There are a lot of ways to quit smoking and many resources to help you. Family members, friends, and coworkers may be supportive or encouraging, but the desire and commitment to quit must be your own.
Most people who have been able to successfully quit smoking made at least one unsuccessful attempt in the past. Try not to view past attempts to quit as failures, but rather as learning experiences.
Feel ready to quit? Here are some tips:
List the reasons you want to quit. Include both short- and long-term benefits.
Ask your health care provider for help. Find out whether prescription medications might help. Also ask about nicotine patches, gum, and sprays.
Ask your family, friends, and coworkers for support.
Set a quit date, and get rid of all of your cigarettes by that date.
Quit completely -- cold turkey.
Get more exercise. It relieves the urge to smoke.
Learn self-hypnosis from a qualified practitioner. This helps some people.
Make a plan about what you will do, instead of smoking, when stressed or other times you have the urge for tobacco. Be as specific as possible.
Avoid smoke-filled settings and situations in which you are more likely to smoke.
Like any addiction, quitting tobacco is difficult, particularly if you are acting alone. If you join smoking cessation programs, you have a much better chance of success. Such programs are offered by hospitals, health departments, community centers, and work sites.
The best quit-smoking programs combine multiple strategies, including peer support and ways to overcome potential relapse situations. Counseling by telephone can be a very helpful reinforcement, even as effective as face-to-face counseling.
Short-term use of the antidepressant medication bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban), along with a quit-smoking program, may increase your success. Bupropion requires a prescription from your health provider and should not be used if you have a history of seizures or kidney failure.
If you aren't successful the first time, simply look at what occurred or what didn't work, develop new strategies, and try again. Many attempts are often necessary to finally "beat the habit."
THE BENEFITS OF QUITTING
Within 20 minutes of quitting- your blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal and the temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal.
Within 8 hours of quitting -your carbon monoxide levels drop and your oxygen levels increase, both to normal levels.
Within 24 hours of quitting -your risk of a sudden heart attack decreases.
Within 48 hours of quitting -nerve endings begin to regenerate and your senses of smell and taste begin to return to normal.
Within 2 weeks to 3 months of quitting- your circulation improves and walking becomes easier; even your lung function increases up to 30%.
Within 1 to 9 months of quitting- your overall energy typically increases and symptoms like coughing, nasal congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath diminish; also, the small hairlike projections lining your lower airways begin to function normally. This increases your lungs' ability to handle mucus, clean the airways, and reduce infections.
Within 1 year of quitting -your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone still using tobacco.
Within 5 years of quitting- the lung cancer death rate decreases by nearly 50% compared to one pack/day smokers; the risk of cancer of the mouth is half that of a tobacco user.
Within 10 years of quitting -your lung cancer death rate becomes similar to that of someone who never smoked; precancerous cells are replaced with normal cells; your risk of stroke is lowered, possibly to that of a nonuser; your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas all go down.
Topic: TIME TO QUIT SMOKING (Read 9358 times)
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February 04, 2009, 06:26:52 AM