A game to kill nicotine receptors

[seamac]

Hi,

I just read again some information about how smoking increases the number of nicotine repeptors in our brains.  I must have hundreds of millions of them!!  This got me to thinking that it might be fun and helpful to come up with a game or chart to "kill" a few each day I protect my quit.  Wondering if anyone has done anything like this, if so how did you design it, what did you use?  It could be as simple as a big piece of paper covered in dots that represent the reseptors that get crossed off daily but that seems kind of lame...Also any idea how long it really takes for one receptor to die (so to speak) ?  Just thought we might have some fun coming up with ideas and another small reward for one more day smoke free.  

Thanks, seamac

[hwc]

The number and sensitivity of nicotine receptors in the brain returns to normal within three to six weeks after the last use of nicotine.

It's a key to the healing process. Until those receptors have returned to normal, the everyday things that produce a dopamine reward and feeling of satisfaction (a good meal, a drink of water, a warm blanket, completing a task, etc.) can't give the nicotine addict a psycholical feeling of contentment.

[seamac]

Thanks for the data on how soon the receptors return to normal, not much of a game there!!  LOL  

Glad those other things can give a physical feeling of contentment.  

[hwc]

That's what the receptors are there for in normal people. In nicotine addicts, the drug hijacks the receptors so they aren't available for what they are normally intended. It's a pure fluke of nature that the nicotine molecule is almost identical to the brain chemical that normally binds to these receptors. That's why nicotine is addictive.

In normal people (non-smokers, ex-smokers), the feeling of contentment from doing certain things (eating, drinking, etc.) is a survival mechanism. It's the way the brain teaches us to do those things again. 

When nicotine hijacks this system, it turns it against us and instead teaches us to smoke again. All day, every day, thousands of times a year, our brains own survival instincts are being used against us to reinforce the need to get the drug.That's why we don't believe we can live without smoking...

[marie126]

I am guesing it would be hard to determine how long it takes for a receptor to die but you could base progrss on intenisty of withdrawal symptoms. I have found several apps that let you rate your withdrawal symptoms. 

Nicotine receptors take over a month to normlize after quitting according to this resource.

http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/freedom-smoking/nicotine-receptors-take-over-month-normalize-...

[hwc]

Yeah, the studies have involved brain scans that show receptor activity at points in time after quitting smoking. The tests are crazy expensive and the studies have been quite small in terms of the number of people, so it's hard to say that they have firm numbers. 3 to 6 weeks is about the best estimate. In the studies, the people tested at 6 weeks weren't tested at 4 weeks, so there's some wiggle room. And, I'm sure it's progressive, not like turning on a light switch.

Those timeframes certainly jive with my own personal experience. The first week off nicotine was occasionally intense craving. Weeks 2, 3, and 4 just felt empty. It wasn't a struggle not to smoke, but food didn't taste good. I just felt "blah". That makes perfect sense. No nicotine to fire the dopamine/receptors, but the receptors hadn't recovered enough so that food, drink, and normal stuff made me feel content. 

That started to change after the first month.

All in all, it wasn't horrible or anything, but it really helps to understand that there are real physical changes that occur with the addiction and with kicking the addiction.

[Giulia]

A link I just found while googling how long nicotine receptors last in the brain - this  from the Mayo Clinic.  And I was very surprised when I got to the bottom of it to find that it was written by none other than our dear Dr. Hurt, former specialist on the site:    in-response-to-high-levels-of-nicotine/

[hwc]

Dr. Hurt pulls just a teensy weensy little slight of hand with this statement:

The good news is that once you stop smoking entirely, the number of nicotine receptors in your brain will eventually return to normal. As that happens, the craving response will occur less often, won't last as long or be as intense and, in time, will fade away completely.

The nicotine receptors in the brain don't eventually return to normal when you quit smoking unless you also quit taking nicotine in any form. Nicotine from snuff or cigars or snus or nicotine gum or e cigs or nicotine patches or nicotine inhalers or nicotine lozenges will keep hijacking the brain receptors just like cigarettes. 

The $64,000 question? Can you really stop craving cigarettes until those nicotine receptors have returned to normal? I know for a fact that you can completely stop craving cigarettes after those receptors have returned to normal. I think a lot of people here know that to be a fact. What I don't know is what happens if you keep those receptors hijacked with nicotine?

Is President Obama still having to gut it out on willpower to not smoke cigarettes since he is still using nicotine gum after seven years? He has said he knows not smoking will be a lifelong battle. That's not been my experience. I don't have any battle. I haven't had a crave for cigarette in seven years. It's not something I ever think about.

[pir8fan]

BUBBLE WRAP!!

[seamac]

Now this is in the spirit of a game!  Plus a great stress reliever...Thanks for seeing that I was just trying to have a little fun and lighten the mood.