---------------------------------------------------------------------------- F r e q u e n t l y A s k e d Q u e s t i o n s (F A Q) f o r A L T . S U P P O R T . S T O P - S M O K I N G (A.S.S-S) Last Updated: April 5, 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The sublimity of WISDOM is to do those things living, which are desired when dying" - unknown "Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the one thing that assures the successful outcome of any venture" - William James "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us" - Ralph W. Emerson "Why so sad and woebegone? Will the world not heed you? Courage! Even you have won friends you may rely upon when they really need you" - Piet Hein ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and their answers about smoking as well as various tips for quitting and staying smoke-free. The FAQ is posted to the Alt.Support.Stop-Smoking (A.S.S-S) newsgroup once per week (typically Sunday) but is also available via e-mail on request. Most of the material in this FAQ has been condensed from posts which originally appeared on the A.S.S-S newsgroup and is based PRIMARILY on information from the PERSONAL EXPERIENCES of the individuals in this newsgroup. Some excerpts and extractions from various related books and publications may also be randomly included in this FAQ. Forward questions or comment via e-mail to: Barry R. Pekilis bpekilis@swen.uwaterloo.ca ========================== Keeper of the FAQ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. What is the best method for quitting ? The method(s) an individual uses to help them quit smoking is a matter best left up to that individual and their doctor. Many people prefer one method of quitting over another, and most have had to try several different ways or techniques before finding a suitable method. THREE of the more common methods used by those within this group are NICOTINE-based PATCHES, NICOTINE-based GUM, and plain and simple COLD TURKEY. The PATCH provides a constant release of NICOTINE throughout its life. The GUM allows you have more control over the dosage. As things get tough, you can pop a piece in to get almost instant relief. Some people have even used both the PATCH and the GUM. COLD TURKEY is generally not recommended unless one is FULLY PREPARED as it can be _extremely_ difficult, taking a great deal of willpower. However, COLD TURKEY can also be a very _quick_ and _effective_ method as well. The best thing one can do is to consult with their family doctor and see what they recommends. However, experience in this group has shown time and again that none of the methods are effective unless YOU WANT TO QUIT SMOKING! Your desire is the MOST important ingredient in the process. 7. How can I prepare for quitting ? The best way to prepare to quit smoking is to set up a PLAN. This could include any one of the following suggestions, although you may wish to alter some to suit your own personal needs. Suggestions from A.S.S-S group members include: - Set a QUIT DATE!!! You should try to set the date around a stress-free time, although there is NO perfect time as there will always be bad times such as exams, tax time, holidays, vacations, parties, etc.; - If you plan on using the PATCH or GUM and you require a prescription to get it, or if you wish to try hypnosis, for example, set up a doctors appointment for yourself; - Gather all the information you can on quitting including tips, motivational material, self-help books, etc.; - Join a support group such as this group or Smokers Anonymous; - Look into restarting an old hobby or perhaps starting a new one such as joining the gym or taking an aerobics class and getting into shape - the idea here is to keep busy, exercise, and breath smoke-free air! - When the quit day actually arrives, get rid of all remaining cigarettes and related items such as ashtrays, lighters, and matches - you might even try cleaning the ashtrays and using them for candy dishes :-) - Try to keep a positive frame of mind ... nobody ever died from quitting smoking ... PROMISE!! 8. Why is quitting so difficult ? Quitting smoking will be one of the hardest things that you will ever do. This is primarily because smoking is actually a three-fold problem: it is a psychological, social, and physical ADDICTION to the drug NICOTINE. Before you quit smoking, all your emotions were medicated with a cigarette: you relaxed with NICOTINE; you laughed with NICOTINE; you wept with NICOTINE; and you digested with NICOTINE - just to name a few. NICOTINE was your last drug before you slept and your first when you awoke. No wonder that, suddenly deprived of all that, your psyche goes into overdrive for a little while. Without NICOTINE, ex-smokers are suddenly forced to deal with situations on their own. This can be a difficult task but the important thing to remember is that THINGS WILL GET BETTER as an ex-smoker finds new ways of handling old situations. 9. Why am I having sleeping problems ? You are going through one of the symptoms of NICOTINE withdrawal. Some people have difficulty sleeping while others can never seem to get enough sleep. Group members have found that one of the best things a person can do if they are experiencing sleep difficulties is to reduce or eliminate your caffeine intake temporarily. Many have found an additional connection between caffeine and cravings, so in this regard you may be helping to stop two problems at once. Starting an exercise program should also help you sleep better In the case of not getting enough sleep, many have found success in trying to take a nap when and where ever possible. REMEMBER, this condition is only TEMPORARY as your body is adjusting to and healing from the absence of the NICOTINE. 10. How will the physical withdrawal last ? Physical withdrawals, as described above, are said to last anywhere from 48 hours to TWO weeks. This can vary from person to person depending on the amount that you smoked and your psychological make-up. Many in the group have found the physical effects typically last between 3 to 7 days. 11. I tried the NICORETTE GUM and was pretty happy with the results, but, the GUM for some reason really bothered by stomach ? The package directions for NICORETTE GUM suggests that you should chew a piece with small chews every minute or so. The package also states most of the NICOTINE will be released within the first thirty minutes. If you chew NICORETTE like regular GUM before the NICOTINE is released, this could and probably will, upset your stomach. Note that after the 30 minutes you can treat it as regular GUM and chew as often or as vigorously as you want. 12. Why do I dream more using the PATCH ? The general consensus of the group on this one is that: As a smoker your sleep state is or was not as deep as it is now. This is probably due to difficulties in breathing, etc. With a deeper state of sleep you are able to dream and with the addition of the PATCH overnight, you may experience increased or more vivid dreams. While the exact reason for having more vivid dreams while using is PATCH is not know, it is a very normal and very common experience within the group. 13. Can't I have just one last one ? Like with any ADDICTION, smoking is something that should be given up completely. It is not safe to smoke even a single cigarette as this could send you right back to smoking as much or EVEN MORE than you did prior to quitting. It's just not safe. Remember - _You're only a puff away from a Pack-A-Day_. 14. What can I do to encourage someone who is trying to quit? - Do NOT pester someone who is trying to quit smoking or who is in the initial stages of thinking about quitting as it is probably the worst thing someone trying to offer support can do -- also do NOT nag, insult, or attempt to shame a smoker into quitting; - Let your spouse/friend/roommate know that no matter what happens that you value them as a person (even though you may disapprove of their smoking) and that you respect them for trying to break free from their addiction; - Learn to listen non-judgmentally and attempt to understand and see the problems of quitting a powerful and seductive addiction through the smoker's eyes; - REMEMBER to praise a smoker for even the smallest effort in trying to quit or cut down -- quitting is a process and it takes time! 15. Just how am I harming my body by smoking ? EVERY CIGARETTE YOU SMOKE HARMS YOUR BODY - simple as that! A better analogy might be to suppose you lived near a chemical plant that emitted a number of toxic wastes that had seeped into the town's drinking water, so that every time you took a drink of water, it did a SMALL but definite amount of damage to your body. After you had lived there for a few years, you might notice that you did not have quite as much energy as you used to. After five or ten years, you might notice that quite a few of the townspeople seemed to be getting ill with one thing or another. In the same way, every cigarette you smoke damages your body. Smoking is a SILENT and PATIENT killer. In simple terms, the more you smoke, the greater the damage you do to your body and to those around you who breath your second hand smoke too! FOR YOUR INFORMATION: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - LUNG CANCER risk increases roughly 50 to 100 percent for each cigarette you smoke per day; - HEART DISEASE risk increases roughly 100 percent for each pack of cigarettes you smoke per day; - Switching to filter-tip cigarettes reduces the risk of LUNG CANCER roughly 20 percent, but does NOT affect the risk of HEART DISEASE; - Smokers spend 27 percent MORE time in the hospital and more than TWICE as much time in intensive care units as nonsmokers; - Each cigarette costs the smoker 5 to 20 minutes of life; - A smoker is at TWICE the risk of dying before age 65 as a non-smoker!! 16. How does death from smoking compare to other causes ? The statistics which follow were obtained from an American Cancer Society pamphlet and are for 1993. Cause of Death Number per Year (excluding smoking) (U.S.A. only) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alcohol related 105,000 Car accidents 49,000 Suicide 31,000 Aids 31,000 Murder 22,000 Fire 4,000 Cocaine 3,300 Heroin/Morphine 2,400 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ Total (of above) 247,000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ Cause of Death Number per Year (Tobacco only) (U.S.A. only) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Total Tobacco related 434,000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 17. What is METASTASIS ? METASTASIS is defined as the transfer of a disease-producing agency from the site of the disease to another part of the body. One of the mortal threats of cancer is METASTASIS. Early detection of cancer can be the difference between life and death. Most cancers can be detection at an early stage mainly because of physical symptoms such as lumps, bleeding, or some other clue. UNFORTUNATELY there are two types of cancer in which early detection is highly unlikely: LUNG CANCER and PANCREATIC CANCER. By a dint of bad luck, if an individual has one of these two cancers, they will probably not know it until the disease has invaded other vital organs and parts of their body. By this time it may be too late for any meaningful treatment or cure. The five-year survival rate for PANCREATIC CANCER is 5% and for LUNG CANCER is 10%. This compares with a survival rate of 50-80% for most other cancers. Why has this information been reproduced in this FAQ. Simply to help provide motivation for those of you who have either quit or are trying to quit. CIGARETTE SMOKING is has appeared as a major cause of both these two malignant cancers. 18. What if I quit ... will I ever get better ? Smoking cessation has major and immediate health benefits for men and women of all ages. These benefits apply to people with and without smoking-related diseases. Within 20 minutes of your last cigarette: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - blood pressure drops to normal - pulse drops to its normal rate - body temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal Within 8 hours: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal - oxygen level in your blood increases to normal Within twenty-four hours: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - chance of heart attack decreases Within forty-eight hours: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - nerve endings start regrowing - your abilities to smell and taste things are enhanced Within seventy-two hours: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - bronchial tubes relax, making breathing easier - lung capacity increases Within two weeks to three months: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - circulation improves and walking becomes easier - lung function increases by up to 30 percent Within one to nine months: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath decreases - cilia regrow in lungs, increasing ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce infection - the body's overall energy level increases Five years: ~~~~~~~~~~~ - lung cancer death rate for average ex-smoker decreases from 137 per 100,000 people to 72 per 100,000 (... almost half!) Ten years: ~~~~~~~~~~ - lung cancer death rate for average ex-smoker drops to 12 deaths per 100,000 (... almost the rate for a non-smokers and a full order of magnitude less than a smoker) - pre-cancerous cells are replaced - other cancer rates (e.g., mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease as well In addition: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ - ex-smokers tend to live longer than continuing smokers - smoking cessation decreases the risk of lung cancer, other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease - women who stop smoking before pregnancy or during the first three to four months reduce their risk of having sickly babies, as compared to women who continue to smoke 19. I've smoked for so many years, what's the point of quitting? LOTS! A new study PROVES for the first time that smokers who quit wind up with healthier lungs, NO MATTER HOW LONG THEY'VE SMOKED. The study involved more than 5,800 smokers who were victims of chronic obstructive lung disease, a combination of emphysema and bronchitis (the fourth leading cause of death IN THE U.S.A.). THE STUDY WAS THE FIRST PROOF THAT IF YOU STOP SMOKING AT ANY AGE, YOU WILL HAVE HEALTHIER LUNGS. It was the largest study ever conducted on the prevention of lung disease and showed without a doubt that quitting smoking is the most effective way of preventing lung function decline. So there you have it, conclusive proof the it worth quitting no matter how old you are or how long you have smoked for. 20. Where can I get list of archived material compiled by the A.S.S-S newsgroup and available on request FREE of charge ? The list which follows contains memorable postings which have been archived in order to provide newbies (and others) access to past postings. Each archived posting is available via e-mail request. - "Diary of an Ex-Smoker" - By Rachel Altman - "Fired Up to Quit: Seeing a Way Through that Nasty Smoking Habit" - By Rachel Altman - Hope For All - Herbal Teas - Non-Nicotine Stop-smoking Aid? - Sharon At Ten Years (January 15, 1985 - January 15, 1995) - Weekend Relapse - Cigarette Company Mentality - Coping With Second Hand Smoke - Off-the-cuff Ex-smoker's Accounting Rules - Hang Tuff, Don't Puff! (Poem) - Helping The Depression-Prone To Quit Smoking - Inside A Smoker's Body Eyes, Nose, Throat - It's All In The State Of Mind (Poem) - Junkie Thinking - Key Points For Success - Confronting Your Addiction (Five Steps) - Merchants of Death - More Cigarette Company Mentality - My Blue Print For Happiness - Patch Of Advice - Put Your Butt Out Forever - Smoking Facts - Some Smoking Health Hazards - Struggle To Win Smoke-free Living - Tips For Quitters - Top Ten Reasons to Quit Smoking - Blue Flower To Aid Stopping Smoking? - Panic Attacks - Who Me ... Stop Smoking Again? - Coping with Urges - Quitting Smoking: Common Errors - Researcher Finds Better Way To Stop Smoking 21. Is it true A.S.S-S has a WWW page? YES! A.S.S-S now has a home page on the worldwide web (www). This gives the group GLOBAL exposure and recognition. Special thanks to Nigel for building and maintaining the A.S.S-S WWW home page. If you would like to have a look, and you have access to the web, the URL is: "http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nnpb/". 22. Are there other related groups or information sources? SMOKE-FREE - E-Mail List ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SMOKE-FREE is an e-mail support list for people recovering from addiction to cigarettes. Anybody with an interest in quitting smoking or in helping others quit is encouraged to participate in the discussion. This e-mail list is running on Unix ListProcessor version 6.0a. Messages sent to: "SMOKE-FREE@MSSTATE.EDU" will be automatically distributed to all subscribers. Commands related to your subscription should be sent to: "LISTPROC@MSSTATE.EDU", not to the list itself. Here are a few useful commands: - subscribe smoke-free [Your Name] - unsubscribe smoke-free - set smoke-free mail ack (The default setting of listproc is not to send you copies of your own list postings. If you want to receive them, you must send the 'mail ack' command.) - set smoke-free mail noack (This command reverses the 'ack' command.) - set smoke-free mail postpone (The word "postpone" is misleading in this command. If you send the 'mail postpone' command, you are not postponing delivery of list mail. The mail does not accumulate. It vanishes. You can reverse the 'mail postpone' command by sending the 'mail ack' command.) - set smoke-free mail digest (New messages aren't sent to you immediately but are accumulated into digests to be sent to you periodically.) - review smoke-free (This command sends you a list of all subscribers.) - help (For more information, send this command to listproc.) If you have any questions, feel free to write to Natalie Maynor, Mississippi State University, via e-mail at: "maynor@ra.msstate.edu". HABITSMART: ~~~~~~~~~~~ This www site contains information on coping with urges and cravings, smoke reduction, and memory model of addictive behavior. A new issue of "The Archivist", a newsletter presenting recent trends in addiction research, includes information on motivation and change, and a new Harm Reduction page containing articles pertaining to harm reduction philosophy and related issues such as controlled drinking, methadone maintenance, outreach, diet and more. Comments and contributions encouraged! The URL is: "http://www.cts.com:80/~habtsmrt/". For further information, please contact: Robert Westermeyer at: "wstrmyr@cts.com". SELF-HELP PSYCHOLOGY MAGAZINE (formerly Practical Psychology Magazine): ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Self-Help Psychology Magazine is a general psychology publication dedicated to the art of living well - off the net. They carry various types of information and services, which include a full department on Addictions (including nicotine). The Executive Editor of the magazine happens to be a nationally-known researcher and trainer for professionals who work with nicotine in their medical/psychotheraputic/fitness/or industrial settings. Articles are posted monthly, and are in an easily-read, "how-to" format. Your feedback is strongly encouraged. Free resource listings and other materials are available for the Internet user. The WWW URL is: "http://www.well.com/www/selfhelp". 23. Some closing (but not final) thoughts: "SMOKING is a chronic DISEASE and QUITTING is a PROCESS. Relapse and remission are part of the process. As long as you're continuing to make progress toward the ultimate goal of being smoke-free, YOU should feel GOOD about your ACHIEVEMENT." --Psychology Today Magazine. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------