The word for the day is Pleasure Center
Not to beat a dead horse but I’m continually amazed with the whole “I quit smoking and now there’s no joy in my life” scenario. Oddly enough, knowing that I’m not losing my mind and researching this topic more fully is helping me stay positive and motivated. Here’s the skinny:
How Does Chantix Work?
To understand how Chantix works you need to understand dopamine (a brain chemical). Dopamine is associated with pleasure.
When you smoke cigarettes, the nicotine binds to nicotine receptors in your brain and causes a small jolt of dopamine to be released. This dopamine is what causes the soothing, pleasurable effect of nicotine in smokers. The problem is, with cigarettes the dopamine jolt is short lived. When it wears off, you want another dopamine jolt so you reach for another cigarette and so on.
Chantix is believed to work by mimicking nicotine – stimulating the nicotine receptors to cause the release of dopamine while at the same time blocking nicotine from stimulating the nicotine receptors.
However the dynamics of the Chantix modulated dopamine release are different. The Chantix dopamine jolt is less than what you get with a cigarette but it is longer lasting and remains throughout the day as long as you take it as directed.
So, at the end of your prescription, you get nothing… no dopamine rush and numbed pleasure sensors, hence the whole “life sucks” situation. Chantix has effectively taken the pleasure out of life and I was blaming the pain pills from my oral surgery… Silly ad guy, dopamine’s for smokers… and non-smokers, not for the transition types like me.
It’s a process. I still don’t want a cigarette and I’m learning how to keep myself elevated to my usual chipper self without the “little dopamine bursts” throughout the day. Soon I’ll be dope-ing it up with you normal people but until then, the gym seems to be a good substitute.
I found this to be the case for me, too! I forced myself to spend time with friends and find things to do to keep myself busy (cleaning, organizing and budgeting what to do with the money I was saving) even if I did feel numb.
But mostly, I missed the cigarettes. It was hard for me to get excited about going out with friends or having a cup of coffee without a cigarette (and yes, I normally did get excited about having a cup of coffee!). Taking things one day at a time, I had faith that things would get better.
And they did. After you ween yourself off the Chantix, your body will begin to create Dopamine naturally and you’ll be able to find joy in things you never imagined with out cigarettes! And you have more time to be happy because you’re not spending time with a cigarette.
Don’t worry! It won’t be like this for long! Just keep with it.
Thanks Tory! Right now the hardest part is finding focus during the day but its coming back. I’m already in a better mood and looking forward to being my old self again, as is my fiancé.
Thanks for the comment and encouraging words!