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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You dont need to smoke right when you wake up.
You have enough nicotine in your body, it needs a full week to get it out of your system completely.
When i would wake up i usually did not smoke for some hours.
But after i smoked the first one, the second one cannot wait long …
For me the cravings started AFTER smoking the first one of the day.
Being a former smoker, and my experience with other smokers, it’s almost entirely a mental addiction, not chemical. You associate it with good feelings, you associate it with taking a break. It’s something to do with yourself. Ever just walk outside and …. Stand there? Feels weird to simply stand there and do nothing. But now you have something to do, and a built-in timer for when it’s over. It’s a habit, and the brain likes simple habits that make you feel comfortable. And if it’s something you know you shouldn’t be doing, it’s even more enticing since we spend so much of our lives doing ‘the right thing’ and it gives you a sense of control – ironically. When kids start smoking, these habits get engrained into their psyche, and breaking them as adults can be really stressful.
Point being, when you’re sleeping, none of that matters. Sure someone might be in the top 3% of nicotine consumption and have physical withdrawals, but for most people it’s all in their head.
There’s a reason that first cigarette in the morning is so good – cause you’ve gone without for ~8 hours. One thing I noticed is while I never got up in the middle of the night to smoke, if I woke up for any other reason I would have the urge to smoke a cigarette before going back to bed.
I was a smoker for over 20 years and never once did I have a dream that I remembered that I smoked in.
My step dad woke up twice every night to smoke. I moved out 7 years ago but I doubt he would’ve stopped. He would always catch me playing games late at night around 3am because he always got up at that time to smoke.
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