Great American Smokeout: When Nicotine Receptors Must Die

As I was spending some time with my oldest son a few days ago, we observed a man driving by in his car, windows down, smoke pouring out, cigarette in hand. I kinda chuckled and turned to my son and said, "That used to be me." He looked at me and said with a grin, "I know, mom, and now when I think of you smoking in the house or the car or when I see other people doing it, it just doesn't even make any sense!" For a few moments there, I felt very, very proud of myself.

Then, I snapped back to reality. I may not smoke in my house or in my car, but I still smoke. I don't carry my cigarettes or lighter around with me, but I know that once I get back home they will be waiting for me on the shelf in my garage, and all I have to do is grab one, step out the side door, and light it up! Man.

My goal was to quit smoking altogether on the 35th Annual Great American Smoke Out last year. I quit for an entire 38 hours, and then I just "had" to light up. You can read all about that time in my other blog - Great American Smokeout: The Next 48 Hours. Again...man. Talk about some disappointment. *SIGH*

For whatever it might be worth, I can say that I have definitely changed the way I smoke in the past five months, which has proved to be a challenge all of itself. I don't smoke in the house, don't smoke in the car, don't smoke anywhere but right there on the side of the house in the "smoking area". I don't carry my cigarettes and lighter around with me anywhere - they stay right there on the shelf in my garage. I don't have a brand loyalty - as a matter of fact, I think that in the past five months I have smoke practically every single type of cigarette known to man...an exaggeration, of course, but I have sure smoked a lot of different kinds of cigarettes!

Additionally, I have changed the amount I smoke. I now smoke much less than I did before. Before the Great American Smoke Out 2010, I was smoking anywhere from a pack to a pack and a half of full-flavor menthol Newports per day. According to a report I found online regarding the nicotine and tar amounts in cigarettes (Erowid Tobacco Vault : Info on Nicotine Content of Cigarette Brands), full-flavored menthol Newports (what I smoked for 20 years) have one of the highest tar and nicotine amounts of any cigarette available! YUCK! Now, I smoke about one pack of light or ultra-light cigarettes every 2 - 3 days.

I am typically considered a smart person...(either that or everybody just lies to me because I'm too incredibly stupid to realize it), but I choose to believe that I am indeed fairly smart. I also know that I am strong, capable, persistent, and determined. So, why, then is it so darn hard to quit smoking? I mean, surely a person with the above mentioned qualities can figure out a way to quit smoking!! Sheesh! I mean, I always want to quit smoking (usually WHILE I'm smoking), but when those nicotine withdrawals start kicking, I give in. Not every single time, but more times than I care to admit.

Nicotine Withdrawals

So, I started doing a little more research about nicotine withdrawals and how nicotine affects the body in general. This video illustrates how our brains have receptors in which nicotine fits perfectly. Not only the that...the more we feed our body nicotine, the more nicotine receptors are "born". When we deprive our body of nicotine by say, for instance, quitting smoking, the nicotine receptors start screaming at us for their nicotine fix.

If we give in and feed the body nicotine, then the misbehaving receptors in our brain calm down quickly. If we starve our body of nicotine, then the misbehaving receptors still calm down, but usually not before we get a headache, or start sweating, or get irritable, or shaky, or any other number of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Additionally, if we continue to starve our bodies of nicotine, the the nicotine receptors slowly begin to die off.

Habit

Another reason that it is so hard to quit is simply the force of habit itself. Think about anything in your life that you have ever tried to change. Maybe at one time you decided you wanted to change how much you weigh or your overall level of personal fitness. Perhaps, you may have wanted to leave an unhealthy relationship, or move to a new town, or quit a dead end job. Or perhaps you can remember taking the bottle away from one of your children or know somebody who has done so. The point is...change is hard. Period.

In his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey defines "habit as the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire. Now, I have the knowledge I need to know how to quit smoking. I could simply just not light the next one. Or I could just not buy another pack. I even know that smoking cigarettes hurts me. As for skill to quit smoking, I have that too. I am capable of not lighting another cigarette. I am even capable of not buying another pack. It's the road of desire that I haven't reached yet. I do desire to quit smoking. I just don't desire to go through the hell I feel when those nicotine withdrawals start kicking my butt.

I have made so much progress in my journey toward quitting smoking that I just don't see how I can give up now. Even though I have still been smoking in the five months since the last Great American Smoke Out, I have certainly changed many of my habits, and I have made a lot of headway on my journey to becoming a non-smoker.

So, I have decided to try a nicotine withdrawal aid. I have already tried the patches (not this time - a different time that I tried to quit), and they didn't work for me. I have also tried some pill that my doctor prescribed for me (again, not this time - but a different time) and that didn't work either. This time, I have considered trying the gum or the lozenges, but I have heard that they taste pretty disgusting, and I don't even wanna go there. So, I decided to try the electronic cigarette.

I did a little bit of researching online and decided to go with Prime Vapor electronic cigarette. I am pleased to report that as of the time I am finishing up typing this hub, I have gone one entire day without smoking. That in itself isn't the miracle. The miracle is that I have been relatively stress, craving, and urge free all day!! Don't get me wrong...I have definitely had some stress, cravings, and urges tempting me to smoke, but nothing, nothing at all like I experienced during The Great American Smoke Out and The Next 48 Hours!! I actually feel like this might work!

Then, of course, there is the the gum and mints that I carry around in my purse and take with me everywhere. When I am out an about in public, the gum and mints really help to get me through. On top of that, I have found some lip balm that I think is absolutely excellent - Aquafina Lip Balm - and it comes in several different flavors. The funny thing about it is that the lip balm is about the size of a cigarette.

In addition, I have been eating healthier. I have been eating more fruits and vegetables, and I have been reading up on foods that help to increase dopamine levels in the brain. So, not only does the healthier eating serve to help me not gain to much weight when I put down the cigarettes, but the healthy eating helps me not crave as much because in essence the food is doing what the cigarettes used to do.

Also, I must must must get into an exercise routine. Not only will this help to increase the dopamine levels in my brain (the same thing that happens when I get nicotine to my brain), but it will help me to set a better example for my children. I hope that if I can teach them the importance and benefit of exercise when the are young they won't have to struggle with figuring that all out when they become adults. Plus, exercise just makes the body feel better and stronger all over.

I am determined to keep on quitting smoking until I actually quit smoking...if that even makes any sense. I mean, it makes sense to me, but I'm not sure if it makes sense to anybody else. I don't want to smoke anymore, and I am going to figure out whatever I have to do so that I can quit doing it...without killing myself or anybody else, of course!!

For everyone else out there who maybe has tried to quit smoking and been surprised and just how hard it is...I urge you to keep on quitting, too!! If nothing else, look forward to this year's Great American Smoke Out, which will be held this year on November 17, 2011 - one week before Thanksgiving. Give yourself, your family, and your friends something else to be truly thankful about this year. Commit to your health. Commit to yourself. Commit to quit! I have. I hope you will, too!

Blessings...