"The Writer Girl Notes"

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. Once the smoker gets addicted to it, the addiction is difficult to break. Despite the serious health consequences, smokers find it extremely tough to quit smoking.

When you smoke a cigarette, the nicotine level in your body spikes and your body receives an immediate rush of nicotine. As the nicotine level slowly dissipates and then drops below a certain point, your body craves another spike or “hit”, obviously through another cigarette, in order to relieve this craving. For this reason any attempts to quit smoking can be so difficult.

Going cold turkey or relying on willpower to quit smoking most often ends in failure. However, there are medical aids that may make the task a little more bearable, with the most popular ones being those that supply and regulate nicotine in the bloodstream.

The nicotine patch is one of the more popular medical aids for quitting smoking. This nicotine patch is placed on your skin, which then releases a slow and steady stream of nicotine into the bloodstream. Instead of cutting out nicotine instantly from your system, the patch supposedly helps your body adjust slowly to not having spikes in the nicotine level and wean your body gradually off nicotine. As your body adjusts to lower levels of nicotine, the dosage of the patch can be further reduced, until eventually the nicotine level is almost minimal and your body is finally nicotine free.

The patch is also a very strong deterrent against smoking, because if you smoke while on the patch, you could suffer from a potentially lethal nicotine overdose. However, one common problem with the nicotine patch is that because the patch supplies a steady amount of nicotine into your bloodstream, there is no spike or hit, so that some smokers still crave cigarettes for the hit that cigarette provides.

Like the nicotine patch, the nicotine gum works on the same idea. It can be quite effective as it can replicate the nicotine spikes in your bloodstream without you having to smoke cigarettes. You generally hold the nicotine gum in your mouth without chewing, and only chew a couple of times when you desire a hit of nicotine.

Another aid, Zyban, is also a very effective aid in your battle to quit smoking. It does not work by supplying nicotine to the bloodstream, but works by altering the brain chemistry to reduce the desire for smoking. Zyban is usually taken a few weeks before you plan to stop smoking as it takes time for any effect to take place.

Zyban is a prescription drug, so you need to consult with a doctor to be prescribed Zyban. It cannot be taken in combination with other drugs, and may have some side effects such as dizziness, insomnia, dry mouth or even seizures.

To quit smoking takes serious effort, but too many smokers try to quit by relying on sheer willpower, which is extremely hard to do. By using these aids such as the nicotine patch and Zyban, you are making it easier for your body to quit smoking and thus improving your chances of success.

Copyright 2006 Danna Schneider

There are a lot of reasons to quit smoking. We all know the life threatening reasons, but we don’t necessarily understand the the full impact that smoking has on our bodies and minds, and possibly even on others around us.

Women especially are susceptible to some of the more hidden dangers of smoking, and may actually benefit in different ways than men when it comes to smoking cessation.

For example, many women probably do not even know this, but lung cancer is now killing more women every year than breast cancer. That’s right, lung cancer is actually more deadly to a woman than breast cancer, which is by far more talked about in women’s health than lung cancer.

Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer since nearly 90% of all cases are traced directly to smoking, so it’s important that women really understand the health benefits of quitting smoking.

There are actually a lot more health issues that a woman needs to think about if she is a smoker as well. For example, most contraceptive pills carry warnings on them that the patient should not take the contraceptive birth control pill if she is a smoker.

Her risk of developing heart problems is greatly increased if she is smoking while on the pill, since smoking increases blood pressure, and the pill is known to also increase blood pressure. This creates a double hazard for heart issues.

Another concern may be for a woman’s children. Children many times can develop asthma and other types of breathing problems if the child is exposed to cigarette smoke at a young age. This is also a concern for men, since they are not exempt from this rule either!

There are also a myriad of other health problems, inconveniences and even just “cosmetic” reasons that a woman may want to consider smoking cessation in order that she may be her “best self”.

These don’t necessarily fall into the category of life threatening or imminent dangers, but they certainly can affect your quality of life, as well as your appearance, which is held in high regard in today’s aesthetically concerned society. These additional health and well being benefits to smoking cessation are as follows :

1.) Your skin is greatly affected by smoking, and not in a good way as you can probably imagine. As we age, our skin cell turnover tends to slow down. Smoking actually speeds the process of this slower turnover up, making us essentially age faster.

Add to this the fact that smoking essentially robs our body of oxygen and creates more free radicals, which are skin’s number one enemy and aging’s number one comrade, and you have a recipe for accelerated aging, and sagging, colorless skin.

Most women see a marked improvement in the tone, clarity and firmness of their skin just a few weeks after they quit smoking, especially if they were a heavy smoker.

2.) Your teeth and mouth will thank you. Smoking not only gives you bad breath, but it also turns your teeth yellow, or sometimes even brown from nicotine residue and tabacco staining.

3.) Quitting smoking can greatly help with your mental state. What do I mean? I mean that smoking may seem at first like it is a relaxant, since it tends to immediately feel like it is relieving tension and anxiety once the cigarette is in your mouth and you begin to inhale. Contrary to this belief that cigarettes “calm” you, studies have shown that in the long run smoking actually increases anxiety.

We all know that depression and anxiety tend to go hand in hand, so quitting smoking may also greatly benefit a woman’s psyche.

4.) No more coughing, weezing, and possibly even a reduction in allergies. If you quit smoking, chances are you will breathe a lot easier.

It takes a lot less time for your lungs to heal than you think. Studies have shown that even the most blackened smoker’s lungs have made full recoveries within just a few months after they have quit smoking.

“A stitch in time, saves nine,”–what are those nine savings I do not know. But, I know one thing for certain that right things done at the right time, save you lots of trouble. Any problem of the human beings needs to be treated at three levels. Physical level, mental level and intellectual level. Intelligent counseling targets the intellectual levels of an individual. If done at the appropriate time, it will give results. Anti smoking counseling, is one of the surest medical services, that has capacity to chisel a new man, out of the nicotine addict.

The preventive methods, unfortunately do not reach the entire targeted audience Which means, the profit rate of counseling is as not much as it is expected to be. “These gaps in care should be closed for the benefit of everyone,” said Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which sponsored the study. The study is published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

When you are stressed in life,cigarettes pose as if they are your friends. But are they really? Are they capable of de -stressing you permanently? The answer is in the negative. Nicotine addiction temporarily sedates you. Stress pounces on you with vendetta again. The funniest part of the smoking process, is that even when you smoke, you know that you are not happy to smoke.

Openly declare your intention to quit smoking with your close friends, both smokers and non-smokers,and your family members. You are sure get support from your family members.

The gentlemen smoker friends will stop offering you the cigarettes. If you drink alcohol, try to give it up. At times, it may be counter productive. It may weaken your resolve to quit smoking. The carvings for the cigarette intensify. But this is one of those situations which you have to undergo and sort out with resolute will power.

In the process to quit smoking, do not hesitate to make your best smoker friends, your temporary best enemies. You are undergoing one of the crisis period in your life. Some of them will understand, as not all of them are happy smokers. They too wish to give up, but they do not know, how to give it up. If you are successful, you will have to do the act of counseling to many many others.

Addiction to tobacco has assumed alarming propositions today in the world. So health advice, and anti smoking counseling are the items of priority, before any health authority.

The need to give anti-tobacco advise at the formative stage of life of the younger generation is bound to give highly beneficial results.

Everyone knows the ill effects of smoking. From kids to adults, everyone is aware of the health hazards that smoking causes. Yet smokers find it hard to give up this habit. This is probably because of nicotine, the addictive substance found in cigarettes. The ill effects of smoking are numerous; thus, one must adopt a planned method to quit smoking. Here are some tips that can help you to quit:

1. First, make up your mind. Honor your commitment and get yourself registered in a smoke-quitting program or visit a counselor or hypnotherapist;

2. Make a list of the reasons why you want to quit smoking and go through it every time you crave a cigarette;

3. Write 10 good things about smoking and 10 bad things about smoking. You’ll notice the difference in the good and the bad. This helps a lot;

4. Buy yourself a nicotine inhaler or Zyban. This will make it a bit easier to give up smoking;

5. Get audiotapes and books related to quitting smoking. Read them and enlighten yourself about all the ill effects of smoking;

6. Consult your doctor if you face seizures or any other complications;

7. Get your friends and family to support you and help you give up smoking;

8. Try to eat fruits, chewing gum, lollipops, hard candy or cinnamon sticks if the urge to smoke arises. Try replacing nicotine with other non-addictive stuff like beer nuts or corn muffins;

9. Keep your mind occupied with creative activities such as knitting, embroidery or carpentry. Take a brisk walk, go for a swim or some other physical activity. This will help to keep your mind off smoking;

10. You may gain some weight while trying to quit smoking. This is because people tend to feel hungry initially when trying to give up smoking. However, this minor problem can be easily handled through regular exercise;

11. In the first few days after quitting, drink plenty of water. This washes away the nicotine and other harmful toxins from your body;

12. Give up coffee and other carbonated drinks when you quit smoking;

13. Ask people around you to stop inviting you to go out for a smoke. This will not only help you to deal with the craving for a cigarette, but give you somebody to talk to about how hard quitting is;

14. Take long deep breaths every time you feel like smoking. When you slowly inhale, feel the fresh air reach deep inside you. While exhaling, feel all the stress and tensions leave your body. Let your chin rest on your chest and relax;

15. Remember, all cravings last only five minutes. If you succeed in diverting your mind for five minutes, you can give up smoking.

You won’t die if you don’t smoke. So never give up when you badly feel like smoking. Make it happen, give up cigarettes and live a long and healthy life.