4 PARTS:

 first in a series
 Chris the Science Geek answers your questions about CRS

 csavage is the writer
 on 11/17/2003 3:49:01 PM

 This is for any newbies (or even oldbies) that wonder, "why is it I feel so light-headed, dopey and stoned now that I have quit smoking...?"

 Well, pull up a chair and Chris the Science Geek will tell you why...

 

 When you burn the leaves of tobacco and inhale the combustion products, you inevidibly inhale a whole bunch of a certain chemical called carbon monoxide. You may be familiar with this chemical; it's the same one that spews out of the, uh , "backside" of your car. So, yup, it's kinda like doing tailpipe hits. The carbon monoxide, aka "CO", takes up space in your bloodstream that would normally be occupied by another certian chemical that goes by the name of oxygen, aka O2. Funny thing is, your body uses the O2 but can *not* use the CO. In fact, in large enough doses, CO will suffocate/poison you. This is why doctors do not recommend that you get into your car in a closed garage, run a hose from the tailpipe into the window and start the engine. Take it from me, this is a Bad Idea.

 Anyway, your body, being the unbelievable wondrous machine that it is, responds to this mini-suffocation that you are inflicting on it by increasing something called your "packed red cell count". Why does your body do this, you ask? I'll tell you why: in your blood are cells (they're red, go figure) that carry O2 from your lungs to other parts of your body. Because the CO uses up some of their ability to carry O2, you need more to carry the amount of O2 you need to live. So, your body produces about 10-20% more red blood cells. When your doctor is looking at your blood they will often separate out the red blood cells by spinning your blood in a centrifuge. The red blood cells all go to the bottom of the test tube, nicely compacted. The doctor measures the volume of these packed cells and that number is called (wait for it) the packed red cell volume. Neato, huh?!

 Because humans have a pretty consistent level of red cells, doctors can actually tell if you are a smoker by looking at your level.

 So, now your body is happily chugging along, coughing and hacking a lot but at least getting enough O2 to keep you alive. Then you quit smoking. Very rapidly the reduction in CO that you are breathing causes a precipitous drop in the amount of CO in your blood. But here YOU are, still walking around with 10-20% higher O2 carrying ability. So, you get a little, well, giddy. Kinda dopey. Hell, you're stoned, let's call it what it is. You are actually walking around in a state of constant, low-level hyperventilation.

 Eventually your body realizes the big favor you have done it and stops producing red blood cells for awhile so that you can get back down to your normal level. When that happens, the dizziness will go away.

 What can you do about it? Well, my advice is to breathe deeply and enjoy this free buzz. Ever hear of oxygen bars over in Tokyo? Well, they have them. You go in and belly up to the bar, lay down your coin and huff pure oxygen for awhile. But YOU get to do it for free!!! Take advantage of your inebriated state and blame absolutely every little mistake, faux pas and error on it. You won't often get this opportunity so DON'T BLOW IT!!!

 One more word of advice: you may want to avoid making major decisions, operating heavy equipment or performing death-defying stunts for awhile. Ya just never know...

 This has been a public service announcement by Chris the Science Geek. No warranty, expressed or implied, is given - use at your own risk. Offer void where prohibited, please allow 10-12 weeks for delivery. Your mileage may vary.


Quitulence ~ Second in a series...from csavage the science geek
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 A recent correspondent asked me about what is commonly known as "quitulence" or excess *cough* $@!#% *cough* during a Quit. Please sit back, get comfortable and sip a nice beverage and I'll try to explain it the best I can.
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 Although we all like to think of ourselves as very independent, especially since we are now certified Quitsters, the fact of the matter is we rely on other organisms to live. In fact, without some of these other organisms, we COULDN'T live. The biggest and most obvious example of this are the bacteria that live in and on our body. There are bacteria on your skin that help you to fight off unfriendly bacteria that try to infect you. There are bacteria around the openings into your body (nose, mouth, ears, etc...) that fight off the unfriendlies trying to infect those areas. Stuff like that.
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 One of the most important activities that friendly bacteria perform for us to live in our gut (stomach, intenstinal tract, places like that) and help us to break down and digest our food. Without those friendly "bugs", we have >>major problems which is why you often experience -uh- gastric "distress" when you are on antibiotics: the drugs actually kill off many of these good bugs along with the malevolent ones that are trying to make you sick.
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 Well, when you invade your system with nicotine, it plays hell with your whole body and causes a shift in the types of bacteria that can survive in this polluted environment. Then, one day, you go and quit and suddenly the chemical environment shifts dramatically. It takes a while for your gut to respond and for the population of bacteria to recover and readjust itself to this new situation. During that time, you will find you don't digest your food so well. When food gets past your stomach and is digested in the intestines and other unspeakable areas (this happens with beans a lot for many people), a great deal of gas gets liberated "down there". When this happens, you can't just give a discreet little belch to let it out, it has to go the ...um... other way if you get my meaning. And LOTS of it goes "the other way". A WHOLE LOT in some cases. Like maybe you need to go outside now whole lot. Like even the dog gets up and leaves when you're around whole lot.
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 Eventually, the microbial equilibrium in your body is reestablished and things return to normal (which for men is usually indistinguishable from this hyper-gassy state that we've just described.) In the meantime, you might try upping how much yogurt you eat and focus on eating easy-to-digest foods so that less gas gets produced "down there". Also, keep in mind that many of the snacks that Quitsters use to get them through the initial days and weeks are high in fiber and fat (carrots, sunflower seeds, Cheetos, etc.) These can make things worse and, if it gets real bad, you might consider avoiding them. Otherwise, just be patient. Eventually you'll get back to normal.
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 Now, please, would ya light a match or something?! Sheesh!


 Chris the Science Geek
 REPOST: Chris the Science Geek answers your questions about getting sick after quitting smoking
 From csavage on 11/17/2003 3:50:25 PM

 Third in a series...
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 Recently, an intrepid Quitster asked, "why am I getting sick MORE now that I have quit smoking? I thought I was supposed to be getting HEALTHIER?!" If you are interested in the answer to this question, pull up a chair, relax with a nice beverage and Chris the Science Geek will endeavor to explain this phenomenon to you.

 

 There are several possible explanations for the fact that you seem to be getting sick MORE often rather than less often now that you have quit smoking. The first is that you aren't actually SICK but just experiencing "cold-like symptoms". In other words, your body is exhibiting natural responses to quitting smoking and they *look* a lot like the symptoms you get when you have a cold. For example, a healthy adult human produces between a pint and a quart of mucous EVERY DAY. Small hair-like cilia in the sinus cavities wave back and forth and circulate the mucous through you sinuses and, eventually, into the back of your throat where it is swallowed. The purpose of this is for the sticky mucous to pick up foreign debris (including bacteria and viruses that can make you sick) and send them to your stomach where aggressive stomach acids destroy them.

 However, when you smoke, you kill the cilia and your body also may produce less mucous. When you quit, it starts up again, the cilia come back to life and suddenly you are one snotty Quitster. You may have an unusually runny or stuffy nose at times for the first few months of your Quit. It seems a LOT like having a cold.

 Another possible explanation is this: when you smoke, your body is in a state of heightened defense, trying to combat the continuous poisoning that happens every time you light up. When you quit, your body sighs and says, "Ahhhh...now I can relax..." Since this relaxation of your immune system is coupled with unhealthy sinuses and dead lung and sinus cilia, you are much more vulnerable to attack from bacteria and viruses. So you get sick more often (colds, sinus infections, upper respiratory infections, etc.) until your body returns to a healthier state.

 A final explanation is simply that when you quit, your body quickly moves into "healing" mode. This takes a great deal of energy and it becomes quite easy to get run down if you don't get enough rest. A common lament of new Quitsters is constantly being tired and this is a manifestation of that healing process. If you become run-down, you are more vulnerable to getting sick, as we all know.

 Which of these explanations is the one for you? That's hard to say. The truth is that it may be one or all of them. It may also be that a little "revisionist history" is going on and you are only now admitting that you get sick more. Before, you may have attributed it to "allergies" or "the weather" or "sunspots" or "communist insurrectionist plots" - stuff like that. Anything but admitting that your smoking was making you sick. In other words, maybe you aren't sick more, you're just calling it what it is for the first time.

 At any rate, we cannot expect to undo in a few days or weeks what we've spent many years causing. It will take time, up to two years for some people, before we really are healed up and see the benefits of not smoking in terms of being sick less. Just be aware of this and help your body out: get plenty of sleep, lower your stress load, drink lots of water to help flush your system and eat properly. You will begin to see evidence that the healing is taking place in a short time. Coughing up gunk a lot? That's evidence that the cilia are coming back to life and helping your lungs to purge themselves. Do you seem to have more energy than you used to? That's evidence your body is healing nicely. Less out of breath after climbing the stairs in your house? One more bit of evidence that you're getting better all the time.

 Just remember that all it takes is one puff to get started down this path to dead cilia and constantly getting sick. You've done the one most effective thing you can do to improve your health so don't blow it. Keep the Quit!



 Chris the Science Geek
 REPOST: Chris the Science Geek answers your questions about Quitzits, sore gums & tongue, canker sores and cold sores
 From csavage on 11/17/2003 3:51:01 PM

 Fourth in a series...
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 The question was recently sent in to our laboratory, "Now that I've quit smoking, why am I getting acne like I'm a danged teenager?!" Well, have a seat and the Science Dork will do his best to fill you in.

 

 As we've all learned, the act of smoking introduces all kinds of nasty pollutants into our bodies. Being the miracles of nature that they are, our bodies adjust as best they can and do whatever they can to shed the nasty chemical toxins we pour into them with every puff we take on a cigarette. Unfortunately, each cigarette we smoke retards the detoxification process that our bodies are *trying* to engage in. The net effect is an accumulation of toxins inside our bodies along with a shift in the chemical balance inside us (including our hormones.)

 One day, we quit smoking. This is a Good Thing but, as we have also learned, it throws our bodies into an upheaval. Suddenly the chemical balance is thrown out of whack again while, at the same time, our bodies start the detoxification process. You've heard people tell new Quitsters to "drink lots of water to help flush out all the toxins". This is good advice and it helps a great deal. However, it's just not fast enough for you body when begins to excrete the toxins in any way it can. Sometimes the toxins are ejected through the soft tissues inside our mouths and through the pores. This causes the well-known Quitzits many Quitsters suffer from. It can also cause tremendous mouth discomfort as cold sores and canker sores erupt inside the mouth and on the lips. This coupled with the hormonal changes that happen (akin to the changes that happen during a woman's menstual cycle, another time when she's likely to experience more acne than is typical) can lead to some pretty pimply periods. Sore throats are also quite common during this time.

 There is also some evidence that there are chemical agents absorbed from cigarette smoke that inhibit the formation of cold sores which only makes their occurence more likely once you Quit. Finally, many Quitsters suffer from Quitstipation. Since this slow downs a major toxin shedding process, this is one less avenue for the body to rid itself of the nasty chemicals it has been absorbing. If it's any consolation, smoking Quitsters aren't the only people to experience this phenomenon - recovering heroin addicts have been known to develop raging cases of acne, too.

 As with all the other negative side effects of smoking cessation, the best thing to do is just wait it out. In the meantime, consider lowering your toxin load by eating more nutritious, healthy foods, especially high-fiber foods. Also, drink as much water as you can. It really does help to flush your system. You may also want to invest in some Oxy10 to take care of that third eye on your cheek ;^)

 Chris the Science Geek

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