Cigarette Smokers
I was recently on another AD/HD message board and somebody made statement that most ADDers are ciggarette smokers. I had never heard or read that any where before but It got me wondering.

I tried cigarettes a couple of times years and years ago, but it was never really my thing.

Hey, Tara. I don't know whether the statement about ADHDers being smokers has any validity or not. I'll try to research it on the web and come up with some answers. By the way, I read your reply on the other board. Please give me your opinion on the issues I mentioned regarding my son on the other message board. Thanks a bunch!

Kris

Tried but never became addicted...did it to be part of -- and liked by the "in crowd" as a teenager....never forget them...they were Winston's....a red and white package....

I stupidly started smoking at 18. It was also because everybody else did. It made me really sick when I was sober. I smoked when I drank until I got really ill one night. Never touched a cigarette again but I drank again...

Yes I tried it. There was a slumber party, forgot what grade I was in and one cig between 12 girls

Started to allieviate stress when i was in the military, quit a few times and started back a few times, finally quit about 4 months ago.
Mostly becasue it was expensive, always made me tired, and took the energy away from me...

It's funny.....I did lots of things and became psychologically addicted, but never physiologically. Anyone else?

Exactly what happened to me...good way of putting it...and as long as not physiologically addicted, quitting is not so bad......but nicotine is the most addictive drug there is....more so than cocaine and alcohol......

Well, quitting drinking was nearly impossible for me psychologically, but I never had withdrawals or anything like that, surprisingly. Maybe it's an ADD thing....no physical addiction, but are minds are always searching for a fix?

Well that's good you had quit drinking but had no withdrawals or shakes or DT's Hey you got out of it pretty okay....some people have a HECK of a time giving up alcohol....I mean you can die from the DT's alone....and I hear that alcoholic gastritis is horribly painful.......Yes I think our minds are always looking for a fix....definitely....our minds and then our mouths....it's mental first and then physical....the fix can be most anything....but functions to take away the feeling of the moment.....

Smoking was a psycological for a while for me but each time i would quit
I would get the withdraws bad the first few times i tried to quit feeling as if i was going to puke but wouldnt.
Now it still is a psycological battle that my
roomates still smoke :(
I hate the temptation when they leave their packs laying on the coffee table.
argh!
alcohol- I self medicated until I finally got the money for my meds. No physical or psycological withdraws which I noticed..

Never touched a cigarette. I was scared away from them at a very young age when a friend of the family died of lung cancer. I do find that I have a somewhat addictive personality, so I try to stay away from anything physically addictive at all costs.
There are times when I just can't seem to stop eating sugar, but I'm getting better with that.;)

nver smoked never tried it either

I have smoked since I was a teen. After thinking about it for years I have come to the conclusion that I started smoking to "dirty" up an otherwise clean life. I have quit off and on over the years and even quit for a whole year a few years ago. But I have resumed my smoking habit. I think I have a highly addictive personality.

I KNOW I have a highly addictive personality....and I'm sure it's an ADD trait....I can get addicted to just about anything that makes me feel good and/or takes me out of my feelings or the moment...and into fantasy land or yesterday or whatever...

You sound like me Bart.
I have quit numerous times.
Most people though don't know I smoke and those who do think I am a very light smoker as I don't engage in smoking in public hardly, or inside my home. (I don't defferenciate light or heavy, either you do or don't). It is my only drug type vice and I am embarrased about it. I never did it to be cool. The first time I did it was only to be able to enclose the smoke in a bubble I'd blown with bubble gum, I was only 9 or so. I think I continue it mostly or restart is because it is my escape and secret. Probably it is doing something for my brain physiologically other than the escape.
I don't manage sugar well, alchohal drinking runs down my immunities in a fast obvius way. Marijuana too, plus I can't sleep at all on either of them. Which is already an issue. I did llots of hard stuff and luckily have never become physically addicted.
Janine

Janine,

Janine,
I am what I consider to be a heavy smoker. At least 2 packs per day on a quiet day. I own and manage a nightclub and when I am there I smoke probably more than normal. I quit 5 years ago when I quit a 15 year meth habit. I did not smoke for a year. Still have not used meth and quit drinking 18 months ago. Yes its my only vice left and I just cannot seem to quit, or want to. I tried in Jan. 2003 and tried the patches. I think that I did not really want to or was not ready to commit myself to the effort. Also I always worry about the weight gain... Though at some point I imagine that I will quit for good.

Bart, Congratulations on being alchohol free! And Meth.
I have spent a lot of my life with addicts of some sort, nowadays I take care of me.
I admire all those who are survive and get clean.
I generally stay out of smoking enviroments, otherwise I would be a heavy smoker. I too have quit for a year even two years. The patch helped a bit. The weight gain bothers me too.
Also when I quit completely for 2 yrs the last time about 3 years ago, I was loosing my temper with my child for about a month or two with the patch and the gum. I told myself I would never start again so my child wouldn't ever go through that again. I felt really bad, he hadn't been spanked before that, and it didn't help. He is a very contrary headstrong sort, the oppositional type of ADD. Yet he is a GREAT kid. So I am scared to quit and be less patient with him. Perhaps when he is on a vacation with his Father for 2 weeks. I never smoke around him.
I blew it when I was stressed and trying to buy my fist home, what a mess of legalities! I really felt I couldn't have done it w/out a vice.
well I got a home and still the addiction.
I found that I have to be really downright serious when I quit, first I find I am upset with myself, then after not finding a good reason I realize or think it's because I smoke, then I drown my smokes.
I have been rolling my own as it is way cheaper, and I get the clean-non chemical stuff with the safest papers. I crave less because they aren't full of chemicals, and they burn slower and so on.. also as I roll them right then. When my son is off at his Dads I roll more. Anyway you might want to consider it for healths sake. I have only paid 11 dollars for cigarettes this month and have some left. I still expect to quit and stay quit someday though.

I've never smoked - probably very much do to having allergies, and growing up in a household where my father smoked a pipe and was a recovered alcoholic - nothing like incentive to not want to be addicted to any chemicals.

Although - a lot of it was probably from 5th grade when we had a presentation on smoking & lung cancer - and I saw the pictures of black lungs - I said - I NEVER want that.

On the other hand - I go back and forth with coffee. I currently (since dealing with anxiety & being diagnosed with ADD last summer), stick with either decaf or half-strength coffee. I can't handle the multiple cups of coffee anymore (my stomach, for one), but I love the flavor and don't really want to give it up entirely! Also, in the afternoons - I find it's a good boost for the rest of the day. But too much at much can just make me sleepy, lol

lol, I'm writing about coffee in th esmoking poll. I already mentioned some of this in the coffee poll. Sorry!

In summary: I don't smoke ;)

I have smoked here and there, but not in a long, long time and I was never a regular smoker. About 15 years ago, I used to smoke clove cigarettes a lot. It was a dark time in my life and clove cigarrettes were an escape.

I used to smoke with a friend of mine in his garage in early college. We would skeak a couple of his Dad's Winston's and smoke them out in the garage, late at night when everyone else in the house was asleep. My mother smoked most of her life until about a year ago. My dad died of lung cancer from smoking both cigarettes and pot.

At times I really crave a cigarette and problably would if I was not married and had no kids. My wife HATES smoking so, whenever I get a craving, about once or twice a year, I just know my wife would smell it on me.

I don't drink either because of an addictive pattern in my family, a lot of alcoholism in my family.

My one vice is coffee. I love coffee! Good coffee(Starbucks), bad coffee, or anything in between. Maybe it is self-medicating a bit. I have not intention to stop drinking coffee.
"Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine! I must have coffee..." -- J. S. Bach
Well, a thousand kisses would be sweeter......

James: I'm glad you don't smoke. Somehow with all you've shared about yourself. smoking just doesn't match your personality:) Like how can one write beautiful poetry and yet smoke??:( Enjoy the "Venti's":)

My opinion is that a higher percentage of people with ADHD smoke than the general population - no hard evidence, just observation.

I don't think that is surprising since smoking (i.e. nicotine) affects the brains reward center - the same area affected by ADHD. A study cam out a few yeas ago (from the U of Chicago) that concluded - "Brief exposure to low levels of nicotine, as little as that provided by a single cigarette, can cause lasting changes in the brain's "reward" areas."

There is a press release about this study at:
http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2000/20000824-nicadd.html

Thanks for sharing that GMP...and welcome to the Forums....great press release....and so you can see why giving up cigarettes is SO hard for ADD smokers addicted to them....

I've smoked for 22 years with few breaks and now it's starting to affect my health. I was going to quit yesterday but forgot to plan for it (Setting up the patches, gum, cleaning and putting away the ashtrays) and picked up a cigarette within my first hour. I know now that I can keep on it and not give up giving up.

Interesting to see someone else with a meth "habit". I've got over two years clean off of a serious and nasty meth addiction... funny thing about meth and ADD... other people think it's strange that I was never able to stay up for more than a few days--but then again, it affected me differently than the attention-enabled person. There were times I'd use meth and it would put me right to sleep.

GMP, Dr. Amen says almost twice as many ADD people smoke as non-ADD do percentagewise. I think it was 19% vs. 10% if I am not mistaken in memory.

I am also of the people who have never smoked, but my personality is a very addictive one, so I am sure if I had ever started I would still be going strong. All of my friends and family are smokers. Except my wife, fortunately...

This was one of the first threads I wanted to contribute to (don't see why any of you would particularly want to know that (!), but for some reason I always feel the need to document my thoughts like this - think it's part of the internal or unconscious "scheduling" I use to "get thoughts out" or select the ones to express - a very ADD problem I think, though the need to justify oneself comes from experience more than nature in this case).

Pheew! Start again:

This thread caught my eye early on (only a week or two ago, but it seems a long time ago, as I was just "discovering" ADD), maybe because one of the things which made me feel I might really be part of a "clinically defined" syndrome (or associated group of people) was the fact that I felt I could not completely get over smoking as most people do who give up. I don't mean continuing to have the odd craving, as many ex-smokers would - nor am I referring to giving in to temptation now and then, which is what most people would mean if they claimed not to have been fully successful in giving up. In my case, it was the paradoxical condition of having not smoked at all for 4 months, but still missing the particular kind of release, and the focussing, which would go with a cigarette (tea/coffee, which helps a bit too, is the only other available 'med'). I even knew from the last time of giving up that if I started again, the first cigarettes would not even do much - they wouldn't be "recognized" by my body for a (short) while - ie the physical addiction, in the usual sense, really has gone. So this very physical tension had to have another explanation...

Actually, it was janine's post I wanted to reply to, because I felt you had similar problems to me. Family life was one of the things which most made me want to stop - not to smoke around my 4-year old son, not to have this extra internal pressure sometimes to be looking for opportunities to 'escape' onto the balcony or wherever to have a smoke, to give my wife support and encouragement in her effort to resist all temptation to smoke while pregnant. But stopping itself was and is much worse than smoking. Shocking bad temper. I had put those around me through it too many times (which, in my case too, including spanking my son, something I prefer never to do and am sorry for). So I decided I had better stick to it for a while, as I was not going to start the process again in a hurry. My latest thoughts are that I will stick to not smoking till at least next year (it's not really difficult any more), then if I really still feel I am missing something, or could be less moody, I will allow myself a moderate smoking habit again (but maybe I will have got some ADD meds by then to change the picture a bit). I must say, in spite of the advantages I have mentioned or implied (we all know the disadvantages), it's not really a great ADD 'medication' - good for calming, and conversation etc, but not a strong motivator for things which are challenging or difficult for ADDers. Caffeine's better.

In the non-prescription medicated ADD world, nicotine may be a common 'anti-psychotic' to caffeine's 'stimulant' (with the help of sugar, if necessary). (please give me a bit of writer's license here!). (Of course, illegal drugs offer all sorts of other strictly short-term possibilities - I won't go into that here. As students we used to kid ourselves that we might sometimes be able to do our academic work better, or at least understand some aspect of things better on drugs - cannabis/acid/uppers - but this was essentially nonsense.)

I used to social smoke through highschool and college or while cramming for exams. After college, I would smoke while out with friends and then quit for many years since I had four children, one after the other.

My youngest is four now and I spend much more time out with friends than when they were all little. My social smoking started increasing and I would smoke many times at home outside on the deck. Our oldest would bust me. I felt like a hypocrit telling not to ever smoke while I kept my own smoking a secret.

I wanted to be healthy and set a good example for my kids so I quit smoking all together. Almost 2 months now!

Good for you! Keep it up! It does get easier (even for people like me who don't find it at all easy), despite the pessimistic tone, in that regard, of my post above.

Jonathan.

Smoking for me is something that I don't believe I have given up. I havn't smoked a cigarette for 15 years, but I still get the cravings but I just don't give in.

I found something interesting in that nicotine addiction is partially related to an increase in dopamine production as a result of nicotine stimulation. If the theories of some ADD having a basis in Dopamine system working incorrectly, then smoking which increases Dopamine would be more addictive in ADD people.

From memory ( a big ask for an ADD'er), when I needed to concentrate hard, I would A) grab a coffeee and B) light up a cigarette. Looking back, I would definately have to say my ability to concentrate was much higher as a smoker.

Below is a link that explains the nicotine/dopamine connection.

http://sprojects.mmi.mcgill.ca/smoking/smokingf/dynamics_addiction.html

Sleepz.

I'm not sure if I will hold out for 15 years! I can imagine putting it just the way you do (well I already do, but as I only stopped a few months ago, this isn't as telling). Actually, having said that I don't long for a cigarette very often any more - in fact, I more often feel repelled (mildly) by it, so perhaps I will. Thanks for the interesting link.

Originally posted by livingwithadd
Cigarette Smokers
I was recently on another AD/HD message board and somebody made statement that most ADDers are ciggarette smokers. I had never heard or read that any where before but It got me wondering.

From my research this is true because of the high percentage involved in addictions and AD/HDers. Cigarettes are just an addiction to nicotine.

MM

I haave smoked since I was 17 (47 now). I quit once for 6 months and limited my smoking to about 2 a day while pregnant. I find that smoking is such a hand to mouth thing. Its something to do, and especially when upset it is almost constant. I dont want to quit now, so havetn tried in a long time. Im sure I could if I had to, but right now I donthave to and dont want to.

I was a smoker about 15 years ago and quit.. its amazing what Psnamonia can do for a person... I had my son almost 13 years ago and I just didn't want to get addicted to anything. Yes, I still get cravings but my allergy to cigarette smoke (asthma reaction) helps to curb it. :)

Hi EchoHD!

Welcome to the forums!

I'm the only person I know with a long term plan to start smoking again! OK that's a slight exaggeration, but I stopped 4 months ago, because I had been trying for a few years, but also because my wife is pregnant and is trying not to smoke. Once she has finished breast-feeding the baby and is therefore under no extra obligation not to smoke at all, then I might start again, if I still miss it as often as I do now. It gets slightly better all the time, though, so maybe I won't...

Jonathan: My brother and his wife adopted a baby girl a year ago.....and my brother still smokes.....his wife does not....my brother has smoked for over 25 years....just can't give up the things no matter how hard he tries....His wife wants him to quit -- know why? Because she thinks the second hand smoke will totally suck for the baby.....

My point is.....since you have stopped, I hope and pray and suggest you stay this way...and to keep your thought processes in the "stopped" mode:)......your baby daughter will probably appreciate it....:)

Do ANYTHING else....take up mints, lifesavers, celery, carrots, raisins, lollipops, popsicles, a hot shower, a cold shower, a support group, run under the sprinkler, jump into the ocean, mow the lawn, color with crayons, write a poem about cigarettes, take a walk, jog a mile, go to the library, read about lung cancer, give a donation to the american cancer society, bounce a ball, plan a vacation, listen to some of your favorite classical music, sing (can't do that and smoke at the same time), listen to a CD, listen to a tape, have sex, have sex again, write a gratitude list, start ten new threads on addforums, build a sandcastle, go to a fleamarket, go to a garagesale, see a movie, see a play, read a comic book, do a crossword puzzle, take a nap, yell and scream, call your therapist, read your horoscope, buy some new clothers, take son out for ice-cream.....take wife out to dinner...plan a party, clean the garage, clean the house, polish the silver, washd the car, wax the car, dust the computer, e-mail a friend, write a letter....ANYTHING....just don't smoke:D :D

I think it is awesome you have stopped smoking Jonathan.....and even more awesome you are having a baby girl......:D

What a sweet post, Joan, thanks so much. OK, maybe I'll work on my attitude a bit. (I like the "write a poem about cigarettes" one - hilarious!)

Jonathan, I can truely relate to your post. I was pretty much that way when I was pregnant. I looked forward to the time I could smoke all I wanted. I have been a nurse for nearlly 30 yrs and KNOW first hand the things that smoking contributes to. (I have my own ideas about the word "cause") And almost all of the things joanrdtobe listed I could do WHILE smoking...lol. Almost I said...

I am smoking now, but I could just stop if i wanted to,
thing is i dont really want to, i have smoke since i was 12
and now i am 24 having periods inbetween (6mths)-(Year) non smoking then back on again.
as toxic as this world is and
I don't want to add to it, but sitting here is a testimony
of toxifying the world as we all use fuels in our houses
plus the area which i live (if you go about 4 miles away and look at our area, the dense black smog sitting feet over the city, probably is doing me as much or equal harm to me as cigarette, i know you wouldnt want to risk putting more stress on your body, but a stimulant effect is desired, and i shall smoke,
but will not get upset, or angry when I do not have any.

Steve :)

Originally posted by EchoHD
I have been a nurse for nearlly 30 yrs and KNOW first hand the things that smoking contributes to. (I have my own ideas about the word "cause") And almost all of the things joanrdtobe listed I could do WHILE smoking...lol. Almost I said...


No, no, no Echo....you're missing the point:D :D

You're not alone by the way....the medical field is apparently booming with smokers....(I've spent a fair amount of time on the hospital floors myself).....and like you, they all know firsthand too....but it's a tough tough habit to quit...and as they say in A.A. "self knowledge availed us nothing".


And practicing what we preach???? Not always.....:(

Just how it is.....

I used to be *such* a puritan as a kid and even used to tell my dad off for drinking an alcohol-free beer on holidays (!) but then when I started working after college I started smoking every now and again, then when I moved to the UK I ended up smoking like a chimney (ca. 10-40 "rollies" a day depending on whether I went out or not).

I never saw myself as a smoker but I was totally hooked and always smoking whenever I had a chance! Somehow it was a total security blanket for me something to hide behind and hold onto, also it seemed to alleviate stress, and in spite of the initial dizziness it seemed to keep my head together somewhat. (In periods where I didn't smoke during the day my brain was working overtime, when I smoked during the day it didn't do that quite as badly).

I somehow managed to quite cold turkey nearly 3 months ago (3rd August, with th ehelp o flots of food and tons of valerian tablets), after many unsuccessful attempts.

It hasn't been as great as I had hoped for, my brain is still v. fuzzy and stuff and I still struggle to get in gear (somehow I had hoped if I didn't have the "I'll just have a cig and then start on this job" excuse I'd manage to be more active), my concentration's even more shot than before but at least I'm not wasting lots of money on killing myself!

5 years was enough! :D

I smoked for one summer when I was 16 years old. Camel Lights. Back then I remember them tasting good. And I loved the initial buzz I got from the first drag.

Fortunately, my family is non-smoking, so I could never smoke in the house. Winter came, and I really did not want to stand outside in the cold just for a "cancer stick". I had no problem quitting.

From then on I would buy a pack every so often, but I could never finish the entire thing and would end up throwing it away.

Even better, the things just taste awful. I still like the nicotine buzz though. But it doesn't last long enough to justify it icky taste in my mouth afterwards.

Smoking and an excuse it is

allows me to walk away from the situation at hand collect my thoughts and return to the task at hand

My wife and I quit together and I lasted 8 months where she is still smoke free

I had my life in control and things were good and after I quit I started losing control but I never noticed or attributed it to the fact that I didnt have that escape anytime I needed it untill about a year after my life went right down the tubes. After I took time to sit back and evaluate when and why my life went to s**t I relized that it all started when I quit smoking.

There were many external reasons that it all happened but becuase I didn't have the excuse /reason to walk away from the situation I lost control.

I am the first one to say that this is a poor excuse for smoking as I could walk away and eat jelly beans but anyone who is a smoker knows the calming effect that having a cigerette is

everybody says that a ciggerette does not calm you but actully increases your motabolsisum which is entirely true but they fail to take into account the fact that even though 2 wrongs dont make a right

but 2 negatives do make a positive

- 2 x -2 = 4

I accept full responcibillity for the fact that I stand much more chance of unhappy results from smoking at a later date but I fully recognise the benifits right now that are gained by my smoking.

I could run my truck off the road due to the acctions of some other driver and die tommorow and then I wont have to worry babout the future detramential effects but I have had the present positive effects from the ability to walk away from life and have a smoke

Given my druthers if it wasnt for the fact that I can not and will not smoke pot due to the fact that I am in control of a very large truck that could inflict extreame pain and suffering on some little kid or addult due to lack of control

Given my druthers if I was rich enough to not need to work or at least only needed to work where I could smoke a joint (work for a farmer ,or self employed ect. then I would very quickly trade in my smokes for the home grown brand and use the effects of it to give me my break from reallity ( or just ignore reallity and sit by the river all day long and hide away from the stresses of life)

This is my oppinion and I do not recomend it to anyone as it is my choice in life and I accept all social critisum and medical problems that may occur.

I also use it as an ascape to walk away, be alone. I am not a social smoker. I don't like that I smoke. I had been quit for years.
I had a bunch of legalities I couldn't cope with so I turned to smoking to get through. One day I will make the quit adventure again. I have no smoking in my home. I live with just my 7 year old. So I sneak away and that is enjoyable for me, inspite of the health risks.

I gave up smoking six years ago (minus one month). I know now that I cannot smoke at all, even light someone else's sigarette, because It'll get me started again. Not at once, but in a matter of weeks I'll be up to my old level. NO WAY am I going to let that happen to me! I was heavily addicted and at the same time beating myself up for it. Quitting smoking is the best thing I've ever done for myself. I think of that whenever I'm tempted.

I used Allen Carr's book to motivate me. Might help other people.

I was big into running when I was younger and now I ride a bike regularly so smoking never was something I tried. The high from exercise was self medicating for short periods of time. I do drink coffee and alcohol.

There are so many statements here that I can relate to!

SLEEPZALOT WROTE: "From memory ( a big ask for an ADD'er), when I needed to concentrate hard, I would A) grab a coffeee and B) light up a cigarette."

I completely understand; the coffee/smoke combo is how I motivate myself. Many days, I'm not even fully awake without either in tandem. I don't concentrate or think as clearly without smoking a cigarette (or thats what I think, anyway- could be substance-abuse justification)

I also agree with Garry Lawton- cigarettes are also an escape for me, a way that I enjoy stepping out of things for a moments and focusing on something that just mixes with the air and my own thoughts.

I started smoking when I was 12. It was not social for me, because I wasn't very open about it and even kept it a secret from my friends for as long as I could.

Even though I was really sick the first week (and only smoking 3-4 cigs a day) I found enjoyment in them. By the time I was 14 I was inhaling 2 1/2 packs a day. My dad finally caught me, and I quit for a year and 1/2. Started smoking again at 15 or 16.

I quit again at twenty. Then this summer I there was a delay closing on this house; and I had to move into this old, neglected house while fixing it up to code; and do most of it myself with little help; before the school semester began. I'm puffing away again, of course, to cope. But I'm also glad that I'm not waking up every day wishing for a fix or swallowing my refridgerator.

Strange, all the times I've quit I didn't have any physical w/drawel symptoms either- but I never stopped WANTING them. I ended up replacing the nicotine with food. Now that I'm smoking again, I'm a bit calmer, and don't eat too much food anymore, and have lost most of the weight I'd gained. But I know it's just a matter of time before the cycle begins again.

Janine- I roll my own too! I use a cigarette machine to snap the tobacco into pre-rolled tubes that have thick filters like normal cigarettes (I can't stand the taste of manufactured smokes anymore!)- good luck, right now I'm just enjoying them way too much!

I am happy for all of those who have quit- whatever the vice. Good luck to the rest, if you so desire!

It's funny, I actually started smoking three years ago not because of any social pressure, not because I was drinking (only 18 at the time) but because I used to have at least one or two multi-hour drives at 2 or 3 AM and a nicotene buzz was the only thing that would keep me from nodding off. No-Doz, mountain dew, even three large dunkin donuts coffees in a single trip couldn't keep me awake - not even with all the windows open and the music blaring. So, I started smoking out of necessity, and now here I am three years later still doing it.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like my ADD was the direct cause for me smoking. Nodding off on the drive home wasn't like falling asleep in bed when I was tired, it was instead like nodding off in class because of the monotony (for the last two years of highschool and the first two years of college I fell asleep in 90+% of my classes before I was diagnosed and medicated). I don't know if any of you are familiar with Cape Cod or Boston at all, but driving up Rt. 3 in the middle of the night is about as mind-numbingly dull as it gets. Having something to do with my hands combined with a nicotene buzz kept me awake and focused on the road, and even though I am fully aware of how horrible a habit it is, I think they ironically saved my life a few times. More than a few times before I started smoking on my drives I found myself waking up after nodding off with my car heading straight for the guardrail doing about 95 mph. So, in my case, at least for those long drives, cigarettes were a blessing!

I've been smoking for almost 9 years now. I started because all of my friends smoked and I could hold out for only so long before I had to fit in (my own choice. they said I was stupid to start at 20). I smoked at bars when I was the designated driver...gave me a quick buzz yet let me drive at the end of the night. Of course the buzz stopped but the addiction had already set in. Now I smoke almost a pack PLUS a lot of weed every day. I hate myself for it every single night, yet I can't wait to light one up the first thing in the morning. How stupid can I be? *sigh*

I tried my first ciggy when I was around 6 yrs old....both parents smoked.....of and on through the years I snuckpuff now again until i was legal age then i didn't have to hide it anymore then I went smoke happy......but I have noticed that I smoke more when I am on dexadrine.....hmmmm.

I can't stand the smell of cigarettes. I won't even visit my parents' in the wintertime because their house is all closed up and they both smoke. My father chain smokes one after the other. I can't handle that. I go in the summer. (They live over 1000 miles away).

what I cannot figure out is why I enjoy smoking them, but when I first wake up they STINK terribly when my boyfriend smokes one before I've had my first of the day... the other that I cannot figure out is why, after I've had something to eat, I'll still light one up and enjoy it and they won't stink anymore (I know it kills the sense of smell a bit, but why would I want to smoke soething that smelled awful to me a few minutes ago and stop thinking that it stinks?)...

I guess I simply never felt so inclined. I got in with some "good" kids in school also, that helped with lots of things, looking back.

I started smoking in my teens.....tried to quit last year and succeeded for 3 months......until I started having TERRIBLE panic attacks. I started right back up again. Only now do I realize I actually think and focus better with either coffee or cigs, or both. Which is another thing that I'm going to tell the doc on Monday when I go in for my ADD evaluation. (I haven't been formally diagnosed yet)
Jen

Originally posted by livingwithadd
I stupidly started smoking at 18. It was also because everybody else did. It made me really sick when I was sober. I smoked when I drank until I got really ill one night. Never touched a cigarette again but I drank again...
I unfortunately picked my first cig up at the ripe ole age of 8 :( . Just quit this month. I was up to 2 packs a day. I am now 33 and it is killing me to not go down to the corner store and pick up a pack. Probably has something to do with my OCD. Willpower is the only way I will stay off of them. The only way I can quit is "cold turkey". I am totally opposite with the booze though. Never liked them. Drank too much Vodka once, puked my very being up for a day, and vowed to never touch the stuff again. Maybe I needed to do the same with the cigs. :p

Originally posted by ifso215
It's funny, I actually started smoking three years ago not because of any social pressure, not because I was drinking (only 18 at the time) but because I used to have at least one or two multi-hour drives at 2 or 3 AM and a nicotene buzz was the only thing that would keep me from nodding off. No-Doz, mountain dew, even three large dunkin donuts coffees in a single trip couldn't keep me awake - not even with all the windows open and the music blaring. So, I started smoking out of necessity, and now here I am three years later still doing it.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like my ADD was the direct cause for me smoking.
Wow, sounds very familiar......I drive a truck for a living. I usually drive between 350 to 400 miles a night on some fairly boreing highways. (NJ and Pa Turnpikes) Smoking seemed to help me stay awake. I found that if I did try to quit, I would have a terrible time staying awake. (Not a good thing in an 80,000 lb truck). This only gave me an excuse to continue smoking. I am out of work now because of an injury and thoght this would be the best time to get off of them and get used to living without them before I go back in March.:rolleyes:

I started smoking in college,,,first time away from home and all. I would get these horrendous anxiety attacks and a friend said smoking calmed her. I quit during my pregnancy with my son; but, started back up two years later. And my last pregnancy I tried to quit and the doctor actually told me to start back up the withdrawals were killing me. And YES I find my habit absolutly disgusting and humiliating. I feel as if ppl are more accepting to alcoholics and drug addicts,,,smoking is like any other addiction it's a constant battle once you stop and once a smoker alway's a smoker.

I started smoking at the age of 13. My cousin who was 3 years older than me smoked and offered me one, one day. She smoked Salem's. I have smoked ever since. I have quit a few times only to start back up once I found my self in a stressful situation. The longest time I had quit was for 2 years. I quit a month before I was to have my hysterectomy, and when I went to have it, I told the anesthesiologist that I was quiting and he purged my system with oxygen. When I woke up after surgery, I didn't have a craving one. Then my ex decides to go annal on me and drag me through court for custody of our daughter, which turned out to be a money thing. And after a very stressful court session, it was either light a cig to calm me or go choke the chit out my ex. Hmm I picked the legal one. lol ;)

I have just been put on medicine for my add and I smoke like crazy. I used to just smoke when I drank, but I am not sure what it is about this medicine, but I can't stop smoking.

my cigarettes taste great on my meds.

<--Smoked since a teen & just quit recently. I occ will puff on one but i don't want any now. Prob. coz I feel sick from Effexor withdrawl @ present.

Smoking is fairly common with a lot of neurological conditions, as is coffee drinking, and or drug use... Many of these nasty little habbits don't occur if the conditions are identified early and treated, as all of the above are basically self discovered forms of self medication. Nicoteine and caffeine for example have both been shown to have markedly positive effects on memory and concentration in ADDers. Unfortunately, both effects are quite short term, which is why many ADDers who go into adulthood untreated are either very heavy smokers and coffee drinkers or at extremely high risk for chemical/substance abuse (A rather high percentage of adult ADDers are also chemically dependent, although it has been shown fairly conclusively that the presently high rate of this, is largely due to lack of early identification and treatment. ADDers who are treated are at no higher risk of drug abuse and dependence than the general population).

We aren't the only ones either, anxiety, and many other issues involving neurological differences seem to have unusually high incidences of smoking. Over 70% of schizophrenics in one large study smoked. In fact, so many shizophrenics, and persons with other disorders are dependent on nicoteine to help ease their symptoms as a form of self medication that NAMI has actually made it a point to campaign to get certain state mental health facilities to remove smoking bans building wide and provide areas in doors for these people to smoke because until they are medicated it is inhuman to make them go without for even a little while.

Smoking, helped my temper control enormously, and helped me deal with overload. I might be ready to strangle the boss at work, and two deep drags later, I was good to go. between the running and the adderall, I have cut down substantially up to recent months, but have started to smoke more again. Usually a pack will still last me two to three days, where I used to smoke two to three packs a day. The anxiety really made it hard to get away from them. I did quit for two years, but that was before my relapse.

By the way, running is a really good way to cut down without actually thinking about it. When I was running for anger control on the ship on cruise, by the time I got up to ten miles at a shot, I was only smoking three cigarrettes in a day.

i have smoked since i was 16yrs old....when i got into trouble a few years ago i had to quit for 11 mos....but when i came home i started back up and have been a pack a day since then. i wasnt even able to cut back while i was pregnant....i would say definately addicted. would love to quit but i dont think i have the will power

I started smoking when I was 8 yo. Now I've read theat they try ncotine on tourettes... maybe I was on to something back there in the early 80's? :) Stopped when I was 14 but started on snuff instead. Doesn't ruin your lungs. But one snuff (wet) has the same amont of nicotine as 3 ciagrettes. In other words, I get the nicotine of 3 packs of cigattes/day.

I also drink about 1 litre coffe/day. t used to be 2 litres but I've cut down on the coffee ;)

In case I haven't posted to this before... I smoked at one time, but am now allergic to it.

My dad still smokes and has since he was 16. He refuses to quit, even though his health gets worse each month.

I started smoking when I was 12. Quit at 26. Started again at 30. Quit again 4 years later. Then have had the occasional cigarette here and there. Then went a number of years without. Then this past summer for some reason really started wanting one again. I smoke 2 one evening with some friends drinking and felt so lousy for the next few days I don't think I'll try that again. Same thing with cigars . . . smoked a cigar about a month ago. A chocolate cigar! It sure tasted good but I felt like crap the next day.

What's that old quote? Something like "Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it many times!"

I miss smoking for sure. But after watching my mother die from emphezema . . . I think I'll pass from now on. She was so addicted to cigarettes, even with the disease, she continue smoking until her last trip to the hospital where she died.

I started smoking with 17, needed 30 cigarettes a day.
Luckly stopped after 12 years because of a heavy flu, and didn´t start again.

But it took about on year to loose the thoughts about smoking in some situations. But I didn´t dare to take only one breath.

Now I am really lucky to have stopped. Unhealthy it was anyway. But the prices here in the FRG have become extreme, too.

LG
manic

Excuse my English

I started smoking at the age of 16, I "quit" a few times but...
It seems to get me off hypers although as someone said it does tire me

I answered , I quit but thats not totaly true , I did for 12 years but then I was introduced to good cigars. I smoke one a day.
. I took a fact finding trip to the Amazon in 90 and smoking was strongly discouraged so I quit. But when a old frind stoped in 2 years back and handed me a cigar and said sit and have a smoke with me I said Ok, Must have been a week moment. But I like the taist and enjoy relaxing to a good cigar and sip some B & B.

Me too!

Originally posted by misclee
It's funny.....I did lots of things and became psychologically addicted, but never physiologically. Anyone else?

Been smoking for about 25 years since early teens nonstop except for a week here & there. Hand rolled 50 per day currently. I quit that and drinking a while back and had no withdrawl. First cig after a week tasted WONDERFUL! which I don't recall when quitting before. I didn't drink for a couple weeks & then moderately, now back to too much but less than before anyways. On & off pot over the years too, off currently.

The thing I get is a spacey feeling when I quit & I think at least the self medicating seems to make it an enjoyable spacey feeling I guess. I wonder if the smoking itself doesn't cause the spaced out feeling though it might take a month to determine, a week doesn't improve my state of mind.

BTW I tried ADD meds & they didn't seem to help, in fact they got me high but I never really enjoyed the speed high anyways. I do need coffe but not in the PM. I'm not officially diagnosed though my therapist was convinced, my wife isn't buying it.

About the coffee & cigarette point e-boy made - I can attest to that personally.

In the months right before I was diagnosed I was taking summer classes - 3 hours a night four times a week. After a week of them, I found the only way I could sit through class was to drink FOUR large black dunkin donuts iced coffees in the 4 hour period before class - I think they're something like 46 oz. apiece with ice included. Combine that with a pack a day habit, and it makes alot of sense. I switched to decaf because it put me 'over the top' with the adderral, and now I drink maybe 4 a week, but the butt habit still remains. That's just my two cents to back up the nicotene/caffeine statement.

I do not smoke,have never tried a cigarette or wanted to.

I'm what you would call a... boredom smoker. Yeah, it's calming and I love it (a little too much) but what I really (dis)like about cigarettes is how whenever you're bored, y ou can whip one out and take a "break" from your boredom. Waiting for trains, walking down the street, pretty much whenever I'm alone with nothing to do.

I quite last summer and lasted 7 months, but just like Garry Lawton, I relapsed when my life went to hell-and I was also able to retrace it to when I quit. I have plans to quit..eventually..but definately not within the next half-year, especially since I know how aggrevated I get with no nicotine, and coupled with my ADD would make it a tad hard to adjust to college life next year. Heh, just realised the irony. Been a smoker for 7 years and the longest I've ever gone is 7 months

Started smoking at age 12, quite for a few years and picked right back up, I am a chain smoker at times when I really get stressed at work. I really get aggitated when I can't have a cigarette. About 1 to 2 packs per day.

ALL SMOKERS READ THIS !

I AM A Nicotine and Chemical ADDICT to the Max ... Cigarettes contain over 500 chemicals and many additives (some carcinocengic). Some researchers say cigarette smokers are as addicted to the chemicals as they are to the nicotine! I can vouch for this. Cigarette companies put ammonia and other chemicals in the cigarette paper & tobacco so the cogarette burns faster (and you have to buy more cigarettes. They also use the tobacco stems and "junk" end of the tobacco (not the whole leaf) in cigarettes (causing them to burn faster and lack full flavor).
I switched to American Spirits cigarettes (made by Native American Indians in Sante Fe, NM) -- they CHEMICAL & ADDITIVE FREE! They are also made with full, whole leaf (tightly-packed) tobacco and organic paper. They contain nicotine, since nicotine is naturally contained in tobaccco. They offer many different varieties, i.e., Oganic blends, regular, medium, light and ultra-light filters, menthol & non-menthol. They taste great! If you put a lit one in an ashtray and don't drag on it for 10 seconds it will go out--IT WON'T BURN COMPLETELY DOWN LIKE other cigarettes. I DON'T COUGH ANYMORE EITHER! My eyes don't burn and my house and clothes don't smell like chemicals or dirty socks! (dirty socks reminds me of the smell of stale cigarette smoke--actually, it's worse!) I still crave the chemicals (from my Camels Turkish Royals) but it's just withdrawal.
You can buy American Spirits at most tobacco or speciality shops (i.e., pipe and wine shops, metaphysical shops) -- or ask your favorite shop to order them.
BETTER YET, I HAVE THE 1-800 number you can call to GET A CARTON FREE -- PAY ONLY $6.50 S&H. THEY WANT PEOPLE TO TRY "THE WORLD'S BEST TASTING CIGARETTE".
I HAVE TURNED SO MANY PEOPLE ONTO "AM SPIRITS" and they will smoke nothing else! When you get your free carton, they give you a list of all the chemicals/additives in other cigarettes; and information on how AM SPIRITS are made. PLUS, if you fill out a 1-minute survey and mail it in (they give you a postage-paid envelope) they will send you an American Spirit, really COOL, large hand-made TIN with the AM SPIRIT LOGO on it -- it's large and makes a GREAT WALL HANGING or GIFT!

ULTRA COOL COMPANY ... If you need more info, let me know ...
__________________________________________________ _____________________

Well, early in the morning, 'til late at night, I got a poison headache, but I feel alright."
-- Bob Dylan --

I smoke Bali Shag hand rolling tobacco (used to use Drum till they changed ownership). It is popular in Europe, made in Denmark. The papers do have the chems for burning but the tobacco is excellent and much better flavor than regular cigs. Non-smokers even comment about how good the fresh smoke smells compared to others.

I recall reading that American Spirit has the highest niccotine content of any cigarette. I haven't tried them.

The Bali Shag tobacco is moist so slower burning and smooth/flavorful but pretty awful when dried out. They last a lot longer than regular cigs. It drives me nuts to have the natural papers where they keep going out though I'm sure that's healthier 'cause it's annoying to have that smoke constantly pouring off the thing into your eyes. Also I don't know where to get natural papers such as Zig Zag for a reasonable price and these are included in the pack.

A pack is $5 and makes 50 cigs which is 2-1/2 packs (not counting they have no filter and last at least twice as long) & I smoke a pack of them a day. If you figure the smoking length per cig I smoke the equivalent of 5 packs a day. Obviously I cough a lot. I am able to quit without withdrawl but the psych addiction is strong and I have no will power. Been smoking for years since age 12. At least 20 of those 28 years above a pack a day.

I was psychologically addicted to cigaretts many years ago - found it very had to
quit but was sucessfull. The point of note here is - pyschologically addicted - is this a common theme ?

Mafia_Princess is really an undercover marketeer from American Spirit! ;) Just kidding, but the only place I can buy them here is in Christiania, Denmark which is probably the most alternative place to live in Europe, kinda goes with the territory I guess.

Anyway, I find the handrolling cigarettes really reduces the amount of cigarettes I smoke on a daily basis and I also last longer without wanting another cig. But I get odd looks at work when I roll cigs, since they know I smoked weed as well, and it's easier to just whip out one from a pack.

For me, the main problem is more a psychological withdrawl. I get urges to have something in my hands at all times (fiddling a pen, whatever) and when I wait for trains, on trains, walking home, etc... Smoking passes the time, I guess. I quit once for about half a year and that was the thing I missed the most, doing something while waiting, heh.

Just answering the poll had me running for my cigarettes :D. I have tried so many times over the years to quit, but no luck. My doc says I've probably been self-medicating with nicotine and caffiene, so maybe now with meds I'll finally quit!

Have smoked for umpteen years. Started pinching them from my mom at age 12 cuz it was the cool thing to do. Quit during both pregnancies, rarely during their childhood, back into it big time during their teen years, Several sporadic attempts to quit since. Still puffing, but basically a closet smoker now, only at home when no one else is around. Back to like when I was a kid, puffing out my bedroom window at night. Have I come full circle?

Never smoked. Just kind of seemed silly to me. My mom smoked when I was growing up I think that actually was part of what turned me off about it. I just always thought it was really gross.

I smoked, but it was a social thing with me. I would start and stop off and on from about 14 (when I first started) but never smoked more than at the most 5 cigarettes a day. I eventually quit for good when I got pregnant with my son. Now I can't even sit next to someone who has just had a cigarette without it bothering me.....and being in a smoke-filled bar, forget about it.

Never even tried ONE cigarette in my life..disgusting! makes you smell, and kills your breath! The only two things I'm really addicted to are, Music and sports...

i smoke a pipe. i smoked clove cigs, and normal cigs, but i quit those.

i started smoking a pipe last year. i found the process to be more relaxing and enjoyable. the smell and taste is much better as well. i smoke my pipe two times a week roughly. the tobacco is purer, and there is no additivies.

I, too, am a smoker. My two vices caffeine and cigarettes. But since starting meds, I find I am smoking more. Anyone else have a problem with caffeine, nicotine cravings on ritalin LA? Any ideas on how to curb?

I smoked from 14 until I was 22 before I quit the first time for a few months. Then I smoked off and on until I was 25. I quit again, and since I only smoked to stay awake when nothing else would work.


About four months ago I realized my mental fog was the same I had had when withdrawling from cigarettes. I was very stressed from my job, and I was smoking just a cigarette an evening. Around the same time I began to consider again that I might have ADD. The cigarettes really seemed to help so I researched it.

There actually is evidence that Nicotine helps ADD symptoms. Tests have been positive using nicotine patches on teenagers. Nicotine, BTW, isn't addictive if it is administered continously. It's the intermitance of smoking that causes it to be addictive. That's why nicotine is used to break nicotine addictions.
I found out my info on ADD and nicotine by searching Yahoo after suspecting my symptoms were ADD. I was months away from insurance and very fustrated, so I got hooked on cigarettes again as self medication. One of my frustrations was that I wanted to write fiction but I could not get into stories at all. I now have a story that's over 50 book pages that I wrote in 1 month while smoking and using no other treatment. Initially the nicotine really worked.

I quit again after taking Strattera for a couple weeks. I used nicotine lozenges at work because my boss's didn't think I had ADD. So they definitely would think I was nuts for smoking to help with it. Hiding it led to me lying about it when filling out my insurance forms. It became too much of a hassle to keep my head clear with lozenges at work since I was having to be sneaky about them. This motivated me to quit. (Although I never considered staying a smoker as an option because of my family) It was hard to quit, but I got really sick, so I took advantage of my illness to cover up my withdrawl symptoms. I have been smoke free now for two months.

For obvious reasons, I don't recomend smoking, but to those with ADD having trouble quitting, there may be more too it than you ever realized. My strategdy for quitting for my two year period was a mind game. Instead of thinking a cigarette would clear my head, I blamed the withdrawls on the cigarettes. Instead of being the answer to my suffering the cigarettes were the cause. It takes about 3 days to get over the hump and then just reasonable commitment after that. You're not likely to succeed on your first few tries, but it is worth trying again.

I save $5 a day and I have a better chance of living to be a grandpa someday.

James

I have enjoyed smoking for a long time. I have also read that nicotine treats and affects ADDer's differently. Nicotine is a type of stimulant for most, but calming for me and other ADDer's. It is interesting that most responces to the poll were smokers, but most posting here don't or have quit.

my brother & i started chewing when i was about 12 (he was 10 & an evil infulence :D )
by 13 i was boosting my dads camels & grandpas luckys, ma smoked menthol & that made me gag.
always a heavy smoker, i do know that when i quit drinking i was smoking at least 4 packs of chesterfield/day.
when i met my wife i cut down to 1 pack/day filtered & for the next 18 yrs i struggled, quit/start, quit/start again. tried all the gimmicks & finally quit for 5 yrs by using patch. could never shake the addiction in my head, or as i like to day, the committee wants me dead :) .
i gave in with cigars & back to dipping & quit again (w/patches, again)
doing cigars again :eek: sneaking a good cigarette when i let my temper get outta control. the addiction sucks--i quit drinking (needed hospitalization) & other drugs, but i cant seem to let go completly of tobacco.
:(

I started smoking when I was 12 So I've been smoking for 13 years now... All that time I smoked "Javaanse Jongens" rolling tobacco. All that time my tobacco consumption stayed more or less the same at 1 pack (50 grams) a week and a bit more on holidays.
I'll probably quit smoking about 15 minutes after I've been cremated, but with tobacco prices rising rapidly here in the netherlands, I might quit a bit sooner... as one year of non smoking would save enough money to buy a widescreen tv :)

I smoked about a pack a day for 12 years (20-32) and over the past 5 years had espresso dbl shots per week and or a few Mt. Dews per day. Quit both of those this summer; rather... intake of caffeine has gone down 90% - not a full stop.

Started smoking when I was 13. That was the same time when I started getting into less and less fights at school.
For years I have been smoking 2 packs a day, however with less and less nicotine. (Which is odd for an addiction)
Last year when I stopped smoking I noticed some changes, but with my life beeing very troublesome I didn't link it to the smoking right away.
The things that I could link to smoking, such as beeing able to focus much less without cigarettes and generally feeling worse/depressed, however brought me to ADHD.
After 10 Months I started smoking again when I realized that it's going to take at least another 3-5 months to find the right doc get a prescription etc.

2 weeks ago I finaly got my diagnosis. But because I had high pulse (113) and bloodpressure during the physical part of the exam, I need to have my heart checked. (Which was really hard at the beginning, but my new Psychiatrist is ADD as well and for me he is just beeing thorough.)
In order to look good at that exam, I stopped smoking again and it was frightening.
This time I knew what I would have to expect, but still there was bearly anything that didn't change when I stopped.
It is much harder to focus and next to impossible to work on tasks that are tedious. I am very thin-skinned, much easier to get angry, frustrated or depressed. I am drinking more alcohol and coffee since I quit. My sex drive is almost completly gone. I feel it's much harder to stay seated and work/be in a meeting/watch a movie and just stick with the task.

Most of that is just beeing me. The lack of cigarettes just worsens all of that. It's funny how I intuitively medicated myself with "the right stuff" as soon as I had a chance.

I strongly believe that, at least for me, there is a strong link between cigarettes, Alcohol, ADD and all that's somewhere in this "dimension".

I started smoking when I was 21. I was interested in seeing what the effects of weed were like and got hooked on nicotine from the weed/tobacco mix joints. I hate the fact that I smoke and never thought I would be a smoker before I tried it. I love weed but if I don't have it I don't think about it at all, cigarettes are a different matter altogether. I don't suffer physical withdrawal, just psychological addiction that time off from the cigarettes doesn't seem to fix. Funny thing is, if I am in a situation where I can't smoke (I don't want a lot of my friends/family to know as I am ashamed of it) it doesn't bother me too much. If I know I can smoke I can't do anything else until I have a smoke. If I have a smoke after a week off it actually makes me feel physically but sick but at least it stops that mental itch that drives me crazy.

you know what? i started smoking when i was 34!!!! is that the dumbest thing you've ever heard or what?!!!!

and on that pathetic note i'm going outside to have a cigarette.

I was so stressed last year at work. Major problems with a few co-workers, plus feeling overwhelmed by my caseload, plus always in trouble cuz I was chronically late. How did I choose to relieve the stress? You guessed it! Cigarettes. I smoked occasionally in high school, but I was never a "smoker." Over the years I've smoke now & again, but very sporadically. I broke my pattern last spring and smoked daily for a month or two. I am paying for it now.

I was sooo close to buying a pack tonight, but I opted for beer instead ...hmm, that might not be the best choice, eh? When I smoke ...I smoke badly --one cig after another. But I don't love beer, so I'm not likely to overdo it with alcohol --one beer is pretty much all I desire when I choose to drink at all.

gingagirl,

when i smoke, i smoke like a chimney too. i also think it came about as a result of stressful life events. well, i KNOW it did. the funny thing about beer for me is that i have always just loved the taste of it, so i would zip through 3 or 4 in a day without even thinking about it. nowadays, i can barely finish one at all (not a bad thing i realize). i just wonder if it has to do with the meds or is strictly coincedence....

btw, would you please check out my question on "vegetarianism" thread? i would really appreciate your help on that one. thanks.

If this new "let's-try-a-drug-for-a-condition-and-if-it-works-maybe-she-has-the-condition" experiment (was put on dex just to see if it could solve my memory problems, and it seems to be working somewhat) is correct, then yes, I guess maybe I've got ADD, and have smoked since I was 18, subtracting the year that I was pregnant plus two months after I gave birth. In the winter, though, I don't smoke as much--we've always had a 'no-smoking-in-the-house' policy, and if I have to go outside and smoke in Iowa in a cold snap, I'll freeze my butt off, so I'm more likely to avoid it unless I'm seriously jonesing. Ask the other members from Iowa, and those north of us--we're freezing our butts off right now! If not for fingerless gloves, going outside for a cigarette can make my hands numb for 15 minutes after I come inside my warm house!

Chrys

p.s., Free2BeMe--same here, suddenly I'm wanting to go out and have a smoke!

wow, these polls are so amazing....i smoke cigarettes...i have quit before for like 6 months...but i am addicted.....crazy stuff!

Currently smoking while reading this.....

Started smoking in college because for some reason (probably something I read in a novel) I had the idea that it would help me focus. Can't get any work done without them now. At submission deadline time - which, of course, is when I start writing - I survive pretty much on cigs (2 packs every 18 hrs) and sweet coffee (this does help keep my weight in the normal range though :)).

For those interested, here are some titles of papers on smoking/nicotine (sorry, I really cannot help it). You can get to the abstracts through the scholar version of google or IM me.

- Nicotine and attention in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
- Cigarette smoking in adult patients diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- Nicotine effects on adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

yeah I did years ago one in a while during my first job. Havent touched them since. auntchris:cool:

I have smoked since I was a teen. I can go without it in certain settings, but I have noticed that I do smoke more now than I ever did, when I do.
I really should quit though.

Nicotine addiction SUCKS!!!! I have quit drug abuse, I can take or leave alcohol, if I decide I need to watch my weight I can say no to cholocate, any sweet, when I found out I was having some problems swelling pre-menstraly I put down the extra salt with out a second thought. I can quit looking a porn with a simple request from a partner, TV I don't care about it at all. I can go days with out being on the internet without with draw but DAM if I could only leave the ciggs alone!!! Physical addiction---I quit once for a year and a half once and still had nicotine cravings......I haven't a clue weather ADD has any thing to do with my smoking I figured it was due to nicotine addiction as I don't feel I have an addictive personality. I will admitt the only thing that comes close to nicotine addiction is sex HMmmm but I can go longer with out sex before wanting to kill some thing that I can go without smoking.

in about a week it will be a year since i quit smoking. right after i quit was thre real begining of my melt down that led me to get the diagnosis of add and start aderall the day my grandfather went into the hospital. I really think that much of the reason i smoked, like much of the reason for any addiction, is self medication, and the need to regulate ourselves to a more normal level. After I quit I did not have the stimulent effect that the cigs gave me there fore starting my crash.

I smoke , it is very strange thing , I try to take care of my body and eat things that are good for me but then I smoke. This is a much harder addiction to quit than alcohol, I tried beer again just recently but I no longer want it or crave it and I am much better with out it !! :D

I am ashamed of it because it's all negative attributes and yet I still puff away.

"I am ashamed of it because it's all negative attributes and yet I still puff away." one of yhe cornerstones that keeps our addictions, any addiction going and strong is shame. if we can learn to get around the shame we can get around the addiction.

I smoked for years, I stopped numerous times only to start all over again with a weak moment and 1 cigarette. I remember that when I was having a difficult time concentrating on completing something at work, I'd go have a cigarette and I would gain enough clarity to get back to work, never knew about ADHD at the time. I did finally convince myself that I would quit cold turkey and never ever have another cigarette. I haven't smoked since September 16, 2003 and I'm proud of the accomplishment:cool: . I will never slight anyone for not being able to quit, it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done.

The shame bit holding you back from quitting may be true for drugs and alcohol, the ones that alter you perception
so you don't have to feel bad that you spent this months rent on crack isn't quite the same animal as a cigarette

I was a pretty heavy smoker for most of my teen years, and through most of my 20's. The only time I was able to quit was during my pregnancies. I was at one point up to 3 packs of cigarettes a day. I chained smoked, obviously. I quit almost two years ago when after a routine doctors visit, I found out my body was making insane amounts of red blood cells. From that we discovered that my oxygen levels at night were dropping to dangerously low levels (in the 70's all night, should be above 90). I had to go through lung tests, heart tests, and lots of blood tests. I was told that in 10-20 years my organs would start shutting down from the lack of oxygen. Not a pretty thing to go through only being in my 20's.
I quit my 3 pack a day habit cold turkey. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but the thought of my kids without a mother was unbearable for me.

I just think it's another way that many of us tend to self medicate ourselves. It's a good "fidget release" too.

Cigarette Smokers
I was recently on another AD/HD message board and somebody made statement that most ADDers are ciggarette smokers. I had never heard or read that any where before but It got me wondering.
Been smoking since I was 15 after I smoked weed for the first time, which had tobacco added to it.
That was after I tried my first cigarette a few months ago and didn't smoke afterwards..
Quit for 2 years (of which I smoked on and off for 1 year), and started smoking fulltime again this year.
It makes me nauseous sometimes, but I like it too much to leave it.

Did you know it's scientifically proven that smoking improves concentration (aside from long-term vain-constricting stuff..) ?

I've smoked since the age of about 13yrs old and still do, hopefully one day i will have the willpower to get rid who knows............

The key to quitting as far as I can see is truly wanting to quit and making up your mind to do it. This sounds extremely easy, but that's not the case. I will never minimize quitting. I do beleive that all of us have the power to quit smoking, just not all us us recognize the strenghth within to do so.

Cigarette Smokers
I was recently on another AD/HD message board and somebody made statement that most ADDers are ciggarette smokers. I had never heard or read that any where before but It got me wondering.I have read a study and even watched one of those news shows [20/20 or something] where they found that smoking actually helps those with ADD.

About 10 years ago, I stopped racing my bike and picked up smoking. Yeah, I was 30 years old when I started but today, I have gone through about 2 1/2 packs.

My therapist who just recently diagnosed me with ADD (and who is ADD herself) was the first to tell me that smoking can help ADDers to concentrate and calm down a bit. Something about raising your Dopamine levels. My pregnant wife who wants me to quit before the baby comes along wasn't too happy to hear that ;) but I'm currently slated to quit on Monday so I'll let everyone know how things go. I quit over a year ago when I got engaged but picked it back up after 8 months.

Being a recovering alcoholic with a few years of sobriety, I can testify to the fact that quitting smoking is much harder than giving up the booze and I think if I polled my fellow 12 steppers who smoke, every one of them would agree.