E-Cigarettes?

I have always held my disbelief at using alternatives to smoking.

In principles they should work; getting the nicotine fix without the tar, feeding the habit, etc. However, my main aspiration to quiting smoking has been to get rid of the addiction. NOT replace it with something else.. A lesser evil, somewhat.

Here's an interesting article about e-cigarettes and how effective they are.

Hope this helps.

Days smoke free: 53

Why is it that you smoke again?

A new study that recently came out shattered earlier belief that we had about going to smoke in order to relax. I would tell myself that all the time. I would light up a stick every time I was on edge.

We all initially thought that cigarettes can help us calm our nerves. But that's not what this recent British study says..

ABSTRACT

Aims Many smokers believe that smoking helps them to cope with stress, and that stopping smoking would deprive them of an effective stress management tool. Changes in stress levels following long-term smoking cessation are not well mapped. This longitudinal project was designed to provide more robust data on post-cessation changes in perceived stress levels by following a cohort of smokers admitted to hospital after myocardial infarction (MI) or for coronary artery bypass (CAB) surgery, as such patients typically achieve higher continuous abstinence rates than other comparable samples.

Design A total of 469 smokers hospitalized after MI or CAB surgery and wanting to stop smoking were seen in the hospital and completed 1-year follow-ups. Ratings of helpfulness of smoking in managing stress at baseline, smoking status (validated by salivary cotinine concentration) and ratings of perceived stress at baseline and at 1-year follow-up were collected.

Findings Of the patients, 41% (n = 194) maintained abstinence for 1 year. Future abstainers and future smokers did not differ in baseline stress levels or in their perception of coping properties of smoking. However, abstainers recorded a significantly larger decrease in perceived stress than continuing smokers, and the result held when possible confounding factors were controlled for (P <>

Conclusions In highly dependent smokers who report that smoking helps them cope with stress, smoking cessation is associated with lowering of stress. Whatever immediate effects smoking may have on perceived stress, overall it may generate or aggravate negative emotional states. The results provide reassurance to smokers worried that stopping smoking may deprive them of a valuable coping resource.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.02979.x/abstract

Interesting stuff right. Here's another version of this article;

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/06/17/10/giving-smoking-can-help-reduce-stress-levels-study

And here we go...

The IDEA

For a couple of years now, I've been struggling with kicking the terrible habit of smoking. I am, like a lot of you out there, a researcher. I research every single thing that I am doing, about to do, thinking of doing or even thinking I might do.

One of the things I quickly realized is that there are not a lot of 'legit' information out there on quiting smoking. Quick example. If you googled quit smoking right now, you'd be immediately flooded with all this advertising, and online marketing schemes to get you to buy the latest state-of-the-art nicotine patch.

So I figured that I could type in my own thoughts and my journey.. Ok. That's inappropriately poetic, I really meant struggle.

Who am I?

I'm not an extraordinary writer. But I do enjoy it. A dear friend of mine who is a very successful musician said something that I never forgot (in Filipino), "Until there is at least one person listening, I'll keep playing". So I guess that's the mantra to this writing thing I got going on.

I have been a smoker for 13 years prior to trying to quit. That's a long time. Almost half of my life.

Like everyone else in the Philippines, I started smoking at a very young age. I remember very clearly when I was in highschool, I decided for some reason to go to the store to buy a stick of Phillip Morris. I smoked it as soon as I got back to my little nook. Then again. And again. At that age, I didn't even share this with anyone else, even with my friends. I don't think I started smoking with my friends until Senior year.

Why am I doing this?

I don't really now what prompted my urge to give up smoking. There are probably so many little things that played in up to a certain extent. But to tell you honestly, there is nothing that particularly stands out.

I do remember reading this article though about third hand smoke (I promise to hunt that article down and share it here). It basically said that children are affected by the smell of the person who just went for a smoke (ie. third hand smoke) the same way many are affected by second hand smoke.

And that got me to thinking.

At first it sounded a bit far fetched. But something really logical came to mind. My dad has been a smoker ever since I can remember, until he gave it up recently. And I remembered that my siblings and I ended up smoking too. Possibly, we created a positive association to cigarette smell. I do not have any proof, but felt that I was on to something. That is until i cam across the article on third hand smoke. Oh.. And by the way.. All my siblings smoke in one way or another.

That said, as we welcomed a new member into our crazy little family, I figured I did not want to be the one to create the positive association to smoking for this baby. This positive association, I think, could lead him to a smoker's life at one point.

Where to start..

It's not as hard as it seems. Cold turkey.

Just decide one day to give it all up. Count the days and struggle for every single day.

I am not a believer of nicotine patches, gums, etc. The addiction is really towards nicotine. Taking it in a new form, be it less harmful (or not harmful at all) is just replacing an addiction with another.

For me.. Ice cream works!

And here we go..