How to deal with symptoms when quitting smoking?

How does nicotine affect the body?

Smoking is a harmful habit that manifests itself in the formation of psychological and physical dependence on nicotine. Psychologically, a smoker becomes so accustomed to constantly taking smoking breaks that it becomes difficult for him to imagine his morning, lunch break, journey home from work and evening tea without a cigarette.

When a person decides to quit smoking, it can be difficult to overcome psychological cravings. However, if the decision to get rid of a bad habit is great, the smoker can switch his attention to other things, develop new rituals, etc.

Effect on the body

The situation is more difficult with physical dependence. The fact is that nicotine interacts with acetylcholine receptors in the nervous system. The mediator acetylcholine has a peculiar normalizing effect: if the body is experiencing stress, then it helps reduce arousal, and if, on the contrary, the person is too relaxed and lethargic, the substance helps to tone up. In smokers, these functions are largely performed by nicotine.

Why does withdrawal syndrome occur?

Occupying a significant portion of the receptors, nicotine leads to a decrease in the body's production of acetylcholine. As a result, when a smoker smokes his last cigarette, an insufficient amount of neurotransmitter is unable to cope with the load and the body experiences stress on a physical level. Nicotine starvation develops. This condition, in turn, often develops into nicotine withdrawal, which is manifested by many painful symptoms.

The craving for smoking goes away only when the level of natural acetylcholine returns to normal. In addition, of course, you need to be able to overcome the psychological habit of regularly reaching for a cigarette.

Gastrointestinal tract

Nicotine activates intestinal activity. During smoking, the intestines become accustomed to additional chemical stimulation and cease to function effectively on their own
.
Once nicotine is no longer regularly supplied to the body, constipation may develop for several weeks or even months. Especially if you have a penchant for it. How to cope?
Eat more foods rich in gut-boosting fiber, such as whole grains. Include fermented milk products and dried fruits in your diet, which, by the way, can curb the desire to smoke. Be sure to consult your doctor if intestinal problems persist for a long time.

Symptoms

A person who decides to give up a bad habit already feels an irresistible urge to smoke within a few hours. And the more time passes, the stronger this desire becomes.

The nervous system of yesterday's smoker relearns how to cope without nicotine. The resulting withdrawal syndrome has the following manifestations:

• Increased irritability;
• A state of constant anxiety and tension;
• The appearance of depressive thoughts;
• Problems with concentration;
• Headache and hand tremors;
• Blood pressure surges;
• Strong feeling of hunger.

In addition, possible symptoms of nicotine fasting are phantom pain in the back and joints. Sometimes smokers note that they feel as if they are literally “breaking” due to unpleasant sensations in their legs, arms, and back.

Nicotine withdrawal syndrome is accompanied, among other things, by increased coughing and intense sputum production. Already in the first days, the mucus may have a darkish color, which indicates the beginning of the process of cleansing the lungs of soot and combustion products that have accumulated during the entire smoking period.

What happens to a smoker during withdrawal?

» data-medium-file=»https://i0.wp.com/evilsmoke.ru/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/sindrom-otmenyi-i-kurenie-chto-proishodit.png?fit=550% 2C350&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/evilsmoke.ru/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/sindrom-otmenyi-i-kurenie-chto-proishodit.png?fit =550%2C350&ssl=1″ >Smoker in the fight against withdrawal syndrome

It is necessary to accept the fact that withdrawal syndrome is a normal mental reaction to abrupt cessation of cigarettes. This is especially pronounced in people who have smoked for many years and for them smoking is perceived as a ritual that allows them to achieve a certain feeling:

• Getting quick pleasure means improving your emotional state;
• Increased concentration when solving an important task;
• A social moment is an opportunity to talk with another person during a smoke break;
• A way of motivation is the opportunity to relax after hard work.

Thus, over many years, a smoker develops a pattern that a cigarette is a lifesaver that helps in various life situations.

Video taken from channel: Sergey Knyazev

This is how psychological dependence is formed. If you suddenly stop smoking, it will seem that the whole world is against it, which significantly increases the risk of returning to the habit again.

Withdrawal symptoms are the same in men and women . They are directly related to an unconscious attempt to find a new “magic wand” to save from a bad mood, lack of concentration and attention, or as a way of motivation:

• Increased appetite . It has been noticed that people try to reward themselves for giving up cigarettes with various goodies. There is a substitution of concepts. Food is a way to quickly get pleasure that does not require large material costs.
• A decrease in concentration occurs due to an obsessive desire to smoke. Thoughts about a cigarette are spinning in my head.
• Anxiety and worry arise from fear of the unknown. The smoker is afraid that his life without tobacco will become less interesting.
• Changing self-esteem is a psychological aspect. If previously a cigarette made it possible to establish contacts with other people or society, then a person’s attitude towards himself as an individual may change. Then self-esteem will either be overestimated, or, on the contrary, the quitter will feel insecure in the company of both smokers and non-smokers.

According to psychosomatics, the following manifestations of withdrawal syndrome at the physiological level are possible:

• irritability, harshness;
• lowering blood pressure;
• dry mouth;
• runny nose;
• problems with the cardiovascular system
• arrhythmia;
• eating disorder;
• increased sweating;
• headache;
• increased cough;
• dyspnea;
• attacks of dizziness.

Main stages

Withdrawal after quitting smoking has two main stages:

1. During the first day, the smoker feels an acute nicotine hunger. Most often, after an hour or two he desperately wants to smoke. After another 5-8 hours the person becomes irritable and a headache may appear. The craving for cigarettes prevents you from fully switching to other tasks and causes exhaustion.
2. On the second or third day of the fight against nicotine addiction, the manifestations of withdrawal syndrome reach their climax. Usually at this time a person is tense to such an extent that he becomes hot-tempered and unrestrained. If a former smoker does not use any special means to help him quit his bad habit, he risks even developing real depression as a result of this condition.

Withdrawal

Respiratory system

“If, due to smoking, respiratory diseases have already appeared - bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),” says Averyanov, “parting with addiction can provoke a worsening of their condition.” Tobacco smoke increases the removal of mucus from the lungs through the bronchi. A smoker produces much more phlegm due to irritation of the respiratory tract with smoke - this is why the first cigarette provokes active coughing. When smoking stops, stimulation of the bronchi also ends. Therefore, it is difficult for a person to cough up mucus
, which continues to form during bronchitis or COPD.
How to cope?
Be patient.
Depending on individual reactions, the period may last up to several months. During it, you should move a lot and actively
to make breathing deeper and stimulate the cleansing of the bronchi naturally.
If the discomfort persists, consult a pulmonologist. A specialist can prescribe special medications
that cleanse the bronchi and lungs - this will make the process easier for you.
Conclusion
: when quitting smoking, unpleasant symptoms may appear from a variety of body systems, but they can be dealt with quite easily.
And the benefits of quitting smoking - reducing the risk of serious illness and improving well-being - significantly outweigh the temporary inconvenience. A smoker can call 8-800-200-0-200
(the call is free for residents of Russia), say that he needs help quitting smoking, and he will be switched to specialists at the Advisory Call Center for Help in Quitting Tobacco Consumption (CTC) . If all KTC specialists are busy at this moment, his phone number will be sent to KTC by e-mail, and they will call him back within 1-3 days. Psychologists and doctors provide counseling to those who contact the CTC. Psychologists help prepare for the day of quitting smoking, help find a replacement for smoking rituals, together with the client they will determine the optimal ways to overcome addiction, and support in difficult moments in the fight against nicotine addiction. Doctors will advise on the most effective therapeutic methods for quitting smoking, and give advice to patients with various diseases on how best to prepare for quitting smoking, taking into account existing health problems.

Tags:

• Smoking
• Heart and blood vessels
• Metabolism

23 comments • Leave a comment

• romanoid I don’t smoke for the first 14 hours, withdrawal is complete
• koshei I didn’t smoke for a month, then out of stupidity I started smoking again, and I’ve been smoking for 17 years. It’s easy to quit when you don’t think about what (tolerate, as it were), but to notice that (it’s good that I don’t smoke) and notice only the advantages, it’s easier (after all Psychological addiction is stronger than physical, and with this approach it is MUCH EASIER TO QUIT!
• maddog275 Flip beads. Personally, they help me take my mind off thoughts about cigarettes. They calm my nerves. And if you try to twist them in your left hand, it greatly develops the left hemisphere of your brain (I think so).
• Aika30 Quitting smoking was easy for me. It’s just that an on-site tax audit came at work, well, you can’t leave tax officers alone in the office, so there was no time to run out for a smoke. We didn’t smoke at home in the evenings either; I don’t like it when people smoke in the apartment, and it’s already cold on the balcony. So a day passed, two, three. Then I decided - maybe I shouldn’t smoke at all? A week passed, then another, and somehow everything was fine. Those. I didn’t forbid myself, but I became too lazy to go out. I allowed me to smoke once or twice a month with friends on a night out, but now I don’t need to at all. I haven't smoked for six months. Now my husband has joined me - he hasn’t smoked since April 1st. My smoking experience was 15 years, my husband’s was 18.
• Leoon Nonsense and not an article! Nicotine stimulates everything for them! Why the hell should I throw it!?
• alinayagodka I haven’t smoked for 3 months, at first it was difficult, because for me smoking was a ritual - a cup of coffee and this rubbish is about coffee. . The most difficult were the first 2-3 weeks. Of course, many difficulties await us along this path, but it’s worth it, I smoked for 12 years. The human body is so unique that it should not have addictions. As a result, I have clean breath, optimism, vigor and the feeling that I was born again. Good luck everyone. We can do this!!!
• marinavs I haven’t smoked for 3 days. I don't believe myself. I realized one thing that I’m addicted not so much to nicotine, but most likely to the process itself. Now I feel like Pavlov’s dog: I prepared dinner - my legs themselves begin to move towards the toilet (which is where I smoked), stroked my underwear - again they pull me there. Maybe someone can tell me whether it is necessary to use some kind of medicine for relief or willpower alone will help?
• 180468 My husband can’t quit smoking!!! Diagnoses of COPD 2nd degree Pulmonary enphysema. Grandfather (68) years old died of lung cancer Father of 49 years old died of lung cancer!!!! Maybe someone is familiar with this problem?????????? Please share your advice!!!!!!
• polja I'm quitting smoking since the New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want a baby.
• vilkay I'm 32 years old, I've been smoking since I was 13 years old. And no matter how many times a person says that he has quit and does not smoke! “He will always remain a smoker, even if he never touches cigarettes for the rest of his life.” This is the same as alcoholism. My people are just good - - PATIENCE to you, especially the first year after the “lack” of nicotine in your body! Patience and health to you again! )
• leksos The best way to quit smoking is not to start. Ask yourself, why did you push the first segarette into your mouth? Why??? for what purpose???, in order to then suffer from quitting?
• bt-st This article is a concrete example of how you can impose fears that do not exist. A. Carr's book describes this in detail.
• nika1967 I haven’t smoked for seven years, I started smoking again in about a month. I’m trying to quit. While I'm breaking down.
• maklaud8000 I’ll try to quit…..from Monday….that is, from tomorrow…..you won’t believe it, it’s scary)))))))))))))
• like_no_others in fact, after three weeks the body will be completely cleansed of nicotine and physical attraction will completely disappear. And the 4-5th day is the turning point after smoking, you will want to smoke less and less. As for the cravings after a month and three months, this is the person who is screwing himself up thinking that then it’s missing, it’s important here how to approach the process of quitting smoking, if you think that you’re losing something then it will be difficult, but if you understand that you don’t need it because you didn’t like smoking, that’s why you quit
• favorite I haven't smoked for a month and a half now. I quit many times. I decided to stop everything that would cause a cigarette to appear in my hand. A smoking person is a sick person. Happy people don't smoke)) And I hope there will come a time in the life of every smoker when he stops being attached to a cigarette and concentrates his attention on himself! Love yourself! The main thing: ACTIVITY! Not smoking is HEALTHY! Make healthy choices!
• pfeifer For the 100th time I'm trying not to smoke. I realize that every day spent with a cigarette takes away a part of me. I understand that I have no right to be so irresponsible about my health, because... must raise a daughter. My friend lost her mother, who smoked and died of cancer. We must not allow our habits or the consequences of our addictions to become pain for our loved ones!!!
• ol1331 Do yoga, learn to break away from the physical shell, learn not to pay attention to what it wants, you should only do what your mind wants. Knowing how to control yourself, you can quit not only smoking, but also drinking without difficulty.
• ol1331 I kind of watched my body from the outside, I was interested in it). And I never finished reading the book How to Quit Smoking, I only made it through 20 pages. At the end I was convinced that NLP is an uncontrolled method of managing our capabilities and desires, and instead of messing up our head, we need to clear it, on the contrary.
• ol1331 At least that’s my vision. When I began to control myself a little, I just went and quit smoking (after 11 years, in recent years 1.5-2 packs a day). I did not feel torment, torment, heat, trembling, as I had before. I didn’t feel like there was something squeezing in my chest like I had before.
• ol1331 In order to quit smoking, you need to master the technique of self-control. You must be able to control your body, be able to observe it from the outside. A person, as a rule, is aware of himself as a person, here I am, and there is nothing besides me, but one must be aware of oneself as a person as a mind, something more than a mother, because our body is just a shell, and if it’s hard for her at the moment, then why should it be hard for me too.
• 050881 I started smoking late at the age of 21, I used this crap exactly 7 years before my first attempt to quit smoking, by the way I weighed 90 kg at that time!!! The first attempt was successful thanks to willpower - I immediately quit smoking, stopped consuming sugar in any form and started running in the morning every day - the result was a weight of 75 kg. So people, quit this abomination
• sig666 I woke up on January 1 of this year, went to the balcony to smoke, took a drag and quit. I got married in June, 3 days of partying and I’m smoking again (((I tried to quit again, it only lasted for a day or two. I don’t know what to do.

Duration of nicotine withdrawal

It is difficult to give a definite answer to the question of how long nicotine withdrawal lasts. In many ways, the duration of this period depends on the length of service of the smoker and the usual number of cigarettes smoked per day.

On average, withdrawal symptoms when quitting cigarettes can last three weeks or more. How quickly the craving for smoking goes away is also influenced by other factors, for example, whether a person quits the bad habit on his own or with the help of special medications, as well as the severity of the incentive to give up the addiction.

The craving for smoking completely disappears no earlier than a month after the last cigarette smoked.

Attention! Unfortunately, in most cases this happens much later: despite the fact that the physical need for nicotine usually ceases after about a month, the psychological habit (or its echoes) can still force a person to reach for a cigarette in a given situation for a long time.

How to make it easier?

To ease nicotine withdrawal syndrome, it is advisable to choose suitable days to start quitting smoking. It has been proven that it is easiest to quit cigarettes during the weekend, when there is usually a decrease in stress levels and a person can switch to rest or perform some secondary tasks. For the same reasons, it is good to quit smoking while on vacation.

We should also not forget about the variety of special pharmaceuticals that were created specifically to ease the period of nicotine withdrawal syndrome.

Ways to combat physical addiction

Today, everyone who quits smoking has access to medications that can improve their well-being during this difficult period. They come in the form:

• chewing gum and lozenges;
• sprays;
• tablets;
• patches that are attached to the skin.

All these products are divided into two large groups: those containing nicotine and those without nicotine. The former are characterized by ensuring that a safe dose of the alkaloid enters the body, which makes it possible to alleviate the condition when quitting tobacco.

An example of drugs from the second group are certain types of antidepressants, for example, Pyrazidol. They can only be taken as prescribed by a doctor. Antidepressants may be needed if, as a result of symptoms of withdrawal from cigarettes, a former smoker experiences such a depressed state that he is unable to cope with it on his own.

Relief of psychological state

Special techniques for working on yourself help you overcome psychological cravings for nicotine. For example, when the need for cigarettes has not yet disappeared, but for some time you have managed to give them up, it is better not to say to yourself phrases like this: “How I want to smoke!” You need to praise yourself for the path you have already traveled, be proud of yourself and promise yourself not to give up.

To not give up

The right and strong motivator is also important. You can even promise yourself this or that reward if you overcome a bad habit. This could be any major purchase, for example, a new phone, a car, maybe a holiday abroad or a short trip to an interesting place. Any reward will do, as long as it is desirable enough.

Attention! If you still cannot cope with the problem on your own when quitting smoking, you can seek help from a psychologist. The specialist will definitely give the right advice and motivate you to achieve a winning result.