Resources for Quitting Tobacco

Smoking cigarettes is the #1 cause of preventable death. When you quit smoking, your body can start the healing process:

• 20 minutes after quitting: your blood pressure and heart rate recover from the cigarette-induced spike.
• 12 hours of smoke-free living: the carbon monoxide levels in your blood return to normal.
• 1 week to 9 months of smoke-free living: clear and deeper breathing gradually returns.
• 2 weeks to 3 months of smoke-free living: your circulation and lung function begin to improve
• 1 year after quitting, a person's risk of coronary heart disease is reduced by 50 percent.
• 5 years after quitting: a person's risk of stroke is similar to that of a nonsmoker.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stopping smoking results in the following health benefits:

• Lowered risk for lung cancer and many other types of cancer.
• Reduced risk for heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease (narrowing of the blood vessels outside your heart).
• Reduced heart disease risk within 1 to 2 years of quitting.
• Reduced respiratory symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
• Reduced risk of developing some lung diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as COPD, one of the leading causes of death in the United States).
• Reduced risk for infertility in women of childbearing age. Women who stop smoking during pregnancy also reduce their risk of having a low birth weight baby.

Most health insurance providers offer free telephone counseling. Call the number on the back of your insurance card.

State & National Resources

Michigan Tobacco Quitline offers free information and tobacco treatment referral 24 hours/day at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569). Free counseling and Nicotine Replacement Therapy is available to those who qualify. Find out more at MI Tobacco Quitlink.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Tobacco Section has information on secondhand smoke, quitting and more.

Local Resources

St. John Providence Freedom From Smoking Program: Register: 248-652-5269 or on the Crittenton website. Educational sessions help smokers gain control smoking. Participants receive help both individually and a group.

Freshstart Smoking Cessation - Detroit Location: Freshstart® is the American Cancer Society's group-based tobacco cessation counseling program. The program helps patients stop smoking by providing information, coping skills with cravings and group support. Register at classes@karmanos.org, call 313-576-9288 or on the Karmanos website.

CVS: 1-on-1 tobacco counseling that includes nicotine-dependence assessment, an individualized smoking cessation plan and education. Nicotine-replacement recommendations or prescriptions maybe available.& For more information, visit the CVS website.

Quit for You. Quit for Two.

Quitting smoking before or during pregnancy is one of the most important steps you can take to increase your baby's health over a lifetime. It's never too late to quit.

Plan Ahead for a Healthy Pregnancy

Women who smoke may have a harder time getting pregnant. If you do become pregnant, smoking increases your chance of many serious pregnancy complications, including:

• Miscarriage (loss of the pregnancy)
• Ectopic pregnancy (a dangerous condition when the embryo implants outside the uterus)

Benefits for Baby

• Less risk of being born too early
• More chance of not being born with serious birth defects, such as a cleft lip or cleft palate
• More likely to be born at a healthy weight (more than 5½ pounds) and grow as expected
• More likely to have normal brain development during two important times—before birth and through early childhood

Free Support

Call the Michigan Tobacco Quitline 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) 24/7 for information and tips on quitting smoking. All pregnant women qualify regardless of insurance status. This program includes a personal quit coach, gift card incentives, and texting options.

Learn more about the program.

The Michigan Tobacco Quitline offers veterans the following services:

• Telephone Counseling-5 sessions and unlimited incoming calls for up to 1 year.
• Free Nicotine Replacement Therapy – 8-week supply of nicotine patch, gum, or lozenge
• Referral to local quit smoking programs
• Self-help materials
• Text Messaging Support
• Visit Michigan Tobacco Quitline or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669).

Smoking affects everyone's health. But if you have other health issues, smoking can affect you even more. This is especially true if you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), HIV, depression, or substance use disorders (SUD).

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Dealing with PTSD can be hard. But did you know that smoking makes PTSD symptoms worse? It also makes recovery harder. Think about the goals of your PTSD treatment. How does smoking keep you from reaching those goals? You can use the same skills to manage your PTSD symptoms and deal with nicotine cravings.

People living with depression or anxiety are two times more likely to smoke cigarettes than their peers. Some people think that smoking relieves stress, but that’s not true.

Any short-term relief you feel from smoking is replaced by the stress of going through nicotine withdrawal. Research shows that over time, quitting smoking lowers stress levels and decreases depression symptoms.

If you smoke while taking medication to treat depression or anxiety, it’s important to know that some medications won’t work as well. And smoking may make you more likely to have thoughts about suicide.

Quitting won’t interfere with your mental health treatment. In fact, quitting can boost the benefits you get from treatment. And quitting can improve your mood and well-being.

American Cancer Society
248-663-3454
1-800-227-2345

American Heart Association
1-800-242-8721

American Lung Association
1-800-548-8252

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Smoking & Tobacco Use

National Cancer Institute
1-877-448-7848