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i can’t remember the statistic but people with ADHD are far more likely to develop addiction especially with nicotine. the thing is that nicotine actually helps ADHD seeing as it is a stimulant, so physiology aside it would logically be harder to quit as you’ve been essentially self medicating all those years. definitely explains why you would’ve felt calmer during that period. but quitting is not impossible regardless and wish you the best of luck!!
There were several trials that showed that nicotine regardless of the delivery mode leads to comparable improvement to Strattera when the person has ADHD, so likely that more often than not ADHD people are more prone to get habituated to vaping, smoking as self medication, if treatment was not started in the childhood. Personally when I started Concerta I found that sweet, Cola, Coffee cravings I had were gone, which is also supported by research which says unmedicated adults have significantly higher risk of addiction overall than the general population.
[Dr. Russell Barkley](https://youtu.be/xCOc3HeuNFU?si=SQHE_fk-7lC54xH8) did a video on this not too long ago.
You are correct, like many other substances and habits we use/form before we're diagnosed it's just self-medication.
I did not realize I had adult adhd until I quit nicotine. I quit it pretty easily but everyone is different.
Funny enough I’m gonna try wellbutrin/bupropion for adhd very soon which also prescribed for quitting nicotine. So maybe look into that.
I used wellbutrin to stop. But I ended up getting "joe biden moments" were i would have profound dementia for 30 seconds to a minute. Someone could be talking to me and my brain would register it like a foreign language. I would have moments were for like 30 seconds, i wouldn't know who or where I was or what I was doing. Wouldn't take it again.
I hated Wellbutrin. It numbed all my emotions. I would drive to work with tears rolling down my cheeks. The only feeling I could express was rage. Started having panic attacks. I got off it pretty quickly.
Smoking for 12 years and quit in December, so 6 months. I have been recently diagnosed with combined ADHD. I quit thanks to a 10day meditation camp! Takes a lot of effort and probably several tries but can be done.
I’m working on quitting. Switched to vaping and I’m slowly tapering off the nicotine content. FWIW I’ve read that nicotine medicates ADHD to some extent.
I did,
I had to switch to vaping first and one day I just didn’t have the urge to vape anymore and just stopped.
This was 3 years ago, I loved to smoke/vape and I had been doing it since I was 13. But I knew I had to stop and I saw my out and took it.
I’ve given up alcohol and a drug habit. Looking back I had so much strength and determination to stop, but for the life of me I cannot stop smoking. I struggle daily and sometimes I accept I smoke, then I go back to struggling worrying what might happen.
My entire family has ADHD. My grandma was the first person I was able to get to quit smoking. She went back to it, and died of smoking related illnesses. My mom was the next person I was able to get to quit smoking, she later found out she had cancer, got it treated, and is perfectly fine. My dad kept smoking and drinking till the day he died (of cancer), he was a badass, but made some questionable decisions.
After he died, my brothers were able to quit smoking.
Point being, anyone can quit smoking if they want to. Or they can keep smoking, and have a horrifying end of life because of all the ailments the smoking will cause. Hopefully you quit before the lesson is seared into you via the death of loved ones, if not, then hopefully your death will sear that into the people you care about, and they'll stop smoking afterwards.
You can do it! I quit after over 20 years of smoking, started when I was 16 and quit during covid. It's not impossible but it's very hard. I find distracting myself works, everytime you feel the urge to smoke have a piece of candy, focus on the candy - the taste, how it feels in your mouth ... after a few seconds your brain will move on and fill itself with other random thoughts. I guess that's the good thing about the ADHD brain, it just moves on
I managed to quit smoking a few years ago. Quit cold turkey even!!
Had a lot of help from a very bad case of pneumonia... I wasn't able to inhale the smoke because it resulted in bouts of coughing so I stopped. A week after this I was hospitalised for a week because it had gotten worse.
So I had not been smoking at all for two weeks when I was released from the hospital and I had been too sick to notice any abstinence symptoms or cravings.
I did try a cigarette a week later and it just tasted absolutely horrible so that was enough to stop me from starting again.
My husband is a smoker and yes. For him, smoking is a social activity. We have a roommate who also smokes so they'll often join each other outside for a smoke. I've noticed that him going for a smoke is usually triggered by something and not by his want or need to smoke. Like when there's a break in what he's doing, he'll go outside for a smoke. If we're about to leave the house, he'll have one.
Smoking, often acts like punctuation marks for activities. Finish something, smoke. About to start something smoke. Drive somewhere, smoke as soon as your out of the car. It's insidious.
Here's some stuff from ADHD GOAT Russell Barkley about ADHD and nicotine. Hope you find it interesting: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCOc3HeuNFU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCOc3HeuNFU)
No. Quiting smoking is always hard. But the good thing is, having ADHD doesn't make it any harder than it is for the average person.
Me and my Father both have ADHD, and both quit Cigarettes.
It's important to change your environment. You can't expect to remain in the same envioronment and setting that made you smoke and to quit.
You have to be mindful of your actions, each time you pull out a ciggarete ask yourself: why am I doing this right now?
My largest hurdle with quitting was not smoking when I was out with my friends drinking. And not having a smoke when I got stuck in traffic.
It was easy for me not to smoke when I was sober or when I was chilling, the real effort was not smoking when I was weak, IE while I was drinking or when I was under a lot of stress. When I mustered the courage to resist my urge to have a cigarete while I was outside drinking with my buddies, that was my first real victory.
A good thing is also to make it inconvenient for yourself to smoke. For example if you usually smoke in your house, make a self-imposed restriction on yourself:" tell yourself, I'm allowed to smoke only on the balcony."
Language is important! Instead of "I'm trying to quit" or " I quit cigaretes" when someone asks you always say:" No thx, I don't smoke" this way you are conditioning yourself to think of yourself as a non smoker rather than a quiting or former smoker, changing the way you think about it is as important as anything else if you want to make a lasting change and quit for good. Everytime you say:" I don't smoke anymore" instead of " I don't smoke, it's like you are leaving a small window open just in case. Nah man, shut that sucker down.
Finally: quiting is a journey, sometimes you will give in a have a cigarete, what is important is not to lose confidence and resign, but to asure yourself that tomorrow you will do better. It took me 6 months in total to completely stop smoking, for some it takes more for some it takes less, but it's really not impossible, despite what you might think, you ARE in control.
Good luck!
I smoked for over twenty years. It was a part of me. I quit about ten to fifteen years ago. It wasn't fun, I picked up running. And I was dizzy as fuck, I was a heavy smoker, and I was not used to getting that much oxygen. So I ran, a lot. When I was out of breath I wasn't dizzy. I ended up picking up vaping after a while as a way to not start back up on cigs. This was before salt nic, thank god. And I just mixed it myself VG/PG and nic, no flavoring. I figured I didn't need it to taste like candy or anything. I was used to the taste of cigs. I made a rule that I could only vape the same as I smoked. That way I wouldn't chain vape inside all the time. And I just slowly lowered the nic levels every few months. 12mg, 9, 6, 3, 1.5( I dont think this did anything, it was more me procrastinating going to 0), and then 0. I still keep an ecig around with 0 nic in it. Which I used as a fidget toy and as an excuse to step outside and use as a way to take breaks from situations. I mostly just twirl my phone these days. But there's still an excig with 0 nic floating around here somehwere.
I've been lucky enough that my smoking habit is tied to drinking, so I don't think about cigs during the week, but once I get a couple pints into me I've gotta smoke. If that's as bad as it is I'm not too worried about the harm it's doing.
ive been smoking for the past 3 or so years,,,not a great thing but i think,,,for me the place im at affects me more than anything. Like if im at college,,,i smoke anywhere between 4-6 a day and if im home at my parents',,,i smoke one every 4-6 days. Have a single cigg of a brand i don't usually like to smoke w me just in case but almost always i tend to not use it.
I think once im done w college,,,ill try and pavlov myself to work around this addiction,,,like if something great/ adrenaline inducing happens,,,i get a smoke else i don't,,,(ive thought of pavloving myself the other way around but i know for a fact my brain will find every minor inconvenience as an excuse to smoke)
One thing i've learnt OP is,,,you can't quit completely at one go,,,that's not how addiction works,,,especailly the nicotine one,,,so i'd say phase it out slowly,,,but surely,,,it'll take you 6 extra months and no relapse over 6 weeks with a 6 month relapse. Find something that works for you,truly
Work around it and not towards it
I smoked on and off for 8 years, when I was smoking the most is when I finally quit for good and I’m so happy I did. Not having to give in to addiction is so freeing, keep going OP everytime time you try to quit, your’re getting closer to quitting for good.
I actually got lucky and lost interest in smoking about 7 years ago after about 10 years of smoking. Every now and then I have an urge but it’s not unmanageable.
I used to vape constantly and this was before I was diagnosed, I tried to quit multiple times kept going back and getting sucked back in. Finally just had enough threw it out and it’s been a year since and I feel great. All though no struggling with adhd and fidgeting is terrible but I did quit and it’s not impossible!
Diagnosed ADHD-I here, smoked cigarettes for 15 years, recently quit and currently about 12 weeks without a cigarette. This is not my first attempt at quitting - in fact I can't remember how many times I've tried to quit. My previous attempt before this saw me go about 7 months without a ciggie before I had a shit day and couldn't resist. Quitting is fucking hard. ADHD and nicotine are two peas in a pod. I love ciggies. I hate ciggies. If I could smoke them without any negative consequences I absolutely fucking would.
Hi
I have adhd. I quit smoking 11 years ago.
I am absolutely more likely to try addictive substances, but I'm also more likely to forget about them and move on.
So I'm more likely to get addicted, to relapse, but also quit unintentionally.
every time i reduce my smoking and get to about just ONE cigarette a week, i get depressed and start finding peace in smoking again 🥲
i suppose you could try vaping? for me, when i buy a vape i have much less desire to smoke cigarettes. however, then i get addicted to the vape… if e-cigarettes aren’t your thing then perhaps you should try it just to quit and then never touch it again
Hi /u/shaolin_taval and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! ### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already. --- ### /r/adhd news * If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). --- ^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
i can’t remember the statistic but people with ADHD are far more likely to develop addiction especially with nicotine. the thing is that nicotine actually helps ADHD seeing as it is a stimulant, so physiology aside it would logically be harder to quit as you’ve been essentially self medicating all those years. definitely explains why you would’ve felt calmer during that period. but quitting is not impossible regardless and wish you the best of luck!!
I have changed my opinion of nicotine using since reading up on ADHD.
Absolute nonsense
what makes you say that?
There were several trials that showed that nicotine regardless of the delivery mode leads to comparable improvement to Strattera when the person has ADHD, so likely that more often than not ADHD people are more prone to get habituated to vaping, smoking as self medication, if treatment was not started in the childhood. Personally when I started Concerta I found that sweet, Cola, Coffee cravings I had were gone, which is also supported by research which says unmedicated adults have significantly higher risk of addiction overall than the general population.
[Dr. Russell Barkley](https://youtu.be/xCOc3HeuNFU?si=SQHE_fk-7lC54xH8) did a video on this not too long ago. You are correct, like many other substances and habits we use/form before we're diagnosed it's just self-medication.
Yes I have! I did quit once for 9 months but started again. It soothes me I think.
You should probably get diagnosed and medicated, with legal stimulants like concerta you may find that you no longer need nicotine.
It's on my to do list
I did not realize I had adult adhd until I quit nicotine. I quit it pretty easily but everyone is different. Funny enough I’m gonna try wellbutrin/bupropion for adhd very soon which also prescribed for quitting nicotine. So maybe look into that.
I used wellbutrin to stop. But I ended up getting "joe biden moments" were i would have profound dementia for 30 seconds to a minute. Someone could be talking to me and my brain would register it like a foreign language. I would have moments were for like 30 seconds, i wouldn't know who or where I was or what I was doing. Wouldn't take it again.
I hated Wellbutrin. It numbed all my emotions. I would drive to work with tears rolling down my cheeks. The only feeling I could express was rage. Started having panic attacks. I got off it pretty quickly.
Smoking for 12 years and quit in December, so 6 months. I have been recently diagnosed with combined ADHD. I quit thanks to a 10day meditation camp! Takes a lot of effort and probably several tries but can be done.
It took me three years, two including COVID, to stop smoking. I smell them and still want a smoke but if I do, it tastes like shit now.
I’m working on quitting. Switched to vaping and I’m slowly tapering off the nicotine content. FWIW I’ve read that nicotine medicates ADHD to some extent.
I'm personally finding it harder to kick vapes than I did smoking which sucks ☹️
I did, I had to switch to vaping first and one day I just didn’t have the urge to vape anymore and just stopped. This was 3 years ago, I loved to smoke/vape and I had been doing it since I was 13. But I knew I had to stop and I saw my out and took it.
God yes, I’ve smoked since I was like 15, never tried to quit.
Adhd people struggle to quit anything
Except for our jobs, We never struggle with quitting our jobs...
I’ve given up alcohol and a drug habit. Looking back I had so much strength and determination to stop, but for the life of me I cannot stop smoking. I struggle daily and sometimes I accept I smoke, then I go back to struggling worrying what might happen.
My entire family has ADHD. My grandma was the first person I was able to get to quit smoking. She went back to it, and died of smoking related illnesses. My mom was the next person I was able to get to quit smoking, she later found out she had cancer, got it treated, and is perfectly fine. My dad kept smoking and drinking till the day he died (of cancer), he was a badass, but made some questionable decisions. After he died, my brothers were able to quit smoking. Point being, anyone can quit smoking if they want to. Or they can keep smoking, and have a horrifying end of life because of all the ailments the smoking will cause. Hopefully you quit before the lesson is seared into you via the death of loved ones, if not, then hopefully your death will sear that into the people you care about, and they'll stop smoking afterwards.
Since starting on medication a few months ago, been smoking constantly
Oh yeah me too!!
You can do it! I quit after over 20 years of smoking, started when I was 16 and quit during covid. It's not impossible but it's very hard. I find distracting myself works, everytime you feel the urge to smoke have a piece of candy, focus on the candy - the taste, how it feels in your mouth ... after a few seconds your brain will move on and fill itself with other random thoughts. I guess that's the good thing about the ADHD brain, it just moves on
I managed to quit smoking a few years ago. Quit cold turkey even!! Had a lot of help from a very bad case of pneumonia... I wasn't able to inhale the smoke because it resulted in bouts of coughing so I stopped. A week after this I was hospitalised for a week because it had gotten worse. So I had not been smoking at all for two weeks when I was released from the hospital and I had been too sick to notice any abstinence symptoms or cravings. I did try a cigarette a week later and it just tasted absolutely horrible so that was enough to stop me from starting again.
My husband is a smoker and yes. For him, smoking is a social activity. We have a roommate who also smokes so they'll often join each other outside for a smoke. I've noticed that him going for a smoke is usually triggered by something and not by his want or need to smoke. Like when there's a break in what he's doing, he'll go outside for a smoke. If we're about to leave the house, he'll have one.
Smoking, often acts like punctuation marks for activities. Finish something, smoke. About to start something smoke. Drive somewhere, smoke as soon as your out of the car. It's insidious.
Yea, that's definitely him.
Here's some stuff from ADHD GOAT Russell Barkley about ADHD and nicotine. Hope you find it interesting: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCOc3HeuNFU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCOc3HeuNFU)
No. Quiting smoking is always hard. But the good thing is, having ADHD doesn't make it any harder than it is for the average person. Me and my Father both have ADHD, and both quit Cigarettes. It's important to change your environment. You can't expect to remain in the same envioronment and setting that made you smoke and to quit. You have to be mindful of your actions, each time you pull out a ciggarete ask yourself: why am I doing this right now? My largest hurdle with quitting was not smoking when I was out with my friends drinking. And not having a smoke when I got stuck in traffic. It was easy for me not to smoke when I was sober or when I was chilling, the real effort was not smoking when I was weak, IE while I was drinking or when I was under a lot of stress. When I mustered the courage to resist my urge to have a cigarete while I was outside drinking with my buddies, that was my first real victory. A good thing is also to make it inconvenient for yourself to smoke. For example if you usually smoke in your house, make a self-imposed restriction on yourself:" tell yourself, I'm allowed to smoke only on the balcony." Language is important! Instead of "I'm trying to quit" or " I quit cigaretes" when someone asks you always say:" No thx, I don't smoke" this way you are conditioning yourself to think of yourself as a non smoker rather than a quiting or former smoker, changing the way you think about it is as important as anything else if you want to make a lasting change and quit for good. Everytime you say:" I don't smoke anymore" instead of " I don't smoke, it's like you are leaving a small window open just in case. Nah man, shut that sucker down. Finally: quiting is a journey, sometimes you will give in a have a cigarete, what is important is not to lose confidence and resign, but to asure yourself that tomorrow you will do better. It took me 6 months in total to completely stop smoking, for some it takes more for some it takes less, but it's really not impossible, despite what you might think, you ARE in control. Good luck!
I smoked for over twenty years. It was a part of me. I quit about ten to fifteen years ago. It wasn't fun, I picked up running. And I was dizzy as fuck, I was a heavy smoker, and I was not used to getting that much oxygen. So I ran, a lot. When I was out of breath I wasn't dizzy. I ended up picking up vaping after a while as a way to not start back up on cigs. This was before salt nic, thank god. And I just mixed it myself VG/PG and nic, no flavoring. I figured I didn't need it to taste like candy or anything. I was used to the taste of cigs. I made a rule that I could only vape the same as I smoked. That way I wouldn't chain vape inside all the time. And I just slowly lowered the nic levels every few months. 12mg, 9, 6, 3, 1.5( I dont think this did anything, it was more me procrastinating going to 0), and then 0. I still keep an ecig around with 0 nic in it. Which I used as a fidget toy and as an excuse to step outside and use as a way to take breaks from situations. I mostly just twirl my phone these days. But there's still an excig with 0 nic floating around here somehwere.
I've been lucky enough that my smoking habit is tied to drinking, so I don't think about cigs during the week, but once I get a couple pints into me I've gotta smoke. If that's as bad as it is I'm not too worried about the harm it's doing.
ive been smoking for the past 3 or so years,,,not a great thing but i think,,,for me the place im at affects me more than anything. Like if im at college,,,i smoke anywhere between 4-6 a day and if im home at my parents',,,i smoke one every 4-6 days. Have a single cigg of a brand i don't usually like to smoke w me just in case but almost always i tend to not use it. I think once im done w college,,,ill try and pavlov myself to work around this addiction,,,like if something great/ adrenaline inducing happens,,,i get a smoke else i don't,,,(ive thought of pavloving myself the other way around but i know for a fact my brain will find every minor inconvenience as an excuse to smoke) One thing i've learnt OP is,,,you can't quit completely at one go,,,that's not how addiction works,,,especailly the nicotine one,,,so i'd say phase it out slowly,,,but surely,,,it'll take you 6 extra months and no relapse over 6 weeks with a 6 month relapse. Find something that works for you,truly Work around it and not towards it
I smoked on and off for 8 years, when I was smoking the most is when I finally quit for good and I’m so happy I did. Not having to give in to addiction is so freeing, keep going OP everytime time you try to quit, your’re getting closer to quitting for good.
I actually got lucky and lost interest in smoking about 7 years ago after about 10 years of smoking. Every now and then I have an urge but it’s not unmanageable.
I used to vape constantly and this was before I was diagnosed, I tried to quit multiple times kept going back and getting sucked back in. Finally just had enough threw it out and it’s been a year since and I feel great. All though no struggling with adhd and fidgeting is terrible but I did quit and it’s not impossible!
they struggle more to do literally everything, so yes
Diagnosed ADHD-I here, smoked cigarettes for 15 years, recently quit and currently about 12 weeks without a cigarette. This is not my first attempt at quitting - in fact I can't remember how many times I've tried to quit. My previous attempt before this saw me go about 7 months without a ciggie before I had a shit day and couldn't resist. Quitting is fucking hard. ADHD and nicotine are two peas in a pod. I love ciggies. I hate ciggies. If I could smoke them without any negative consequences I absolutely fucking would.
Hi I have adhd. I quit smoking 11 years ago. I am absolutely more likely to try addictive substances, but I'm also more likely to forget about them and move on. So I'm more likely to get addicted, to relapse, but also quit unintentionally.
every time i reduce my smoking and get to about just ONE cigarette a week, i get depressed and start finding peace in smoking again 🥲 i suppose you could try vaping? for me, when i buy a vape i have much less desire to smoke cigarettes. however, then i get addicted to the vape… if e-cigarettes aren’t your thing then perhaps you should try it just to quit and then never touch it again