In the meantime, seek out other sources of reward that naturally raise your dopamine levels, Dr. Related: If You Can Maintain Weight Loss For a Year, It Gets Easier This suggests that the post-quitting dopamine drop isn’t a permanent state-so if you can get through the first few months of kicking ash, it likely will get easier, says Dr. Related: The Best Method to Quit Smoking ForeverĬouple that with the physical symptoms of withdrawal-like headache, cough, and stomach pain-and the quitting process can feel endless.īut here’s the good news: In the study, after 3 months without cigarettes, the brains of former smokers began to produce just as much dopamine as nonsmokers produced. So your levels remain low.Īs a result, the same blah feeling you experience in between cigarettes stretches out for a longer time, leading to other dopamine-related withdrawal symptoms, like irritability and fatigue, says Dr. So you look toward your next cigarette to provide that dopamine boost and make you feel better.īut when you quit your habit, you no longer receive that extra hit of dopamine. As a result, you may feel a lack of motivation, an inability to concentrate, or just moody. That’s partly why cigarettes can be so addicting: When you smoke, the nicotine activates receptors in your brain that release dopamine, which makes you feel a sense of pleasure, according to John Krystal, M.D., editor of Biological Psychiatry and professor at Yale University School of Medicine.īut after you stub out your cigarette, your dopamine levels drop back to their lower baseline, making you feel pretty crappy, he says.

Iquit smoking day 12