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SMOKING cigarette, DRINKING beer, I am 56 years old, high blood pressure, help !!!?

  • Posted on April 11, 2011 at 6:20 am

What can I do, I am a workaholic, have a daughter who is using meth, a son who does not have a rewarding job.
I have a good husband, make good money, but I smoke, drink, and my blood pressure is up. I tried Chantix, but it made my blood pressure even worse. What do I do…..I feel like I am dying…..my coping mechanism is shot…………….how do I get help…..does anyone have any answers for me. I just feel like I have no control. I can’t quit smoking, I love drinking beer. I am a walking time bomb. Will religion help me, meditation, maybe some counseling, maybe religion……..I am lost … and I cannot find my way………is there anyone out there that can help me, please………I have always helped others……don’t like to ask for help, but I feel like I am at the end of the road….any understand people with knowledge of what I should do out there. If your out there….please help me, I really, really, really need lots of help……God bless……
Thank you for your answers……I will really think about getting some therapy….I guess I didn’t want to think that I may need help…….and maybe AA … thanks …
I feel like crying right now. i can’t believe the response I’ve gotten from all of you, and you don’t even know me. Thank you so much……..

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Avoiding Nicotine Withdrawal While Quitting (It’s Easier Than You Think!)

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 11:42 pm

Nicotine withdrawal is one of the most feared difficulties that may arise quitting smoking. It’s one of the reasons why quitting is supposed to be hard, but it’s easier to avoid than you may think.

Nicotine withdrawal can be characterized in two ways: physical symptoms arising from nicotine levels decreasing in the body, and cravings for cigarettes. It’s important to know that these two are different.

Physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal won’t make you want to smoke. They’ll make you irritable and impatient, among other things, but they won’t actively make you want to smoke. Physical withdrawal symptoms from smoking are easy to deal with: simply wait and they’ll go away.

Cravings for cigarettes, however, can be a bit more difficult to deal with. If you’ve ever tried and failed at quitting with the nicotine patch or something of the like, you’ll realize that cravings for smoking can easily take over your mind and prevent the greatest physical remedies for nicotine withdrawal from working.

Smoking works by convincing your mind that it needs to have a cigarette in order to function. You need a cigarette in order to be on the phone, you need a cigarette in order to deal with the drive home from work, etc.

This isn’t exactly the case, however. It is possible to go through the day without even wanting a cigarette. Sure, cigarettes can be addictive, but if you know how to remove yourself from the addiction, it’s a walk in the park, and you’ll never look back.

I tried quitting smoking about a million times through the various quitting methods that everyone says will work, including nicotine gum, some anti-smoking pill, and a couple other home brew methods. They all work from the same flawed principle, however: smoking is not a physical addition, it’s a mental one…

I finally was able to quit after picking up a couple of online books about quitting. It’s amazing just how easy it is once you know the secrets. Learn just what that secret is from these books on quitting smoking and start your life anew today!

Avoiding Nicotine Withdrawal While Quitting Smoking

Article Source: Avoiding Nicotine Withdrawal While Quitting (It’s Easier Than You Think!)

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Electronic Cigarettes: The New Nicotine Withdrawal Aid.

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 11:42 pm

For some considerable time now the National Health Service in the UK has been promoting aids to nicotine withdrawal in the form of nicotine pads and nicotine gum. Private enterprise has now entered the field with the introduction of the electronic cigarette.

For anyone wishing to try electronic cigarettes the question arises: How do they compare with the established methods of nicotine replacement therapy?

There are three main areas that we need to examine.

i) The delivery system.
ii) The dosage.
iii) Breaking the habit.

1. The delivery system.

Nicotine pads depend upon the nicotine content being absorbed through the skin over a twenty-four hour period. Therefore the effect upon the smoker who is trying to quit is very different to that experienced by inhaling from a cigarette. Due to the slow action of nicotine absorption the quitting smoker does not get the immediate gratification as from a real cigarette. This is a major drawback (excuse the pun).

Nicotine gum is not as slow acting as nicotine pads but still takes a considerable length of time to reach the areas of the brain that are awaiting the desired stimulation. Again, the quitting smoker does not get the immediate stimulation required.

By contrast, the nicotine in the electronic cigarette is delivered in exactly the same way as with a real cigarette. The smoker draws on the electronic cigarette and receives immediate gratification – just like the real thing.

2. The Dosage.

Nicotine patches are available in three strengths: High, Medium and Low strength. The idea being that the quitting smoker starts off with the high dosage then moves onto the medium then low dosage patches.

Typically the dosages are in the vicinity of 21 milligrams, 14 milligrams and 7 milligrams respectively, per patch, for the high, medium and low dosages. Note: these figures are correct according to my research but there are many brands of nicotine patch and dosages may vary somewhat.

By contrast, the electronic cigarette is available in four strengths: High – 16 milligrams, Medium – 11 milligrams, Low – 6 milligrams and None (no nicotine), respectively per replaceable cartridge. One cartridge being equivalent to a twenty pack of cigarettes.

It should be noted that whereas with the nicotine pad the user is subjected to a constant, albeit slow, dosage, the electronic cigarette user can use the device in the same way as a real cigarette, i.e., on demand.

3. Breaking the Habit.

As an aid to stopping smoking the electronic cigarette possesses one great advantage over and above any other method. It looks like and is used in the same way as a real cigarette. There are two major barriers to the smoker who wants to stop smoking: a) Escaping the need for nicotine and b) Breaking the habit of physically using a cigarette. The electronic cigarette provides the answer to both these hurdles: a) By the progressive use of lower dosage cartridges and b) by emulating, in appearance and feel, a real cigarette.

In conclusion, it seems that the introduction of the electronic cigarette is a real boon to those smokers who wish to stop smoking tobacco. It is generally recognized that nicotine is the least harmful component of cigarette smoke and is present in many food items, including tea and tomatoes. There has probably never been an easier way to stop smoking.

Richard Brennan is the webmaster, internet marketing consultant for: Cig-E’s Electronic Cigarettes

Article Source: Electronic Cigarettes: The New Nicotine Withdrawal Aid.

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Natural Methods For Quitting Smoking (You’ll Be Amazed at What Works)

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 11:42 pm

When most people think of quitting smoking, they turn to the standard over-the-counter remedies, generally either the nicotine patch or nicotine gum. If you were to look into their success rates you wouldn’t really want to buy them, but forget about that, they’re accessible, right there, and you want to buy them right now, right? Yeah, didn’t think so.

Picture another industry. Let’s say that Company X releases a product that works less than ten percent of the time, offers no refunds, and gives you bizarre dreams, upset stomach, and drowsiness. They probably wouldn’t make it very far, would they?

Yet for some reason the nicotine patch continues to be sold, and people continue to buy it. Why? Because nobody seems to understand just how to quit smoking.

Smoking isn’t like a cold, you can’t take some magic pill and make it all better. A visit to the doctor won’t really help, because the doctor is there to treat illnesses, which smoking isn’t.

What does this all mean to you? You want to quit smoking, not line the pockets of some company that makes a product that doesn’t work! You need to understand just how smoking works as an addiction.

Think about the first time you lit a cigarette. You can probably remember that. You were probably out with some friends, and you probably absolutely hated it.

Now think about the time when you decided, “Hey, I’m going to make this smoking thing a habit, I like not being able to breathe very well!” You probably can’t remember that as well.

Smoking is something that works on your subconscious, through connections in your brain with various events. You probably have a few friends that you always smoke with. If you’ve tried quitting, you dread meeting them because you know that you’re going to crack and start smoking again, right?

To keep reading about how to quit, take a look at this article on How Smoking Addictions Work

Natural Methods for Quitting Smoking

Article Source: Natural Methods For Quitting Smoking (You’ll Be Amazed at What Works)

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Smoking Cessation Methods That Don’t Work

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 11:42 pm

There are a number of ways to quit smoking that are floating around. Annoyingly, however, there is also a great number of smoking cessation methods that don’t work, undermining peoples’ confidence in the working ones. Read on to find out what to avoid!

Nicotine Replacement Therapy
You’re not addicted to cigarettes because you crave nicotine, you crave the cigarettes! You want the tactile stimulation of holding the cigarette, the outlaw look, the whole atmosphere that smokers have. Granted, that’s all a facade, but it’s hard to see that. Treating smoking like some kind of disease ultimately leads to failure, as the poor success rates of NRT users are indicative of.

Meditation
I wasn’t going to put this one on here, because it sounds a bit ridiculous, but I’ve seen a ton of people marketing products that will somehow “hypnotize” you into not smoking. If you were to look at it objectively, you’d know that it was rubbish, but the desperation of people who want to quit smoking is capitalized upon and they still manage to stay afloat.

E-Cigarette
I’ve only recently started hearing about this thing, and every time I see it I feel my stomach churn. The whole point of quitting smoking is to not take nicotine into your body. How does replacing one kind of cigarette with some fancy electronic nicotine delivery doodad really solve anything? Exactly.

An unfortunate side effect of the number of wonderfully poor cessation methods out there is that people who want to quit find themselves discouraged and give up or postpone the idea of quitting.

Luckily, there are a few methods that actually do work. Take a look at my easyquit system review to see what can work for you right now!

Smoking Cessation Methods That Don’t Work

Article Source: Smoking Cessation Methods That Don’t Work

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Dealing With Nicotine Withdrawal – You Can Survive It!

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 11:42 pm

Quitting smoking has always carried the burden of dealing with nicotine withdrawal, one of the scariest and most difficult parts of quitting. Luckily, it can be easier in a few easy ways.

First, you should know exactly what’s going to happen. The symptoms of nicotine withdrawal will tend to pull you back towards smoking.

You will be irritable. Things will wear your patience thin very, very quickly. People will probably remark that you’re being short tempered.

It won’t make you want to smoke, but you’ll likely feel cold-like symptoms as well. Coughing, sniffling, and the like are all the body’s response to the poisonous chemicals you’ve been putting in it by smoking.

You’re also going to feel a sense of depression or regret. I went through three days of feeling like I was going nowhere as I was quitting. Annoyingly, the conditioned response to being depressed is to smoke a cigarette, which would undermine the entire thing.

The good news? The symptoms go away. It takes a couple of days, but after the first three days are over you’ll notice that they’ll drop to a fraction of their intensity, and they should be gone after a full week.

If you know what you’re getting into, it becomes more manageable to deal with the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. The first time I tried quitting (cold turkey, I might add) I became extremely depressed and confused on the second day, because I had no idea why I was experiencing those symptoms. I tried several times to quit cold turkey, but never lasted more than two or three days.

Incidentally, the way that I finally quit was with something called the EasyQuit System which is a behavioral therapy book on curing your mind’s need to smoke. After reading through it, I found quitting to be exceptionally easy and quit without looking back at all!

Dealing with Nicotine Withdrawal

Article Source: Dealing With Nicotine Withdrawal – You Can Survive It!

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Natural Methods to Quit Smoking (You Don’t Need Nicotine Replacement to Quit!)

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 10:40 pm

You’ve decided that the right thing to do for yourself and your body is to quit smoking, but you don’t want to quit with nicotine replacement, since you’ve heard so many stories about people getting just as hooked on nicotine gum and the like. It’s easier than you think without nicotine replacement.

The problem with nicotine replacement is that it deals with the physical symptoms of the smoking addiction. That’s great and all, but your mind is far more addicted to smoking than the rest of your body.

The hard part about quitting smoking relates to how much your mind is convinced that it needs cigarettes to function properly. Not that you can blame it, you’ve trained it to connect stress, happiness, partying, and all kinds of other things with smoking. Understanding and accepting that is pivotal to quitting smoking.

Think about non-smokers. They don’t have any problem being happy or stressed without smoking. You, on the other hand, have convinced yourself that you need a cigarette whenever you’re stressed. This isn’t because of any sort of chemical need that your body has for a cigarette, it’s because you believe that the cigarette somehow helps. It doesn’t.

The key to quitting smoking is to break those connections in your mind. Try breaking one of those triggers at a time and sticking with it. Over time, your mind will re-learn that it doesn’t need nicotine to deal with stress, happiness, or being around friends. Non-smokers don’t need cigarettes to deal with any of these things, why should you?

If you want to learn how to quit smoking right now, without leaving the computer (even while still smoking!), take a look at these guides to quitting today, and kick the filthy habit once and for all!

Natural Methods to Quit Smoking

Article Source: Natural Methods to Quit Smoking (You Don’t Need Nicotine Replacement to Quit!)

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Positive Thinking For Quitting Cigarettes

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 10:40 pm

When you quit smoking, you can’t go into it thinking that it’s going to be hard. That’s part of why so many people fail at quitting, and yet it’s one of the most commonly held beliefs about smoking.

The harder that you think something is, the harder it’s going to be for you. With smoking, it’s very easy to relapse into smoking and tell yourself, “well, good run, but quitting is hard”

That’s not the mindset that you want! Aside from the fact that quitting smoking isn’t actually that hard (more on that later) it sets you up for failure. Think about how many people have quit smoking without any problems. That may sound like a small statistic, but it isn’t. It’s all about setting your mind to it (and not putting it off by setting a quit date!)

Quit dates reinforce the idea that quitting is hard. When you set a quit date, you build up an ominous feeling about that day, and it’ll make you enjoy those cigarettes more up until that date, which is the opposite of what you want to do.

Why will quitting be easy for you? Because you’re not going to approach it the same way that everybody else does. You’re going to approach quitting head-on instead of trying to dodge around it as those with nicotine patches and the like do. You’re going to, soon, be able to know that you’re never going to want another cigarette, and that’s going to be a lot easier than it seems.

Instead of wasting time and money on replacement therapy, you need to break free from the mental cage that smoking has you in. To learn more about how easy it can be to free yourself from smoking, take a look at this article on how smoking addictions work

Positive Thinking for Quitting Cigarettes

Article Source: Positive Thinking For Quitting Cigarettes

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Why the Nicotine Patch Just Doesn’t Work to Quit Smoking

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 11:47 am

You see it advertised all the time. All of your happy cigarette-free friends want you to buy them, and you see them next to the cigarettes almost anywhere you can buy them. They’re a giant rip-off, though, and don’t actually work to quit smoking.

Why? They treat smoking as a disease, just like the common cold. Everybody wants some kind of “magic pill” that will cure their addiction to smoking, because all of the other ways just seem unbearable. Let’s take a look at the main one for a second here:

Cold Turkey? Most people connect quitting cold turkey with months of misery as your body detoxes itself of nicotine. You’ve heard the horror stories of people quitting smoking cold turkey and being awful company for weeks.

Back to the nicotine patch. It seems like the perfect cure: You slap one on in the morning, and don’t feel any cravings for cigarettes. Repeat for a few weeks, and you’re cured.

The problem comes in when you, like every smoker does, happen upon one of your smoking friends. You’ll rip the nicotine patch off, stuff it in your pocket, and light up a cigarette. Why? Because the nicotine patch doesn’t make you not want to smoke, it just makes you not want nicotine.

Your mental ties with smoking (seeing your friends, getting off of work, etc.) are still there. The tiny little success rate from nicotine patches comes from people who manage to (very much like cold turkey quitters) push through all of those triggers for long enough. That doesn’t sound much better than quitting without the patch, does it?

Before you try to quit smoking, you need to understand exactly how a smoking addiction works. You can learn all about it with this article: How Smoking Addictions Work

Why doesn’t the nicotine patch work?

Article Source: Why the Nicotine Patch Just Doesn’t Work to Quit Smoking

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Why is Quitting Smoking So Hard? (It Isn’t the Cigarettes)

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 9:37 am

The hardest part about quitting smoking isn’t actually quitting smoking, it’s the bizarre stigma that everybody (even non-smokers) have created about how hard smoking is supposed to be. The ironic thing is that it doesn’t have to be that hard!

When most people quit smoking, they don’t actually become non-smokers. They become smokers who, depending on their success, are just not smoking at the time. Whichever method they’re using, be it nicotine replacement, pills, or cold turkey, in their minds they are still smokers.

The problem is that people try to treat smoking as a physical addiction, when it’s a mental addiction. You’ll notice that you can easily go for hours without a cigarette, as long as you know that you’ll get to smoke eventually. If it was a purely physical addiction, this wouldn’t be possible.

You’re only as addicted to smoking as your mind wants you to be. You have connections in your mind between certain events (getting off of work, being on the phone, working on a term paper) and smoking that trigger your urge to smoke. In order to truly become a non-smoker, you have to unravel these connections and realize that cigarettes won’t actually help you do anything.

It all breaks down to identifying when you want to smoke and why. If you figure out what causes you to want to smoke (and anticipating the way it affects you) you can easily break free from your supposed need to smoke, since you’ll reduce it to something as simple as, for example, biting your nails or chewing on toothpicks.

Want to quit smoking, but don’t want to waste money and time with nicotine replacements? Take a look at my EasyQuit System Review and learn how you to quit smoking the right way!

I originally posted this article here: Why Is Quitting Smoking So Hard?

Article Source: Why is Quitting Smoking So Hard? (It Isn’t the Cigarettes)

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