A reader asks:

I've heard a lot about the electronic cigarette lately...that it's a healthier choice than smoking and that it can even be used as a quit smoking aid. Can you tell me how the electronic cigarette works and whether I should use it to help me quit smoking?

More Reading:

• Smoking Alternatives

• What is a Vaper?

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I Want a Cigarette!

Early cessation is a challenge for almost every ex-smoker. While nicotine withdrawal is a short phase of recovery from nicotine addiction, it can be intense, and the days and weeks beyond it uncomfortable as well as we work to reprogram old associations we have with smoking.

Abby, a member of the About.com Smoking Cessation support forum recently lamented the fact that she no longer smoked, saying:

"I can't take one more second of this discomfort! Listen to me putting it nicely. Discomfort, HA...more like extreme agony and that's still putting it lightly. There are a million and one things I could be doing instead of smoking and I'm being a spoiled brat and just fixating on 'I want a cigarette and I can't have one. I want to be a happy smoke free person but it just seems so out of my reach right now."

In response to her cry for help, forum moderator Susie gave her advice that is worth its weight in gold:

"Abby: Let me share with you something that helped me and my husband and many others here on the forum.

"You say in your post that you want a cigarette. Well, the truth is you're going to want a cigarette when you're smoking, and you're going to want one when you choose to no longer smoke.

"When you're a smoker, you think about smoking as much or more as when you quit. You think about when to have the next one, where to have the next one, do you have enough money to buy the next one, should you smoke one more before the break is over, do you really want to go to that wedding, basketball game, movie or whatever if you can't smoke.

"When you're a smoker, your body will begin to "need" another cigarette within 10 to 20 minutes of finishing the last one, and you probably start thinking about the next one within about a minute after you finished the last one. This is never, never, never ending as long as you continue to smoke.

"So, now that you don't smoke and you're early in the quit you may be thinking about smoking as much as you did as a smoker. The VERY BIG difference is that with each cigarette you don't smoke, you are reducing the need and desire to smoke another one. And the great news is that eventually you will have no need or desire to smoke, period.

"What you're feeling and thinking is just so, so normal at this point in your quit. It's also really important for you to lose this thought that you "can't" smoke. Unless someone has you in chains, you're perfectly free to smoke; you're just choosing not to.

"The more you think about "can't smoke" instead of "choose not to smoke", the harder it is. You think that you're being denied something when you're not. It's also a good thing to try not to think about "forever" just now. That's why you see so much discussion at the forum about taking it one day at a time. It's just too darn overwhelming to think about never smoking again. This, too, will come with time and patience."

This forum exchange is a beautiful example of how good support can help us adjust an unhealthy mindset. If you're quitting tobacco, do yourself the favor of adding support to your quit program. It will help you bring the lasting freedom from nicotine addiction you're looking for into your life, as it has for so many others.

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Take The Quit Smoking Monday Pledge

Healthy Monday encourages us to think of every Monday as a day that we can begin work anew on goals that we have for ourselves. If you're still smoking, put your cigarettes down and get started on your quit program today.

• Quit Smoking Monday Messages Archive

We all have the ability to quit smoking successfully, and we all deserve a life that is free of addiction. Honor your life by choosing Monday as the day to start and reinforce your quit program.

You can quit smoking ... and we're here to help you, one simple Monday at a time.

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Nicotine addiction taught me a lot of things...none of them good.

Smoking changes us, and those changes happen gradually, over a long period of time. In fact, the personality shifts we experience due to nicotine addiction are so subtle; most of us don't realize our cigarettes are responsible for them.

Related:

• I Quit Smoking Because...

• The Pros and Cons of Smoking

It has long been thought that inhaled nicotine was rapidly absorbed through the bloodstream, affecting the brain within 7 to 10 seconds.  However, new research presented by  Dr. Jed E. Rose of Duke University in the March 8th  online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that nicotine may in fact be much slower to accumulate in the brain, taking minutes instead of seconds.

Puff, Puff, Puff, Nicotine Rises Gradually -- Associated Press

More Reading:

• A Profile of Nicotine

• Recovery from Nicotine Addiction: Myths vs. Facts

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