Does vaping help with anxiety and panic?

[Coolguforeal]

Some background:
So recently (in the past few months) I have been dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. It started off as a minor inconvenience with just some general anxiety that would come and go, and peaked about a month ago when I was experiencing full blown panic attacks. I saw a doctor who prescribed me xanax, (very low dose, about .25 mg per pill) to take in the case of an oncoming panic attack. Things got a lot better about 2 weeks ago, and it was probably a combination of things including exercise and keeping busy.

Well a few days ago (Friday to be exact) I decided to give up vaping. A part of my vape broke and it was either replace it or quit, so I decided to give it a shot. I was vaping 3mg juice (maybe about 3-7 ml a day? It really varied), and had been vaping for about 2 years. I smoked analogs before that, but I was never really a heavy smoker, probably about a pack a week for 1 year and a half.

Well this Saturday night, (2 full days of no vaping) I abruptly woke up after about an hour of sleeping feeling very strange. I walked into my kitchen, and had no idea why I did so. I was very confused and had a very strong overwhelming uncomfortable feeling, like I wanted to rip out of my own skin. I came to realize that I was having a panic attack, and quickly took about 0.5mg of xanax, sat down and did some deep breathing. The attack subsided but I still felt super anxious and nauseous. I could not fall asleep for the rest of the night, and even when I would finally doze off I would wake up 5 min later and have to get up and walk around (because I felt panicky again). I have not felt right since, and was wondering if my lack of vaping could be contributing to this anxiety. I will be seeing a therapist tomorrow, but I wanted some opinions from vapers on here. I know what in the long run cigarettes are actually bad for anxiety, and just figured it was the same for vaping. But I am wondering if maybe vaping again could help (especially since I generally vaped at such a low nic dose)...

 

[LiquidElectron]

From my experience last year:

My anxiety turned awful when I quit the stinkies.
My anxiety turned awful when I was vaping too much.
My anxiety was just fine when I took it easy on the nic.

Of course, that's just my experience. We're all different.

 

[Katmar]

My experience...cigarettes helped my anxiety. Vaping, not so much. I believe this is because of the MAOIs in ciggies that can keep a person calmer.

As LiquidElectron said, we are all different...

 

[Coolguforeal]

I appreciate the replies. It is hard to tell if the lack of vaping is contributing to my anxiety and panic attacks. Only because I still had it while vaping, but it seems like although things were getting better quitting vaping may have reset my progress. It's day 5 of no vape so I guess I'll give it a little longer and see how things go.

 

[LiquidElectron]

Probably, I mean, if you look at nicotine withdrawal on any site (which I wouldn't, because you'll just scare yourself), anxiety increase is almost always on there. Which really bums me out personally, because I have an anxiety/panic disorder anyway.

I know last year before I mucked up and went back to smoking (which I will hopefully be back to only vaping this week), whenever I lowered my nic, that anxiety rocketed. Also, when I lowered my nic and chain-vaped because of cravings...anxiety rocketing.

This time I hope to have the brain power to 1) start at a lower nic level and 2) take it easy on the chain vaping and 3) eventually get to 0, just so I don't have to worry about things so much. Which is just natural for me to do.

Look at me ramble, sorry. Hope you improve quickly!

 

[Kitty-Nin]

Controlling my anxiety is one of the reasons that I use Nicotine.

 

[Nimaz]

Nicotine withdrawals may be a part responsible of your symptoms as mentioned above, including sleeplessness. The causes of anxiety can be complex but if your experience is mediated by nicotine, they should subside. Alcohol or benzodiazepines withdrawals (i.e. xanax) can promote anxiety attacks as a physiological response to the absence of such a substance after the body get used to them. Xanax will certainly help you, but it's a very addictive drug and painful to quit. Catch 22... there is no magic way to heal anxiety so I truly hope that you find your way to get better. I guess vaping maybe relaxing to me since I enjoy doing it, but exercising, reading, eating well balanced meals and living the moment keep me away from anxiety.

 

[AndriaD]

Nicotine has an organizing effect on neurotransmitters. An imbalance or other chemical disturbance in the neurotransmitters is the *cause* of anxiety disorders, so it's completely logical and understandable that suddenly doing without any nicotine would have a negative effect on the neurotransmitters. Kudos on not resorting to cigarettes, but really, I have no earthly idea why a person with an anxiety disorder thought going cold turkey from nicotine, even that low a level, was a good idea.

As Nimaz pointed out, most of the drugs that doctors prescribe for anxiety are far more dangerous and FAR more expensive than nicotine, so returning to vaping may be the best idea. Nicotine is NOT evil, or a bad guy, or carcinogenic, or any of the other BS that the ANTZ have fed us for years. It's a useful drug for a wide variety of issues, anxiety being only one of them.

Andria

 

[subwayaznm]

I can concur with all of the above statements. I went from 24mg Nic when I first started vaping three years ago and went all the way down to 0 nic and quickly went back to Cigs. Put down the Cigs and went back to 12mg nic and now down to 6mg nic and think I'll stay there and feel comfortable there as well. Any less and yes anxiety will probably win and can't have that. Some is better than none and definitely better than the old Cigs. As stated above Congrats for not going back to those nasty things. Best wishes your journey

 

[David Hannes]

I had panic attacks fifteen years ago for nearly 3 years. I did a cognitive behavioral therapy and did also some different medications. Now, 10 years later, I still have some smaller panic attacks which are triggered by nicotine, caffeine, alcohol or before I am getting sick (flue or cold). These things can stress your autonomic nervous systems, as they are toxins which cause a stress reaction in the body. The hardest thing for me was to deal with the anxiety of another panic attack. In this time I was hypervigilant checking on my body constantly, which lead to another stress and made me more vulnerable to those triggers. What really helped in the longterm was to talk with people about my anxiety and panic attacks, avoiding the triggersand do a lot of endurance sports like biking and swimming. I also ate healthier food and tried to become creative (making music, writing poems about my fear, etc.) or just stick to things which supported and empowered me (even not to be to harsh with myself and accept my situation and handicap). Now I can drink alcohol and coffee again and I even vape juice with nicotin sometimes. But the reaction in the body (higher heartrate, sweating hands, heavier breathing) still has a lot in common with a panic attack. Surely certain behaviours can also put your stress level down and relax. But when it comes to cigarettes and nicotine, the opposite is happening in your body. So my advice would probably be to quit vaping nicotine for a while. Seeking for a therapist is also a good way to go! I have met a lot of people with panic attacks through my own background and even now as a social worker. They all got better! Best wishes from me!