Another side effect that isn't much spoken of but happens is feeling emotional, or more in my case of feeling those emotions and the fact they're so strong and not feeling I can control or mask those feelings - something we're taught to do from about 3 years old.
Looking forward to getting the *crying* thing back under control. But hey I'm 6 months old in terms of dealing with life without addiction alot of events don't feel the same anymore.
M
Another side effect that isn't much spoken of but happens is feeling emotional, or more in my case of feeling those emotions and the fact they're so strong and not feeling I can control or mask those feelings - something we're taught to do from about 3 years old.
Looking forward to getting the *crying* thing back under control. But hey I'm 6 months old in terms of dealing with life without addiction alot of events don't feel the same anymore.
M
Hi Mah
sorry your feeling a bit down here is something for you hope it works 
Thanks Bradders
Hmm not too bad at the moment, was a moment of reflection/rumination, remembering how much more emotional I am or indeed, the lack of control I have over showing these emotions.
Today is actually an ok day as the quit blues go, only good things have happened and only good things are likely to happen, so pecker is up - so to speak.
Was thinking about being honest about quitting smoking and I've read about the emotional stuff in posts and on why quit but we didn't have a clearly labelled section on here.
Is you good?
M
Hmm not too bad at the moment, was a moment of reflection/rumination, remembering how much more emotional I am or indeed, the lack of control I have over showing these emotions.
Today is actually an ok day as the quit blues go, only good things have happened and only good things are likely to happen, so pecker is up - so to speak.
Was thinking about being honest about quitting smoking and I've read about the emotional stuff in posts and on why quit but we didn't have a clearly labelled section on here.
Is you good?
M
Hiya
Yeah MAH all has been well lately, sleep is good (finally) emotions have been generally up only work is a bit of a stinker but i get paid for that so i can put up with it. Christmas might be a bit strange this year so i am holding my breath on that one :eek:. Weekend is here and my children are over so can't wait for tonight and no doubt i will have one or two Christmas lists thrust upon me.
Have a nice day MAH life is good sun is shining and you are smoke free
Another side effect that isn't much spoken of but happens is feeling emotional, or more in my case of feeling those emotions and the fact they're so strong and not feeling I can control or mask those feelings - something we're taught to do from about 3 years old.
Looking forward to getting the *crying* thing back under control. But hey I'm 6 months old in terms of dealing with life without addiction alot of events don't feel the same anymore.
M
Morning
I've put this on the Octo forum so I'm sorry to repeat myself. I am the most unemotional woman you will meet, I can not remember the last time I cried and I'm very good at keeping my emotions under control.
I gave up smoking on Champix and became tetchy, then became this very angry person with terrible mood swings. Anyway I blamed Champix and cut down then came off it (too quickly IMO) and I hit a brick wall. Recently I was diagnosed with depression, now coming off Champix so quickly did not help but the thing we forget is what is in cigarettes apart from nicotine. There are so many chemicals in them and some of them are 'happy' chemicals. Most of us on here have been smoking these chemicals for years and suddenly we have come off them and that's where our depression comes from.
Depression is just a chemical imbalance, when quitting we suffer the whole withdrawal of nicotine but it takes a while longer for the chemical imbalance to set in.
Sorry to go on, but this is the side effect to quitting no-one tells you. I started taking St Johns Wort (425mg) and I have doubled dosed for a week (as recommended by a friend who is a pharmacist) and I truly feel much better and I've never been an herbal/vitamin sort of girl. I would recommend anyone to take this or 5-HTP when quitting.
MAH – I hope you feel better soon.
xx
Hello all.
MAH/Christine - you have my number. It is sooooooooo nice to have others who are experiencing the same things in a similar way to me. Everyone 'uses' for their own reasons/needs (whether they realise it or not). Smoking does (did) 'something' for each of us. I fall into the 'smoking controlled my emotions' camp. I am at a real turning point here in my life. Now that I more fully realise what smoking did for me (than I have with other quits) I have a decision to make: either I decide to take control of myself, my emotions, etc -- or I go back to smoking and let the addicition 'help' me. I am not depressed at the moment (although I am prone to it), but I do have anxiety issues and a general sense of needing to block out my racing thoughts. I WILL win; I am determined. But, it is not easy. I can't sit still and feel like I can't squeeze enough into a day. I don't even relax much with drink in my hand. I still race around! It's a journey; I am glad we are taking it together.
Deep breaths and good thoughts. xxj
Mah, thanks for posting this, it is something I think a lot of us have and are experiencing. I noticed Jase and some of the others discussing it the other day, it would be good to have a section about this one.
Bradders your little song was brill.
Christine, I thought your explanation was great it would be good to have lots of info about it. I too have depression , they tell me, because of my medical problems, my life having chaged so much but it actually started when I stopped smoking. I remember back in May 2008 when I had an attempt at stopping smoking I got it then as well.
Jackie
Bradders
Thanks Jackie, I think so too.
All, am actually ok today but thanks for caring, posted this because the section of "watch out for emotional side effects" to quitting was absent from this strand of the forum. We covered, quitzits, quitulance, PND and everything else under the sun but for newbies don't be surprised if you have new/more emotions than before, they kind've sneak up on you.
As for Bradders, will look when I get home, got a virtual spanking from work security for trying to access :eek:, obviously I'll be sharing the pain if theres any 
M
Thanks Jackie, I think so too.
All, am actually ok today but thanks for caring, posted this because the section of "watch out for emotional side effects" to quitting was absent from this strand of the forum. We covered, quitzits, quitulance, PND and everything else under the sun but for newbies don't be surprised if you have new/more emotions than before, they kind've sneak up on you.
As for Bradders, will look when I get home, got a virtual spanking from work security for trying to access :eek:, obviously I'll be sharing the pain if theres any
M
Cool like a bit of cyber pain
MAH - I think this is a very interesting topic - and one that I think can help others.
I'm now 15 weeks quit as of today - and feel pretty "stable" (whatever that is!!). I did, I think, go through a depression phase - but thankfully nothing too heavy.
However, I would like to comment on the emotional side which has been quite different. Some of you may have read things form my other posts, but during my quit I have found my emotions very much on the surface and, like you MAH. It can come on me at any time - from crying to Gok Wan on TV - to also crying in my progress report with my boss in work!!! The funny thing is I don't (or can't) even bother to try and hide it. I just say "Oh I'm going to cry now". It has been very odd because I don't feel "sad" in the strictest sense - just emotional.
Another thing I've noticed is I've got so much more time for people - and as I've been talking to them I start crying! Especially if they show me some support. Its ridiculous!
I am male - and it would be interesting to know if this is the same for males and females.
Its difficult to tell from the names here - be interesting if people could state their gender.
Morning
I've put this on the Octo forum so I'm sorry to repeat myself. I am the most unemotional woman you will meet, I can not remember the last time I cried and I'm very good at keeping my emotions under control.
I gave up smoking on Champix and became tetchy, then became this very angry person with terrible mood swings. Anyway I blamed Champix and cut down then came off it (too quickly IMO) and I hit a brick wall. Recently I was diagnosed with depression, now coming off Champix so quickly did not help but the thing we forget is what is in cigarettes apart from nicotine. There are so many chemicals in them and some of them are 'happy' chemicals. Most of us on here have been smoking these chemicals for years and suddenly we have come off them and that's where our depression comes from.
Depression is just a chemical imbalance, when quitting we suffer the whole withdrawal of nicotine but it takes a while longer for the chemical imbalance to set in.
Sorry to go on, but this is the side effect to quitting no-one tells you. I started taking St Johns Wort (425mg) and I have doubled dosed for a week (as recommended by a friend who is a pharmacist) and I truly feel much better and I've never been an herbal/vitamin sort of girl. I would recommend anyone to take this or 5-HTP when quitting.
MAH – I hope you feel better soon.
xx
Thank you so much Christine, I'm going out to buy some of that St Johns Wort tomorrow. Thanks also to everyone else who has contributed to this thread, its helped me enormously today. I'm lucky in that I dont suffer with depression as a rule but this stop smoking thing has me feeling very down in the dumps and when I read about the 400 chemicals that are in each puff of a cig, I sometimes think, I dont care, let me have it NOW!! Ok, as you were, I'm getting me coat!! Thanks everyone, you are great xx
Hi AG
Woman tend to be more hormonal which means we can go through huge mood swings at the best of times, mainly due to the charges in estrogens levels (I think, it's a long time since I did chemistry). Thats why I also recommend vitamin B6 for woman too.
However men do not on average go through hormone charges in the same way. Crying in general is the first sign of depression and that for me was when I knew there was something wrong. This is something completely different, which scared the living daylights out of me.
I also think depression is why a lot of people go back to smoking.
Viv - Take double dose for one week (no more than 900 mg per day). Honestly give it a week and you will feel better.
Thanks Christine, I've bought them and taking double dose from today for a week. Will let you know how I get on. xxxx Appreciate your help.
Vivienne,
Just a caution note: St. Johns Wort is said to reduce the effectiveness of contraceptions, read the leaflet carefully that comes with them before taking it.
nccam.nih.gov/health/stjohn...
St. Johns Wort helped me tremendously after i hit my 4th month, i went from being really chipper to the absolute depths of depression, and i never.. ever want to get that low again.
I wish you all the best, just know from me, with my experience of the depression i had that things DO get better, and giving it a little kick won't harm. Consult your doctor if you are really worried though, just don't keep the worry on your shoulders because it just furthers the very feeling you are striving to avoid here.
I Care.
Jase.
Rhodiola/St Johns Wort/5htp
Hi There,
I have found Rhodiola to be quite effective, not quite so noticable as the St Johns Wort, but a good balancer for emotions and coping mechanisms.
Got mine in Capsules from Rosemarys Health Store.
5htp i am told is similar.
I found that stopping patches has had a marked effect in my mood swings and also the wretched tears over whatever it was that i couldn't quite put my finger on at the time, but had ripped the bottom out of my world completely and left me crumpled and sobbing on the sofa.
It doesn't last, just hang onto the fact that it doesn't last, its a phase, your body resetting and learning to love life without addiction.... Keep busy until it passes... mine was a few days and then it all improved again and the Rhodiola has been shelved for an in case of repeat episode.
Be sure to read up on supplements before you take them, and buy from a reputable health shop where they can advise if you would have any interactions with medication that you are taking.
I totally agree with what's being said in this thread, and it's helped me a lot reading it.
I've found hardly any info on the emotional changes I've been dealing with since quitting.
I put it all down to the champix, which I've been weaning myself off, and eventually stopped taking 9 days ago. I do feel much, much better, have some my old self back, to a certain extent. I'm not sure weather I should give it a bit more time, if it is still the champix affect, if it's just the quitting effect or what.....:confused:
I just want to chill out and stop being so bloody hard on myself! It's exhausting! I just want to smile and be proud that I've given up.
And I don't want to hear my little boy say 'please stop shouting mama' again...
It's so difficult sometimes, dealing with the cravings is easy compared to dealing with the fallout of irrational/over the top emotions for me.... at the moment anyway.
Lousca
Found P139 Emotional Readjustment particularly helpful and the info on the Kubler-Ross cycle.
Also Check out Marg's sig some useful info in there.
I think I also have tendancy to be emotional which was often masked by smoking, also think the blues as pointed out by Christine has been impacted by the amount of other rubbish in fags including the happy drugs. The drug (Nicotine/tobacco companies) are in many ways venal, they want their product to create dependancy so they don't rely on the nicotine addiction alone there are 4000 plus chemicals and all are engineered to be delivered as fast as possible to the addict.
You've done well coming this far, in my opinion, learning to live without the constant highs and lows is my biggest hurdle and my biggest achievement.
M
Meant to reply to this before....
I think there are many factors at play. First the resetting, and learning to deal without a nicotine/dopamine ooh hit every 30 mins.Also correcting any imbalances that all those chemicals have caused.
But also, addicts use drugs to control and escape their emotions. I think the past few years when i was smoking ( and generally living a pretty unhealthy life of junk food, booze and couch potato-ness) i was much deader inside, and at times i felt as if i could feel nothing.I didn't enjoy anything very much and apathy was my middle name. (Don't know how far this swings into the depression category)
I want to live a healthy life, I want to feel my emotions, even if i don't like them, It is Ok to have emotions-it's what makes us human.
Hi again to all you (overly)emotional people,
just wondering how things were going with you lot. You know, a few more weeks down the line, how are things with you all? Are you winning, getting there?
Just got to week 10 smoke free, and a lot of the time, I'm a bit of a mess tbh. Not so angry now, although it's there, not far away, suppose I'm more in control of the anger than I was. But I'm weepy a lot of the time, and so very confused. Made the decision to go and get some st johns wort today, but am wary of messing with my brain by using yet another thing, rather than let my brain try and balance itself.....poor brain, it's trying so hard, really it is, but I'm afraid if I don't get a grip soon I'm gonna change my life irreversably, for the better or for the worse, I just don't know, the answer to that question depends what type of day I'm having really. I'm all over the shop mentally.
Oh and MAH, re: Found P139 Emotional Readjustment particularly helpful and the info on the Kubler-Ross cycle.
I've been meaning to ask you about this, I don't know what you mean about p139. The page you linked only goes to page 12? Or am I being daft??:confused:
Hello sweetheart (big hug)
I was at the same stage as you, however I have just re-read my post and what a difference 6 weeks makes but honestly at the time I was all for throwing myself under a bus and weeping was becoming the norm for me
I'm still on St Johns Wort and I thought I would take it until March (light nights etc) and start taking it again October. I use Kalms SJW and it's 425mg and I doubled dosed for the first week (do not buy the cheap stuff from the supermarket, go to Boots). I promise this will help.
Hold on there. Let me know how you get on.
Christine xx
Oh and MAH, re: Found P139 Emotional Readjustment particularly helpful and the info on the Kubler-Ross cycle.
I've been meaning to ask you about this, I don't know what you mean about p139. The page you linked only goes to page 12? Or am I being daft??:confused:
Hello you
P139 is when it's the PDF book but as long as you've found it - or I may've just been having a moment.
Had the same fears as you about the St Johns' wort, so I stopped it and then took it up again, thinking that a month would be long enough. I now have no intentions of stopping taking it until spring and will go from there, have also been taking vervain and valerian over christmas and into the new year. I have reduced the amount of coffee and now drink more herbal teas. It helped that I have seen an article that in Germany it if far more highly regarded than it is here by medical professionals.
TBH, stopping smoking for me has highlighted alot of issues that I have never dealt with, I'm pretty sure I hate January, never thought about it when I was a smoker though, just had another fag, and another fag thus ignoring the situation, the ignoring the situation seems to be a theme for me.
No longer angry, no longer blue and confident in my quit and am beginning to separate out those things that have always been there for me but just masked by the addiciton. Am desperate for winter to end, sick of being cold and want some sunshine and the same time I also like snuggling up in front of the fire so there are up sides. My biggest bug bare at the moment is not being able to run, this isn't smoking related it's affecting my mood and my motivation, but I'm on the mend if not fixed.
It may be that some of the raft of things you're sifting through isn't about quitting smoking - more the jfact that without the addiciton you can see it more clearly.
Hope this helps and please feel free to PM if you prefer.
M
Hello sweetheart (big hug)
I was at the same strange as you, however I have just re-read my post and what a difference 6 weeks makes but honestly at the time I was all for throwing myself under a bus and weeping was becoming the norm for me
I'm still on St Johns Wort and I thought I would take it until March (light nights etc) and start taking it again October. I use Kalms SJW and it's 425mg and I doubled dosed for the first week (do not buy the cheap stuff from the supermarket, go to Boots). I promise this will help.
Hold on there. Let me know how you get on.
Christine xx
Thanks for the quick reply christine (and the hug). It made tears come to my eyes, although that's quite an easy thing to do at the mo..
Ok, I shall give it a go I think, and hope it can help a bit....I'm just afraid I'm going to get all this happening again when I stop taking the SJW. Blurgh...
Hello you
It may be that some of the raft of things you're sifting through isn't about quitting smoking - more the fact that without the addiciton you can see it more clearly.
Hope this helps and please feel free to PM if you prefer.
M
Thanks to you too MAH.
Now this is what I'm afraid of, I need to be sure Iam seeing things clearly, and not through a depressed haze. Whatever decision I make affects everyone in my life so it has to be the right one. I don't drink lots of coffee, cut back to two cups a day max, replaced it with green tea, which I never thought I would take to, but I finshed the box this morning, have to get some more!
I'm exercising on the cross trainer, I'm now upto 20 mins a day, 5 days a week (doesn't sound a lot but it's amazing for me).
But....I'm still drinking wine, we've been wine drinkers for quite a few years and something tells me I'm going to have to stop this too.....
Wash your mouth out, there will be nooooooo stopping the wine
Who mentioned stopping the wine, OMG what, never, I will fight them on the beaches before they take my Pinot!
Talk about emotional, you aint seen emotional till you've seen someone try to take my wine.
:DWhat are we like ladies!
Thanks to you too MAH.
Now this is what I'm afraid of, I need to be sure Iam seeing things clearly, and not through a depressed haze. Whatever decision I make affects everyone in my life so it has to be the right one. I don't drink lots of coffee, cut back to two cups a day max, replaced it with green tea, which I never thought I would take to, but I finshed the box this morning, have to get some more!
I'm exercising on the cross trainer, I'm now upto 20 mins a day, 5 days a week (doesn't sound a lot but it's amazing for me).
But....I'm still drinking wine, we've been wine drinkers for quite a few years and something tells me I'm going to have to stop this too.....
Lousca
Wine is a depressant, if you're already all over the place, you need to remember this when gauging your mood.
Excellent on the 20 mins, 5 times a week, very impressed, exercise is good for the mood too.
Have you given yourself any treats recently, a day in bed with a bad book, long hot bath with candles, good film with a blanket?
As to decisions perhaps best not to make any big ones if your feeling all over the place at the moment and it does sound like huge ones. Unless it's enormity of the decision which is sending you loopy - then in that case.....
M
Hi Lousca
Just read you post and feel so sorry for you, I was exactly the same as you, all over the place, crying one moment and yelling the next, horrible time.
Just to let you know Im having a much better week approaching week 13, so it really does get better. Feel far more balanced than I have done for 12 weeks, so keep going and it wont be long.
Dee x
what always heps my depressions is the longer days,i think youve been through the worst of it now,some days may be hard but thats true of all peoples lives,they pass,as do the long dark winters and the addictions if we are patient enough,wow im being positive i must be feeling better myself hehehehe
i broke a lot of things
Smoking gave me relaxation, and peace of mind. It was a psychological stress reliever. So when I was quiting, I have to wait for my husband to go out and brake something in the house :mad:
does anyone else feel very emotional?
Day 7 and so emotional at the moment
