Effect of Cigarettes on HA

[Distressed]

I am a HA sufferer trying to quit smoking. After 2 days without a cigarette I felt less anxious and with a higher mood. Unfortunately I gave in and smoked one cigarette. I noticed that after finishing it, my anxiety instantly came back and now I feel noticably more depressed. Before having HA I used to smoke a lot more and noticed that it made me feel more relaxed, but HA seems to reversed the effect. Anybody else get this?

[Serenity1990]

It's a catch 22 situation. Nicotine is a stimulant and only serves to increase anxiety. Nicotine cravings also increase anxiety.

I think part of the reason I thought smoking destressed me was in reality it was probably making me take deep, slow breaths, albeit contaminated ones. Far before anxiety I was under immense stress in both my home and work lives and I did see smoking as a reliever of it. However my perception and reality were probably not well aligned