics.

Read the rest »

Many people are clueless as to how they can support a family member or friend in their bid to quit smoking. Other than a few “Way to go” pats on the back, any real help is beyond their normal thinking. Show them the following list of ways they can help you kick the habit.

• Don’t offer advice. Instead, ask how you can help with the plan or program they are using. Respect that the quitter is in charge. This is their lifestyle change and their challenge, not yours.

• Don’t take the quitter’s grumpiness personally during his or her nicotine withdrawal. The symptoms will pass in about two weeks.

• Celebrate along the way. Quitting smoking is a BIG DEAL! Give lots of rewards and praise for getting through a day, week, month, or year(s) of not smoking.

• Ask the person whether he or she wants you to call or visit regularly to see how he or she is doing. Let the person know that it’s okay to call you whenever he or she needs to hear encouraging words.

• Help the quitter get what she or he needs, such as hard candy to suck on, straws to chew on, fresh veggies cut up and kept cold in the refrigerator, etc.

• Spend time doing things with the quitter to keep his or her mind off smoking – go to the movies or take a walk to get past a craving (what many call a "nicotine fit").

• If the smoker relapses, praise him or her for trying to quit, and for whatever length of time (days, weeks, or months) of not smoking. Encourage him or her to try again! Instead of saying "If you try again…" Say, "When you try again…"

Studies show that most people who don’t succeed in quitting are ready to try again in the near future. Encourage him or her to learn from the attempt. Things a person learns from a failed attempt to quit may help him or her be successful in a future attempt.

Be understanding. Smokers do not smoke because they are stupid. They don’t smoke because they are mean or obnoxious and wish to hurt their families and friends. They smoke because they are human, and as humans they make mistakes.

One mistake that all smokers are guilty of is experimentation with a highly addictive and dangerous drug—nicotine. Many of them took up smoking long before any dangers were known. When they realized the dangers, they may have attempted to quit, but for some it is not easy. They are hooked on a drug, and it will take strong resolve and a support system to overcome the initial difficulties encountered during the quitting process.

The best support which can be provided by significant others is to offer love, patience and understanding, and to try to make the smoker’s life as easy as possible over the first few days. The smoker giving up cigarettes may have severe emotional outbursts and be irritable, depressed, and even irrational.
These are all the effects of nicotine withdrawal. Many family members and friends will encourage them to smoke rather than act like that. If they were recovering alcoholics, they would not be offered drinks by these people. If they were reacting to chemotherapy they would not be begged to give it up and sacrifice their lives for the family’s momentary comfort.

Unfortunately, many friends and family members often do not take smoking cessation seriously enough. We are not talking about giving up a simple little annoyance such as biting of nails. We are talking about a powerful and deadly addiction. They are dealing with a real physiological need as well as a strongly ingrained psychological dependence.

Offer the most encouragement you can. Be tolerant of their temporary emotional outbursts. They will soon return to normal, and you will have the personal satisfaction of knowing you helped them over one of the greatest challenges of their lives—giving up cigarettes.

Speaking of relapse, it could happen. It’s a reality. Nicotine is a drug that you won’t easily forget. Some smokers who’ve been without a cigarette for years say that they never really lose the desire to have just one smoke here and there. What if you do give in to that thinking?

It seemed to take decades but there’s a clear understanding today that smoking causes many health problems. In addition to conditions including emphysema and cancer, cigarette or cigar smoking also damages the skin and teeth of people who indulge. The nicotine found in cigarettes is addictive which makes it very difficult for some people to stop. That’s why there are various different forms of smoking cessation therapy to help with that.

In many cases the only impetus for a person to stop smoking is a warning from their physician. Often times the damage is already done in the form of lung cancer or pneumonia. This is when a person feels compelled to get involved in a form of smoking cessation therapy. They do it to prolong their lives.

However it’s just as important to stop well before this point. Some of the damage to the lungs caused by smoking can be repaired if the person stops. This can be done at any stage, regardless of how long the person has been a smoker. Starting smoking cessation therapy at this point is crucial to future good health.

If you do happen to be someone who wants to put your smoker status behind you, you need to find a course of action that will be effective for you personally. It’s not the same for everyone; one type of smoking cessation therapy may work well for one person, while it does little for another. Often it’s a long and tiring process but when you find the right thing for you, you’ll realize all the benefits involved in not smoking.

The nicotine patch has gained a lot of attention in recent years. It’s easy to use and many individuals have found it successfully curbs their urges for a cigarette. The patch is self-adhesive and placed on the skin. It emits a very low does of nicotine into the bloodstream which helps with any cravings. This form of smoking cessation therapy is something you’ll need to discuss with your doctor.

Along the same lines is a gum that works much the same as the patch. The gum is chewed when a smoker feels the urge to reach for a cigarette. Because it contains nicotine, that is released into the body and again the smoker feels satisfied enough that they forgo the cigarette. There is a limitation on how much of the gum can be consumed in one day so it’s wise to ask your doctor if he or she thinks this form of smoking cessation therapy is a good approach. 

Quitting smoking can be the difference between a long and healthy future and one filled with illness. If you don’t feel driven to stop for your health, do it for those who love you.