Wellteacherjan09.indd

QUITTING SMOKING: THE SINGLE BEST THING YOU CAN
DO TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE
This is an excerpt from The Lung Association of Nova Scotia’s website (www.ns.lung.ca)
Here are some of the most common
est things you’l ever do. But it gets easier with quit methods:
practice. Research shows every time you try
Support groups/counselling: Most
to quit, you boost your chances of quitting people find it helpful to join a support group, for good. Quitting smoking is a process that get counsel ing or read self-help books. This requires careful planning, courage, discipline, type of support wil help you understand what and commitment. to expect and better cope with withdrawal Four steps to quitting smoking
1. Pick a quit day: Choose a date within Scotia can provide more information about
the next two or three weeks to quit. Having support groups and programs offered in your a deadline makes it easier to plan how you community.
wil handle the people, places and situations Nicotine replacement therapies: Nicotine
that make you want to smoke. Try to choose replacement therapies come in many different a time that is not particularly stressful. But forms: skin patches, gum, sprays and inhalers. don’t wait forever for the “perfect” day. Pick They have smal amounts of nicotine in them a quit date now and work with it. and can help take the edge off cravings. These 2. Choose one or more proven quit- products work by slowly reducing the amount
smoking methods: Your chances of success of nicotine delivered to your body to help you
are greater if you combine quit methods like handle withdrawal symptoms more easily.
2. Deep breaths: Take a deep breath
Within six months: your coughing,
counsel ing, self-help guides, the patch and Research shows these are effective in help- break instead of a smoke break. Take a few stuffy nose, tiredness and shortness of breath other medicines. Choose the methods that ing people to quit smoking, especial y when deep breaths. Hold the last one. Breathe out improve.
wil work best for you. It also helps to list your combined with counsel ing or self-help.
Within one year: your risk of smoking-
reasons for quitting, write down the things Antidepressant drugs: Bupropion SR
3. Delay: As a smoker you were not always related heart attack is cut in half.
that can replace smoking, speak with friends, (Zyban) is a prescription antidepressant drug in control. You smoked when your body Within 10 years: your risk of dying from
family, and col eagues who can give you sup- that can reduce the urge to smoke in some wanted nicotine. By delaying or holding off, lung cancer is cut in half.
port, start making the lifestyle changes that people. It’s most effective in helping people quit you are cal ing the shots. Often the craving Within 15 years: your risk of dying from
wil support your plan, and consider joining when it’s combined with other quit methods for a cigarette can pass in a few minutes.
a heart attack is the same as a person who 4. Do something different: When a never smoked.
3. Work your plan: When it’s your quit
Unproven methods to quit smoking include craving hits, it helps to get out of your cur- There are many other good reasons to
date be firm that you won’t smoke. Review acupuncture, acupressure, electrostimulation, rent situation. Change what you’re doing. quit smoking:
your plan often. Knowing how you’re going laser therapy and hypnosis or hypnotherapy. Step outside. Cal a friend. Read a book. to handle the urge to smoke wil help you Nicotine withdrawal: Withdrawal is Do something different. Some people find
better cope with cravings. Avoid those people your body’s response to being without the it helpful to do something with their hands • Your smoking will no longer affect the and situations where you wil be tempted to drug nicotine. Everyone who quits smoking when a craving strikes like squeezing a stress smoke. Go for a walk instead of a smoke. should expect some withdrawal symptoms. bal or knitting. Find a hobby that keeps your hands and Common withdrawal symptoms include Here are some other good things
mind busy. Clean your teeth, your clothes, craving for a cigarette, feeling tired, cough- that happen to your body once you stop
and your house of that stale tobacco smel . ing, gas or stomach pain, hunger, headache, smoking:
Be positive and remember you are choosing feeling irritable (bad mood), and trouble Within eight hours: carbon monoxide
concentrating. Symptoms of withdrawal and level drops in your body and oxygen level in 4. Celebrate your success: Believe in how long they last are different for everyone. your blood increases to normal.
yourself and your plan. Understand that In general, symptoms begin within hours of Within 48 hours: your chances of
it takes time to re-learn smoke-free habits. stopping smoking and can be worse in the having a heart attack start to go down • Cigarettes will no longer control your Remember that quitting is a process, not an evening. Symptoms tend to decrease over and your sense of smell and taste begin event. Though your recovery begins within the first 4-5 days. Some people have stronger to improve.
hours of your last smoke, it takes at least three symptoms than others.
Within 72 hours: your bronchial tubes
weeks to make a new habit. Don’t be discour- When you have the urge to smoke try relax and make breathing easier and your lung Write them down and share them with friends
aged if you slip. It’s part of the process. You the 4-D Solution:
and family or post them on the fridge.
are not a failure. Review your plan and ask 1. Drink water: Drink lots of water. This
Within two weeks to three months:
yourself how you can do it differently next flushes the nicotine and other chemicals out your blood circulation improves and References
of your system faster. It can help to keep your your lung functioning increases up to 30 Program. On the Road to Quitting - Guide to Becoming a Non-Smoker 2003.
(EIP) invites NSTU members to
sign up for our Wel ness email list
at [email protected].
Please contact Erin at [email protected] to pro- vide her with your NSTU email address. The
[email protected] list wil provide information
about the EIP and other wel ness topics.
[From The Teacher, January 2009, Volume 47 Number 5, page 8 NSTU 2009]

Source: http://nstu.ca/images/The%20Teacher/The%20Well%20Teacher/wellteacherJan09.pdf