Photo illustration by Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
When nicotine cravings kick in, healthy snacks and medications such as Zyban can help.

Hard habit to break

Withdrawal makes battle against smoking even tougher

STORIES BY JIM CARLILE, THE OLYMPIAN

If you want to quit smoking, the first few days won't be pleasant. Expect any or all of these symptoms: nausea, diarrhea, falling blood pressure, insomnia, irritability, anxiety and depression.

"A drug is a drug is a drug," said Jeanne Guill, who started a Nicotine Anonymous group in Lacey and who hasn't smoked since Sept. 15, 2000. "It's the hardest thing I've ever done."

The things people do to get their nicotine, she said, are so insane that she has to laugh about it now.

"I lost a sister in June to lung cancer," Guill said. "My sisters and I would go see her in the hospital and then go outside and smoke cigarettes."

Such is the nature of addiction.

Simply put, nicotine is addictive and it creates a chemical dependency. Once you are addicted, your body develops a need for a certain level of nicotine at all times. Unless you maintain that level, you will begin to go through withdrawal.

For tobacco users trying to quit, symptoms of withdrawal from nicotine are unpleasant and stressful -- but temporary. According to WebMD.com, most withdrawal symptoms peak 48 hours after you quit and are completely gone within about six months.

A three-part habit

According to the Foundation for Innovations in Nicotine Dependence, there are three aspects of using tobacco that may make it difficult to quit:

-The habit or familiar routine.

-The mental attitude that one needs to smoke to cope with problems or stress.

-The chemical reactions in a smoker's brain that create nicotine's pleasurable and rewarding effects, and lead to an addictive need for more nicotine.

John Mark-ham of Olympia, a 13-year veteran of a stop-smoking support group at Providence St. Peter Hospital, said nicotine affects everyone in a different way.

"It's just the addiction -- everyone goes through it in a different way. I didn't realize how different people were until I got into this program," he said.

One woman from his group 10 years ago got so agitated she beat on her husband until her kids called the police. Some people sit in meetings and cry at the thought of quitting.

Then there are people like Paul Robischon, who had smoked for 25 years and quit without any withdrawal symptoms after a prayer.

"When I got up from that time of prayer, I never had any desire for a cigarette again," he said.

Cravings that crush you

Alicia Saltmarsh of Olym-pia is only a few days into quitting, but for the month before her last cigarette, she only had one a day. It was then that she went through the worst cravings, she said.

"There was a lot of sobbing," Saltmarsh said. "I'd just have to try and sit through the cravings and make myself not get up and pace around."

The worst cravings are at night for her -- after dinner and again after the late-night news.

Just as other addicts need heroin or cocaine to feel normal, a smoker needs nicotine in his or her system to feel normal. Without it, someone who is addicted can't think of much else.

"You get to a point where you can't even concentrate and all you can think about is a cigarette," Markham said of when he quit 13 years ago. "It was the worst when I was at work. I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing there."

He assures us, though, that it does get better.

"As time goes on, the urges get farther and farther apart," he said.

Dale Corbins, a member of Markham's group who hasn't smoked since March 15, 1991, said he quit after a heart attack brought on by smoking. While in the hospital, though, he could hardly wait to get out and have a cigarette.

"Withdrawal was quite difficult, and the urges were extreme," he said. "I was awfully tempted but kept thinking about what I had just been through. I had a lot of support from my wife, though."

A half-gallon of ice cream a day also helped, he said.

Finding support

If you read last week's story, you'd know that it looks pretty dismal for people trying to quit -- almost everyone starts back. Those who have stayed off nicotine for several years, though, say it's worth the brief misery of withdrawal.

Some of the mental withdrawal can be eased with sugarless gum, toothpicks, carrots and a number of other folksy remedies. Some of the physical withdrawal can be eased by nicotine gum or patches or prescription drugs such as Zyban.

Guill said it also helps to just talk about it, which is where groups such as Nicotine Anonymous and support groups such as the one at St. Peter's help.

"We mostly give everybody a chance to talk and tell what they've been doing and how things have been going with them," Markham said. "Everybody has various suggestions, and what happens is those listening might hear something that will work for them."

Even if the method is made up by the smoker, it could still work, Saltmarsh said.

"I know this will be tremendously hard," she said three days into it. "But right now I feel pretty good."

Jim Carlile writes for The Olympian. He can be reached at 357-0204.

About this series

Today's stories are the second installment in a six-week series about quitting smoking. Three Olympian staff members have decided to quit smoking and will share their experiences each week of the process. The series also will cover topics related to successful quitting.

- Last week: Quitting isn't the problem, it's staying cigarette-free.

- This week: Withdrawal symptoms.

- Next week: Teen smoking.

- Fourth week: Lifetime smokers who persist despite health problems.

- Fifth week: The image of smoking in society.

- Sixth week: Free at last: Smokers who have quit for years share how they did it.

Let us know

If you have suggestions for these topics or want to share your smoking story, call Jim Carlile at 357-0204 or send him an e-mail at jcarlile@olympia.gannett.com.

On the web:

Washington State Department of Health (www.doh.wa.gov/Tobacco/default.htm).

The Olympian Copyright 2000

back to main Special Report: Quitting smoking index