ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 8, 1997 TAG: 9704080045
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: heatlth notes
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
Several of my co-workers took advantage of the July-like weather last Friday and at lunchtime went across Campbell Avenue to sit on the wall around the Roanoke Municipal Building.
"New smoking room?" I commented as I passed by. It was a smart remark because, in fact, the smokers in my building are faced with tough options come June.
They can quit or go outside and off company property to smoke.
The ones who go outside can count on plenty of company from workers of nearby businesses and city offices already smoke-free. Within sight of our building, you almost always see a worker trailing smoke on the sidewalk in front of a law office or a Roanoke police officer getting a puff in the little corner alcove that butts on Campbell.
Smoking has become extremely inconvenient, which is one of the reasons that I quit six years ago. It just got to be too much trouble.
But quitting is awful, even with the help of everything from nicotine gum to hypnosis. So here are some more options from "New Choices in Natural Healing," a 1995 book of self-help remedies from Rodale Press Inc. The book's authors recommend that you get a doctor's OK to use the remedies.
Aromatherapy
Mix three essential oils - three parts lemon, two parts geranium and one part everlast (immortelle or helichrysum) - in a small bottle that you keep with you and inhale from whenever you crave a smoke. Keep in mind that some people get skin reactions to essential oils, and that pregnant women should be especially cautious about using them. Sources for oils are the Roanoke Co-Op on Grandin Road, Nature's Outlet stores in the Roanoke Valley and Annie Kay's and Eats in Blacksburg. None has everlast, however, so here's a mail order company name: Phybiosis, Suite JR, P.O. Box 992, Bowie, Md. 20718.
Using this remedy will require so much effort that it will at least distract you from smoking.
Ayurveda
To quit or cut down on smoking, try chewing on small pieces of dried pineapple (about 1/2 teaspoon's worth) mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of honey every time you desire a cigarette. (Ayurveda is a traditional Hindu system of medicine that uses combinations of herbs, purgatives and rubbing oils in treating diseases.)
Food therapy
Load up on citrus fruits and other vitamin C rich foods. Use lots more than the recommended daily allowance, which is 60 milligrams, about the amount in an orange. Drinking orange juice will also clear your body of nicotine faster because it makes your urine more acidic. But don't overdose on O.J. if you're using the nicotine patch because the patch works by keeping some nicotine in the body.
Hydrotherapy
To help detoxify your system, warm up with a hot shower, then lie down on a bed with your entire body wrapped in a sheet wrung out in cold water. Then wrap yourself in one or more wool blankets. Your body heat will dry the sheet and you will begin to sweat. Leave wrap in place for one or two hours after you start perspiring. Obviously, you'll need a friend to help with this. The therapy is recommended for daily use until your intense craving for a cigarette disappears.
Ritual
Writing down what you do to smoke can help you quit. Think of the process you go through: Finding the cigarette, opening the pack, etc. Knowing what you do can help you break the habit.
You can reach Sandra Brown Kelly at 1-800-346-1234, x393, 981-3393 or at sandrak@roanoke.com
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