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Physical Recovery and Changes After Quitting Smoking – What to Expect

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

One of the best things about quitting smoking is just how quickly your body recovers from the ill effects of smoking. While it takes many years to completely recover, your body starts healing itself in just over a quarter of an hour. These are some of the things you can look forward to (and be wary of) in the coming days after stopping smoking.

About twenty minutes after quitting smoking, your blood pressure and heart rate are back to a normal level.

12 hours after stopping, your blood oxygen saturation has become normal, and nicotine levels in the bloodstream are a twentieth of their levels as a smoker.

One day after quitting, you will start to feel the anxiety and withdrawal that comes with quitting smoking. You’ve made it this far, don’t turn back!

Between two and three days from the last time you’ve smoked, your irritability will be at an all time high. You’ll experience several cravings per day for cigarettes, but as time goes on their length and intensity decreases. It also becomes easier to breathe, as your lungs are healing.

After a week, you’ll experience fewer symptoms of withdrawal. Past the three day mark, all withdrawal symptoms are mental, as your body as cleansed itself from the addictive properties of nicotine. Stick with it, because it only gets better from here!

After two weeks, you shouldn’t feel withdrawal any more. Urges to smoke will have dissipated, and you can relax knowing that you have taken control of your life again. In the coming few weeks, irritability, sleeplessness, and depression associated with smoking will subside and you’ll be able to take in just how incredible it is to not be a smoker.

One year after quitting, you are at a massively decreased risk of coronary heart disease, about half that of a smoker. Over the next few years, the rest of your disease risks will return to those of a non-smoker.

The first month is the hardest, but if you stick to it you’ll be rewarded in the end. Make sure that your family and friends know that you’re quitting smoking and to expect you to be more irritable and anxious. The first two weeks after I quit, I was absolutely unbearable to be around, but it went away with time and I never look back and miss smoking.

Remember though, your body won’t start to heal until you’ve actually quit smoking. If you want to quit smoking today, pick up a copy of the EasyQuit System and stop the damaging effects of cigarettes on your body once and for all!

Physical Recovery After Quitting Smoking

Article Source: Physical Recovery and Changes After Quitting Smoking – What to Expect

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Tips that work to Stop Drinking Alcohol

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 3:35 pm

There are quite a lot of different treatments that deal with the problems related with alcohol dependence. The treatments available for this problems can be put into the following categories…medication to reduce withdrawal symptoms and stop alcohol cravings, professional counseling to support relationship issues and education and support to stop drinking.

The previously mentioned methods are normally the ones that are recommended although a new drug has just come onto the market called chemical Revia [formerly Trexan], Vivitrolnaltrexone. This drug is normally administered by the form of an injection about once a month , but it is also available now as a pill.

The way Naltrexone works is by confusing the part of the brain that is responsible for making us feel good while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. It basically numbs the pleasure effect that alcohol gives us and can be either taken on its own or as a combination drug with other alcohol dependence drugs.

Recent studies have shown though that Naltrexone is most effective when its use is combined with counseling. It has also been proved that Naltrexone drastically reduces the risk of relapse after having managed to quit drinking.

When it comes to men who have a long track record of alcohol dependence this treatment is not so effective. As with the majority drugs there are possible side effects and Naltrexone may cause dizziness, nausea and fatigue as well as headaches and the tendency to feel sleepy, anxious, or nervous.

These treatments need professional backing and you may be interested in hearing what other people have to say on the subject. You will be amazed at just how many people share their experiences at the stopdrinkingadvice blog, so head on over and see how the blog can help you.

Discover just how easy it is to stop drinking alcohol through the support of people who have been there before and who understand the real hardships involved.

Discover How to Quit Drinking Alcohol On This Alcoholics Support Blog
http://www.stopdrinkingadvice.org/guide
written by Ed Philips and Receive Expert Advice to Help you Quit
Alcohol Today.

Article Source: Tips that work to Stop Drinking Alcohol

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How to cope with Alcohol Abuse

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 3:35 pm

Anyone who has got into the bad habit of abusing alcohol or any other substance has fallen into the category of substance abuse. It is a common event and an expensive pastime and will lead to serious health problems as well has ruining family and other relationships. It is estimated that in the US and Canada alone that 100,000 deaths are caused by the result of alcohol abuse every year.

It is the drug most commonly abused by children ages 12 to 17. Alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in teenagers. People who drink alcohol are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behavior, have poor grades or job performance, use tobacco products, and experiment with illegal drugs.

If the truth is to be known alcohol or drugs are just a result of the kids being depressed, which is even more common in our over rated society. The problem of alcohol abuse becomes a reality when it begins to interfere with your daily life and you performance is way down. When we refer to alcoholism it is the eventual step of feeling physically or emotionally dependent on alcohol just to get through another day.

There is no defined mode of alcohol abuse as drinking habits vary from getting drunk on a daily basis to just drinking way to much at the weekend. You quite often find that sufferers will tend to be sick or ill on Mondays and Fridays as their mind focuses on their drinking habits.

He or she may complain of having a virus or the flu. Others may be sober for long periods and then go on a drinking binge that lasts for weeks or months. Someone with alcohol dependence may suffer serious withdrawal symptoms, such as trembling, delusions, hallucinations, and sweating, if he or she stops drinking suddenly (“cold turkey”). Once alcohol dependence develops, it becomes very difficult to stop drinking without outside help. Medical detoxification may be needed.

The decision to confront an alcoholic is never an easy one to make. The most important thing is you should never attempt it when the alcoholic is currently under the influence of alcohol. The confrontation should be planned when he or she is sober.

When making contact for the first time with an alcoholic it is called an intervention and should be confronted with tact and a well though out plan. It is almost impossible to get a positive result on your own so make sure you get in contact with Alcoholics Anonymous first, who have years of experience in dealing with family issues regarding alcohol.

Also, prior to confronting an alcoholic, you should check with the person’s doctor or a specialist in treating alcoholic disorders to determine how to prepare yourself and any others who might be helping you to confront a drinker about whom you are concerned. We have listed nine tips that may be helpful in preparing for an intervention at the stopdrinking.org blog which will be a great place to start.

Discover How to Quit Drinking Alcohol On This Alcoholics Support Blog
http://www.stopdrinkingadvice.org/guide
written by Ed Philips and Receive Expert Advice to Help you Quit
Alcohol Today.

Article Source: How to cope with Alcohol Abuse

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Methods of Quitting Smoking

  • Posted on July 1, 2009 at 7:56 pm

Methods of Quitting Smoking can be many and varied. It is easier to say this than achieve itNeverthelesss it can be accomplished The one thing that has to be remembered in all of this is what it is exactly that is being given up

Smoking cessation (or quitting smoking) is the action leading towards the discontinuation of the consumption of a smoked substance, mainly tobacco, but it may encompass cannabis and other substances as well.

As has been mentioned there are a number of methods that have been used to help smokers give up but in all cases there has to be a deep desire to actually give up before to be brutally frank there is much likelihood of any success. OK so having got that out of the way, what exactly are the range of methods available to help the smoker give up this habit?

Methods of quitting smoking include straight withdrawal with all the expected and anticipated side effects such as “Cold Turkey” which funnily is the method by which at least 80-90% of all smokers use to give up. A wide variety of other methods are used to help smokers give up and these range from various aspects of spiritualism to antidepressants and rug therapy.

If it is at all possible then let’s try and put together some sort of compiled list of methods and techniques used to help Smokers kick their habit.

We start with the most obvious and that is the one that was discussed earlier and that is just stopping straight.

Alongside this is the usage of “Cold Turkey” but with the additional bonus of some counselling support. After this we have the usage of nicotine support patches for perhaps a periods of up to eight weeks to enable a more gradual withdrawal of side effects to take place. Next we find the usage of limited antidepressants such as bupropion. Alongside this is the usage of the nicotine receptor agonist varenicline (chantix) which is a prescription drug that can be used to alleviate some of the withdrawal symptoms. After this we have noticed an increase in the use of injection therapy whereby the user is given an injection which primes the immune system to produce antibodies which attach themselves to the nicotine and thereby prevent it from reaching the brain. There has also been a rise though not necessarily a successful one of the usage of Hypnotherapy.

Alongside the rise in the more mainstream medical treatments there has also been a considerable uptake in the usage of more fringe therapies such as self help and “spiritual influences”. Do any of them work? Yes and no has to be the honest answer but the real clincher in all of this possibly has to be the will power of the person or persons involved. If they want it to happen then there is an increased chance that the therapy or treatment will be successful.

Please read carefully. As with all things medical, consider your options carefully.

It is essential to remind the reader of this. You should always check advice independently. Your professional advisor should be contacted and his or her advice sought.

The reason for our recommendation to seek independent advice is as follows. With matters like these it is always prudent, in these litigious times, to get independent advice that should confirm your initial belief.

Steve Morgan regularly writes about Health issues and more on the above can be found at Methods of Quitting Smoking or http://methodsofquittingsmoking.com

Article Source: Methods of Quitting Smoking

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