| |
|
| |
Advice for your first week of not smoking
Stay focused on the present moment. Try to view quitting as a series of small challenges and take them on one at a time.
Getting over withdrawal. Nicotine is a powerful drug, and your brain will react when it is deprived of its usual dose. This is what is called withdrawal. Dizziness, headaches, constipation, coughing, insomnia, fatigue, irritability, trouble concentrating: these different effects vary in intensity from person to person, but they dissipate gradually and should disappear in a few weeks.
If you find it hard to cope with withdrawal, speak to your doctor or pharmacist. Pharmacological aids can be very helpful for minimizing the effects. If the treatment you’ve chosen doesn’t seem right, don’t give up right away. Seek advice! More information on cessation aids is available.
Become aware of the benefits you’ll enjoy as soon as you quit smoking. It’s a great source of motivation!
- After 20 minutes, your blood pressure and heart rate return to normal.
- After two hours, the level of nicotine in your body decreases by half.
- After eight hours, the level of oxygen in the blood increases to normal and the level of carbon monoxide in the body decreases.
- After two days, your risk of a heart attack begins to decline. Your sense of smell and taste start to improve.
- After three days, it’s already easier to breathe, and your lung capacity increases.
Try to focus your attention on the benefits rather than the difficulties. Tell yourself that your body is doing a major clean-up: it might be unpleasant, but you’ll feel so much better afterward!
Avoid situations that will tempt to you smoke for a while. If this proves impossible, try to prepare for dealing with a risky situation. For example, you could reread your list of reasons for quitting before getting together with people who smoke.
|
|
| |
A few minutes: You can do it!
The strong desire to smoke only lasts a few minutes and becomes less urgent with time. To resist it:
- Drink water. Not only will it help quell your desire to smoke, water will help with the cleansing process going on in your body.
- Take your kit and use one of your anti-stress tools to keep your hands busy or give your mouth something to do.
- Get some exercise.
- Think about something else: take a few deep breaths, get up, stretch and walk around, hum a tune, take out a Sudoku grid. Refer to the list of tricks you made last week.
- Call your sponsor, your teammate or one of your supporters.
- Call the Ligne J'Arrête Helpline (1-866-527-7383, bilingual counselors available) or visit one of the Quit Smoking Centres in your region (page available in French).
- Get out your smoke-free diary and give yourself free rein: write a nasty letter to cigarettes or draw a hideous cartoon. Scribble and draw freely.
- To stay busy when you get a strong urge to smoke, click here instead of lighting up. The page is in French, but many of the games found in the “dispenser” are in English!
|
|
