Addictions

[suprarx7nut]

/\ AGREED!

But, there's a big :bigthumb: to anyone who has quit. I hate the smell of them, and they do make you disgusting... I almost can't deal with certain customers because they just smell like they bathe in cigarette smoke, not to mention the gross stale cigarette breath that's enough to actually make me leave the counter...

I will admit though, I'm addicted to sex! Best thing for you.

I agree with every single statement above. Props to those that have quit or are trying.

If you and a significant other are trying to quit, use sex as the substitue. It actually does a lot for your overall health.

SEX >>> smoking

 

[The Weather Man]

My friend smoked cigs for a long time. Then started smoking weed. A week later, he never wanted a cigarette. And herb's not really addicting!

Some people say weed cures cig addiction (idk)

I beilve smokings in your head.

 

[Supracentral]

I beilve smokings in your head.

No that's where you are 100% wrong, and you shouldn't tell people that. Once I figured out the physical part of it, the rest was easy. http://whyquit.com/ helped me quite a bit.

Here's the key right here, if you read this, you may not need to read anything else:

Cigarettes cause the body to release its own stores of sugar and fat by a drug type of interaction. That is how it basically operated as an appetite suppressant, affecting the satiety centers of your hypothalamus. As far as for the sugar levels, nicotine in fact works much more efficiently than food. If you use food to elevate blood sugar levels, it literally takes up to 20 minutes from the time you chew and swallow the food before it is released to the blood, and thus the brain, for its desired effect of fueling your brain. Cigarettes, by working through a drug interaction cause the body to release its own stores of sugar, but not in 20 minutes but usually in a matter of seconds. In a sense, your body has not had to release sugar on its own in years, you have done it by using nicotine's drug effect.

This is why many people really gorge themselves on food when they quit. They start to experience a drop in blood sugar and instinctively reach for something sweet. Upon finishing the food, they still feel symptomatic. Of course they do, it takes them a minute or two to eat, but the blood sugar isn't boosted for another 18 minutes. Since they are not feeling immediately better, they eat a little more. They continue to consume more and more food, minute after minute until they finally they start to feel better. Again if they are waiting for the blood sugar to go up we are talking about 20 minutes after the first swallow. People can eat a lot of food in 20 minutes. But they begin to believe that this was the amount needed before feeling better. This can be repeated numerous times throughout the day thus causing a lot of calories being consumed and causing weight gain to become a real risk.

When you abruptly quit smoking, the body is in kind of a state of loss, not knowing how to work normally since it has not worked normally in such a long time. Usually by the third day, though, your body will readjust and release sugar as it is needed. Without eating any more your body will just figure out how to regulate blood sugar more efficiently.

You may find though that you do have to change dietary patterns to one that is more normal for you. Normal is not what it was as a smoker, but more what it was before you took up smoking with aging thrown in. Some people go until evening without eating while they are smokers. If they try the same routine as ex-smokers they will suffer side effects of low blood sugar. It is not that there is something wrong with them now, they were abnormal before for all practical purposes. This doesn't mean they should eat more food, but it may mean they need to redistribute the food eaten to a more spread out pattern so they are getting blood sugar doses throughout the day as nature really had always intended.

To minimize some of the real low blood sugar effects of the first few days it really can help to keep drinking juice throughout the day. After the fourth day though, this should no longer be necessary as your body should be able to release sugar stores if your diet is normalized.

What this all means is I changed my eating habits. I used to eat only one meal a day (dinner) and nothing else. Now I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are MUCH smaller meals than my one big one, but they helped me get through the widthdrawl. If I had kept eating the way I always did, I wouldn't have made it a day...

Once I knew and undertstood that, it made it easier.

And the other thing I kept in mind the whole time is that the bad part of the widthdrawl lasts 72 hours from the last smoke. If you take just one drag, you start that 72 hour clock over. Any time it felt bad, I just asked myself if I wanted to start that 72 hour clock over again. The answer every time was no way in hell...

This is physical addiction folks, this is not something 'in your head'. There's a psychological component, but that was (in my case) easy to beat once I got a handle on the physical stuff.

 

[JustAnotherVictim]

This is physical addiction folks, this is not something 'in your head'. There's a psychological component, but that was (in my case) easy to beat once I got a handle on the physical stuff.

That's my opinion.
Staying off is all in your head after you get all those chemicals that your body has become used to out.

 

[The Weather Man]

No that's where you are 100% wrong

Its not like one will die if they do not get a cigarette. It in your head when you say you need one. You body's not dependent on it physically. Your lungs won't shut down on you. If you have it mentally to say " i need a cigarette now, then your body's gonna need one"

**This is not comming from first hand experiance. Im jsut trying to justify what i said as to what i think in my mind.**

 

[OneJoeZee]

Its not like one will die if they do not get a cigarette. It in your head when you say you need one. You body's not dependent on it physically. Your lungs won't shut down on you. If you have it mentally to say " i need a cigarette now, then your body's gonna need one"

**This is not comming from first hand experiance. Im jsut trying to justify what i said as to what i think in my mind.**

I'm more inclined to side with Mike, who has first hand smoking experience and apparently more in depth research instead of 'just what I think'

 

[trucker]

funny thing is, i've never had "nic fits", just the need to fill the long hours spent on the road with...something, i usually go thru about a pack a day when working, but when i'm, off i'll go several days without smoking, and without missing it

and as to what you said about the smell earlier sc, trust me, swimming in crude oil all day does a pretty good job of masking any smoke smell

 

[MassSupra89]

That's interesting Mike. I got a question though, is it anything like alcoholism where just one drag(sip) could send the body back into those habits?
Or would it take a bit more for the body to go back on that course.

 

[JENNY!]

i bet its not.

That's interesting Mike. I got a question though, is it anything like alcoholism where just one drag(sip) could send the body back into those habits?
Or would it take a bit more for the body to go back on that course.

 

[MassSupra89]

Yea but I've got friend's who have quit and the smell of someone else smoking makes them crave one... even years after quitting.

 

[Supracentral]

**This is not comming from first hand experiance. Im jsut trying to justify what i said as to what i think in my mind.**

Dude, I smoked for 26 years. With me smoking 2 1/2 packs (that's 50 cigarettes) a day at one point when I was smoking heaviest. To be blunt, you are talking out of your fucking ass and have no clue at all what you are talking about. And I mean that in the kindest way possible...

That's interesting Mike. I got a question though, is it anything like alcoholism where just one drag(sip) could send the body back into those habits?

Or would it take a bit more for the body to go back on that course.

The Law of Addiction

"Administration of a drug to an addict will cause reestablishment of chemical dependence upon the addictive substance."

That's right out of the medical journals.

Once you are "wired" for running on nicotene, your body remembers it and likes it when it gets it. It's a very very addictive drug. The relapse rates for nicotine are some of the highest of any addictive drug.

Funny thing is I don't crave them. I'm around smokers at the office all the time. Today I was standing in a crowd of people who were smoking. I guess each person can react differently.

But seriously, I'm not becoming one of these anti-smoking evangelists. It's your life, do what you want with it. I smoked for 26 years and the "you need to quit" people were enough to make me want to strange someone. So if anyone wants help, I'll be glad to share what I've learned, but I'm not going to try to talk you into it.

 

[Dr Evil]

In a sense, your body has not had to release sugar on its own in years, you have done it by using nicotine's drug effect.

Thanks SC , that finally explains why i,ve felt so low on energy when i,ve tried to quit ....especially when living the one meal a day lifestyle .

I started smoking at the age of 23 and was soon clocking 120 a day ,
i,m now 38 and i,ve cut down to around 20-30 a day now and although i enjoy smoking i realise its a really shitty habit and the time is coming to give it some serious thought about quitting .

I,m extremely envious of those who sucessfully quit ...its must be one of the biggest achievements/ health benefits that you can give yourself and those close to you .

 

[Supracentral]

Thanks SC , that finally explains why i,ve felt so low on energy when i,ve tried to quit ....especially when living the one meal a day lifestyle

I'm telling you man, you sound like you are pretty close to where I was. If you want to give it a try, here are my suggestions:

1. Quit cold turkey, have a smoke, throw the pack away and don't look back.
2. Remind yourself that it's just 3 days, if you can get through 3 days, you've got it made.
3. After you quit, get up the next morning, eat breakfast.
4. Go eat lunch too, evey if you aren't that hungry.
5. Eat a good dinner, go to bed early, get some extras sleep.
6. Repeat for 3 days.

After that start living your life again.