ADD and Chain smoking?

[missmary81]

Does anyone else with ADD find themselves constantly smoking?  

Ive had ADD which went untreated for years before I finally started treatment with Dexadrine a few years ago. The Dexadrine helps at work, but was still always smoking or thinking about cigarettes ever few minutes. I started smoking 15 years ago in highschool when I was untreated for ADD, but then my addiction to cigarettes got completely out of hand after I left home - and Ive always felt like I could only focus my best when smoking or if I had a lit cigarette in hand - which more or less resulted in me constantly chain smoking.

Even after I started treatment for ADD, Im still totally addicted to cigarettes. Worse, the club that I work at just went non-smoking at the start of the year and its driving me totally crazy thinking about needing cigarettes all the time - making it hard to remember peoples names or orders and just generally do my job.

I dont exactly want to try and deal with quitting smoking right now, thats too much to deal with, but I dont want to mess up my ADD treatment. Any thoughts on how to fix this?

[johncg912]

ADHD researchers have known for a long time that lots of adults with ADHD are heavy (often VERY heavy, actually) smokers. The drug in cigarette smoke, Nicotine,is a stimulant drug kind of like Dexedrine. So smoking is a way for people with ADHD to self-medicate their symptoms. Like Dexedrine, the nicotine you inhale in tobacco smoke makes you feel better; for example more alert and focussed and "calm" - less anxious, restless and impulsive and so on. There is already a drug prescripted for adult ADHD called Bupropion that is based on nicotine, it works by stimualting nicotinic receptors in the brain, just like the nicotine in cigarette smoke does. It works well for a lot of people who take it. Right now , as well,drug companies are working at developing new ADHD drugs that work by stimualting nicotinic receptors in the brain,


Anyway, one idea I've got for you is this... You said that when you weren,t taking any meds for ADHD your smoking was totally out of control, but after you started on Dexedrine is got a bit better. Maybe this means that the dose of Dexedrine you are taking at the moment is still too low. If you think of Dexedrine as being like Nicotine, then taking a higher dose of Dex should help to reduce your craving for cigarettes?

Say that you are taking 40mg of Dexedrine a day for your ADHD and with this you are still experiencing a constant, heavy craving cigarettes throughout the day. Tell your doctor you will like to try taking a higher dose of Dex, say, 50 mg, to see if it helps reduce your cigarette (Nicotine) intake, In theory, there is a good chance that it might. Also, you could maybe try using  someNRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) products that is stuff like: nictine chewing gum or nicotine patches, to help reduce your craving for cigarettes?.

[CrystalQuit]

I dont know about Dexadrine, but I definitely know what you mean about feeling like you focus better and are more alert when smoking. Another girl I work with said she couldnt concentrate at work when she was trying to quit smoking, so she just eventually just started smoking to help her deal with the stress. Probably not the best longterm plan though.

[KellysLove]

If you can't stop smoking you may need to talk to your treating doctor about possibly trying a different medication that may help more with your ADD. There may be other solutions if you cant give up smoking, like so many of us have been unable to, it doesnt mean you dont deserve medical care just because you smoke! I myself have mostly given up on trying to quit smoking, so I just try to plan my life around it and make any changes to other treatments as needed. Talk to your Doctors to see what they suggest besides quitting smoking.  

[Twix363]

STOP SMOKING get help from a therapist, friend, family member, or a doctor. You can do it.