How the chemical balances in your body after smoking/vaping/chew affect your cravings…
BLUE LINE The blue line on the left represents how your body is constantly producing and releasing chemicals to help you function. Almost everything we do is a chemical reaction (of neurotransmitters / hormones). Your body releases chemicals like Adrenalin to give you the energy to get out of bed in the morning. Your body will release chemicals like Melatonin that makes you tired and help you fall asleep at night. This blue squiggly line represents how our bodies are pretty good at keeping those chemicals in the right balance, releasing the right amounts at the right times, so that we continue to function well and feel good.
The BLACK Line represents how, sometimes, those chemicals get out of whack. Occasionally some of our chemicals get too low. This imbalance could be due to genetic reasons, like when a diabetic’s body doesn’t produce enough insulin and they need an injection of insulin to get their body to function properly. But for the most part, when our chemical levels are out of balance, it’s because of some external affect, like a trauma. Those chemicals can get too high because our bodies will release extra chemicals to counter any possible damage.
Whenever our bodies perceive an attack, our bodies release chemicals in response to that attack. If you get a virus, your body releases chemicals to fight the virus. If you get cut, your body triggers a chemical reaction to help your blood clot, so you don’t bleed to death. You may think of cigarettes as something that might cause cancer when you’re ninety. But the truth is, every time you smoke a cigarette, chew or vape, you are doing a tiny amount of damage to your throat and lungs.
When you suck in those toxins, you actually burn the inside of your throat, then your body will flood you with chemicals to do two things: to accelerate the healing process and to help mask the pain caused by sucking in that hot toxic air. Those chemicals include serotonin, endorphins, norepinephrine, dopamine, and adrenaline. One of the side effects of some of those chemicals is that they make us feel good. Extra Serotonin makes us feel good. Extra endorphins make us feel good. So, when you smoke, you get a flood of those healing chemicals, which make you feel good. Most smokers mistakenly believe that the cigarette, chew & vape is what gives them that happy relaxed feeling. The cigarette/vape/chew doesn’t really make you feel good. Rather, it’s your body’s response to the damage done by the cigarette/vape/chew that makes you feel good. But soon, you get low on Serotonin and adrenaline – and your body wants and needs more of those chemicals. And it has learned over time that if it triggers a craving for another cigarette/vape/chew – that cigarette/vape/chew will do a little more damage, and that triggers the release of more of those feel-good chemicals. But then those chemicals dissipate very quickly in your body again. You’re body gets low on Dopamine and Endorphins, so your body says, “I need more.” So, what does it do? It triggers a craving for the next cigarette, vape or chew. The damage done will trigger another flood of those feel-good chemicals, and that becomes a big part of the cycle of addiction when it comes to smoking.
For insights on the best way to counter the Cycle of Addiction, call the experts:
Breathe – Freedom from Nicotine (952) 546-5657 / email: info@FullyQuit.com