Smoking.

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

Janus

Veteran
Messages
1,044
Reaction score
28
Points
173
I had smoked for 20 years and quit when my son was born. I did not smoke for 9.5 years and found no difference with seizures or depression or sex drive. Then a bit after my divorce i started smoking again, did that for a year and quit again; went 9 months and a couple weeks ago started again. Has anyone heard anything about tobacco use and seizure activity?
 
Nicotine is both a stimulant and a soother for the the brain (one reason why it is so addictive). At low doses (as you would get from short quick puffs), it can significantly increase the actions of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain, acting like a psychostimulant. At higher doses (as from long slow puffs), nicotine enhances the effect of serotonin and opiate activity, resulting in a calming, pain-killing effect. So depending on your triggers/sensitivities it might or might not be a seizure trigger.

Because nicotine is so addictive, quitting smoking can also place a stress on the nervous system, and trigger seizures that way. In addition some of the medications used to help folks with quitting smoking (such as Chantix) can trigger seizures as a side effect.
 
I quit smoking and didn't seem to feel as apt to have a seizure. I never though it made a difference in the past, maybe it doesn't. Either way it feels good to stop.

I quit before for about 9 months, during that time I wasn't dealing with any seizures. I just felt really tense and the typical stuff you would expect from quitting.

Months ago I quit smoking and I felt terrible for a week. My mind felt shot, felt like I was having a bad spell of auras. That went away, and I don't recall having any seizure.

Maybe it's just a state of mind, but I felt better not smoking. Seems to be a pretty good choice any way you look at it.
 
Has anyone heard anything about tobacco use and seizure activity?

As Nakamova said, smoking may or may not be a seizure trigger. It all depends on what type of E and what triggers the seizures in the first place. However, smoking with epilepsy can be dangerous.

Consider this:
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/safety_smoking
Unlike many other activities, smoking presents risks not only for the person with epilepsy, but also for others, who can be severely injured or killed. Therefore, any person with epilepsy who has episodes of impaired consciousness should stop smoking. There are a variety of programs and methods (acupuncture, for instance) that can help a smoker to stop smoking. The use of nicotine patches to help break the smoking habit is safe for people with epilepsy. The use of Zyban (buproprion) tablets as an aid to stop smoking can increase the seizure frequency or intensity, but at the usual dosage of 300 milligrams per day, the risk of worsening the seizures is small. If the seizures are well controlled and the blood levels of antiepileptic drugs are adequate, the benefits of Zyban are likely to outweigh the risks. For those who find it impossible or unacceptable to stop smoking, the risk of a dangerous fire can be substantially reduced by smoking only when another adult is nearby. Of course, all places where people smoke should be equipped with working smoke detectors.
 
I've chosen my day to stop smoking to be the first of october. Partly because there's "Stoptober" going on (an NHS stop smoking thing), partly because i'm worried about setting a fire if i have a seizure but mostly for financial reasons. My habit is costing me a ridiculous amount each month and with me not having a job anymore i won't be able to afford it.

Going to see about getting some gum this week. Must admit i'm very nervous about it. I don't think smoking has ever affected my seizures but i don't know what effect stopping will have.
 
i wanted to try chantix,i desperate give it up i just weak willed..i feel like you do about it loopy.most chemist do free replacement,i got the inhalatores patches and lozenges,they no let me have chantix...i think the misery of the addiction not helping me with seziours
 
I was thinking of going for gum and the spray that goes up your nose or in your mouth, i'm a pretty heavy smoker but i can't have patches (i have a phobia of things sticking to me)

I think i'll just have to take it one day at a time. Do you need to get a prescription from the docs to get the free NRT?
 
Out of curiosity, I have one question for all smokers. Why did you start smoking in the first place?
 
Out of curiosity, I have one question for all smokers. Why did you start smoking in the first place?

Can't remember, i was 13. Plus i think it was way more acceptable then (13 years ago). It's like "hunt down the smoker" now though.
 
Can't remember, i was 13. Plus i think it was way more acceptable then (13 years ago). It's like "hunt down the smoker" now though.

:ponder: 13 years old?! Wow.... I do hope you stop soon. As you know, it does have disastrous results if you keep it up for years.
 
in my case i was at a disco back in late 60's early 70's..my friends were dancing with some lads i was standing on my own and thought i looked pathetic so i bought pac of ciggs and stood there smoking i thought i looked cool and deliberately standing on my own rather than nobody asking me to dance..biggest most stupid thing i ever did
 
in my case i was at a disco back in late 60's early 70's..my friends were dancing with some lads i was standing on my own and thought i looked pathetic so i bought pac of ciggs and stood there smoking i thought i looked cool and deliberately standing on my own rather than nobody asking me to dance..biggest most stupid thing i ever did

At least you realize today that it was the biggest, stupidest thing you ever did!
Back in the 60's and 70's, a lot of us made stupid mistakes.......:ponder: (I'm not telling mine) ;)
 
:ponder: 13 years old?! Wow.... I do hope you stop soon. As you know, it does have disastrous results if you keep it up for years.

I think the first time i bought them i was 11, only because i was the only one who could pass for 16 at the time. Took a couple of years for me to see what all the fuss was about, i got addicted pretty easily.

One of the reasons i've always refused to try any other drug.

The problem is that every smoker knows the risks. Seeing a stop smoking advert on tv actually makes me want one.

But yeah i hope i can quit too, it's definitely time to. It might not be for health reasons that i'm actually quitting, but seeing my bank balance increasing should definitely help. Maybe after the first few weeks i won't even want one anymore!
 
"Waiting To Exhale"

Out of curiosity, I have one question for all smokers. Why did you start smoking in the first place?

I started at 17 quit at 36 for 5 years. Started again at 41 had an aneurysm at 47 and quit again for 6 months. Started having strang "crap" happen to me (seizures? anxiety?) and felt isolated, alone, confused, bewildered, alien-a-nated, weird, strange, different, unheard, ignored, crazy, and finally abandoned. I started smoking again 7 months after my aneurysmal clipping. I had no where or no one to turn to but me. I needed comfort and peace. I needed to "Exhale". So, now its been a little over a year since I've started smoking. Only a few people and my dr's know that I have started smoking again and because I'm a closet smoker, I dont smoke very much (I know I shouldn't smoke at all).
I find peace,tranquility, like having a best friend when the stuff hits the fan and ya need to talk, like needing medicine, but they don't know what to prescribe, it levels me sometimes when I smoke. I enjoy it and it relaxes me (rules out anxiety). If I start feeling weird (the stuff I thinks is seizure activity) I wont light up.
I live on an emotional rollercoaster. I quit smoking every week (so I tell myself) until something happens again that sends me into a whirl-wind. No excuse, I shouldn't, but I do. I've decided that I don't care what others think of me, it clear what they dont think and Im by myself. I decided I must live and love me, because cleary no one else will (unless I'm living up to their expectations). Im not on a suicide mission, I just wanna live and be happy. I guess the word happy changes the word "live" to "Life".
Glad, I got that off my chest! I needed that : ) Thanks for bringing it up.
 
lol..

At least you realize today that it was the biggest, stupidest thing you ever did!
Back in the 60's and 70's, a lot of us made stupid mistakes.......:ponder: (I'm not telling mine) ;)

Oh come on (lol)....do tell? : )
 
"A Cry 4 Help"

Oh, by the way. When I first met with a psychiatrist regarding issues of anxiety vs seizures, I was asked to filled out a questionaire regarding habbits and addictions.
It asked if I used or abused: Alchohol, Drugs, Food or Nicotine. Well, of course I admitted that I smoked.

It also asked, would you like to receive help to quit your abuse.
Again I admitted: YES!

(Inhaling) Well, it's been 2 1/2 months.
and Im Still waiting!!! (Exhaling).
 
I was a 2pk a day smoker til I got pregnant with my first son. This may help those of u who want to quit, not the preg thing (lol) but the method I used.

I allowed myself 5 cigs a day. I could smoke them however I wanted. So I'd light one, have a few puffs then put it away for later. They taste so nasty after being lit a few times! Less then a week later I think I went down to 3 a day. Smoked, relit a few times later... Did that for a few days then it was 1 cig a day. I was pretty much weaned by then, I smelled terrible, the taste in my mouth was horrible and at that point I happily gave them up. Good thing I did, not just for my unborn baby, but because there's no way I'd be able to afford it. They were $2.50 a pack back then. :p

It might just work for y'all.

Good luck. After you're smoke free for a while you'll feel so much better and will never regret stopping.
 
I think the first time i bought them i was 11, only because i was the only one who could pass for 16 at the time. Took a couple of years for me to see what all the fuss was about, i got addicted pretty easily.

One of the reasons i've always refused to try any other drug.

The problem is that every smoker knows the risks. Seeing a stop smoking advert on tv actually makes me want one.

But yeah i hope i can quit too, it's definitely time to. It might not be for health reasons that i'm actually quitting, but seeing my bank balance increasing should definitely help. Maybe after the first few weeks i won't even want one anymore!

i dont use patch now i became allergic i use lozenge and inhalators..i tried e-cig but taste like carmel
 
Out of curiosity, I have one question for all smokers. Why did you start smoking in the first place?

I started smoking because I was 15 and stupid. Not saying all 15 year old are stupid, but I was. Peer pressure, I had a friend who I thought was really cool. He smoked so I started, so we would have more in common. The classic, "Everyone is doing it, why not try it."
 
one day they may say big fat cream cake washed down with pint and ciggi to follow is good for you but alas i live in dream world......i trying to give up for health but i think the train left on that one but as you say the expense it crrippling
 
Back
Top Bottom