Nicotine is a wickedly addictive drug, and when you first quit smoking, certain stressful after-effects will tempt you to pick up the habit again. But the benefits of quitting once and for all far outweigh these temporary troubles. Being mentally prepared for withdrawal and other lifestyle changes is important to successfully kicking a nicotine addiction.
Feeling Of Loss and Depression
The moment cigarettes are no longer a part of your life, you will experience an odd sense of personal loss, according to Nicotine Anonymous. Nicotine use through smoking is so intimate and habitual that its sudden disappearance will feel curiously sad. Smokers who quit report feeling a sense of grief, as if for an old friend, when their cigarettes and their lighters are suddenly no longer within their reach. Counseling can help to overcome this temporary sensation of loss.
Feelings of Stress and Tension
Nicotine has a chemically based soothing effect on the brain, according to the support website Help With Smoking. Within an hour or two of your last cigarette, your brain will start "calling" for its customary dose of "happiness" in the form nicotine. When you deny this call, your brain may react with tension, anxiety and even anger. There are several medications and smoking substitutes on the market that can help with these withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine gum, lozenges and patches are proven effective in helping combat withdrawal, according to the Help With Smoking organization.
Loss of Focus and Balance
As your brain battles nicotine withdrawal, your concentration may be somewhat impaired. You may also find you feel out of balance, or "off kilter," as if something is wrong with you physically or mentally. These signals from the brain are a part of the normal addiction withdrawal process. Nicotine Anonymous recommends postponing an important work project until you've gotten past this initial "fuzzy" period.
Ongoing Struggle
Nicotine is so addictive that an ex-smoker is never fully immune from temptations to return to smoking. Even smokers who have been "off" cigarettes for several years can be seduced into picking up the habit again. Ex-smokers must continually work hard to steel themselves against this temptation, according to Nicotine Anonymous.
Increase in Senses
The sense of taste and smell in smokers is known to be impaired. While results will vary for each ex-smoker, in most cases, after just a few days of not smoking, taste buds and sensors in the nose will start to rebound. Ex-smokers become more conscious of everyday smells. Food tastes stronger and better, explaining to some degree why some ex-smokers gain some weight after quitting. However, this weight gain is usually minor, counteracted by a natural increase in energy and interest in physical activities.
Repair of Physical Damage
Smoking kills the delicate hair-like cilia in the lining of the lungs, according to the American Heart Association. Soon after quitting smoking, these cilia will start to come back to life. The result may be, at first, some coughing and congestion as the new healthy cilia move more mucus out of the lungs. Over time, many of the other damaged parts of the lungs will also begin to heal, increasing lung function and providing better health and a boost in energy. The heart, blood pressure and stomach function will also improve over time, says the American Heart Association.
Changes in Lifestyle
Quitting smoking is a dramatic lifestyle-changing event, says Nicotine Anonymous. Smokers who quit may be amazed at how much of their daily life was once focused on smoking. Activities that were normally avoided by smokers, like flying in a jet across the country or going to a long movie, suddenly become available to them, and this new freedom is very positive.
References
- "Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Smoking Cessation: A Practical Guidebook to the Most Effective Treatments (Practical Clinical Guidebooks)"; Kenneth A. Perkins, Cynthia A. Conklin, and Michele D. Levine; 2007
- "Quitting Smoking for Dummies"; David A. Brizer; 2003
- American Heart Association: Cigarette Smoking and Disease
- Nicotine Anonymous: The 12 Steps
- HelpWithSmoking.com: The Effects of Nicotine on the Brain
