Posted by LOOPS on June 27, 2007, at 9:24:48
In reply to Re: What have cigarettes been doing to my brain?, posted by linkadge on June 25, 2007, at 8:23:28
Hi nolagirl -
congrats on the quitting!!!
I have been chewing nicorette and a lot of it for years, as well as smoking very thin roll ups in between! I have suffered from depression and specifically it seems from low dopamine AND serotonin for about the same length of time. In the end I 'controlled' this by taking lots of vitamins and minerals. I think I also developed excessively high epinephrine levels as I became quite anxious in normal situations, and if I think right back I was never like this before getting hooked on nicotine.
Nicotine is a stimulant and I was taking a lot of it a day. I would guess that any excessive consumption of stimulants will produce a burn out effect, and probably lower levels of nutrients needed to maintain a calm, healthy nervous system. JMO.
Recently I started taking that Chantix stuff (derived from citisine) after many failed attempts (I couldn't even get past 5 hours without totally flipping out). I am very pleased with the results so far, although it is still early to tell if I will be successful. I am not smoking today or chewing nicorette, and I am going through a physical withdrawal, but mentally it is doable with this drug.
I don't mean to hijack your thread btw! For anyone that is interested, being the anxious type prone to insomnia I was worried about this being exacerbated but it wasn't at all. I just dream loads.
Anyway good for you for doing it cold turkey (I assume?) - you must be very proud of yourself.
I would second the st johns wort for tobacco withdrawal-induced depression if you ever find you have a problem with that (I gather tobacco is an MAOI inhibitor, and so it SJW it seems).
Take care
Loops
poster:LOOPS
thread:765537
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20070601/msgs/766161.html