There can be many different side effects when you are trying to quit smoking. Nicotine is an addiction that is often associated with drug withdrawal symptoms, and luckily these side effects don’t last very long. The important things is to try to get through the first week or two until the nicotine is totally out of your system.
One of the most common side effects associated with quitting smoking is depression. This is because of the withdrawal and it can be very severe for some people. This is caused by the cravings for nicotine. There are ways to stop depression. One of them is by focusing on the positive reasons you are quitting, and using them as a support through these times.
Another side effect associated with quitting smoking is that you will find that food will taste much better than it did when you were smoking. While this isn’t exactly a bad thing, you may be tempted to eat more, or even eat to try to replace having a cigarette in your mouth. Neither of these is a good idea, because eating too much, or the wrong types of foods can cause you to gain weight. This can cause its own set of health problems, but you can avoid this by sticking to a healthy meal plan. Instead of eating unhealthy snacks like chips or candy, you should eat healthier snacks like vegetables, and fruit instead. There also other healthy snacks like nuts and dried fruit you can eat as well.
Another common side effect of quitting smoking are headaches. This is caused because your brain has had nicotine removed, and just like drugs, is craving nicotine. You can alleviate this with some mild pain reliever like aspirin. It is important that you don’t light up, because you will be right back where you started. There are many different techniques you can use to help with any of these symptoms, and although the side effects may only last a few weeks, cravings can last for months or even years.
No matter what, if you truly want to succeed in your efforts, you have to change your habits. One of them is to stop hanging around people who smoke, don’t go into places that may still allow smoking. Heightened stress is another side effect of quitting smoking, and you need to find other ways to deal with stress. Because stress comes from many different sources, you won’t be able to quit your job, or get away from your kids, but you can use meditation and other methods to help you deal with stress better than smoking a cigarette.
There are an abundance of resources to help you out, both online, and from your healthcare provider. Just like any other addiction, you shouldn’t go it alone, and there are many support groups with people just like you that you can talk to. They can give you helpful tips and advice on what they have done to keep from smoking again, and you should utilize them whenever the craving comes up. Make sure that you do this before you light up, because afterward it is too late.
The author is a ex-smoker, during the vocation season he loves to check out or get a value for money
Smokers are much more likely to develop some form of cancer than non-smokers. Ninety percent of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. Smoking tobacco cigarettes can cause all sorts of cancers including mouth, stomach, oesophageal, bladder, kidney and pancreas cancer. At least half of smokers are eventually killed by their habit!
Lower Life Expectancy
Prepare to be shocked by this one. Smokers have an average life expectancy 10 years lower than non-smokers. 10 years! Life is short enough as it is. If this doesn’t make you seriously think twice, thrice and ten times about quitting smoking, we need to talk!
Emphysema
Emphysema is a chronic irreversible lung disease, primarily caused by tobacco smoking, which gradually destroys the lungs and is one of the most common causes of death from respiratory disease. In emphysema, the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs become over-stretched, destroying the elasticity of fibers that open and close the air sacs during breathing. This results in the smoker having difficulty breathing normally, shortness of breath, difficulty exhaling and wheezing.
Heart Disease
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death and illness in the UK. If you smoke, you have a higher risk of developing a blood clot leading to a heart attack. In fact, the majority of people who have a heart attack before the age of 50 are smokers. Smoking damages the lining of your arteries, leading to a build up of fatty material and a reduced blood flow. The carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the amount of oxygen that the blood can carry to your heart and body.
Bronchitis
Smoking causes Bronchitis. Bronchitis is an inflammation, or irritation of the air passages in the lungs. These airways are called the bronchial tubes, or the bronchi. When these bronchial tubes are irritated by chemicals released from tobacco smoke, thick mucus is formed in them. The mucus clogs up the air passages and obstructs the passage of air into the lungs. This causes bronchitis and can lead to chronic bronchitis. Symptoms of bronchitis include chronic coughing, breathlessness and tightness and pain in the chest.
If you really find it difficult to quit tobacco smoking because you are in the habit of having a cigarette in your hand, then you might like to explore a tobaccoless smoking alternative. Yes, it exists and in the form of an . These are tobacco free and have none of the harmful chemicals of traditional tobacco smoking. They are little devices that look just like cigarettes and deliver a dose of nicotine. Check them out at .
Most people know that smoking is bad for them but many don’t really understand just how bad it is. They know there are health risks but they push them to the back of their minds. If you are a smoker thinking, “well you’ve got to die of something haven’t you” or “it won’t happen to me” then you really should consider the facts and reasons to stop smoking.
A regular smoker is likely to have their life expectancy reduced by up to ten years. Do you really want to lose ten years of your life when you don’t have to? Coupled with this is the likely prospect that the latter few years of your life if you are a regular smoker are likely to be of poor quality due to some heart or lung disease that could have been avoided.
The adverse effects on one’s health through smoking are manifest in the lungs, the blood circulatory system and the heart. In the lungs the constant irritation of inhaled smoke causes damage leading to reduced lung capacity and bronchitis. The lining of the airways tends to lose its cilia, the little hair-like protuberances which help to clear them of mucous and contaminants so that infection in the lungs becomes more likely. Older people who are regular smokers are more likely to succumb to a bout of flu and a secondary infection because of damaged lungs.
The effect of nicotine on the blood vessels is to constrict them, and, since the small blood vessels that supply blood to the heart, are all ready narrow and may have been further narrowed by a build up of plaque (atherosclerosis) which is very common, the last thing you need is further narrowing and restriction of blood flow. Such further restriction can easily lead to arterial blockage and a heart attack.
These serious health risks should be enough in themselves to persuade you to give up smoking but if you are young you may dismiss all this as being too far into the future for you to worry about. If you not heed the advice and give up now though, you will surely regret it in the future.
If you need good reasons to stop smoking right now then there are both social and financial reasons that can affect you right now. Financially you can be surprisingly better off if you don’t buy cigarettes. Most smokers, like most drinkers, seriously underestimate the amount of money they spend on the habit. If you put aside the money you would have spent and save it for two to three months, you could have a sizeable sum – enough to buy a new bike or an Armani suit probably! Your lifestyle would have improved as, not only will you be feeing more fit and healthy but you will have more money in your pocket.
Smoking is generally becoming less and less socially acceptable. It is now banned in many public places including even pubs, once the safe haven for the inveterate smoker. You will not find ash trays in restaurants so much these days, let alone the workplace. You will feel like an outcast if you have to excuse yourself from a social gathering to nip out the back for a quick cigarette.
The anti-social aspect of smoking is heightened by the now recognised threat of passive smoking. People just don’t want to near smokers, especially in confined spaces and this has to be respected.
A smoker on a date should be aware of the possible consequences of bad breath or stained fingers from smoking. Along with hair and fingernails these are things that women tend to notice.
There are then, very good reasons to stop smoking. Quitting now will save you money, make you more socially successful and allow you to live longer. You know the reasons to quit- you must now make the decision to quit.
Robert Schwartz is an author and is passionate about helping others quit smoking forever. He spends his time assisting people to give up smoking. To learn more Smoking visit
Are you thinking about quitting smoking using Chantix? Quit smoking with this new pill? Chantix is one of the newest quit smoking drugs available but is Chantix safe? It seems everywhere you look these days you see an advertisement for Chantix. Every time you turn on the television there is another commercial for Chantix. The one thing I cannot help but notice when I see these commercials is the numerous side effects of Chantix that they list.
I have friends and loved ones who want to quit smoking and are considering using Chantix to help. I decided to do a little research into this new smoking cessation drug to learn more about its side effects. So I hit the web and searched for information about Chantix. What I discovered was quite alarming.
To start off I went right to the Chantix official website to see what it had to say about the side effects of this drug, I learned that Chantix is a non-nicotine drug that works by targeting the nicotine receptors in the brain, attaches to them, and keeps nicotine from reaching them. The list of side potential side effects is amazingly long.
The most common side effect is nausea which happens in 30% of people who take Chantix. There are also other physical side effects including sleep problems, constipation, gas, and vomiting. There is even the possibility for serious skin reactions, some of which can be life threatening.
What I found even scarier was the mental and emotional side effects. These include anxiety, panic, anger, hallucinations, paranoia, and even suicidal thoughts. It was incredible to me that a drug to quit smoking had so many frightening side effects.
Chantix has a success rate of 44%. I wonder if less than a 50-50 chance of quitting smoking is worth taking a chance of experiencing some of these side effects when there are other stop smoking methods available. If, like me, you are wondering; is Chantix safe, you may want to try a different stop smoking method before you risk the side effects of Chantix.
In my research I also learned about a better alternative to Chantix. Quit smoking methods like NLP are all natural with no side effects. NLP also has a much higher success rate; 97.2% in a recently conducted test. Programs like the program have created specially formatted NLP recordings that make cravings to smoke disappear just by listening to them.
If you are thinking about quitting smoking with instead with all natural NLP. You will not suffer any side effects and your chances of quitting smoking are nearly guaranteed.
Learn more about NLP, and how to get a specially formatted NLP recording that will melt away your cravings to smoke, at .
If the public service announcements are not enough to outline the hazards of smoking, government regulations, stipulate that each pack must have a health warning on the side! It is safe to say that most people realize that smoking can be hazardous to your health. What you may not realize is exactly what these health risks are and that there are both long term and short term effects from using tobacco products.
Smoking effects, many parts of the body and each can feel either long term or short-term effects and in some cases both. Below are some common effects of smoking on different parts of the body.
Circulatory System
Short Term- The circulatory system is adversely affected nearly immediately after your first puff. Smoking raises your heart rate, increases blood pressure, decreases blood flow and thereby oxygen and can cause fat or cholesterol deposits in the blood vessels.
Long Term- Over time the short term effects can really take their toll on your body. You are twice as likely to have coronary heart disease, hardening of the arteries in the brain, heart and more, Arteriosclerosis and peripheral artery disease due to long-term restrictions.
Respiratory System
Short Term- The day you take your first drag of a cigarette you will notice the short term effects of smoking on the respiratory system. You may experience coughing, irritation of the eyes, nose or throat and have trouble breathing. Smoking can also irritate any allergies you may presently have.
Long Term- The real bad stuff comes from long-term cigarette smoking, especially when you are talking about the respiratory system. You may experience cough, infections or cancer of the larynx and your chances of suffering the following are doubled for those who smoke:
* Lung cancer * Chronic bronchitis * Emphysema * Shortness of breath
As you can see, the effects of smoking are serious whether you are talking about long or short term. While this may sound disheartening there is a bit of light on the horizon, if you quit smoking now your body can begin to heal itself.
20 minutes after quitting
The very day you quit smoking the healing process begins, within 20 minutes you have decreased your chances of suffering a heart attack. Your heart rate will fall, blood pressure will decrease and the temperature of your extremities will increase.
8 hours
At the end of 8 hours smoke, free the carbon monoxide in the blood drops and oxygen levels return to normal.
24 – 48 hours
At the end of just two days, amazing things are beginning to happen in your body. Your heart attack chances continue to fall and damaged nerve endings begin to re-grow, not to mention your sense of taste and smell immediately improve.
All of this occurs within the first few hours of quitting smoking, however the key is to stay off the tobacco and that is where many people have a hard time. Some quit cold turkey with no outside help; however, they are in the minority. You will want to choose a good program to help you through the process.
The author had successful quitted smoking, she now spending lots of time collecting and
Nicotine Replacement Therapy, or NRT, works by fulfilling your body’s need for nicotine. This can make it easier to quit smoking, because you don’t feel cravings for the drug as you’re quitting. Read on to learn more about the various forms NRT comes in and which is best for you.
The most common delivery method is via gum. It comes in both 4mg and 2mg variants, and is used similarly to chewing gum, except that after chewing it for a few minutes, you’re supposed to squeeze it against your gums so that you can absorb more of the nicotine. The 4mg dosage is for heavy smokers, and the 2mg one is for light (under 20/day usually) smokers.
This creates an up and down supply of the drug which closely mimics the way it normally is for a smoker. This, combined with the oral stimulation that comes from chewing the gum, can make the gum a great way to quit.
Another common form is the patch. Applied to the surface of the skin on the upper body, it causes nicotine to be absorbed through the skin, creating a steady supply of nicotine. Over time, the dosage is ramped down until you don’t need the drug at all any more.
While it seems counter-intuitive, the constant flow of nicotine from the patch makes it so you don’t feel the withdrawal pangs that cause most quit attempts to fail. It makes it a lot easier to quit because your nicotine supply is already taken care of and you don’t have to worry about anything other than normal everyday tasks.
Want to learn more about quitting smoking? Take a look at these and how they can help you quit smoking.
Tobacco has many bad health effects, particularly for people with diabetes. No matter how long you’ve smoked, your health will improve when you quit.
Nicotine, the drug in tobacco, is one of the most addictive substances known. Besides the physical addiction, many smokers also become psychologically hooked on cigarettes. So kicking the habit is hard but worth the work. There are many you can try that can help you quit and stay quit smoking.
10 Ways Smoking Hurts Your Health
is that it causes cancer. Smoking can also aggravate many of the problems that people with diabetes already face, such as heart and blood vessel disease.
* Smoking cuts the amount of oxygen reaching tissues. The decrease in oxygen can lead to a heart attack, stroke, miscarriage, or stillbirth.
* Smoking increases your cholesterol levels and the levels of some other fats in your blood, raising your risk of a heart attack.
* Smoking damages and constricts the blood vessels. This damage can worsen foot ulcers and lead to blood vessel disease and leg and foot infections. Of people with diabetes who need amputations, 95 percent are smokers.
* Smokers with diabetes are more likely to get neuropathy (nerve damage) and kidney disease.
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* Smokers get colds and respiratory infections easier.
* Smoking doubles your risk of getting limited joint mobility.
* Smoking can cause cancer of the mouth, throat, lung, and bladder.
* People with diabetes who smoke are three times as likely to die of cardiovascular disease as are other people with diabetes.
* Smoking increases your blood pressure.
* Smoking raises your blood glucose level, making it harder to control your diabetes.
So, with above best-known effect of smoking, start to quit smoking today to prevent any unnecesarry common diseases, personal health care is important for everybody for better living. Care your personal health today.
Anyone who has tried to quit smoking knows just how difficult it can be. You already know there are undeniable health benefits to quitting, otherwise you likely would not be reading this, but how to go about it. Unfortunately,there is no completely discomfort-free way. Not only are there the psychological dependencies to break, but also the physical symptoms such as anxiety, restlessness, irritability and desire to eat. Some people make several attempts to quit, then restart again, however, each attempt they make brings them a little closer to total success. So if you have not been able to completely terminate the habit, don’t despair. You’ve got lots of company and there is help to be had.
The psychological issues can be best dealt with by changing your environment and routines. For example, if you usually go outside for a smoke after meals, change the routine. If you must go outside, take a walk in a totally different area instead. Do not surround yourself with the usual after meal buddies who are smoking if you can’t deal with the temptation. Inform your friends what you are trying to do to gain their support. (If they won’t support you, look for better friends!). At coffee breaks, eat a healthy, low calorie snack instead of having a cigarette with your coffee. Remove the ashtrays from the home and make it a non-smoking area. Change whatever you need to change in your surroundings to decrease the urge to smoke. If you are concerned about gaining weight, monitor your weight, and adjust your caloric intake and exercise levels accordingly. Weight gain is common due to the removal of the nicotine. But if you are forced to eat healthier and get a bit more exercise, oh well, that’s life.
Physical symptoms are very real as you have stopped adding a very powerful stimulant to your body. The anxiety, restlessness, etc. that is felt is withdrawal from nicotine. There are varying methods of treating this, ranging from nicotine patches to prescription medications to herbal remedies. The route you choose is totally personal preference as to what you feel will work best for you.
Nicotine patches work by replacing the nicotine your body would have received from smoking, and gradually decreasing that amount in increments to avoid the withdrawal symptoms. This takes place over several weeks and works well, providing you are not quitting due to an immediate need to stop the effects of nicotine, such as extremely high blood pressure. Then the patches are not for you. It is also imperative that you do not smoke while wearing the patch since an overload of nicotine can cause serious heart arrhythmias or worse. Nicotine gum may be an option if you prefer just to chew it when cravings hit.
Wellbutrin,aka Zyban, an antidepressant medication, is commonly used to help smokers quit. It helps to decrease the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, plus for some reason causes a decreased interest in smoking. It does require a physician’s prescription. Headaches, insomnia, dry mouth, and increased appetite are fairly common side effects of this drug, so something to watch for.
Natural herbs can also be used to ease the transition to being a non-smoker. is one such natural product. It consists of a blend of several homeopathic ingredients formulated to deal with all the common symptoms of nicotine withdrawal and there are no known drug reactions. The advantages with natural products is that you don’t need a doctor’s prescription to try it, the cost is reasonable, and there are fewer concerns about side effects.
With all that said, the thing to do is get started on your quit smoking program. Don’t procrastinate any longer. I have heard too many former smokers say that they didn’t think they could do it, but they did, and now feel so much healthier and energetic for it. For more information on natural health products, including Smoke Deter, visit our website at
At Mountainviewhealth you will be able to find the products you need to reach your health and fitness goals, plus there are health and fitness tips, videos and articles for you to view. The author has worked in health care for the past 20 years, is certified in gerontic nursing, sports & fitness nutrition & in level 1 weightlifting, plus pursues several outdoor adventure sports. Mountainviewhealth.ca has been developed as a way to help others find preferred, naturally based health products.
We are all very well informed of the dangers that smoking can cause…heart disease, cancer, the list goes on. So, why…with the abundance of warnings is it still so damn hard to give this habit up? If you think you may need too seek some help or would like to educate yourself about natural products that can rid the cravings…click
Most people know that it is the addictive nature of nicotine…which, by the way equals in the same ranks as crack cocaine, that makes it so hard to quit. Kicking this addiction is most certainly a difficult task, but once you begin looking at the pros to the cons it’s almost an open and shut decision. You might want to think of reasons like improved health, longer life expectancy, and higher quality of living as some of the pros that will help kick your will power into overdrive. Below are a couple suggestions that might help you conquer this addiction for good.
If Your Wanting to -Consider The Reasons for Doing So
There are always good reasons to toss that pack of cancer sticks in the garbage, you just have to realize the benefits of them all. The most common reason would obviously be improved health, but there are so many other benefits that can easily neighbor that. I’m sure the financial properties can take the second position. Think about all your hard earned cash that is just tossed away on a weekly basis on a product that is banashing you to an early grave. Think about how much time you’ve wasted at home or work simply because you were outdoors honing the addiction? I’m sure you could easily think of ways to better use that time. Also, if you have kids it’s not just your health that your jeopardizing. Second hand smoke can be absolutely damaging to a child’s health. Grab a pencil and paper and jot these reasons down. Place them in an area where they will be presented as a daily reminder of why you are making this smart decision. If you want to learn more on some breathrough aids to help you click
Del Kelly enjoys researching natural health products that keep people happy and healthy. If you would like to learn more on a product that will help you quit smoking by relieving the cravings first visit:
Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis Sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol; THC for short.
Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana. Since the blunt retains the tobacco leaf used to wrap the cigar, this mode of delivery combines marijuana’s active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish, and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil. Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.
Marijuana and Addiction
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite its known harmful effects upon social functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Long-term marijuana abusers trying to quit report marijuana addiction is the #1 drug problem in the US, its effects are very powerful. Also known as pot and weed it can be very addictiveirritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which make it difficult to quit. These withdrawal symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2-3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.
Is Marijuana Addictive or isn’t It?
Based on all the information available, the answer is yes and no.
For people with dependency tendencies, the answer is YES. There are too many people in the world who smoke marijuana almost every day to say otherwise. Other people argue that they can take or leave it and have quit for long periods of time. And for those people the answer would probably be NO.
The thing about marijuana is it so subtle. There are places in California where it is legal to possess small quantities for private use. So what’s the problem?
The problem with marijuana is, like any other drug, can become the focal point of a person’s life. All of a sudden you want to get high before or during anything and everything. Your life begins to revolve around smoking marijuana. Like alcohol, it can be used responsibly and occasionally, or it can get out of control and cause serious problems.
Some people are “addicted” to marijuana and try to rationalize or justify using it. Like any other drug, marijuana can become the focal point of your life.
Marijuana Use in the U.S.
* In 2007, there were 2.1 million persons who had used marijuana for the first time within the past 12 months; this averages to approximately 6,000 initiates per day. This estimate of past year initiates in 2007 was about the same as the number in 2006 (2.1 million), 2005 (2.1 million), 2004 (2.1 million), 2003 (2.0 million), and 2002 (2.2 million).
More Statisitics About Marijuana Use
Past month marijuana use among male youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 9.1 percent in 2002 to 6.8 percent in 2006. In 2007, the rate was 7.5 percent, which was not significantly different from the rate in 2006, but was lower than the rate in 2002. Among female youths, little change occurred from 2002 to 2004, but the rate in 2007 (5.8 percent) was lower than the rate in 2002 (7.2 percent).
The Effects of Marijuana Use
THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabis receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabis receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.
Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.
Research into Marijuana Use
Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system3 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine. Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.
Marijuana Use and Mental Health
A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be a factor, where early use is a marker of vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or is used in attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence. Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders. High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction, and research suggests that in vulnerable individuals, marijuana use may be a factor that increases risk for the disease.
Should Marijuana Be Legalized
Much has been written and several states have considerd changing their laws to decrimiize marijuana. California has the most progressive laws. Some counties allow people to possess small amounts.