Increased anxiety/paranoia due to smoking?

harmless_little_f*** · July 2008

I've been smoking since the start of the year due to being under extreme stress when I had my first cigarette. It relaxed me and so I carried on.

More recently I've been feeling that every time I have a cigarette it seems to rapidly increase my heartrate, as if I'm panicking about something intangible, and it also seems to be causing me anxiety and paranoia about things which just don't really worry me normally. There are things which I worry about, don't get me wrong - but at least when I haven't smoked I can say 'It's OK, relax, there's always tomorrow.'

When I've not had a cigarette I feel 'normal' and good, but then I smoke and for about half an hour/ an hour afterwards, start this extreme panic about things that I wasn't even thinking about 1 minute ago.

Last night after a cigarette I spent ages hurriedly throwing all my books off my shelf just to find a book I wanted to read, but it was like it was a life or death situation.

Does this make sense to anyone?

El_Kabong · July 2008

smoking can increase your risk of dementia and alzheimer's

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=smoking+dementia

sponger · July 2008

Yes smoking does increase your metabolism. It's the equivalent of walking 1 mile each day.

HushBull · July 2008

sponger wrote:

Yes smoking does increase your metabolism. It's the equivalent of walking 1 mile each day.

I always heard it made your metabolism crap out. I thought cigarette smokers were really thin because we use them as a food source. Or I do anyways.

ForestBrain · July 2008

That's weird.
Here's something interesting.

I quit smoking a couple of months ago (I had been smoking for, oh, I think twelve years), and had not smoked for entire month. That month, though I didn't crave any smokes, oddly, was one filled with a buttload of anxiety and panic attacks.
I took up smoking again and am now back to normal.

Harmless, I noticed that you already seem to have a lot of problems. Smoking can increase a person's heart rate, though. I've noticed it do strange things to different people. A friend of mine does not smoke much at all, but on the rare occasion that she has one, she gets dizzy and her heart rate speeds up.

You're probably not cut out to smoke, or your anxiety attacks are the cause of something else that has something to do with your depression.

I wouldn't pay much attention to me, though, because I'm just guessing at things from your previous threads.

harmless_little_f*** · July 2008

ForestBrain wrote:

That's weird.
Here's something interesting.

I quit smoking a couple of months ago (I had been smoking for, oh, I think twelve years), and had not smoked for entire month. That month, though I didn't crave any smokes, oddly, was one filled with a buttload of anxiety and panic attacks.
I took up smoking again and am now back to normal.

Harmless, I noticed that you already seem to have a lot of problems. Smoking can increase a person's heart rate, though. I've noticed it do strange things to different people. A friend of mine does not smoke much at all, but on the rare occasion that she has one, she gets dizzy and her heart rate speeds up.

You're probably not cut out to smoke, or your anxiety attacks are the cause of something else that has something to do with your depression.

I wouldn't pay much attention to me, though, because I'm just guessing at things from your previous threads.

I don't think the smokes are 'causing' my anxiety - there has been a lot of shit in the past, yes - but I really do feel a pronounced difference in how much I panic and worry IMMEDIATELY after a smoke. It's like, I'll resolve things in my mind and think 'That's OK, I can deal with that', and for an hour or so after a smoke, I'll think whatever it is is unmanageable again. Until the effects have worn off.

Overall, I feel that my head is getting clearer recently and I am much happier than I was a few months ago, but I do think that smoking is prolonging my recovery.

Edit: I haven't had a smoke since 7 o'clock last night (it's been nearly 24 hours) and I feel very happy and clear-headed.

TrixieCat · July 2008

Well, sucking in tar and poisons would cause my heart to race faster and my anxiety to build.

harmless_little_f*** · July 2008

TrixieCat wrote:

Well, sucking in tar and poisons would cause my heart to race faster and my anxiety to build.

With all due respect, I don't need to be told it isn't healthy. I don't need the immediately obvious stated.

It isn't immediately obvious that cigarettes cause what I'm describing and there is debate as to whether they do or don't, so responses a little more detailed than 'Tar is poisonous' will be helpful.

TrixieCat · July 2008

harmless_little_f*** wrote:

With all due respect, I don't need to be told it isn't healthy. I don't need the immediately obvious stated.

It isn't immediately obvious that cigarettes cause what I'm describing and there is debate as to whether they do or don't, so responses a little more detailed than 'Tar is poisonous' will be helpful.

I wasn't trying to tell you they were unhealthy...don't really care what you put in your own body.
And if you think those poisons aren't responsible for messing with your heartrate or level of anxiety than you are not seeing things clearly.
These are a few of the ingredients in cigarettes:
Nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT.
Yes, I would be thinking arsenic and DDT mixed with ammonia would be a little wearisome.

Edit to add that nicotine is a depressant.

Bathgate66 · July 2008

very simple.

smoking - of any kind- is a vaso - constrictor,

it puts undue stress on your circulatory system, and it turn it can be directly proportional to anxiety .

stop now, while youre still young

libragirl · July 2008

I'm sure glad I never started, it sounds fun.

I would say quit but I'm sure you don't want to hear that

Super Vedder · July 2008

TrixieCat wrote:

I wasn't trying to tell you they were unhealthy...don't really care what you put in your own body.
And if you think those poisons aren't responsible for messing with your heartrate or level of anxiety than you are not seeing things clearly.
These are a few of the ingredients in cigarettes:
Nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT.
Yes, I would be thinking arsenic and DDT mixed with ammonia would be a little wearisome.

Edit to add that nicotine is a depressant.

i agree with what she said

jamie uk · July 2008

harmless_little_f*** wrote:

With all due respect, I don't need to be told it isn't healthy. I don't need the immediately obvious stated.

It isn't immediately obvious that cigarettes cause what I'm describing and there is debate as to whether they do or don't, so responses a little more detailed than 'Tar is poisonous' will be helpful.

*opens gold envelope*
And most 'in denial' post of the year goes to......you know the drill folks.

Mark, ciggs kil you mate, they fuck with your heart and your lungs, that's what's making you feel fucked....come on dude....who takes up smoking these days apart from idiot 13 year olds :rolleyes:

p.s. this is meant as a friendly reality check friend, nothing else.

Jeremy1012 · July 2008

jamie uk wrote:

*opens gold envelope*
And most 'in denial' post of the year goes to......you know the drill folks.

Mark, ciggs kil you mate, they fuck with your heart and your lungs, that's what's making you feel fucked....come on dude....who takes up smoking these days apart from idiot 13 year olds :rolleyes:

p.s. this is meant as a friendly reality check friend, nothing else.

Everybody has their vices Jamie

I doubt very much that Mark starting smoking ignorant of the realities, I'd imagine he started IN SPITE of them

I know I did. Been 3 weeks since my last though and feeling damn good. There was a time when I didn't give a shit that it was a filthy habit, it calmed me down. I don't really need that particular crutch now though and decided that it isn't worth the financial and physical harm. Besides, I still have alcohol :rolleyes:

Never had anxiety or paranoia though Mark. Perhaps the smoking is only a trigger for a problem that runs deeper?

sponger · July 2008

When I go through morphine withdrawal, my mind goes absolutely bonkers. Words cannot begin to describe how insanely delusional and delirious I get when my body is deprived of opiates after prolonged use.

Nicotine is just as addictive as heroin. No telling what your mind does when you're living with nicotine addiction.

decides2dream · July 2008

i do believe that quitting smoking can increase your chances of anxiety/panic attacks, never heard of smoking itself doing the same. my guess would be it's psychosomatic at this point, your own association. however, i don't pretend to be a doctor so yea....whateva.......

thank bejeebus when i quit no anxiety attacks, i had suffered thru them earlier and they're no picnic.

Touchofgray16 · July 2008

I started smoking before the Stones released Exile on Main Street

Parliament was my drug of choice

I married a man who never smoked a cigarette (together 24 years now)

I quit once for two years because I wanted to set a good example for my kids

I thought I could have "just one" and went back with a vengeance

After 9/11, I doubled my cigarette consumption

My gums have taken the brunt of damage from smoking by rapidly receding

I need oral surgery to prevent further damage

I quit June 8th because of the upcoming oral surgery and the near $10 a pack price increase

I gave them up cold turkey because it was so hot out, the nic patch wouldn't stick to my skin

One day at a time, I try not to stuff myself with food or alcohol in an attempt to avoid "feeling"

"Oh, I'm looking for my missing piece ~ Hi dee ho, here I go" - Shel Silverstein

Bathgate66 · July 2008

Bathgate66 wrote:

very simple.

smoking - of any kind- is a vaso - constrictor,

it puts undue stress on your circulatory system, and it turn it can be directly proportional to anxiety .

stop now, while youre still young

i should point out i am not a doctor

however i am a NYS and Federally Licensed Healthcare worker who works fulltime in a clinical ( hospital ) setting.

Heineken Helen · July 2008

Why the HELL would anyone take up smoking in this day and age??? :eek:

*shakes head* mark mark mark!

It's stupid enough that I STILL smoke... but I've got the already stupid excuse that I'm addicted. I don't care if you want to hear it or not... just fucking quit now!

harmless_little_f*** · July 2008

Heineken Helen wrote:

Why the HELL would anyone take up smoking in this day and age??? :eek:

*shakes head* mark mark mark!

It's stupid enough that I STILL smoke... but I've got the already stupid excuse that I'm addicted. I don't care if you want to hear it or not... just fucking quit now!

What the fuck do you mean 'in this day and age'? You mean why take up smoking when you could have an iPod or a Paris Hilton sex tape?

'Ah, it's not like the old days. Back when me old ma' couldn't afford a loaf of bread smoking used to matter!'

The irony is that both the people in this thread who've told me I'm somehow childish for taking up smoking, are addicted smokers.

Heineken Helen · July 2008

harmless_little_f*** wrote:

What the fuck do you mean 'in this day and age'? You mean why take up smoking when you could have an iPod or a Paris Hilton sex tape?

'Ah, it's not like the old days. Back when me old ma' couldn't afford a loaf of bread smoking used to matter!'

The irony is that both the people in this thread who've told me I'm somehow childish for taking up smoking, are addicted smokers.

In this day and age... everyone knows the dangers.

And yep, listen to the addicted smokers, we're the ones who wish we'd never started... don't ya think that makes sense? I started when I was 9... sure I'd heard about the risks... but it was the cool thing to do :rolleyes: IMO there's no other reason for someone to want to start. I can't believe you're even debating this.

Increased anxiety/paranoia due to smoking?

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