Other ADHDers have noticed that stimulant ADHD medications increase their desire to smoke-- even though there isn't any specific research to support this theory.

You might need to enlist the help of a buddy . . . or try combating the urge to smoke with exercise.

Good luck, Dena

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I'd like to hear comments on this too. My son has started smoking and seems too love the taste and smell of cigarettes. He says it helps with stress, but I never thought before of a connection with his ADHD and stimulant meds. At this point he has no interest in quitting, but we as his parents are interested in his quitting! He gets upset if we talking about it because he says we are trying to take away something that helps stress. Since he grew up in a home of non-smokers, I wasn't prepared for his attraction to cigarettes.

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I started smoking when i was 16 and wish i never started i wasnt diagnosed with adhd until early 20's but found that my real addiction started after i started taking my meds (dexamphetamines) i used to smoke approx 3 cigs a week and only when i was with a certain group of people but once i left highschool started working i started smoking more, i think it was the routines id developed and certain situations/events and cigerettes that i was addicted to rather than the nicotine as id only do it on work breaks or walking to and from work it helped with stress but on the other hand causes the stress, i find i get stressed out all of a sudden and have a smoke to calm down but really the stress is caused by nicotine withdrawls and the stress relief is actually me getting my fix, if i didnt smoke i wouldnt have withdrawls and thus wouldnt become stressed periodically throughout the day. also once i started medication i found that i didnt smoke so much while they were working but once i started coming down off them i will chain smoke, i think i do this because i still want to be on the go but am loosing my drive to keep myself on what ever task it is so i use cigerettes as a means to keep myself occupied. if that makes sense, i dont smoke nearly as much when i dont take my meds however wether on meds or not i dont like idle hands i always have something in my hands wether it be a stress ball a tissue i can scrunch up lacky bands or a smoke i cant sit still without having something for my hands to play with, i think its nervous tension or what ever but smoking definetly fills a void when sitting still like nothing else and i hate that. also arnt alot of meds stimulants? so is nicotine, coffee, energy drinks, for those of us who started before we were perscribed medications it could have been something to do with self medicating, could it be that nonperscription stimulants were a way to cope with adhd symptoms prior to diagnosis? also the son that is now smoking since starting meds, i've read alot of articles that say medicated people are LESS likely to use drugs (ie nicotine). Maybe its something to help ease withdrawls, i know that when im coming off meds it sucks i feel stressed anxious and annoyed for no reason and i guess smoking is a temporary relief if thats the case talk to the doc about a lower dose at the end of the day to ease withdrawl symptoms?

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I smoked from age 18 to 31. I am now 32. My motivation to stop? I realized that after thirteen years, I was only 6 years shy of the amount of time it took a friend's mother to get lung cancer and die. It was a terrible situation.

First, I can say that nicotine gum helps with the physical addiction.

Second, you should stop drinking completely for at least a couple months and then ease back into it (but not at a bar, at a non-smoking friends home preferably, or your own) one drink at a time. The alcohol / nicotine association was my single greatest weakness (plus my judgment, was blurred and inhibitions lower while drinking, i.e., more prone to giving in). I don't think you should be around smoking friends at all for the first couple months, but definitely don't go drinking with them until you are ready.

Finally, my most important piece of advice. Find someone to be accountable to. Someone you truly care about and care what they think. Someone you can call or visit at least daily. Someone who doesn't smoke. Preferably not someone quitting with you bc they could fall off the wagon and then you're leg would fall out from under you too (or, you'd cheat 'together'). Answering to someone else is the way I quit. My wife helped me (it was my decision btw, she just supported me on it). I answered to her and couldn't hide it. Find a roommate, a close friend or family member, coworker, or a neighbor. That is your best bet.

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