Can Smoking Cession Make Ptsd Worse?

[The Albatross]

Had a friend with oral and esophageal cancer... so nope, I won't go there. Because I take antihistamines for allergies, I have periodontal issues but let's face it... it's ALL bad.

My aunt had a very rare form of cancer and was participating in a longevity study. Guess what the university used to grow and replicate cancer cells in a petri dish? Nicotine.

 

[PureDogs]

@Cufflinks

I'm glad you said something and I would prefer to hear something that may be necessary to know. There are some things I would not want to hear it but sometimes I would need to hear it for reasons. I appreciate your comment. Thank you.

 

[The Albatross]

I agree with your shrink. I was one of the 10% who had increased random suicidal thoughts and thought I was going crazy. That whole class of meds is totally out for me.

 

[PureDogs]

@The Albatross

Are you saying Nicotine cause these stuff? I thought it doesn't cause but those digesting chemicals in the cigarettes.

And to reply to your other post - Thank you.

 

[The Albatross]

Yup. That's what I'm saying. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of other carcinogens in tobacco products. But for Sigmoid Carcinoma the cells were expensive... so they added: nicotine. They had all the cells they needed for the study.

 

[jmni]

I have quit smoking before but relapsed.

Both times I successfully quit I went cold turkey except that I used anit-smoking audiobooks before I quit. Smoking cessessation does not make PTSD worse. PTSD is a thing in itself. Nicotine does not treat any mental disease because it's not a psychiatric drug, so not using nicotine will not affect your PTSD. However it does create a small burst of the hormone dopamine because it triggers opiate receptors in your brain. So how triggering opiate receptors in the brain effects the mind over the time opens the door to speculation. It cant really be good for you. The difficulty is that people smoke in response to distressing thoughts and feelings. So if you quit you will have to deal with PTSD / feelings without cigarettes. So it's really hard to quit. You have to break the habit of smoking when you feel like and thats hell and you have to go through nicotine withdrawals which last up to a few weeks. Overall your health can improve but I am not sure how it relates to PTSD. Good luck. You should quit.

 

[PureDogs]

@The Albatross

Thank you :-)

@jmni

Thank you for your feedback and your comment does helps.

 

[BewitchedBewildered]

I am not a sufferer, but I have read a lot about vaping. Unless you are allergic to a component, it is much better for you. If you are a pretty heavy smoker, 2.1 won't do it.

I've known quite a few people who have quit with vaping. However, first they started with a high nic level (18 or 16) and slowly decreased the nic level.

I am doing that right now, just moved to a 12. It does work. You cut out a lot of the bad elements and slowly cut out the nic and it really helps the psychological element because you still puff.

I have heard a lot of bad things connected to the cessation pills and even the patch.

I just thought i would share. I hope the best for you!

 

[DharmaGirl]

I quit smoking 18 years ago. I used acupuncture. For me, it was like turning off a switch. It was very easy to do, yet I became very depressed and had a suicide attempt 2 months after quitting. My therapist has told me that pain and/or stress will trigger the PTSD, and the PTSD will trigger pain and/or stress. I would go easy and be mindful of your feelings.

 

[Lucycat]

I am now 10 weeks off cigarettes. I got a e-cig but only used it for the first day- I didn't like the taste at all. After that- cold turkey.

I agree stopping increases stress. However worrying about the impact of smoking increased my stress. Worrying about trying to give up also increased stress. I think now, after 10 weeks my smoking related stress is right down.
Good luck.

 

[The Albatross]

Congratulations Lucycat, way to go.

 

[StarChild]

I'm wondering if any one of you quit smoking? If yes, Does it make your PTSD worse or better?

Yes, I too quit smoking 5 1/2 years ago. I was quite a heavy smoker. I smoked up to 50 cigarettes a day, and not the "light" ones. The first two days I tried cold turkey, but my withdrawal symptoms were that severe, that I desperately ransacked our trash can to smoke the cigarette stubs. So I immediately contacted a pharmacist, and told him about my problem. Then we calculated, what kind of patches and chewing gums I would need to not have to experience such severe withdrawal symptoms.

I did a really slow and long withdrawal; e.g. instead of just 3 weeks staying on the level 1 patches, I stayed 6 weeks on them plus 4 nicotine gums a day in the beginning. And then I first tapered down the nicotine gums (from 4 a day to zero). Then I did the same with level 2 and 3. At the end, I even cut in half the level 3 patches and wore them, I think, another 14 days. Then I even divided the last few patches and wore the quarters another 10 or so days. All in all the withdrawal process took almost half a year.

During this time there were some severe body reactions, like: Two times out of the blue I got a severe asthma attack (even though I never ever suffered asthma) and had to go as an emergency to my doctor. Another time my tongue was laced with a kind of really big canker sore. They hurt like hell! And also another time my tongue became black for several days. It was laced with a stinking black mass. My doc told me, this was because my body was detoxing. After that, I finally started to cough black/grey mucus for about 14 days. And from then on, I started to improve and feel more sound.

The nicotine cession was absolutely not stressful for me, and I wasn't moody, or depressed. So I say it didn't at all worsen my PTSD. I was just happy about the fact, that I would no longer destroy my lungs and my health. And even though my body had a bit of a rough time during the first weeks, I'd even say the withdrawal was easy to do, the way I did it. And it was successful, for I never smoked again from that time on.