What is a craving?
As a tobacco user, your brain has established balance with a drug onboard. When drug levels decline, the result is a craving. A craving is simply an intense desire to satisfy in unfulfilled state. The unfulfilled state only occurs as a result of you beginning to smoke in the first place. Nonsmokers or social smokers don’t experience regular, intense cravings because the drug didn’t change their chemistry i.e. create an unfulfilled state. Experimenting with any drug is a slippery slope because there is no way to predict what amount of use will cause the chemical change.
What is a withdrawal symptom?
People aren’t crabby, bitchy and mean when they quit smoking simply because they are disappointed to be giving up cigarettes. As a smoker you have trained your brain to function on a drug. Quitting smoking disrupts the balance that exists causing an uncomfortable transition period. Examples of nicotine withdrawal symptoms are irritability, anxiety, tension, short-temper, inability to focus and depressed mood. It is the escalation of an unsatisfied craving. Withdrawal symptoms are a combination of your physical and emotional reactions to sustained abstinence of nicotine.
How long will it last?
The intensity and length of this response varies significantly from person to person. The physical transition period is over in a week. Nicotine is out of your body and your blood is clean! The emotional transition period lasts longer; about a month. It’s difficult to differentiate between physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms during the first week because they can feel similar. But if a relapse occurs after a week, a dangerous thought went unattended and spiraled out of control, which is very different from a physical craving for the drug. That’s why relapse prevention is so important and why we make such a fuss about it. Bad things can happen very quickly if you don’t contain a dangerous thought.
Why did an intense craving return out of the blue?
This is also about chemistry. When both physical and emotional withdrawal periods have ended, there is still concern. A third head of the monster can surface seemingly out of nowhere. It can happen if you are with a smoker you don’t see often or when you feel a certain way that is less frequent (grieving a loss/death, for example). In these cases, neuropathways in your brain are firing off a signal to smoke that can be pretty intense. But remember, after a week it is not a physical need for the drug; it is a very strong memory of how/when you used to use nicotine.
What can I do about it?
Nicotine withdrawal symptoms can be so intense that they are disruptive to the daily lives of individuals trying to quit smoking. Many smokers have difficulty performing their jobs or even caring for their children because of irritability, temper, confusion and loss of focus. You may feel justified in putting off quitting smoking if it interferes with your job or the safety of your kids. Similarly, an emotional craving can poison your mind so quickly that using again seems like the only way forward. But there IS something you can do about it.
Preparing for quitting, and planning ahead for how to deal with thoughts and cravings when they arise, is the answer. Lack of preparation and planning are the reasons success rates with even the best tools are low with tobacco cessation. At Alpha Lifestyle Center for Nicotine Addiction there is a strong emphasis on these proven strategies. It is also the reason we are developing a longer-term, more intense coaching program that we hope to launch in early 2020.
What sets Alpha Lifestyle Center apart?
In a word? Everything. This program is an original. Have you ever talked with a Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist? It’s unlikely. Have you ever really discussed your feelings about smoking with anyone impartial? Probably not. If you have attended smoking cessation classes in the past, you probably didn’t enjoy much personal attention. And you probably didn’t find the delivery and tone of the information particularly inspiring or refreshing.
We have over 33 years of experience working to help individuals overcome a dependency on nicotine products. In Michigan since 2006, we have made a commitment to developing the best approach, using a combination of strategies driven by the understanding that there is no cookie-cutter way to approach nicotine addiction and that every client deserves a customized plan.
In the past decade this program has never looked the same year over year. And you have my commitment to never let up making program improvements and discovering ways to provide the best support possible for our customers.
Oh, and Yes! There is still a laser treatment. But we no longer believe that a “laser stop smoking” program is an accurate description. We are, and we offer, SO MUCH MORE! Think you’ve tried everything to quit smoking? That’s impossible is you haven’t talked with us. Please make sure read our reviews on Google and Facebook and visit the Testimonials page on our website to hear what others have to say about us.
Call us. There is no sales pitch. We will help you decide it we’re a good fit.
And congratulations! If you are reading this, you have already taken action on your addiction by exploring resources to help you with quitting. Did you know that self-quit success rates are only 2%-4%? That’s not very reassuring. Seeking help DOUBLES your chances of success. What’s more: counseling and coaching are PROVEN to help you. For more information or to speak with a quit specialist, call 248-594-1303.
