I begin each day perched on my sixth floor patio with a trifecta of “Joes”: a cup of coffee, a cigarette, and myself.
When my roommate Joe comes to join me for a cigarette, it’s a sight for the rest of the world to behold from six stories down.
My hobby of smoking tobacco began just a year ago, a short stint for anyone who considers themselves a smoker.
Concerned friends and family often asked me why I started to smoke so relatively late in my life. It wasn’t for looks, style, a girl, or to relieve any Hurricane Katrina induced stress.
The depressingly nerdy truth is that I blame Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood foremost and second, myself, for chasing that elusive nicotine buzz.
I’ve since long finished that book and accumulated an unholy tolerance for nicotine. Now, is the time to stop – for good this time – and do it my way. Cigarettes are still a valuable tool for society.
Tobacco is among the few legal recreational drugs available to every willing adult.
Nicotine is and will always be an extremely addicting substance. For these two reasons, millions of smokers in America can, whether they know it or not, empathize with “hard drug” addicts.
Cravings, withdrawals and satisfaction are three sensations they share everyday. Last, I stand by every assertion in my Dec. 5 article “The benefits and lessons of smoking” extolling the intangible benefits of cigarette smoking. Breaking the nicotine addiction as swiftly as possible is the first priority of any would-be ex-smoker.
Some ration themselves to a dwindling number of cigarettes a day, many use “Nicotine Replacement Therapy” such as gum, lozenges, and patches.
Each method is fundamentally mistaken. Nicotine is completely flushed from the body in approximately seventy-two hours and physical withdrawal symptoms peak during this time.
Unlike heroin and alcohol withdrawals, these symptoms are neither life-threatening or especially intense.
The sooner a smoker can conquer the physical effects of nicotine withdrawal, the real work of breaking psychological triggers, routines, and rationalizations can begin. A wide body of literature documenting the psychological reasons for smoking and remedies against relapsing already exist.
It’s all good advice, but there are other distractions and coping mechanisms that are glossed over.
The key to getting through those 72 hellish hours is replacing one addiction with another: video games. I needed a game that was engrossing, fun and provided at least three days worth of attention. Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Sid Meier’s Civilization IV fit the bill exactly.
The former is a single player role playing game with a well-written story line, loads of side-quests to undertake and enough complexity without being a drain on its fun factor. All in all, a novice player will find it impossible to devour all the unique content Baldur’s Gate II provides inside of three days. If video games aren’t your bag, then concentrate on listening intently to music.
Professor David Huron documented the effects of listening to “awe inspiring music” on a listener’s brain.
He found that goose bumps and feelings of pleasure were the result of music stimulating parts of the nervous system responsible for “fight or flight” responses.
Nicotine has been documented to work in much the same way. Think of it as another smokeless tobacco product without the mess. Speaking of drugs, there are a number of cheap and safe supplements to ease withdrawal symptoms with.
Recovering the body from nicotine addiction involves not only the heart and lungs, but the brain as well.
Nicotine reward pathways wired in the smoker’s brain are perhaps the best offensive weapon for getting you to smoke again. Repairing these pathways, tangibly or by way of placebo, is key. Consider taking Piracetam alongside a regular vitamin and Omega 3 regimen everyday.
Piracetam works by stimulating acetylcholine production in the brain.
Nicotine acts on those exact receptors. When quitting smoking, common symptoms involve difficulty concentrating and general anxiety.
I’ve found that using Piracetam substantially lessens these withdrawal symptoms.
Piracetam can be purchased at many vitamin shops and online retailers such as BulkNutrition.com Perhaps the most difficult aspect of quitting is the social bond that only addictive substances can forge.
Slow burning brands can provide at least ten solid minutes of break time while at work.
Alcohol and tobacco are so readily combined not despite, but because of their differing properties.
A glass of whiskey and a cigarette can be thought of as a legal, safer, albeit still unhealthy, “speed ball.”
A pot of coffee and a pack of cigarettes are two stimulants that go well together.
Cannabis accentuates and exaggerates the pleasurable effects of tobacco in even the most tolerant users. All these reasons show how difficult breaking the psychological addiction to tobacco can be.
However, they are surmountable if you remind yourself of the sober reasons for quitting smoking. I know I will.
—Contact Joseph Ruchalski at [email protected]