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dramatic portrait in the dark of attractive depressed and worried man on bed suffering depression crisis and anxiety feeling lost lying sleepless in insomnia and life problem concept

<h3>We’ve all been there. Our mind goes into overdrive just when we want to nod off! Let’s find out what can help us to fall asleep. Sleeping well can make it easier for you to stay motivated, stay on track and stay quit.</h3><p>The good news is there are things you can do to help you get a good night’s sleep while you quit, and beyond.</p><p>You might have already made sure your bedroom is a peaceful sanctuary. Maybe you’ve tweaked your exercise routine to help you feel tired at the end of your day. It can be a very frustrating feeling knowing that you’ve done all you can to get the best sleep possible, but still it escapes you. Here’s some tips that might help you get to sleep.</p><p><strong>Take the focus off sleep</strong>. Meditation or listening to soothing music can help you relax and nod off. You can find a style to suit you on apps like Calm and Headspace, or free tracks and playlists on YouTube and Spotify.</p><p><br><strong>Breathe</strong>. Try a breathing exercise as a way to unwind and get you in the zone for sleep. You can find simple breathing exercise on YouTube.</p><p><br><strong>Let go of any anger or frustration</strong> you might be feeling about being awake. Repeating a simple mantra can help some people, like ‘Calm mind, relaxed body’, or scan your body to release any tension you can feel in your muscles.</p><p><br><strong>Write it down</strong>. Keep a journal of your sleep for a week – you could use your quit journal – and see if it helps you spot any changes you can make. It might be that you discover that going to bed half an hour earlier helps you fall asleep more easily, or that skipping that after dinner coffee is a good thing.<br>&nbsp;</p><p>Find what works for you and you’ll find a way to reap the benefits of sleep, glorious sleep while you quit.</p><p>Sweet dreams!</p>

What to do when you can't sleep

<h3>When you quit smoking, you’re not the only one that benefits – your family will reap the rewards too.</h3><p>Smoking doesn’t just affect you. It also has a big impact on the lives of your family members, especially if you’ve got children. You might not think your smoking bothers them, but it might not be something they want to speak up about as it can be embarrassing or anxiety-inducing to call out someone on undesirable behaviours.</p><p>Here are a few ways your family will benefit when you give up smoking.</p><h3>Their health</h3><p>Even if you try not to smoke around them, your family will be affected by second and third hand smoke. Second hand smoke is when other people breathe in smoke from your cigarette, and it can be just as harmful to their health as smoking a cigarette themselves.</p><p>People who are regularly exposed to second hand smoke are more likely to develop the same diseases as smokers, including lung problems like lung cancer and COPD, and heart disease. Children are especially at risk, as their lungs and immune systems are still developing.</p><p>Researchers are also coming to realise that even third hand smoke is dangerous. This is the smoke that lingers on surfaces, in fabric and in the air even when you’re not smoking. The cancer-causing chemicals found in cigarette smoke cling to surfaces and build up over time, and they’re hard to get rid of.</p><p>Smoke gets everywhere and is incredibly damaging to your family’s health, even if they’re not the ones smoking. You can prevent this by quitting smoking.</p><h3>Your health</h3><p>If you smoke, quitting is the single best thing you can do for your health. Ditching the cigarettes means you’re a lot less likely to develop lung cancer, mouth cancer, COPD and heart disease, and you’re also less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke.</p><p>Your family loves you and wants you to be well. That may sound obvious, but it’s something we can take for granted. Your kids need you to stick around, and no one wants to see a loved one go through cancer or suffer a heart attack.</p><p>It sounds like a stereotype but wanting to be alive to see your children grow up is a common reason people want to quit smoking.</p><h3>Financial reasons</h3><p>Smoking is a really expensive habit, as you’ll probably know too well. The average smoker in England smokes 10 cigarettes a day. So, if you smoke 10 cigarettes a day, and a packet of 20 cigarettes costs £10, you’re spending £150 a month on cigarettes. That’s £1,825 a year!</p><p>We know it’s not as simple as suddenly having £150 a month to do whatever you like with when you quit smoking, as there’ll always be bills to pay, but you could save some of that money to do something fun with your family.</p><h3>Being a role model</h3><p>Children copy the behaviour they see around them. They learn from what we do, and our behaviour shapes their beliefs for the rest of their lives. Smoking teaches them that it’s ok to smoke and put your health, and the health of others, at risk.</p><p>On the other hand, quitting smoking teaches them that it’s ok to work on fixing bad habits once you know better, and that you value your health and theirs. It teaches them that it’s possible to do hard things, and even if they can’t quite say it in their own words, they’ll be incredibly proud of your efforts to quit.</p><h3>Other reasons</h3><p>There are plenty of other ways quitting smoking will benefit your family, often in ways you haven’t even considered. Here are some other annoyances about smoking from people who don’t smoke:</p><p>– When you smoke regularly, you become ‘nose blind’ to the smell of smoke because you get used to it, but we can almost guarantee that your family notices the smell of smoke on their clothes – and their friends probably do too.</p><p>– Waiting for someone to finish a cigarette before you can do anything and constantly having to look for somewhere to be able to smoke when you’re out and about is frustrating as a non-smoker.</p><p>– Being with someone who has to ‘nip out’ for a cigarette, leaving you with the choice of being alone or standing in the cold breathing in second hand smoke.</p><p>– The smell of smoke in a car feels suffocating in such a small space, and makes car sickness worse.</p><p><strong>You can quit for good with our help and benefit yourself and your family. You’ve got this!</strong></p>

Stopping smoking: family benefits

Elderly woman drinking fresh tap water at home

<h3>It’s a common fact that the majority of us are dehydrated. You’ve probably heard already about why being properly hydrated is important, but how does that make a difference when you’re quitting smoking?</h3><p>Let’s start by looking at what hydration is. Essentially it’s what you do to replace the water lost by your body to make sure you have enough water to function at your best.</p><h3>How hydration can help you quit smoking</h3><p>A top tip one of our smoking advisors will no doubt mention is the benefit of drinking a glass of water when you feel the need to smoke. Interestingly, this can help let the cravings pass.</p><p>Also, it’s common to not notice feelings of dehydration throughout the day. When the body becomes dehydrated it can make you feel anxious, which during a quit attempt could lead to the want to smoke. Keep that glass nearby to help stop this from happening.</p><h3>How much to drink?</h3><p>The NHS recommends you drink 6-8 glasses (1.2 litres) of fluids each day.</p><p>Water, low fat milk and sugar free drinks, including tea and coffee, all count towards your daily tally. If you’re not keen on water, you could flavour it with a low sugar squash or cordial. Just be sure to check the packaging and choose one that’s sugar content is showing as green on the traffic light system.</p><p>Try to have a glass of water for every hot drink you have as caffeinated drinks can leave you feeling dehydrated.</p><p>It’s worth mentioning that if you’re an active person, you’ll want to be drinking more than what is just recommended – consider those figures a minimum. This is because you’ll lose fluids through sweating so make sure you’ve got a water supply with you.</p><h3>Spotting the signs of dehydration</h3><p>Not drinking enough water can leave you feeling thirsty, dizzy or lightheaded. You also might feel tired or have a dry mouth, eyes or lips. When you’re already suffering with withdrawal symptoms, the last thing you need is dehydration affecting how you feel too.</p><p>Be aware that drinking alcohol, sweating a lot while exercising, having a high temperature or taking certain medications can also lead to dehydration.</p><h3>The benefits of staying hydrated</h3><p>Here’s just a few of the many benefits to drinking enough fluids:</p><p>You’ll find it easier to focus and concentrate. Drinking plenty of water will help you stay alert and can even prevent eye strain caused by dehydration.</p><p>You’ll help lubricate and cushion your joints.</p><p>You’ll help stave off muscle cramps when exercising.</p><p>You’ll find it easier to breathe as drinking enough water helps clear your lungs.</p><p>You’ll help digestion making it easier for your body to digest fibre and vitamins.</p><p>You’ll help to avoid and relieve constipation.</p><p>So if you don’t drink enough each day, make this your time to drink up and keep yourself hydrated.</p>

Water: helping you quit

Smokefree Island

At Smokefree Island, we offer free, friendly support to quit smoking or vaping for good. With our expert support and free NRT or medication, you're three times more likely to quit. To get started free, just text QUIT to 80011