Hello everybody,
I been searching for info on depression after quiting smoking as this year I finally came back to planet earth.
I quit smoking late 2007 when I was 35, I started when I was 20, my parents were heavy smokers my dad died January this year because of lunc cancer, emfesem and hearth failure all related to smoking.
The reason I started at 20 was because I was always in to sports but a motorbike accident in which I suffered a very bad shin fracture stpped me from participating in my favorite sport kickboxing, running or fitness went fine but receiving kicks to my shin were no go.
So I started hanging with another crowd and tried some weed ( I'm from Amsterdam, Holland/The Netherlands) which wasn't really my thing.
Then I one day tried a cigarette and I came home!!!!
It was like I this was completely natural to me, I bought a Camel Filter box 25 and finished that in nearly a day with nearly virgin lungs but I been inhaling all the smoke from my parents since I was born so maybe that's why I did not have any problems.
Anyway I started smoking heavy like a pack and a half a day but never suffered any problems like shortnes of breath etc etc, I kept doing sports as far as I could like fitness and running.
I felt fine.
So all the time I been smoking it been bugging me, I really wanted to live without the cigarettes again plus I never wanted to become like my parents.
I wanted to quit when my son was born in 2000 but I found out that I could not do it.
I did find out that what my parents did was very wrong, I never ever smoked around my kid so he never inhaled the secondary smoke.
Anyway I was so fed up with being a slave to the cigarette that I finally quit succesfully at autumn 2007.
Nothing really changed except for the feelings of withdrawel which caused a mild uncomfortable feeling during the first two months but these quickly became less and less.
I did not gain weight, my abilty to smell was the same, I was as fit as I was before, running 8 Km's went the same, appetite was the same.
Nothing really changed but one thing: I was free!!!!! And very happy and proud.
2008 I really enjoyed my new freedom and my new me, That summer was magic as I was so happy that I was a clean human being with no unnatural toxins in my body.
But then in early 2009 I slidd in to what I now think was depression that lasted untill early 2012.
My best friend who also was a heavy smoker was diagnosed with lung cancer died late 2009, this was really hard to take at that time as I allready wasn't feeling that great.
I was feeling really strange and has huge anxiety attacks, was scared to go anywhere, do anything sometimes really tired at other times really stressed out about little things, like having a really short fuse.
This year during spring I finally went to feel a bit better and was able to do everything that I wanted to do with out uncomfortable feelings of anxiety and stress.
I now understand that quiting smoking trigered this "thing" that got hold of me for nearly two and half years.
Just wanted to share my story.
Im sorry to hear about your issues. Im only in my 3rd month of detox and this anxiety/depression/stress is killing me. All i want to do recently is sleep and hope it goes away. My head feels like its floating right now. I hope you can get better. When i get any kind of pains i start to get scared and my anxiety/depression kicks in. Im sure you've read about help topics with anxiety and i hope some can help you. Im still studying up on these symptoms and has been very tough. Did your parents every quit smoking? Atleast, you have stayed off the smokes. Look at the positives for your quit. Try not dwell on what can happen. Im no expert but i feel for your pain. I hope all of us ex smokers can beat this battle.
Hi. I just wanted to update my condition. I have stopped smoking for 173 days (almost 6 months).
My condition is getting better but is still in the process of detoxify. My symptoms are still on and off.
Right now I feel my chest suddenly became cold and heavy feeling in my left chest muscle. Because of that I became anxious. Anxiety really killing me. I feel very down. Feel like want to die there too.
In set in my mind that there is no theory that says quitting smoking can cause death but before you stop you are already sick. If I smoked for 9 years, the detox process will take a long time.
My update.
Almost 4 months that I've quit smoking. I've not had a single cigarette.
I feel depressed and also have some anxiety...specially before sleeping and in the morning. I still have stomach/digestive problems.
I hope all will get better soon.
I'm the same age as you and started also at 16 yrs...I quit 4 months ago and I have the same symptoms...How do yo feel today?
I quit smoking almost 17 weeks ago (pack a day for 20+ years). My sinuses are going crazy, I'm coughing up gunk, I have various aches and pains in my gut.....but the absolute worst thing is the anxiety and depression. I've quite likely lost my girlfriend of the past 2 1/2 years that I love dearly because I, as she puts it, "..quit smoking and lost your mind."
Like others here have said, these symptoms just reinforce that I'll never smoke again.
Today, it been 131 days since I've quit (4 months, 1 week)....not a single smoke.
I still have stomach/digestive issues...I eat well and drink a lot of water but still I don't feel well. I've seen my doctor twice since and she told me that after quitting, our nerves (internal and external) are healing...this is why if feel like this specially with the stomach/digestive part...I've been taking pantoprazole 3 weeks..I still have a week to go. Does not seem to help much.
Anyway, today I'm worst than other days (bowels)...I just hope and it's my body cleaning it's self.
I feel very depressed now...mostly because I always think I'm sick or I have something.... I don't even have any craving for smoking again but I would really like to feel better...
I guess all of you went through your own physical and mental stages months following the quitting?
I was long time reader of this thread. Lots of times when i was cravings, or having anxiety, or shortness of breath i was checking this topic to see what others feel... And to understand that i am not alone.
Here is my story. I never smoke! Actually i smoke couple of cigs when i was a teenager - maybe 10 of 15 in the whole live LOL - but never was addicted. Than the stupidest thing happened - 11 months ago my friend recommended me nicotine patch for concentration - we were working on the project and had a tight deadline - so he said try.
Back than i knew that nicotine is not good thing, so i decided to use not whole patch(24 mgs), but 1/8. And i was using it for 4 days... This 4 days were good, i was a bit more anxious than usual - but that's about it... We finished the project ,and i 'quit' the patch... Than hell began - i couldn't understand what is going on with me... I couldn't sleep, was anxious, super irritable, moody, it was pure hell... I felt very strange, it's like i changed... I started reading and realizing that i become addicted and it's withdrawal... Now 11 months later, i still have big anxiety, sometimes it's seems i have mini panic attacks, i am short on breath practically every evening, brain fog, difficulties concentration, sometimes i can't understand what people say, it's like i need some time to process the understanding LOL, lightheaded after exercise/food, i have extreme anger issues, depressed(never was depressed before, LOL), got up every night around 4 pm for couple of minutes... Sometimes it's gets better, sometimes i can be normal for 2 - 3 days and i say to my self "Finally, it's over", but than it will start again... Now at 11 months it's a bit easier than at 1-3 months, but still i feel like my life is taken from me. I am so tired about it, it's daily struggle, and the 'funny' part is: only 4 days and only 1/8 of patch... How the hell i knew it can be so so so LONG and HELLISH!
I am writing these for all the people who have SHORTNESS OF BREATH/anxiety/panic, i am pretty sure it's has nothing to do with smoke or lungs - cause i never smoked... But with quitting nicotine. Here is some research:
Quote:
PARIS (EGMN) – Smokers who have recently kicked the habit could face a significant increase in the risk of developing new-onset hypothyroidism. The risk is greatest within the first 2 years of quitting, when it can run as high as 5 times the risk of someone who has never smoked, or who has been tobacco-free for more than 2 years. There’s no obvious explanation for the phenomenon, Dr. Allan Carle said at the International Thyroid Meeting. However, he said, a 2007 study suggests that current smokers actually have a significantly lower risk of developing hypothyroidism but an increased risk of hyperthyroidism (Arch. Intern. Med. 2007;167:1428-32).
Seems it's thyroid related... And if you check hypo symptoms - there are lots of similarities...
Also here is the research saying why it can be difficult for some to quit, and why some people are addicted faster:
Quote:
We call this brain response a ‘born to smoke’ pattern,” said study leader Dr. Steven Potkin, professor of psychiatry and human behavior. “Based on these dramatic brain responses to nicotine, if you have hostile, aggressive personality traits, in all likelihood, you have a predisposition to cigarette addiction without ever having even touched a cigarette.” Study results appeared in the January issue of Cognitive Brain Research.
Potkin and Dr. James H. Fallon, professor of anatomy and neurobiology, gave study subjects standard psychiatric personality exams and separated them into two groups — those with high-hostility personality traits, which are marked by anger, aggression, impatience, irritability and anxiety, and those with low-hostility traits. Both groups included smokers and non-smokers. The groups were given nicotine patches of strengths of 3.5 or 21 milligrams, or placebo, and later subjected to PET scans to see if the nicotine triggered any responses in brain metabolism of glucose energy.
While the PET scans showed no metabolic changes in the low-hostility subjects, nicotine induced dramatic metabolic responses in the high-hostility group individuals in the limbic system and the cortical and subcortical sectors of the brain.(parts controlling emotion, social response, attention and language) Among members of the high-hostility group, smokers showed a metabolic reaction only to the more powerful 21 milligram nicotine patch, while non-smokers reacted to both patches.
The fact that non-smokers in the high-hostility group showed a significant metabolic response to nicotine provides the first biological evidence that people with high-hostility personalities are likely to become dependent on cigarettes because of their brains’ strong response to nicotine, said Potkin. “In turn, this might also help explain why other people have no compelling drive to smoke or can quit smoking with relative ease,” he added.
I hope we all will feel better soon. It's been 11 months and i feel like i am dying 75% of the time... Putting nicotine patch on was the stupidest thing i ever done in my life... And the 'funny' thing there is nothing i can do about it, LOL. Just wait that 'one day' i might/will feel better, LOL...
I am also going through major withdrawal, my last taste of nicotine was on october 14 2012 and it has been hell and i agree no one tells you how difficult this is I feel as though I am goin out my mind and crazy. I have depression, chest pains, back pains, no energy, major anxiety and panic and the doctors think i am out of my mind cause I continue to to call them in panic. I know one thing is that I do not want a smoke again
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