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I'm sure you all know this...

froosh69

I'm studying neurophysiology and we are studying the effects nicotine has on your mental and physical state. I'm sure you all know about the mental side i.e. mood swings, finding it difficult to concentrate, difficulty sleeping etc. but the physical side is the interesting one.

when you have been a regular smoker for a few weeks, your body becomes used to having a constant amount of nicotine in your blood. Therefore, if the nicotine levels are dropped, your body does not know what to do. So it gives you a craving to tell you something aint right.

It takes a full three days at least for all the nicotine in your body to be flushed out in urine, sweat and feces (it is, after all, a toxin).
The interesting thing is, the lower the nicotine levels in blood, the stronger the craving.
Alcohol, believe it or not, is a cleanser of blood. it washes alot of salts, fatty acids, proteins, water and nicotine out of your system, alot of which are vital to a healthy body (hence a hangover). This is why most people crave something fatty and salty(a kebab for example) and also cigarettes after a night on the sauce.
Nicorette and patches work by supplying a small amount of nicotine to the blood. This is why these methods do not work for many people. Remember, if there is a small level of nicotine in the blood, there will be a strong craving. Using an aid to give up smoking can be comforting because you believe that you are being helped, and it works for many people. After about a week of going cold turkey, all nicotine should be out of you system and its just a psychological battle from then on.
Good luck to you all,
Smoker

P.S. I stand to be corrected on any of the above points.

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In$omniac

ttaylor wrote: »

Hey Lance,

I smoke 30+ ciggs a day & I tried them all: hypnosis,microtab, acupuncture, zyban, gum,patches,inhaler and cold turkey. I stayed off them longest (five weeks) by going cold turkey but it was HELL for the first week, I had the shakes, sweats and couldn't sleep at night! I found that the patches took the edge off the craving but you are still supplying your body with nicotine, therefore the cravings last for longer. I never finished a course of patches though, I always gave up and started smoking again. I am going off them again tomorrow and the plan now is to wear the patch for 3 days, then use will power

I too was a 30+ a day smoker, like you I tried everything but nothing killed the cravings for me, I didn't find the patches all that good.
I took the champix tablets and I'm off the cigs over 4 months now, no cravings whatsoever, they are pricey but well worth it!!

Poutbutton

I'm on the champix 6 days now, aim to quit on monday. I am hearing the nicotene leaves your system after 3 days but once heard that traces of smoking can be found in the body up to 5 years after giving up. Have you heard this? Could it be the Tar in the lungs that referred to? could you tell us anything about the Tar that we so often used to hear about? Now all you hear about is nicotene and the other awful added chemicals that are in cigarettes. I can remember seeing a health ed video in 5th class many moons ago. It showed tar inside the lungs it was like they were swimming in this thick black oil, enough to make anyone rethink smoking! But that was in the 80's, was it myth or is tar still an issue? Why dont they harp on about the tar these days? There was an advert showing the artery and lungs of a 39 year old guy who had taken a stroke, they squeezed scambled eggs out of the heart to demonstrate how clogged up they were, those ads are effective I think well more of them should be shown. then again, why should the health associations put mone into advertising to stop smoking when it causes illness when they can pump money into more deserving research on other non smoking related illnesses....sorry went on a bit. My question still stands, what is the story with the tar & it's effects on the body?

froosh69

well, everyones body is different. You hear about people having high metabolisms and whatever. Well nicotine is broken down in the liver into cotinine very quickly. But coitinine doesn't go anywhere. Nicotine is dangerous, coitine is not. By the levels of coitinine in your blood, your smoking habits could be determined, even if you gave up years ago.

The tar you hear about is all the chemicals that are formed when you burn tobacco and inhale it. You body's natural defence against foriegn paricles is to trap them in mucous (phlegm) in the lungs. This gives it its oily black appearance. it is not like the tar used onroads. it does build up in the lungs and causes cancer. The "smokers cough" is caused by the body trying to get rid of the "tar".

Pal

there are many conundrums and equally many ways of quitting but one inescapable fact remains.

It takes 72 hours without nicotine to get yourself clean.

So best of luck with the tabs and patches and stuff but you need to be off all forms of nicotine ingestion for 72 hours.

Cherry Blossom

Just thought this would be a good place to share my own experiences

I stopped smoking on the 7th Jan 2004 (The original date the no smoking ban was supposed to come into force) I went cold turkey on the thinking that if NRT lets you deal with nicotine withdrawal while giving you time to get out of the habit (which is much harder to break) lets do it the other way round and avoid every smoking situation and deal with the nicotine withdrawal first as using NRT on previous attempt never seemed to work. Avoiding smoking situations wasn't that difficult as I was working 9am to 10:30pm everyday and later at the weekends! I just didn't go out in pubs or clubs at all for the time they kept putting the date back for the ban by which time I was well and truely over the cravings! I didn't visit friends who smoked. It wasn't really as hard as it sounds as I was working all the time anyway (keeping myself super busy and providing me with ample excuse not to vist people or go out!)

I stayed off them successfully for a few years untill I went back to full-time Education to do a post-grad in England which ment I moved in with a bunch of 20-something student in a country where there was no such thing as a smoking ban

A girl I lived with smoked menthol cigarettes which smelled absolutely gorgous as opposed the ash tray smell that by this time made my stomach heave from normal cigarettes. It was just too easy to say yes when offered when I had already consumed a fair quantity of alcohol! And so I stuck to Menthol cigarettes untill I came home after the year in England was up. They are not so easy to comeby here and I discovered I could stomach silk-cut purple so I switched to those!

I am now approaching the end of my 3rd week of being off them again having again gone cold-turkey. I switched from Silk-cut blue to Major and smoked twice as many over christmas till at the end I was litterally gaging at the thought of lighting up. I've made some drastic life-style changes dumping everything out of my life that was causing me stress! I found a sport that I enjoy immensly (kick boxing) having been a particularly non-sporty person all my life

And this is now my motivation for staying off them. I have had no problem visiting friends who smoke though I'm visiting a little less frequently in these early days and the visits are shorter than normal. I have been to one social occasion since, a party at a venue where I used to work so I already associate it with being a non-smoking place as such. The night was alcohol free though. I'm thinking of maybe venturing to one of my regular places at the weekend to see how it goes. I do still have the occasional craving so I think I will be staying away from alcohol for quite a while yet!

I know everyone is different and what works for me may not work for someone else but I think your motivations for stopping will not do as motivation for staying off the smokes, I think you need to find something new to fill that purpose. I did try a little reward system on previous attempts which didn't work. I've found physical activity works for me as it seems to have improved my general fitness and sence of well-being immensly (physically & spiritually) and the fact that I want to be able to continue doing what I'm doing to keep that feeling seems to be enough motivation to keep me of them for the time being!

mollieo

hi everybody im giving up smoking on monday feb23 anybody want to join me

lollypop41

thanks guys lots of interesting facts gave up on tuesday and need one so bad right now im trying to be strong its very hard but reading other peoples posts kina helps:)

mollieo

u can do it:) keep telling yourself how better life will be without them, i know how hard it is i have a new start of monday and im looking forward 2 it, im reading allen carrs book at the moment have u tried it

lollypop41

mollieo wrote: »

u can do it:) keep telling yourself how better life will be without them, i know how hard it is i have a new start of monday and im looking forward 2 it, im reading allen carrs book at the moment have u tried it

thanks so much for the support still didnt have one so proud of myself whats the name of the book hope today went well for you

crocadile dunde

there is an old fashioned way to quit the smokes just sit down and smoke the whole box one after the other then get somebody to punch you in the gut :eek: may sound a bit drastic but it works i havent smoked in 5 years:D

mollieo

lollypop41 wrote: »

thanks guys lots of interesting facts gave up on tuesday and need one so bad right now im trying to be strong its very hard but reading other peoples posts kina helps:)

hi lollypop41 just wondering hows the no smoking goin

mariemarie

I smoked cigs for 18 years and for the last two years decided i just didnt want to be a smoker anymore. Its disgusting and i became very paranoid as to what it was doing to my body. I read The Allen Carr book one afternoon and have not smoked since (8 months)...The book was a little annoying, however it confirmed lots of my thoughts and gave me new facts and really helped me with my mission.
The times i fancied one during the first 3 months off them I thought
(1)im not wasting all the hard work ive done until now...
(2)im better than this
and (3) thought of my beautiful neice and nephew (12 months & 3yrs) and if they ever smoked what it would do to them ( the same thing it would do to me or any other smoker) obviously I would go crazy if they ever smoked so then OBVIOUSLY that should apply to me......
BY the way that urge for a cig only lasts about ten seconds and then its gone youd feel like some ass if you gave in knowing this wouldnt you.......after 3 months you have no desire for one...
im happier healthier and wealthier.
I dont smell like an ashtray &
there are loads of other things that have improved since ive given them up...

JUST DO IT........GOOD LUCK

Zombienosh

LaVidaLoca wrote: »

Once you've really decided you dont want to be a smoker anymore, it's largely about goin through those tough first couple of days, and then simply, enjoying how it feels to not be a smoker

I completely agree with this, I've just quit. Now Previously I "quit" once or twice in my life, but I never really whole-heartedly quit. Deep down I didn't want to so it appeared as a failure.

I like smoking, or (liked) and I didn't want to quit. I wasn't motivated by health reasons or any reason to be honest. Then last saturday, for no reason what so ever, about 6pm half way through my work shift, I had a pack with 4 cigarettes left. I had a quick smoke outside work and thought, Im sick of spending so much money on this.

Every so on cigarettes increase and increase in price, almost everywhere in the world. So using purely monetary motovation I said to myself, I'm not going to buy another pack.

I finished my last 4 cigarettes that night, Had my last one about 9:30pm saturday night.
Some strange cravings later I'm doing fine. Feeling better thinking about the money I'll save.

froosh69

AlcoholicA wrote: »

I completely agree with this, I've just quit. Now Previously I "quit" once or twice in my life, but I never really whole-heartedly quit. Deep down I didn't want to so it appeared as a failure.

I like smoking, or (liked) and I didn't want to quit. I wasn't motivated by health reasons or any reason to be honest. Then last saturday, for no reason what so ever, about 6pm half way through my work shift, I had a pack with 4 cigarettes left. I had a quick smoke outside work and thought, Im sick of spending so much money on this.

Every so on cigarettes increase and increase in price, almost everywhere in the world. So using purely monetary motovation I said to myself, I'm not going to buy another pack.

I finished my last 4 cigarettes that night, Had my last one about 9:30pm saturday night.
Some strange cravings later I'm doing fine. Feeling better thinking about the money I'll save.

Best of luck with it...first week is always the toughest...just chill, go easy on the booze and start playing sport/ excercising...

deereidy

I don't know if you're still talking about the psychological side effects from smoking apart from the obvious, but did anyone hear of one that said that smoking can decrease your intelligence? As a smoker myself, I'd be glad to know if there's much truth to this one

froosh69

deereidy wrote: »

I don't know if you're still talking about the psychological side effects from smoking apart from the obvious, but did anyone hear of one that said that smoking can decrease your intelligence? As a smoker myself, I'd be glad to know if there's much truth to this one

This is not true. If anything, smoking has been shown to increase activity in the areas of the brain involved in memory and learning. When a smoker gives up, activity in these areas decrease resulting in loss of cocentration, difficulty remembering things and longer times to learn things.

However, after a few days, these areas of the brain return to normal functioning as they were before smoking.

del88

Be stubborn
Don't give in to yourself..Get pi**ed off with yourself.
I gave up a 20/30 a day habit 7 years ago and havn't looked back.....
I'll be honest it's tough..I didn't full enjoy a drink for a good 4 months .
Bbut it gets easier..every day ,every week .every month .
memory fades...habits die...new habits grow...new lives are lived...

All the best to ye

mrshappy

Just interested to know if any of the previous posters are still here and whether you have managed to give up.

Have tried tablets/patches and considering just going cold turkey now at this stage - but of course there is never a right time to quit - I keep saying after x event, after y event

LeBash

Im off the smokes 14 months now.

I went and got NLP treatment after trying, patches, inhalers, gum and cold turkey.

I dont want to turn anyone off, but the first 10 months, I had shocking reaction. Panic attacks, 7 chest infections in 10 months, palpatations and i was really run down.

These are the extream and 99.9% of people wont deal with that, but I stuck it out and the last 4 months have been great. I cant believe how bad smoking makes someone feel and you dont know it until you give up

Bushbaby

Off the fags 3 days now. 55yrs of age and started smoking at 20. I've only managed one period of 2 weeks and one of 10 months, in all that time. Tried hypnotherapy in 1982, alan carr clinic in 2004, Vincents Hospital "stop smoking clinic" years earlier and many other failed personal attemts. Had 30 a day habit. Have been suffering from bad cough and wheezing for years and still have not been able to stop. Went for X-Ray on Wed and am awaiting the results. Scared out of my wits. My beloved little dog died 2 weeks ago, of lung cancer. I am devastated. Feel responsible. I have lived with internal fear, worry and anxiety for years. I'm not religious, but I'm praying to God that I will make it this time. I'm so anxious but trying to stay calm. I'm on Champix, nicotine replacement stuff and fruit gums. Have never posted on any web site before. Hoping that this may help, instead of having a fag. I need support. Other attempts have always been alone. Thks

Bushbaby

I seem to have 50 replies to my post on not smoking but I can't access them. Can anyone help. Got some notice about not having full access until I have 25 posts. Is this correct. I might be back on the fags by that time. Thanks

ceduffy

great article im off them 5 weeks now thank god wasn't easy but well worth it makes you wonder why one ever started in the first place

WIZE

This is a Great read

Im off the Smokes two days now and really feeling strange .

I feel like im standing beside myself most of the time

Im also feeling really tired

Ive been smoking for 14 years with a 20 a day habit .

I going the Cold turkey root due to the fact thay I feel using the Patches or Gum will prolong the Craving .

Good luck all

Poppy2

I gave up smoking approx 2 years ago after several previous attempts. The one thing I have learned from giving up the ciggys is that it takes willpower and absolutely nothing else. No patches, no hypnosis, no acupuncture but just good old willpower. Thank God for it:)

WIZE

I still havent smoked in nearly 3 weeks:)

Bipolar Joe

I've been trying to quit for a good while now. I get stressed very easily, and I always flake out and go buy a packet, chill out somewhere and smoke. I want to make this pack my last. I REALLY want to quit. My girl is giving them up, too.

So, any who, my questions are..............

What are good things to do when experiencing the psychological stuff? I don't get many physical cravings, nothing over the top, but when I'm stressed out (90& of the time), I know a fag will chill me out. Any recommendations?

What, exactly, does smoking do to your sex life? I know it decreases yr sperm count, the damn bastard packets told me, but does it do anything else?

What the Hell do you guys do with your hands when you get a craving? I need to have something to do with my hands, and I can only whack one out a couple times a day. I can't be sitting on a bench and jerk off either, so that rules that one out.

sharky86

I used to think smoks chilled me out too until I forgot to take my heart rate monitor off one day after gym, Was chilling out at home and lit up and m y heart rate actually rose by 10 - 15 BPM as I soked the fag, Only thing moving was my arm....
Now I think they must stress my body out

jason99

New to this thread.
giving up smokes today.going cold turkey.
any tips????

fuzzywossy

Glad to find this forum. Am off the ciggies seven months now and LOVING IT!!! I never thought I could do it, but honestly, I think this time I definetly will. I tried years ago, but to no avail. Went back on them after a couple of weeks, but this time seems to be for keeps. I hope

Its certainly not easy, but if I can do it anyone can. Best of luck in giving them up.

fuzzywossy

jason99 wrote: »

New to this thread.
giving up smokes today.going cold turkey.
any tips????

Hey Jason 99 good on ya, thats what I did. Just think positively. The first couple of weeks are quite hard, because you have to remember not to smoke. I know that sounds a little silly, but its the habit you have to break first of all and then the rest will come naturally. Good luck