Quitting smoking! does that increase seizure potential?

[Janus]

I quit before for 10 years and no new seizures but now I am super anxious! I only started again a few years ago. The last time i quit was after 25 years of smoking. I have high blood pressure and do not want to be the 40-something stroke guy. I am thin, active, vegetarian, Bike/walk everyday. No reason for the BP problem except genetics.
A second consecutive day with no tobacco! I only screamed for no reason a few times! OMG. And now visiting my love in Green Bay Wisconsin. Here till May 1st.

 

[petero]

from what I seem to recall about what some doctor at some point was telling me through a postictal blur was that no - there is not a threshold relevance - other than maybe stress - but not really
the doctor was obviously not pro-smoking
inhaling tar is not a good idea

but if you get the nicotine urge - I've tried about 3-4 e-cig types and I've found that one called "N-JOY" is pretty darn good. I've bought it from a gas station I work near. It comes in a small plastic box and is sold by the register there. E-cigs are vaporizers that vaporize nicotine.

Congratulations on quitting!
I've smoked about 20 years and have been working toward quitting myself.
How did you do it the first time?

 

[MuayThaiFighter]

Honestly I think it can have an effect on the seizure threshold but thats just my experience and opinion. I quit over a year ago and I recall feeling pretty off for the first 2 weeks. I don't think I had a seizure, but I think I had auars. Really any kind of stress on the body can be a factor to induce seizures. Quitting sure made me angry, some insomnia and I'd place that as some stress for sure.

Overall I wish you luck in quitting, it sucked but I kept my mind busy. Used gum and tons of it. Now im to the point that craving don't even hit. You can do it!

 

[Sandie]

I'm a 'quitter' too. The joy of lighting up a cigarette is nothing compared to the first time you look someone in the eye and tell them you are a non-smoker. I personally think it would only make a difference to your seizures if they are stress related. It is a hugely stressful task to give up smoking and if stress is a trigger then, as Muay suggests, it would have to be a factor. Peter, I quit cold turkey 4 months ago. This was my third attempt but my mother is dying of emphysema and this is a real wake up call. My father died of lung cancer 13yrs ago and the penny didn't drop. When I was diagnosed with the epilepsy I made a decision to start getting my life together. I gave up smoking and alcohol and I am currently trying to lose weight (Now that is the hard one!) I no longer crave the cigarettes but I do have a problem with my diet. Good luck to you both with your efforts.

 

[Janus]

Thank YOU ALL!! It is just so great to hear what others feel/have been through. I am on day 4. Sandie, Congrats! I know life changes are huge stressors and that is not (in and of itself) a seize trigger for me. Its that it can be if any other conditions are not right (ie. meds, diet, etc. I gave up drinking 17 years ago and grateful for that. My Love does not drink or smoke and is understanding of my inordinate screaming lately (thanks god). I tell her my 'alter ego' must be Dennis Hopper in the old movies like Blue Velvet. And this will pass. Its already calming quite a bit compared to yesterday/the day before.
PS. Sandie; I am so afraid of emphysema as I am super active and need to be that way for mental health, AND, of all my hundreds of pants & shirts (i am a collector) I don't have a single outfit that goes with oxygen tanks! I would have to go searching for a whole new wardrobe!! That's years of thriftstore shopping ....

 

[petero]

...Peter, I quit cold turkey 4 months ago. ...Good luck to you both with your efforts.

thanks Sandie- I am a recovering alcoholic, so I have allowed myself some liberties with smoking .. I am placing focus on definitely cutting back.
I can see what you mean about saying you no longer partake, unfortunately though now it seems smoking is the stigma, but drinking alcohol is portrayed as and quite generally perceived as an advantage (picking up girls at the bar, shooting pool, having a beer...). But drinking a 1.75mL of vodka about every night ended up definitely not being an advantage.
I think I have an addictive personality.
now I wonder if drinking helped to impel my seizures.
working on quitting
I couldn't do cold turkey - and I think nicotine is so enmeshed with my system I think "titrating(lol" off of it would be the better idea.

trivia: the term "cold turkey" comes from the tryptophan in turkey- a natural chill-pill

 

[Janus]

Petero; I relate. I am a sober alcoholic. 17 years in May (next month) woohoo! I also quit smoking before in sobriety. 12 years ago I quit cold turkey and stayed quit for 10 years. I smoked for 25 years before that. Of all the techniques i have tried (and that is hundreds) hypnosis/nicotien gum etc. I found COLD TURKEY the only way that works. AND it is much easier that everything else. As an addict we do not want to believe that. It is a mind fuck because it makes no sense at all and is counter-intuitive. But thats my experience...

 

[Sandie]

Well done Janus on quitting smoking. It is so hard to make that decision and go through with it. I sincerely wish you every success. Congrats also on being sober. People that have never had an addiction of any kind would not understand what a huge mountain you have climbed. I hope you are truly proud of yourself.
That goes for you too Peter. If you are still fighting the battle with being sober, don't beat yourself up if you can't quit smoking right now. If you can cut back that is better than nothing. It is hard enough having one addiction let alone two. I really hope you continue to walk the path of success. Good luck my friend.

 

[Fedup]

Well done on quitting but yes I think it does incress the chances of a seizure.

 

[Nakamova]

I think quitting smoking is a great idea, but doing so cold turkey can put extra stress on the system due to the withdrawal side effects. If you can go gradually that may be safer. Good luck!

 

[Sandie]

I agree with you Nakamova. I wish I could have cut down and did it that way but unfortunately I had tried twice before and the numbers just kept sneaking up again. What helped me was the fact that I live with an ex smoker and we went away for 3weeks over Christmas and stayed with non smokers. Really helped the cold turkey factor. I didn't miss it quite so much. I had actually cut down though prior to that. I know this time I won't go back to it. I don't miss them. It would be worse if I drank alcohol because the two go hand in hand but I gave that up as well. I have increased my coffee intake though but I guess it is the lesser evil. I wish both these guys every success in the world.

 

[girlwithadog]

Thank you for this thread. I was going to post the same thing, and that's why I'm back on the site. But you already posted so thank you

I've smoked for about 13 years and am at the point where my voice has been changing for the last couple years. Not good. So my husband kept saying smoking is probably not helping the epilepsy (just got diagnosed last month) and asking me to quit. So he and I agreed one week after we got back from our honeymoon we would quit together. One week is on Thursday now. So Thursday will be my last day smoking cigarettes. Big problem is that my seizures are induced by stress.

My last drop seizure was under a great deal of stress and my one and only tonic clonic was under a great deal of stress. Stress=blackouts and always have for me so now that it's been confirmed the blackouts are epilepsy I also know stress causes seizures for me. So quitting smoking is scary. Especially since I haven't started taking my medication yet. I got it perscribed a month ago but have a ton of questions I want to ask and have answers to before I commit to taking medication. Probably not the brightest idea but the thought of taking medication gives me panic attacks.

So when I quit smoking, as someone who does have stress induced seizures, I will let you know how it goes. Hopefully it wont go bad because I'm quitting smoking the day I am due to get my license back (got it suspended May 2nd last year from the drop seizure). I need to be able to drive, I wont get it back on May the 2nd, I will still wait until I'm stabalized on some form of medication, but knowing it's a possibility is nice.

Good luck on quitting smoking, you can do it! I hate to say it but as long as they aren't massive dangerous seizures and you know approximately when they will start (that is if you have an aura) I'd weigh the options. Smoke forever and have lung cancer or any other disease caused by smoking, or stop smoking and risk a few seizures in the beginning. Now that I think about it, I might wait until next week and see what my neurologist suggests, if there is anything I could do to make it safer etc. Perhaps discuss it with your doctor to see if there are ways to quit and protect from seizures?

 

[Janus]

Hi, GirlWD, I empathise . I am just like a 2 weeks free of tobacco now and no seizures. My doc said that smoking raises blood pressure and anxiety! Its just that the temporary anesthetic of tar/nicotiene makes you feel calmer but you're not. I am just done making excuses for myself to not quit and life is better. I had to accept that there is about a week of psychosis. But hey, its better after. I told my friends that quiting has enabled me to discover my 'alter ego' which, to my surprise, is Dennis Hopper in BLUE VELVET. Scary, I know. I love it. ALL art all the time.