Day 22: Reporter apologises for disappearance after heroin-like withdrawal
While I was spinning around on my chair this morning with the oncoming panic that is “deadline” day I remembered that it was time once again to update the smoking blog.
The blog got a bit lax last week, a culmination of post holiday blues and catching up with my work and for this I apologise.
But stay tuned as if you’ve ever wondered what coming off heroin’s like, I can tell you.
A bout of insomnia last night resulted in my Googling the withdrawal symptoms of giving up smoking. Turns out nicotine’s as addicting as heroin.
For the record, I’m no wuss. While my colleagues may not describe me as noble, gallant or belligerent, I’m definitely not a yellow bellied toad.
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As I look through the list of withdrawal symptoms I mentally ticked off most of them including: irritability, anger, hostility, anxiety, panic, poor concentration, depression, fatigue, fearfulness, sense of loss and coughing.
This is what the newsdesk has been subjected to for the past three weeks.
Most Read
- 1 Consultation on proposed controlled parking zones to begin
- 2 More than 100 Covid dead at Queen's and King George this week
- 3 Double murder charge over stabbings, as police name victims
- 4 Covid outbreak at Woodford Green care home delays vaccinations
- 5 Council left homeless family 'stuck in cycle of instability', report finds
- 6 Redevelopment plans likely to be approved despite 144 objections
- 7 Almost 250 homes without internet in Goodmayes after car accident takes out telecoms box
- 8 Two in five people in Redbridge may have had Covid, data shows
- 9 GPs roll up their sleeves to support colleagues at Queen's Hospital
- 10 Covid vaccine invitations a priority for Royal Mail, says MP
I enjoyed the anger, it entertained me (if not the drivers of Redbridge) the anxiety and depression which lasted for more than a week I could have done without.
The worst thing about it was the fatigue and inability to concentrate which has been driving me to distraction.
So, some facts about nicotine according to the good people at the University of Minnesota:
• Nicotine is as addictive as heroin as a “behaviour altering agent”
• It is 1,000 times more potent that alcohol
So if you know anyone out there that is giving up, say something nice to them and keep your distance.
This is the fourth week of reporter Amanda Nunn’s blog on giving up smoking for Stoptober. Did you give up this month? Send your experiences to amanda.nunn@archant.co.uk.
