Self Medicating/don't try this at home

Nicotine is truly a wonder drug.

I mentioned in an earlier post that although I officially quit smoking several years ago, I recently found myself sneaking a cigarette here and there, usually while drinking. Although wildly pleasurable, the smoke ultimately produces a feeling of guilt and remorse in me, and sets off al kinds of anxiety about health risks associated.

Well, BF and I had a good long talk about this the other evening. He pointed out to me that in addition to anxiety, I’ve been exhibiting symptoms of depression and that perhaps the nicotine was really my attempt at treating it. He mentioned several studies that suggest, nicotine actually possesses antidepressant properties. A quick scan brought up this article.

As a result of our talk, I decided that I’m not going to smoke anymore. Instead, I’m just going for the gold and upping my nicotine dosage with the patch. Yesterday evening I picked up a box of 7 milligram patches and applied my first one this morning. I swear, this has been the best morning I’ve had in months. One cup of coffee later and I had washed several days’ worth of dishes and took out the trash. I will admit that the 7 mg dosage is too much for me. I had to take it off! Tomorrow, I’ll cut one in half.

Meanwhile, I think I’ll shovel snow, vacuum, iron and give the dog a bath.