View Full Version : Smoking and Anxiety
Hi everyone :D
My support worker called out to see me today, she comes once a month to check on how I have been doing. I was outside having a ciggie when she arrived. She asked me if I had thought of packing it in, I told her I didn't smoke too much, but if I was feeling really anxious or panicky I did find myself streching for a ciggie as if calms me down.
She said it wasn't the ciggie that was calming me, but the deep breaths that I take when I enhale the smoke. She also said that nicotine works the same as alcohol and actually INCREASES anxiety!!!!!:mad:
Has anyone else found this to be true??? as I do enjoy my ciggies :yahoo:
Thought I would share this info with you.
Diane
Your imagination is always much worse than the reality
misterbean
08-04-08, 20:47
Hello Dianes
A lot of people say a lot of things about smoking, some of which, such as increased risk of cancer, are based on pretty good evidence, others are not. You might wish to ask your support worker where their evidence is and read it before doubting how you feel when you light up.
Oh, and if the evidence is sound let me know, cos I've always thought of them as calming also.
Martin
louwilliams
08-04-08, 21:20
I have just given up about 7 weeks ago after smoking for about 19/20 years.
I realised that everytime I had a fag, I felt worse. I know that nicotine increases your heart rate and when you smoke, your body thinks it is under attack (due to the chemicals in the fag) and so releases adreneline which makes you feel edgy so in fact when you reach for your pack when your are stressed....all you are doing is mking yourself even more stressed.
I know I may sound like i'm preaching but the last time I was in A&E (funnily enough about 7 weeks ago) the nurses told me a few things about ciggies and I havent touched one since and to be honest although I havent felt better anxiety wise (I have so much going on at the moment i'm finding no solace or let up in anything I try) I have felt much better breathing and exercise wise.
It was really really hard to do but when I told my GP i'd given up he said "that is the single most important decision you will ever make"
lou xxxxxxxx
It's the nicotine that relaxes you, not the breathing. Let's face it, if you got the same effect from deep breathing, you wouldn't enjoy cigarettes so much!
That said, my own experience is that the relaxation is very short-lived and it *is* followed by agitation (and in my case feeling slightly ill - I gather some smokers don't experience that).
I love a cigarette but I'm trying to cut down. My rule is only to smoke them when I'm feeling really miserable, but unfortunately that's a lot of the time at the moment :\
Lilith1980
08-04-08, 23:04
I've heard that cigarettes make your nerves worse, not better.
I've cut down to having 5 or so a day but its cutting them out when I go out in the evenings which is hard.
Even if they dont help in terms of anxiety, I dont think anyone would argue that its better to stop than carry on smoking ;)
Jo xxxxx
good luck to those who are quitting/have quit or like me are at the cutting down stage. I stopped for 3 wks in january as i had a panic attack whilst "enjoying" a cigarette and for those 3 wks i quit the single thing that stopped me smoking was the idea it might bring on another attack. I have suffered anxiety for 4 years approx but at that point in time i blamed this attack on the fact i was smoking at the time and it was due to the cigarette that i had increased heart rate, dizzyness, dry mouth etc and thus an "association" was borne. I am since back on the ciggies, albeit much much less than i smoked before and to be honest i was never a heavy smoker anyway. Even on days where i am feeling ok, if i make the choice to have a ciggie i think "will this make me feel dizzy, make my heart race etc"
Whilst i still smoke 2 or 3 ciggies a day, i dont for a minute believe that a ciggie calms me down in any way - and yes it does make me feel more anxious and shaky.
I'm sure they don't help but I can't quit. Last time I tried I went loopy. Anxiety sky high. Stuff that.
I can't stop either - the first thing I do when nervous or anxious is reach for the fags! :)
hi, yes i gave up two years ago, and i gave up cos i always felt worse after smoking .
love sandyjanexxx
misterbean
09-04-08, 10:13
Congratulations Lou, though I think I'm a little envious of you! The idea of a self-perpetuating spiral is an attractive one for me, not that there is anything attractive in the spiral itself.
I've taken to thinking that I smoke to avoid any feeling that might cause me to be anxious - for example smoking in a group helps me feel less isolated and anxious about that, which might be why I always prefer smoking with others. I look at when and why I started in the first place, what was happening at the time, but this gets a little too painful to press.
Martin
Just so that it is clear... the nictotine (and the 4000+ other chemicals) in
cigarettes are a stimulant, and NOT a relaxant.
Any relaxation will be partially down to the deeper breathing while smoking,
the rest is down to the partial blurry headedness casued by lack of oxygen to
the brain, and the effect of the 4000+ chemicals.
Don't kid yourself that smoking just 1 or 2 is better than smoking 10. Go see
a GP, and if you are lucky s/he will show you the graph for smoking and
diseases.
The chart starts at zero for 0 cigarettes, jumps massively for just 1 cigarette
per day, then increases incrementally for each additional cigarette smoked
per day.
Cutting down is a waste of time. If you want to stop, buy Allen Carr's book.
It will really help you to give up for good.
Cheers
Steve
bluebell68
09-04-08, 11:56
hi guys.... ive hestitated to reply to this post cos im ashamed to admit that i smoke too and have tried so many ways to quit and can't... i hate myself for it.....im sure a lot of my anxiety stems from this.... most of my health anxieties are smoking related. Smoking is bad right....i get it ...so im my mind im gonna get sick... and when i do it'll be my fault right?... im well stuck in the cycle... i smoke cause im so anxious but smoking increases anxiety....
every night i go to bed and swear that im not gonna smoke tomoro and everyday i do...:wall: .... i hate it... round and round ... down and down... i wish i could break the cycle i try so hard, i honestly do but i just keep failing.... which just about sums up how i feel in general at the moment... i didn't smoke for ten years and i hated smoking, so how did i end up back here?? .. its the sword of damocles hanging over me, and im just waiting for it to fall...:weep:
Just so that it is clear... the nictotine (and the 4000+ other chemicals) in
cigarettes are a stimulant, and NOT a relaxant.
Any relaxation will be partially down to the deeper breathing while smoking,
the rest is down to the partial blurry headedness casued by lack of oxygen to
the brain, and the effect of the 4000+ chemicals.
Don't kid yourself that smoking just 1 or 2 is better than smoking 10. Go see
a GP, and if you are lucky s/he will show you the graph for smoking and
diseases.
The chart starts at zero for 0 cigarettes, jumps massively for just 1 cigarette
per day, then increases incrementally for each additional cigarette smoked
per day.
Cutting down is a waste of time. If you want to stop, buy Allen Carr's book.
It will really help you to give up for good.
Cheers
Steve
Cheers for the lecture :yesyes: made me feel better already.
Just so that it is clear... the nictotine (and the 4000+ other chemicals) in
cigarettes are a stimulant, and NOT a relaxant.
Steve,
There is nothing to say that a stimulant can't also be a relaxant. In medical terms, the opposite of a stimulant is a depressant(*), not a relaxant. Smoking makes you feel alert and relaxed at the same time. That's not a contradiction.
The term "depressant" derives from a drug's effect on brain activity, NOT its effect on mood. So alcohol is a depressant even though (in the short term) it can make you feel less depressed. The fact that alcohol gives you a hangover is NOT why it's called a depressant.
I'm not disagreeing that smoking is a bad idea, but nicotine IS a relaxant.
(*) Therefore the term "antidepressant" is misleading, because what it counteracts is depressed mood, not depressed brain activity.
misterbean
09-04-08, 13:55
Thanks, Bluebell. You have shared what it is like to be in your spiral, which is something that I avoided when describing mine.
Martin
thevoicewithinme
09-04-08, 13:59
I hold my hands up and admit that I smoke too. I used to feel that if I was particularly stressed that it calmed me down, but on saying that, if I am very very anxious...I avoid cigarettes, as I have found that it escalates the dizzyness and faintness. What I have found though is that lately I seem to be reaching for my cigarettes more and more, and I am not enjoying them at all.
Somebody did once tell me though that while experience anxiety etc...it is not the right time to quit....to concentrate on one thing at a time.
i actually came on here because i have just been out for a ciggie and now i feel all shaky and panicky!
thing is i want a ciggie and it starts to work me up cause of the addiction then after i have one i feel worried and panicky straight off. it is a vicious circle. i have just had to take a diaz to calm me down and i hate feeling like this at work. i have a real fight or flight thing going on right now, just wanna run away from my desk but have no-where to go.
my gp told me when i first started tablets not to quit smoking as it will just mmake me too anxious and that wasnt what i needed right now. Thing is if i am out having a few drinks on a friday night or whatever i dont get this effect off ciggies. only if i have one on my own. dont know why that is :s
thevoicewithinme
09-04-08, 14:07
Funny you should say that! If I go outside and have a cigarette, for some strange reason it always makes me feel 'lightheaded' but indoors and socially I am fine with them
Hi everyone :D
Thanks for the response, I will certainly research more into this. I know smoking is not good for you, but like so many others on here I have tried to give up and failed miserably. Thankfully I have not experienced any lightheadedness whilst smoking, (maybe I have been smoking too long 30yrs) But I must confess when I am travelling by car because I get so anxious I find I can't smoke then.:blush:
I will keep you posted if I find out anymore about this. :yesyes:
Wish you all well :yesyes:
Diane
Your imagination is always much worse than the reality
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