How long does it take for nicotine to be washed out of the system. I quit a week and a half ago and was wondering if anyone has an idea? ************************************************************** 04-18-06, 01:43 PM Georgia85 Hello Willy. Congrats and welcome to our site.
That question was actually discussed last year and if you click here you can read more about it.
But to answer your question right now - typically it takes 30 days or longer for the body to entirely rid itself of nicotine.
Physical withdrawal symptoms include irritability, headaches, anxiety, cognitive disturbances and sleep disruption. These symptoms peak at around 48–72 hours, and generally cease after two to six weeks.
Cotinine is a break-down product of nicotine which remains in the blood for up to 48 hours, and so can be used as an indicator of a person's exposure to smoke. - Wikipedia.org
In order to escape the habit, all nicotine must be flushed from the blood and tissue cells. If a smoker could stop smoking today, the blood would be nicotine-free within one year, but nicotine could remain in the cells for one year. - StopSmokingWeb
According to Ipassedmydrugtest.com, nicotine can be detected up in your system for to 10 days.
06-19-06, 08:21 PM Wildflower63 As a RN, I have explained nicotine addiction to many patients. It really is three days. The rest, is in your head.
I have told many patients, requesting a patch, the truth. They have not smoked a single cigarette in six days, but want one.
If you want, I will get the order, but this isn't your problem. You want that cigarette. Why? Even smokers, like me, don't know. My patients always decline a patch, when I tell them fact, three days only.
09-10-06, 03:09 PM carr1961 Wildflower, What about a heavy nicotine intake? I dip and am wrestling with quiting not commited yet. I here and read so much about how much stonger snuff is. I called an 800 # for nicorette and they about had a fit that I was asking because it was not approved by the FDA for smokeless users. Any suggestions would be a great help. THANKS GC
09-11-06, 01:56 AM Wildflower63 Carr1961, you can have a high dose patch. Cigarettes are you long time buddy, who wishes to kill you. It's a love/hate relationship.
Patches don't really work. They will cool out that 'now' type of need. Patches never did help anyone who enjoys a cigarette.
It's up to you. You can quit smoking today. All it really takes is not lighting one up. It isn't that simple. Cigarettes are engrained with our lifestyle.
Carr1961, you can have a high dose patch. Cigarettes are you long time buddy, who wishes to kill you. It's a love/hate relationship.
It's up to you. You can quit smoking today. All it really takes is not lighting one up. It isn't that simple. Cigarettes are engrained with our life and personal for of relaxation.
If you really want to be successful giving up your cigarettes, it has to be for emotional reasons. For example:
Emotion dictates: Emotionally speaking, I am so sick of being at work and have to freeze my ass off because I crave a cigarette that seems to rule my life. I am so tired of a cigarette ruling my lifestyle. Get out of my life, smokes!
Logic dictates: Cigarettes are expensive and I know how bad for my health they are. I should quit. This option doesn't work!
We are talking three days of withdrawal that only makes you very nervous and extremely grumpy. Not bad and ask a pain killer addict about the vast difference of withdrawal.
09-11-06, 09:25 AM DorianGreyed Patches seem to work for many people. However, breaking any addiction requires wanting to break the addiction more than wanting the object to which you are addicted to. Another problem is that to quit, you must break the physical and psychological addiction. Despite what Wildflower says, nicotine can remain in your body up to a year after your last use. This is part of what makes quitting smoking so hard.
You can listen to anecdotal evidence given by someone with no expertise in the field, or listen to experts, who have the training and experience in dealing with nicotine addictions coupled with long-term studies of users and former users of nicotine. But it is much harder to break any addition when you are fed bad information about breaking it.
The above link is to a very good website that has many articles about quitting smoking. I found this site very informative and useful in breaking some of the myths associated with quit aids and nicotine replacement systems.
Do some reading on there and see if it helps you stay motivated to quit for good.
09-21-06, 09:52 AM Tulula Yesterday was my 7 month anniversary for quitting. It took me 1 year to prepare myself psychologically to quit. I forced myself to read articles on health risk, look at advertisements of people with holes in their throats, emphysema (sp?), etc. I paid attention to how bad I smelled, my car, my clothes, my house, etc. Then I got a prescription for Zyban -- picked a quit date (my dads birthday) this was part of his gift which also gave me a little extra incentive -- and I quit. I followed the directions for zyban, 2 a day for 1st week then 1 a day thereafter, your target date should be set for 2 weeks after you begin taking zyban, by the end of the 2nd week, I did not physically or psychologically want a cigarette because the zyban blocked whatever part of my brain craved it -- (when I did crave it -- I realized the cravings last only about 3 minutes so I figured out that if I could control myself for 3 mintues at a time I would be okay) after smoking my last cig on Feb. 19th at 11:55 p.m. (funny thing was I didn't even want that cig), I have not smoked since. I did continue to take the zyban for another 3 weeks because I have heard it takes approximately 21 days to break a habit -- then I reluctantly quit taking the zyban because I was afraid that all the wonderful lack of cravings would come back, but guess what -- they didn't -- then it was simply mind over matter. I did gain weight though and I am struggling to take it off, but whether I do or not -- I am still healthier than I was physically and emotionally because I am exercising each day, I feel great mentally because I conquered the one major demon that controlled me rather than my controlling it, I do not stink, I have saved over 100 per month on cigs. GOOD LUCK! Cool
quote: Originally posted by DorianGreyed: Patches seem to work for many people. However, breaking any addiction requires wanting to break the addiction more than wanting the object to which you are addicted to.
I'm not wrong, DG. I am a working RN that deals with smokers who want to quit, but can't. Many doctors that I requested a patch for told me exactly what it is, a placebo effect. Three days and nicotine addiction really is gone or many doctors have just made up a story and lied to me.
As a nurse, I have successfully cured patient complaints with placebo effect. You try to convince any smoker that a patch will work, it just might. In reality, patches are nothing more than a placebo effect which doesn't work at all for smoker, unless they believe it does.
There is no easy way out for smokers beyond live with the craving and don't listen to this or you light another cigarette. After three days, nicotine addiction is gone, as many doctors have told me when I ask for a patch for my patients.
When patients feel better, they want a cigarette at no sooner than a week later. That's how you know they are improving, as a nurse!
The patch doesn't work. Your personal determination does!! It's rough and hard, but we really can live through cravings and nerves on fire.
There is no help for smokers. You really do have to make up your own mind and be determined and don't go weak with stress and want a cigarette. This is the only way we can quit.
09-25-06, 04:16 AM MommyTimesTwo I don't mean to speak for DG but I believe he was talking about the habit part of smoking addiction being hard.
As someone who tried unsuccessfully for years to quit smoking before finally breaking the habit, I can honestly say the desire to fulfill the behavior part of it was much stronger than the nicotine withdrawal. I got over the headaches and nausea quite quickly. But I still had the almost overpowering urge to go out back and smoke. Not because I wanted the nicotine, I was over that, but because I had a habit of doing that to as a few minute chill-break. Once I got over that part of the habit, the urge to smoke was completely gone, even if I smell it or stand with my husband will he smokes.
As far as the duration of the chemical in your body:
"How long does nicotine stay in your system?
72 to 96 hours max.
How long does nicotine take to completely work it's way out of the body? Thank You very much.
Medically, nicotine takes only 72 to 96 hours to leave the body. However, the physical and mental reverberations can go on for weeks." Smoking Cessation Help
While the actual chemical has left your body after 96 hours, your body still craves it for weeks, even months afterwards. You may not realize this consciously.
09-25-06, 08:55 AM aminator2002 Nicotine patches are not placebos because they do actually administer nicotine into the system of the person wearing it.
Nicotine is the addictive agent in cigarettes and you are administering the nicotine via a skin patch so placebo is the wrong term. It does help some people - specifically people who feel heavy habit addiction and want assistance in breaking the habits before going through the withdrawal. Nicotine leaves the system in 72 hours so going through the process of getting it out of the system is not that drawn out of a process... not without challenges though.
If you think the patch will help because you have anxiety about all the times that you think you have to have a cigarette then it is a calming agent and will allow you to see how life without smoking is. Don't be mistaken about your nicotine addiction though - while using the patch or gum, you are still on the stuff.
09-25-06, 05:32 PM Wildflower63 MX2, as a smoker that has never successfully quit, the habit part is miserable! I know that I should quit. I'm paying a lot of money to kill myself in a slow way. This is stupid!
Knowing how stupid smoking is, I have asked myself why I continue to smoke. The answer is I love my cigarettes. Logic doesn't exactly work with smokers. It's part of our lifestyle that we don't want to give up, not the nicotine.
10-06-06, 10:47 AM dodgecity its all in your head just tell your head that you are going to quit smoking. i smoked for 30 years and one day woke up and said to my self, self quit smoking and thats just what i did. YAHOOOOO. five years now and i cant stand them darn smoke's Mad Big Grin
10-06-06, 11:38 AM Dwight I quit smoking too, but I don't know if "cold turkey" is the right term for the method I used. I waited until I had a heart attack and then spent about a month an a half in the hospital's critical care unit in a drug induced coma. By the time I woke up, the nicotine was gone from my body at least so far as feeling a physical need for the drug, I was spared that.
But even now, over two years later I still occasionally feel the desire to smoke occasionally. I never have given in to the temptation, but it says a lot about the addictive nature of cigarettes that creates this strong desire.
But over the years (30+) that I did smoke, I did try to quit several times. I usually would stop for 2 or 3 weeks, then "fall off the wagon". One time it was over year. During these attempts to quit I used both the nicotine gum and the patches (at different times). Usually I would stop the gum and patches after about 3 days, feeling that I didn't need them anymore. I think the hardest part for me was the physiological part of the addiction. I smoked around 2-packs per day of "light" cigarettes, which I now find out weren't light at all.
My sympathy and support go out to anyone trying to quit. Many people like myself find quiting very difficult, but who can deny that you would be better off quiting? I just wish it hadn't taken a serious heart attack to make me do what I knew I should have done years earlier.
Dwight
10-08-06, 06:39 PM dodgecity trust me cold turkey is the only way. YOU have to tell your self no body can do this. as far as a habit ill say it again its in your head tell your self to just stop and you will be glad you did. the results are GREAT sense of smell come back taste come back and of coarse you can breath better almost immediately. ITS GREAT and now i live better. but only you can say no more. Big Grin Cool
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,
You aren't right about Cold Turkey being right for everyone, and if you're an RN and recommending this, I suggest you study a little harder. I know there is a lot of literature that encourages people to quit cold turkey. But there is also a lot of literature that says to do "what works for you." Let me tell you what happened when I tried to quit cold-turkey:
I got dangerously depressed, spiraled into it almost immediately after quitting.
Why? Well, the reason is that nicotine (not cigarettes, but nicotine) is a dopamine agonist. It is, in many regards, a medication that helps people with depression. Sometimes people who smoke are self-medicating themselves. When I quit cold-turkey, I did not "taper" off of a medication (nicotine) that I very was relying on to keep myself from a serious round of depression. I quit suddenly. For many people who do not have underlying problems with depression, this becomes a "tough it out" scenario. For people who suffer from medical problems and are really relying on the nicotine to keep them from psychological problems, it isn't a matter of just toughing it out for three days.
SO. The nicotine patch, while certainly less than ideal, is NOT a bad idea for someone who needs to taper off of the nicotine. The above poster is right: you're still addicted to nicotine when you're on the patch. But if you use it correctly, you can taper from 21mg of nicotine down to 14 and down to 7 and down to 0. This way, your body gradually gets accustomed to not having it in its system.
When I try to quit cold turkey, it is such a shock to my neurological system, that it is dangerous. Being as depressed as I get is dangerous.
If you have problems with depression, or other psychological illnesses, talk to your doctor. You may well need to try something other than "just quitting" one day, and the patch is one thing in your arsenal. The medications Chantix and Zyban are two other options, both affecting dopamine in your brain.
To advise anyone not to try to taper off of a drug (nicotine...not cigarettes themselves, but NICOTINE) without knowing their medical history is just bad medical advice. Some people need to taper off, just as they do any other medication. It's better to be using the patch and alive and not suicidally depressed than not. I'm sure you'll have to agree with that.
My husband recently quit smoking. He loves weed and his cigs. He blew out his lung with a 'smokers cough'.
It takes a lot for him to call in sick for work. When he couldn't breathe, he went to the hospital. He had no idea that coughing blew out his lung. He thought he had pneumonia.
He ended up with surgery that stapled his lung and two weeks in the hospital at the grand age of 45 diagnosed with COPD.
