Quitting smoking more than mind over matter

I quit. Wait, just one more puff.

For some valley residents, the decision to quit smoking is a New Year's resolution that may see immediate success. For others, it's a continuous struggle.

"I hate to say how many times I've quit. It's embarrassing," Las Vegas resident Judy Davis, who has been trying to kick the habit since 1984, said. "When you're trying to quit, one is too many, a pack is never enough."

Davis is among a dozen smokers attending this month's free Monthly Fresh Start program at University Medical Center's Quick Care.

The free lecture series focuses on the "Chicken Soup" method to quitting smoking rather than the cold-turkey method.

"People who can quit cold turkey have already quit," said Dr. Elizabeth Fildes, director of the Nicotine Dependance Center at the University of Nevada School of Medicine's Department of Family and Community Medicine/UMC Quick Care.

Each cigarette contains 1.9 mg of nicotine, she said. For those who smoke a pack a day, that's 38 mg of nicotine reaching the brain. "If you quit cold turkey, it's like hitting a wall at 75 mph," she said.

Fildes says the "Chicken Soup" approach is gentler on the body.

Smokers are evaluated to find their level of addiction. Different techniques, from brand-switching to medications to reducing the number of cigarettes daily, are discussed.

"The habit is an individual pattern," Fildes said. "Smokers need to choose their own methods for quitting."

New Year's resolutions make for a larger attendance at the seminars, Fildes said. For those who aren't comfortable in a group setting, a one-on-one appointment can be scheduled. She also teaches at a free walk-in clinic at 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays at the UMC Outpatient Clinic.

Patients also need to address the mental, emotional and spiritual components that may be affected when they quit smoking, she said.

People need to make their motivation to quit more solid by listing all emotional reasons to quit, not just intellectual ones, Fildes said. To succeed, the effort to quit has to be the most important thing in their lives for the next six to eight weeks.

Forewarned is forearmed, she said. Smokers need to learn how the body is going to react when they quit so they can be prepared.

"The whole brain chemistry is altered because of nicotine," she said. "Nicotine withdrawal will manifest within 24 hours."

Withdrawal symptoms vary. The most common are irritability, craving and the inability to concentrate, she said. The inability to control the craving is one reason people go back smoking -- a problem that can be eased by gradual nicotine reduction over a period of time.

Most importantly, she said, don't give up.

"It's a long process. A lot of times there are a lot of setbacks. Relapse is more the norm, rather than the exception."

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