Quit Smoking Products

Quit Smoking Topics

What To Expect When Your Loved One Is Quitting Smoking

When someone you love, particularly someone you live with, is trying to quit smoking, it can be very stressful for you too. It’s important to have some sort of an understanding of what your loved one is experiencing.

Dealing with someone who is quitting smoking can be almost as difficult as being the actual person who is quitting. Once you have a better understanding of what the person is going through and the various levels of nicotine withdrawal, it might be a little bit easier to deal with.

You can help ease the transition by being there for your loved one and helping them to get through the withdrawal stages

Nicotine withdrawal begins in the first hour after the last cigarette has been smoked. Within the first hour, the individual feels anger. Within the first three hours he or she may begin to feel a headache, may feel anxious, depressed and out of sorts.

These symptoms are only the beginning. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms will continue and worsen, lasting for about 72 hours before they let up.

After that it will take several months for the nicotine toxins to work their way out of your body. It can take up to a year for the poisons to wear out of your hair, skin, breath and clothes. It also takes this long for a smoker to lose the cravings.

During nicotine withdrawal, the human body goes through all types of negative feelings. It can affect a person’s sleep, their concentration and their overall physical health. You have to remember that a smoker has been allowing toxins and bad chemicals into their body for a long time and it’s going to take a great deal of time for the body to completely rid itself of the toxins. Meanwhile, the nicotine is going to try to trick your body into thinking it needs more nicotine. That’s all part of the addiction. If you don’t satisfy the need for nicotine, your body reacts badly, causing a lot of discomfort.

You can help your loved one by reminding yourself that it’s the nicotine withdrawal talking and that it will pass. You may have to remind yourself of this as often as your loved one has to.

Try to take on some of the stress load and avoid confrontation or arguments with them in the first few weeks of them quitting. Chances are, if you do end up getting into a disagreement over something, it will likely turn out much worse than it normally would because of the symptoms the individual is going through. In fact, some people who are attempting to quit smoking won’t have anywhere to let their frustration out unless they have somewhere to direct it, even if it’s at the people they love the most.

Tags: addiction, cigarettes, habit, nicotine addiction, quit smoking, quitting, smoking, stop smoking

Click here for Top Quit Smoking Products reviewed by our staff