Hello my dear readers! Oh, how many packs of cigarettes were smoked by smokers, on the boxes which say: "The Ministry of Health warns - smoking is dangerous for your health! " So what? How many smokers paid attention to this inscription? Maybe someone did. But did he quit smoking? Hard! But how to quit smoking on your own is a question that many ask, because other methods do not help them. And can you quit at all? That will be discussed today.
How smoking affects health
70% of smokers dream of quitting this bad habit, 80% have tried several times but could not quit. According to statistics, more than 200, 000 people die each year from diseases caused by smoking.
Smoking statistics show that 96-100% of smokers have lung cancer, because tobacco smoke contains substances that cause mutations in the p53 gene; 75% suffer from chronic bronchitis and almost 25% suffer from heart disease. Unfortunately, the death rate from this addiction is growing more and more every year. For example, earlier than 26% of cigarette smokers die each year from smoking. Many of them could have extended their lives by 20 years if they had stopped smoking 5 years ago.
Which systems and organs are affected by smoking?
- Respiratory system: lung, tongue and upper respiratory tract cancer, bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive bronchitis;
- Cardiovascular system: ischemic heart disease, angina pectoris and myocardial infarction, obliterative endartaritis and atherosclerosis of blood vessels of the lower extremities;
- Gastrointestinal tract: gastric and duodenal ulcer, gastritis;
- Central and peripheral nervous system: neuroses, headaches, memory impairment, neuritis, polyneuritis, radiculitis, smoker with many years of experience becomes irritable and quarrelsome;
- Vision: visual acuity decreases, color perception changes, the probability of developing glaucoma increases;
- Hearing: hearing acuity gradually decreases due to changes in the eardrum, the mobility of the auditory ossicles decreases;
- Taste: The taste decreases and becomes distorted;
- Smell: bad smell;
- Fertility decreases in women, men are more prone to impotence.
Dear smokers, have you ever thought about the harm that passive smoke brings to the people around you? It is especially dangerous for pregnant women. And a disease like COPD can be fatal.
Smoking addiction
The pharmaceutical industry offers many different types of patches, chewing gum and other products. But even this won’t be enough if you don’t understand this question “at the root”. There are two types of nicotine addiction: physical and psychological.
Physical dependence is the body's need for the next dose of nicotine. Most often, stress, irritation, bad mood, fatigue "stick" to a cigarette. The fact is that the action of nicotine makes the adrenal glands secrete a stress hormone - adrenaline and norepinephrine. These hormones have a certain positive effect on the cardiovascular system, forcing the heart to speed up, increase blood pressure and improve the mood of smokers.
Psychological addiction is considered more complex. Even if you realize that you have managed to deal with physical addiction and have overcome yourself by not smoking another cigarette, then with the next stress or being in the company of the same smokers it will be much harder to overcome the irresistible urge to smoke a cigarette.
How to quit smoking
To overcome cravings, of course, you need strong motivation and your strong desire. I will comment on my article "Are Pregnancy and Smoking Compatible? "
I will tell you from my own experience that you can quit smoking if you have that desire, take it and give up, just like with alcohol, no coding and treatment will help you, only you will. I tried everything, just a waste of time and money, all that coding and different methods, this is just self-deception and yes, self-deception can also come to results.
And I'll tell you what about motivation on my husband's example. He smoked a lot with me, and it happened when he smoked almost 2 packs of cigarettes a day. In the workshop where he worked, he took off his work stress with a cigarette, and saved himself from mosquitoes in the woods during hunting and fishing with cigarette smoke. In general, I smoked before such a disease as obliterating endarteritis. What kind of disease it is, I wrote about it in detail in this article. Smokers read, don’t be lazy.
The main cause of this disease is smoking, and gangrene is a terrible complication. When I told my husband that if you don’t quit smoking, you’re going to have to move around the bumps in the woods on crutches. Will you be comfortable walking in the woods like that? And he just can’t live without the forest. This was his strong motivation. Stop smoking, don't smoke for a year and a half.
How to quickly and easily stop the craving for smoking? What can be done?
It is easier to overcome physical dependence. This can be overcome with the help of medications: tincture of valerian, lemon balm or other sedatives. Aromatherapy with bergamot, geranium, orange and basil oil discourages the desire to smoke.
It is much harder to overcome psychological craving, but you can fool it by replacing regular cigarettes with others.
- Electronic cigarettes - create the illusion of smoking a regular cigarette, but such cigarettes do not contain dangerous compounds: benzopyrene, ammonia, various resins and arsenic compounds. The operation of electronic cigarettes resembles a conventional inhaler, in which the cartridges change from weak to heavy in terms of the amount of nicotine. In that case, you can gradually reduce the dose of nicotine, thus reducing the desire for nicotine.
Acupuncture, hypnosis, coding can help to quit smoking. But you have to admit that if there is a strong motivation for it, it is quite possible to stop smoking alone and at home. Try these methods first.
What else will help you quit smoking?
How to quit smoking on your own if you don't have the willpower? Of course, the example of others is important. Maybe there are people in your environment who also want to get rid of these bad habits. So why not unite in this noble goal? Here are some tips to help you:
- Tell your loved ones about your intention, they will surely support you in this matter.
- Give up cigarette companions - coffee and alcohol.
- Food on cessation days should be light, including only foods of plant origin.
- You can give up cigarettes right away, but it's harder, but more efficient and more accurate. To make it easier to go through this phase, you can reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke every day.
- Drink a glass of water in the morning on an empty stomach. Try to drink as much water as possible during the day, it not only distracts from smoking, but also allows you to better remove harmful substances from the body.
- Sunflower seeds or lollipops can distract you.
- Remove ashtray, cigarettes, lighter out of sight.
- More out there, exercise, hobbies.
- Respond to the smoking call with a categorical rejection.
- Join non-smokers. Avoid situations where you have always smoked: do not go to the smoking room with colleagues, do not visit places where there are a lot of smokers, at the bus stop move away from people with cigarettes, take the ashtray and cigarettes out of the computer.
How to quit smoking yourself - folk ways
Folk methods tested by many people will help you get rid of nicotine addiction. Reviews of ex-smokers speak of their effectiveness.
St. John's wort tea. Put 3-4 stalks of St. John's wort in a hot pot, let it cook during the day, instead of tea.
Plant leaves. Stir in about 1 tbsp. chopped fresh horseradish and plantain leaves. Chew this mixture 2-3 times a day for 5 minutes, swallow the juice and spit out the remaining leaves.
Filling cigarettes. This is the old way when incised nails, crab shells, etc. were added to tobacco. The fillers should be dried, ground in a coffee grinder and added to tobacco in cigarettes. Smoking such a mixture has completely weaned you from smoking for a lifetime, as it has caused severe headaches, nausea and vomiting.
Rinse before smoking. If there is an unbearable urge to smoke, rinse your mouth with a solution of baking soda or sea salt: you need to dilute 1 tablespoon in a glass of water. soda or sea salt.
Lemon juice. Lemon juice can create aversion to tobacco, whose sour taste will help distract from smoking. To do this, squeeze the juice of one lemon and dilute it in a glass of water.
Herbal decoction for internal use. Take 100 grams of dried dandelion and plantain leaves, pour 1 liter of milk and cook for half an hour on low heat, then cool and strain. You should take 1 tbsp. after a meal. Such a decoction will help to release phlegm.
Smoking pipes. But instead of filling the tobacco, fill the tube with a herbal filling made from equal parts of European crack, Clavate Leopard and cranberry leaves. Smoke this pipe 2 times a day. Then drink 2 glasses of mineral water.
Conclusion
It’s important to run out of cigarettes for a week, then it will be easier for you. And count, too. how much money do you spend on buying cigarettes. I think that figure will impress you. You can spend this money on vacation or the right thing.
Maybe some of you, dear readers, have faced the same problem and have experience on how to quit smoking on your own, help smokers and share with readers, maybe your advice will help them.