Nicotine addiction is a powerful habit that alters the brain’s chemical processes. Alternative smoking-cessation methods are designed to recondition the brain chemistry and redirect corresponding behaviours associated with the experience of nicotine.

Many alternative smoking-cessation methods focus on changing the behaviours associated with smoking. By changing these behaviours, the brain’s association with the experience will change accordingly. Other common behavioural approaches involve reducing the amount of nicotine in the system at a gradual rate, in an attempt to wean smokers from nicotine dependence.

Scheduled smoking is one of many alternative technique used to stop smoking. This process involves setting up a “pre-plan” that lists specific times of the day for smoking a cigarette. With each successive day or week nicotine intake is reduced, which allows the body to adapt to a reduced nicotine level. Techniques that attempt to replace the pleasant experience associated with smoking with unpleasant sensations are known as aversive-therapy methods. Another form of aversive technique involves administering electro-shocks as participants go through the motions of smoking a cigarette, from the moment they pick up the pack until the last puff is taken. Silver acetate, a substance that makes nicotine taste bad, is also used as an aversive form of therapy.

Other, methods are hypnosis therapy and acupuncture. Hypnosis involves using the power of suggestion within a relaxed state of consciousness. This method has shown some success, though results are varied. The acupuncture technique makes use of small needles placed on specific areas of the body. This is done to stimulate the release of certain brain chemicals, and reduce cravings and symptoms of withdrawal.

While administering the smoking alternatives, people tend to experience withdrawal symptoms like irritability, lack of concentration, restlessness and so on .Nicotine-replacement therapies deal specifically with the withdrawal experiences, while reducing nicotine intake and quenching the body’s cravings. There are also herbal remedies available in the market, however individuals who want to try this herb should seek the approval of a health professional because it might produce an allergic reaction and interact with other drugs.

Regular exercise may improve blood flow and help individuals deal with tensions and stress in life without cigarettes. Studies show that moderate exercise like 30 minutes of jogging and brisk walking may bring many health benefits. In addition to exercise, eating regular meals and cutting down fat in one’s diet may aid in the management of blood sugar changes associated in quitting smoking. A good body massage may also aid in promoting better moods and less anxiety which may lead to fewer and less nicotine cravings

Regardless of the method a person opts for, a certain amount of determination is needed to make any attempt to stop smoking worthwhile. The amount of will power and adhering to the decision of stopping to smoke is absolutely necessary to make any method successful. Thus with the right tools and attitude, quitting smoking can be easier than thought.

Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive like heroin or cocaine. By constant exposure to this chemical through smoking cigarette, a person becomes physically and emotionally addicted to nicotine. Studies have shown that smokers must deal with both the physical and psychological dependence to quit and stay quit.

To throw more light on nicotine, when the smoke is inhaled, the nicotine is carried deep into the lungs. There it is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and carried throughout the body. Nicotine affects many parts of the body, including the heart and blood vessels, hormones, metabolism, and the brain. Nicotine can be found in breast milk and even in mucus from the cervix of a female smoker. During pregnancy, nicotine freely crosses the placenta and has been found in amniotic fluid and the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants.

Several different factors can affect how long it takes the body to remove nicotine and its by-products. In most cases, regular smokers will still have nicotine or its by-products, such as cotinine, in their bodies for about 3 to 4 days after stopping.

Nicotine produces pleasant feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more. It also acts as a kind of depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. As the nervous system adapts to nicotine, smokers tend to increase the number of cigarettes they smoke. This, in turn, increases the amount of nicotine in the smoker’s blood. After a while, the smoker develops a tolerance to the drug. Tolerance means that it takes more nicotine to get the same effect that the smoker used to get from smaller amounts. This leads to an increase in smoking over time. The smoker reaches a certain nicotine level and then keeps smoking to maintain this level of nicotine. In fact, nicotine inhaled in cigarette smoke reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously.

When smokers try to cut back or quit, the lack of nicotine leads to withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal is both physical and mental. Physically, the body reacts to the absence of nicotine. Mentally, the smoker is faced with giving up a habit, which calls for a major change in behaviour. The physical and mental both must be addressed for the quitting process to work.

Those who have smoked regularly for a few weeks or longer, and suddenly stop using tobacco or greatly reduce the amount smoked, will have withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms usually start within a few hours of the last cigarette and peak about 2 to 3 days later when most of the nicotine and its by-products are out of the body. Withdrawal symptoms like dizziness, depression, frustration, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, restlessness etc can last for a few days to up to several weeks.

These symptoms can lead the smoker to start smoking cigarettes again to boost blood levels of nicotine back to a level where there are no symptoms. Smoking also makes the body get rid of certain drugs faster than usual. When a person quits smoking, it changes the way the body handles some medicines.