Smoking is one of the worst habits for your health and it’s one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The adverse effects on your health from smoking are numerous and can include discoloration of your skin, hair, and nails, tooth decay, asthma, emphysema, lung infections, stroke, heart attack, dementia and so much more. The wise decision to quit smoking tobacco and go through smoking withdrawal is a major milestone and can add years to your life once you become smoke-free.
Quitting smoking means that you must face nicotine withdrawal. Many of the physical symptoms will only last a few days. The most common symptoms of the withdrawal include:
- Cravings for nicotine
- Weight gain if you replace cigarette smoking with snacking with carbs and sweets
- Sleep conditions where you can either experience insomnia or find yourself wanting to sleep more than usual
- A persistent cough that results as your lungs begin to heal themselves
- Flu-like symptoms as your body adjusts to the lack of the nicotine drug
- Constipation
- Changes in your mood
To prepare yourself for the symptoms of withdrawal and to better help yourself become a non-smoker, there are things you can do to be proactive before you begin the process.
Discuss your plans with your doctor
Before you begin the non-smoking process, talk to your doctor. He or she can discuss what is likely to happen to you when you start to withdrawal and offer advice on how to cope with the symptoms. Going cold turkey is the most challenging way to quit smoking. Therefore, your doctor can discuss medicinal or natural quitting aids to help you with the process.
Prepare your friends and family and ask for help
Your friends and family will be with you as you go through this process. It’s important that you prepare them for what you will go through as well as ask them for support. For example, if you have a friend who smokes, it’s vital that the friend does not smoke around you while you are going through smoking withdrawal.
Clean your home and car of smoking debris and smells
Another thing that’s important for you to do is to prepare your environment to become a non-smoker. If you’ve got cigarette butts laying around and if your house or apartment smells like smoke, that can inhibit your attempt to quit. Clear your living environment of anything related to cigarette smoke.
Follow a healthy diet and drink lots of water
To help you with your goal, follow a healthy diet and drinks lots of water. As mentioned, one of the symptoms of withdrawal is weight gain. Reduce this by treating your body with healthy food and lots of water.
Join a support group
Although you’ll be asking your friends and family for support, one of the best ways to get the support you need is from people who are going through the same thing. A support group gives you the opportunity to talk about what you’re going through with like-minded people and will reduce the chance of your returning to cigarette smoking.
Deciding to finally break this habit means that you must give yourself every advantage. Therefore, your success depends on being proactive and planning for every detail.