disgusting smoking habit...does it help/hurt your GAD?

[Daisy131]

any smokers out there that find smoking helps or hurts your GAD?

i quit back in august, and actually went through about 6 months of horrible medical testing by a stupid doctor that sent me straight into a dx of GAD. i picked it back up a few weeks ago (so mad about it), but unfortunately it seems to help.

funny thing is...talked to the pdoc about it, and she said a lot of people with anxiety smoke, because it raises dopamine in the brain which calms us. she said it's harder for these folks to quit, but also she doesn't advise folks who have severe anxiety to quit until they are under control with meds/therapy, because she has seen them go into a tailspin.

what are your thoughts?

[Turbotommy]

I smoke...it seems to relax me but everything you read says it actually doesn't. I'm not sure but I know for a fact my smoking increases when im stressed.

[friqid]

i quit smoking 2 years ago and havent really had any issues with it.  when i did smoke I most assuradely smoked more when stressed out.  however, when dig deep and find out there are more chemicals in a cigarette than there is a nuclear bomb ya might wanna think about the future..   just a though though.

[nyiaca]

Right now, it defintely intensifies the feelings. I've been trying to quit, so I switche brands, from marlboor to American Spirits. I think I went thru withdrawl from all those toxic chemicals. But the thing withis new brand is like they're pure nicotine and they make my heart race. So feel more anxious when I smoke somethines.


someitmes I actually measure how anxious I am by whether havign a cigareete makes me feel anxious or I'm okay with it. Like I strive to feel "well" enough to have a cigarette and not freak.

Overall, I think NOT smoking defintely has to make you feel better.

[Noahs Mom]

I quit smoking over 3 years ago.  Every time I tried to quit before that, my anxiety would go through the roof.  I had such a rough time with it...  The final time I quit, I didn't go cold turkey... I used the patch for a few weeks so I could break the cycle of actually having a cigarette at certain times - like when I was mad, angry, or stressed.  Instead of reaching for a smokey treat, I would rub the patch a little bit and breath as if I were smoking a cigarette.  Seemed to work.  Then, during a horrible ice storm, I couldn't get access to any more patches or smokey treats, so I bunkered down for three days and let myself go through the MEANEST withdrawals I had ever had up until that point in my life.  3 days later when the ice melted enough to leave the house - I said I never wanted to quit again... that was too rough -- not even ONE smokey treat was worth going through that... and "just one" smokey treat always leads to a pack, and I haven't smoked since. 

I did struggle with higher bouts of anxiety.  2 weeks later i was diagnosed with cancer - that's probably TRULY what held my resolve to never smoke again... But it put things in perspective.  Smoking WILL lead to health problems.  Maybe not death, but definitely health problems.