Something was missing and it didn't feel right. The first cigarette-free evening with friends, music and wine was pretty weird. "So the cigarette just takes away the restlessness you wouldn't have had in the first place if you weren't smoking," Rüther said. The fact that smoking made me feel calmer was simply because I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms after a long period without a cigarette, and my addicted body was craving new nicotine. "In reality, however, every cigarette increases the heartbeat and makes you more restless," said Rüther. That's why I, too, fell for the smoker's illusion: for years I convinced myself that smoking would calm me down, take away stress and give me a short break. Rüther emphasized that in cigarette addiction, psychological dependence is very strong. One reason for a relapse could be the "smoker's illusion," a nasty psychological trick of nicotine. The result is a lifelong addiction that can hardly be overcome by sheer willpower, Rüther explained.īut, he added, "out of 100 smokers who quit without help, like you, 95 relapse in the first year." Well, great. Nicotine is an extremely active neurotransmitter that has a major impact on the development of neural connections in the brain," the doctor said. "Most smokers start between the ages of 12 and 16, when the brain is still maturing. Another positive, according to the addiction doctor. The fact that my will alone was enough might have something to do with the fact that I joined the smoking team so late - not until I was 21. Relapse rate: 95 percentĪids to stop smoking such as nicotine patches, hypnosis or acupuncture were not necessary to keep my hands off cigarettes. Rüther was certain that by the age of 50 at the latest, I would have felt the consequences of smoking. Yet one in two smokers dies because of their tobacco addiction, and 50% of them before age 70. His joy is contagious - my own enthusiasm had so far been limited.
"It's really great that you've quit," Rüther kept saying. There, the risk increases with every single cigarette. the risk of having a stroke or heart attack, is barely increased between three and twenty cigarettes," said Rüther. But that idea is not completely true, because more than two cigarettes is enough to harm the body. Danger from cigarette number 3īefore I could decide on complete abstinence, I thought that merely smoking fewer cigarettes would automatically be healthier. After three months, sleep has returned to normal," said Rüther. You don't wake up from that, but you sleep much more restlessly. "Smokers experience nicotine withdrawal at night. "Also, after a month, your immune system is much stronger."Īfter three months of abstinence, you can also look forward to a much better night's sleep. "This is because the lungs are starting to clean themselves out." That spring cleaning, he said, takes about a month. "You may get a stronger cough than you had before," Rüther said. However, I felt just as fit after I quit smoking as I did before. After two weeks, lung function often improves significantly, which is more noticeable during sports. After just one to two days, many people smell and taste better again. A lot of changes, very quicklyĪfter just eight hours, the body receives a much better supply of oxygen, Rüther explained to me. "When you stop smoking, a lot of positive things happen in your life very quickly," Rüther said. He heads the special outpatient clinic for tobacco addiction at the Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital in Munich. Addiction physician Tobias Rüther was thrilled by my smoking cessation. Two months later, I was still a non-smoker. "Mum, you'll die from smoking!" The more often my son threw his hands over his head in horror when he saw me smoking, the less I could justify the habit.
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