What Happens When You Quit

20 minutes: Your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal

8 hours: Oxygen levels in your blood return to normal.

24 hours: Carbon monoxide has been eliminated from your body. Your lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris.

48 hours: There is no nicotine left in your body. Your ability to taste and smell is greatly improved.

72 hours: Breathing becomes easier. Your bronchial tubes begin to relax and your energy levels increase.

2-12 weeks: Circulation improves throughout the body, making walking and running a whole lot easier.

3-9 months: Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems get better as your lung function is increased by up to 10%.

5 years: Heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.

10 years: Risk of lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker. Risk of heart attack falls to same as someone who has never smoked.

Nicotine Addiction

Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to man. Powerful and very fast acting. This is the chemical which causes addiction to cigarettes.

• It is a drug and has many different effects on the body at the same time.

• After just one puff it begins to act on your central nervous system, brain and other parts of the body.

• It actually stimulates your system, even though it makes you feel relaxed.

• Nicotine affects chemicals in your brain and, after a puff, you usually feel good for a moment or two, which is why many smokers view smoking as stress relief when under pressure.

• Some areas of the brain are pleasure related and when stimulated give the feeling of relaxation and reduced anxiety.

Over time as you continue to smoke, your body learns to depend on nicotine. As a result when you stop smoking you get 'nicotine cravings' one of many different withdrawal symptoms.

Nicotine Cravings And Withdrawal

Cravings and withdrawal symptoms when you quit smoking are a common experience.

It is the way your body reacts when it stops getting nicotine and all the other chemicals in tobacco smoke.

Some withdrawal symptoms will come and go over a period of a few days. Most are gone within three weeks and not every smoker is affected to the same degree.

Cravings. Each one lasts 3 -5 minutes, and may be strong. Over time however, cravings will happen less often. More about cravings below.

Headaches (occasional), indigestion, nausea, diarrhoea and sore throats rarely last more than four days.

• Try usual over the counter remedies for these symptoms.

Insomnia and an increased tendency to dream.

• Tea and coffee contain caffeine and, without nicotine, your body absorbs much more of this stimulant, which can make you restless, irritable and sleepless for a while.

• Try drinking less tea and coffee, make your cups weaker.

• Consider coffee substitutes, water, fruit juice and caffeine-free cola drinks.

Coughing most commonly caused by the cilia that line your lungs cleaning out the tar and mucus.

Irritability, depression or anxiety are closely connected to the physical action of nicotine leaving your body and will lessen over one to three weeks.

Increased appetite and possible weight gain.

Tiredness and lack of concentration.

• Try and relax more during the first few weeks any tiredness will pass.

• Take a break from what your doing and take a short walk if possible to help concentration.

The first few days after you quit can be the hardest.

The most problematic symptom tends to be cravings.

Few smokers quit without getting cravings. If you want to succeed you must learn to get through them. The following tips should help:

• Confront cravings head on and learn to 'overcome the urge to smoke at will through sheer determination'.

• The choice to quit smoking and the responsibility for not smoking is yours alone.

• Cravings only last 3- 5 minutes and they WILL subside. Once the urge to smoke has gone your resolve will strengthen.

• Focus on the reasons you decided to quit. Take a look at your quitting plan.

• Take 3 or 4 deep breaths. Breathe in slowly through the nose and fill your lungs, then breathe out again slowly through the mouth.

• Drink water. Sip it slowly and try to savour the taste. This will also help to satisfy any increased appetite.

• Keep busy. Take your mind off smoking by going for a walk, doing an odd job around the home or in the garden or call a friend or relative on the phone

If you have been making notes so far, developing your quitting plan, think about cravings and withdrawal symptoms for a moment or two. Picture a scenario when you have desperately wanted to smoke. If that were to occur once you stop what would you do?

Make a note of what you plan to do to deal with cravings. Maybe something like:

"When I get a strong craving I am going to occupy myself for 5 minutes by manicuring my nails".

Write it down on your list and number it "3".

The first thing that you need to do is to seriously think about going smokefree.

This step is the simplest step, and guess what, because you are here right now, it means that you are already thinking about it!

Feeling ready and motivated is very important. Have you seriously thought about how you will feel when you are smokefree? Imagine being free from the health risks, feeling fresh and having extra money to spend.

You have everything to gain

We all find reasons and excuses to put off the day when we finally stop. You might be worried about coping with the cravings, putting on weight, or dealing with stress. It's also hard to stop when everyone around you smokes. Last year 250 THOUSAND people went smokefree. You can do it too!

Remember why you first started

Try to remember why you first started smoking. Perhaps you wanted to look older, be part of a gang or to look tougher. Now that you are an adult, do your reasons for starting seem silly?

Think about your reasons to stop

Remind yourself of your reasons for wanting to stop. Being smokefree means you save money, feel healthier, smell fresher and reduce your risk of serious diseases like cancer and heart disease. When you go smokefree you will stop your family and friends from breathing your secondhand smoke.

Are your reasons to stop more important than the reasons why you first started?

Feeling confident and motivated? Then you are ready to plan to go smokefree with step 2

I'M UNDER A LOT OF STRESS, AND SMOKING RELAXES ME

Your body is used to Nicotine, so you naturally feel more relaxed when you give it a substance it has come to depend on. But nicotine is a stimulant- it raises your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. Most ex-smokers feel much less nervous just one to two weeks after quitting.

SMOKING MAKES ME MORE EFFECTIVE IN MY WORK

Trouble concentrating can be short-term symptom of quitting, but smoking actually deprives your brain of oxygen

I'VE ALREADY CUT DOWN TO A SAFE LEVEL

Cutting down is a good first step, but there is a big difference in the benefits to you between smoking a little and not smoking at all. Besides, smokers who cut back often inhale more often and more deeply-thus canceling the benefits of cutting back. After you have cut back to about seven cigarettes a day, pick a quitting date within 1-2 weeks.

I SMOKE ONLY SAFE, LOW TAR, LOW- NICOTINE CIGARETTES.

These cigarettes still contain harmful substances, and many smokers who use them inhale more often and more deeply to maintain their nicotine intake. Also, carbon monoxide intake often increases with a switch to low-tar cigarettes.

IT'S TOO HARD TO QUIT. I DON'T HAVE THE WILLPOWER

Quitting and staying away from cigarettes is hard, but it's not impossible. More than 3 million Americans quit every year. It's important for you to remember that many people have had to try more than once, and try more than one method, before they become ex-smokers, but they have done it and so can you.

SOMETIMES I HAVE AN IRRESISTIBLE URGE TO HAVE A CIGARETTE

This is a common feeling, especially within the first 1-3 weeks. The longer you are off cigarettes, the more your urges will come at times when you smoked before, such as when you're drinking coffee or alcohol or you are at a cocktail where other people are smoking. If you can't avoid these high-risk situations, you can try to visualize how you will handle the desire for a cigarette if these occasions happen.

I BLEW IT. I SMOKED CIGARETTE

Smoking one or even a few cigarettes doesn't mean you have "blown it". It does mean that you have to strengthen your will to quit and try again. Don't forget that you got through several days-perhaps even weeks or months-without a cigarette. This shows that you don't need cigarettes and that you can be a successful quitter.

"Devastation" is an extract from a plant that is indigenous to South America and belongs to the same genus as deadly nightshade. It is one of the most addictive drugs known to mankind. Just one dose will get you hooked.

Over 60 percent of the adult natives of the tribes who use this drug become hooked. It is a powerful poison and is used commercially as an insecticide. It gradually breaks down the immune system, causes breathlessness and lethargy and kills one in three of it's victims. It tastes bad and systematically destroys the nervous system, causing a feeling of insecurity and lack of confidence. It costs the addict an average £50,000/$85,000 over a lifetime.

What does it do for them? Absolutely nothing. What high or buzz do they get from it? Absolutely none. - Do you recognise Devastation???