Quit Smoking and HIGH anxiety

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I quit smoking over 10 months ago. I used Chantix and it helped A LOT!! !! !! I haven't looked back...until recently. I have noticed that my depression and anxiety levels are VERY high. I have tried zoloft, but I cant remember to take my meds everyday. I have a bad memory problem. I prefer meds that I take as needed, like xanax, but doc wont prescribe them to replace an anti-depressant. I used to have bad depression and anxiety many years ago, before I smoked. I think while I was smoking I was self-medicating. I have no desire to return to smoking, except for the depression and anxiety. I dont have any desire to leave the house. I cant handle a grocery store without someone with me. My paranoia is worse too. I have gained weight because of quitting and not being as active. I am seriously considering starting again but my husband would probably start up again too. I would feel so guilty if he did, plus I really cant afford to smoke again. I am just at a loss of what to do. Has anyone ever quit smoking and got depression and/or anxiety that got worse or started??????

You really have to commit to taking the antidepressants, Xanax is a very addictive mask to the problem, if you cant remember to take the meds, ask for long term, once a day, and get a routine or pill reminder.

Dont START AGAIN

I think I self-medicate with nicotine too. I stopped smoking almost a year ago, but I'm still hooked on nicotine. I use this http://www.vapage.com/Vapage_V_MOD_XL_p/vpk-0245xl.htm#

Yeah. You were probably self-medicating. You don't want to switch to Xanax; that's addictive too and then you'll be right back at square one.

There have to be options for people who forget to take antidepressants. Patches, maybe? Some kind of timed-release capsule? Ask your doctor about it. A simple solution is to have someone else remind you, but that obviously requires another person who's organized enough and willing to juggle your pills for you. Are you living alone, or do you live with family? If you live with family, can you recruit them?

Hope you figure something out. I wouldn't wish anxiety or addiction on anyone.

Let me tell you guys a short story...

I started smoking when I was 12, that was 28 years ago. A few weeks ago I was at walgreens (a pharmacy chain) and just happened to look at a disposable electronic cigarette that was hanging on a display behind the clerk. I was curious and bought one for $10. I liked it enough to buy a rechargeable kit from their website for $89. When I got it there were manufacturing flaws that were so ridiculous they were laughable, but I made a few modifications and got it working fine. The cartridges that come with it had pretty major flaws and there was no way to fix those, but most of them worked and I liked the how the product worked in so far that it resembled smoking extremely well. The day that kit arrived I stopped smoking cigarettes 'cold turkey' and haven't craved tobacco at all.

Now the problem was that sh***y kit I ordered. I kept using it, I really enjoyed it but the problems were annoying. So I started doing research as only an aspie can do research, you guys know what I mean I think I crammed a years worth of knowledge into less than a week I ended up deciding on a different company with a better personal vaporizer (electronic cigarette) kit. Not only was it miles above the 1st one I got, it was $35 with postage. The 1st kit had a 30 day money back guarantee so I sent it back for a refund. So now I have an amazing kit and I put the ~$60 difference back in my pocket.

Let me explain how this thing works, it's ridiculously simple. All of the kits on the market work basically in the same way- There is a rechargeable battery and either a 2 or 3 piece cartridge system that contains the following ingredients:

Nicotine in various strengths ranging from 24mg/ml - 0 nicotine.
Flavoring based on extracts from food
Food grade vegetable glycerin

So the cartridge with the " E Liquid" has a heating coil. A switch on the battery activates the coil vaporizes the vegetable glycerin liquid into water and carbon dioxide (much less co2 than you would get from a soft drink). Instead of putting tar, carbon monoxide, arsenic, and 400 other chemicals in your lungs you are inhaling water vapor and nicotine. It's well established that nicotine by itself doesn't cause any diseases. In reasonable amounts it's just a mild stimulant. After 28 years and patches and gum I'm off tobacco!

The reason patches and gum only have a 5-10% success rate (this is well documented scientifically) is that people become as addicted to the motions of smoking as much as the nicotine. My PV replicates the motion and sensation of smoking perfectly. The clouds of water vapor you exhale look like smoke and feel similar to smoke except there is visually more water than smoke out of a cigarette and I love that. Plus the endless flavors. Plus the fact that you can get the base ingredients to mix your own flavors. Plus it costs me the equivalent of about 50 cents a pack compared to the $5 I was paying for cigarettes. Plus it does not produce smoke so I can use it anywhere. Plus it doesn't produce an odor. Plus I don't stink. Plus plus plus plus plus...

I'll be honest I don't want to quit the motions of smoking, it relaxes me when I'm anxious. I just wanted to quit putting that crap in my lungs that was slowly killing me. I'll end up tapering down the nicotine because I can control it precisely by mixing it myself (you can get prefilled cartridges also but you're going to pay more for the convenience). TBH I'm ok with the nicotine, it's all the other crap in tobacco that I was worried about. At some point I'll probably be using a 0 nicotine base but I'm going to continue using this thing. I'm confident in saying vaping added years to my life and dollars to my wallet.

The kit I bought is called a Riva 510 T XL bundle and I opted for a 900 mAh battery that lasts me all day on a charge. You can see it here http://www.liberty-flights.com/product.asp?id=55
That company has physical location in the UK and US.

I honestly don't care where you buy a PV or which PV you buy but please please please if you are a tobacco smoker at least consider trying vaping. If you do decide to use LF you can PM me, on your own initiative any time, and I can give you the 10% discount code that I used. I'd really like for you guys to be off tobacco. This is not a quit smoking thing, it's a tobacco substitute and harm reduction that actually works.

*edit* OK, I thought it was going to be a short story when I started typing

I started smoking when I was 12 too. I first started vaping with a cheap 510 clone kit that didn't impress me at all and didn't get me off cigarettes. I then tried an ego-t kit similar to to Riva 510-t, but I got %100 pg juice that I found much too harsh. I combined the kits and moved to direct dripping 50/50 pg/vg and that did get me off smoking. I got a couple variable voltage mods that I used pumpcarts and a drip on demand kit with but I ended up exclusively using a Vapage Vmod bottom feeder with Boge 510 cartomizers. I also tried the ego dual coil cartomizers which I consider very good but pricey and difficult to clean. I'm still on the 50/50 juice, specifically US made High Caliber brand juice that I get from http://www.myvaporstore.com/ I've been tobacco free since Halloween 2011. I exclusively use this now http://www.vapage.com/Vapage_V_MOD_XL_p/vpk-0245xl.htm# and a 15 percent off code is vapin15. I'm considering getting some of the newer tank style clearomizers to try out.

I have tried using the e-cigs, and vapor cigs. Neither gave me what I needed. I have tried several brands, none of which worked.

I HATE smoking. It's expensive, smelly, etc. I really don't want to go back, especially after being smoke free since October 20th! It was quite a feat.

I live with family. Hubby and daughter. Neither are really very helpful. I could try to set an alarm or a reminder on my phone.

It gets discouraging with depression meds taking weeks to get into your system, and having to find the right one is hell too. I was on Zoloft before...but I felt nothing with it. Maybe something different or a higher dose. I might need to see a Psychiatrist to help with those kinds of meds instead of the Psychologist.

Being an Aspie, with OCD and ADHD, which can be such hell sometimes, it is soooo hard to deviate from what you know and what is routine. Smoking was a big part of it and it's very difficult finding something to fill that void. Luckily no suicidal tendencies. Just debilitating depression and anxiety. Reading, gaming, movies, tv, even the internet now is just not doing it for me. It's like it wants me to fail, and the harder I fight the more it does. I am winning for the moment though

Honestly I never noticed any connection between smoking and depression, just light emotional addiction (I easily quitted with Can it be an authohypnosis? You just believe nicotine can help you to get rid of stress, meanwhile the roots of depression are deeper and don't depend on cigarettes.