Snoring is usually harmless. Everyone does it occasionally because of blocked airways from colds or smoking. Our post ‘Is Smoking and Snoring Connected?’ explains that 7,000 and more chemicals in tobacco smoke inflame your airways, causing them to lose elasticity and collapse. Thus, smokers have a higher chance of being snorers. Long-term and louder snoring is linked to sleep apnea, a condition where breathing starts and stops repeatedly. Leaving it untreated can lead to more severe conditions, including heart disease and glaucoma.
If you’d like to avoid this, here’s how you can quit smoking and effectively stop snoring before more serious issues arise.
What Will I Learn?
Avoid smoking triggers
Your smoking habit might have started from curiosity, influence, or as a coping mechanism. Whatever it is, there are triggers behind it. If you started smoking because of your social circle or frequent visits to a specific place (like a bar), avoid them to kickstart your quitting journey.
If you don’t know your triggers, use a journal to track every time you smoke. Note the date, time, and place it occurred so you can find a pattern later on. This allows you to identify what entices you to smoke so you can effectively avoid them in the future.
Replace smoking with alternative activities
As mentioned above, smoking may be a coping mechanism for stress or anxiety. Avoiding these feelings can be more challenging because they may be caused by the troubles you experience at work or at home. Instead of keeping yourself away from these major aspects of your life, find an activity to replace smoking.
For example, you can deal with stress by walking, taking deep breaths, or sketching your frustrations away. Should you have something in your mouth to replicate the feeling of a cigarette, sucking on hard candy or chewing gum can help. The Extra Gum from Wrigley is a popular gum that you can try. The brand even encourages people to chew their gum when stuck in awkward social situations to ease the tension.
Undergo nicotine replacement therapy
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) involves consuming nicotine in monitored doses using alternative nicotine products like pouches and patches. By doing so, it helps prevent withdrawal symptoms as you quit. Nicotine pouches and patches are two convenient and discreet NRT products you can try.
Nicotine pouches are kept between your lip and gum for a nicotine release. If you buy Velo nicotine pouches online at Prilla they come in 2mg and 4mg, so you can lower your intake as you reduce your nicotine dependency. Meanwhile, nicotine patches stick to your skin for nicotine absorption. The Habitrol nicotine patches from Novartis come in 7mg to 21mg doses and can be worn for a full day. However, it’s vital to use these products as recommended by health professionals. The National Library of Medicine reveals that these may cause sleep disturbances and vivid dreams because nicotine can affect dopamine and serotonin levels, so try not to use them too close to your bedtime.
Build a support system
An overlooked quitting method is asking for support from family and friends. When you get cravings, they can remind you that you’re quitting for your health. They can also accompany you to alternative activities, like exercising or walking, instead of smoking. You may also seek support from online quitting groups. A Journal of Medical Internet Research study found that an online support system has positive outcomes for quitters because they encourage each other to stay accountable and facilitate the sharing of effective quitting tips. There are smoke-quitting groups on Facebook, so consider joining any local ones you come across.
Quitting smoking is necessary to stop snoring. Use our tips to quit today and improve your sleep health.
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