Smoking

[Jacki]

After my last failed quit in 2006, I've come to realize that I won't be trying to quit again anytime soon, and will probably need professional help whenever I do, if I do. Most of the below I got from the Canadian Women's Health Network, plus I've added a few other points. While written for women, most can also apply to our husbands or significant others who also smoke .

Healthy Options for Women who Smoke

What are some of the reasons women smoke?

Women smoke for many different reasons in addition to being physically addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. When you are thinking about how smoking affects your health, it can help to know why you smoke.

The following are some of the reasons that women smoke:

- to cope with stress or anger;

- to avoid eating or to control weight;

- to cope with poverty or unemployment;

- smoking can seem like an old friend;

- smoking can be a reward after completing a task;

- to take a break from caring for others, such as children or elderly parents;

- to take a break from work responsibilities;

- to cope with relationship problems;

- to cope with feelings of powerlessness;

- to cope with the loneliness or boredom of social isolation;

- to maintain social connections;

- to create distance to cope with uncomfortable or dangerous social situations, addiction to other substances such as alcohol; or

- to give themselves a sense of control.

When you figure out some of the reasons that you smoke, you may be able to replace some cigarettes with different ways of coping. For example, with a short walk on your lunch hour, instead of a cigarette, you can take a break from the responsibilities of work, clear your head and get some exercise.

How does smoking affect my health?

Here are some ways that smoking might affect your health:

- You may have more frequent coughs, colds and minor illnesses than if you did not smoke.

- Smoking decreases your chances of getting pregnant.

- Smoking and using oral contraceptives (birth control pills) greatly increases your risk of strokes, heart attacks and vascular complications.

- Smoking while pregnant increases your chances of having a miscarriage, premature labour or a low birth-weight baby.

- Smoking while you are pregnant or a new mother increases the chances of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

- Smoking decreases bone density and increases your chances of breaking a bone.

- You may reach menopause earlier than you would have if you did not smoke.

- You are more likely to suffer from strokes and heart attacks.

- You are more likely to have lung cancer and a variety other cancers than if you did not smoke. Smoking causes at least 85% of lung cancers. Smoking is also strongly linked to cervical cancer and breast cancer In addition, it is linked to cancer of the bladder, kidney, pancreas, mouth, esophagus, larynx and colon.

How can I get healthier if I'm not ready to quit smoking?

Even if you are not ready to quit smoking, you can take some steps to improve you health.

- Eat a variety of healthy foods every day. Include high fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and lentils.

- Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. Water helps to flush toxins out of your body and to keep your organs and skin hydrated. This may help with some of the dehydrating effects of cigarettes.

- Limit your use of alcohol and caffeine.

- Schedule regular visits with your health care providers and have an annual Pap test.

- Learn about how to care for your breasts throughout your lifetime.

- If you are over 35, learn what you can do to ease perimenopausal and menopausal discomforts.

- Practice relaxation exercises - deep breathing, yoga, and meditation are some of the ways that women find to slow down, take a break and relieve stress.

- Begin to exercise regularly. See your doctor for an overall health assessment prior to starting a new exercise program. Be aware that smoking does decrease the functioning of your lungs so you will need to start slowly.

- Increase your intake of Vitamin C as smoking depletes your body of this important vitamin.

- Reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke.

- Smoke lighter cigarettes, or even ultralights, but only if you are comfortable smoking them. If you find yourself inhaling deeper when smoking lighter brands, you’re defeating the purpose of smoking something lighter, and are probably better off smoking full flavor cigarettes to get the nicotine that your body craves.

- Be comfortable with the length of cigarette that you smoke. If you find yourself chaining on occasion, switching to a longer cigarette might help you smoke fewer cigarettes overall. On the other hand, if you already smoke longer cigarettes, and you’re forcing yourself to smoke the entire cigarette, this may be an indicator that something shorter may be better for you – but watch your consumption, to make sure that it doesn’t increase.

- If you enjoy them, or can comfortably switch to them, smoke only all-natural cigarettes. They do not have the additives and preservatives, or the fire-safe chemicals that are found in most cigarette brands; in many cases, these chemicals are something else that smokers are addicted to, in addiction to nicotine. Smokers switching to all-naturals will go through withdrawal for about a week, as if they were quitting smoking, but not nearly as intense, since the body is craving chemicals found in the old brand.

- If you smoke menthol cigarettes, try to switch to regular cigarettes. Women that smoke menthols tend to inhale more deeply than women who smoke regulars. This is because menthol stimulates the cold receptors in the throat, producing a cooling sensation, making the smoke less irritating when being inhaled. As a result, women who smoke menthols have a greater exposure to nicotine and other toxins compared to women who smoke regulars. Women who smoke menthols also tend to smoke their first cigarette of the day earlier, and their last cigarette of the day later, then women who smoke regulars.

[Davy9]

Jacki...

Quitting a nicotine addiction is very, very hard. Formulating excuses for not quitting one is certainly easier and certainly not intelligent. Even though you advance ideas on how to minimize this vice to come here where so many are suffering from tobacco diseases and advocate anything but cessation is inappropriate IMHO.

Any person who uses any tobacco product should be mad as hell that a legal industry has been allowed to ensnare them in such a horrific addiction. They are stinky, ugly, costly, disfiguring and lethal habits. Be angry that you are stuck. Get angry enough to tell these companies to shove their products. Get smart and be strong enough to make that 100% commitment to not be tethered to something that controls your life MORE than you control it.

I am a man. Do you have any idea how repugnant it is to see a woman smoke? To watch them unpack a paper wrapped stick of tobacco, put in their mouth and light it? To suck on it, breath deep and belch out a bluish smokey haze? They stink. Their clothes stink. Their hands stink. Their breath, their homes, their cars and even their pets stink. And why do they do this? For every reason you enumerate there are a hundred better ones to NOT do it.

Go to a swimming pool with a trusted friend. Ask them to hold you underwater until you struggle to get free.... and then count slowly to 10 and let you free. Experience the panic of suffocation. Then visit any hospital, on any day, in any city, at any time and ask if you can visit a patient with end stage COPD. Every hospital, in every city, at all times will have several to choose from. Look them in their eyes and see if you do not recognize that same terror of suffocation you felt in that swimming pool. Only they will not recuperate. They will die.

Please do not come here and excuse tobacco. Explore these forums and find the reasons to motivate you to quit tobacco. Become a strident advocate for others to end tobacco. Become an activist to get the gov't to contain tobacco.

If I seem a tad too over zealous I have good reason. I have personally known thousands of wonderful people who got duped into tobacco and found excuses not to quit, and I watched them die in so many horrible ways. One and all were wonderful people, just like you. I do not want you to suffer that way. Nobody should suffer that way.

[barley12]

Hey that is really a useful one for all the women who smoke. Thanks for sharing it as I was unaware about it.