Chest pain after smoking: what to do, how to get rid of the pain

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To most people, smoking cigarettes seems to be nothing more than a bad habit. Meanwhile, nicotine is officially classified as a seriously addictive alkaloid, on a par with cocaine, caffeine and quinine. All of these substances have a significant effect on the functioning of the nervous system.

Today, tobacco addiction is considered one of the most difficult to treat, since nicotine forms a very serious psychological attachment, affecting our unconscious behavior and even the area of ​​​​reflexes.

• Nicotine overdose: what is it?
• Causes of nicotine poisoning
• Symptoms of cigarette overdose
• Stomach hurts after smoking
• Gag reflex when smoking
• Chest pain after smoking
• Weakness after cigarettes
• Fainting from smoking
• Nausea after cigarettes: reasons
• Sick of menthol cigarettes
• Sick of electronic cigarettes
• Overdose from vaping
• Nicotine hit
• Signs of acute nicotine poisoning
• Consequences of nicotine overdose
• Lethal dose of nicotine for humans
• Allergy to nicotine
• First aid for nicotine poisoning
• Treatment of nicotine poisoning in

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The pleasant sensations caused by the first cigarettes smoked pass very quickly. To get them back, a person increases the frequency of smoking, which can lead to an overdose. The number of cigarettes smoked also increases during times of stress, when performing hard or responsible work, or in a state of psychological depression.

Nicotine overdose: what is it?

When smoking tobacco, the dangerous alkaloid enters the brain in just 7-8 seconds, since the blood-brain barrier cannot contain it. The incoming nicotine provokes increased production of dopamine, so the person experiences some pleasure.

When large dosages of this substance are consumed, it begins to block the activity of the autonomic ganglia, which leads to general intoxication of the body and the appearance of symptoms similar to general poisoning. With frequent abuse of nicotine, this substance penetrates into all cells and organs, even entering bone and muscle tissue.

What to do

As you can see, the causes of pain can be very different, so it is recommended to carefully consider the reaction of your body, which suggests some problems.

• Pay attention to the presence of chronic diseases (for example, asthma or bronchitis). It is very possible that they became aggravated during this period and caused the appearance of painful sensations that were previously blocked by smoking and the body either “didn’t know” about the problems or “underestimated”.
• Be sure to consult a doctor who can diagnose and make an accurate diagnosis. In no case should you put off going to the doctor if you have a severe cough with shortness of breath, limited mobility in the chest and other unpleasant symptoms. All this may indicate the development of malignant neoplasms and other serious problems that require urgent treatment.
• You can alleviate the condition of those who have quit smoking and have chest pain on your own. To do this, you need to balance your daily routine, making sure to include regular walks. It is very important to ventilate the room more often, and it is recommended to sleep with the head of the room slightly raised. This will slightly reduce discomfort during treatment of the underlying disease.

Causes of nicotine poisoning

Nicotine intoxication can be acute or chronic. The first is due to the intake of a large amount of tobacco toxins into the body over a short period of time. In the second form, cigarette poisoning occurs regularly when a person smokes too much tobacco daily

The reasons for the appearance of signs of acute intoxication may be:

• Smoking cigarettes on an empty stomach;
• Excess nicotine in the body (consuming a large dose of nicotine in a short period of time);
• Child eating tobacco;
• Combining anti-smoking products (patches, chewing gum, etc.) with nicotine and smoking cigarettes;
• Failure to comply with safety measures when working with insecticides containing nicotine, as well as in the production of tobacco products.

Chronic nicotine poisoning can occur not only in heavy smokers, but also in their family members who have to constantly inhale tobacco smoke. When smoking cigarettes, toxic compounds such as arsenic, hydrocyanic acid, and methanol are released into the air. They complicate poisoning both in smokers themselves and in “passive smokers” who inhale cigarette smoke.

REHABILITATION

Chest pain after quitting smoking

When a person quits smoking, certain changes begin to occur in his body that the former smoker needs to go through. As a rule, getting used to a new way of life is accompanied by a number of unpleasant and sometimes very uncomfortable sensations. This is all related to the detoxification process. After quitting smoking, the chest hurts because the lungs and bronchi begin to clear themselves of accumulated tar and nicotine, as well as because of worsened gastrointestinal diseases or because of heart failure, which appears due to oxygen deprivation.

Symptoms of cigarette overdose

Nicotine intoxication occurs when too much of this substance enters the body. The body cannot cope with so many toxins, poisoning occurs. It does not matter in what form the nicotine was consumed - from cigarettes, nicotine patch, gum, nasal spray or inhaler.

In case of chronic nicotine overdose as a result of frequent cigarette smoking, the following symptoms are most often observed:

• anxiety state,
• the appearance of cold sweat,
• acute headaches,
• dizziness,
• muscle twitching,
• tingling under the skin,
• increased heart rate and pulse,
• increased blood pressure,
• fatigue, weakness,
• poor appetite
• pressing pain in the chest area,
• nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,
• stomach pain,
• breathe heavily,
• hearing or vision impairment may occur.

If one or more of the listed symptoms appears, you should immediately contact a narcologist.

Stomach hurts after smoking

Nicotine is a poison, and in large quantities it leads to disruption of intercellular metabolism, which leads to cell starvation. As a result, a person may experience headaches, muscle pain, and stomach pain.

Gag reflex when smoking

The symptoms of nicotine poisoning are similar in many ways to food poisoning. The body strives to remove toxic substances, so it uses all its resources. And its first action is the gag reflex, which clears the stomach of all contents, which allows reducing the concentration of nicotine in the body.

Chest pain after smoking

Due to smoking, the human lungs suffer the most, since the main dose of toxins falls on this organ. Therefore, heavy smokers often experience chest pain.

Weakness after cigarettes

Alkaloids disrupt the functioning of all organs and systems, establishing oxygen and vitamin-mineral metabolism between cells. At the same time, the body throws all its strength into the fight against toxic substances. For these reasons, a person experiences weakness and fatigue.

Fainting from smoking

A large dose of nicotine can lead to muscle spasms in the respiratory system. As a result of an acute lack of oxygen, a person loses consciousness and faints. In some cases, this condition can develop into a coma and even lead to death.

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Smoking withdrawal syndrome

The thought of “quitting” is one of the most common among long-time smokers. And the most persecuted. What is there, beyond the line - without the usual ritual of “take it out of the pack, flick the lighter, take the first puff”?

And beyond this line there are at least several days of nicotine abstinence, or withdrawal syndrome. Let's see how scary it is.

What is nicotine withdrawal syndrome?

In general, this is a normal physical and at the same time emotional reaction to the absence or severe reduction of the usual dose of nicotine. Especially if you smoked regularly, for a long time and in large quantities. Your daily pack of cigarettes has gradually become a tool for managing emotions, a way to concentrate, or a reason to take a break from work. It is natural that, having lost such a powerful support, you feel lost.

Although nicotine is a completely legal psychoactive drug, its toxic effects and ability to cause addiction are quite comparable to those substances for which real sentences are given. Some smokers quite seriously claim that giving up alcohol or even cocaine is much easier.

Worse, smoking is not only the physical pleasure of a dose of nicotine, the taste or smell of tobacco smoke, it is also a powerful ritual, belonging to a “cult” and a way of escaping reality. Try and refuse.

So, no matter how you look at it, you will have to get through it. It is impossible to avoid unpleasant sensations. All that remains is to classify them and learn to deal with them.

Withdrawal symptoms

Nicotine, like any psychoactive substance, affects people differently. Therefore, everyone experiences withdrawal symptoms differently - some are worse physically, others psychologically. But, as a rule, the following problems “cover” everyone:

• sleep problem—difficulty falling asleep or waking up frequently;
• anxiety, unreasonable worry, feeling of loss;
• irritability, mood swings, melancholy;
• difficulty concentrating; increased appetite.

And physical symptoms:

constipation; increased cough; headache; a sore throat; dry mouth; runny nose.

And what to do with all this?

Frankly speaking, I will not discover America here. There are millions of tips and ways to survive withdrawal syndrome as less painfully as possible. For some, nicotine replacement therapy is suitable, for others - occupational therapy. Some people manage successfully without aids. There is one consolation: sooner or later everything will pass. But there are a few things that really help right now. Tested for myself.

1. You will still be tempted to “eat” unsmoked cigarettes. And in fact you won’t care what it is. Prepare yourself a plate of chopped vegetables and fruits and become a raw foodist for a few days. Oddly enough, stem celery personally brought me to my senses. It’s a terrible disgusting thing if you eat kilograms of it. Yes, a couple of bottles of still drinking water won’t hurt either - you can also wash down the desire to smoke.
2. Now we are desperately lacking dopamine - that same “good mood” neurotransmitter, the dose of which we received for every cigarette we smoked. We urgently need to get it from other sources. Read jokes, watch all the stupidest comedies, chop wood, jump with a parachute. Now anything that is an alternative source of this substance will do.
3. Sleep. When you sleep, you usually don't smoke. Without the stimulating effect of nicotine, you get tired faster and want to sleep. Allow yourself to get caught in this vicious circle, especially if your last cigarette happened on the eve of the weekend or vacation. And enjoy sleeping through this nasty time. If you want to sleep. If, on the contrary, you have the insomnia described above, there is absolutely no shame in drinking sedatives at night.
4. Breathe and take a break. The moment when you just unbearably want to smoke a cigarette lasts 3–5 minutes. If at this time you begin to inhale and exhale deeply, diligently counting these same inhalations and exhalations, you will feel a lot better. You can do something else to keep your hands busy so that you won’t be able to quit everything right now and run to smoke. Knitting helped me. I swore a lot, but I almost knitted a huge sweater with complex braids.
5. Feel free to talk about it. Yes, it's hard for you. Yes, you are disgusted. Yes, you are now ready to kill those around you. Yes, you are now performing a personal feat. Warn the world about your condition and ask it to take you into account. Usually he goes along with it.

And yes, good luck. Everything will work out.

Snezhana Shabanova

Photo istockphoto.com

Nausea after cigarettes: reasons

Nausea after smoking is due to the entry of toxins into the body. The following reasons can provoke it:

• spasm of the gastric walls caused by their irritation by substances ingested with saliva;
• irritation due to gastrointestinal ulcer;
• activation of the adrenal glands due to an increase in dopamine in the blood;
• constriction of blood vessels in the brain caused by smoke entering the body.
• contraction of the intestinal muscles, which occurs during poisoning;
• diseases of the oral cavity.

Sick of menthol cigarettes

The danger of menthol cigarettes is that they reduce the harshness of tobacco smoke, which reduces the unpleasant moments of smoking and provokes people to use tobacco products more often. At the same time, the level of nicotine in menthol cigarettes does not differ from conventional analogues. Therefore, nausea from menthol cigarettes is a sign of toxin poisoning.

Sick of electronic cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes are considered a safer replacement for traditional cigarettes. However, their dressing contains a large amount of toxins harmful to humans, which also cause poisoning. Nausea when smoking them is explained by the body’s reaction to the intake of harmful toxins.

Possible reasons

Let us say right away that the causes of chest pain in a person who has quit smoking can be very different and some of them require serious treatment. Let's list the main ones:

• development of reparative processes in the lungs as a result of restoration of their normal functioning after quitting smoking;
• withdrawal syndrome and the body’s feeling of a lack of incoming nicotine;
• hyperventilation of the lungs, which is associated with a violation of the alkaline balance in the blood;
• the presence of various diseases of the lungs and respiratory tract (bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease);
• various masked extrapulmonary diseases;
• the beginning of the development of oncological pathology.

The first reason is the most common and quite natural if an experienced smoker has gotten rid of his addiction to cigarettes. In this case, the body requires a lot of effort and time to remove tobacco tar, soot and mucus from the lungs. All this is accompanied by renewal of epithelial cells, restoration of the protective functions of cilia and other processes of normalization of the entire respiratory system, which causes discomfort in the body.

Nicotine hit

If after smoking a person begins to feel dizzy, has nausea and the urge to vomit, breaks out in a cold sweat, and the skin becomes pale, it means that a nicotine kick has occurred. It can be caused by the following reasons:

• smoking several cigarettes in a row;
• smoking on an empty stomach,
• smoking immediately after a good night's sleep.

This condition has an extremely negative effect on the functioning of the entire body, especially the heart and brain. It can cause the development of hypertension, atherosclerosis, endarteritis or the appearance of malignant tumors.

CODING FROM SMOKING

Other options for dealing with nicotine withdrawal

To relieve withdrawal symptoms when quitting smoking, use:

• Use of special pharmaceuticals. These are the drugs that have a mild nicotine-replacement effect, as well as antidepressants and substances that provoke aversion from smoking. These include tablets: “Tabex”, “Lobelin”, “Cytisine”, “Champix”, “Corrida Plus”, “Zyban”, “Brisantine” and others.
• The right diet. The diet should consist of light, fortified dishes rich in minerals. For example - salads, fruits, vegetable purees. You should drink more fluid. It speeds up the body's detoxification process.
• Psychological relief. It is important to occupy yourself with something that distracts you from suffering. This could be active recreation, playing with children. any impressions that could overshadow the psychological discomfort experienced.

Don’t forget: nicotine withdrawal is an extremely difficult condition for the entire body. Don't take it lightly. Better consult a narcologist!

The text was checked by expert doctors: Head of the socio-psychological service of the Alkoklinik MC, psychologist Yu.P. Baranova, L.A. Serova, a psychiatrist-narcologist.

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Signs of acute nicotine poisoning

When consuming large amounts of nicotine in a short period of time, acute intoxication occurs due to a sharp increase in the level of toxins in the blood. In this case, the person experiences the following symptoms:

• pale skin;
• unsteadiness of gait, loss of coordination;
• sudden jumps in blood pressure and pulse;
• increased sweating;
• pain in the abdomen, head, muscles;
• the appearance of convulsions, shaking hands;
• blue discoloration in the area of ​​the nasolabial triangle;
• impaired vision, swallowing, speech.

If you suspect acute nicotine intoxication, you should immediately seek medical help.

Consequences of nicotine overdose

Large doses of nicotine and cases of intoxication with this substance can lead to the development of the following diseases:

• diseases of the cardiovascular system;
• hypertension;
• disorders of the thyroid gland;
• liver or kidney disease;
• asthma;
• diabetes;
• chronic respiratory diseases, including cancer.

A state of acute intoxication can lead to paralysis of the muscles responsible for the functioning of the respiratory organs or heart, which will lead to respiratory arrest and falling into a coma. Without timely medical intervention, death from poisoning occurs.

Lethal dose of nicotine for humans

The lethal dose for humans is 0.5 – 1 milligram of nicotine per kilogram of weight.

When smoking one cigarette, a person receives approximately 1 milligram of this substance.

When nicotine intoxication occurs, the prognosis depends on the following factors:

• dose taken,
• age of the victim,
• general health, presence of concomitant diseases,
• duration of intoxication (before medical assistance is provided).

Allergy to nicotine

Cigarette smoke contains many toxic compounds that can cause serious allergies. Intolerance to any toxin can develop in smokers and against the background of a decrease in general immunity.

When an allergy to tobacco appears, it is not enough for a person to completely quit this bad habit, but also try to isolate himself from inhaling cigarette smoke when being near other smokers.

How to relieve pain?

Much depends on the cause of the pain, which only a doctor can determine. Accordingly, if painful discomfort occurs, you should immediately consult a neurologist.

, because the problem may be serious (for example, a stomach ulcer or breast cancer). What to do before consulting a specialist? Eliminate the source of pain - quit smoking. If you have already quit, but the pain remains, you need, again, to consult a doctor to find out why this is happening, whether the discomfort is associated with detoxification of the body or with any disease. It is not recommended to take painkillers, as they will provide temporary relief and, unless prescribed by a doctor, can cause even more harm and interfere with an accurate diagnosis.

First aid for nicotine poisoning

If signs of nicotine poisoning appear, you should immediately call an ambulance. Before the doctors arrive, the following measures should be taken:

• Place the victim on the floor or other horizontal surface. To prevent vomit from entering the respiratory tract, you need to turn it on its side.
• To make breathing easier, you need to unfasten the collar of your clothing and loosen the belt.
• If the person remains conscious, you need to give him a weak solution of potassium permanganate to drink, which will provoke gag reflexes.
• After cleansing the stomach, it is necessary to give the victim activated carbon or another sorbent used for poisoning.
• You need to constantly talk to the patient, preventing him from falling asleep.

When the medical team meets, it is necessary to inform about the approximate dose of nicotine consumed and the measures already taken. Mild intoxication can be treated at home or on an outpatient basis. But if the victim’s condition may threaten his life, then treatment will be carried out in a hospital.

References:

• Guide to addictionology / Axelrod B. A. et al. / ed. V. D. Mendelevich. - St. Petersburg: Speech, 2007.
• Information technology for liberation from alcohol and nicotine addiction, depression / M. A. Tetyushkin / “LitRes”, 2014.
• Geppe N. A. Tobacco smoking in children and adolescents: impact on health status and prevention // Practical Pulmonology. – 2007. – No. 3. – P.15-19.
• Nicotine addiction / (psychoactive addictions) / [comp. N. N. Boyko]. – Ed. 2nd, rev. and additional / Moscow: Native Country, 2009. – 198, [1] p. : ill., table. (Russian Security).

Article verified by an expert

Terekhova Anna Vladimirovna

psychologist-consultant on socio-psychological work with addicted clients and their families. More than 10 years of experience.

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