Quitting Smoking

When you think about the fact that about half of those who quit smoking return to it at some point, and even those who haven't smoked for years still get the odd craving - it's not difficult to understand why staying off the weed can be harder than quitting smoking in the first place.

Nicotine is a strong drug and it may take several attempts before you successfully quit smoking.

Withdrawal from the nicotine hit is one of the major reasons for failure to quit smoking but sheer force of habit plays a major role. Of course, if there are no regular smokers in your immediate social circle, quitting will be much easier. Research shows that failure to quit smoking is also more likely if:

• • you're a woman (nicotine dependency is stronger for female smokers)
  
• • you were a heavy smoker
  
• • you've been smoking for a long time
  
• • when you smoke you inhale deeply
  
• • you experience severe withdrawal symptoms
  

Tests have also shown that those of us who cheat during the first six months after quit smoking - even if it's just a few puffs on a cigarette - are highly likely to be smoking again by the end of those six months.

So - if you really want to quit smoking then be totally honest with yourself. If you have a lapse, admit it and resume your quit smoking program immediately. Start your count of smoke-free days from when you resume.

Think of the way you'll look if you carry on smoking. Think of the damage smoking is doing to your looks and the aging effects of smoking on your skin. Remember successful quitters are honest about their progress - with themselves and with the people helping them to quit. Successful quitters don't use a temporary lapse as a reason to start smoking again.

Nicotine

Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive – as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Over time, the body becomes both physically and psychologically dependent on nicotine. Studies have shown that smokers must overcome both of these addictions to be successful at quitting and staying quit.

When smoke is inhaled, nicotine is carried deep into the lungs, where it is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and carried throughout the body. Nicotine affects many parts of the body, including your heart and blood vessels, your hormonal system, your metabolism, and your brain. Nicotine can be found in breast milk and even in cervix mucous secretions of smokers. During pregnancy, nicotine freely crosses the placenta and has been found in amniotic fluid and the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants.

Several different factors can affect the rate of metabolism (the work of the living cell in the body) and excretion (or getting rid of the waste) related to nicotine. In general, a regular smoker will have nicotine or its by-products present in the body for about 3 to 4 days after stopping.

Nicotine produces pleasant feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more. It also acts as a kind of depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. As the nervous system adapts to nicotine, smokers tend to increase the number of cigarettes they smoke, and therefore the amount of nicotine in their blood. After a while, the smoker develops a tolerance to the drug, which leads to an increase in smoking over time. Over time, the smoker reaches a certain nicotine level and then smokes to maintain this level of nicotine. In fact, nicotine, when inhaled in cigarette smoke, reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously.