Bad anxiety/depression briefly after smoking cigarettes

[RedOnChrome]

I am in my mid 20's, and have been struggling to quit smoking for a little over a year now. It seems like I will quit successfully for one or two months, and then end up relapsing. When I do smoke, it is very lightly, as in one or two cigarettes a day, unless I go out drinking for a night, at which time I smoke more heavily.

Lately, immediately during, and after smoking a cigarette, I begin to suffer from pretty severe depression and anxiety for a period of about 25 minutes. It will start approximately half way through the cigarette. Generally, I will start feeling like a failure, because of how long I have been trying to quit, but obviously haven't. Then, a couple of minutes later, I will get racing, and disturbing thoughts and the depression worsens.

The strange thing is that it seems to be getting worse every time I smoke. This last time scared me so bad, it is what prompted me to find this forum and post this question.

I am certain this is brought forth by nicotine, and not just me being disappointed in myself for failing to quit (although that does play a part), because of the immediate nature, and time frame which it lasts after smoking. I briefly searched google, and only found information on anxiety and depression after quitting for a period of time, and not directly after smoking.

I am interested to hear if anyone has had experiences like this, or if anyone at least has any insight into the situation. Thank you.

[Taylor11111111111111111]

Same problem. Been smoking on and off for 3 years. If you have this problem the only option is to quit. The depression/anxiety caused by nicotine cessation will feel different than what you feel when you inhale. But quitting feels better than smoking to people like us, trust me. Just focus on eating healthy and exercising. After about 20 days of no smoking/vaping you'll feel refreshed, but you'll start to wonder how just one cigarette would feel because you forget about how awful they are. Don't do it. At 20 days you're already in the clear. Smoking a cig/vape will just turn you into Negative Nancy again and restart the entire painstaking process. This is about a lifestyle change. It is physically impossible for people like us to be happy without quitting. If you're tired of worrying all day, suffering all day, feeling like you're dying all the time: you have to quit. The universe doesn't want you smoking for whatever reason because you are special, so you need to stop. The universe has a bigger plan for you and it needs you to be at your best, your healthiest. The truth is hard.

[sara23]

my thoughts exactly because i have been getting so many signs in my life all about smoking and how quitting would make everything better (major depression and panic disorder) so i did stop and 7 years of pain just vanished ! until i tried to smoke again .. now its worse but now i know that all this time i had nothing wrong with me but a negative life caused by nicotine

[Hazepar]

I have experienced the same exact thing, and contrary to what others have posted, I dont believe nicotine is the culprit of such induced depression. Considering other studies Ive read and my own personal experience, I think it is a combination of a psychological factors and a very specific chemical reaction. The idea of wanting to quit smoking for obvious health reasons, but still adoring the feeling, has a negative impact on my general self perception. Combine that with the negative influence strangely increased cortisol levels and other chemicals that screw with dopamine/serotonin  levels, Im primed to experience serious depression and anxiety that I attribute to smoking in general. Quitting smoking solves the sudden onset of depression, but so does switching to vapor that only gives me a nicotine fix.  So I (personally) have concluded that some other chemical from smoking cigarettes is the culprit. So my suggestion is to try switching to vapor if youre having trouble quitting. Also, I hope this helps other readers that are trying to figure out why they experience the same thing!  

[rlc66]

I have the same experience!!! I was severely depressed and experienced high levels of anxiety (including panic attacks). This went on for almost 3 years.

Over christmas I decided that I would quit smoking just to see what happened. All of a sudden my depression vanished!

I tried smoking a couple more times and all of a sudden my symptoms would come back... Confusion, anxiety, self-doubt, depression, etc. Then they would disappear after an hour or two.

I'm am 100% positive nicotine is the cause. I do believe, however, that I am more sensitive than most. I also had to quit drinking as it was also causing depression and anxiety.

I knew smoking was bad for my health, but I wasn't aware of the extent of it.

I really wish there was more research on the link between depression/anxiety and nicotine. This would have saved me a lot of time and suffering.

[Silvarious]

I get very anxious after 6 cigarettes my mouth and nose gets dry and my arms and legs get jittery. After smoking ten I feel like my mouth is the Sahara dessert and I'm shakey and feel nautilus and like I'm going to black out. Yes some friends of mine can smoke a pack a day and feel right as rain. I tried quitting once and was fine for 3 days then had panic attacks from the time I woke up till the time I went to bed for 11 days straight. It felt like I was choking and couldn't breathe. That was last year.. Now I'm scared to quit. I never felt anxious in my life till I started smoking. Mebe it's low nicotine tolerance?? Any ideas???

[Freezingcold]

I'm glad to see that Im not the only one who gets that particular reaction. It can be anywhere from  mild mental discomfort to a full blown, panic attack. The worst is when it happens too you in a situation where you need to keep interacting with people (while silently freaking out inside) It makes sense that people who don't have the same psycho-chemical reaction tend to make a more superficial diagnosis (I feel bad because I'm trying to quit and I just smoked again, etc...) because the anxiety-depression reaction can be so powerful that the average person would need to feel it before truly understanding. That aside, my own reaction can sometimes include a greatly increased heart rate, and full blown thoughts of terror, personal unsafety, as well as a frightening bombardment of disturbing thoughts about my personal life. I have stopped for now, but the hypersensitivity to nicotine is still interesting to me, and I would like to know what exactly is happening. Seems like there is a strong cortisol relation.
A few puffs of a smoke an I feel like I'm gong to be attacked.

[Kaspersch]

I get the exact same reaction when i smoke cigarettes or vape. It has to be something with nicotine. Funny thing is, when it gets late at night i can smoke all i want to without feeling sick/depressed/anxious. But the feeling comes from PHYSICALLY smoking. I have known disease s like Chron syndrome and i suffer from Borderline aswell. I've always felt this when smoking, even when i was teen and didnt have any, known of, diseases