Someone explain NICOTINE addiction to me? Us non-smokers don't understand.

[OMG Jim]

I need to try to understand more about this!

I have never been a smoker but my wife has smoked for almost 20 years and has no desire to stop. WTF. In this day and age she knows all the health risks and knows there are ways to try to stop but the ONE consistent thing I hear from smokers is.... "You don't understand".

That's right I don't. The only stipulation when we got married was that she never smoke in our home and she is 100% compliant with that.

Here's the kicker. NOW my son started smoking and my wife will NOT support me in telling him to STOP before it's too late... which I'm afraid it already is

Any insight that will help me understand this addiction is appreciated.

_

[Compdoctor]

I made a long post about smoking problems, do a search it would be worth your while

[mikeyddddd]

I just happened to read this the other day.

[Juicy D. Links]

Jim tbh you have to eperience it to fully understabf

[cool1]

sometimes I wonder if the nicotine is the big addictive problem,
or maybe it is one of the other 4000 cemicals they add to the process that is hooking folks on it.

[Brother Bilo]

Nobody smokes for their health dude. Everyone knows its unhealthy, but that doesn't matter. Plus, it makes drinking even better..and that's whats really important.

[LiveDose]

I don't understand it either. I used to smoke 2 packs a day and then one day decided to stop and that was it. Never looked back.

[Methodcash Rick]

Smoked for 23 years.. It's a physical & mental addiction, that I can't really explain other than it was easier to quit coke, than it was to quit smoking.

With that said:

Your Quit Date is: Monday, April 04, 2005 at 1:30:00 PM
Time Smoke-Free: 912 days, 22 hours, 33 minutes and 20 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 12781
Lifetime Saved: 3 months, 7 days, 15 hours
Money Saved: $2,396.62

[CurrentlySober]

Smoking is just, well... 'nice' (for the smoker anyway)
I enjoy it but wish that I didnt...

a bit like poo

[CurrentlySober]

Originally Posted by Methodcash Rick

Smoked for 23 years.. It's a physical & mental addiction, that I can't really explain other than it was easier to quit coke, than it was to quit smoking.

With that said:

Your Quit Date is: Monday, April 04, 2005 at 1:30:00 PM
Time Smoke-Free: 912 days, 22 hours, 33 minutes and 20 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 12781
Lifetime Saved: 3 months, 7 days, 15 hours
Money Saved: $2,396.62

What sites that from ?

[Brad Mitchell]

I keep quitting..... need to do it again, for good. I've been told that quitting smoking is harder than quitting drinking, smoking crack or doing coccaine.

Brad

[yumma]

nicotine sux
ganj rule!

[CurrentlySober]

Originally Posted by Brad Mitchell

I keep quitting..... need to do it again, for good. I've been told that quitting smoking is harder than quitting drinking, smoking crack or doing coccaine.

Brad

If your drinking, doing crack and taking cocaine...
Smoking is the least of your worrys !

[Mediachick]

I could give you links with explanations on how nicotine addictions 'works' in the human brain, but I think personal experience is closer to reality.

Im a big smoker myself (1 pack a day since I am 14). I have quit smoking at least 4 times, being succesful once even for 2 years but replacing the cigarettes with Nicorette gum; once I stopped the nicorette I couldnt handle the cravings and got back to smoking.

I would compare the cravings for nicotine to being starving but replace the feeling of weakness when you havent eat in 24 hours for very high irritability, depressive state, along with some physical symptoms such as head aches, anxiety, shivers and insomnia. Studies even compare the withdrawal symptoms with those of heroine withdrawal if that can give you an idea.

Both of my parents have been heavy smokers for 30 years and quit cold turkey almost 6 years ago. They have both been trough the symptoms I've described above.

Something really strange happened about 2 months after they quit: they both got major unbalance of the thyroid gland which they have been medicated for since then, and will have to be for the rest of their lives. My mother also go a strange syndrome called the reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome ( a chronic pain syndrome that doctors arent able to explain to this day) that had her nailed to the bed for almost 2 years as she couldnt even walk no more... ( she was only 42 when this happened, my father was 46)

They are still struggling with health issues now, but things are much better now. I am not a doctor; but I am sometimes wondering if the fact that they stopped smoking after 30 years of getting a HOURLY dose of nicotine into their bodies and suddenly stopping that habit might have somehow 'traumatized' their health?

When you think about it, I cant really think of any other drug that 'require' a dose every hour, half-hour daily (in the case of heavy smokers, that is) and I think this is a huge part of why it is so hard to stop.

Dont get me wrong, I am NOT saying that they should've keep smoking, and anyway, if it is the case, they would've been better off without any cigarettes at all in the beginning but I just find this happened in quite a strange timing.

I trully believe that stop smoking is one of the toughest challenge you can give to your body; so I kindof understand the way us heavy addicted smokers are not too keen at the idea of quitting.

I have been trought the withdrawal more then once and it was hell, litterally. It will take me a lot of strenght to do it again, but I remain hopeful.

As for your son smoking; i really do think its a sad thing and even more sad that your wife wont discourage him to do so. If my child would start smoking I would feel extremely concerned and guilty if I was a smoker myself... I guess the best thing to do is to inform him of the damages and to show him real cases of people who are now suffering the consequences of such nasty habit.

Good luck

[D]

Originally Posted by Mediachick

I would compare the cravings for nicotine to being starving but replace the feeling of weakness when you havent eat in 24 hours for very high irritability, depressive state, along with some physical symptoms such as head aches, anxiety, shivers and insomnia.

That's a good analogy. I dig it.

BTW: The body (as with any biological system) tends toward a state of homeostasis... injecting anything into it regularly for years will tend to shift the natural production of chemicals.

[OMG Jim]

Sounds like you really get a Dual Addiction, both physically and mentally, when you smoke. I guess that makes it even harder to quit.

Mediachick seems to have a good grasp of this from personal experience like many of you probably have. Her explanation hit home with me cause my parents were smokers.

My dad wanted to quit after retiring from the Army where he went from cigarettes to cigars then to smoking a pipe then to totally quiting. I guess that's one way to approach it to gradually stop over a period of time. Thank goodness it worked cause he's in perfect health and will probably live to be 100.

I think Livedose said it best.."I used to smoke 2 packs a day and then one day decided to stop and that was it. Never looked back."

I think that the ONLY way that you can quit is ONLY if you WANT TO and that is something that my wife and son will need to do.

-

[Methodcash Rick]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyInTheCorner

What sites that from ?

http://www.quitnet.com/

[gornyhuy]

Does smoking the cock count? Because I'm hooked.

[Jimmy Rock]

Originally Posted by LiveDose

I don't understand it either. I used to smoke 2 packs a day and then one day decided to stop and that was it. Never looked back.

Wish I could do that

[D]

I've said it before, but what helped me the most when I quit was the constant mindset that, as I moved forward, all the pains of withdrawal that I had already been through would have to be relived again if I smoked even one more cigarette.

It was a bitch, but as I clung to that.. I finally pushed through to where my throat wasn't constantly itching for a cig.. and then got to where I don't even think about smoking for weeks or months at a time... and then realized I was capable of anything.

Of course, all of that would have meant nothing without an initial and sincere desire to quit.

[Mediachick]

Originally Posted by D

That's a good analogy. I dig it.

BTW: The body (as with any biological system) tends toward a state of homeostasis... injecting anything into it regularly for years will tend to shift the natural production of chemicals.

Would you say that the hippothyroid disorder could've been caused by the drastic change of quitting smoking?

[Mediachick]

Originally Posted by D

I've said it before, but what helped me the most when I quit was the constant mindset that, as I moved forward, all the pains of withdrawal that I had already been through would have to be relived again if I smoked even one more cigarette.

It was a bitch, but as I clung to that.. I finally pushed through to where my throat wasn't constantly itching for a cig.. and then got to where I don't even think about smoking for weeks or months at a time... and then realized I was capable of anything.

Of course, all of that would have meant nothing without an initial and sincere desire to quit.

I think the hardest thing when I did quit smoking in the past is that I tend to see my cigarette as my 'buddy'. Its there when im stressed, when Im happy, when I have a drink, after sex, as im waiting for the bus... its just ALWAYS there, its almost keeping me company and all reasons are good to pull one out.

I have found myself 'missing my best buddy' as I tried to quit smoking and that would make me really depressed as stupid as this sounds. Go figure.

[GrouchyAdmin]

As a light smoker:

It's something to do, and enjoyable. You get to pretend to be a dragon and shit.

As a heavy smoker:

Want to stop smoking? Easy. Lock yourself in a room. Now, remove all of the oxygen.

It's a bitch. By the time it stops making you sick, you're hooked on it.

[D]

Originally Posted by Mediachick

Would you say that the hippothyroid disorder could've been caused by the drastic change of quitting smoking?

Please understand that I was speaking in generalities. Keep in mind that I'm not a health-care professional... just your above-average student of biology.

But, as a layman, I wouldn't consider it a far stretch. The thyroid system's main purpose is to regulate growth, metabolism, and energy levels.

As we all know, smoking cigs affects all 3 of those... so it'd make sense to think that suddenly removing chemicals that the body has come to rely on taking in (and producing certain levels of chemicals to adjust for) would have an adverse affect - at least immediately - on the systems that regulate those levels. That's a lot of the physiology of what withdrawal symptoms are.

Hundreds of chemicals in cig tobacco smoke... so lots of variables there, ya know.

The good news is that the body is fairly adept at adjusting to suit its environment (as I mentioned earlier, it tends toward a state of homeostasis), and - just like it adjusted in to compensate for whatever in the first place - provided it's still young enough, it should generally be easy to adjust back to where it was before it started taking in hundreds of poisons.

Maybe, with your parents, their systems were just too old, and, perhaps already had genetic markers of thyroid issues working against them.

Regardless of what the case is, though, as you inferred, I'm sure their bodies are much happier without those chemicals in them.

[D]

Originally Posted by Mediachick

I have found myself 'missing my best buddy' as I tried to quit smoking and that would make me really depressed as stupid as this sounds. Go figure.

Yeah... doesn't sound stupid (been there myself) - but certainly a rough situation... I'd think that it'd be pretty difficult to quit in those circumstances... honestly, I'm not sure I could have with that mind-set.

I came to regard cigs as my bane. That "friend" that had betrayed me by destroying a few alveoli in my lungs with every puff I took of it (I still feel the effects of reduced lung capacity from those years of smoking), had yellowed my teeth and fingernails, had robbed me of simple joys such as fully enjoying the smell of freshly cut grass (the first "awakening" I remember having after having quit for a week or two was that smell again) - or truly taking in the delicate tastes of sushi, had doubled the amount of sick days I've had to take each year, had forced me to go back out in the rain after I got home from a long day and then realized I only had 2 cigs left in my pack, had made my clothes stink, and had made me cough up brown shit in the morning every now and then...

It got to the point that it tasted bad, and I think that helped a lot.

Quitting - while not without its physical side - is (provided you have access to cigs) pretty much a mental pursuit... and if you're thinking of it as your buddy - but want to quit, my advice is to adjust your thinking, if at all possible.

Might take awhile to get there, but as long as you're building on a firm foundation, you increase your chance of success.

[Mediachick]

Originally Posted by D

Please understand that I was speaking in generalities. Keep in mind that I'm not a health-care professional... just your above-average student of biology.

But, as a layman, I wouldn't consider it a far stretch. The thyroid system's main purpose is to regulate growth, metabolism, and energy levels.

As we all know, smoking cigs affects all 3 of those... so it'd make sense to think that suddenly removing chemicals that the body has come to rely on taking in (and producing certain levels of chemicals to adjust for) would have an adverse affect - at least immediately - on the systems that regulate those levels. That's a lot of the physiology of what withdrawal symptoms are.

Hundreds of chemicals in cig tobacco smoke... so lots of variables there, ya know.

The good news is that the body is fairly adept at adjusting to suit its environment (as I mentioned earlier, it tends toward a state of homeostasis), and - just like it adjusted in to compensate for whatever in the first place - provided it's still young enough, it should generally be easy to adjust back to where it was before it started taking in hundreds of poisons.

Maybe, with your parents, their systems were just too old, and, perhaps already had genetic markers of thyroid issues working against them.

Regardless of what the case is, though, as you inferred, I'm sure their bodies are much happier without those chemicals in them.

That makes alot of sense. Thanks for the info! We all kindof suspected that it was in part, the cause, my mom even wondering if her chronic pain disorder had to do with it as well; ofcourse NO doctors will ever let anybody think that quitting smoking could possibly bring in potential health problems, even minor, and I understand that.

They much prefer associating any kind of lung cancer and other cancer to cigarette smoke; Again, as personal experience, most of the people that I know who had cancer werent smokers or living in a smoky enviroment. But that's a whole other topic.