Depressed

[MrsAngelD]

I've had all of 1 and half cigs today. My e cig has 24mg nic, yet I find myself feeling depressed, not sure what this is about, but I can't get into any of my normal hobbies, and I feel tired but I can't sleep.

Is this normal? Any tips?

Thanks,
Angel

 

[MrsAngelD]

 

[D4rk50ul]

Sometimes you can't link everything to your smoking/vaping habits. Perhaps something else is causing you to be depressed.

 

[Reyth]

I just checked the manual and being depressed is linked to your CAFFEINE habits.

On a serious note though, not being able to sleep will definitely affect your mood. Your feelings are much more unreliable if you haven't had enough sleep.

Sleep will do wonders for a person's mood and vice-versa.

 

[MrsAngelD]

Well I cut caffeine out last month (mine was a habit of mountain dew coffee is gross to me). So I don't reckon it's that any more. I don't I guess I"m just trying to figure out what's going on and looking for a bit of support...thanks for posting guys.

 

[Voxvolari]

I'm new to quitting(this Fri is my 1 week mark) and vaping as well, but from what I have read and am experiencing myself I think it falls within normal range barring any other more obvious explanation. I believe I saw it on the Health, Safety & Esmoking forum or simply stumbled across it in here but you're not only eliminating the tars but chemicals that act as MAOI inhibitors. I did a quick search on MAOI in the forums and this post is an excellent summary of the issue i think:

Basically, it goes like this.

Nicotine increases dopamine.

And MAOI's prevent dopamine from being re-absorbed at its normal rate.

So, put the two together and you get a CRAPLOAD of dopamine floating around your brain. Remove one or the other, and you still have more dopamine than your average Joe, but not as much as you did when you put the two together.

A lot of people have a hard time dealing with the drop in dopamine that happens when you remove MAOI's from the equation, and normal re-absorption resumes. The nicotine is still giving you extra dopamine - but it's definitely an over-all decrease.

And still other people have a strong habitual addiction. The habitual aspect of cigarettes, for people whose personalities are built this way, can be as compulsive as hair-pulling, nail biting, or skin picking.

As far as how this may affect you, no way to tell.

Personally, like most people here, I had tried everything short of Chantix (which scares the hell out of me) to quit, and every attempt was a miserable failure.

But I didn't experience any serious withdrawal when switching to e-cigs. I did have cravings, but they were incredibly mild compared to what I had with every other quitting method.

For me, the combination of getting nicotine and sating my habitual addiction was more than adequate for me to let the MAOI's in cigarettes go. I vape 18mg to 12mg,

Other people struggle more with it. Some take several weeks, or even months, to taper completely off cigarettes. Some find they need to use a very high nic strength to make up for lost MAOI's. Some use Swedish snus with e-cigs to get the MAOI's without cigarettes.

So, everyone's different. Some people are more addicted to nicotine than MAOI's, some are more addicted to MAOI's than nicotine, and some are very addicted to both. And some are addicted to the habitual/compulsive habit of smoking.

For me, I am more addicted to nicotine than MAOI's, and I am also very addicted to the compulsive habit of smoking.

YMMV.

I've noticed in myself a sort of disconnected calm with a sense of paradoxical mental restlessness, if that makes any sense...thus my own problem of it being stupid o'clock and trying to help others here instead of sleeping like I should be right now, so I feel your pain on this one.

Hope this helps my fellow Washingtonian

 

[MrsAngelD]

Hope this helps my fellow Washingtonian

Thanks Vox, it would indeed make sense then. I suppose I'll just lay in bed and try to fall asleep though the thought of tossing and turning doesn't sound fun...lol. I'm sure this too will pass.

 

[Sierra]

I have a problem with sleeping well vaping. I've found if I switch to a 8mg like 2-3 hours before I go to bed I can sleep. I don't know if this will help you but for some reason unknown to me my 24mg can keep me up all night. My mom recently got an ecig and it doesn't keep her up at all but then her friend tried her ecig and couldn't sleep all night. I think it just affect people differently. You should try out a lower mg before you go to bed and hopefully that will help you get some sleep too! (and if all else fails I drink a drank and it knocks me right out.) Drank Beverage | Slow Your Roll! its like the opposite on a energy drink lol. Hope this helps you out ^.~

<3 Sierra

 

[whiskey]

I go through this from time to time...but I come here & I laugh &post with others & it goes away quick..LOL...I try to not slide into that type of thing, everyone here helps!!!

 

[kj4lxw]

You ever need to vent or just talk we're all here for you.

 

[Sierra]

You ever need to vent or just talk we're all here for you.

I second that Kj! I love talking so you feel like you need someone to talk to...talk to us!

 

[evenflow]

Hi Angel
Im new to this forum and vaping and feel a bit all over the place sleepwise. and felt a bit down for a few days.
Maybe our bodies are so used to the chemicals in cigarettes it takes a time to rid ourselves of them. After all we dont really know how much poison are in analogs.....just so very glad to be off them.


Hope this helps to know you're not alone in this problem.
Its a great place here i feel and just post if you're feeling blue and someone will reply.
Good luck and well done x

 

[jj2]

It probably has more to do with the other 3,996 things that you are not getting from the cigarette---otherwise, withdrawal.

Boy I hate that word.

Just hang in there. You are welcome to join us in the social group Wellness: Wrecked & Bonkers.

 

[HeatherC]

hmmm interesting I know MAOIs also affect the reuptake of serotonin... and serotonin reuptake inhibitors are what is used to help depression (prozac is an SSRI) the missing MAOI's are very likely the culprit... (although... me having been on an SSRI for many years and not realizing that I was accidently mixing it with an MAOI which is actually contraindicated.. I'm actually a little better No more mild symptoms of serotonin syndrome)
I did learn that there are MAOIs present in the Celestial Seasonings Tea known as Morning Thunder and my doc has said that I can drink it without worry as long as I only drink a couple cups a day ( no more full pot for me )

 

[HeatherC]

I have a problem with sleeping well vaping. I've found if I switch to a 8mg like 2-3 hours before I go to bed I can sleep. I don't know if this will help you but for some reason unknown to me my 24mg can keep me up all night. My mom recently got an ecig and it doesn't keep her up at all but then her friend tried her ecig and couldn't sleep all night. I think it just affect people differently. You should try out a lower mg before you go to bed and hopefully that will help you get some sleep too! (and if all else fails I drink a drank and it knocks me right out.) Drank Beverage | Slow Your Roll! its like the opposite on a energy drink lol. Hope this helps you out ^.~

<3 Sierra

Nicotine is a stimulant just as caffeine is

 

[jj2]

Melatonin is wonderful thing.

 

[maclean]

I'm pretty sure it's just a side-effect of the drastic change in life style. Quitting cigs is pretty major. I've noticed a few weird things, like feeling hungry not long after I've eaten.

One thing everyone advises is to drink plenty water or other fluids, so you might want to make sure you are.

I think quitting is so dramatic that it's easy to forget the other daily bodily needs, because you get caught up in the novelty of vaping. I'd say try to act as normal as possible and don't obsess too much over the changes. It'll take a while to get completely back to normal.

mac

 

[tarazarr]

I'm having good days and bad days getting oof the regular smokes.. Some days are harder than others and I find myself depressed and irritable, somedays it's magnified. What I've found that helps me through this is I smoke my fruit flavors most days and when I start getting really irritable I pull out the tobacco flavored juices. It's a mental trick.. just like when I was a regular smoker and would get really irritated until I had a smoke. This way I'm tricking the brain into thinking I'm having a regular cigarette when I taste the tobacco flavors....
Nicotine is one of the hardest drugs to get off of.. and the habit of smoking has become so much a part of our lives...Ecigs come very close to mimicking the smoking experience, but it's not completely the same.... So I don't expect this to be a walk in the park, coming up with your own strategies to combat the effects that getting away from regular cigarettes is going to be taking it's toll on you personally is key... Try to develope a few that will help when your feeling down might help...

I've heard many stories of hard drug addicts coming out of rehab off the hard stuff, but couldn't get away from smoking...

Hang tough.. as most of us know, there are no magic bullets, the e-cig, hands down has been the easiest method by far for me, but it's still going to be a rough ride....

 

[tresrottn]

Depression is normal, I am thinking. Remember, your body is detoxing all the poisonous krap out of your system, it's working overtime now that you have given it the chance. Quitting smoking, the same thing happens.
Those MAOI inhibitors too, remember that....I felt like poo too for a bit. But it passed. It surely indeed passed.
Try helping your body out, drinking lots of extra fluids, I use the crystal light ( I use the energy ones for a little extra caffeine) I pee a lot but I feel tons better. Try and work in 15 minutes of (groan) walking....get your blood moving, help your body get the poison out.

Give it some time, you will make it through...spend a lot of time here, oh, and read the thread about the "things you don't miss about smoking"....or whatever it's called...it's a hoot, and it feels great to read. It's on this forum here.

Read all the posts that are nothing but positive, I have yet to read one that says "this doesn't work", or "this is horrible".

Read the inspirational ones...the folks that smoked for 20,30,40 years, two packs a day, and when they began vaping, never picked up another ciggie...those totally rule.

Read the ones (like this one) that tells you it's perfectly ok to feel what you are feeling, and there is no judgement, no ridicule, in fact, I would say we are encouraged to post our feelings! get those things outta your system!

Again, there is nothing out of the ordinary at this point. IF you feel like it's getting out of control, make an appointment with your doctor. Take your supplies and discuss it with him. Make sure you have the information he will need to help you make an informed decision. You have done the important thing, you have made a decision for your health and for your future. You have done a great thing for yourself...post that on your bathroom mirror and read it every time to go in there. You can do it.

 

[tarazarr]

one more thing.... make yourself a banner....it helps me to reinforce the monumental decision to quit cigarettes... and sometimes it's truly the only thing that prevents me from grabbing a cigarette and saying...."I'll just have one"