82 replies to this topic

[emr]

Has anyone else on medication for anxiety or depression found that they have needed to increase the dose when they stopped smoking and started vaping?

[lightother]

i have had anxiety issues for years,i have had cbt for the "mental" aspects and i take medication for the physical symptoms of anxiety, not all the time, just when i feel the need, cant say i noticed any difference between my usage pre/post smoking, might not be anything to do with it but since vaping my "attacks" have decreased in their severity and i can feel one coming a lot sooner, but that might just be a combination of the stuff i have done to try and sort it

Edited by lightother, 28 January 2012 - 10:16 PM.

[tyefighter]

nicotine is a stimulant and can effect anxiety / depression ...how much did you smoke and how much juice and what strength are you using now ?

[Purplefowler]

lightother, on 28 January 2012 - 10:16 PM, said:

since vaping my "attacks" have decreased in their severity and i can feel one coming a lot sooner

I am the same, panic attacks have been a problem for years but vaping has helped. I think also I find the act of vaping sort of comforting and it doesn't increase my heart rate the way analogues do too (as covered in another thread I have a dodgy ticker).

[Jmc007]

I have some trouble with depression and anxiety, though am loathe to have medication and never had.
When I stopped all smoking I found things getting worse, though I am percervering and I feel vaping is very helpful.
The very real hope of getting healthier is a huge motivation.

[emr]

Reason I ask is I gave up the stinkies in sep after a habit of 40 per day for 20 odd years, everything was going well (apart from the usual effects of quitting) then bang completely out of nowhere I was a total mess I suppose you could call it a breakdown of sort, this was 3 months after giving up the fags and starting vaping (nothing else in my life had changed). Feeling so down I relapsed and went back on the fags. My doctor upped my medication and I started to feel like my old self again. Then my Dr decided that I couldnt stay on this medication so prescribed me something different and I was to slowly make the transition between the old and the new. Thursday I decided to stop the fags and start vaping again. Yesterday and more so today I've felt really down in the dumps, originally I thought it was just the effects of swapping medication but not sure now as its more than the usual 'foggy' head and more like depression/anxiety setting in again, scared that it'll get bad again i've gone back onto the fags even though I was actually enjoying vaping!
I've read that when we stop smoking we not only crave the nicotine but all the other crap and not having this can upset the balance of chemicals in our bodies which can result in any medication needing to be adjusted.

I really dont want to have to smoke in order to feel 'ok' and worry that i'll never be able to give up the stinkies & just vape without feeling like this? It just feels like whenever I give up smoking and start vaping I get really 'down'

Edited by emr, 28 January 2012 - 11:04 PM.

[tyefighter]

how long have you suffered with depression? could it be the time of the year ...i know this time of the year sucks for me

[emr]

Haven't ever felt as bad as I did 4 weeks ago, i've been on meds for anxiety for quite a few years, just seems to be a coincidence that each time I come off the fags things go downhill, first time it took 3 months & this time 3 days! I'm hoping that its just a case of adjusting the medication? it cant be the nic withdrawal because im still getting the nic by vaping unless my body's craving all the other crap in which case i'm pretty much buggered
I'm off to the Dr's on wednesday anyway so i'll have a chat and see what they say??

Thanks for the replies

[lightother]

good luck at the doc's
anxiety is so complex and personal to the sufferer that medication can be hit and miss as what suits one person can be no use for someone else
i hope you get something that works for you and allows you to vape away

[tyefighter]

i hope its just coincidence ...this anxiety cr@p is crazy weird, it only take the slightest thing to send us into a downward spiral. my fingers are crossed for you

[Shifty]

Have a read of this thread http://ukvapers.com/...page__hl__where

[samuelmunro]

you could try snus,

[Lyneside]

Doesn't seem to take much for a good day to turn into a really shit one in my little world.

And sometimes my head tells me a cig will make it all better, or I deserve a cig cos im having such a bad day :S

Such is the nature of my addiction and my illness.

But I reckon you have done a good thing by asking the question and thinking about the possible effects

I don't claim to have any answers but I know myself that the more I find out about my nic addiction, the more prepared I can be, and this is a good thing.

Good luck with the Doc , do ask about vaping.

At the back of my head there is a little alarm about a warning on a packet of cartos....

Quote

Warning : Atomized cartridges are intended for use by persons of legal smoking age, not by nonsmokersor by children, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or persons with or at risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or taking medicine for depression or asthma

I remember noticing the depression and asking a friend who is a pharmacist of sorts. Now if only i could remember her answer I might actually be of some use .....

Will ask her again next time we talk, but as usual these warnings cover 90% of the population and are designed to cover the producers for anything that possibly even might occur.

Edited by Lyneside, 29 January 2012 - 12:54 AM.

[Lyneside]

Ok google is way better than my memory , her answer was like this ......

http://www.inchem.or...ical/pim443.htm

Which is the chemical safety sheet for Propylene Glycol or PG in eliquids

It mentions briefly that it can be a CNS ( central nervous system ) depressant.

Now before anyone gets all scary on me here......

It also mentions Acceptable daily intake is 25mg/kg thats roughly 25 ml for every kilo you weigh. So if you are an average(ish) weight of 80 kilos you can ingest 2 whole litres. I reckon thats gotta be pretty hard to do really

Now I remember why I decided to ignore the warning

Oh and a further google, reminded me that these warnings are purely a nod to health and safety / import regulations, without them they would simply not get across many international borders. So dont read too much into it all

Plus if you look down the sheet it is actually included in some medications ( as a solvent rather than an active ingredient ) including valium :S

Hope that hasn't alarmed anyone too much

And if you are vaping 2 liters a day , up the nic level a bit eh

Edited by Lyneside, 29 January 2012 - 01:34 AM.

[steffijade]

emr, on 28 January 2012 - 10:09 PM, said:

Has anyone else on medication for anxiety or depression found that they have needed to increase the dose when they stopped smoking and started vaping?

Yes and no.. meds have gone up and down in relation with my ability to cope... I've been through the cycle of 'I'm coping well and can cut back/cease meds", followed by the realiasation that maybe I'm not coping as well as I thought.

Been going through this cycle for years, whether smoking or not.

Imho if, like me, you've been a 'chronic smoker' and decide to quit (be that through cold turkey, 'official' NRT, quit programs or by switching to vaping), there is added (both actual and perceived) stress along with the actual physical repercussions of stopping the inhalation of the cocktail of chemicals in analogues.

I returned to vaping about 6 months ago, since then I've had ecstatic days where everything I vaped seemed wonderful and bad days where I could have quite easily popped to the shops and bought a pack of ten.... just to put me on til I felt better.

I succumbed once, at the funeral of a much loved relative and was quite surprised that I didn't succumb totally and start back on the fags.

I'd love to tell you that there is an arbitrary point at which you'll never go back to fags, but I'm afraid I can't.

In my own experience, after not smoking for a while and trying an analogue...it tasted bloomin horrible (could only manage a few drags), but there was something in those few drags that vaping didn't quite replicate (chemically). It would have been easy for me to say f**k it and start smoking again and cite stress as a reason.

Truth is, I'd been neglecting meds and been trying to be 'strong' for people that I cared about, thinking that I'd been coping better than I actually had.

I'm not a doctor/shrink and though I'd love to be able to offer you a 'magic bullet', (would love a few rounds for myself actually), I can't... and I think it's likely that no one can.

I was prescribed meds for a reason... I assume the this is same for you. Although I'd like to be able to totally manage without them, time and experience have proved otherwise.

I can only offer this advice.... by switching to vaping, your body is undergoing a change in what it expects to receive chemically. this may alter the effectiveness of prescribed meds (not to mention the added real/perceived stress of quitting analogues). Cut yourself some slack.... we all put a 'face' on for the world and it can be difficult to admit to ourselves (and other people) that we might need a little extra help from time to time. If you need to 'up' your meds to cope then do so.. there's no shame and nothing wrong in doing it. If you worry about what other people might think, then don't...screw em. It's your life, no one else has to live it but you and you'll know yourself, better than anyone else can, when you need a little help.

Don't be afraid or ashamed (or feel less worth in yourself) to ask for help, be it through increased meds or talking to health professionals to seek alternatives.

Life can be a b**ch at times but never forget, it's YOUR life and it's comparatively short in the grand scheme of things...do your best to enjoy it while you have the chance and try not to beat yourself up over any perceived failings.

Not sure what else to say except try to stay safe and if you feel you really can't cope without going back to the fags, then go back to them.... you can always try again later and keeping yourself safe is of more immediate importance.

I empathise and hope that you do what's best for YOU in the 'long run' (only you will really know what this is).

Best of luck to you.

[Garza]

I personally can't say I've noticed a difference, I'm on quitiapin (seroquel XL/XR) 500mg, Mirtazipine 55mg... And some wonder why I'm a zombie in the morning I've sometimes thought that when I'm 'manic' so to speak, I can feel the nicotine stimulating..not sure ow to describe it :/

Edited by Garza, 29 January 2012 - 10:12 AM.

[Fiona]

What nic strengh do you vape at? This might need upping if your using a low strength mix.

I have clinical depression and suffer a lot of anxiety. Have done since I was 12. But this time of year hits me the most, always does. The lack of sunlight turns me into more of a hermit than I am already. I lack motivation and if it wasnt for my Dogs I'd be asleep all day. I have to be up and about for them. Really its them that has kept me from falling into a bigger rutt than I feel I am in now.

My meds dont seem to help me at the moment and normally they keep me plodding on...But like anyone, we can have low times and situational depression can hit anyone at any time...Meds or not....

Vaping has been the only way I've been able to keep of the smokes, but, that switch-over can still be very hard for some of us. I know I found it hard at times, and it took me 5 weeks to come off the rollies completely. ...Upping the nic strength of my mixes helped me...Oh and Boges!


I believe in taking one day at a time...And dont be too hard on your self....We can be our own worst enemy.

[Jimblob]

emr, on 28 January 2012 - 10:09 PM, said:

Has anyone else on medication for anxiety or depression found that they have needed to increase the dose when they stopped smoking and started vaping?

No. Although I need to eat them like sweets when I am due at work. I really need to get another job

[emr]

Just like to say thank you to everyone who's replied and been so honest about their depression & anxiety, At the moment i'm vaping 14mg but am having the odd stinkie now and again, when I first started vaping I was on 24mg then 18 but found that I needed to lower the dose to stop me feeling dizzy as I tend to pretty much chain vape.
I don't think its the time of year although I do hate the dark mornings/evenings and am much more of a summer person. It could be (this time) because of the transition of the medication?? or maybe that it's not the nicotine that I crave but all the other crap?? weird though that last time I managed to go 3 months saying that though I do remember feeling not very satisfied and was constantly looking for the next thing....whatever it was??? almost like I was missing that something that everyone else was getting from vaping.
I stopped smoking on Thursday and was vaping along quite happily using the new imist which is brilliant by the way and thought yes!! this is perfect but by friday night I was beginning to feel snappy and short tempered, got up on saturday morning feeling good and continued to vape away (happily) by sat afternoon I was feeling miserable, down in the dumps, dizzy and generally quite weird but put it down to the new medication kicking in (mirtazapine) and the effects of coming off the old meds (cipralex) anyway went for a lie down to try and sleep it off. Then last night I began to feel really anxious and panicky and felt like I was heading for meltdown again, by this time I had convinced myself that it was coming off the stinkies that was to blame so I began smoking again and today I feel ok not on top of the world but way better than yesterday I just hope they can sort my meds out so I can give up the stinkies and continue to vape

[Garza]

I think I'll be off Mirtazipine soon, doesn't seem to do much except give me a groggy feeling, though quetiapine does it too..especially days like today that are really bad :-/
just hoping the crisi team doesn't show up, not something I feel up to doing today. Im trying to stay calm by reading everything on UKV lol..

Edited by Garza, 29 January 2012 - 05:18 PM.