Thanks for that information Brenna, I think this is a very informative thread.

 

Kelly

 

It takes 72 hours for nicotine to leave your system and nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes. It takes your body much longer to heal (ie. rid itself of CO, clean the tar out, etc) than this but it only takes 72 hours for your body to physically remove the addictive substance of nicotine from your blood stream.

When nicotine enters the body it goes into the blood stream and travels to the brain where it attaches itself to the nicotine receptors stimulating the release of serotonin and other neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters create a ‘feel good’ feeling in the body and add to the enjoyment of smoking. It takes a while to re-train your body to release such chemicals without cigarettes. This is one of the reasons that we encourage exercise (also releases neurotransmitters), rewards and engaging in other pleasurable activities.

Hey Guys,

I think Ron and Patrick are both right.

 

Some of the chemicals in your body take longer then others to get out.  You body is adjusting to the shock of all this.

Your body and your moods are going through major changes and your body is not happy with you right now.  It is feeling deprived.  That is why the cravings are still there.  And the fact that the habit is still there.  You need to work at changing the habit.  It takes time and fighting the craves is work, but for every crave you work your way through, the craves get weaker and you get stronger.  Don't give up just take them one crave at a time and you will come out a winner.  Just watch your quit meter keep growing everyday, that really motivated me.

 

Beckylynn

I hope the mods will clear this up... but I think that Ron has a good explanation rather than my assumption that "after 72 hours it's all just psychological"...?

 

Patrick

Hi Bgains,

I think many people misunderstand about nicotine and cravings, and why you feel more cravings after the 72 hours.  I don't know all the stats but I have taken classes in addiction etc. There are two things going on in your body. One is the nicotine in your system. The other is the receptors that your have built up over time.  What I think happens is that you get rid of nicotine pretty quickly in the body but you have built up many receptors in your brain that have fed off the nicotine you've taken up over the years. The receptors have built up and become your body's  coping mechanism for dealing with everyday issues of life. They are still there waiting for more nicotine, and that's where I think the cravings are coming from.  Normally if you didn't have the nicotine receptors, your body would have other mechanisms to deal with your everyday stresses. But when you've smoked for some time then you have these built in these nicotine receptors that have substituted to cope with managing your everyday stresses etc. The way I understand it is that the nicotine receptors act as a stimulus barrier. Most people who are having a problem with addiction of cigarettes is they have a very low threshold to stimuluses that come into your life.  So with everyday stresses in life the nicotine receptors have functioned to quickly block the stimulus.   When nicotine is removed from the system the stimulus becomes very strong and the body has no way to deal with the overload of stimulus. Many people drink, exercise, or do other things to shift the body to deal with the overload.  As time goes by the receptors will finally die away and the system will return to normal and have a better capability to handle the stimulus coming in. But for most people this is difficult because with all the stresses of modern society.  The blocking of the stimulus becomes quite an addictive way to deal with every day stresses.  And when people try to quit smoking they feel they are falling apart and it can be very uncomfortable.  The way most get through it is over time. They body will finally shut down the nicotine receptors and the original receptors that you used to use will fill the void once again.  It's quite complicated but it comes down to removing nicotine from your body until your body can re adjust, which is much longer than just getting rid of nicotine in the body.  I'm just a lay person so I'm only going on what i have read in the past.