Strange Chocolate Cravings, et. al.

[kelly77]

This is day 4 of no cigs. It feels like it should be more like 2 weeks for all the pain it's been so far.

The hardest time for me is when I get home from work. I think I had an unusual pattern of smoking, in that I never smoked during the day at work. I'd have a couple with coffee before work, then usually some wine and cigs as soon as I'd get home, and then smoked much less on the weekends when I didn't go to work at all. Someone told me that if you can go all day without smoking, it should be easy to quit. Not so. I used it to make the tranisition from work to evenings at home, and whenever I was emotionally wigged out - which lately has been a lot. I think the wine/cig combo made it impossible to drink anymore, as they are tied together - can't drink wo/smoking. So I've given up alcohol (2 weeks now - tho I didn't drink that much so wasn't that hard), and coffee - also not that dear to me. Cigs was the last to go and really the kingpin to the whole trio. To cope with this afterwork problem, the second I walk in the door, I start to run a hot bath. I soak in the bath and try to really relax for as long as I can. Then it's easier to go the evening without wanting to smoke. I don't know why this works for me except that maybe this hot soak in the bath ritual has taken the place of the "pour a glass of wine and lite up" ritual. I feel much better already without caffeine, alcohol and nicotine in my life and body.

I've never liked chocolate much. Never had those cravings people talk about and it was never my choice of sweets. But since I"ve quit smoking, I can't get enough chocolate!! Seriously - It's alarming cuz I crave it all the time now and just will have stop myself from eating it after 3 days! Can anyone explain this. I know that chocolate is supposed to increase endorphins or something, but how did my body know this when it started to crave it? I can't replace one bad habit with another. <sigh>

Wish me luck everyone --- this really is a hard habit to be rid of. (... like you all don't already know that!)

[csoar2004]

It's my understanding that craving chocolate can be related to:
inadequate protein
magnesium deficiency

to name a couple. If you aren't taking a multivitamin and/or magnesium supplement, I strongly recommend that you do so. :D :thup:

[kelly77]

So after some research on the whyquit.com website, I found an answer to my own question about why you might seriously crave sweets like chocolate at the beginning of a quit. They say it much better than I can, so I'll just cut and paste here. It all has to do with the body trying to self-correct low blood sugar during withdrawl:

"Blood sugar plummets in many people when first quitting. The most common side effects felt during the first three days can often be traced back to blood sugar issues. Symptoms such as headache, inability to concentrate, dizziness, time perception distortions, and the ubiquitous sweet tooth encountered by many, are often associated with this blood sugar drop. The symptoms of low blood sugar are basically the same symptoms as not having enough oxygen, similar to reactions experienced at high altitudes. The reason being the inadequate supply of sugar and/or oxygen means the brain is getting an incomplete fuel. If you have plenty of one and not enough of the other, your brain can not function at any form of optimal level. When you quit smoking, oxygen levels are often better than they have been in years, but with a limited supply of sugar it can't properly fuel your brain.

It is not that cigarettes put sugar into your blood stream; it is more of a drug interaction of the stimulant effect of nicotine that affects the blood sugar levels. Cigarettes cause the body to release its own stores of sugar and fat by a drug type of interaction. That is how it basically operated as an appetite suppressant, affecting the satiety centers of your hypothalamus. As far as for the sugar levels, nicotine in fact works much more efficiently than food. If you use food to elevate blood sugar levels, it literally takes up to 20 minutes from the time you chew and swallow the food before it is released to the blood, and thus the brain, for its desired effect of fueling your brain. Cigarettes, by working through a drug interaction causes the body to release it's own stores of sugar, but not in 20 minutes but usually in a matter of seconds. In a sense, your body has not had to release sugar on its own in years, you have done it by using nicotine's drug effect !..."

This was found at the following link on the whyquit.com website and there's more in the article if you care to read: http://groups.msn.com/FreedomFromTobaccoQuitSmokingNow/myfirstpost1.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=65741

I hope this explanation helps others to understand the intense sugar cravings in the beginning. Also I found that chocolate contains a caffeine-like substance. I quit coffee at the same time as the cigs and craving chocolate may have been my body begging for more sugar and caffeine.

cheers, all!

[Jackee]

whyquit.com is a fantastic place to get your quit eduction. In fact educating yourself about your addiction increases your chances of staying quit. It is true yr blood sugar levels drop..and it's not going to get any easier for you for maybe a month is I guess an average that I have seen..maybe two. SO be prepared for a fight! and a fight it is..your addiction wants to win. I can promise you that it DOES get easier. All yr aggitation is going to subside and you're going to feel more like yourself. YOU ARE WORTH IT!!! (unlike eating which we have to do..you don't have to smoke..once you carry on long enough without them, you don't even think about it anymore..I promise)

Take care and post here if you're having cravings.
Best of Luck

Smoke free for 20 months

[gawdess]

I am craving chocolate a lot too, I quit 8 days ago. I think its part of withdrawal. Chocolate is a comfort food.

[carbgrl]

I'm using the nicotine patch to quit. I've found that every time I "step" down in the patch dosage I go thru these wild cravings. It's very frustrating. I know I'm not hungry but I still want to eat sweets all day! I'm on my last step so hopefully, I'll only have to go thru this once more when I step off the patch completely. In the meantime, I'm still LCing and trying to lose weight. I hope it'll get better soon and I can concentrate on weight loss. I've gained 10 lbs since I quit smoking on 1/1/05. I have lost about 4 lbs of that, I'm just frustrated at the gain and interuption of my my weightloss. I was about 10 lbs away from my goal. ARRRGH!

I just needed to vent to somone who understands.

[jaimejo]

Kelly77:

This explains why I've become addicted a cup of hot cocoa with whipped cream every night! I also associated drinking with smoking. I quit smoking, drinking alcohol and quit caffeine (except for the amount of caffeine in the hot cocoa) all at the same time. I am in my 4th week and am taking it 1 day at a time.

Anyway, here's what my new addiction consists of. I do this every night and it really seems to help with my craving for something sweet and helps to wind me down for the night (and it's low carb) :):

Heat 3/4 water and 1/4 cream or heavy whipping cream in a pan on the stove with 1 tablespoon of Hershey's unsweetened baking cocoa (powder) and 2 packets of Splenda to a boil, stirring constantly. Put in a coffee cup and top with Land-O-Lakes Whipped cream (which is sweetened with Splenda), enjoy! :) This is usually my nightly snack and over the last couple of days, I've cut out all other sweets, including low carb candy bars.

Hope you like hot cocoa and I hope this helps. :)

[lauza211]

Have any of you read my post on Allen Carr? please try and buy his book. I know I sound like I'm selling something, but I know this works, and best of all, you don't get cravings for anything else.
I gained 10 pounds, but that wasn't just from switching addictions, it was Xmas and personal stuff I'm going through (oh yeah, did I mention that even though my depression escalated to the point where I'm now seeking help, I still haven't felt the need to smoke?). I work surrounded by cigarettes. Everyone i work with smokes. I go out all the time, I drink, I have coffee, I talk on the phone, none of it causes tht trigger reaction.
Please try it. It might be worth it.