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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Why do I not crave nicotine after a night of drinking?

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Bliindsided

Bliindsided

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Feb 14, 2013
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After a heavy night of drinking (obviously smoking 2x the cigs) I do not crave any nicotine for up to two days. I would like for the answer to be as simple as "well you're hungover and not feeling well..." but even if I'm up and about and feeling well, I do not have the desire.

I'm sure this has something to do with the way the alcohol works on the brain chemistry and shit, and I'm definitely curious of the reason... unless I'm just an odd case. Thanks
 
idk, the only reason i wouldnt crave nicotine is because im so hungover i cant smoke.

i hope someone has a better answer then i do.
 
Yes I agree with you on this one, which is why I wonder if I'm just an isolated case. But even if I'm feeling very sick and hungover, I still get up to eat and drink fluids and take care of things. Just on Sunday I've sat and played video games for nearly 10 hours and felt Okay after a good night of 15~20 drinks, however something I want to mention: As soon as I do decide it's time for that cigarette, my habit immediately falls back as if nothing ever happened.
 
of course. im the same way,

i can smoke a fuck ton of cigs when im drunk, like now. idk why its like that bro. im definetly with you on the when you want it you have to have it type thing.

i guess thats a cig habit for ya.

me and you sound a little differnent in terms to hangovers. if its bad enough i cant eat, i gag when i cough to hard from a wake n bake, and i can only smoke half cigs for the most part. hopefully someones got better insight but this is the best i can give you right now mang.
 
Maybe it's just because you smoke so much when you're drunk that you've ingested enough nicotine for it to satisfy you for a couple days. I'm the opposite, as in if I smoke a lot one night I'll tend do smoke more the next day as well, so idk.
 
Something I have considered. Altho, I'm certain alcohol depletes nicotine levels far more rapidly which is why you smoke more to compensate... idk, Google was of no help so just to satisfy curiosity hope somebody can be sure haha
 
I'm the same way. I wake up and my mouth tastes like an ashtray and I just don't want a cigarette. It's like I'm already full of nicotine.
 
I've noted this in the past as well, and would be interested to hear an actual explanation. My assumption was always that being dehydrated makes the act of smoking less desirable. Add this to the fact that a hangover generally sucks more than short term nicotine WD, and I just end up with a day where I barely smoke.
 
Honestly, my best guess is that it's because you're not actually addicted to cigarettes yet. There's no physiological reason why, if you were physically addicted, you shouldn't be craving them for TWO days. Nobody physically addicted to any recreational drug does not crave that drug for two days. You've constructed some sort of rationalization that associates drinking heavily with not needing cigarettes and unconsciously enacted it. That you can still trick yourself into believing you don't crave cigarettes is a very good sign, and the fact that you are asking about this now is an indication that on some level you're looking for someone to tell you to quit. Quit now, while you can.
 
The first thing I do after a night of heavy drinking is smoke a cigarette, so I can't really relate! When I'm really hung over that first cigarette can suck though, sometimes it'll make me pretty nauseous.

Not sure if there's any truth in this, but someone told me cigarette companies add a a chemical which reacts with alcohol, somehow making you crave more cigarettes. Anyone else heard this before?
 
Euphio said:
The first thing I do after a night of heavy drinking is smoke a cigarette, so I can't really relate! When I'm really hung over that first cigarette can suck though, sometimes it'll make me pretty nauseous.

Not sure if there's any truth in this, but someone told me cigarette companies add a a chemical which reacts with alcohol, somehow making you crave more cigarettes. Anyone else heard this before?
Click to expand...
I dunno the validity of this, but I read once that alcohol works on your body in that it metabolizes nicotine twice as fast thus stronger cravings, sooner. I have never heard of a chemical additive but who really could know what they're puttin in these things...


psood0nym said:
Honestly, my best guess is that it's because you're not actually addicted to cigarettes yet. There's no physiological reason why, if you were physically addicted, you shouldn't be craving them for TWO days. Nobody physically addicted to any recreational drug does not crave that drug for two days. You've constructed some sort of rationalization that associates drinking heavily with not needing cigarettes and unconsciously enacted it. That you can still trick yourself into believing you don't crave cigarettes is a very good sign, and the fact that you are asking about this now is an indication that on some level you're looking for someone to tell you to quit. Quit now, while you can.
Click to expand...

I've been smoking ~a pack a day for 5 years, and sometimes 2 packs a day if I am drinking. I'm definitely addicted... I've tried to quit countless times, and to be quite honest - no this isn't a subliminal or subconscious way of asking for help to quit. As stated by a few people who are also surely addicted, it's only after drinking that there is no craving and we can't pinpoint as to why. It COULD be just the hangover, but something tells me otherwise when I'm at the gym working out after that party and still don't want to smoke.
 
I think it probably has something to do with dopamine. Drinking increases dopamine and after a night of drinking, your dopamine levels crash, (which is one of the reasons you feel like crap afterwards).

There is a complex relationship between alcohol and nicotine.

One study found that non-smokers given a nicotine receptor antagonist experienced less euphoric and stimulating effects from alcohol than they normally did. The study suggests that alcohol must interact in some way with nicotinic receptors to induce its pleasurable effects.

A number of studies have found that alcohol increases the pleasure from nicotine and that nicotine increases the pleasure from alcohol. This is interesting to me because it suggests that nicotine and not other components of tobacco is at play here - they tried it with cigarettes that had the nicotine removed and found that they didn't increase the pleasure from alcohol. This interaction likely involves the dopamine system, and there are studies supporting that theory. There are nicotine receptors on neurons that release dopamine in several parts of the brain and co-administration of alcohol and nicotine increases dopamine release.

Studies have also shown that the interaction between alcohol and nicotine is influenced by various factors, such as the person’s age and gender, which could explain why people have such differing experiences.

Strangely, dopamine blockers increase smoking and dopamine agonists decrease smoking, so the interaction with dopamine + alcohol + cigarettes must be complicated.

ETA: I've never read anything about alcohol causing your body to metabolize nicotine faster, I just thought people smoked more while drinking because alcohol and nicotine add to each other's effects, plus the side effects of smoking are less noticeable while drunk, but I can look into that...
 
Single dose administration of ethanol triggers excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and induction of apoptosis. All of which means that when the effects of ethanol subside, ones neurons are hyper-excited. These are in part the mechanics of a 'hang-over'. Adding tobacco, an MAOI, and nicotine a dopamine releaser would definitely increase neuronal excitation which is already present, in turn adding to the discomfort by adding to the insomnia, anxiety, autonomic disturbances (eg. GI tract) and overall 'wired' feeling which naturally come with excitotoxicity.
 
^ Reduction of desire in cigarette consumption due to a potential exacerbation of excitotoxic effects of ethanol.
 
^Do you mean if the person smokes, it has unpleasant effects, so then they don't want to smoke more? Perhaps.

Do you smoke? I don't think that would be enough to reduce cigarette cravings for me. For example, during opioid withdrawal cigarettes are nasty, but my cravings are through the roof and I smoke way more than usual: I just light up a cigarette, immediately think "ugh! that made me feel even worse, I'm putting it out," then 15 min later I am craving a cigarette again and repeat the process. Same thing with gabapentin, it tends to block a fair of the enjoyment of smoking for me, but I smoke anyway. It's almost like when smoking feels bad I crave cigarettes even more because I didn't get my enjoyable cigarette fix. Maybe it's just me? I am so addicted to smoking :(
 
When one is hung over (excitotoxicity) you experience a set of symptoms, anxiety, insomnia, GI disturbances, tachycardia, headaches etc. My hypothesis is, since tobacco in itself stimulates neuronal firing exactly like excitotoxicity, and in some studies has actually been implicated in neurotoxicity, apoptosis, and oxidative stress, it may possibly serve to amplify the symptoms of a 'hang-over' causing the user the shy away from cigarette smoking. In the original post two days was mentioned, a reasonable time for the brain to revert to homeostasis, where excitotoxicity is no longer in play, and cigarette smoking can be resumed normally.

In opioid withdrawal I would assume the reasons behind the boost in cravings are different. A short boost in dopamine in addition to the MAOI mechanism could theoretically provide a temporary relief, something which in itself would be inviting for those in opioid withdrawal to smoke excessively. Smoking is also unpleasant physically to people in opioid withdrawal, the dry throat and nausea probably being the biggest reasons. When one compares not smoking because of neurological symptoms, and not smoking because of acute symptoms, I think it could be very different. Smokers are actually not discouraged to use tobacco in some opioid detoxification centers. In withdrawal from gabagenics the boost in dopamine, nor-epinephrine etc and MAOI action could be counter-productive, and serve to worsen the symptoms of a 'hang-over'.

I don't really intend to say the cravings go away because I don't think they do, only that the behavior of smoking stops becoming reinforcing in the case of an alcohol hangover. If there is no mental reinforcement, then the probable scenario is the smoker will smoke to service his physical dependence, which believe it or not, requires only very little nicotine compared to what's usually smoked, and nothing more, in opioid withdrawal it very much remains reinforcing because the symptoms that may discourage the user from smoking are acute and have less of a neurological bearing.

I'm a chain smoker myself also, I find that I tend to smoke a lot during opioid withdrawal, but very little during benzodiazepine withdrawal. In the case of smoking excessively on pregabalin and gabapentin, that's only normal because these drugs dock nor-epinephrine, so the smoker would attempt to compensate for that by doing so. There maybe separate and unrelated reasoning's as well, but based on my knowledge I find this to be the most plausible.
 
Chromophobia said:
I don't really intend to say the cravings go away because I don't think they do, only that the behavior of smoking stops becoming reinforcing in the case of an alcohol hangover.
Click to expand...
Yeah that's what I thought you meant but thanks for explaining more. It just seems weird to me because I do tend to smoke less the day after drinking, but in other situations where smoking is not very reinforcing I smoke more. Different mechanisms at play I suppose.
 
I'm the complete opposite. After a night of drinking and heavy smoking I crave harder the next day. Similarly I have noticed generally after MDMA use I do not crave at all for like a week.
 
I'd say your not truly addicted thats why. Although im patient enough to wait for a ciggerette untill after breakfast, more rewarding. I think alcohol inhibits the effects of nicotine leading you to smoking more and not feeling like more the following morning when subriety hits, or the hangover. Better question is why don't people drink the morning after to relieve the hangover? Because people will 'judge' you i guess.
Pack a day for 5 years, ok maybe you are. But 2 days, either your lying or your not addicted as me. Ive smoked strong ciggerettes for 5-6 years.
 
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