|
Internal Aging Department : Smoke Cessation Clinic
|
About Nicotine
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive - as addictive as heroin and cocaine. Over time, the body becomes physically and psychologically dependent on nicotine. Studies have shown that smokers must overcome both of these to be successful at quitting and staying quit.
When smoke is inhaled, nicotine is carried deep into the lungs, where it is absorbed withisn ten seconds into the bloodstream and carried throughout the body. Nicotine affects many parts of the body, including your heart and blood vessels, your hormonal system, your metabolism, and your brain. Nicotine can be found in breast milk and in cervix mucous secretions of smokers. During pregnancy, nicotine freely crosses the placenta and has been found in amniotic fluid and the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants.
Nicotine produces pleasurable feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more. Nicotine is an unusual drug in that in the morning it works as a stimulant and in the evening as a relaxant. It acts as a depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. As the nervous system adapts to nicotine, smokers tend to increase the number of cigarettes they smoke, and hence the amount of nicotine in their blood. After a while, the smoker develops a tolerance to the drug, which leads to an increase in smoking over time. Eventually, the smoker reaches a certain nicotine level and then smokes to maintain this level of nicotine. The smoker lives in a series of mini-withdrawal crisis and only feels normal or less tense and able to concentrate when he lids a cigarette. Smoking is like wearing very tight shoes all day just to experience the joy or relief of removing them! When you quit you will feel the pleasure of being relaxed and able to concentrate all the time similar to non smokers.
Nicotine Withdrawal
If you light another cigarette, the nicotine is replaced and the empty, insecure feeling immediately disappears. It’s the feeling that smokers describe as a satisfaction or pleasure.
When smokers try to cut back or quit, the absence of nicotine leads to withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal is both physical and psychological. Physically, the body is reacting to the absence of nicotine. Psychologically, the smoker is faced with giving up a habit, which is a major change in behavior. Both must be dealt with if quitting is to be successful.
Withdrawal symptoms can include any of the following:
• Depression
• Feelings of frustration and anger
• Irritability
• Trouble sleeping
• Constipation
• Nose congestion
• Increased coughing in the first three days
• Trouble concentrating
• Restlessness
• Headache
• Tiredness
• Increased appetite
These uncomfortable symptoms lead the smoker to again start smoking cigarettes to boost blood levels of nicotine back to a level where there are no symptoms.
If a person has smoked regularly for a few weeks or longer and abruptly stops using tobacco or greatly reduces the amount smoked, withdrawal symptoms will occur. Symptoms usually start within a few hours of the last cigarette and peak about 2 to 3 days later. Withdrawal symptoms can last for a few days to several weeks. For most addicted smokers, the addition is about half mental, half physical. Studies show that the ratio varies with each individual. The physical portion of the addiction is to nicotine. As to the mental or psychological aspect, a smoker's conscious mind says, 'I will stop smoking -- no problem.' But the unconscious mind has been conditioned for years that cigarettes give pleasure, and that's all it can focus on. The unconscious mind says, 'Give me a cigarette -- now!' It only recognizes what feels good. It demands a cigarette, without regard to right or wrong, and ignores the conscious mind's intentions.
By using a combination of nicotine replacement products to deal with nicotine physical addiction and the non nicotine prescription FDA approved drug Zyban for the mental addiction the withdrawal symptoms can be very mild. The products should be used along with the psychological preparation and relaxation techniques that we shall present in this chapter.
If you have tried to quit smoking and failed before, take comfort in the fact that most smokers fail several times before quitting successfully. Your past failures are not a lesson that you are unable to quit. Instead, view them as part of the normal journey toward becoming a nonsmoker.
|
|
