Breathe Happy

Beyond a habit for most smokers, smoking it is an addiction. Nicotine changes the functioning and structure of the brain. Over the years, the amount of nicotine put in cigarettes has increased. Some cigarettes now contain up to thirty-five times more free-base nicotine than other cigarettes. This type of nicotine is obsorbed quicker by the lungs and brains than the nicotine that's in the average cigarette. It has even been referred to as "crack nicotine" because of how quickly it reaches its destination, much like heroin or cocaine.

If you've used these specific cigarettes, it's likely a true addiction has been born. And if you go to quit, you must be ready for the powerful mood swings and temporary anxiety you will typically feel. To sucessfully recover from this addiction, you must have the patience to let your mind adjust to functioning normally. You will feel heavy cravings, and it is normal to think that this is because you want a cigarette, but actually your brain wants nicotine.

After several puffs of a cigarette, the smoker begins to relax and feel more alert. We have another puff and another because it makes us feel good. Nicotine reachs the brain in about ten seconds, and a chemical named Dopamine is released, which gives the smoker a feeling of pleasure. Heroin and "crack" effect us in much the same way. When you cut down or go cold turkey on smoking, your boby will begin to experience withdrawal. The most common symptoms of withdrawal are: restlessness, increased appetite, weight gain, depressed mood, insomnia, anxiety, frustration, irritablity, decreased heart rate, and, of course, the urge to smoke. These feelings will lessen over time.

About half of the body's nicotine reserves decline every two hours. For the smoker who wants to quit, this is the time when the brain begins being bathed in a nicotine-free blood serum. This is when the true quitting begins. It can take up to 72 hours for the blood serum to become free of nicotine. Anxieties associated with the readjustment your body is going through, normally peak in intensity now and begin to gradually decline. Now, if you have one more puff and put nicotine into your system now, you will have to face this 72 hour detox anxiety again. But this is just a chemical, and we can have power overcome it if we really want to.

Just like other addictions, once you have quit you must stay away from them for good. For a while, stay away from others who smoke, the smells associate with smoking, and your known triggers. All of these can make the urge  too much to bare. Just one puff and you could be right back smoking again. Some 'social smokers' are able to stop and leave it alone, but most cannot. Experts feel this may have something to do with genetics.

A nicotine addiction is much harder to quit than most may think. With about thirteen million smokers each year trying to quit cold turkey, only less than 5% will be smoke free in six to twelve months. Be sure to keep in communication with your doctor or smoke coach, as these symptoms come on. Each one can and should be addressed as it comes up.

Weaning yourself off of cigarettes by using gums, enhalers, or pills is giving yourself a six month relapse rate 93% of the time. And almost 100% of second time nicotine patch users relapse in six onths. Some smokers even become nicotine gum addicts. On average, a smoker may try at least five times to quit. But, if you learn from each past trial, soon it will become second nature, and you will be able to stop once and for all.

Anti-smoking games are self-medication. We actually have access to various types of games that can impactfully benefit us. But, do we use them? From an apparent stand point, take video games.  No, seriously. Playing a video game of some kind can help distract you from the craving, as video games tend to take our minds elsewhere during play. From a scientific standpoint, engaging in different activities can be just as as comforting, such as having enjoyable non-smoking company over. This is important, because emotional isolation is ranked as high a risk factor for mortality in smokers.

As it turns out, combine loneliness and a smoking addiction, and you are increasing your risk. So, stay productive. An assistant professor of communication at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Hayeon Song) developed a video game relevant to our current physical habits, showing students what they might look like after twenty years of smoking tobacco. Results of the game led to increasing risk perceptions of health. Awareness can be the seed for change.

Some therapeutic elements of games, are they can keep your eye on a specific goal at all times, and help to mediate urges. Anti-smoking games range from “Hang Tabacco Man", using tobacco prevention vocabulary words, to online shooting games  such as “quit smoking”, where you can destroy cigarettes with e-cigarettes. You can also create for yourself an organic dose of education about the dangers of smoking with:

• Math (calculating costs for the habit ) 
• Science (demonstrations on the decaying effects of smoking ) 
• Geography (exploring countries and their cigarette use per capita ) 
• Reading Bar graphs (visual aid for statistics )

How will you educate yourself or involve yourself in some type of intervention or activity to break free?

*Image courtesy Flickr creative commons

Time to feel positive about yourself. Time to not feel guilty about smoking outside at home or in the garage to hide it from your family. Time to figure out why you smoke and how you will be able to quit.

Time to track your smoking. Where, when, and why. Time to understand why you smoke and pick a date to quit.

If you smoke, that new baby is three times more apt to die from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Those children you are so proud of are more likely to contract asthma, ear infections, bronchitis, pneumonia and some other lung infections. And second-hand smoke is a killer. You wouldn't let your child step out infront of a truck if you could prevent it, would you? Why bring the poison right there to them then? And children of smokers are twice as apt to become smokers themselves.

How does smoking fit in with what you have planned for you life? Can you think of things you could do other than smoke? And the money you can save could send you and your family on a vacation.

Once you quit you need to stay away from those smoker hang outs. Ask smokers not to smoke around your children. If there are smokers at your job perhaps you can talk to the boss about banning it or atleast in certain areas.

You need to start being active three times a week. What type of area do you live in? Parks nearby or somewhere to walk? You could set a goal each time to walk a little further. Use a podimeter and see how many steps you take seeking a goal of 10,000 or more.

Life is a short endeavor. People are living longer now days but people who have chosen to smoke for 40-50 years and are diagnosed with COPD(Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) when they are in their golden years aren't going to enjoy those years like they would have if they had been smoke free for all those years. Instead they will be carrying a oxygen machine  around and huffing and puffing to make it upstairs. Yes, life is short.

The same governor who banned trans fats and tried to do away with large sugary drink, New Yorkcity governor Michael Bloomberg, is concerned enough with public health that he is now working on getting electric cigarettes banned in New York. Several ordinances are in the works. One that would classify these cigarettes as tabacco products. California's legistlature is looking at doing the same thing as well.

Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association has let several drafts of proposed bills that the New York City Council will soon vote on slip out into the media. They want to redefine "tobacco products". Under the New York Law, they will ban the flavored "e-liquid' from being sold in retail stores or anywhere other than age restricted tobacco bars. This would prohibit even an e-cigarette store in New York from selling the flavored e-cigarettes. And the law also mandates that all e-cigarette products are sold only in their original packaging.

Right now, e-cigarette smokers are allowed to light these up in certain places, such as bars and other public establishments.

(CASFAA is a non-profit organization increasing public awareness,education and encouragingtesting and development of products to achieve exceptable safety standards.) They state: "An e-cigarette is safer for the people around the smoker but it still gives the smoker the nicotine they crave and is little help in eliminating the addiction." They also emphasize that e-cigarettes have not been approved by the FDA. But Why? I believe it's because the electronic cigarettes haven't been on the market for very long and little data is available about the other chemicals used.

On the subject of the chemical risks of electronic cigarettes, Michael Siegel, a tobacco researcher at Boston University said in a paper just published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, that levels of certain harmful chemicals in e-cigarettes were on par with levels found in nicotine patches and hundreds of times lower than what's found in cigarettes. But does this just mean that health implications will just take longer to appear?

In a study done by ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), e-cigarettes have caused a wide variety of potentially serious problems "including racing pulse, dizziness, slurred speech, mouth ulcers,heartburn, coughing, diarrhea, and sore throat." They found that users have to suck much harde on the electronic cigaretes, because over time they may increasingly want more nicotine. Aerosal density decreases much the same as with traditional tobacco cigarres. It's similar to smoking a "light" cigarette and then building up to a more concentrated option. This may make the aerosal reach deeper in the lungs, and this could also mean that smokers of e-cigarettes may need to smoke more to get the needed amount of nicotine.

John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health found that the electric cigarettes do emit a mixture of nicotine (contributes to heart attacks), and propylen glycol, (which is a respiratory irritant used in anti-freeze and known to cause respiratory infections) and other things that the FDA has labeled as carcinogenic and toxic.

So what do these conclusions tell us? It seems that finding a new product that addresses one problem is okay, but it doesn't necessarily erase other ones that are as bad or worse.

How can your family, spouse, or significant others help you quit smoking?

A better question would be: Why is it that your loved ones support is effective than your own ambition?!  It is the power of influence. Normally, we look up to these people, value their opinions, and while we may feel that the  things we do may not affect ourselves in the least, as soon as we learn that they too are affected, in negative ways, we feel empathy. Having built good relationships with loved ones, being a good person in life gives you the advantage of caring for others.

This, in turn, allows you to vicariously feel their emotions toward your addiction(s). It's just like when you see a child fall, cry, or experience fear. You are instantly overwhelmed with feelings urging you to protect that person. You may also have found yourself in some pretty brave situations where you did just that.

The same rules of love apply to you when you're in need, on your quest to quit smoking. Ask your loved ones what they think of your addiction, and how it affects them. Of course, it's a difficult question to ask, but it's important and shows them that you know they feel the pain of your actions. Tell them to not only express themselves, but to go ahead and surpass your emotional pain threshold if necessary, and to make the words count (and perhaps even hurt). Allow them to exhibit anger, a human response to feeling ultimately saddened and troubled. Communicate that the therapy of this shunning, may provide you with the protective instincts to quit smoking (in part) for the people you love, even if you’re having a hard time doing it for yourself.