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Smoking
Cessation: Managing
Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms
Assessing
Your Habit
Health
Risks of Smoking
Tips
to Help You Stop Smoking
Cigars:
Coolish or Foolish?
Secondhand
Smoke: Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones
Snuffing
Our Smokeless Tobacco Use
UPMC
Patient Education Fact Sheets on Smoking
UPMC holds
smoking cessation classes throughout the year. To find one near
you, please visit www.upmc.com/Events.htm
or call 800-533-UPMC (8762).
Nicotine is
addictive, which is why it's so tough to quit smoking. Here are
some of the withdrawal symptoms that you may experience when you
quit, and some suggestions for dealing with them.
| Symptom |
Try
this |
Dry mouth
Sore throat, gums, or tongue |
Sip ice-cold
water or fruit juice, or chew gum |
| Headaches |
Take
a warm bath or shower
Try
relaxation or meditation techniques |
| Trouble
sleeping |
Take
a walk several hours before bedtime
Don't
drink coffee, tea, or soda with caffeine after 6:00 p.m.,
or noon if 6 p.m. doesn't work
Try
relaxation or meditation techniques
Unwind
by reading for awhile
Take a
warm bath |
| Irregularity |
Add
roughage to your diet, such as raw fruit, vegetables, and
whole grain cereals (Note: do this gradually to allow your
body to adjust, and increase fluid intake at the same time)
Drink
6-8 glasses of water a day
|
| Fatigue |
Take
a nap
Try not
to push yourself during this time; don't expect too much of
your body until it's had a chance to begin to heal itself
over a couple of weeks |
| Hunger
|
Drink
water or low-calorie liquids
Eat low-fat,
low-calorie snacks |
| Tenseness,
irritability |
Take
a walk
Soak in
a hot bath
Try
relaxation or meditation techniques |
| Coughing |
Sip
warm herbal tea
Suck on
cough drops or sugarless hard candy |
| Cravings
for tobacco |
Distract
yourself—go for a walk, call a friend, or start an activity
Do deep
breathing exercises
(pdf file)
Realize
that cravings are brief |
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