Question 2 of the day

[nsd_user663_50443]

Hello again my friends..

Just curious.. has anyone here experienced some anxiety (social and in general) as well as depression, some minor panic attacks and being super tired from quitting (I know the answer will be yes)... and then started back up and had these symptoms disappear?

I am mainly wondering if these are issues I have always had that were masked or if these are soley based on quitting smoking.

I'm 29 and had been smoking for 14 years. I am on day 26 of CT.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

[nsd_user663_26699]

Many people have experienced many side-effects from quitting, and many people have attributed various conditions to the fact that they have quit.

I think that in part we do experience side-effects, particularly in terms of nose and throat conditions, minor aches, as well as tiredness. However, I do also believe that many people have a tendency to attribute no matter what they feel to the fact that they have quit.

No doubt, one or several people will have felt the same / similar symptoms to yourself during their quit. I'm not sure what it is you are looking or in answer to this question? Companionship? Commiseration? Confirmation?

Alex.

[nsd_user663_50109]

Hello again my friends..

Just curious.. has anyone here experienced some anxiety (social and in general) as well as depression, some minor panic attacks and being super tired from quitting (I know the answer will be yes)... and then started back up and had these symptoms disappear?

I am mainly wondering if these are issues I have always had that were masked or if these are soley based on quitting smoking.

I'm 29 and had been smoking for 14 years. I am on day 26 of CT.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Yes too all ov um., and yes I can be find for a few days then it can start up again.. And I never had it when I was a smoker.. Iv bin taking kalms for a few days now will see how it goes

[nsd_user663_50109]

And the last time I quit was last year for 3 months and about 6 years ago for a year.. I never had any symptoms of quitting and I did it CT. but this times bin terribl.. But it might be because at the start of my quit I had sum truma.. So I was diagnosed with post trumatic stress disorder.. So I think mines bin a mix of both.. And tbh I feel proud of me self not going back to smoking with the stress I had

[nsd_user663_50443]

Thanks Shelly. I always appreciate your insight

Alex-

Mainly I have been wondering...if I go back to smoking will my anxiety etc go away? It is manily a question that has been on my mind. I really want to power through this but just wanted to see if other people who hadn't had any of these issues while smoking experienced them when quitting..and then upon resuming smoking had the anxiety etc go away.

[nsd_user663_26699]

Any time we attempt to make a major change in our life there is bound to be some associated anxiety. In quitting smoking, many people report tiredness. I've not paid attention to depression, but I can certainly understand that it could be a side-effect, particularly if one remembers smoking fondly and is reluctant to have left it behind (i.e. feel that something is 'missing in their life).

Getting back to smoking could definitely reverse these secondary effects, but would also completely defeat the point of quitting in the first place.

Let's say for a second that reverting back to smoking cancels out all the unwanted side-effects of quitting. Is that a good enough reason to start again, in your opinion? Not in mine.

Alex.

[nsd_user663_50109]

Thanks Shelly. I always appreciate your insight

Alex-

Mainly I have been wondering...if I go back to smoking will my anxiety etc go away? It is manily a question that has been on my mind. I really want to power through this but just wanted to see if other people who hadn't had any of these issues while smoking experienced them when quitting..and then upon resuming smoking had the anxiety etc go away.

Plz don't give up in giving up.. It does seem bad like I said b4 it freaked me out and we both seem to be having the same symptoms. But mine are sooooo much better now.. When I was at the peak of feeling like death I kept saying my self web it gonna get better.. I just couldnt see any light at the end of the tunnel.. But glad I didn't give in..cuz I said to my self it's just my body healing from a illness iv had for 15 years.. And if I go back to smoking it will be for life cuz I never want to go through this again. But I dont want smoke again..

[nsd_user663_50109]

And iv just noticed we both the same age and smoked for the same length of time

[nsd_user663_20558]

You've been using smoking as an emotional prop for years and years. Although smoking doesn't actually help in any way with anxiety or stress, you have thoroughly trained your subconscious to believe it does.

Therefore, when you stop, and you do not respond to your brain's prompts to smoke, it's not at all unusual to feel anxiety and depression: both of these can have physiological symptoms, even thought their root cause is psychological.

The answer is, most probably, yes: if you picked up a cigarette and responded to the prompting of your subconscious, you would 'feel better', because you have not yet reach the point where the subconscious habit has been broken. You would, in every sense, be right back where you started.

However, it is equally true that if you keep going through this, you will also feel better - genuinely better - because you will become a non smoker at a subconscious level and the anxiety symptoms will go away.

I categorically do NOT believe that you always had depression which was magically masked by smoking and will be 'cured' by it.

Hope this helps!

Helen

[nsd_user663_24115]

In previous quits i have experienced euphoria in the early stages then tiredness then depression then its not fair ,and smoking wasnt that bad and i think i will smoke today cos lets face it iv proved i can do it ....so i smoke and i feel great, releived euphoric even.. for a short time ,a week then two. then i feel like poo and hate myself then im tired all the time then depressed , then a miserable smoking mess..... by all means follow my example. I for one have stopped that ridiculous cycle..... tiredness comes and goes now so does depression but the general trend is moving up and towards the light and will keep improving if i stay committed to keeping quit.. I dont beleive that re-taking up smoking will remove any of these symptoms but your brain and emotions will go aaaahhhhhhh thats better when u first smoke. its just the novelty of the new.

Mash x

[nsd_user663_50443]

Thanks for the replies guys. They definitely helped ease my mind. Sometimes you just need to hear or read people say the things you are hoping are true in your head.

Thanks again!

4 weeks as of tomorrow

[nsd_user663_42390]

Thanks for the replies guys. They definitely helped ease my mind. Sometimes you just need to hear or read people say the things you are hoping are true in your head.

Thanks again!

4 weeks as of tomorrow

Well done 4 weeks is amazing! I know it can be a strange time when you first quit and everyone feel differently,(I did'nt have any of your symptoms) but I believe you have done the single most important thing you can do to improve your health and your life by quitting smoking. Stick with it and I assure you these 'symptoms' will go away.

[nsd_user663_53173]

Hi there

When do things calm down though. my imagination is running wild with the panic attacks and constant anxiety.

Glad to see that others have the same problems but at the time we all think we are alone.

on my 24th day yay!!

[nsd_user663_52438]

one approach i find useful to aleviate anxiety is to breathe

i imagine that i am inflating my belly like it is a balloon almost as if i want it to pop ..... when i breathe out i try to make myself as thin as possible ... a few of these cycles and my mind feels calmer....

when my mood dips i get active and take the dog for a walk or sweep the stairs vigoursly ... just changing what i am doing and getting some excercise seems to help and i feel better

then i feel proud of myself for rermaining a non smoker

sometimes there can be simple answers to what seem like overwhelming difficulties

keep at it

[nsd_user663_50109]

Hello again my friends..

Just curious.. has anyone here experienced some anxiety (social and in general) as well as depression, some minor panic attacks and being super tired from quitting (I know the answer will be yes)... and then started back up and had these symptoms disappear?

I am mainly wondering if these are issues I have always had that were masked or if these are soley based on quitting smoking.

I'm 29 and had been smoking for 14 years. I am on day 26 of CT.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Hi this is my experience

I have never had anxity before I gave up smoking I'm now into my 6 month quit and still gave it iv just started sum new medication for it.. I'm also starting to feel depressed but that is because the anxity is annoying me now.. Iv always Wounder that if I started smoking again Wud all this go away.

Get your self in the docs.

[Unah]

I too suffer from depression since quitting. I just found an interesting article that throws some light on it. Cigarette smoke contains a lot of carbon dioxide which has a calming effect. It mentioned a different way of breathing which seems to work for anxiety. Take a medium breath to the count of 5 letting your belly rise, hold it and breathe out slowly to the count of 7. The numbers don't really matter as long as the out breath is longer than the in breath. This leaves some carbon dioxide in the body which helps to calm you. Do it about 5 or 6 times a few times a day.

[nsd_user663_50109]

Will try that una. Ye my mum said there must be something in fags to calm you down.

[nsd_user663_39067]

The fast in, slow out breathing technique has a proven calming effect. I often use it before giving a presentation at work, and it really helps.

I don't think cigarettes calm you as such, but the dose of nicotine alleviates the withdrawal symptoms for a few minutes, which gives the illusion of calming you. Or more accurately, they reduce the stress that they cause in the first place.

As Allen Carr said, it's no different to wearing a pair of shoes that are too tight, and taking them off twenty times a day just to experience those lovely few minutes of relief. The shoes are the cause of the problem. Same with cigarettes.