topic Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking in Anxiety

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Shelton — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 09:40:03 GMT

I've never suffered with anxiety or panic attacks before but after finally stopping smoking four months ago, I've been struggling with insecurity. All the books say the anxiety from nicotine withdrawal should have stopped by now so what am I left with?

Im seeing a psychologist and working closely with my GP but just wondered if anyone else struggled with this.

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

pipsy — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 11:15:38 GMT

Hi Shelton. I've never been a smoker, but I should imagine that stopping smoking would have the same withdrawal symptoms as an alcoholic who 'goes on the wagon'. The impulse to continue smoking would be extremely hard, especially when there are people who smoke everywhere you go. It would be almost impossible to find 'smoke free zones'. I think also withdrawal depends on the individual, same as grief. We all have our own way of dealing with difficult problems, nicotine addiction is powerful and if you're having difficulty dealing with the severity of the addiction, perhaps some sort of help might be beneficial. There are heaps of aids on the market for nicotine withdrawal. It might be an idea to start seeking aid for this. Books might tell you the statistics, but it doesn't talk about the emotions you deal with.

Lynda

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Greyhound123 — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 06:29:16 GMT

Hi Shelton,

Quitting smoking is very hard, It took me about 9 to 12 months to be completley over it and not want to smoke. Is your anxiety related to smoking or are you anxious about other things? Did you use any quitting aids? I know some can make you jittery, personally I used the patches and you can't sleep with them on, as they give you nightmares and vivid dreams (I had some crazy dreams). I belive some of the tablets can be pretty strong. Have you seen your DR?

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Shelton — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 07:25:31 GMT

Hi Greyhound123,

I am seeing doctors and used medication to stop smoking. Dr opinion is I've always suffered anxiety but the smoking masked it. Now I have to learn to cope without it.

Australia Day 2016 is my quit date and your comment about 12 months before you were over it is kind of what I'm thinking. I'm looking forward to getting to my anniversary.

im just hoping the anxiety passes as I'm pushing people away at the moment because I'm scared I'm going to panic if we meet in public. Sounds silly as I've always been a sociable sort of person. Now I can't do crowds or noise.

im lucky I have good friends and family to help me through and give me support.

the feelings of insecurity are so foreign to me and hopefully I get over it soon and remain cigarette free!

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Greyhound123 — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 07:51:34 GMT

I was pretty nervous for the first 4-6 months about being anywhere near smoking, I think that's a natural thing. It could be the medication making you more anxious although I am no doctor. Personally for me I felt that the smoking exacerbated my anxiety massively, as opposed to masked it. As I was constantly anxious about e.g. when I would get to have a smoke next, how would i go on a long trip or see family if i couldn't smoke, the i would make excuses to go out for smoke. Every time I lit up i remembered that It was killing me, and that was for 9 years! Quitting was a massive turning point as you forget all of those problems and no more constant nicotine withdrawal. You have passed the hardest part anyway mate, it's all downhill from here I think.

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

gnomadicmind — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 09:56:39 GMT

Firstly congratulations on quitting!

I've been a bit over three months quit now. My partner was diagnosed with smoking related cancer - what better reason to give up? To support him and to help my own health.

I have a history of depression and anxiety and I know that giving up has made it worse although it's hard to differentiate between what's going on in my life now and what's related to having quit.

I do know that I am now addicted to nicotine patches. I know that I am as I thought that I was ready to stop using the patches and talking with the quit line they did too. Bad decision (for me anyway) I was an emotional wreck the days I didn't wear one. I have also forgotten to put a patch on on several occasions and had the same bad reaction on those days. In some ways it's rather amusing to be in this situation! So, what I am now doing is tapering off my the strengths of patches I am using. I hope to get to the point where I will be nicotine free. The depression and anxiety are not nice and to know it's caused by nicotine withdrawal is really compromising. I have the mental willpower to not start smoking again as I simply do not want to go through having to quit again. The first month was definitely the hardest, so hang in there! You've done really well! You've also validated my experiences having quit, so thank you for sharing your frustrations albeit it's not something I would wish upon anyone giving up!

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Ben1 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 12:26:33 GMT

Hi Shelton!
From personal experience quitting smoking can be extremely difficult and I'm familiar with the feeling of anxiety that occurs when you can't have a smoke.

For me, nicotine gum and patches worked well, maybe they could work for you too?

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

MissTwichy — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 18:02:30 GMT

I have been smoke free for 9 months now and still can't seem to cope without the cigarettes.

My anxiety is up

My depression is up

My agoraphobia is at an all time high

My safety zone is now restricted to a radius of no more than 3kms of my house and the local hospital

I still have cravings all the time

I wake up from nightmares almost everyday

I have gained 15kgs.

I have terrible sinus headaches.

I have very little control over my emotions.

and I just feel overwhelmed and confused with no real direction or hope.

All I can think about is how cheated I feel because I have done something that was supposed to make my life better.

I know I'm supposed to be grateful for what I do have and practice gratitude and not be a whinger. But how

much can one be expected to endure in life?

Is there anyone else out there who is suffering or has suffered similar to this?

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

geoff — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 19:27:08 GMT

hello Miss Twichy, welcome to the site and thanks for posting your comment.
Can I ask you why do you want to stop smoking, and I'm probably going to go against the norm here from what I would normally say here, and expect to be criticised, that's OK if anybody wants to tell me off, I've got a hard skin now.
But when someone wants to stop drinking alcohol it's up to them to make that decision, because giving up just to please someone else isn't the answer, that's not what they really want to do.
The same applies for smoking whether you are stopping for health reasons, or your partner wants you to stop, or because it's costing too much money to maintain it.
So before I continue have you stopped because you wanted to. Geoff.

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

blondguy — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 22:21:37 GMT

Hi Miss Twichy

I heard a heart surgeon mention on radio that of course its a good idea to give up smoking, unless the person concerned is already in a bad place which can make their situation worse by doing so.

Geoff has some excellent advice above about the 'reality' on giving up smoking with the social pressure/bias.

That opera singer 'Pavarotti' was told to start smoking as his weight was so bad the smoking would have decreased his appetite thus saving his life. He refused to take up smoking and passed away 2 years later.

Like Geoff I might get told off here as well but the severity of your symptoms outweigh the harmful effects of smoking from my point of view

My Best

Paul

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Just Sara — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 00:45:06 GMT

Welcome to BB forum Miss Twichy and Shelton;

I gave up smoking for 14 yrs and took it up again 6 yrs ago when life hit the skids. (Putting out a butt as I speak)

There are so many reasons to quit; that's a given. But the only person who's capable of knowing 'when' is you. I was advised by my psychiatrist not to bother quitting until my anxiety/panic/depression subsided and my ability to make decisions and cope was better.

I can honestly say I couldn't have come this far without smoking. Yes, it's self medicating, destructive and addictive behaviour, but I understand now that oral fixations are a form of 'stuffing down' emotions and feelings to avoid expressing the truth; the pain.

The last time I quit, I used sewing as a replacement for 'time spent' and it probably cost more over time. But I still put on weight, had night terrors and was angry for quite a while. When I hit 3 months things began to wain, and by 6 months the cravings stopped. I guess the thing for me was facing my past and speaking up instead of putting something in my mouth.

The physical aspect of quitting is important too. The body's metabolism will drop dramatically and cause weight gain unless other forms of physical activity and diet are engaged. An important factor is the 'gut' and positive flora. Smoking aggravates this area, so using something like Inner Health Plus or an IBS Support (lactobacillius) and reducing simple carbs like sugar and flour products may help. It's not widely known there's a direct link to our brains from the gut, so good gut flora may assist in coping with anxiety too.

I hope things improve for you both. Sometimes it's slow going, but self determination and courage go a long way. I think it's time for me too...my time has come.

Good luck to us all...Dizzy

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

MissTwichy — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 12:53:25 GMT

Hey Geoff,

Yeah your right I don't think I was ready and I quit because I couldn't afford it anymore! I was a heavy smoker and it was costing me about $100 a week. What shits me is that I was being taxed so heavily for the cigarettes, but now that I don't have them for coping I don't see any extra help with my mental health, I have even been so anxious that I took myself to the local hospital, they pretty much said there's nothing they can do for me.

If I thought the whole of my newstart allowance would cover it, I would put myself into a facility where I could get the help I desperately need.

But enough about that, thank you for replying to my post!

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

blondguy — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 13:15:30 GMT

Hey Miss Twichy

The federal government are happy to take the tobacco tax and place the it into 'consolidated revenue' .In other words they dont place the tobacco tax directly back into the health system.

How are you going anyway? I hope you are doing reasonably okay :-). I cant stand cigarettes even though I am addicted them.

Here for you

Paul

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

gnomadicmind — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 10:36:19 GMT

Hello All

This is a really interesting thread.

It's been nearly 6 months now since I stopped smoking.

I am now off the patches and the inhalator.

I needed both. I became addicted to the patches. A couple of times my patch fell off and I'd notice my emotions and state of mind changing. I would be irritable and teary. I also experimented with leaving the patch off on purpose and just using the inhalator and the same thing would happen. They don't tell you about becoming addicted to NRT products! I am now (because of other things going on in my life) using anti anxiety meds. I wonder whether when I stop these the desire to smoke will come back? Emotionally I'm not in the best of places and I wonder whether giving up was a good idea. I do miss smoking only in the sense that it helped me cope when I was feeling teary and over emotional. I don't crave them but I do think about them occasionally (memory cravings I'm told). Now I have prescription meds. The prescription meds aren't the best for ones health either but which is worse, smoking or meds?

Blondguy and Miss Twichy it really angers me that there aren't more resources for people like us and that the taxes taken from cigarettes aren't directly put back into health and education. There really is little incentive for those with mental health issues to give up smoking and that angers me.

I wonder where we'll all be in another years time? Best wishes Everyone!

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Brisfry88 — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 23:53:08 GMT

This would be the 5th time ive quit and successful on all occasions. Just get sucked back in unfortunately.

I can tell u that i felt depressed and full of anxiety for first 4 months after quitting cold turkey. And had insomnia for first 2 months.

Only time ive ever had bad anxiety,insomnia,and depression has been when I've tried quitting smoking. Another symptom was swollen lymph nodes around neck which only came and hung around when quitting smoking.

Some people say its not likely quitting smoking that causes my lymph nodes to swell but they have on all occasions.

I promised myself that ill never have smoke after this time.

Its too hard to quit but its achievable!

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Anna_N — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 14:31:00 GMT

My husband had the same problem when he decided to give up smoking cold turkey, but then he started using e-cigs and it actually helped him to pass anxiety. Also, he feels much better after giving up tobacco. So you may want to try e-cigs, I've heard that actually a lot of people give up tobacco when they start to smoke e-cigs. You can find online, it's way better than causing trouble other people with smoke. Wish you luck.

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

geoff — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 14:51:08 GMT

Hi Anna, welcome and thanks for your comment with great advice and so pleased it's helped your husband.

Geoff.

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

NannaLea64 — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 04:10:57 GMT

How are you going now? I have suffered from Severe Depression and Anxiety for many years and am on high dose medication to help me cope. With the costs of tobacco products nowadays with the govt taxes, I simply could not afford to smoke anymore. That was about 5 months ago and I was not a heavy smoker but have smoked for decades. I have put on about 15 kilo in about 4 months and I cannot express how debilitating my Depression has gotten as a result. I am NOT coping anymore and I feel so much worse with the weight gain than I ever did with the smoking. I cannot afford to see Psychiatrist and never got anywhere with a psychologist... where do I go from here? I am seriously thinking about taking up smoking again as the cons have outweighed the pros significantly

Anxiety and panic after stopping smoking

Hoover1979 — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 08:06:40 GMT

I'm in the same boat. I have PTSD as well as panic disorder and I had to stop smoking because I have a lung infection. I was reliving the murder that gave me PTSD causing the exact feeling of dread as I felt back then. I got a big pack of nicotine lozenges and the panic subsides. I use medication to treat my pain and anxiety/depression/insomnia but can't vape at the moment as I get into such a coughing fit I get roaring tinnitus and see stars and get dizzy.