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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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Brandon111

Nicotine also suppresses the appetite, which is one of the main reasons why many women are not keen on giving up smoking. They assume that they will eat more, which will consequently lead to gaining a lot of weight. Once smokers become dependant on nicotine, they may experience strong physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms if they try to give up. These symptoms may include irritability, dizziness, anxiety, headaches, lack of concentration, disturbed sleeping patterns, feelings of anger, depression, tiredness as well as incredible cravings for more nicotine.

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Poppy2

So how's everyone managing with staying off the smokes??
What I use to do as soon as I got a craving was to stop everything, down tools and go for a walk. So that walking became my new addiction and the healthier I got the less chance there was of me inflicting tobacco, tar or nicotine on my body ever again.

blackberer

I have recently stopped smoking-2 weeks now-and this last week has been pretty bad for me in that I am experiencing flu-like symptoms-waking up in a cold sweat with fever and headaches and a tightness in the lungs.I am pretty sure it is NOT the flu I am suffering from as the process of my symptoms is unusual to me.I am hoping it is just my lungs trying to expel some junk that may be lodged there,but wondering how long this detox is to last!One good thing is that I definately DONT feel like a cigarette-if I did I feel my lungs might collapse for sure.Any advice anyone!?

sharky86

only advise is to stick with it. It lasted for me for about a month but man did I feel great when it stopped my lungs where never as clear! congrat's on kicking the habit

DublinWriter

blackberer wrote: »

Any advice anyone!?

A surgeon once told me that when you smoke you suppress the growth of tiny hairs inside your windpipe. These hairs grow back once you stop smoking and can become lodging places for cold and flu viruses.

blackberer

sharky86 wrote: »

only advise is to stick with it. It lasted for me for about a month but man did I feel great when it stopped my lungs where never as clear! congrat's on kicking the habit

Thanks,as I said before and not really expecting-the last thing I want at the mo is a cigarette-looking forward to that better feeling!!;)

Dalan

blackberer - - "Post for everyone who QUIT evil fags" has a good few newly quit like yourselves.....

RosieMarie_91

I read that it is harder to come off the fags than it is class a's!!! I really wish i hadnt started smoking....biggest regret of my life!! Trying to quit is the hardest thing. i tried Champix and they worked for about a week and then i went on holiday and started up again.

Oh well when the times right the times right i suppose.

1chippy

tried champix. stayed off for a month or so. but suffered serious nightmares, cold sweats and mood swings. would not recommend them to anyone. trying to get myself ready to go cold turkey this time.

jobeenfitz

gave up smokin countless times. Off them four weeks again. I always go back on them when drinking. So it seems the trick is not to drink again?

EverEvolving

jobeenfitz wrote: »

gave up smokin countless times. Off them four weeks again. I always go back on them when drinking. So it seems the trick is not to drink again?

Same boat, this is my 3rd attempt and each time I went back before was because I was drinking. This time I've decided to quit drinking for a minimum of 3 months and it has made giving up so much easier than the previous times. 4 weeks this week too

Can't really afford drinking at the mo anyway and have to say I don't miss it.

mg1

hi all,
I'm off the fags now nearly two year,i am not looking to put any one off but i didn't see all the positive effects to giving them up except that i am proud to say that i managed it cold turkey and on my first go after 18 years of smoking.
I don't feel healthier as i have put on a stone and can feel it and this is not due to replacing fags with food, nothing in my diet has changed!
AND i still have problems sleeping, Did u ever have that experience of falling just before u fall asleep, this happens about ten times before i get asleep every night. Its horrible and i rarely had that sensation before i gave up. i also wake up more and sleep lighter than i did before! None of this is due to the fact that i want a fag, as the though of smoking a fag would make me feel ill now. I'm not craving smoking, I'm just not the same as i was before.
OH and i really miss the social aspect of going for a fag. you go for a night out and wind up by your self most of the night cause everyone forgets to come back from the smoking area!
Sometimes i do think being a ex smoker really sucks!
So sorry guys but giving up smoking and staying off them is one thing but living without them is another!:(

Eli Nich

I am not a alcohol user but surely a smoker for past some years and you really posted a great thing (Y)

jobeenfitz

Just noticed I have a post here from two years ago, was off the fags four weeks at that post. Cant remember how long I stayed off them on that occasion.

I am off the smokes again since last Tuesday.(6days).

I have given up smoking hundreds of times. Its mostly for health reason.
Smoking is a horrible habbit but there is just something about them that you just love. I usually give them up for about three to four weeks at a time. On some occasions I can last months off them and on one occasion was off them for two years.

It is usually when I drink I go back on the smokes. I always give up drinking for a while when quitting smokes and probably could remain quit if I didn't drink. I don't want to give up drinking forever so I honestly don't think I can remain a non-smoker.

Before I gave up smoking this time I cut down to about five smokes a day by topping the cig three or four times.

Everybody is different. Some people try, and succeed on the first occasion, others like me constantly battle.

I see a lot of people about five to ten years older than me (I'm fifty) and they are struggling to walk without getting out of breath. I don't want to be like that. I am still fairly fit for my age and hope the fear can help me succeed this time.

One of the big problems imo are family functions, plenty of drink. I have a Daughter getting married in September and a grandson getting christianed soon. These will be big tests if I get that far.

I think the battle against nicotene is different for us all. I have never used anything to give up smoking except will-power. Giving up smoking is not all that hard for me, its staying off them is the problem.

Hopefully I can post here next year saying how fekn great it is to be a year off them.

littlemisshobo

I only started smoking two years ago (I'm 30 now)... stupid I know but I had just had a psychotic break down and smoking chilled me out... I only smoked 1 a day at first then up to 3 then 5... that was for the first year... then the second year I got very ill (physically) and have been sick for a year now... my smoking went up to a pack a day at my most stressed/frustrated with the stupid doctors!!... I've reduced to 10 and under a day now... I want to quit... however... I was just finally diagnosed with IBS and my dietician said not to quite yet... but wait till my IBS settles down and I get rid of those symptoms and pains first... I started seeing a counsellor for anxiety/stress management (mainly caused by the stress of a pretty severe illness for a year and ineffective doctors and medical care)... she also suggested not quitting yet as it may be too much for my body to deal with at once... her suggestion was get into gentle yoga and meditation, learn to manage anxiety/stress naturally and then to quit...

I do find smoking helps me at the moment... even with bowel movements (sorry if that's gross!)... but I do want to quit...

It's weird having medical advice not to quit yet!!... but I will...

My concerns obviously are the initial mood swings... but then I heard you can have bad constipation... and with my condition that causes me SEVERE pain... I sleep terribly anyway so not too bothered about that...

Any else have bowel/digestive problems after quitting?

I can get through a week or so of mood swings... just launch into cleaning or gardening or exercise... or just a walk with my music blaring through my headphones... and of course if yoga and/or meditation works then cool too...

ticklebelly7

I gave up by using Champix. This isn't for everyone - if you have clinical depression like I have you'll fight with your GP to get them prescribed for you in the first place and you'll need careful monitoring. But if you can bear the few weeks of total feckin' nutterness, then they're well worth it. I was off fags after three days. And have remained off them for over a year - this after 30 years of smoking like a fish.

What I did when I started taking the Champix was this:
if I wanted a fag then I had to go on the cross trainer for a few minutes afterwards (Doesn't have to be a cross trainer - going up and down stairs for a minute will work. It has to be something that will get you out of breath. If you're fit, then run up and down them stairs...).
I then figured out that I was using the fags as a reward for exercising.
So I made myself go on the cross trainer BEFORE having a fag and then immediately after having the fag. Try smoking and then doing exercise when you can't even breathe! You have to MAKE yourself smoke under those conditions... it's a great deterrent.

This might not sound much to those of you who are in any way fit, but to a fifty-something, small fat granny with asthma and clinical indolence, believe me it helped me figure out whether I Really Really wanted a fag or not! You have to be strict about this - no excuses whatever for not taking the exercise.

The Champix stops the cravings almost immediately. Most of what you'll feel will be old habits - it's 11 o'clock, I must have a cuppa tea and a fag sort of thing. Have a cuppa tea and some peas in the pod instead - I used to walk round with a bag of them because they were roughly the same shape and size as a fag and I'd just eat them at fag time. Admittedly I produced enough wind to power a small town, but at least it kept people away from me with their demands that I come and have a smoke with them. And for the poor person in the post above who suffers constipation, believe me, you'll have a great deal of movement going on down in the bilge tanks with this pea regime...

As the nicotine leaves your body you will cough like a fox during mating season - you'll hewk up all sorts of yokes. Someone else wrote about the little hairs in your throat growing back when you give up smoking - I'd heard this too and it seems this is what makes you cough. This is great stuff - you're clearing your lungs. It might take weeks to get rid of it all but you'll feel good when you do. I was on two types of inhalers to control the asthma. I haven't used them since. And when I breathe now it doesn't sound like Sharon Shannon dropping her instrument down a flight of stairs.

The fags I was on costed over £8 a packet over here in England. I'd put that money away each day. I had HUNDREDs of money after three months. I did that for six months till I got made redundant. Another thing, if you're facing losing your job or have already lost it, you really can't afford to smoke.

And for those who find that it's the visits to the pub that are worst for when you're trying to give up, another thing about Champix is that it also controls alcohol cravings - and as we know, it's not the pub, it's the disinhibiting effect of alcohol that makes you want to smoke. My mate, the person who told me about Champix in the first place, found he didn't want to smoke OR drink. I spoke to the Smoking Cessation people about this - they confirmed that it's a well-known side effect of Champix but they can't advertise it as such because they haven't carried out clinical trials to investigate it's anti-alcohol properties.

You will put on weight - but if you keep with the cross trainer/running up and down stairs whenever you want a fag that weight will disappear. You will want sweet things as your taste buds come back to life - I developed a fatal craving for ice cream. I'd steal it from my grandchildren and everything ... get a load of low fat yoghurts in the house and fruit like bananas.

I promise you, if I can do it, anyone can. I am the laziest person imaginable with the will-power of a drake. But them Champix are a wonder drug. They are vile in the extreme for some people - you may end up feeling like you're turning into a psycho but endure it if this happens AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE MEDICAL SUPERVISION. The recommended treatment goes on for 12 weeks. I didn't need that - I never even went onto the highest strength, 2 mg. I was nicotine free after a week and stopped the Champix after two weeks, before I ran mentil round Aldi's with a sharpened cucumber. But if you need the 12 weeks or even longer, then go for it. I'm a depressive anyway so have magnified responses to Champix - non-depressed friends only had the occasional day of feeling a bit down.
The smell of smoking makes me puke now and I can't believe I ever smoked.

littlemisshobo

I was trying to quite cold turkey but was useless at that so I'm getting the Alan Carr book today and giving that a shot. I've started yoga which helps me feel more chilled and I'm going to start up old hobbies like gardening, swimming and (I'm not a granny but...) crocheting... these are all calming things and I enjoy housework too though my apartment is pretty perfectly organised and clean... I figure if I get in a bit of a bad buzz not smoking I can clean the food presses and the fridge... and even the spare room which is basically my boyfriend's room of crap!... I can Monica the crap out of it and have it perfect and useable... I find when I do something productive I feel better and exercising makes me not want to smoke... so I'll try the book and my lil ocd stuff!... I don't wanna go on meds... I've been sick for a year and on enough stuff that I'm hoping to come off over the next few months... longterm meds are not good for you... and some of the things I'm on have awful side effects... like making you clumsy, lack of coordination, falling and forgetfulness...

I stumbled over nothing and nearly went through the glass coffee table, I frequently walk into half open doors and door frames, I fell in my room and smacked right into the wall head first (that hurt), and most recently I opened the car door and smacked the edge of it against my forehead... only small cut but hurt like hell!!!... I'm going off that stuff and just explaining to my doctor I don't need it and the side effects aren't worth it and getting dangerous at this point!!

Thanks for all the advice though... but as you can see I often have extreme reactions to medication. I do have a friend who tried it and it worked for her... she said smoking made her want to puke and she quite long term... though another friend who smoked ever since I knew her quit through the Alan Carr book... I love reading, so it's worth a shot... I spend too much money on it... I don't drink and used to justify it's my only vice... but now the money is ridiculous at over €9 a pack... I'd rather do more yoga classes, swim more and have money to buy nice thins or go on a nice lil trip with my boyfriend... I am going to give up... I have been sick so long I just want my body to be as healthy as it can be!... my sickness is longterm but there are ways I can help make my quality of living better, so that's what I'm doing... as for putting on weight I doubled my weight on one meds I was on but have come off that and have been steadily loosing the weight. I'm down a stone and a half since October 2012 and working with a dietician (for my illness). I should be down another stone and a half by Christmas!!... and quitting smoking doesn't worry me in this way... I have to eat healthy because of my illness and I don't eat chocolate, crisps or snacks... well very rarely... I have started snacking on red grapes and strawberries... and making homemade fruit smoothies with juice instead of milk (lactose intolerant)!...

Taking it one day at a time, staying positive and keeping balance in my life...

Jeebus I talk/type a lot!!!

ticklebelly7

Alan Carr is great - I did the book many years ago and gave up. The reason I started again was the age old story - went to the pub, got a bit whished, someone offered me a fag and blaaaaaah! back on them again after three months. Cold turkey ain't nowhere near as bad as people make out. It's only three days before you're clear and clean of nicotine. After that it's just you returning to a habit rather than returning because you have cravings.

And another thing: as someone who is also on loads of meds, I once ran out of the mad pills for depression over a bank holiday weekend. Let me tell you, the cold turkey I went through with that made giving up fags feel like a stroll in the park...

You'll do it and this time next year you'll be writing on the boards to encourage others as well. And you'll be super fit too with a flat so shiny you'll be able to see it from outer space!!!

Good luck

ChalyIE

I think, it is the same like with alcoholism, you are always in the risk to start again.

DokersRe

mollieo wrote: »

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

I just look for a good idea to quit smoking. Maybe a vapor cigarette.

jimb433

i stopped smoking cold . you fighter want to / or you don't lol

jimb433

itwashard thought killed me for about a year

jimb433

most of it is MONKEY SEES MONKEY WANTS SYINDRUM

jimb433

SYINDRUM SYNDRUM ?

rarefind0220

nice facts

Spearsharp

Cannot agree more! Patches do not work for me! The amount is too small! How about lowing the nic density?