Cigarettes replace Pipes

The first cigarettes were believed to have been invented by a group of Egyptian solders. The story goes that after a particularly difficult battle, they as artillerymen had been rewarded with a pound or two of tobacco.

But since the only pipe between them was broken, they took to rolling the tobacco in the same paper they used to wrap their gunpowder for firing the cannon. And so roll your own cigarettes was started, which eventually became the most popular way to use tobacco.

Cigarette companies began the practice of placing “baseball” cards of popular players of the day inside packs of cigarettes to lure people into buying them. One player Honus Wagner requested that his card be removed since he disapproved of the practice and now this card, due to its rarity, is believed to worth over $500,000.

Smoking cigarettes was considered the height of fashion for most men during the early part of the last century. On the contrary, women who smoked were considered “fast” and with loose morals. But in 1927 The Lucky Strike company in an effort to boost sales introduced the phrase, “Reach for a Lucky, instead of a sweet” to tout cigarettes’ appetite suppressing effect. Sales made to teen girls skyrocketed.

The Philip Morris Company discovered that sales increase when they advertise their cigarettes using a “cowboy”. So was invented the “Marlboro Man”. Two of the most popular Marlboro Men were actors Wayne McLaren and David McLean. They both died of lung cancer in 1992 and 1995, respectively.

Negatives of Smoking Cigarettes

Very early on people became to suspect that cigarettes and smoking were addictive, it was not until 1964,  that then US Surgeon General Luther L. Terry, M.D. released a report that cigarette smoking  was the cause of lung cancer and caused several other life threatening lung diseases and may be “hazardous to your health”.

But it wasn’t until 1970 that the Surgeon General’s office came out with the warning that cigarette smoking was “dangerous”. And so began the battle to ban cigarette advertising in televised commercials in 1971.
Due to the addictive effects of nicotine the number of people smoking was decreasing. However, according to the World Health Organization, as many as one third of the male population still smoked. And it is thought that women smokers were not far behind.

Smoking Bans

Cigarette smoking has been banned in many private companies and public buildings in many places throughout the Western world. Still many people start smoking because of peer pressure and a desire to fit in or be cool.

Fashion is a still a passion for many people and despite the increase in the last few decades in cancer awareness, smoking cigarettes is still hot trend.

We all eventually stop smoking.  Why not do it while you’re still alive?

What is Nicotine?

Nicotine is the active ingredient in tobacco and is a deadly poison that is often extracted from tobacco leaves (the same ones used in cigarettes) to be used as an insecticide. And it’s a good one. As a kid, I would help my mother make homemade “bug spray” for her garden by soaking cigarettes in water to make “nicotine tea”.

Nicotine is Also Highly Addictive

The major problem to quitting smoking is nicotine. When smoking nicotine goes to the brain and changes the basic chemistry. This gives you a short term feeling of pleasure and stimulation. You feel calmer yet alert. So when you quit smoking your body still craves nicotine and that what makes stopping smoking so very tough.

The Signs of Nicotine Withdrawal

Just how much a person may experience withdrawal depends on how much they have smoked in the past and their individual response. The more sensitive they are to nicotine and longer they have smoked the more severe the symptoms.

• Cranky, irritated or angry at times

• Anxious feeling or restlessness

• Feeling sad or depressed

• Hungrier than normal or increased appetite

• Sleeplessness

• Difficulty in dealing with stress

• Unable to concentrate or focus

Simple Nicotine Craving Busters

1) Bust a Move. Get and move around. Don’t just sit there. Do some deep knee bends, lightly run in place or go climb some stairs. Most cravings only last 10-15 minutes, a few minutes of brisk activity should stop that nicotine craving cold.

2) You don’t really “stop” bad habits; you really only replace them. You should using over the counter stop smoking aids like gum, or patches. You can also get prescription help with nicotine sprays or inhalers. These nicotine based products are designed to slowly wean you away from your dependence

3) Talk to Yourself – Go look at yourself in the mirror (do this only at home folks!) and list out loud all the good things you will gain by quitting smoking. Explain how much money you will save and how you can use the money on things you have always wanted. Be honest with yourself about how much healthier you will be and what that can mean to you and your family.

4) Meditate – Here’s a one minute mediation exercise. Sit down. Close your eyes. Relax your arms and hands. Slowly breathe in deeply, hold your breath for a count of three. Exhale slowly and hold for a count of 3 without inhaling! Repeat this exercise until you feel calmer.

Now that you know what nicotine is and some simple ways to beat those nicotine cravings you are one step closer to stop smoking for good.

The Different Types of Stop Smoking Programs

You can take smoking cessation classes, have private counseling, join a support group run by a therapist or join a 12 step program like Nicotine Anonymous. But all good stop smoking programs have certain things in common:

Plenty of Sessions – Whether it is a formal class or just a one-on-one with a private counselor, your program should hold sessions or classes over several weeks. A good program should have at least 4 to 7 meetings as the minimum for you to get the most out of class or program.

Adequate Session Times – You should have sessions that last at least 30 minutes or longer. Any shorter and you are still getting your coat off and redirecting your mind from the “busy-ness” of the day! An hour or 45 minutes is ideal. Don’t let yourself be pushed into a “get in, get out” mindset.

Help Past Your Quit Date – Some stop smoking programs are designed to spend several weeks preparing for you for your quit date. Others like a 12 step program have ongoing support before and after your quit date. Still others work with you 2-3 weeks past your quit time before ending. The programs that assist after you quit seem to have the most success and are the most useful.

Money Matters – A stop smoking program should be affordable and fit into your budget. Most communities have free or low-cost public stop smoking programs hosted by local health departments. Private programs can either be very reasonable (usually in a group setting) or cost a bit higher for individual counseling. Choose the program you can afford. No sense in adding money woes to an already stressful situation.

Be Flexible – Public health stop smoking programs and some private support groups have preset schedules and may only teach a class or program a few times during the year. You should take this into consideration and be willing to change your quit date to match that of the program.

It’s Not Easy – You should avoid any stop smoking program that implies that quitting is going to be quick or easy. There is no “magic pill” despite all the great treatment prescriptions available. Choose a program where the counselors are honest with you but supportive.

Use the Internet – A good many stop smoking programs make after hours help available via a website or by email. The Internet allows you 24-7 access to program information, publications or contact with a mentor/sponsor or counselor. And the Web also works well for those are uncomfortable in a group setting.

Again, regardless of the paths you take to quit smoking, starting down one or more now will mean you stop that much sooner.  Quit, and quit again if necessary.

A 5 Step Stop Smoking System

1) Plan to Stop

Since you got your first job, you probably heard that by “Planning your work, and working your plan” you would be successful. The same goes for kicking the smoking habit. It’s all about the planning:

=> Setting a stopping date. Mark it on a calendar, get it down and make it REAL.

=> Dump the junk – You want to create a “tobacco-free” environment. Clean out your car, your house and your work environment.

2) Get Help and Support

Unless your name is Superman™ or Wonder Woman™, you are probably going to need some help with this. Study after study has proven that people do better and are more successful then they have support and encouragement when learning tough, new skills.

=> Talk to the inner circle – Tell your family, friends and coworkers what you when you are going to quit and ask them to play “tobacco cop” and not leave out cigarettes, not smoke around you, etc.

=> Get counseling if you need it - There are lots of ways to get outside support: doctors, cessation classes, groups, one-on-one and online or telephone support.

3) Practice Your New Skills

“Fake until you can make it” is the rule of the day. You have to “play pretend” being a non-smoker until you really learn how to live your life being a non-smoker.

=> You should keep busy when you have the urge or craving to smoke. Distract yourself: go walk, talk to friends, do crafts or hobby work, especially if it involves using your hands.

=> Relax and reduce the stress. You can read a book, take a long walk or workout or take a long hot soak in the tub. But don’t let tensions overwhelm you and ruin your stop smoking system.

4) Get and Use Medicines Wisely

Going “Cold Turkey” is not fun. Why make it harder than it has to be? There are several “stop smoking” aids that help you make quitting easier. Talk to your doctor about these treatments.

=> Over the Counter – Nicotine patch and nicotine gum

=> By Prescription - Chantix, Bupropion SR, and nicotine sprays and inhalers

5) Be Prepared to Cheat

It’s going to happen. You are going to be stressed out, angry, or be put into a difficult position. And you are going to want to cheat. Often after 90 days or so, you may find yourself bumming a cigarette or two from someone, just to “calm your nerves”. Remember, most people try several times before they can finally can stop smoking. While this is natural you need to know, which situations can trigger a relapse:

=> Don’t hang around smokers and don’t let them smoke in your house – If you have a “smoke” table/area/bench or tree on the job, stop going there. Smoke break time? Grab a bottle of water and take a stroll to clear your head. But stop hanging out with the smokers!

=> Avoid drinking. This weakens your control and bars, clubs and pubs are hotbeds for smoking.

=> Gaining weight – Most smokers tend to gain weight (usually no more than 10 lbs) but for some people this slight increase is horrifying. Don’t let potential weight issues stop you from stop smoking. This the best time in the work to start to workout! Working out, even just walking, eases tensions, gives you a mental pick-me-up and fights the fat.

Seriously, use these five steps, or any other 5 for that matter.  Just Stop Smoking.

]]> http://www.ifinallystopped.com/how-to-stop-smoking-%e2%80%93-the-five-step-system/feed http://www.ifinallystopped.com/vitamin-supplements-and-smoking-what-you-need-to-know http://www.ifinallystopped.com/vitamin-supplements-and-smoking-what-you-need-to-know#comments Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:05:19 +0000 admin http://www.ifinallystopped.com/?p=17 The chemicals that are in the smoke you inhale from cigarettes attack various vitamins to the extent that they cause the problems that are associated with smoking such as lung cancer.

Vitamin A in particular is one of the vitamins that are destroyed by cigarette smoke and studies have shown that people who have reduced levels of vitamin A are more susceptible to lung cancer.

Similar studies have also shown that increasing the dosage of Vitamin A in people who had been smoking for years increased their chance of survival by repairing some of the damage that the smoking had done.

Vitamin C is another vitamin that helps to block the cancer causing substances from cigarettes but it is not sufficient to take high levels of vitamins A and C to counter the effects of smoking. The damage that smoking does is far greater than any vitamin supplementation can counter but it certainly does help to slow the rate of decline in health.

When you quit smoking it is a good decision to include additional supplementation of vitamins in moderate amounts to help increase the rate of repair to your lungs and other organs of the body.

It is difficult for most people to maintain a balanced diet and supplementation helps to restore some of the balance. Due to the damage that smoking will have done these supplements are necessary to restore health.

Fortunately with cessation of smoking you will have the extra funds available to pay for the supplements.

Antioxidants will help to restore some of the levels of health that were experienced prior to smoking as they have properties that prevent the cancer causing problems brought about by nicotine.

There are many different products available through health stores such as Green tea, grape seed extract and so on offering reasonable levels of antioxidants that are well worth considering.

There can be many and varied reasons why people will reach for a smoke in certain situations and when they are feeling particular emotions.

If you can identify what these emotions or events are, that are causing these triggers then that will be one of the first steps towards quitting smoking.

It could be that you feel like smoking when you are feeling down or depressed. This is a very common trigger as smoking can act as a comforting element in a person’s life.

Many people smoke because they are shy or self conscious and smoking gives them something to do to take their mind off their anxiety or nervousness.

Other people will feel like lighting up when they are angry as this will help them to calm down and manage their situation better.

Many people will feel like smoking when they are socializing, partying and drinking and often this is one of the hardest aspects of life to deal with for those who are trying to quit smoking.

Virtually any emotion can be a trigger for someone to feel like smoking and it is necessary to determine what your emotional triggers are if any.

It might be that you don’t have any problems relating to emotional triggers but rather situations that cause you to feel like smoking.

You might feel like smoking when you are listening to music, driving your car or watching the television.

Some people like to have a smoke after a meal or when they are consuming alcohol.

Many people feel like they need a smoke to help them start their day or at the end of the day to help them unwind.

Once again you need to look at the things that trigger your desire to have a smoke and look at an alternative solution that will help you to cope with the situation without the need for a cigarette.

If one alternative doesn’t work for you then try another and keep trying until you find something that is satisfactory.

Sooner or later you will find something that can give you enough satisfaction to not need the cigarette each time such an emotion or situation arises.

They sponsor major music events because they know that there will be impressionable teens at these events and they will associate that brand of cigarettes with the musician and all the glamour that goes with the musical lifestyle.

They create characters that represent the type of person that other people would like to be. An example of this is the Marlboro Man. Even cartoon characters like Joe Camel are targeting people who associate that brand of cigarettes with all that is cool including money, excitement, fun and success.

Tobacco companies paint a picture with their advertising and offer people the dream of being part of that fantasy simply by smoking their cigarettes.

They are obliged by law to display warnings of the health hazards that are caused by smoking but counter them with massive advertising campaigns to overshadow those hazards with illusions of a better life.

Even sports events are sponsored by tobacco companies and when tobacco advertising is banned from specific sports they find loopholes to allow them to continue getting their message across or move on to other areas where they can still influence the same target market.

There is so much tobacco advertising all around us that sometimes we are unaware of how much we are exposed to it.

Even through the use of the motion picture industry, the tobacco companies get the benefit of promoting their products to massive markets when the action hero or other main movie characters are seen to be smoking.

Often the advertising is very subtle but it is always highly effective. Big money is spent on branding so even when the company names aren’t allowed to be advertised due to regulations the branded colors and graphics that are familiar to many people are still to be seen where required to maintain their presence in the marketplace.

Many of these chemicals have been directly linked to causing cancer.

Within the four major manufacturers of cigarettes there is considerable research to deliver a product that serves the purpose of tasting and smelling good to the consumer and more importantly having sufficient of the necessary ingredients to remain addictive.

As that addiction comes primarily from the nicotine the manufacturers do all they can to ensure that the smoker’s brain gets the biggest dose of nicotine possible.

Would you believe that they use ammonia in the filters of their cigarettes as this allows more nicotine to pass through the filter and the more nicotine that can pass through the more addictive the cigarette will be?

The odds are stacked against the smoker when they gamble with their health by puffing on a cigarette and that is precisely what the manufacturers are aiming for and by all accounts winning.

Their marketing is all targeted at getting people to start smoking because they know that once a person starts they are likely to become addicted and have difficulty stopping.

In addition to the chemicals that the cigarette manufacturers add to their products the tobacco has already been exposed to numerous insecticides and pesticides that will in some quantities find their way into the body of the smoker.

These are things that most smokers will never consider when they are having a smoke and the majority would never have believed that such lengths have been taken to ensure the addiction is sufficient to create a customer for life for something that will in many cases eventually take their life.

How do you feel about the fact that someone else has this sort of control over your life? It’s enough to make anyone want to stop smoking isn’t it?

If you are out with other people who smoke, then you are placing undue pressure on your attempts to stop smoking and it might be better at such an early stage of your program to avoid placing yourself in an environment where there is too much temptation.

One way to handle your first smoke free weekend is to make plans for the whole of the weekend beforehand ensuring that you are steering clear of any of the things that you know encourage you to smoke.

Write down your plans and consider how you will feel in the different situations that you will be in. Ask yourself if you would be tempted to have a cigarette in those situations and if so make changes until you are happy with what you have to look forward to.

Don’t include places or situations where there will be other people smoking as this will give you the opportunity to ’slip up’ if you are feeling so inclined.

There are always alternatives to anything that you plan so make the changes before the weekend and set yourself up for success right from the start.

It is often a good idea to do something new and different that will give you more to think about that the usual routine. This can help to take your mind off cigarettes but you will also need to ensure that you don’t introduce any additional stress into your life as that might encourage you to reach for a cigarette.

Any time you feel the urge to have a cigarette relax and wait for the craving to pass by. This will generally only take a few minutes and the fastest way you can make such feelings go away is by keeping busy and focusing on something that you find stimulating.

Each weekend will get easier than the last so conquering the first one is a major step on your road to freedom from nicotine.

While this is a temporary fix there is a need to tackle the underlying problem that is causing the depression as it can lead to more serious consequences.

It is also very difficult to quit smoking when you are feeling depressed as the withdrawal symptoms that can come from quitting smoking and not getting the nicotine fix can cause a person to feel depressed.

By treating the depression properly with counseling, medication or other means a person will have a better chance of quitting smoking.

Anxiety attacks will also need to be sorted before any attempts at quitting smoking are attempted as once again cigarettes contain chemicals that help to release norepinephrine which lessens the effect of anxiety and depression.

Without the cigarettes to release norepinephrine a person who is feeling depressed or anxious is likely to have increased levels of anxiety and this makes it difficult for them to maintain their composure when on a program to stop smoking.

This is a situation where other alternative methods of quitting smoking such as hypnosis and acupuncture can help add support to mainstream method such as nicotine patches, pills and gum.

Yoga is an excellent discipline to train the correct breathing techniques and by using these techniques in times of stress and anxiety similar feelings of control to those achieved from smoking can be experienced without the detrimental affect to health.

If you are quitting smoking and notice increased levels of anxiety it might be necessary to use a higher strength medication for your nicotine replacement and drop the strength at a slower rate to help cope with the changes.