Quitting smoking helped my mental health more than venlafaxine.

Hi,  I’m just writing this as I might be able to help someone.  

If you smoke and you suffer with mental health problems you need to quit ASAP .  I have suffered from GAD for as long as I can remember and since I have quit smoking I have gone down from 225mg of venlafaxine to 75mg and I’m feeling better after every decrease once my brain chemicals level out, soon I will be medication free after spending thousands of pounds on psychiatrists and counselling.  My mother who also smoked has done the same and has had the same results after suffering for years also.

Now some of your might say this is obvious but as you know when you are in the bubble it’s hard to see out of it, so that’s why I posting this. 

There is a reason why they are banning cigarrettes as they affect your brain/mood massively in a negative way due to nicotine which we all know is a drug.  If you do any research on smoking you will see that the facts are that nicotine is a stimulant, Meaning that every time you smoke a cigarette or vape your heart rate increases amongst other negative things and this will make you anxious.  It’s the equivalent of drinking a cup of espresso or having a can of red bull.  You have 20 cigarettes a day this is like having 20 espressos a day and guess what... your thoughts will race etc....

Now if you are like I was, where I thought smoking was a crutch that I needed as it helps me relax please read the next part carefully.  

This is all over the internet to read from reliable scources so please don’t just take my word for it.  The human brain can be quite stupid at times and it’s most stupid when it comes to habits.  Every time you have a cigarette or nicotine your brain thinks  it’s having a treat, Now your brain likes treats and your brain will figure out a way of getting more of these treats more often.  Your brain will recognise that when you get anxious/despressed you will smoke therefore your brain will start to become more anxious/depressed more often in order to have these treats.  Now you might think nicotine is helping you relax and it might feel like it is for one minute whilst your having a treat (cigarettte) but once you finish the cycle starts all over again and the brain wants another treat ASAP and will start to make you feel anxious and depressed in order to get another one.  So stop. 

If you read about quitting smoking and mental health you will see that it states everywhere quitting smoking is better than any anti depressant for  mental well being .  So if you are smoking and suffer, I would suggest you quit and you will see a benefit once the cravings stop.  I know It’s very hard to quit and I done it cold turkey after 15 years of smoking but I done it this way as I saw what it was doing to me and thought I have to get better.  Using the patches or gum unfortunately still stimulated me negatively so I had to quit cold turkey but now I’m a different person. 

If you need any other advice please do not hesitate to contact me.  I hope this helps someone. 

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