Giving up Smoking

A popular New Year's resolution - this one! And for many people it is difficult to achieve. I have spoken to some smokers who said it was easy to give up once they had made a conscious decision and through a single act of will they stopped and never went back smoking. I have also spoken to people who have done this and who resumed smoking again even years later. Many ex-smokers cannnot bear the smell of smoke and are less tolerant to smoking than people who have never themselves smoked before. But many people have a serious nicotine addiction which is a physical craving. In my experience, smokers have several things in common.

• A certain lack of confidence
• Stress, but most especially a build up of suppressed anger
• A potentially addictive personality. Smoking seems to allay the dangers of choosing other substances.

I usually recommend Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Most people find it good but not all.

What can you use to help yourself, if you have decided to give up?

To support the body you will need to do several things.

1.  Feed the nervous system so that one is more resilient to stress and less adrenaline is needed :

Take a Vitamin B Complex from 50mg upwards +.

Take Calcium. Although mostly know for use in connection with strengthening the bones it also has a large role to play in aiding healthy nerves.

2.  Support the Adrenal Glands:

Take a Vitamin B5 or Calcium Pantothenate/Pantothenic Acid.

Take Licorice Root. This will help your adrenals but also deals with cravings for sweet things.

Take Ginseng - this will give you an energy boost as well as soothe the adrenals.

3.  Detox the lungs and clear the airways of a build up of mucus and congestion:

Take Bioforce Ivy-Thyme. this will help you to cough up all mucus and clear the lungs. Another good one is a herbal tincture of Lobelia (many homeopaths use this as a  lung support)

Another good product to ease breathing and aid expectoration is Herbetom-Pulm.

4.  Alleviate cravings for nicotine: Now, this is where homeopathy can really help you. Take Caladium Seguinum 6c 2-3xdaily in tablet or pill form. Available from any homeopathic pharmacy or your own homeopath. This reduces if not kills the cravings.

Another homeopathic remedy that is useful is Tabacum 6c. A homeopathic remedy made from tobacco. This deals with all physical symptoms arising from tobacco poisoning, which many smokers  are experiencing in their bodies.

5.  Alleviate irritability and other emotions that resurge once the smoking which suppressed those feelings is stopped. A homeopathic remedy that will give you tremendous relief from irrabitility a short fuse , becoming angry and over sensitive is Nux Vomica 30c. Take as often as you need. But try to sense when you don't need it as no homeopathic remedy should be taken routinely. This remedy has a special affinity with the liver and the nervous system.

Why not take all the three above-mentioned homeopathic remedies of Nux Vomica, Tabacum and Caladium Seg in combination, in either a 6c or 30c potency. Use the 30c potency if you are a serious long-term smoking addict. Take 2-3 daily for 2-3 weeks.

Another solution is to see a homeopath for constitutional treatment. So many times in a homeopathic consultation people have confessed with a guilty look that they are a smoker! I usually do not pay too much attention initially, as I know that when people get the right support, an energy boost and start to feel really well - they also feel an inclination to make changes. Giving up smoking is one of the first changes to make. I find that many patients have given it up, without it ever even having been discussed. For some where the smoking is connected to emotion and stress, unhappiness or addictive patterns then when we focus on addressing and providing healing in these areas , the smoking gets naturally targeted too. Incidentally, there is a Bach Flower remedy for self-reproach combined with guilt feelings called Pine. I recommend that, as these feelings are part of the package sometimes and somertimes not at all! 

Good Luck because it is really worth the endeavour. Smoking does affect you in ways as yet unrecognised. Giving it up permanently is a step towards freedom.