There is a sense of achievement in what I have done, and I am not boasting. I have stayed quit (smoking) for 10 days; and however few the days may seem, for a man who couldn't quit for three decades, it's quite a bit to have been able to keep the nicotine stick away for so long -- and that too without a craving for it. I know the habit's gone for good!
But while that withdrawal (the craving for a cigarette) never haunted me, a slew of others are even as I write here.
I had heard about appetite improving post kicking the habit. Oops! "Improving" is too gentle a word. In my case, I often end up having two or more lunches and innumerable snacking opportunities through the day, which I don't fail to exploit. Friends and colleagues who have been this way, warn me of a sudden paunch blooming because of overeating. Now that's a scare for me.
I don't know why appetite increases when you stop smoking. There are different reasons attributed to the phenomenon. One says that the brain wants the mouth to remain active, and one way is for the hands to keep pumping in morsels of food into the buccal cavity before the chewing and the swallowing happens. But I know there is a more metabolic reason to it than just a mechanical one, and that the draining out of drug nicotine from the blood has something to do with the hunger burst.
Now, the absence of nicotine has also got me in another spot. If I sit too long doing nothing, I easily slip into a doze mode. And if I don't doze off then there are two other problems -- the dizziness and the incapability to focus or concentrate on the job on hand.
These were evident since the day after I quit cigarettes. I initially wondered whether there was something wrong with my overall health parameters. Until, of course, a little search on the Net led me to assuring explanations by Canada's The Lung Association, which has a line under its mast that says: "When you can't breathe, nothing else matters." (http://www.lung.ca)
It explained that dizziness is because the airways inside the lung are getting cleared of the tar and muck left behind by the residual action of inhaling cigarette smoke. The result is that more oxygen is being inhaled than before and the brain is getting more of it causing you a buzz. The feeling is much like taking in too many deep breaths and feeling that buzz in which you ears start mildly ringing and everything starts appearing brighter than normal, and of course, the swoon. That has been happening now and then to me and I have to be extra careful on the bike while riding.
Well, the sleepiness and the lack of concentration is because nicotine, the stimulant, is no longer in my bloodstream, and there is nothing to replace that drug in my body to keep me as awake as I used to be when I smoked. "Nicotine is a stimulant. it keeps your body and brain alert. Your body is now learning how to stay alert without nicotine," it said, and gave me 2-4 weeks' time for me to get over these withdrawal symptoms.
And I had become irritable too. My colleagues and family were taking the brunt of it when I decided I had to do something about it. I actually could do nothing much except read it up; and that again pointed to my body's craving for nicotine. Although I could resist temptations to smoke, my brain and body were secretly acting otherwise which culminated in shorter tempers and mood swings.
Wow! I never realised that a drug kept me alert and that I was so dependent on it that the lack of it was now making me angry. I never realised it even when I criticised heroin addicts and those dependent on psychotropic drugs. I never realised how hypocritical I had been in the ignorance about my own predicament. I was just as hooked as they were. And I had absolutely no moral authority to comment/criticise their habits when I mindlessly continued with mine.
Many years ago, when I started smoking in college in Bombay (mid-1980s) at a time when college students were falling victims to drug and chemical substance abuse in the megalopolis, I had no idea that a much less threatening habit like smoking cigarettes could end me up with withdrawals if I quit down the line.
I had seen at least two of my very close friends being victimised by drug abuse -- one died of overdose at her residence in her bathroom; the other survived, although after a long and painful rehab stint (he's up and fine now). I wish the one who didn't survive saw it coming early and had taken evasive action, as did the other one. But she like thousands of others fell for it. I am glad I didn't; so, I am sure, is the other friend who survived.
Wisdom often comes too late. My decision to quit smoking was borne out of that impulsive late emergent wisdom, no matter what the withdrawals. I take strength from that drug abuse survivor friend in Bombay (Mumbai) who suffered such horrendous withdrawals that mine, due to quitting cigarettes, are not even a patch on his.
Now, as I cruise through my withdrawals (some good, like I get to eat more), I know I will end up a much fitter, happier individual than what I had been for three decades. Three decades! What a waste! Why didn't I realise then that the apparently simple act of breathing clean is the essential seed to healthy living. Why didn't I realise then that when you can't breathe proper, nothing else matters. If you gotta quit, you gotta quit!
Here's one arena where quitters are heroes. And I feel like one albeit a bit too late in life after sending 30 precious years of my life up in smoke.
But while that withdrawal (the craving for a cigarette) never haunted me, a slew of others are even as I write here.
I had heard about appetite improving post kicking the habit. Oops! "Improving" is too gentle a word. In my case, I often end up having two or more lunches and innumerable snacking opportunities through the day, which I don't fail to exploit. Friends and colleagues who have been this way, warn me of a sudden paunch blooming because of overeating. Now that's a scare for me.
I don't know why appetite increases when you stop smoking. There are different reasons attributed to the phenomenon. One says that the brain wants the mouth to remain active, and one way is for the hands to keep pumping in morsels of food into the buccal cavity before the chewing and the swallowing happens. But I know there is a more metabolic reason to it than just a mechanical one, and that the draining out of drug nicotine from the blood has something to do with the hunger burst.
Now, the absence of nicotine has also got me in another spot. If I sit too long doing nothing, I easily slip into a doze mode. And if I don't doze off then there are two other problems -- the dizziness and the incapability to focus or concentrate on the job on hand.
These were evident since the day after I quit cigarettes. I initially wondered whether there was something wrong with my overall health parameters. Until, of course, a little search on the Net led me to assuring explanations by Canada's The Lung Association, which has a line under its mast that says: "When you can't breathe, nothing else matters." (http://www.lung.ca)
It explained that dizziness is because the airways inside the lung are getting cleared of the tar and muck left behind by the residual action of inhaling cigarette smoke. The result is that more oxygen is being inhaled than before and the brain is getting more of it causing you a buzz. The feeling is much like taking in too many deep breaths and feeling that buzz in which you ears start mildly ringing and everything starts appearing brighter than normal, and of course, the swoon. That has been happening now and then to me and I have to be extra careful on the bike while riding.
Well, the sleepiness and the lack of concentration is because nicotine, the stimulant, is no longer in my bloodstream, and there is nothing to replace that drug in my body to keep me as awake as I used to be when I smoked. "Nicotine is a stimulant. it keeps your body and brain alert. Your body is now learning how to stay alert without nicotine," it said, and gave me 2-4 weeks' time for me to get over these withdrawal symptoms.
And I had become irritable too. My colleagues and family were taking the brunt of it when I decided I had to do something about it. I actually could do nothing much except read it up; and that again pointed to my body's craving for nicotine. Although I could resist temptations to smoke, my brain and body were secretly acting otherwise which culminated in shorter tempers and mood swings.
Wow! I never realised that a drug kept me alert and that I was so dependent on it that the lack of it was now making me angry. I never realised it even when I criticised heroin addicts and those dependent on psychotropic drugs. I never realised how hypocritical I had been in the ignorance about my own predicament. I was just as hooked as they were. And I had absolutely no moral authority to comment/criticise their habits when I mindlessly continued with mine.
Many years ago, when I started smoking in college in Bombay (mid-1980s) at a time when college students were falling victims to drug and chemical substance abuse in the megalopolis, I had no idea that a much less threatening habit like smoking cigarettes could end me up with withdrawals if I quit down the line.
I had seen at least two of my very close friends being victimised by drug abuse -- one died of overdose at her residence in her bathroom; the other survived, although after a long and painful rehab stint (he's up and fine now). I wish the one who didn't survive saw it coming early and had taken evasive action, as did the other one. But she like thousands of others fell for it. I am glad I didn't; so, I am sure, is the other friend who survived.
Wisdom often comes too late. My decision to quit smoking was borne out of that impulsive late emergent wisdom, no matter what the withdrawals. I take strength from that drug abuse survivor friend in Bombay (Mumbai) who suffered such horrendous withdrawals that mine, due to quitting cigarettes, are not even a patch on his.
Now, as I cruise through my withdrawals (some good, like I get to eat more), I know I will end up a much fitter, happier individual than what I had been for three decades. Three decades! What a waste! Why didn't I realise then that the apparently simple act of breathing clean is the essential seed to healthy living. Why didn't I realise then that when you can't breathe proper, nothing else matters. If you gotta quit, you gotta quit!
Here's one arena where quitters are heroes. And I feel like one albeit a bit too late in life after sending 30 precious years of my life up in smoke.
