Some avid smokers are still unaware of or even doubt the effect of smoking cigarettes regularly, especially when it comes to nicotine addiction. Nicotine is one of the poisonous substance inside a cigarette that can harm your body and makes it hard for you to stop enjoying cigarettes.
Some people start to smoke as a means to lower their stress that later on becomes a habit or lifestyle. Nicotine addiction will make smoking seem like a pleasant activity, but the truth is it’s slowly killing your health.
Is Nicotine Addiction Real?
Nicotine addiction is as real as the flavor of the cigarette you are savoring. Nicotine comes from tobacco and it acts as a stimulant when you consume it. The psychoactive compound makes the process of message transmission between your brain and body faster.
When you have ingested nicotine regularly in a large amount, you will experience a withdrawal effect that will trigger certain side effects for your body when you stop consuming it, one of them is craving for another stick of cigarette.
To stop the unpleasant side effects, you will continue to smoke cigarettes. Thus, leading to a never-ending cycle of nicotine addiction.
Moreover, some people use smoking as a coping mechanism for stressful events and later on associate cigarettes with positive feelings, such as feeling more relaxed and happier. This is because nicotine can trigger the production of dopamine hormones that can lead to feelings of pleasure.
When the nicotine effect wears off, you will crave the pleasant feeling that nicotine delivers, and as the time progresses, you will need more and more cigarettes to increase the nicotine effect since your body will develop tolerance to the toxic substance.
Symptoms of Nicotine Addiction
One of the biggest signs that you are suffering from nicotine addiction is when you are unable to stop yourself from smoking another cigarette. This is due to the nicotine withdrawal effect that is triggered when the nicotine level in your blood goes down. The nicotine withdrawal effect can persist from a week to a month. While experiencing the withdrawal effect, you will notice the nicotine withdrawal symptoms, such as:
- Dizziness or headache
- Having a hard time concentrating or focusing
- Sleeping problems
- Increased appetite
- Feeling tired
- Coughing
- Feeling more irritable, depressed, or anxious
- Huge desire to consume cigarette
- Constipation
What Are the Other Danger of Nicotine?
Besides causing nicotine addiction, nicotine can harm your health directly and increase your chance of experiencing medical issues, especially in the heart area.
Nicotine can restrict and harden your blood vessels, making it hard for your heart to work properly, leading to increased blood flow, heart rate, and blood pressure. Other than that, nicotine can also trigger certain medical issues, like:
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Weakening immune system
- Problems during pregnancy
- Damage to the teeth, bone, gum, eye, and lungs
- Lowering fertility rate
By smoking, you are also putting your loved ones at risk since the poisonous smoke from the cigarettes can be inhaled by the people around you which can make them suffer from the negative effects of cigarettes.
Besides harming the body, nicotine addiction can cause other life problems, such as issues at work, family, financial, or social life.
If you are thinking that nicotine won’t harm you right away, then you have to change your mindset, because nicotine can give you some side effects directly after ingesting it regularly or for the first time, such as
- Seizures
- Abdominal pain
- Coughing
- Bad breath
- Weakness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Feeling confused or dizzy
- Increased in heart rate and breathing
- Decreased in appetite
- Toes and fingers feel numb or tingling
How to Manage Nicotine Addiction?
Stopping nicotine addiction isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it’s not impossible. You will experience a few setbacks when you try to stop consuming cigarettes for the first time. There are a few things you can do to manage your nicotine addiction, like:
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Have a Good Support System
Include your friends, family, and your loved ones to help you get through the nicotine addiction issue. They can help you to be firm with your decision and remove all the smoking triggers around you.
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Always Make and Stick to the Plan
If you want to stop smoking, you need a solid and detailed plan on how you can tackle the challenges when you cut cigarettes from your daily life.
You can plan with your loved ones regarding the method to stop smoking and who you can consult about your nicotine addiction issue. You can also plan on how to handle your cravings and withdrawal side effects.
Make sure to plan the date when you will quit smoking and stick through it. It’s always best to arrange how to cope when you fall off the track.
There are plenty of techniques you can try to stop smoking. You can simply stop smoking entirely (cold turkey method) or reduce the number of cigarettes you consume each day or week until you stop smoking completely.
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Using Smoking Alternatives
Another way to stop smoking is by replacing the cigarette with a safe and medical product, such as nicotine replacement therapy (NTR). NTR gives you the nicotine that you need without the other dangerous substances from the cigarette.
NTR can come in different shapes, like pills, patches, gums, candies, and others. NTR can help reduce your body’s need for nicotine gradually.
Besides NTR, you can also consult with a doctor about certain medications that can help you stop smoking, such as varenicline and bupropion.
The Last Puff Before Putting a Stop in Nicotine Addiction
If you want to stop your cigarette consumption, then it’s always a good thing to end your smoking journey with the finest cigarette. Why don’t you try clove cigarettes or kretek to close your smoking habit?
A clove cigarette is an Indonesian cigarette that has a blend of clove and tobacco in it. The cigarette has a bold, spicy, and sweet taste. Moreover, the scent of kretek is very aromatic with a strong smell of clove.
If you are interested in trying a clove cigarette, be sure to check out Clove Cigarettes Online! The online store has been providing various brands of kretek since 2009. Simply jump into their website on Clove Cigarettes Online!