Tag Archives: substance abuse

Proof That The Quit Smoking Pill Works

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My wife and I were able to stop smoking by using Champix, the quit smoking pill. Although it worked a treat, I wasn’t convinced about the mechanism that actually made things possible.

When you read the literature that comes with the pills, the way they supposedly work seems entirely made up. The pamphlet is full of phrases like it is thought that and it may be that, so it seems like they don’t know how or even whether they work. Maybe its just an elaborate form of stop smoking hypnosis? You believe they work so they do! This is definitely not the case.

Things are made even more confusing by the fact that the pills work so well to help you quit smoking. From the time you start taking them there are no cravings at all, and that can make you think that there never were. This is especially true at the end of the program when you haven’t had a cigarette for three months. You start to forget what a Jones smoking actually was.

See, the way the pills work to help you quit smoking is by blocking the receptors in the brain that nicotine attaches to and lets the nicotine just wash right through you. This is where I was skeptical. It seemed to me that if the nicotine wasn’t absorbed I should be craving a smoke all the time and that was not my experience at all.

Well folks, the quit smoking pills do indeed block the absorption of nicotine. I proved this in the best possible way: I tried to smoke a cigarette after I quit taking the pills. It was like I had been tagged between the eyes with a hammer. I couldn’t stand up. I felt like I was going to puke. I started to sweat. My heart squeezed tight in my chest. This proves to my satisfaction that Champix blocks nicotine absorption.

They say that good judgment comes from experience, and that experience comes from bad judgment.  I feel I proved the truth of that with this stupid move. Hard to believe that my poor body had become habituated to all that violence being inflicted on it. The fact that I was stupid enough to try a smoke after all I had recently gone through definitely proves that addiction comes from the non-rational part of the brain. There was absolutely nothing attractive in what happened to me when I sucked on that fateful butt.

One thing it definitely did was remind me why I started a stop smoking blog in the first place. That stuff is nasty, but its really easy to forget just how bad it can be.

How to Tell if Someone Is a Drug Addict or Alcoholic

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How can you tell when someone is a drug addict or alcoholic?

Before we can tackle this question, we need to first differentiate between drug abuse and drug dependency. Abuse is generally considered any time that someone is taking drugs in a manner other than what they were prescribed. For example, if someone is doubling or tripling the dose on their pain medication, that would be considered abuse.

Drug dependency can be built up from legal long term medical use, such as when someone becomes physically addicted to sleeping medication and cannot sleep without it. Dependency is characterized by a few factors, one of which is usually a noticeable and physical withdrawal when the person doesn’t get the drug. Examples of this would be shaking from alcohol withdrawal or agitation and crankiness during nicotine withdrawal.

addicted to drugs
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Full blown drug or alcohol addiction is generally understood to include dependency along with a psychological craving for the substance. There is an element of anticipation and preoccupation with getting and using the drugs or alcohol. Therefore, addiction is more than just a physical dependency. Unfortunately, if you ask someone about possible drug use–even if you ask in a loving and caring manner–is likely to produce either anger or a defensive response.

Determining whether or not someone is addicted, and also what their level of dependency is can be a complicated question. In order to best answer it, we need to break it down by situation:

Situation #1:

Let’s say that you already know that someone is legally using drugs or alcohol (such as with legally prescribed medications). The question is really about their level of dependency, or whether they are really addicted at all. Here’s what you can do to learn more about their condition:

* Being Over-Medicated – Anyone who gets loopy or giddy off of, say, pain medication, is probably abusing the drug. This might not necessarily be drug addiction or dependency. Properly medicated pain should not have a person floating on a cloud. There should be at least some hint of underlying pain remaining.

* A Potential Missed Dose - Watch for someone’s reaction when and if they are going to run out of their medications, or if they have to go without alcohol in a certain situation. If there is a hint of panic, or if the person resents the situation, then those are warning signs that there is either dependency or addiction.

* Signs of Preoccupation – Anyone who is preoccupied with the idea of getting or using more drugs and alcohol is probably leaning towards addiction and dependence and less towards simple drug abuse.

addicted to drugs
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Situation #2:

You suspect that someone is using an illegal substance and is trying to keep their habit a secret. You question whether or not they are abusing drugs (perhaps experimenting), or if they possibly have physical dependence and/or a full blown addiction. In this case, you’ll want to look for all of the warning signs already listed above in order to determine their level of dependence, but also consider:

* Evasive Behavior and Isolation – People using illegal substances will probably want to avoid you or others who might confront them about it. This leads to isolation and distancing themselves. Sometimes an addict is torn with the burden of not wanting to hurt their loved ones, but not knowing how to break free from the addiction either. Their avoiding you could be a sign. Also, if they refuse to commit to an extended stay with you, that might be a sign as well (such as a family vacation or a camping trip or something similar).

* Abrupt change in friends or social behavior – This one is especially true for younger people.

Situation #3:

You have no hard evidence that someone is using whatsoever, but you are suspicious that something might be going on. In this case, watch for everything suggested up to this point, and also watch out for:

* Signs of physical dependence – These will vary according to different substances, of course, but symptoms might include: moodiness, forgetfulness, changes in sleep patterns, dilated pupils, and so on.

addicted to drugs
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What to Avoid

Trying to approach someone that you think might be addicted is a delicate task. You might have a tendency to try to be as sneaky as you can in an effort to play detective and find out what is really going on. But try not to be manipulative and sneaky, as this will only drive someone further away from you and put more distance between the two of you.