Probably every smoker has at least once thought about the need to give up this bad habit and every second or third person tries to do it. But attempts to "tie up" are not always successful. Not everyone dares to quit smoking suddenly, and the consequences of quitting smoking can be unpredictable. Is that true? Maybe just quitting smoking once and for all is a lot. With the question of why it is impossible to abruptly quit smoking, we will understand it in this article.
Destructive nicotine
Everyone knows that smoking is dangerous, and the Ministry of Health does not tire of warning about it. But not everyone knows what harm nicotine and its breakdown products can cause to the human body. What will happen to the body if you do not stop during this time? What are the consequences of disrupting a normal lifestyle?
Smoking tobacco products can become a trigger in the development of systemic diseases, many of which are fatal. A person who is addicted to nicotine has a shorter life expectancy of almost 10 years than his non-smoking peer. The harm of smoking is obvious:
- Development of oncopathologies. Smoking is practically the leading cause of lung cancer. In addition, ingestion of saliva containing nicotine breakdown products significantly increases the risk of tumors in the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach and duodenum.
- Chronic lung disease. The well-known "smoker's bronchitis" can be complicated by such serious conditions as pulmonary emphysema, bronchiectasis, atelectasis.
- Disorders of the cardiovascular system. The increase in the load on the heart, under the influence of nicotine, leads to tachycardia, hypertension, heart attacks. There is a change in the structure of the vessel walls, the number of atherosclerotic plaques increases, the risk of blood clots and vascular obstruction increases. Deleting endarteritis develops, leading to amputation of the lower limbs.
- Due to the narrowing of the vessels in the pelvic organs, various disorders develop and premature impotence occurs in men.
- Due to the harmful effects of nicotine, retinal degeneration gradually develops, the optic nerve suffers, and the smoker risks permanently losing normal vision.
- In the same way, damage to the auditory nerve and a destructive effect on the internal structures of the hearing aid occur. In addition, the taste and smell are dull.
- The appearance of the smoker is significantly worsened, which is especially pronounced in women. The skin becomes yellowish, premature wrinkles appear, the lips become blue. In the morning you may notice that the skin of the face is swollen. All this is a characteristic "smoker's face".
In addition, nicotine darkens the teeth and bad breath occurs.
How easy is the throw?
Doctors' opinion about the abrupt cessation of smoking is also controversial. Yes, you can suddenly quit smoking and it is really much easier, but this is only if you are not a strong smoker who changes cigarette after cigarette.
People with no more than five years of smoking experience can suddenly quit smoking. This is due to the fact that during such a period of time the body still does not have time to acquire a "bouquet" of chronic diseases and the consequences of refusal will not be very pronounced.
If a person who smokes for a very long time has decided to give up the bad habit and stop smoking cigarettes, it is still better to do it gradually, as this is a very serious stress for the body, which can cause unwantedsymptoms or exacerbation of chronic diseases.
Without constant nicotine coming from outside, the body must recover as quickly as possible to produce the necessary amount of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is used to transmit neuromuscular transmissions. A smoker has received acetylcholine from cigarettes and after abrupt withdrawal with a long history of smoking, lack of acetylcholine can lead to irritability, memory impairment, lethargy, fatigue, depression. For this reason, many cannot quit smoking with a break of no more than a week.
In addition, quitting smoking immediately and suddenly makes it very difficult for psychologically and morally unprepared people to break up and buy cigarettes again.
The psychological aspect of giving up this addiction is especially important during pregnancy. The stress caused by nicotine deficiency has a strong effect on a woman's morale, but the harm from smoking is much greater. Nicotine and its tar have a toxic effect on the child's body, can lead to fading of pregnancy, birth defects. Therefore, when a woman is responsible for another life, it is worth making the right choice and abruptly quit smoking without prolonging this process.
Test of will
Is it possible to abruptly quit smoking? Quit smoking suddenly or gradually? What will happen to the body then? After abrupt cessation of smoking, a person becomes more acutely aware of everything that happens to his body, and the consequences for health can be very different. Unpleasant moments and symptoms appear in his life:
The morning cough is getting worse. This is one of the first signals of restructuring - the body tries to cleanse the lungs, get rid of the toxic and harmful components of cigarette smoke and get used to life without smoking.
General weakness and lethargy are consequences of nicotine withdrawal, which can be expressed to varying degrees in different people. But they are necessarily present in the life of a person who has given up smoking. In addition to weakness, feelings of confusion, inattention, and forgetfulness may be expressed.
With a long history of smoking, nicotine is so easily absorbed by the body that metabolic processes adapt to its constant supply. Therefore, with abrupt cessation of smoking, metabolic processes, returning to the "unusual" normal channel, can cause shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, nausea, bradycardia.
When a smoker with a lot of experience suddenly quits smoking, he has a psychological problem - he has a feeling of losing something very personal and important. That is why it is important to have the right attitude and, if necessary, work with a psychologist.
The only advantage of a sharp throw is that after experiencing the consequences in the acute period, a person begins to intensively lose the desire to drag a cigarette again. The opinion of people who have given up smoking on this issue is definite - you need to quit smoking as soon as possible and it is better to do so under the supervision of doctors. Even if you really want to smoke at this point, you have to persevere, and then the obsessive thoughts of reaching for a cigarette will appear less and less.
Withdrawal of nicotine
If you suddenly quit smoking, a stronger and younger body will more easily tolerate the lack of nicotine, it will have short-term manifestations of the above symptoms. But you can't quit smoking very abruptly in the elderly, because their defense mechanisms are weakened and nicotine withdrawal can occur. Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal:
- increased anxiety;
- uncontrolled outbursts of anger;
- severe irritability, intolerance;
- sudden mood swings with a predominance of bad;
- concentration disorders;
- insomnia;
- a constant feeling of hunger that cannot be quenched.
The condition of nicotine withdrawal can be dangerous to health, the stress experienced by the body is especially pronounced on the second or third day of quitting and especially if the smoker is a heart, he needs medication. It is therefore harmful to quit smoking abruptly.
Slowly but surely
When you gradually quit smoking, there are no severe symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Nicotine levels decrease gradually, day after day, cigarettes gradually fade into the background and then disappear forever. This method of quitting is good with a long experience in smoking, but has a significant drawback - when you gradually quit smoking, a person will still feel the desire for nicotine for a very long time, he will begin to lose weight after months. In addition, if you do not quit smoking abruptly, all the above problems will not be relevant to you.
You can deal with the bad habit of smoking, the main thing is to have the desire and set yourself up for success. If you do not have enough will to leave the pack of cigarettes aside forever, you can use a nicotine patch. To avoid the temptation to reach for a cigarette, remove all lighters and ashtrays from the house, replace them with vases of candy.
If you smoke in your company and it is very difficult to cope with the desire to smoke, try to deceive your subconscious - drink each drink through a straw.
Drink green tea more often - it will help to quickly remove toxins from the body, which means that the period of "withdrawal" will be less pronounced.
And, of course, if you decide to quit smoking abruptly, start exercising. Active movement and enough muscle load will weaken the desire for nicotine, prevent weight gain, improve your well-being and lift your spirits.