Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and when a person becomes dependent on nicotine to go about their day-to-day life, it gets entrenched in the fabric of their routine. A person who’s addicted to smoking cigarettes needs a certain level of nicotine in their bloodstream each day to remain stable, both physically and mentally. Mental and physical stability via nicotine is directly related to physical and psychological dependence on nicotine. If the required level of nicotine is not delivered to the addict’s system, they experience varying degrees of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, which can affect both their external and internal worlds.
These withdrawal symptoms are felt the most when a person decides to quit smoking. As soon as the nicotine level in your system falls below the required level, you experience nicotine withdrawal, which can be chronic in some cases if you lack the right tools to rectify the situation. A lot of people relapse during the chronic withdrawal period because it takes a toll on their physical and mental well-being. While many people resort to smoking cessation aids like vaping which employs vape devices and vape juice to help people slowly lower their nicotine intake. There are a lot of ways you can make the withdrawal symptoms less strenuous and distressing for yourself, some of which are discussed below
Quitting by Vaping:
Vaping is one of the most efficient and successful smoking cessation tools as it helps people quit cigarettes with an easy transition and blocks out withdrawal symptoms. Vaping provides you with a method to wean yourself off nicotine without resorting to extreme measures like cold turkey, which can be difficult for most people. Quitting via vaping is not a new technique. You will find many ex-smokers who fit the bill, and have quit smoking and lowered their nicotine consumption through vaping. Vaping is by far the safest alternative to cigarettes. It lowers the risk of exposure to harmful carcinogens and other chemicals by 95%.
Regulating Blood Sugar Level:
When you quit cigarettes, your blood sugar level drops rapidly. Low blood sugar level becomes the catalyst for other withdrawal symptoms. These are irritability, dizziness, low concentration/ attention level, time dilation, etc. Nicotine doesn’t fuel up your sugar level. Being a stimulant, it has certain properties that affect the blood sugar level inside the body. When you smoke, your body releases its own stored sugar and fats. This regulate your blood sugar level and also suppress your appetite.
Hence, when you quit smoking, your blood sugar level automatically plummets and you start craving desserts and sweet treats. Stuffing your face is an easy way to counteract your body’s needs. But not the most efficient, as it would lead to weight gain. To deal with low blood sugar levels, the aptest way is to consume juices or healthy and organic liquid drinks. Liquids are process readily by the body as compare to solid foods and they rapidly regulate the blood sugar level.
Restraining from Alcohol:
Dependence on nicotine also extends to the psychological level. Where to train your brain to act on certain cues and associate the act of smoking with those cues. Hence, whenever you encounter those cues, your brain automatically pushes you to light up a cigarette or you start craving one. Alcohol is one of the most common cues for cigarette smoking. Because a lot of people like to pair up their drinks with alcohol. Consuming alcohol during the initial days after quitting can worsen the withdrawal symptoms. Drinking is probably one of the strongest associations that people create along with caffeine. In order to sustain your quit, you have to restrain from alcohol, if you know it might trigger a forceful response.
Sleep Adjustment:
Your sleep cycle is greatly affected when you quit smoking and it adds up to the withdrawal symptoms. Some people experience a gradual decline in their sleeping hours. While others experience a rise in their sleeping hours. This is so much that even 16-18 hours of sleep, doesn’t rid them of the exhaustion they feel during their waking hours. However, if your sleep cycle is disrupt, don’t panic. Try to reorient your mindset with the way your body is readjusting. It will take time for your body to operate without the aid of a stimulant as powerful as nicotine, hence you need to be patient. The sleep your body requires as an ex-smoker isn’t the normal amount of sleep, but a withdrawal-induced amount of sleep.
Regulating Your Emotions:
Regulating your emotions is extremely important for a person experiencing withdrawal symptoms. They might experience a range of emotions that might come in stages. These stages is analyze by drawing parallels to the five stages. This is grief, namely denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
- Denial – denial is the first emotion that a person going through a withdrawal period might experience. This emotion lures you into relapse where you try to convince yourself that your life as a smoker was better and you felt great having cigarettes are a part of your life.
- Anger – anger is one of the most difficult emotions to deal with during withdrawal. Anger also makes way for other negative emotions like frustration, irritability, sudden mood swings, etc.
- Bargaining – if you give in to anger, then you experience bargaining, where you try to fool yourself into thinking “one cigarette won’t hurt” or “I can smoke today, and quit tomorrow.” Entertaining these thoughts can be extremely detrimental to your quitting journey.
- Depression – once you successfully overcome the bargaining stage, it is followed by depression, where you surrender to the fact that you are never going to smoke again. Once this realization comes, you may experience sadness. You may start missing the time when you smoked, or your life as a smoker.
Acceptance – Acceptance is the final stage of regulating your emotions, and it is extremely liberating. Acceptance comes with clarity and a feeling of relief. It puts things into perspective, where you are able to see the difference between your life as an ex-smoker and as a smoker. Your emotions become more manageable once you reach this stage.
