Eli5: how come a smoker can sleep all through the night without their cravings waking them up? But as soon as they are awake they need to smoke!
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Nicotine withdrawal symptoms:
irritability
restlessness
anxiety
insomnia
difficulty concentrating
fatigue.
If you’re sleeping you wouldn’t notice fatigue, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, anxiety or irritability because you are sleeping. Restless probably has something to do with the fact that smokers tend not to sleep as well. I don’t think it’s uncommon for smokers to wake up in the middle of the night and feel anxious and restless and have trouble going back to sleep so they have a cigarette – which used to lead to many house fires before anti-smolder traits were adopted in cigarettes (still not perfect).
Some smokers get up to smoke during the night. John Mellencamp said he used to before his heart attack.
When you are sleeping, your brain shuts out anything that isn’t biologically vital (like using the bathroom or a shock to your nervous system like falling out of a tree)
I was quite addicted for years. The most I ever smoked was a pack and a half a day. The shakes take a while to show up at that level but they will show up after 8 hours or so. Back when you could afford it, I knew people that smoked 6 packs a day. Those people would get the shakes in 45 minutes if they weren’t smoking.
Everyone is different. I know a guy that goes from heroin for a few months, to cocaine for a few months, to booze for a few months, to clean for a few months all the time. For some reason he doesn’t get addicted to anything.
The addiction to smoking is two parts, the habit of smoking, and the chemical addiction.
The physical addiction is the part that you can do without while you sleep. But it will drive you mad as soon as you are aware of the fact, especially with routines like a morning cigarette. The act of smoking is harder to give up in the long term, but easy to forget when you are preoccupied.
The chemical addiction is acquired, and is based on your habits. Because you sleep through the night most nights, the chemical addiction doesn’t wake you up. But if you start waking up to smoke for a few weeks, you will be woken up to smoke. Most long term smokers have the cravings in the night but ignore it, and by ignoring it they sleep terribly.
Not quite true. Some smokers, if not most, experience poor sleep quality due to their cravings and, in some cases, even insomnia.
Though, I slept like shit even before I started smoking, so it’s hard for me personally to gauge it properly, I kind of got used to it.
Stopped smoking regularly years ago but still enjoy up to half a pack a month with some drinks. This was actually the thing that got my head around quitting. I asked myself if I was actually physically addicted that badly then why didn’t it wake me up. Changed my mind about it and I realized the physical cravings were minor issue and it was my mind that said it was addicted. As soon as I did that I went from pack and half a day to zero and didn’t smoke for a year or more after at all just to prove I could. I enjoy smoking but didn’t enjoy addiction. Now I can smoke as little or as much as I want and I only have to deal with the physical effects which can be very real, but are minor compared to the mental aspect. The physical aspect is completely gone after 3 days. It’s the worst over 24 to 48 hour timeframe. So I always say now. Never quit smoking. That’s hard. Just stop. It’s easy.
I’ve smoked as much a 3 packs a day and as little as zero for 6 years. I’m 43 now and had my first cigarette that I rolled myself at 6 yrs old. I’d say I smoke 70 cigarettes a year now.
When I was in the Navy, my roommate smoked four packs a day. He was up multiple times a night smoking a cigarette.
The same way that we can sleep through the night despite having to pee. Your body knows it’s sleeping.
Why do you have a runny nose all day but go to sleep and don’t wake up covered in boogers? Inquiring minds need to know
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