The Stop Smoking Handbook
What is Stopping Me from Quitting?
To understand why you have not been able to Quit smoking, you must first realize that when you desire a cigarette, you actually are craving an “endorphin release” and not a “nicotine fix”
Endorphins, produced by various cells in your body, are “morphine- like” natural opiate substances that inhibit the sensation of pain, and signal your internal system to decrease stress and increase energy.
If you smoke, the brain quickly becomes dependent on this external drug to stimulate endorphins. But the benefits of endorphin production are then countered by the multitude of chemical products contained in cigarettes, such as nicotine. Thus, an individual becomes not only addicted to the action of smoking but also chemically dependent on the sense of well-being it produces.
”In essence, the release of endorphins in your body makes you feel good.”
Prior to you starting smoking, your body released endorphins and energy naturally throughout the day. However, after an extended period of smoking, nicotine alters your body’s normal endorphin cycle, using nicotine as a trigger to release endorphins.
When you smoke, nicotine supplies your body with endorphins in “conditioned releases”, which typically wear out in one to two hours.
When you quit smoking, you are not triggering the production of endorphins in your body and soon reach the primary deprivation stage, know as withdrawal symptoms. This is where you feel symptoms of “withdrawal syndrome” which are the effects of being trapped in an
“endorphin denial cycle”.
Because endorphins are not being produced while you continue to deprive your body of nicotine by not smoking, endorphin levels in your body drop far below normal. This lack thereof causes you to feel extremely irritable, stressed-out, fatigued, and to start craving nicotine.
When you finally cannot stand the “withdrawal symptoms” anymore and light up a cigarette for relief, nicotine rewards you with the endorphin release you are craving.
This is your addiction, and why it is so difficult for you to quit!
The good news is that there are many ways to reprogram and restore your endorphin production cycle, and get you through ALL the stages of nicotine / endorphin withdrawal!
What Are My Options
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