1800 QUIT NOW - Help Quitting Smoking

I have tried to quit smoking 4 times before I succeeded. First of all you have to be ready to quit smoking for you to be successful. If your not ready don't even bother. You will not succeed. When I thought I was ready I thought to myself. I am going to do this and not touch another cigarette. Well surprising I made it though the first day. Even though I was a basket case I made it. It bothered me most when I was on the phone or computer.

Then a friend of mine told me about 1800 QUIT NOW for free support with a trained counselor, who will talk to you whether you are ready to quit or just thinking about it. I thought about it and figured that may help getting support from someone that has quit. Well that was 6 months ago and I have not touched a cigarette since. Thank you to all the help these counselors have given me.

Smoking 101 Fact Sheet - American Lung Association site

Smoking 101 Fact Sheet

Cigarette smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable morbidity and premature mortality worldwide. Smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 438,000 American lives each year, including those affected indirectly, such as babies born prematurely due to prenatal maternal smoking and victims of "secondhand" exposure to tobacco's carcinogens. Smoking costs the United States over $167 billion each year in health-care costs including $92 billion in mortality-related productivity loses and $75.5 billion in excess medical expenditures.

• Cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. Smoking is directly responsible for approximately 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and approximately 80-90 percent of COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) deaths.
• About 8.6 million people in the U.S. have at least one serious illness caused by smoking. That means that for every person who dies of a smoking-related disease, there are 20 more people who suffer from at least one serious illness associated with smoking.
• Among current smokers, chronic lung disease accounts for 73 percent of smoking-related conditions. Even among smokers who have quit chronic lung disease accounts for 50 percent of smoking-related conditions.
• Smoking is also a major factor in coronary heart disease and stroke; may be causally related to malignancies in other parts of the body; and has been linked to a variety of other conditions and disorders, including slowed healing of wounds, infertility, and peptic ulcer disease. For the first time, the Surgeon General includes pneumonia in the list of diseases caused by smoking.
• Smoking in pregnancy accounts for an estimated 20 to 30 percent of low-birth weight babies, up to 14 percent of preterm deliveries, and some 10 percent of all infant deaths. Even apparently healthy, full-term babies of smokers have been found to be born with narrowed airways and curtailed lung function.
• Only about 30 percent of women who smoke stop smoking when they find out they are pregnant; the proportion of quitters is highest among married women and women with higher levels of education. Smoking during pregnancy declined in 2003 to 10.7 percent of women giving birth, down 42 percent from 1990.
• Neonatal health-care costs attributable to maternal smoking in the U.S. have been estimated at $366 million per year, or $704 per maternal smoker.
• Smoking by parents is also associated with a wide range of adverse effects in their children, including exacerbation of asthma, increased frequency of colds and ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome. Secondhand smoke causes an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in children less than 18 months of age, resulting in 7,500 to 15,000 annual hospitalizations.
• In 2004, an estimated 44.5 million, or 20.9 percent of, adults were current smokers. The annual prevalence of smoking has declined 40 percent between 1965 and 1990, but has been unchanged virtually thereafter.
• Males tend to have significantly higher rates of smoking prevalence than females. In 2004, 23.4 percent of males currently smoked compared to 18.5 percent of females.
• Prevalence of current smoking in 2004 was highest among Native American Indians/Alaskan Natives (33.4%), intermediate among non-Hispanic whites (22.2%), and non-Hispanic blacks (20.2%), and lowest among Hispanics (15%) and Asians and Pacific Islanders (11.3%).
• As smoking declines among the White non-Hispanic population, tobacco companies have targeted both African Americans and Hispanics with intensive merchandising, which includes billboards, advertising in media targeted to those communities, and sponsorship of civic groups and athletic, cultural, and entertainment events. In 2003, total advertising and promotion by the five major tobacco companies was the highest ever reported at $15.5 billion.
• Tobacco advertising also plays an important role in encouraging young people to begin a lifelong addiction to smoking before they are old enough to fully understand its long-term health risk. Approximately 90 percent of smokers begin smoking before the age of 21.
• In 2004, 22 percent of high school students were current smokers. Over 8 percent of middle school students were current smokers in 2004.
• Secondhand smoke involuntarily inhaled by nonsmokers from other people's cigarettes is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a known human (Group A) carcinogen, responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in U.S. nonsmokers.
• Workplaces nationwide are going smoke-free to provide clean indoor air and protect employees from the life-threatening effects of secondhand smoke. Nearly 70 percent of the U.S. workforce worked under a smoke free policy in 1999, but the percentage of workers protected varies by state, ranging from a high of 83.9 percent in Utah to 48.7% in Nevada.
• Employers have a legal right to restrict smoking in the workplace, or implement a totally smoke-free workplace policy. Exceptions may arise in the case of collective bargaining agreements with unions.
• Nicotine is an addictive drug, which when inhaled in cigarette smoke reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously. Smokers not only become physically addicted to nicotine; they also link smoking with many social activities, making smoking a difficult habit to break.
• In 2003, an estimated 45.9 million adults were former smokers. Of the current 44.5 million smokers, more than 32 million persons reported they wanted to quit smoking completely.
• Nicotine replacement products can help relieve withdrawal symptoms people experience when they quit smoking. Nicotine patches, nicotine gum and nicotine lozenges are available over-the-counter, and a nicotine nasal spray and inhaler, as well as a non-nicotine pill, are currently available by prescription.
• Nicotine replacement therapies are helpful in quitting when combined with a behavior change program such as the American Lung Association's Freedom From Smoking (FFS), which addresses psychological and behavioral addictions to smoking and strategies for coping with urges to smoke.

For more information on smoking, please review the Tobacco Use Morbidity and Mortality Trend Report in the Data and Statistics section of our website or call the American Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872).

Quit Smoking - American Lung Association site

Smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 430,700 American lives each year. Smoking costs the United States approximately $97.2 billion each year in health-care costs and lost productivity. It is directly responsible for 87 percent of lung cancer cases and causes most cases of emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Find out more about how smoking has affected you community, see American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control: 2005 Report.

I QUIT!—How Do I Handle It? | OSH | CDC

How Do I Handle It?

Here’s what to do when the Crazies hit.

GROUCHY, NERVOUS: Exercise. Walk the dog. Keep busy.

HEADACHES, DIZZINESS: Take deep breaths. Exercise.

TIRED: Take naps and get plenty of rest.

DRY MOUTH, SORE THROAT: Drink cold water or juice. Chew gum.

THE BLUES: You may get really depressed and feel like crying. These feelings will pass. Until they do, call a friend or someone else who understands.

PIGGING OUT: When people quit smoking, they need something else to do, so they eat. If you don’t want to gain weight, try these things:

• Eat regular meals. Don’t just eat whatever or whenever you feel like it.

• Don’t eat lots of candy and sweet stuff. Try sugarless gum, fresh fruit, popcorn, and vegetable sticks.

• Drink extra water, especially at meals.

• Keep active—take walks, shoot baskets, ride your bike.

The Crazies are a pain, but they only last a little while. And they’re better than dying from something like lung cancer or a heart attack. Even if smoking doesn’t kill you, it’ll probably make you sick with emphysema or other diseases.

I QUIT!—The Crazies | OSH | CDC

The Crazies

When you quit smoking, you may have to put up with some stuff like bad nerves and crabbiness for awhile. That’s because tobacco contains nicotine—a drug —and smokers get hooked on nicotine. When you quit, your body craves nicotine and you feel withdrawal symptoms: the Crazies.

How Bad Will it Be??

The Crazies usually last for 1–2 weeks after you quit. After that, your body begins to forget about nicotine and you start feeling better. For some people —like heavy smokers—the Crazies may be tougher and last longer.

Even after the Crazies are gone, there will be times you’ll still want to smoke. That’s because nicotine is a powerful addiction. Even after you quit, you can get hooked again with just a few cigarettes. The only way to be safe is to become a nonsmoker—for good.

I QUIT!—The Day You Quit | OSH | CDC

How To Quit Smoking

The Day You Quit

1. Throw away all your cigarettes, lighters, and ashtrays.
2. You will feel the urge to smoke, but it usually passes in 2–3 minutes. When you feel the urge, do something else. Take deep breaths and let them out slowly. Drink a glass of water.
3. Carry things to put in your mouth, like gum, hard candy or toothpicks.
4. Keep busy: Go to the movies, ride your bike, walk the dog, play video games, call a friend.
5. Go to places where you’re not allowed to smoke, like the movies or the mall.

The First Few Days

1. The first few days after you quit, don’t hang around people and places where you used to smoke. If your family or friends smoke, ask them not to
   • smoke around you
   • offer you cigarettes
   • leave cigarettes where you can find them
   • tease you about not smoking
2. Turn your room into a "no smoking zone," especially if your family smokes.
3. Spend a lot of time in places where you’re not allowed to smoke.
4. Drink lots of water and fruit juice, but don’t drink anything with caffeine in it, like soda, coffee, or tea.