Four Keys for Quitting
Get Ready- set a quit date
- Get rid of cigarettes and ashtrays
- Don't let people smoke in your home or car
- Review Past attempts to quit.....What worked, and what did not
Get Support and Encouragement
- Talk to your family, friends and co-workers about your quitting and ask for their support.
- Talk to your health care provider and ask for their support and a prescription to tobacco treatment medications.
- Come to the Blog Support Group, Quit Tobacco Now group or call the Quit Line.
Learn New Skills and Behaviors
- Think of ways you might distract yourself, playing with straws or cinnamon toothpicks will keep your hands and mouth busy.
- Change your routine during times when you usually smoke. Perhaps your morning coffee time could be Tea time and changing the location that you drink it is also helpful. Going for a walk after supper will help break the cigarette after supper routine.
- Feeling stressed, take a hot bath, exercise or take a break from the kids by hiding in the bathroom for a bit.
- Plan something enjoyable to do every day. Remember you have the money you aren't spending on cigarettes for a treat.
- Drink a lot of water and other fluids. Drinking helps flush your body of the toxins from smoke.
Get medication and use it correctly
- If you are on Badger Care your health provider can provide you with a prescription to medication that can help you quit and Badger Care will cover it.
- The Quit Line 1-800-784-8669 is giving out 2 weeks of Nicotine Replacement Therapy.
These medications will about double your chances of quitting and quitting for good. - If you are pregnant talk to your health care provider before taking medications.
A new study finds that women who smoke are more likely to give birth to female babies. Usually women give birth to more boys than girls, about 52 % of newborns are male. Women who smoke during pregnancy, however, are 1/3 less likely to give birth to boys than nonsmokers, and the odds of having a boy are cut in half if the father also smokes.
findings presented at a meeting of the Royal Academy of Pediatrics and Child Health
Maternal Smoking Causes Blood-Pressure Rise Among Babies
Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to babies with an average systolic blood-pressure reading of 5.4 points higher than babies born to moms that didn't smoke during pregnancy and aren't exposed to second hand smoke. Diastolic blood pressure was not affected.
study appeared in the July 2007 issue of the journal Hypertension
Tiny Hearts Hurt by Secondhand Smoke
Children ages 2-14, who are exposed to secondhand smoke show signs of cardiovascular injury, meaning they may be at increased risk of heart disease. "Toddlers are smokers by default", said the studies co-author John Bauer, and "tended to have the greatest levels of nicotine exposure and have greater indicators of cardiovascular risk". Forty percent of toddlers in the study had nicotine content that in adults would suggest that they were active smokers"
findings were presented at the American Heart Associations Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention meeting, March 2008
Women Should Time Quitting Smoking with Menstrual Cycle
Women who try to quit smoking during the time from the end of their period to when they ovulate are 40% more likely to stay quit while those who try during the other half of their cycle are 20% more likely to to stay quit after 30 days. The study was published in the May 2008 issue of the journal Addiction.
Each year, exposure to secondhand smoke causes 150,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in US infants and children younger than 18 months of age. These infections result in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations yearly.
