Quit Smoking Through Hypnotherapy with Denver Hypnotherapist Tony M. Warren, CHt.

Maybe you have tried to stop smoking before but it was just too hard.  You may have heard the false information that it is easier to stop heroin than cigarettes.   In the past when you tried to quit you may have noticed that you didn’t know what to do with your hands, you felt light headed, hungry, unfocused and irritable.  You may have felt that these were the beginnings of withdrawal symptoms and therefore proof that you are addicted to nicotine.

Hold on there a minute.  It’s true you may have felt all of those things, but that does not mean that you are addicted to nicotine.  Let’s look at these symptoms and the reasons for them.  First, you felt a bit nervous like you wanted something to do with your hands.  That is a very good thing.  If you were automatically smoking you would know what to do with your hands.  You would be taking out a cigarette, lighting it and puffing away without even thinking about it.  The fact that you are aware that you need something to do with your hands is a good sign that you have already broken the automatic response of smoking without even thinking about it.  Now you can make a choice to do something else with your hands.

What about those shakes, nervousness, hunger and light headedness?  Well here is something interesting.  When cigarettes are manufactured the tobacco is soaked in sugar water to cut the bitter taste.  Chocolate is often added to the mix.  Some cigarettes are as much as 18% sugar!  When you stop smoking it is obvious that your blood sugar level will drop because you are not smoking several sugar laden cigarettes a day.  The result will be the same as it is for diabetics or those who have low blood sugar.  You get the shakes and feel hungry and light headed.  The solution to this is to keep your sugar level up by drinking fruit juices.

Another thing you may not have been aware of is that nicotine breaks down caffeine in your blood stream.   When you are smoking and you drink a cup of coffee, about one half of the caffeine in broken down in to inactive ingredients by the nicotine in your system.   Have you ever drunk too much coffee on an empty stomach?  Did you get the shakes or feel nervous?  The same thing can happen to you if you just continue to drink the same amount of coffee or caffeinated drinks as you did before you stopped smoking.   To avoid this it is a good idea to reduce your caffeine intake by one half when you quit smoking.

There is also the fact that nicotine does cause the release of endorphins and dopamine in your brain.  These are feel good chemicals so when they are released they help you to feel calm, relaxed and happy.  There are of course other ways to release these chemicals.  Exercise and Sex both release endorphins.

So, if you want to avoid the false feeling that you are addicted to nicotine; drink fruit juice, keep your hands busy doing something fun or constructive, cut back on caffeine, exercise and have sex.