Nicotine addiction and dependence on the drug is hazardous for your health!
Now that’s a fact that every smoker is painfully aware of. But, despite knowing about the dangers of the habit, every addict will tell you that it is actually very difficult to quit smoking. Public awareness programs try to scare you into giving up the cancer stick with lots of propaganda about what the habit can do to your body. You’ll read about all the downsides like severely damaged lungs that are blackened with tar and cancerous growths. Heart attacks, strokes, damage to the respiratory system along with weakened senses of taste and smell are only some of the other effects.
Like US Health News reports, around 46 million Americans are nicotine addicts with at least 75% of them trying to quit. The feature also explains that without the help of specialist programs to help smokers quit smoking, 95% of attempts are just not successful. The fact remains that nicotine affects individual dependents in different ways and most addicts face serious challenges in their attempts to kick the habit.
1.Going “Cold Turkey” Just Doesn’t Work
Your doctor or therapist might tell you that the best way to kick the habit is to go “cold turkey.” You can expect that the worst of the withdrawal symptoms will last for a couple of weeks with the unease peaking at days 3 and 4. Of course, the time frame for how long the discomfort lasts may also depend on how many cigarettes you’ve been smoking in a day and the level of dependence your body has had on the drug. Like diehard addicts will tell you, backsliding and breaking your resolve within 12 hours is not uncommon. The anxiety, depression, and stress of not getting the nicotine fix are just unbearable.
2.Vaping as Nicotine Replacement Therapy is an Option
Replacing regular cigarettes with e-cigarettes to help you quit smoking might just work. That’s because this activity mimics regular smoking but with a key difference. In place of pumping nicotine along with more than 7,000 dangerous chemicals and 70 carcinogenic compounds into your lungs and bloodstream, you will be replacing it with a pure form of nicotine. E-cigarettes work by heating organic compounds like Vegetable Glycerin and Propylene Glycol that produce a vapor to give you the sensations of smoking. When you inhale these vapors along with flavoring like the kind available at Blackout Vapors, you’ll continue to get the nicotine fix to combat the withdrawal symptoms.
Over the next few weeks, you can gradually reduce the nicotine content in the e-liquids until you kick the habit completely and successfully quit smoking. The challenge for this form of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) is that you have to remain committed to lowering the percentage of nicotine in the e-cigarette. Many vapers make the mistake of continuing with the NRT telling themselves that it is a safer option. Some others continue to smoke and vape at the same time. And, that entirely defeats the purpose which is using this option for getting over your addiction.
3.Using Patches Can Give You Crazy Hallucinations
Affixing nicotine patches on your skin is yet another option you can use to quit smoking. The patches release nicotine in controlled amounts in your bloodstream through the skin. However, this article on CHealth explains that patches can give you side effects. Users of the patches often talk about seeing vivid images and their brains playing tricks on them. While different addicts may respond in their own way to this option, you have to remain committed to wearing the patches so you can go smokeless. If you’re not determined, it is easy to regress by switching between wearing the patch and lighting up. Often times, triggers like a broken relationship, a financial or personal loss can make you take up smoking again to ease the pain.
4. Anti-Smoking Pills Work Only For So Long
Pharmaceutical companies have come up with the perfect solution for you. You pop a pill according to a set schedule and break your body’s dependence on nicotine. The chemicals in the pill take away your urge to light up. While the pills do work to help you quit smoking, they have to be taken according to a course. After a set number of days, you can stop taking the pills and still remain smoke free. However, many users do talk about how the cravings began again a few days after they completed the course. To make sure you quit the habit and keep it away, you might want to work with a medical practitioner who will supervise your body’s responses and advise you on how to maintain the course.
5. Panic Attacks Are a Norm
Should you check out authoritative websites like WebMD, you’ll read about all the withdrawal symptoms you’ll go through and how to manage them. Some of the symptoms are physical while others are psychological, but what these sites don’t talk about are the intense panic attacks. Nicotine withdrawal can have your palms sweating, head pounding, breathing heavily, and sensing complete terror with the crazy urge to attack people or scream uncontrollably. Some addicts are so terrified about not being able to have their cigarettes that they are likely to stock up with large reserves for fear that they might run out.
Quitting Smoking is Easier Said than Done
Attempting to quit smoking and being successful is a long, difficult road that only actual addicts can truly understand. Adopting any of the Nicotine Replacement Therapy options can help you manage the withdrawal symptoms so you can kick the habit for good. You can also get your friends and family members to support you by keeping you accountable. Or, you can sign up with support groups or smoking cessation programs that help you manage the triggers. Like most addicts will tell you, stressful situations or just being around friends and colleagues that smoke make it impossible to resist the urge to light up. For most addicts, resisting smoking is a life-long struggle and even after quitting, years down the line, they might slip back into the habit.
Whatever may be the strategies you adopt to quit smoking, the ultimate solution, undoubtedly, is sheer will power and the unwavering determination to quit. Are you up for it?