Step by Step Guide to Quitting Smoking - 4 Easy Steps

Stopping smoking, whether it be cigarettes, cigars, or a pipe is not easy. Some "wag" made the remark "Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it 100 times." I don't remember who said it but I can tell you it is NOT easy.

The first step that every smoker must take is to say "I will quit." Any habit that has been shown to cause lung cancer and/or cardiovascular problems is a bad habit, and stopping may mean adding many years to your life.

In my own personal case, I had been smoking cigarettes from age 18 to about age 35, at which point my wife in an economy move suggested that I switch to smoking a pipe. I welcomed the move because many pipe smokers do not inhale the smoke, and this is a "biggy" from a health standpoint. Even smoking a pipe however is also addictive and a pipe smoker still gets the toxic nicotine in the system, mostly through the mouth. To tell you how bad the habit was for me: I can still remember the panic setting in when I realized I had used my last match, and I searched frantically through all the jacket and trouser pockets in hope of finding more. On some occasions I ended up lighting the pipe on an electric stove burner. If you've never tried it that's quite a trick. I had thought about quitting more than once but had trouble really decided for sure. You play those "mind games" with yourself where you say "I don't want to quit because I enjoy it so much." or "It keeps me calm, so why should I quit?" The turning point in my "smoking career" came when I was in a 1 on 1 meeting with my boss at the time. He had been an "All American" basketball player and had never smoked in his life, so far as I know. I lit my pipe and he started coughing.

He was very tolerant and didn't say a word to me, but at that moment I decided I was not only endangering my health, but maybe even my livelihood, so I said to my self " This is just a bad habit so I'm going to quit.

Step 2 - Set a time goal (a couple of weeks or so.) Having read some motivational material about how to get rid of bad habits, I remembered the advice of several guru's. They suggested that to change a bad habit, the habit should be replaced by another habit.

Step 3 - Pick a substitute. My first thought was the "Lifesaver" (TM) candies. I went out an bought about 20 rolls, which I though would be enough to last me through the ordeal, which I thought might take a couple of weeks.

Step 4 - Start using the substitute every time you get the urge to smoke. At the end of the first week my teeth were hurting so bad from all the sugar, I thought they might all drop out. At this point I switched over to pretzels, figuring the extra salt wouldn't be as bad as the extra sugar. This worked, and after about 2 weeks as I recall I was really over the smoking habit. I have not had so much as one cigarette, pipe load, or cigar, since that time. I am rather strong willed and determined, so it may not be as easy for you unless you are really strong in that respect. It is a FREE cure, because you will save way more, money-wise from not buying the smoking products, than the cost of the pretzels. If you can't tolerate either sugar or salt, then try raw vegetable sticks, like carrots, celery, or broccoli. If you try this FREE way and it doesn't work, my suggestion is that you try one of the patches or hypnosis, whatever it takes.

Step 1 - Decide you are going to quit (this IMO is the hardest step)
Step 2 - Set a time goal (I would guess a couple of weeks from smoking to not-smoking)
Step 3 - Pick a substitute for smoking (some edible product is easiest)
Step 4 - Start using the substitute every time you feel like smoking.

Note - DO NOT try to "taper off" instead of quitting "cold turkey" because for most people it simply will NOT work.

FDA's Missteps in Tobacco Regulation

A major policy shift is underway, and it is bound to have a dangerous unintended consequence. The new team at the FDA has slapped a black box warning on an important class of drugs that treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and colitis.

The cancer risk highlighted by this new bold warning has been known for years — and hasn’t gotten worse. We already knew of the cancer risk in children and adolescents, and responsible doctors were cautious in using them. The new warning signals only a change in perception of risk, not any change in actual risk.

Physicians should still give due consideration to the benefits of the drugs, especially in light of the paucity of other treatments for debilitating and often dangerous inflammatory diseases. Consider the benefit versus risk analysis for inflammatory diseases with secondary risks.

For example, by not using these drugs out of possibly inflated concerns due to the new additional cancer warning, might inflammatory bowel disease patients face a higher risk of colon cancer as a result of years of inflammation? You won’t see that risk in bold print. But it is just as real. And this is precisely the problem with the FDA’s new policy, which is based on the assumption that erring on the side of more warnings is the safest way to go.

Similarly, this summer, the FDA warned about the safety of e-cigarettes, a product many smokers are using to quit smoking real cigarettes. E-cigarettes are devices that supply users with vaporized nicotine and look like cigarettes, many even having an LED light at the tip. These products, which contain no tobacco and are non-combustible, eliminate virtually all the risks of smoking. For the vast majority of smokers unable to quit even with the help of drugs and counseling, e-cigarettes could be a lifesaver.

Yet the FDA found tiny levels of carcinogens in the product and warned smokers to stay away, essentially telling them to go back to deadly cigarettes.

Unfortunately, it is no surprise that the new leadership at the FDA is taking a more aggressive stance with regard to warnings.

These warnings are a harbinger of how the agency will weigh benefits versus risks: with a thumb weighing down the risk side. This distorted approach has numerous downsides:

• Fewer patients will get the treatment they need, out of an “abundance of caution” and physicians’ fear of litigation.

• Black box warnings, originally meant for only the most dangerous drugs, will become more widespread but less meaningful.

• The FDA, newly armed with regulatory power over tobacco, will make it harder for people to quit smoking cigarettes by warning them away from disfavored alternatives.

• Investors and researchers (innovative drug companies) will have less incentive to pursue new medications that may attract scary warnings.

The old adage “better safe than sorry” is too simplistic in today’s world to be the guiding principle at the FDA.

Good Post for Beginners: Many Facets to Addiction

Quitting cigarettes is one of the hardest things that a person can do. It takes a lot of willpower and determination. If you are serious about giving up cigarettes for good, you should look into the forms of help that you can find. You will be able to find many different aids that will help you to quit smoking. When you are trying to quit smoking it is important to learn how to beat the cravings.

One type of stop smoking aid is nicotine replacement therapy. You will find nicotine in cigarettes. This is an addictive substance. This is the reason that many people continue to smoke, even though they know how bad it is for them. This is also the reason that it is so hard to give cigarettes up. When you are using nicotine replacement therapy aids, you will be getting the nicotine from another source. You will be able to stop the act of smoking. This helps greatly when you are quitting.

You are most likely addicted to the act of smoking just as much as the actual nicotine. Your brain has been trained to enjoy this act. If you want to stop smoking you need to slowly reduce the amount of nicotine that is in your system. These aids will work by giving you a reduced amount of nicotine from an alternative source. You will not experience the same symptoms that you would if trying to quit "cold turkey." These forms of aids are proven to help when quitting cigarettes. They include things like nicotine patches, nicotine gum and inhalers. These are all alternative sources for nicotine.

You can have laser therapy to quit smoking. This uses a technique that is based on acupuncture methods. Various points on the body are targeted with low level laser technology. This procedure is intended to increase the amount of endorphins that your body produces. This will help to alleviate the symptoms that you will experience when quitting cigarettes. This method of treatment is said to be effective against the withdrawal symptoms from quitting cigarettes.

Using the above mentioned products to quit smoking can be harmful to some people's health. They are chemical products that are generally not very good for your system. There are some people who are not able to use these products because of various medical conditions. If you cannot use a nicotine replacement product you still have some options. There are many products which use natural ingredients. There are many herbal products out there which are designed to help you quit smoking without the use of harmful chemicals.

If you are looking for alternative quit smoking aids you should be sure that you look around. You should make sure that you do your research before you start using any form of alternative quit smoking aids. There are many products out there which are simply scams. If you are not sure about a certain method you should try asking your doctor for advice. They will be able to turn you in the right direction.

1 in 40 Smokes E-Cigs?

GAINESVILLE, Fla., March 4 /PRNewswire/ — The e-cig is still making headlines across the U.S. as the industry continues to grow at almost unbelievable rates considering the economic downturn the U.S. is currently under. This brings quite a few questions to the forefront as to why this product has become so popular over the last year.

Tax burdens may be one strong indicator as to why the popularity of the electronic cigarette continues to grow. Since the e cigarette has no known adverse health effects to date, it is not easily taxed at the current sin tax rates that are imposed on smokers for the use of tobacco cigarettes, and with the political climate of spending and taxing in these political times, it may be a way for smokers to ease the tax burden placed on them, therefore saving the smoker much needed cash.

This makes perfect sense considering that the taxes that tobacco cigarette taxes were supposed to be used for are not used in that manner, and smokers may feel like they are being taken advantage of by federal, state and local governments to fund other projects that were not intended to get these tobacco revenues.

Calculating the actual cost of electronic cigarette use by the smoker shows another advantage. Some are making claims that the use of the e-cigarette cuts a smoker’s monthly bill down by 50% or more in relation to cost of tobacco cigarettes.

Most believe the major and strongest factor is a superior product when compared to traditional tobacco cigarettes. The e cigarette has 4,000 less chemicals when used than tobacco cigarettes and smokers across the U.S. and the world are opting to continue smoking without all of the toxins that cigarettes produce and put into the body.

“They love it because smokers are a lot smarter than the government and special interest groups give them credit for,” states Tiffany Ellis of E Cigarettes National. “They see through the scare mongering and are seeing a difference in their wallets and purses after they make the switch, along with other benefits of making the decision to move over to electronic cigarettes.”

quit smoking

Survey On Modern Day Smoking Cessation

These days, we are bombarded with smoking cessation commercials. Nicorette gum, Chantix prescription pills, Nicorette patch, etc. Which works? What's worth the time and money? A study was published in the November 2009 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, that claims the key to success, is a combination of the nicotine patch, and the nicotine lozenge.

It was theorized that the increased success, was due to the fluctuation and spikes in blood nicotine levels, mimicking that of smoking. The combination features a patch that has a steady delivery of nicotine, while the lozenge provides a spike of nicotine to help curb cravings. This combination was even more successful than the use of prescription antidepressant medications such as Chantix and Wellbutrin.

When they measured the success rate for smokers after 6 months against other popular smoking cessation modalities, they found only the patch and lozenge combo worked better than a placebo, and test subjects had a higher rate of quitting after only 1 week. This clinical trial followed over 1500 adult smokers who smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day for 6 months before the study. They were randomly assigned to a placebo, a lozenge, a patch, a pill, a prescription pill-lozenge combination, or a combination of the patch and lozenge. Each patient received counseling, and were tested periodically for success.

Smoking cessation lozenges and patches are readily available over the counter, and are highly affordable when compared to cigarettes and the complications associated with them. In many cases, these OTC medications are much safer than going on long term antidepressant regimens. It just may be a whole lot more convenient for you as well. Perhaps the lozenge rolling around in you mouth provides an oral stimulus as well as a spike in nicotine to satisfy the cravings. Whatever it is though, it just might be worth a try!

New Article on Finding Help to Quit Smoking

I discovered this online while looking for useful tips. This one is a unique review on how you can get help from friends and family:

Setting out on the long, hard journey to quit smoking is a very personal matter. You will be the one suffering the effects of nicotine withdrawal. You will be the one fighting the monkey clinging fast to your back. No one else will feel your pain. You alone must suffer the unpleasant effects that quitting smoking brings. That doesn't mean you have to go through it all alone. Quit smoking help in the form of family and friends can be especially effective.

Smoking is a psychological addiction to the pleasures of nicotine. This powerful drug takes hold of the pleasure center of one's brain and changes one's perception of pleasure. Soon, it's as though there is no pleasure without nicotine. Everything seems better with a cigarette. Eventually one doesn't even realize they are smoking to feel pleasure. It's just a normal part of daily life. Something has to replace the pleasure one is accustomed to finding in cigarettes. This is why family and friends are such an important form of quit smoking help.

Since quitting smoking is a very difficult endeavor, the people one finds themselves surrounded by in their daily are a very important consideration. If these people are smokers also, it will make quitting smoking very difficult. If one's friends and co-workers are smokers also, the person wanting to quit has a few options. They can avoid these people when they are smoking. They can reach an agreement where the people will do their best not to expose you to their smoking. But perhaps the best way, the one that will give you the most quit smoking help, is to get them to sign on the project also and quit smoking. In this way several people can go through the ordeal together and share their success stories with each other. In the tough stretches they can provide each other support and encouragement.

Some people need a more powerful reason to quit smoking. About the best reason you can find are your children. Use them as the inspiration and the source of pleasure to replace the void left by the nicotine. Make sure you always have their picture handy. When the urge to smoke a cigarette hits you, take out that picture and spend a few minutes looking at it and thinking of them. Imagine how proud they are of you for quitting. Imagine that you want to make sure you are alive for a long time to be there for them. There truly is no better form of quit smoking help in this world.

Another Slide Show on Quitting Smoking

Stop Smoking Patches Power Review for Zero Nicotine

View more presentations from TJQuits.