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Smokeless Tobacco

Health Consequences of Smokeless Tobacco

Benefits of Quitting

Good Physical Effects from Quitting

Within 15 - 20 minutes after your last cigarette, the body begins making changes that can last a lifetime.

15 - 20 minutes:
Nicotine levels in your blood begin to fall. Within 2 days, all of the nicotine and nicotine by-products are gone.

6 hours:
Your heart rate and blood pressure become lower. However, it may take a month for them to return to normal.

Common Problems with Quitting

You can expect to have some sort of withdrawal symptoms while you are quitting

It is actually a good sign that your body is ridding itself of all the nicotine and other harmful chemicals.

These symptoms usually do not last long. Although symptoms vary from person to person, the most common symptoms are listed below.

Coping with Cravings

While you are quitting, you may get cravings every once in a while. They will pass eventually, but until then, the urge can be quite great. Do not worry, there are ways to overcome the cravings

First, try remembering these 3 R's

Remind
Remind yourself why you want to quit. Look over your reasons for quitting that you wrote down earlier.

Rehearse
Rehearse what you will do to handle the urge when a highrisk situation arises.

Reward
Reward yourself for each urge you overcome.

Goal Setting

Are you really ready to quit? If so, it is time to set a quit date. Once you have picked the day, stick to it. Placing the date on your calendar or day planner will help to remind you of your promise to yourself to quit.

Start Quitting Before Your Quit Date

Even before your quit date, you can start quitting. Try these tips.

Medications

Anyone who has ever tried to quit "cold turkey" knows how hard it is

However, there are several medications to aid you in your quitting process. They include:

Ready to Quit

Thinking of yourself as a tobacco-free person is one of the most important aspects of quitting. If you think of yourself as a tobacco-free person you will succeed.

Making the decision to quit is hard, but it has to be your decision. No matter how many times your doctor, friends, or family try to convince you to quit, you have to want to quit. Once you have made the decision to quit and begin to think of yourself as a tobacco-free person, you are well on your way to your big quit day.

Tobacco How to Quit

More than 55 million Americans have started smoking in the 30+ years since the first Surgeon General's Report. In the last 30 years, Americans alone have consumed over 17 trillion cigarettes. If laid end-to-end, that is enough cigarettes to circle the earth more than 36,000 times!

Coping with Common Problems

Insomnia or difficulty sleeping; procrastination or putting things off and irritability are common problems of depression

Depression can disturb the body's "clock" and sleeping schedule. When the clock is disrupted, the body cannot tell when it is time for sleep.

Treatment for Depression

The good news is that depression is a treatable condition and many people fully recover. Some people mistakenly believe that depression will go away by itself, that they ought to "snap out of it", that they are too old to get help, or that if they ask for help they are weak. Not true!

Once depression is diagnosed and treated people usually feel much better. Even people who are seriously depressed can greatly improve with treatment. Keep in mind, however, that recovery takes time.

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