I smoke. I smoke a lot. After having a seizure, a cigarette helps me make the panic disappear, start talking again, get out of that dark place. It’s not that tobacco does that, it’s just my way to relax.
Once my doctor – who is a little weird but has gained my trust – asked if I smoked. I replied yes reluctantly, expecting a boring doctor speech about the risks. Actually, he just said “that’s OK” and told me that neuros are the only doctors who don’t force people to quit. I am not sure if he was implying that relieving stress helps to control seizures or that nicotine withdrawal may be hard when dealing with them. Maybe he is a smoker himself or was just being funny. But he did say smoking is not affecting my epilepsy.
This is my experience, perhaps for others it can be a trigger. I don’t want to idealize smoking. I admire people who choose to quit and try to be supportive. I just don’t like being told I have to stop because I “have an illness”. That is inaccurate.
If you've only smoked for a little while, maybe a year or two but I don't know what you consider your 'little while', then it's easier to quit. If you've smoked for probably 10 years or more it's a good bit harder.
I's just part my daily routine too. I get up and have a cigarette, after I eat I have one, before I take a nap I have one, before I go to bed I have one. I don't even realize I'm doing it, it's just normal. There are other times during the day that I have one too but those are the main times.
If I get really stressed I need one. It helps me calm down, a lot.
The worst cigarette to give up was the one after sex
Cigarettes calm the neurons in the brain,
That and the one after dinner, or with a drink, or after a seizure *sigh*
Please don't preach about smoking because this isn't what I'm asking. Don't talk about all of the bad things that smoking causes or does, unless it deals with epilepsy.
What about e-cigs?
Please state in your post that it is e-cigs that you are referring to and not something that contains actual tobacco.
I tried the flavored (menthol), an American tobacco and ordinary cig.
George__
That is the odd thing I find that they help my seizures. If I do not smoke the seizures are 100 times worse.