First time ever experiencing anxiety while quitting smoking...

[Krbrartist]

Hi I just quit smoking 2 weeks ago & have been having bad anxiety attacks at night, during the day I feel fine, but as soon as I start to doze off I awake with a flushing sensation, racing heart (anxiety?). At first I thought it was from nicotine patches, tried sleeping without but kept happening. A friend suggested xanax so i asked my Dr. She gave me a 2 week script .25mg at night, it helps me sleep uninterrupted however she said that prolonged use of xanax can cause dimentia later in life? Ive never had anxiety attacks before, very scary! thought I was dying...hoping this condition isn't permanent?

[philly101]

You're body is going through a change. It's a shock for your body and mind when you quit smoking. Try to pickup an exercise of some sort to help de stress your body. I would try to stay away from any drugs. Better off talking to someone about quitting and trying to deal with the anxiety then relying on drugs. Anxiety is curable you just need to work on it.

[Krbrartist in reply to philly101]

Hi, yes I don't want to rely on xanax I am hopeful that I can switch to melatonin supplements in a few weeks, only time will tell if smoking was masking an anxiety disorder or if this is just from withdrawl...I only use xanax at bedtime because that's when I have no control over it, and cant sleep. during the day I use breathing & exercise to control it or busy myself with odd jobs around the house. I am going to be seeing a new Dr. Staring in Jan so hopefully he will give me some better direction on how to heal.

[Usagold]

Yes it's anxiety! That's why your heart's racing in the night, I went through the same thing, although it wasn't from quitting smoking. I totally thought I was dying. It happened like every night for months! It's unbelievable, isn't it?!!

[Krbrartist in reply to Usagold]

Hi, yes it's really crazy, anxiety that wakes me from sleep is hard to control, where if i start to feel it during the day i can do breathing exercises or distract myself by doing laundry etc...I am really hopeful that after a few weeks I can try using an OCT sleep aid (like melatonin or tylenol pm) as I'm sure it will take at least 3-6 months for my withdrawl symptoms to subside 😕 only time will tell if smoking was masking an anxiety disorder or if this is all due to withdrawal symptoms...was there anything that you found to help your night anxiety?

[Usagold]

I had to stop fearing it. If you can just accept the attacks as anxiety due to a hyper stimulated nervous system, and let them happen, they eventually get better and go away. Mine were so severe it was not easy to accept them. Once my heart raced up to 180bpm! My arms were numb & tingling, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I haven't had a major attack in months now, but tried to have one last night. I knew what it was, so even though I got some what if thoughts, about how bad I was feeling (2am), I tried to relax and let my body do whatever it was going to do because I had had a very busy day. I felt extremely nervous, a tightness in my chest, felt some heart flutters, and laid there and trembled all over, then went back to sleep. But, yesterday I worked (at my microscope & doing CT guided aspirates) 8 hours, sat in traffic for an hour & half, went to another hosp to visit my brother in law, who is in ICU in critical condition, went grocery shopping at 9:30pm because my family's Christmas dinner is at my house tonight, so I've got to clean up & then cook for about 20 people. About you, I think it is anxiety because of the withdrawal which shocked your system causing a stress response, which you are afraid of/bothered by which makes it worse. Try to just understand what it is, & let your body feel anxious for now. If you do that it WILL get better, but not overnight. Good decision to quit smoking! Use Xanax as little as possible. It's best to just accept the nervous feelings and not take them at all if you can. I was severe and managed to get by without them so it can be done. Wishing you a calm and Merry Christmas!

[Krbrartist in reply to Usagold]

Thanks so much, I will give it a try. Merry Christmas to you & your loved ones aa well!

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Thanks for your post. I quit smoking May 4, 2018 so 3 weeks now. For 3 days I had a nicotine patch then switched to nicorette gum for a week. Recently, I started getting these horrible anxiety attacks. They are truly frightening! I have doubled my exercise in hopes it will reduce the anxiety. Never had them before. They make it virtually impossible for me to work or function for that matter. A psychiatrist told me to chew 2 pieces of nicorette each day that they may help cut down on the anxiety attacks. What are yalls thoughts?