It's been 7 years since I quit smoking in 2011. One thing I could never get over or beat has been the depression I have felt from quitting. I felt less anxious but more depressed after the second week. I have tried anti depressants, magnesium glycinate, CBD oil some did nothing, others made me feel a totally different person and I wasn't keen.
So I have come to the conclusion that I'm left with only one option and that is to try smoking to see if it lifts it off me. I don't crave cigarettes, I don't need them at all it is just this depression that started within a week of quitting 7 years ago.
Sounds stupid I know but I'd rather smoke or should I say vape than I would suffer this depression.
Had anyone else experienced this ?
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gggg123
7 Years Smoke Free
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Score smoking again maybe you should see a doctor or counselor. Maybe they can help you beat the depression. I went through it when I first quit but managed to get myself out of it after first couple of weeks. With a counselor they will not give you meds just help you get through this part it is worth a shot before smoking again
It isn't like that. Cigarettes are a stimulant and you have the reward syndrome too. They are proven to make you feel less depressed or should I say, when you quit you feel depressed. When I smoked I was fine. I quit cold turkey and after a couple of weeks a noticed it but then after the fight is over with the craving, which was 2-3 years for me and the craving and need are completely gone, that is when I felt it the most. I spent 5 year's trying to combat the feeling which wasn't there when I smoked for 27 years.
Hey there! Hopefully I can offer a couple of alternatives? 🙂
Maybe you have tried them already I don’t know.
My first suggestion is some counselling that way you can a) get some helpful advice on what may be making you feel like you do. That is find the trigger that is causing the associated feelings you are having, it may be the feeling and the association with smoking may have a different cause than the one you think.
My second suggestion would be CBD oil - do your research, only buy from a reputable company and look at their lab reports.
It has been shown to assist both with withdrawal symptoms and depression and as an aid to help quit smoking so could be with looking for you. It is expensive but if it helps its worth it.
I would hate to see you throw away everything you’ve achieved and accomplished without trying a few different options so you know you have ruled every option.
Hi gggg123 , please let us know how this plays out... 7 years is a long time to be smoke free. I'm closing in on 1 year and I believe I can relate to your post.
Especially since I dropped my other crutch(alcohol) 2 years 9 months ago...... I know I'm better off without them... but....
On another note I was dreaming I was sneaking cigarettes... just a quick dream,
Ah yes the smoking dream, they go away after a while. Best not drink as it is a huge craving trigger. I quit drinking for the first two years which made it easier.
I agree, 10 months after quitting (smoked for 40 years) and i feel like a different person and not a very nice one! also have depression on and off............
Yes they don't tell you about this when telling you to quit. I smoked from 14 to 43 and I smoked a stimulant. It's like being on a sedative for 43 years or an anti depressant and then coming off it, to what ?. Quiting is the easy part, getting over the initial 3 years craving is the easy part, getting used to drinking alcohol without your beloved cigarette is the easy part. The hard part is being a completely different person in the end and adjusting to it. It is hard and I'd just like to be the person I was, but I took a stimulant and it isn't going to happen !.
When you are quiting smoking you're fighting it and don't really see it till the fight is over !!.
Oh, my, that sound frightening! I am intending to quit after having smoked for 60 years. I have tried to quit several times in the past and each time I wasn't a nice person to know and preferred to be alone, which, I suppose, is in my nature anyway. The longest I lasted was 6 months when depression set in and I relapsed. I am amazed that you have lasted 7 years and I sincerely commend you for that. Please, don't go back to smoking and undo all the hard work and suffering you have been through.
How are you doing now? Your post is 4 months old. I am not sure now if I have the strength and courage you clearly had, but I will make a genuine effort anyway. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Welcome gggg123 - wow, 7 years smoke free, that is a huge achievement! Congratulations!
I am a few years behind you - 3 years there last month. Smoking for me was a crutch to deal with my day to day life, deal with life's stressors, birthdays, funerals, special occasions, holidays, after meals, after chores, after completing tasks at work, socializing, watching tv, the list goes on....
I never thought I would be able to stop as 3 years ago was in a very dark place, but stopping made me the happiest (and healthiest) I have been in years as knew they were slowly killing me. I did have the initial depression and anxiety for maybe the first year but I embraced it and knew I could never go back to my smoking life. Everyone's journey is different, not sure what advice to give you after 7 years smoke free as don't have experience with depression. Please speak to someone about it as smoking again is not the answer in my opinion. Let us know how you get on. Wishing you strength
Things are the same not started again, smoking that is. When the fight is over and you're the person you were before your quit but are missing something that you once had, it's difficult, it's a loss.
I never stopped because I didn't enjoy it or for health reasons but financial, smoking became expensive !.
But the depression remains and I'm sure every long term quiter must feel it. I smoked for 27 years !
How is your quit going ? 3 years now you'll be at the no craving anymore stage but now ?.
3 years on, I still get the out of the blue cravings, can be quite strong for that minute or so, but can shrug it easily now - it is so hard to comprehend never ever smoking again and have thought numerous times throughout my 3 years about having one for 'old times sake', especially when remembering a happy occasion when I smoked, but these have become less frequent as time passes by. I have imprinted in my mind that I must have my guard up for the rest of my life, but it is a small price to pay to be smoke free. Myself and my Dad are the only ex smokers in my family, Mam and 2 sisters and 2 brothers smoke, so wish they would see the light to give up as frightened about what it is doing to them....
Keep up the great advice you are sharing here and wishing you the continued strength to remain smoke free.
I will say one thing and that is when you actually get to a place when you no longer need a cig at all and you no longer crave, you'll see nicotine for what it is ! A drug, a drug you inhale through a cig, it's like crack. If it were a tablet you'd probably not like taking it and being addicted would turn you off big time.
You'll look at your other family members who smoke with pity and know just how ignorant they really are when you are completely free, which is about the 6 year mark.
Hope you don’t mind me asking, but are you saying you felt completely free of any want to smoke six years after you stopped or after two to three years? You might be talking about two different feelings regarding smoking but the number of years you mention here differ from a more recent post.
I do so hope it’s two to three years 😂
PS: Have you thought about medication for the depression? Not for everyone, but thankfully it works for me
I’m a little unsure what you mean though. I always had in mind that once you’ve completely stopped craving nicotine (if that’s truly possible) then you’ve beaten the addiction (habit). Am I reading it right that for you they are different concepts?
No, drug addiction is drug addiction. When a heroin addict stops taking heroin it only takes a few days to be free of it, but the NEED for it doesn't. When you get depressed, stressed, or just the habit of " I could just do with a cigarette with my coffee " the need is there without any craving. Smoking is more about habit built up years than it is about craving nicotine. But everyone is different and I am talking about how I did it. Next year is 8 years for me.
Are you male or female, and How old were you when you stopped smoking and the depression started? The reason I ask is because if you were over 40 it’s possible that stopping smoking just kick-started menopause, and many menopausal women develop depression and anxiety, which is often combated with hrt.
Hi, male and I smoked for 30 years. I know when you quit smoking it can trigger illness, one not spoken about is lupus in women. But no menopause here !.
Hi gggg: just happened upon this post and see you also suffer from depression. I’m not ashamed to say .. depression has been a monkey on my back for decades. While I think Champix is the culprit in worsening my depression, I see you didn’t use Champix yet still got the depression after quitting.
I like have some perks in life. I don’t drink, don’t smoke, and eat a low-carb diet (no sugar). So I am about as sober as a door. I’ve found myself shopping more, of late.
In all my research over the years, statistics show depression can visit in our older years. I’m 58 and know I need to commit to a clean life if I’m gonna deal with depression. I also think depression is linked to addiction which is us ... addicted to smokes whether we have 1 month or 10 years clean.
Advice? Get sugar out of your system (if you haven’t already). It’s a lifestyle to combat depression. Glad you didn’t smoke again but I completely understand how debilitating depression can be. You deserve happiness.
Yes I suffer depression but mostly after quitting but I have throughout my life had substance issues so. ...
I think I've tried everything to beat it over the years but I think it's more life and what happens to you than just feeling down, it's like scar tissue of the mind and it's always going to be there.
I did find though that it isn't all in my mind with cigarettes, there is actually a chemical in nicotine call continine that acts as an anti depressant and is bring looked into as treatment for depression. So it may not just be your champix but that we are not getting soothed from nicotine and lifted by continine.
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