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Share your quitting journey

Be A Quitter!

Thomas3.20.2010
1 3 15

Don't be fooled by tobacco myths, you can quit smoking. The number of smokers in California is down to 13.3 percent, but Lake County statistic are 17 percent. This results in higher rates of heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, than California as a whole. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the nation.

Most smokers want to quit, but do not know how to overcome their addiction and the persistent myths about tobacco use. Quitting smoking is a process that takes lots of practice and the knowledge that tobacco companies try to fool you all the time.

Myth: Tobacco use is just a bad habit.

Truth: Most smokers start smoking in their early teens not realizing that trying to look cool can lead to a lifetime of addiction. Nicotine reaches the brain faster that IV drug use and effects the same part of the brain as heroin. It gives you false feel good messages that only last a short time before you begin to crave more nicotine and smoke again.

Myth: Smoking helps me relax.

Truth: Many smokers think that lighting up helps them relax. That jittery and anxious feeling smokers have is tobacco withdrawal, which smokers often confuse with feeling stressed. Lighting up makes them feel better, not because the tobacco eases stress but because it's keeping the symptoms of withdrawal at bay by delivering the next dose of nicotine.

Myth: Switching to light' or menthol cigarettes will cut my risk.

Truth: Smokers who switch to brands labeled "light" or "menthol" compensate by inhaling smoke more deeply or by smoking more. This deceptive advertising practice is now banned, so now the tobacco companies use color codes to fool you into thinking a green package of smokes is more soothing.

Similarly, cigarettes labeled "natural" or "organic" are no safer than ordinary cigarettes. You don't need to add anything to tobacco for it to kill you. There are more than 4,000 chemical compounds in a burning cigarette and 60 of them are carcinogens. The truth is there is no safe tobacco.

Myth: I've smoked for so long; the damage is already done.

Truth: The damage caused by smoking is cumulative and the longer a person smokes, the greater the risk for life-threatening illness. But, you are never to old to quit smoking and to gain health benefits almost immediately.

Within 20 minutes your heart rate drops to normal and circulation improves. You will feel like you get more air, because you do. Within a year, your risk of having a heart attack will be cut by 50 percent. Your body will continue to heal.

 

Myth: I have tried to quit before, but withdrawal symptoms are overwhelming.

Truth: Tobacco withdrawal can be uncomfortable. But nicotine leaves the system in 72 hours and withdrawal symptoms get less intense and are farther apart every day. Knowing how to minimize withdrawal symptoms helps you know that the urge to smoke will pass in 10 minutes whether you smoke or not. When you understand that withdrawal is actually recovery its easier.

Myth: The weight gain that comes with quitting is just as unhealthy as smoking.

Truth: Smokers who quit smoking gain only 12 pounds unless they substitute one hand to mouth behavior for another. By eating healthier and exercising more before you quit you will not gain weight. But the risk posed by carrying the extra pounds is miniscule compared to the risk of continuing to smoke.

Myth: Cutting back on smoking is good enough.

Truth: Cutting down on the number of cigarettes you smoke is not an effective strategy if your goal is to end the cycle of tobacco addiction. Smokers who cut back draw more deeply and smoke more of each cigarette to compensate. Withdrawal remains unmanageable.

So even though you smoke fewer cigarettes, you keep the addiction alive. The data suggest that the only smoking cessation strategy that works consistently is to learn how to live without cigarettes as your new lifestyle.

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About the Author
63 years old. 20 year smoker. 11 Years FREE! Diagnosed with COPD. Choosing a Quality LIFE! It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. -Galatians 5:1