Monday, December 20, 2010

My enemy became my closest friend - cigarettes

My first thought of creating this blog is on experimenting whether if I keep posting, it will remind me of my persistent to quit but alas, it never happened. The only benefit I got is the information of how I would end up (but I don't think I would die from it).

Funny! how it became my best friend again during the last few months, I lost count of my consumption per day and I think addiction got worst.

what happened?

A love was lost, not that a person died but my one and only love of my life suddenly, I don't exactly know the right term, maybe faded or lost her love to me. Now I'm sharing her love with some other guy, whom she admitted and I am at lost. Insanity is near, for I don't know what to do. I won't go into details, hell! why should anyone care.

I got so depressed, and I cling on to my prayers and my ever reliable cigarettes, which I thought would eventually kill me but in an instant became my savior.
During those heart smashing, killer pain, and on a brink of insanity and I think death from I don't know how to describe it. my smoking habit worsen but my grinded heart was somehow pampered. I know it's stupid since cigarettes is harmful to our heart but what happened was in reverse.

I still want to quit smoking from what I've known and would still recommend anyone to quit and wish everybody not to have the same fate as mine, but for me, now it gets even harder, since it became my best friend.

Maybe someday I might re-awaken my weak will and re-build again.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Kill smoking - Cold Turkey


What is cold turkey? It is not a leftover turkey meat on your refrigerator! or to kill a turkey and leave it in a cold place. In a cigarette smoking term it is simply a method of quitting to smoke a cigarettes abruptly without any means of help and facing its consequences (head on!). This method takes a huge amount of will power as others say "a superhuman powers". The term holds to all types of addictions.

The derivation is from the idea that cold turkey is a food that requires little preparation in the kitchen. So to quit like cold turkey is to do so suddenly and without preparation. It is also boosted by the image of the pallid flesh of a cold, dead, plucked turkey. In the state of drug withdrawal the addicts blood is directed to the internal organs leaving the skin white and with goose bumps and thus resembling a turkey." (http://www.allexperts.com/previousqv.asp?QuestionID=2633904)

The next question is, "is it successful?". If you have a superhuman will power it is, but judging from a smokers point of view it very difficult but can be done!. The success ratio I think is very small although the term itself is very popular, few individuals are successful in this method. The good thing is that this method is free! and you can try it anytime you want. Tried it once and I failed (need some superpowers , LOL!).

What to expect in this drastic solution:

the withdrawal symptoms - you're cravings will be at highest level!

irritated

can't relax

can't think straight


Here are some ideas to overcome the difficulties:

Do something to make you busy

Chew a gum

Take a walk when craving comes in

Always divert you're attention, when you feel like smoking a cigarette.


It is a simple term but a difficult process. I myself is not ready for this ( I do a gradual decrease method) have more success with it but not yet 100%.
If you got what it takes to quit cigarette smoking with this method then do it now!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Kill smoking health Update

Report Calls High Blood Pressure a 'Neglected Disease' (HealthDay)
HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Americans eat way too much
salt and cutting down on that consumption should be a cornerstone of new
public health efforts to curb hypertension.

Patients Do Better at Hospitals That Follow Stroke
Guidelines (HealthDay)

HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke patients taken to
hospitals that follow specific treatment protocols may have a better
chance of surviving than patients taken elsewhere, new research
suggests.
Clinical Trials Update: Feb. 19, 2010 (HealthDay)
HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy
of ClinicalConnection.com:

Obama administration files appeal in tobacco case (Reuters)
Reuters - The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to consider allowing the federal government to force tobacco companies to fund smoking cessation and public education programs, which could cost the industry billions of dollars.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

To quit, 'nicotine-free' smokes as good as lozenges

Interesting article.

By Joene Hendry

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Trying to quit smoking? So-called nicotine-free cigarettes may be as helpful as nicotine lozenges, hints a small study.

Smokers who used the nicotine-free cigarettes before quitting were as likely not to be smoking six weeks later as those who used nicotine lozenges, authors report in the journal Addiction. (Such cigarettes actually have a tiny amount of nicotine.)

And nicotine-free cigarettes and the lozenges both beat low-nicotine cigarettes, Dr. Dorothy K Hatsukami, at the University of Minnesota Tobacco Use Research Center in Minneapolis, and colleagues note.

Nicotine-free cigarettes have 0.05 milligrams of nicotine per cigarette, while low-nicotine cigarettes each have 0.3 milligrams. For comparison, light cigarettes have between 0.7 and 1.0 milligrams of nicotine.

While scientists have tried various ways to reduce the amount of nicotine smokers inhale to help them cut down, they have been concerned that smokers may just smoke more cigarettes to make up for what they're missing.

The idea of nicotine-free cigarettes is to make that much less likely, because it would take so many such cigarettes.

Hatsukami's team compared smoking habits and rates of quitting in 165 mostly middle-age men and women who had smoked for an average of about 15 years, reported multiple previous attempts to quit, and appeared highly motivated to try again.

The investigators supplied nicotine-free cigarettes to 53 participants and identical looking low-nicotine cigarettes to another 52. Each group was to solely smoke supplied cigarettes for 6 weeks, then quit. The remaining participants went cold turkey and used nicotine lozenges for 6 weeks.

Urine and lung tests in those who completed the study showed 19 in the nicotine-free group and 12 in the lozenge group abstinent after 6 weeks. Just 7 in the low-nicotine group were not smoking at that point.

Compared with the low-nicotine group, the nicotine-free smokers had lower levels of tobacco-related toxins and symptoms of withdrawal, though both groups reported similar cravings.

As scientists have suspected, low-nicotine cigarette smokers were more likely to compensate their withdrawal by smoking more cigarettes. Nicotine-free cigarette smokers were not.

Although nicotine-free cigarettes "can be used potentially as a cessation tool," the authors note, the results from this one small study aren't enough to suggest that smokers should use nicotine-free cigarettes instead of nicotine lozenges, Hatsukami told Reuters Health by email.

Part of what limits the conclusions scientists can draw from the study is that a third of the smoking group and half the lozenge dropped out during the course of it.

Still, the results are "encouraging," write Mitch Zeller and Saul Shiffman of Pinney Associates, Bethesda, Maryland, in an accompanying editorial, and should be followed up to explore "how nicotine reduction might affect smokers."

Pinney has consulted for GlaxoSmithKline, which has a smoking control division. Members of the study team have served as expert witnesses in lawsuits against tobacco companies, and have consulted for various drug companies.

SOURCE: Addiction, February 2010.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Shooting - Kill the Smokers!

Try this cool game, this time your on the good side.! Enjoy!!!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Kill Smoking - 2010!

It's been a while, I bet most of the cigarette smoker's out there who wishes to Quit Smoking has this " I will stop cigarette smoking smoking!" on one of their New years' resolution list.

Well it's been a month now, what's your status? (lol!). whether you made a progress or none at all last month, having it on your list is a good sign of being health conscious and minding the others. Quitting is hard but not impossible. Since cigarette smoking is serious, why make your goal more serious, 'cause that is the time or moment that you can build your Will to do it. Having a plan is the 2nd phase, make it constructive, you can always plan it on your own phase. but as much as possible make a short plan as possible (you'll never know!).

We can not go through the succeeding phase without the Will and Planning, this makes quitting smoking cigarettes more probable to success. Whenever we fail to achieve our goal, never give up! Lets assess and try it again with more focus. The ultimate goal of Kill cigarette smoking habit, is in each and every ones of us. It may take a few sacrifices but if we are willing to do it , it is achievable. Kill Smoking!!! It is a good year to start!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Holiday smoking can kill


Holidays now come and as far as relaxation due to no work, majority of cigarette smokers tends to increase their consumption of cigarettes. from parties and other forms of socializing. at this time we can almost forgot or even don't count the amount of cigarettes being consumed.

Since it's the season where one would be with his/her family celebrating this holidays, why not give them an additional gift of not smoking or reduce it. It would be certainly beneficial to you and your love ones. Yes! this special gift is free! give it all you like (LOL!) you can brag about it all you want but the best is doing it for yourself (that's a +).

Please don't even try to think to give a cigarette pack to a relative or friend, it promotes health hazard and even death. Let's celebrate the holidays with a clean conscience and healthy as possible. don't want to spoil this holiday by celebrating it in a hospital or even worst (that sucks!).

Remember cigarette smoking kills - Kill cigarette smoking!