Quit Smoking Aids

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When you quit smoking, you will experience a number of symptoms, also called the quit smoking symptoms.

It is quite natural because, your body over a longer period has become accustomed to take in poisons in the form of nicotine, tar and the like. When you quit smoking, and thereby no longer lets those toxins into the blood, the body begins a cleansing of the poison, and that is what might be called quit smoking symptoms.

The symptoms you may experience vary significantly from person to person, but it is important that you prepare yourself for the coming internal fight. The quit smoking symptoms you suffer from will give you an excuse to try to justify that you start smoking again. You must fight against this negative process and stick with your decision to stop smoking.

One thing that is important to remember before reading further, is that I will list the most common quit smoking symptoms, and you will most likely only be able to recognize some of them, but do not worry, it is quite normal.

1. The most normal quit smoking symptom, would be your almost irresistible urge to start smoking again, your body will almost scream for nicotine, and your internal dialogue will be divided between your desire to escape your addiction, and the desire to to stop the unpleasant symptoms.

This symptom is not so hard to get through, a little steadfastness, and you will be over the worst after the first 3-4 days.

2. You’ll also find that you are a little under the weather, in the form of more frequent coughing, mild colds, and other lung and breast related symptoms, it is again quite natural, since your body is cleansing, and restoring its natural functions. In addition to your immune system, being hard at work trying to purge the poison from your body.

3. Your bowels may also provide a little sound from within, as a symptom of you quitting smoking, you may even feel constipated. You have to understand that smoking affects many parts of the body, cleaning out the poisons that smoking have added to your body, have meant it has had to relocate a lot of energy that could otherwise have been spent on many other things, therefore many functions in the body will have suffered from smoking.

4. You will most likely also experience an increased appetite, and a greater desire to stuff your mouth, and if you absolutely have to give into the temptation, look for fibrous food, coarse bread, nuts, grains and prunes could be fine eating, and remember during your quit smoking period, to drink plenty of water, all things will help ease your quit smoking symptoms.

5. Headaches can also be a quit smoking symptom, it is often followed by a lack of focus and concentration, and you will find that you easily become irritated.

Experts believe that headache is due to changes in the blood / oxygen ratio simultaneously with a change of blood sugar levels, caused by the lack of nicotine, all changes the brains normal environment. In time, these levels will return to a normal state, so you may simply arm yourself with patience, plenty of water, and take advantage of medication against the pain for a while

6. Nicotine is a stimulant, and it can affect the way your brain works. When you stop smoking, it may cause a number of changes in the way you are as a person and in how you conduct yourself.

You may also experience insomnia as a result of you quitting smoking, and thereby also feel tired during the day.

7. Irritability, depression, lack of concentration, restlessness, boredom, anger, aggression and general discomfort are all potential quit smoking symptoms, you should be aware of. The good news is that you will only suffer from them for a short period of time, perhaps one or two months.

If your quit smoking symptoms are about to take control over you and you feel you are falling back towards smoking, you should try to remember that your stopping smoking is the biggest single step forward in the direction of better health, you can do. You are not losing a friend, when you quit smoking, even though it may feel like a great deprivation in the beginning, you are actually separating yourself from one of your worst enemies.

This enemy slowly but surely works towards sending you earlier in the grave… Remember it, and hold on to your decision to quit smoking, regardless of your quit smoking symptoms.

Knowledge Does Not Require Action. Kick the Habit or Kick the Bucket?

5,000 people in the US quit smoking in the US a day. 1,000 people every single day die from cigarette smoking related disease. Tobacco’s association with cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and chronic lung disease account for over half of the deaths in the Us annually

What Can You Expect When You Quit?

Money in your pocket. Days added to your life Decrease medical cost/insurance cost Strengthened character Influence for good on others

Step 1 How Are Your Self Denial Muscles?

Are you able to park your car at the end of the parking lot at the mall and then walk to the mall’s entrance? How about on a rainy day? Are you able to have supper without meat? Are you able to pack a lunch for work instead of buying it at a fast food place? Are you able to keep away from other smokers for one week? Only a baby gets to relieve itself whenever it feels like it.  Adults know how to delay gratification. Start practicing small denials.

Addiction temporarily gets your mind off your pain, anger, loneliness, sadness. Maybe you had unmet childhood needs like an absent father or an abusive mother. Sometimes life is painful. It’s supposed to be that way. All of us are faced with grief, loss, and struggle. Stay with your pain, don’t avoid the painful feelings and don’t numb them out with addiction. When you’re ready you can take a step to solve the problem. And it’s with struggle that we define and strengthen our character.

Addiction is half mental (Cigarettes give pleasure.), half physical (Give me a cigarette now!) A big part of the mental picture is created by cigarette companies who spend billions to keep their unwitting customers buying their lethal wares. For example the beautiful scenes in magazines, the glamour, macho, and even athletic suggestions to the subconscious mind are not what the end results of cigarette smoking prove to be. The end result is oxygen masks, intravenous medication and literally hours of pain, misery, and gasping for breath. Smoking does not make one glamorous, macho, or athletic. It does make one sick, poor, and dead. The use of hard drugs begins first with alcohol or tobacco.

Admit you have an addiction. Get out of denial. Knowledge does not require action. You don’t need to pretend that smoking isn’t enjoyable – it is enjoyable to watch the smoke curl as it comes out of your mouth. The tobacco companies with their mammoth advertising budget have promoted the idea that smoking is a matter of personal choice. Ask yourself: “Am I addicted to tobacco?” “Am I truly making a freely made choice when I smoke?” You might consider that you need to have a cigarette. Nicotine addiction is as hard to break as heroin or cocaine.

It might make you mad about all the unreliable scientific studies and we need to be careful about accepting evidence uncritically. Those reports which are supported by a government agency, a scientific journal, or scientists known to be reputable are generally reliable. Reports in newspapers and popular magazines seldom discriminate between good and bad results, laymen easily exaggerate the reliability and significance of what they read.

Start saving old magazines and stuffed animals. The reason for saving these materials will be discussed later.

When you’re ready to admit that you have an addiction you may have the desire to quit. You need to find your reason. Maybe you want to be a better example to your children, maybe you want better health, maybe you want to participate in sports, maybe you have watched a loved one die from a smoke related disease. But if you don’t quit and “grieve now” this great friend of yours (the cigarette) will probably turn on you and kill you one day. It’s statiscally equivalent to playing Russian roulette with two bullets in the gun. Functional compromise begins to be evidenced by such benign signs as chronic cough, hoarseness, wrinkling, and lowered immunity.

Faith starts with desire. Faith moves people to action. It takes faith to say I can do it. I can quit. I am willing to do the work. I say you can do it with a plan.

Step 2. Make a Written Plan Make it a Reality

Quit date on the calendar (if you wait for everything to be perfect you will never quit) Christmas, New Year, and birthday parties are harder to quit. Need to go shopping (cinnamon gum, cinnamon sticks, straws, mint tea, mint candy) Hide the alcohol, sugar and coffee the first week. Change your routine (take a different road to work, make your bed in the morning, make homemade juice, go on a vegetarian diet for 1 week etc) Write a daily journal, blog (write me a comment) Decide on medication plan (See your doctor) Decide on support system (You are not alone) Rewards at each milestone (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 1 year) Pamper yourself (baths, aromatic oils, start walking on trails, cycling) On the morning of quit date wet the cigarettes and destroy them, wash ashtrays and put them away.

Step 3 People Who Succeed Best Get Help

A business person gets a lawyer to write contracts, an advertising agency to create ads, a marketing executive to do the marketing, an accountant to do the accounting.

Ask for support from family members, friends and co-workers. Ask for their tolerance. Let them know you are quitting and you might be edgy or grumpy. Ask them not to smoke in your presence. Look up American Cancer Society and American Lung and Heart association for Quit Smoking Programs. National Cancer Institute has a Smoking Quit Line offering proactive counseling. You can join a small group of other quitters Nicotine Anonymous. Quitnet is an online program like Nicotine Anonymous. They have a 12 step program based on AA. Reading stories of others help you realize you are not alone. With no program only 5% of quitters are still smoke free at the end of 12 months.

Urge to Smoke

Remember the urge to smoke only lasts a few minutes and will pass. The urges gradually become farther and farther apart as the days go by. During an urge you can beat up your stuffed animals, rip up old magazines. The best thing to do is inhale deep. Fill your lungs full of air and exhale very slowly. Inhale and exhale three times. It will be your greatest weapon during strong cravings.

Restore and Replenish Nutrient Reserves

Depending on how long you smoked you have a co-existence issue of toxicity and nutrient depletion. Drink lots of water and sugar free juices especially the acai berry 19 fruit blend in one healthy drink. The antioxidants will flush out the nicotine and other poisons from your body.

Cook with garlic. Garlic is high in sulfur and selenium and helps pull cadmium from the body (a toxic mineral by-product of smoking)

Affraid to gain weight throw away your butter, margarine, and vegetable oils. Only use extra virgin olive oil for salad dressing not for cooking. Olive oil plays a role in improving cholesterol levels and contains antioxidants. Use good quality coconut oil/butter for cooking. It’s impotant not to buy cheap (dried) coconut oil/butter not fit for human consumption. You need to buy fresh meaning processed within 24 hours after picking. Coconut oil does not go rancid even when cooked at high temperatures. It is a natural fat and has no negative impact on cholesterol or the health of arteries.It is available on-line. Don’t have a credit card. Pre-paid ones are available.

The MonaVie Fruits Helpful in Detox

Passion Fruit

excellent source of vitamin A and C
potassium and sodium
good source of iron
magnesium, niacin, phospherous

Champix varenicline is one of the most innovative and preferred medications for smoking cessation. Developed by Pfizer pharmaceuticals, Champix received the approval of the FDA in 2006. Since then the medicine has helped millions of smokers quit successfully and lead healthier lives.

About Champix

Champix is licensed for use as a prescription only medicine for smoking cessation. By far, it is one of the most successful drugs available for smoking cessation. In clinical trials, Champix has proven to be the most effective in helping people quit smoking for life as compared to any other smoking cessation treatment or medication, including the only other FDA approved medication, Zyban (bupropion). In a 12-week clinical study, there was a 44% success rate amongst people trying to quit smoking with the help of Champix as against 33% success rate amongst people using Zyban.

Even though Champix is proven to be highly effective as a smoking cessation medication, it lays no claim to being a miracle drug. The medicine works only in people who are determined to quit smoking and are ready to use Champix as an aid to boost their quit smoking efforts. Further, Champix is recommended for use in conjunction with professional counselling.

How does Champix work?

The active ingredient in Champix is called varenicline. It belongs to a class of medicines called nicotine receptor antagonist. Champix varenicline mimics the effect of nicotine on the brain. It attaches itself to the same receptors in the brain as used by nicotine. This action dupes the brain into believing that it has received its required dose of nicotine. A person does not experience cravings for nicotine and is thereby relieved of the anguish caused by withdrawal symptoms.

Another unique feature that makes Champix different and better than any other smoking cessation treatment is that it reduces the pleasure a person derives from smoking. Champix varenicline makes this possible by blocking the nicotine from acting on its receptors in the brain. Even if a person smokes during the course of the treatment, he/she will not derive the same pleasure from smoking and will therefore have no desire to smoke again. This feature of Champix helps people in succeeding in their quit smoking mission.

Dosages of Champix

Champix treatment is usually recommended for a 12-week period. However, your doctor may suggest that you begin the treatment a week in advance of your quit date. During this week, you will be asked to take lower strength dosages (0.5mg) of Champix – once a day for 3 days and twice a day for the next 4 days. This is done to help your body get adjusted to the medicine; you may continue to smoke during this week. Following this week, you’ll need to take Champix 1mg tablet twice a day for 12-weeks. You need to take the medicine with a full glass of water at the same time each day, preferably after meals.

Side effects of Champix

Like most other prescription medications, Champix varenicline is associated with certain side effects. However, most side effects of Champix are mild to moderate and may not affect all individuals. Common side effects of Champix include nausea, headache, difficulty sleeping and abnormal dreams. Other less common Champix side effects include sleepiness or fatigue; dizziness; change in taste and dry mouth; disturbances of the gut such as constipation, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort or bloating; indigestion, wind or increased appetite.

In rare cases, Champix is reported to have caused changes in behaviour, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts. Inform your doctor if you experience any of these rare Champix side effects or if any of its side effects become bothersome.