Quit Smoking

Back in the days when not much information was known about smoking, doctors used to recommend smoking cigarettes to their patients in the 1950s. From then on, the harmful effects of smoking have been discovered and studied. The most common effect is the smoker’s cough, which occurs because of the harmful substances being inhaled into the lungs. Symptoms such as wheezing, trouble breathing and frequent colds that develop into asthma or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) are also caused by the substances in cigarettes.

Smoking also brings a lot of personal hygiene issues. The smell of smoke stays on the clothes, house and furniture and the tar in cigarettes stain the nails and teeth yellow and cause bad breath. The tar build-up on the teeth over time can even result in gum disease or tooth loss.

Serious cases may also happen and mostly long-term conditions. Smoking has been recognised as the culprit of many cancers such as lung cancer, throat and mouth cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, and cervical cancer in women. It is also known to cause heart diseases, stroke, kidney failure and fertility issues for both men and women.

The harmful effects on your health are not just observed in the long run though,  they can also be felt by day to day with smokers frequently suffering from chest pains, reduced sense of smell and taste, and uncertain weight loss. Aside from the harmful effects, it’s also an expensive habit. The NHS is said to spend around £2 billion a year on smoking-related illnesses and the average smoker (with a 20-a-day habit) spends £2,000 a year on cigarettes.

Deciding to quit smoking is not always easy but the rewards, in the end, are priceless. Even when you stop for 20 minutes, your heart rate will return to a normal level and after 2 hours, the blood pressure will normalise as well. After 2 hours, a decrease in carbon monoxide level will happen and after 48 hours, your sense of smell and taste will slowly come back. It takes 3 days without smoking to remove nicotine from your body. After 2 to 3 weeks of quitting, the lung will start to function better. If you successfully quit smoking for 1 year, your lungs will start their repair process and lower your risk of long-term health problems.

At the start of your journey when you decide to quit smoking, you may feel some headaches, mood swings and weight gain because of withdrawal from nicotine. But the advantages will outweigh this discomfort. You will get better skin, have better personal hygiene and an improved sense of smell and taste among others. You can also expect a reduction of coughing and breathing issues.

When you quit smoking, it will also enhance your wellbeing and allow you to take part in sports and exercise. You will also give people around you the chance to breathe fresher air without the secondhand smoke. Together with the numerous health benefits, quitting smoking will also save you a lot of money that will give you the chance of spending it on other more exciting things.

Even if there are so many health benefits when you quit smoking, many people still struggle in doing so because the addictive nicotine makes smokers want more. The potential to quit can depend on you as a person and can be affected by your age, lifestyle and the number of cigarettes you smoke. Some people can quit using willpower alone as their motivation. They can go with the cold-turkey method and simply decide to stop smoking completely. This method though,  can be hard and often ends in relapse. Many people are also switching to e-cigarettes, as the physical action of smoking can be as much a part of the addiction as the ingredients. However, there are not enough studies yet on their success.

You can try various nicotine replacement therapies, such as patches, gums and pills. They sustain the addiction in the brain without the other harmful substances from cigarettes. Even if they are the most common alternative, they are frequently unsuccessful. It’s possible that the appeal of these is the easy access over the counter, so people can easily get them without a prescription.

Prescription alternatives are the more successful treatment, beating nicotine replacements and other methods. Champix tablets are easy to take and stop nicotine cravings, preventing your craving for smoking. After you finish the standard starter pack, you can get the refill packs for as long as you require, to give you the best possible chance of quitting for good. This prescription treatment can be ordered quickly and safely from True Medical with flexible delivery options.

Whichever way you’ll go, it’s not enough to do them on their own. You’ll need the right attitude and mindset as well as the passion to quit.  You should also talk to friends, family and employers to seek support in your mission to quit smoking. Try to track the number of days you’ve been smoke-free, avoid smoke-heavy places and consider downloading quit smoking apps to help you become successful in your goal.