Smoking is the main risk factor for cardiovascular illness, including heart attack and stroke. Moreover, it may also contribute to high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, obesity, and cancers of the lung, larynx (voice box), oral cavity (mouth), pharynx (throat), and oesophagus (food pipe). The harmful chemicals of tobacco can cause impotence in men, pelvic pain, infertility, and complications during pregnancy. In addition, smokers are more susceptible to respiratory infections like colds, flu, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
To avoid the risk of these chronic diseases, stop smoking today. However, if you are already prey to nicotine, look for a well-working remedy that can help get over nicotine addiction.
How harmful is nicotine?
Cigarettes contain over 4000 chemicals. Many of them are poisonous. Nicotine in cigarette smoke is one chemical that causes addiction to smoke. Moreover, the other toxic chemical is Benzene. It forms cancer-causing compounds when burned. This chemical is found in higher concentrations in cigarettes.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year in the world. More than 5 million of these deaths occur due to direct tobacco use. In addition, more than 2 million deaths occur due to passive smoke. For this reason, it is one of the leading avoidable causes of death. For this reason, consult your doctor for an effective quit smoking treatment to prevent early death.
How does smoking affect your life?
Smoking reduces life expectancy by about 10 years for men and 8 years for women. It diminishes the overall quality of life. Moreover, smokers are often depressed due to the lack of oxygen in brain cells caused by nicotine, which leads to low energy levels.
Atherosclerosis is one of the adverse effects of fuming cigarettes. It causes the arteries to become narrow and restricts blood flow throughout the body. Furthermore, it can lead to severe cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack or stroke.
The risk of developing cardiovascular diseases is 50 to 70 percent higher in both men and women who smoke compared with those who have never smoked.
Is it possible to get over your tobacco cravings?
Yes, but it takes time. It takes about 1 or 2 years to break the physical addiction to smoking. There are multiple methods to control your nicotine addiction. However, you can talk to your doctor for the most suitable quit smoking treatment for you.
When people try to get over nicotine addiction, they may experience withdrawal symptoms like irritability and nervousness for two weeks. After that, they may maintain long-term abstinence without experiencing any withdrawal symptoms.
However, breaking the psychological addiction may be a long-term process. It takes time and willpower for smokers to change their lifestyle and environment. To get over nicotine addiction forever from all forms of nicotine addiction, smokers need to change their social habits.
Moreover, they should have the right mindset, and above all else, they must not give up trying.
What are the ways to stop smoking?
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people use several different methods to get over their cravings. However, the frequent ones are-
Cold turkey
It does not involve taking any medication or undergoing any therapy. Going “Cold turkey” means not using any product, such as a patch or gum. It deals with stopping abruptly with no preparation or support.
Some people think going cold turkey is more difficult than tapering off, and they might be right. Many people who try to control their addiction this way fail in the first few weeks. However, some succeed by gradually decreasing their dependence on smoking over time.
What are the benefits of cold turkey?
There are many benefits to quitting cold turkey since you eliminate all nicotine from your body in a short amount of time. No medication drastically helps with the side effects of withdrawal. On the other hand, cold turkey is still effective and can help improve your health. Once you quit, you will quickly see improvements in both your physical and mental health. Moreover, you will also be able to decrease the number of medications you take.
What are the dangers?
Cold turkey carries no additional risk of withdrawal symptoms or relapse. It is possible to control your addiction using medications and counselling. However, there are no advantages to this method over going cold turkey. If you stop smoking without a doctor’s assistance, you may notice some withdrawal symptoms, such as cravings for nicotine and mood swings. Make sure you have support throughout the process to make it easier. Some people choose to go cold turkey because they want to experience withdrawal symptoms.
However, if this is your reason for quitting, be aware that everyone’s experience with withdrawal is different. Cravings can range from mild to severe and last for a few days or months. Moreover, the important thing is to find a way to make it through the withdrawal process without turning back to your dangerous habit.
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can help reduce withdrawal symptoms such as cravings and nicotine withdrawal syndrome (nervousness, frustration, and annoyance). People can use this quit smoking treatment. However, use it as directed by your healthcare provider. Most studies show that smokers with a strong desire use NRT products twice compared to those with less addiction.
What are the benefits of NRT?
NRT can help you by-
- Reducing your urge to smoke.
- Reducing the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms include craving tobacco, irritability, impatience, and restlessness.
- NRT does not contain nicotine when used as directed. Therefore, it is also safe for smokers who are 10 years old and above.
What are the side effects of this quit smoking treatment?
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can cause side effects such as nausea, indigestion, heartburn, and stomach upset in some people. The amount of nicotine in the blood is increased initially. Furthermore, it may produce withdrawal symptoms, such as cravings for nicotine and difficulty concentrating. These usually last a short time. However, they can sometimes cause problems.
Other side effects include-
- Sleep disturbance
- Dizziness
- Hiccups
- Disturbance of taste
These side effects are usually mild and transient. However, they can sometimes be more severe. If you experience any side effects, which are troublesome or do not go away, stop using your NRT and discuss this with your doctor.
Prescription medications
Prescription smoking-cessation medications are scientifically proven to double a person’s chances of quitting successfully. These drugs may decrease withdrawal symptoms and enhance the odds of controlling nicotine addiction without substituting one obsession with another.
However, the FDA has approved three prescription medications to help people quit-
- Bupropion SR (Zyban)
- Varenicline tartrate (Chantix)
- Nicotine nasal spray
Among them, Varenicline is the most successful and popular remedy for smoking.
What are the benefits of Champix?
Champix is an encouraging medication for smokers looking to discontinue cigarettes. This treatment can help people reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Thus, making it easier for them to abandon using tobacco.
Smoking cessation will have a positive effect on your health almost immediately.
- Your intellect of taste and smell will get better
- You will have more energy
- You will experience a better mood
- Breathing, walking upstairs, and doing activities you used to do before will be easier
- It will reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke, and other lung disease symptoms
- You won’t get as many coughs or colds
What are the possible side effects of Varenicline?
As with any medication, some people may experience side effects after taking Champix. Therefore, you must discuss the potential benefits and risks with your doctor before taking this medication for quitting smoking.
Possible side effects of using Chantix are-
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Constipation
- Headaches
- Unusual dreams
- Flatulence (gas)
- Dry mouth
- Cough or hoarseness of voice
- Indigestion
- Back pain
- Muscle cramps
These side effects should only last for a short period and often get better with time. However, if these effects last longer than a few weeks or get worse while using this quit smoking treatment, let your doctor know immediately.
Other remedies
Doctors may sometimes prescribe other medications to help you get over your nicotine addiction. These drugs include antidepressants, anti-seizure drugs, and lithium carbonate. Antidepressant treatment can help smokers quit by easing nicotine withdrawal symptoms. However, anti-seizure medication can reduce withdrawal symptoms. Lithium carbonate is approved by the FDA to treat bipolar disorder. However, it may also help people stop smoking use as well.
Behavioural therapy
Cognitive or behavioural therapies help smokers quit. Most therapies combine education about nicotine addiction with one or more techniques. They aim at changing the smoker’s behaviour, such as-
- Setting a quit date and explaining why this date is important
- Keeping track of smoking triggers and developing strategies to deal with them
- Learning and practicing new behaviours and coping skills
What are the benefits?
There are several benefits of behavioural therapy. These therapies help patients learn how to deal with problem behaviours. Moreover, they also assist patients in avoiding triggers for the behaviour.
Behavioural therapy works in different ways. It can work alone or in combination with medications or other types of treatment. Moreover, the quit smoking treatments, such as stimulus control and contingency management, are intended, in part, to help people “unlearn” behaviours that contribute to their problems.
In addition, behavioural therapies can also be used with other treatments or medications to improve a person’s adherence and success rate. For example, some smokers use a combination of medication and behavioural therapy to control nicotine addiction. This method can work better than either treatment alone.
What are the side effects of behavioural therapy?
These therapies can have various side effects, depending on the type of quit smoking treatment. Some behavioural therapies are considered safe and have little to no risk of adverse effects. However, some treatments may cause mild or more severe side effects that vary from person to person.
It can cause the following side effects-
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Tiredness
- Anxiety
- Drowsiness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
What can you do at home to stop smoking?
Abandoning tobacco use is very difficult. If you want to quit on your own, it may be helpful to do some things at home to increase your chances of success. It includes-
Preparing yourself
Prepare yourself physically and emotionally for your journey. Prepare a list of the harmful effects of tobacco use. Keep the list on the refrigerator or your bathroom mirror.
Look at the benefits
Make a list of all the benefits that getting over smoking will have for you. You may find it cooperative to prepare two lists-
- Short-term benefits
- Long-term benefits
Keep the lists where you can see them, such as on the refrigerator or bathroom mirror.
Consider the challenges
List out the challenges you are likely to have when you use to quit smoking treatment. They can include withdrawal symptoms, cravings for cigarettes, irritability, and anxiety about being around other smokers. Let the list on places where you can see it. However, keep it somewhere else too, such as in a wallet or purse.
Modify your environment
Adjust your home environment to make it safer and less stressful to live smoke-free. It may include asking people who live with you not to smoke indoors. Moreover, it may also mean removing ashtrays from your house, putting away lighters and matches, and cleaning the places in your home where you used to smoke.
Ask for support
Ask your family and friends to support your efforts by avoiding smoking in front of you and asking others not to smoke around you as well. Moreover, you may also ask family and friends if they will help you keep track of your quit day or ask them to remind you when it has been two weeks since your last cigarette. Even if you are using the best treatment, emotional support has the magic to bring quick results.
