I have quit now for 3 days and have made through one crisis already without smoking. I have been researching brain chemistry for about 20 years now. I have always wanted to know how brain chemistry interplays with our moods. I am not a scientist or anything, it just fascinates me. I do know that when our brain senses an imbalance it will set up cravings to ingest food, drugs or indulge in a pleasurable activity to restore that balance. It happens without any concious thought and can be incredibly powerful. Whatever the addiction--smoking, sex, shopping, gambling, ect.) the mechanisms of the brain to be satisfied (in the form of great-feeling endorphins) is the same.
Right now it is really helping me to know that this addiction is not a personal weakness. It is a very real consequence to withdrawal. I picture all of those neurotransmitters trying to sort themselves out to their original configuration--the way nature intended us to be.
I am using Nicotrol NS (the nasal spray). It is very intense for me when it gets aborbed and reminds of lighting up the cigarette. It really helps tremendously. I fall asleep with a nicotinge lozenge in my cheek so that when I wake up, I am not in intense craving mode. I quit 14 years ago this way when I had planned my last pregnancy and it worked. I know it can be done, but it is still really hard. Visulizing in mind what is really taking place on a cellular level helps me distance my emotions from the pain of withdrawal.
Hope this can help somebody else out there.
Cynthia
