About Insomnia and Smoking

Smoking causes all sorts of problems for you, especially at the end of a long day when you just want to go home and get some much needed sleep.

Why is this so?

Well, smoking is a stimulant and stimulants interfere with the body's ability to fall asleep.

Many smokers think that smoking will make them feel calmer and help them to relax. The facts are different, because when it comes time to sleep, instead of being able to rest, the body craves for nicotine. Also, smokers cough a lot and find it difficult to breathe which just makes it harder for them to fall asleep. They are also likely to snore and suffer from other breathing problems that will affect their ability to sleep.

Feeling sleepy and irritable during the day isn't a good thing because it makes it hard to find the energy and commitment to do your work well and you could risk losing your job.

Unfortunately, quitting is difficult to do because cigarettes are readily available and there is a lot of peer pressure to smoke. However, there are many things you can try to do to quit the habit. At the end of the day, you want to be able to have a good night's sleep as well as have increased energy and a healthier body.

• Exercise such a walking or swimming helps to take the cravings away
• Use nicotine patches or chew gum to help with withdrawal symptoms
• Join a support group, call a helpline and seek the encouragement of friends and family
• Try acupuncture
• Seek professional help on how to give up smoking. GP's will be able to advise you on the risks of smoking and what you can do to quit the habit.

What Are the Best Ways to Stop Smoking?

Do a google search for Best Ways to Quit Smoking or Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and you will be inundated with a variety of products, from patches, gums, smoking hypnosis, herbal pills, lozenges, inhalers and sprays, books, CD's and lots more. Everyone claims their product is the best and will easily help you give up smoking. So where do you start and what really works?

Nicotine Replacement Therapies or NRT come in a variety of forms the most popular being chewing gum and nicotine patches which are placed on your skin. These all work by replacing the nicotine obtained from smoking to reduce the withdrawal effects you can have when you stop smoking.

There are several disadvantages to these aids, one being their expense. If you are a heavy smoker then the cost will probably be similar to what you would have spent on cigarettes but if you are only a light smoker you may find the cost prohibitive. In some areas you can receive NRT subsidized or even free so it is worth checking with your doctor for this help.

There are several side effects from using NRT which include upset stomachs, heartburn, headaches and skin rashes. A few people who use these smoking aids will also suffer from addiction switching. They may have given up smoking but they are now addicted the gum or patch: this has a variety of dangerous side effects on their health if used in the long term. Reports of hair loss, chronic depression, elevated blood pressure, facial reddening, bleeding and diseased gums are just a few of the effects of long term use.

Overall, nicotine replacement therapy could enable about 15% of smokers who seek help in stopping smoking to give up the habit but some of the side effects including the addiction switching should be fully considered before using this type of stop smoking aid.

Many medical professionals suggest using a smoking aid in conjunction with behavioural therapy and/or counselling. However there is a strong movement towards natural ways to quit with a number of studies proving that these could be the most effective methods even without the NRT. Possibly the most popular natural ways to quit include NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming), Acupuncture and Hypnotherapy.

The advantages of these systems are they are not reliant on using nicotine as an aid.

Acupuncture restores and balances a person's natural energy and healing system and with this equilibrium they are better placed to control the desires of smoking. It can be expensive as a number of treatments are needed and you should always use a professional practitioner as unclean needles can cause an infection. It is hard to determine the success rate of this system as there are a number of contradictory studies.

Hypnosis for smoking is a system that is receiving more recognition for its success rate and because it is a natural way to quit with no side effects. It works by planting ideas and affirmations in the subconscious mind whilst the smoker is in a deeply relaxed state. There have been reports of no cravings and no desire to smoke after one session. The success of the hypnosis smoking is dependent on the practitioner and it can be expensive. However there are a number of self hypnosis products which are good value for money.

With any of these processes to stop smoking each person will try a variety of processes before they hit on the one that helps them. No one will stop smoking unless they want to do so, and patient motivation must be the prerequisite of any quitting program.

Quit Cigarettes - How to Quit Smoking Permanently

Cigarette smoking has got to be one of the grossest, most vile things we can do. I was a smoker once. I knew it then, just as you know it now. You try and try and try to quit cigarettes but nothing seems to work. You always end up right back where you started, puffing away mindlessly day after day, year after year.

As a former smoker...and I mean former in the sense that I never think about it, never miss it, and can't believe I ever even did it...I'm going to propose that your problem with smoking is almost all in your head. That if you really want to know how to quit smoking permanently you have to examine the psychological aspects of why you do it, and why you keep doing it.

I've heard and I'm sure you've heard that quitting cigarettes can be as hard as quitting heroin. Come on. Have you ever seen someone trying to quit heroin? They shake, and sweat, and throw up...it's a mess. A smoker can sleep sometimes 10 or 12 hours and not even have to get up to satisfy his addiction. Many times we don't even smoke immediately after we wake up depending on our routine.

No, say what you will but the physical effects of quitting smoking aren't that bad by themselves. There is definitely a period of withdrawal, but it is mild. It's our mental addiction that makes the whole process so unbearable. It's that sense of deprivation we get when all of a sudden we 'can't' smoke anymore. It's the sense of comraderie with other smokers we're missing out on. It's wondering who we're going to be as a non-smoker.

Here's what I did that really helped me quit smoking permanently. First, I got the notion of quitting smoking being physically horrible out of my head. Every smoker thinks they like it the most. If anyone else has quit successfully, so can you. Then, I pictured myself ten ot twenty years down the road, sitting in a doctor's office being told I had cancer. I actually put myself there. Then I thought, right now is the time I'm going to be thinking of when I hear those words. I'm going to be thinking back to right now when I had the chance to quit but didn't.

And that was that. Anytime I wanted one I replayed that scenario. It only takes a few weeks for all the nicotine to leave your body. Anyone who tells you they still want one years later is holding on to the psychological side of smoking. Let go of it. You don't need it. You aren't missing out on anything. You'll be the same you that you are now...you'll just be that you for a whole lot longer.

Quit Smoking For Good - Stop Smoking For Your Health

Quitting smoking can be one of the hardest things that you do and finding a solution that works best for you is important. The first thing you want to do is to visit your doctor and talk with them to find out what options are available to you so that you can stop smoking. If you have been smoking for a long time than they can be even harder for you to quit and stay off cigarettes. There are some great new products that are on the market that can help you kick your nicotine habit and this is important because you want to be healthy and live a long life.

If you have a family than it is more important that you stop smoking so that you can be around to see your kids grow up to be adults. Even though you may not have any pain or discomfort currently smoking can only cause harm to you in the future. Once you have contracted cancer or any other disease from smoking it is hard to get rid of. The best thing that you can do is prevent this by stopping smoking now so that you do not have any medical issues later on in life. You will feel better want to have kicked the habit because you will be able to breathe better and have more endurance.

Remember that if you are trying to quit smoking there are many remedies that are available to you. You want to consult with your doctor and find out what products work well that are available to you on the market. There are also natural quit smoking methods that you can use that will help you kick this habit.

Smoking Cessation Tips - How to Quit and Not Hate It

Quitting smoking can be one of the most difficult things one can experience. The way that everybody makes it out to be impossible, combined with horrific-sounding nicotine withdrawal, makes it not sound like something anybody would want to do. Luckily, these smoking cessation tips can help take the edge off!

First, you should know that almost every nicotine withdrawal symptom will drive you to want to smoke, without you really knowing it:

- Irritability. Nicotine withdrawal will make you irritable, and you will lash out at other people. Generally, immediately afterward you'll want a cigarette to calm down. Don't give in!

- Depression. Two or three days after quitting, you'll feel depressed and regretful. You won't quite be able to pin it on something in particular. I felt like my life was completely pointless. If you're thinking that this will drive you back towards smoking, you're right!

You'll also feel a number of fun physical symptoms, which will in general make you feel like crap for a few days. The important part, though, is that it all goes away after the first week! Once you've gone through that week, you never have to deal with those horrid symptoms again, and you'll have your life back.

Depending on how you've quit smoking, that first week can be the only difficult part of quitting that you will need to deal with. The first few times I quit, I ended up relapsing during those few days (and once or twice after the first week) because, despite living through the physical symptoms, my mind still wanted me to smoke.

You don't have to deal with both the mental addiction of smoking and the physical one at the same time, though. The way that I finally quit was with the EasyQuit System which unraveled the connections in my mind between various events and smoking. After reading through it, all I had to deal with were the physical symptoms, which comparatively are a walk in the park!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Alcohol and Quitting Smoking - You Don't Have to Stop Socializing to Stop Smoking

Drinking is one of those things that many people say will cause you to relapse into smoking. When you quit smoking, you're supposed to quit drinking, partying, and seeing your friends...and that doesn't sound fun at all. It's enough to make you not want to quit smoking.
Well, luckily that's not the case. You don't need to stop drinking to quit smoking. If you were to quit smoking the way that almost everyone thinks how people quit, however, you would have to quit drinking, or really doing anything at all, because all of those things can make you pick up smoking all over again...if you've quit the wrong way.
So, you're asking, what's the right way to stop? The way I see it, there are two ways that people quit smoking. They either force themselves to not smoke, or they become non-smokers.
There's a difference between those two. Someone who forces themselves not to smoke still wants to smoke, they're just denying themselves cigarettes. Someone who has become a non-smoker couldn't really care less about smoking. As such, someone who has become a non-smoker could easily go to the bar or hang out with their friends without wanting cigarettes, because they don't want them anyway.
In other words, the best way to quit smoking is to not want to smoke any more. If you don't want to smoke any more, then you won't think about cigarettes when you normally would, because you don't feel the need to smoke.
Now that we've figured all of that out, you're probably wondering just how you go about stopping your want for cigarettes, since otherwise all we've done here is change the name of the problem without really coming up with a solution. Want to know how to stop wanting cigarettes? Read this book on quitting and by the time you're done, you won't want to smoke any more. Sounds scary? The book even asks you to smoke while you're reading it. Pick up a copy and become a non-smoker today!
Since curing yourself of your smoking addiction is a mental process that you can be walked through, you don't need to be completely mentally ready to quit smoking just yet. You can even be smoking as you read this, trying to decide if you're even ready to quit, and these guides to quitting smoking will help you quit! Without stopping the mental addiction of smoking though, you will always in the back of your mind be a smoker

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

If You're So Smart Then Why Do You Smoke?

Have you got a reason to quit smoking? If you study human nature you know then that you must have a strong reason to do anything. Quitting smoking is no exception. You must have a strong reason to quit.

One of the keys to successfully kicking the smoking habit is you really have to want to quit. Having the right attitude is also important. Just say to yourself "I am a non-smoker now" whenever you feel the urge to smoke should help you get through the tough times. You'll find that as you go along to becoming a successful quitter you will find yourself saying this statement less and less.

Here are some things you can look forward to when you quit smoking:

• You'll have more time to get things done. Every cigarette takes about 7 to 10 minutes. Making coffee to go along with that smoke also takes time if you usually like to have a coffee with your cigarette. Stopping at the store to buy a pack takes about 5 to 10 minutes out of your way every day and sometimes 2 times a day.
• Your clothes won't smell like smoke.
• Food will taste better.
• You won't have to go outside in the cold and rain to smoke.
• You won't have to ask for permission to smoke at someone's home or in someone's car.
• You'll breathe easier. You won't get out of breath when you walk up a flight or two of stairs. if you're so inclined you can even start singing again because eventually you'll get your singing voice back.
• People won't look down on you because you smoke. Smoking is not cool anymore. You won't be stigmatized by society as smokers are.

The right attitude makes all the difference. Check your self talk. Say "I no longer smoke. I am a non-smoker now." I hope with these few words you'll find success in kicking the smoking habit. Just remember it gets easier with time but the important thing is that you must start.

Tips on Quitting Smoking - How to Survive the Crucial First Few Days

Tips on quitting smoking seldom focus on the vital first few days but they should. As in most important ventures, the early days are the riskiest. After all, these are uncharted waters with many sharks lurking nearby.

The biggest and most dangerous shark is that of physical withdrawal symptoms. These range from mild feelings of unease and cravings to extreme agitation. You need to make sure you have some remedies on hand. These can range from breathing exercises to herbal mixtures to physical routines. Just be aware that these unpleasant feelings will go away.

Another shark is the tendency of your mind to play tricks on you. As nicotine leaves your body your mind will do its hardest to get you to light up. These mental tricks include telling you that you deserve just one cigarette. Don't fall for this one as one cigarette is all its takes to get you hooked again.

Then there's the social factor. If you're used to standing outside building with you fellow smokers and telling each other how great you are for being the last of a dying breed of outlaws, you may miss this camaraderie. This will add to the feeling of emptiness that smokers feel in the early days. Rest assured, it will go away.

Never forget that tobacco addiction consists of both the physical addiction to nicotine and also what might be called the habit factor. This includes the way the mind associates lighting a cigarette and inhaling the smoke with pleasure and also with certain situations both social and as part of your daily life. Again this will fade. The conventional wisdom is that habits are learned in 21 days. So hold on and in three weeks, you'll be an ex-smoker.

All this means you must be especially vigilant during these early days of freedom from cigarettes. One way to make sure you're prepared is to have a system in place to handle both the physical and mental obstacles to your success in quitting smoking.

The perfect quit smoking system includes remedies to handle the physical discomfort of nicotine withdrawal, some ways to relax and take your mind off smoking and also some social support whether from family or friends or from a support group either local or online.

So the best tip on quitting smoking once you've made the decision to quit smoking and make your life immeasurably better is to find the quit smoking system that works for you and get started today.

article source:ezinearticle.com

Stop Smoking Methods - Using Herbs to Quit Smoking Easily

If you think stopping smoking is difficult just look at the statistics. Just eight percent of smokers are able to quit cold turkey first time out. Most would-be ex-smokers need support and these range from props such as patches, nicotine gum and inhalers, to modern drugs such as Zyban, to alternative methods such as acupuncture and pressure points.
All these quit smoking methods have these pros and cons but perhaps the safest and most effective method is the use of herbs for quitting smoking. Tobacco itself is a plant so there's a certain logic to using other plants to fight its effects. In this article we'll look at three of the more effective herbs - ginger, licorice and peppermint.
Ginger is a wonderful herb for digestive problems. This is important because quitting smokers sometimes experience stomach problems such as indigestion, cramps and constipation. The main benefit of ginger for smokers however is its anti-emetic properties. This means it relieves the nausea some smokers feel as a withdrawal symptom. This is especially if they are using drugs such as Zyban which can have nausea as a side effect. Ginger is also a warming herb and can help with the tightness in the chest that many quitting smokers feel when the body tenses as it craves nicotine.
Licorice is another tried and tested weapon against the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Its main effect is to help remove accumulated toxins from the body where they've built up over years of smoking. Licorice also helps alleviate symptoms of depression and fatigue, both common with those fighting nicotine addiction. And chewing the root works wonders for the dry mouth that follows quitting smoking.
Finally there's peppermint which works in many ways to help with nicotine withdrawal. Its main effect is to clear the lungs and respiratory passages and so helps to make breathing easier. It also helps to calm nerves and soothe headaches that accompany nicotine withdrawal symptoms and the use of drugs such as Zyban.
The main drawback with using herbs to quit smoking is knowing which herb to use at which time and in which dose. The best way to handle this is to use a commercial preparation which has been specially prepared for smokers wishing to quit. So make herbs part of your quit smoking program and get free of nicotine today.
For a proven effective herbal way to quit smoking, check out Cig-arette. It's a complete all-natural system that works on all levels to conquer tobacco craving and makes quitting smoking a snap.

Quit Smoking Before it Quits Your Life

Smoking as we all know the world over is the biggest curse of the devil to the mankind. It gives its prey a slow and painful death.

It is a breath taking fact released by WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION itself that every 6.5 seconds a smoker dies, at present around 5.4 million people die of tobacco smoking every year. In China 2000 people are dying each day due to this smoking addiction. And not only do they die themselves they account for death of 18% innocent people who have to inhale the smoke from their filthy cigarettes, these innocent people are better known as passive smokers.

Why DO People Start Smoking? Everyone knows the deadly effects of smoking like lung cancer, increase blood pressure and also leads to heart attack and many more ill effects. Then what it is that drive men to take up to smoking?

Well mostly people take up this habit in their early teenage years just to show to the world that they are grown ups, or to impress girls and some people start smoking because their friends also do the same. But what starts off just a show off to the world develops into a dangerous addiction, it does not take time for nicotine to start ruling the body, it makes the person desperate to have a puff and it he becomes irritated and short tempered when he is not able to smoke.

How To Stop Smoking And Start Living?

If you quit smoking initially your body will feel worse than before for a while but this feeling is a sign of repairing process that takes place inside the body so one should not get worried if he feels unwell for a few days after smoking.

Quitting smoking will make your heart and lungs stronger Your sense of smell and taste will improve You will not get tired as soon as you used to be while smoking You will decrease the chances of getting lung cancer Your family and friends who hated the smoke from cigarettes will also get relief and it will be beneficial to their health as well. If you want you can also use some of these herbs which will help you in your quitting days

Avena Sativa It calms the nervous system so that the urge to have tobacco is reduced

Garcinia Cambogia This herb has been used for ages in ayurvedic medicine to maintain a optimal appetite and healthy metabolism level.

Gotu Kula (Centella asiatica) This ayurvedic herb helps maintain concentration level, and increases memory power and it is a highly respected herb in ayurveda.

These are some of the effective herbs that will help you in quitting process. Remember once you quit never ever even try one puff of a cigarette, it will ruin all your hard work in quitting.

So Quit Smoking And Be Healthy.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com