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Natural Ways to Cope with Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms

So you’ve quit smoking, and now those nicotine withdrawal symptoms are turning their ugly heads. For some people, nicotine replacement therapy is a suitable option. This would include e-cigarettes, dermal patches, nicotine gums, or any other form of tobocco-less nicotine supplement. The benefit of transitioning to these products is that you can taper down the nicotine withdrawal symptoms over time. Nicotine replacement therapy may be right for you, but it is not always the best option for everyone. For those of you that would prefer to quit smoking naturally, without introducing any new addictive substances, we’ve prepared a list of some natural remedies for nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

  • Cravings
  • Increased appetite
  • Depression
  • Restlessness
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Irritability
  • Disturbed sleeping patterns
  • Light-headedness
  • Wet, mucosal cough
  • Weight gain
  • Constipation
  • Dry mouth

Quitting all tobacco cold-turkey tends to produce these nicotine withdrawal symptoms pretty quickly, which then last for weeks or months. If you’re going to quit successfully this time around, you better start prepared. These tips will help you beat those cravings, and stop you from picking up another smoke. Naturally.

1. Eat a small portion of fruit or vegetables whenever cravings hit

Take it up a notch by stepping outside for some fresh air while you snack. Personally, this is the step that made quitting possible for me. Whenever my emotions or anxieties started rising and the cravings were coming on strong, I would step away like I would for a smoke, and have a mandarin orange instead. By using this technique, I got my 5 minute vacation that cigarettes used to provide, while nourishing my body instead of poisoning it. Please give this tip a try! You can use carrots, grapes, apples, nuts, whatever healthy little snack you love. By the time you’ve had your snack, and gone back to whatever it was you were doing before, the craving will have passed.

2. Avoid drinking alcohol

When you’re out having a drink or two, especially with friends, it’s very easy to just pick up a smoke. Cravings go up the more you drink. Just don’t even put yourself in that situation. Once the withdrawal symptoms subside in a month or two, drinking won’t be so triggering. For now, stay away from the bottle.

3. Develop a bed-time ritual

Bath bombs, candles, soft music, essential oils. These lovely things can bring your bedtime habits to a higher level of relaxation. Get creative, think about what works specificically for you when planning your ritual.

A well defined bed-time ritual will help you improve your sleep hygiene. This is a term psychologists use to describe how well you are conditioning your body to sleep restfully through the night. Good sleep hygiene means winding down, and using “sleepy triggers” to tell your unconscious brain to start producing melatonin and get ready for bed. My bed-time ritual consists of a quick tidy-up in my bedroom after showering, followed by a rub of lavender oil on my hands and through my hair, then some journaling in bed before lights out. You will see results after a week or two of repeating your nightly ritual; the more consistent you are, the better your sleeps will be.

4. Get moving

Exercising a little bit extra during the first month or two after quitting tobacco will help with multiple withdrawal symptoms. Depression, cravings, irritability, restlessness, and your sleep quality will all improve with some additional exercise.

Some people leave for a short walk around the neighborhood whenever a craving hits. This technique works to both up your daily exercise and change those smoking behavior patterns too. Your habit of leaving for a smoke will gradually fade into the new habit of taking a little walk.

Upping the exercise during this phase will help you to avoid weight gain related to smoking cessation. Doctors agree that this type of weight gain is due to metabolic changes, reduction in physical activity, and increases in unhealthy snacking. Expect these changes, and plan ahead for them to avoid a surprise 10 new pounds on the scale.

5. Start carrying a reusable water bottle

Drinking more water is healthy and will distract your hands and mouth when you want a cigarette. You might find that drinking more water helps alleviate that constipation too. A lot of people like to add fruits or cucumber slices to their water bottles to add a little interesting flavor. Buy some fruit, get your reusable water bottle out, and start drinking more water!

6. Pick up a new activity

When you’ve just decided to put down cigarettes for good, smoking suddenly takes up all of your waking thoughts. 24/7 you find yourself thinking about how bad you want a smoke but also how you’re not allowed to. Fixation is not good! This is why I recommend picking up a new hobby or interest once you decide to quit smoking. Making the effort to focus on this new activity will keep you from obsessing over cigarettes. At the end of this phase, you might end up with a brag-worthy new skill, or a beautiful hand-made work to display. What have you always wanted to do, but never got around to starting? Now might just be the perfect time to start.

Quitting smoking is hard, I tried it about 50 thousand times before I managed to stop for good. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms make the process so much harder, I know. If you’re still struggling after trying these tips, please reach out to us at intervention.com. We have expertise in smoking cessation that will help you reach your goals.

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Differences between Bulimia and Anorexia

The standard of beauty in the U.S. is pretty hard to meet these days. Men, women, kids… all of us diet out of fear of getting fat. There is so much pressure to be thin that we’re seeing millions of people, of all kinds, developing eating disorders in the U.S. alone.

Two of the main eating disorders you need to know about are Bulimia and Anorexia. These two conditions are similiar and sometimes occur together, but there are key differences between them. We’ll go into detail here about both conditions, so you will be more able to distinguish the two. Hopefully this knowledge will help you or a loved one to obtain the treatment needed to break free from bulimia or anorexia.

First things first, let’s discuss a third condition called Body Dysmorphic Disorder. I’m bringing this up first because it is often the underlying anxiety disorder that leads to the disordered eating we see in bulimia and anorexia.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

This condition is categorized by psychologists as an anxiety disorder. When someone has body dysmporphic disorder, BDD, it means they have become preoccupied, and distressed by a real or imagined bodily flaw. Those affected believe that the flaw makes them hideous and worthless, damaging self-esteem. It’s normal to have some insecurities or concerns about flaws, but with BDD, body-image insecurities get in the way of your life. Those suffering BDD might spend hours in front of the mirror, worrying, insulting oneself, crying, and wishing they were different. The flaw could be anything, but often times the focus of BDD is body fat.

Not everyone with BDD develops an eating disorder. However, most people suffering from anorexia and bulimia experience BDD centered around their body fat.

Common Risk Factors for BDD and Disordered Eating

  • Researchers have found the genetics accounts for 30%-80% of the risk for developing anorexia or bulimia. Scientists are working now to identify specific genes that may cause these eating disorders.
  • Social pressure to be thing contributes to the prevalance of anorexia and bulimia. Since the 1950s, when televised images of skinny beautiful people popped up everywhere, rates of disordered eating have been skyrocketing. Social scientists have tracked the relationship between western media and eating disorders all over the world for years now. Today, there are campaigns to establish more realistic standards of beauty in the media. However, in general, the media still puts immense pressure on us to be thin and perfect.
  • Being a girl: women and girls are ten times more likely to develop anorexia or bulimia than males. Many experts believe this is because women are under an even greater pressure to be thin. A growing number of boys and men have been developing eating disorders. In males, eating disorders are more often accompanied with over-exercising because they tend to desire a muscular look rather than a skinny look.
  • Having a mood disorder: Mood disorders and eating disorders are related. Many people suffering from anorexia or bulimia have some form of depression or anxiety as well. Experts speculate that losing weight with anorexic and bulimic behaviors restores a sense of control and self-esteem. In other words, losing weight is used to soothe underlying mood disorders in some anorexic and bulimic patients.
  • Trauma
  • Being close to other people with disordered eating. Growing up in a home where one or both parents were always on a diet can contribute to disordered eating in children.

 

Anorexia Nervosa

Individuals experiencing anorexia are characterized by low body weight, intense fear of becoming fat, drastic food restriction, and a desire to be thin. Oftentimes those suffering from anorexia view themselves as overweight, which is disturbing to friends and family who clearly see otherwise.

The main behavior associated with anorexia is food restriction. This behavior leads to the following physical and emotional symptoms:

  • Amenorrhea, loss of the menstrual cycle
  • Lanugo, which are soft fine hairs that grow all over the body

Obsession with calorie counts and fat contents of foods | Food rituals such as hiding food or eating in secret | Using laxatives and diet pills | Cold intolerance | Excessive exercising | Low blood pressure | Rapid or irregular heartbeat | Rounded belly | Social Isolation | Bad breath | Dry, brittle skin and hair | Hair loss | Chronic Fatigue | Mood swings | Orange discoloration of feet | Muscle aches and pains | Malnourishment | Death

Bulimia Nervosa

As with anorexia, bulimia is characterized by fears of becoming fat, food restriction, and a strong desire to be thin. However, what makes bulimia unique is binging and purging behavior. Additionally, bulimia has a stronger link with depression than anorexia.Those with bulimia may not be so shockingly thin as anorexia patients, but they are still often underweight.

What makes bulimia and unique is the presence of binging and purging behaviors. Binging refers to an episode where someone eats an unnecessarily large amount of food in less than 2 hours. Binging usually leads to feelings of shame and guilt which then lead to a desire to “reverse the damage” by purging. The purging behavior we see most frequently is forcing oneself to throw up with hands, objects, or certain medicines.

Purging behaviors damage the body over time. In addition to the risks from calorie restriction and malnourishment that we see in anorexia, we also see additional symptoms that result from purging. Here are the unique physical and emotional symptoms of bulimia:

  • Chronic gastric reflux
  • Dehydration and electrolyte imbalances
  • Irregular heart rhythm
  • Inflammation of the esophagus
  • Rupture, and bleeding of the esophagus wall
  • Bleeding from the stomach/esophagus junction
  • Mouth injuries
  • Hand scarring and infection, from repetitive contact with the teeth
  • Erosion and loss of teeth
  • Constipation
  • Ulcers
  • Low self-esteem
  • Low blood pressure
  • Disrupted menstruation
  • Dry skin
  • Hair loss
  • Chronic fatigue

Now is time to take action

If after learning more about these 2 common and life threatening eating disorders, you feel that you or someone you love is suffering from anorexia or bulimia, please reach out.

At Breathe Life Healing Centers, we have expert staff trained to help you move past the damage in your life caused by anorexia or bulimia. Founder Brad Lamm has personally experienced the struggle with eating disorders, and strives to help others break free too.

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