smoking and anxiety

[hera123]

Hi,

My name is Hera, and I am 31 years old. 3 month ago I tried quitt smoking using an electronic cigarette and a liquid containing propylen glychol, high dose of nicotine(aprox. 18 mg) and alchool. After I started smoking this for 2 days I have begun havin anxiety, bizzare thoughts(very bizzare) wich I could control them but they were wery uppseting to me, I couldn,t sleep or eat properly and I had a allergy on my neck. Thiese symptoms got worst by every day that I continued smoking the e-cig, so eventualy I stopped smoking it, and return to the classic cigarettes. For 2 and half month I have struggled with anxiety , until I have discovered an natural product against smoking ,which is virtualy eating away my anxiety. I have reduced the amunt of cigarettes from 1 pack to 6-8 cig a day, and I am feeling better and better every day, and I keep reducing the number every week, and I don,t have a problem with it.
My question is has anyone experienced what I have with the e-cig? The anxiety, the bizzare thoughts, the insomnia, etc?
Could it be from the high amount of nicotine, or from propylen glycol?

[Jade59]

Hi Hera,

You know, it may have been the e-cig causing you the anxiety or simply the fact you were no longer inhaling all those carcinogens and additives which are in regular cigs.

When I first quit I used no aid at all and my anxiety increased, I couldn't' sleep and when I did, had strange dreams and was also constipated for weeks!  

I viewed the video kathyjo supplied and at least with the patch, you know all you're ingesting is nicotine.  I didn't realize the e-cig had nicotine in it among other things.  I thought is was just something to soothe the hand to mouth addiction.  Just in my opinion, it seems like the worst way to try and quit smoking as you are still inhaling nicotine as well as encouraging the hand to mouth habit.  

I'm glad you're feeling better, but it's likely due to you're smoking again.  Even just one cig a day can keep the anxiety and insomnia at bay.  

I wish you well and we will be here should you need support.    

[kathyjo]

I did a little research on the e-cig just a few days back and I was surprised to see, that in a video, this person was still exhaling smoke into the general public? I just assumed that you really aren't taking anything in, other than a mix of herbals, so nothing should be released back out! Then further research brought up the mention of anti-freeze and the e-cig containing some of the same ingredients!
Here is the link to the video:
http://www.medhelp.org/health_videos/E-Cigarettes/show/2405

As for your anxiety......who knows if any of the ingredients in the e-cig caused it, but my guess would be YES.
Hera, as for quitting, I think that you should try a more traditional method....maybe the patch? Quitting is very difficult and very stressful, so if you are going to give it another try, then you really need to prepare yourself. My advice, and what worked for me and many others was to read the articles at whyquit.com under the "education" column. Cutting back will work for a little, but before you know it, some crisis will arise and you will be back up to the same old amount.
There are a lot of people that stop by here and judging from their silence we can only assume that they didn't succeed, but there are a few of us who stay because we know that support was essential to our quits. The more you post, the better your chances of staying quit.

Good luck to you Hera and I hope your anxiety has cleared up.