The Tobacco Addiction Support Center

 

Every person is unique, but when you face a challenge like tobacco addiction, you are never alone.  Countless men and women have faced the exact same diagnosis and have survived and thrived.  The following guide is designed to help you navigate your journey with the best information and resources that helped other survivors when they faced the same challenge. 

TSC has scoured the Internet and assembled links to the very best tobacco addiction resources: articles, blogs, forums and tools that can help you make better decisions and take action to overcome the range of physical, emotional and other challenges that you face.

As you’ll see, we always welcome your ideas and suggestions to make this Tobacco Addiction Guide even more helpful to survivors like you.   

JUST FOUND OUT 

Survivors Say: Best Resources for Tobacco Addiction

• National Institute of Drug Abuse: Tobacco Addiction
• American Heart Association: Nicotine Addiction
• MayoClinic: Quit Smoking - Nicotine Dependence - Definition
  

The Big Picture

Tobacco addiction – more specifically, an addiction to the nicotine contained in tobacco products – produces changes in the brain’s chemistry that can make quitting tobacco products difficult.  Tobacco addiction creates both psychological and physiological responses in the body that cause an intense craving for tobacco products. This craving is so powerful that nicotine has been shown to be more addictive than crack cocaine or heroin.

Today approximately 70 million Americans regularly use tobacco products.  While this number is remarkably high, it is 50% below what it was at the peak of tobacco product usage in 1965. 

The good news is that there are treatments to break your nicotine addiction.  For an overview of treatment options see: 

National Institute on Drug Abuse: Are There Effective Treatments for Tobacco Addiction?

Your Tobacco Addiction

If you're not sure if you qualify as "dependent" on nicotine, the Mayo Clinic has published a list of the most common signs and symptoms of tobacco addiction:

MayoClinic: Quit Smoking - Nicotine Dependence - Symptoms

Once you’ve acknowledged your tobacco addiction, it's time to take action.  Continued use of tobacco products can damage almost every organ in the body.  It also increases blood pressure and the chances of getting certain types of cancer.  Quitting all forms of tobacco as quickly as possible is vital.  For many people, however, the addiction is so intense that quitting on their own is virtually impossible. 

The American Cancer Society has a quiz to determine if you need help to stop smoking or using other forms of tobacco:

American Cancer Society: Quiz - Do You Need Help to Quit?

Your World

Since quitting tobacco is so difficult, it's important to talk with your loved ones and to ask for their understanding and support.  You may also want to reach out to support centers.  Find out how you can join or even start your own stop-smoking support group:

QuitNet: Quit Smoking All Together

If you'd like help from friends and family, you can direct them to this guide on how to support you in your goal:

About.com: Smoking Cessation - Quit Smoking Help from Family and Friends

Tobacco Addiction Myths

• It’s too late for me to quit smoking.
  
• Addicts are just weak-willed.
  
• Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) is just as bad as the nicotine I’m replacing.
  

Information and Recommended Links for Survivors

• eMedicine: Nicotine Addiction
• National Cancer Institute: Quitting Smoking - Why to Quit and How to Get Help
• American Heart Association: Smoking During Pregnancy Linked to Reduced Blod Flow to Fetus

Types of Treatment

Behavioral

Behavioral treatments include self-control and aversion techniques. Counseling may enforce these techniques.  The American Lung Association also offers an online program to support your behavioral approach:

Freedom From Smoking Online

Another behavioral approach is to start thinking of yourself as a non-smoker:

How to Quit Smoking: Think of Yourself as a Non-Smoker

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

In Nicotine Replacement Therapy small amounts of nicotine are introduced to the body in slow, measured amounts.  This reduces your nicotine cravings and makes it easier for you to eventually stop smoking altogether:

WebMD: Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Quitting Tobacco

Other Medications

There are several commercial medications to help smokers end their nicotine dependence.  Here is a comparison of several of the most common drugs used:

Drugs.com: Brief Comparison of Smoking Cessation Drugs

Possible Treatment Side Effects

During the first 72 hours of nicotine withdrawal you can expect to experience a drop in blood sugar.  This can result in headaches, dizziness and food cravings (especially for sweets).  Fortunately there are ways to combat this:

WhyQuit News: Minimizing Common Quit Smoking Side Effects

New Therapies

Researchers are constantly looking for new ways to help smokers and other tobacco users effectively break the bonds of nicotine addiction:

LA Times: Ready to Quit Smoking?

Holistic Treatments

Drink plenty of water and eat lots of wholesome foods, especially unprocessed foods.  If you also follow these simple health rules you should find it much less stressful to quit tobacco products:

Shareguide.com: Natural Smoking Cessation

Creating a Support Circle

• Set up your TSC Survivor Profile
• Join support groups of other survivors or set up your own
• Interact and provide updates on your profile or our forums

Insurance & Work Matters

Insurance Matters

The National Institutes of Health provides a list of insurance carriers and the tobacco-related coverage they offer:

National Institutes of Health: Tobacco Addiction Treatment Coverage by Insurance Plan

Work Matters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a plan to help reduce workplace and campus smoking. These initiatives may support your own efforts to kick the habit:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Implementing a Tobacco-Free Campus Initiative in Your Workplace

Health-care Providers Who Can Help

Your primary health-care provider can create a treatment plan for your addiction and direct you to other medical specialists as necessary.

The Emotional Roller Coaster

Tobacco addiction – more accurately, nicotine addiction – is both a physiological and a psychological problem.  It is estimated that 80% or more of all smokers wish they could stop smoking, yet much as they try, many find that they repeatedly slip back into the addiction.  Noted humorist Mark Twain is credited as saying “It’s easy to quit smoking.  I’ve quit a thousand times.” 

One way to get off of the emotional roller coaster of tobacco addiction is to find a good support group and to get the full support of family and friends.  The less time you spend around others who smoke, the greater your chances of quitting.

Books Survivors Recommend

• The Easy Way to Stop Smoking
• Growing Up Tobacco Free: Preventing Nicotine Addiction in Children and Youths
• How to Quit Smoking Without Gaining Weight
• This is Nicotine

What Survivors Wish They’d Known

Communicating with Your Health-care Providers

• Be honest with your doctor. Communicate your concerns, family health history and any set-backs you anticipate.
• Keep in touch with your doctor/health-care provider and let them know if you have any questions or concerns about the treatment plan they've outlined for you.
• Keep all phone numbers in your support network – which includes your doctor and pharmacy – handy at all times.
  

Dealing with Tobacco Addiction: Information and Recommended Links for Co-Survivors     

How You Can Help

• Be supportive.  Don’t smoke around your friend or family member who is trying to stop.  Find activities that will keep your friend or family member away from other smokers. 
• Try to keep your friend or family member away from situations which trigger the desire to smoke.
• Involve your friend or family member with others who have quit smoking or who never smoked.

What to Say   

• “I’m here for you.”
• "I support you.”
• “I love you.”

What Not to Say

• "Don't worry, we'll find a way to make this all go away"
• "We'll go to every treatment center and spend as much money as it will take to get you well"
• "You won't have to lift a finger"

Things You Can Do for a Survivor Every Day

Offering day-to-day support is a great gift to give a family member with tobacco addiction or a friend/neighbor that is addicted to nicotine. Don’t smoke or chew tobacco around the person giving up tobacco products.  Try to keep the person in a smoke-free environment as much as possible. Encourage the person to chew gum or use other alternatives to tobacco.  Be understanding if the person is irritable.

How to Build a Support Network

• Set up your TSC Co-Survivor Profile
• Create a support group for your friend or family member.
• Interact and provide updates

How to Help a Survivor Deal with Day-to-Day Challenges

• Tips on How to Help Someone Stay Smoke Free.
  
• Ten Ways to Keep Kids Smoke Free From the Mayo Clinic.
  

After recovery, assess and share with others how you feel emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Recovering from an addiction like this is almost like a religious experience for some people. By telling your story, you can not only put into perspective your thoughts and feelings but you can provide hope to others who are going through a similar journey themselves, whether it be an addiction to tobacco or to another drug. 

Remission / Recovery / Recurrence    

Emotionally dealing with remission of your tobacco addiction is difficult; you feel like a failure.  You feel as if you are weak-willed.  You’re not.  Smoking releases chemicals in your brain that can help you deal with negative emotions so any upheaval in your life can trigger the need to smoke again.  But there are things you can do to fight the urges:

HealthGoods: How to Quit Smoking and Quit for Keeps

According to the American Cancer Society, smells may be the best cure for those urges to start smoking again:

American Cancer Society: Smells May Help Reduce the Urge to Smoke

Give Back

What helped you while you were dealing with your addiction, when you were undergoing treatment, and when you finally realized you had beaten it? Take a look back at your journey and share with others what helped you and what you wished you would have known/done during your tobacco addiction experience. You can create a profile, reach out to other survivors, join support circles or share your story by following the links at TheSurvivorsClub.org.

Check out some of the best charities for supporting tobacco addiction research or offering support to survivors:

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America

What can you do if you're concerned that your tobacco use may have led to cancer or another potentially fatal disease? If tobacco addiction goes unchecked, the chances of such serious health effects grow. If you are concerned that you may have lung cancer, see your doctor immediately:

WebMD: When to Call the Doctor

In the worst-case scenario, if you find out that the cancer has progressed to the terminal stage and you have little time left, it's important to understand how to deal with death:

Yale Medical Group: Coping with Terminal Cancer
   
For advice on overcoming challenges related to death from both a survivor and a co-survivor perspective, whether they be emotional, physical, spiritual or legal, read:

VCU Massey Cancer Center: Coping with Terminal Cancer