PlainPill

Cigarettes

People mainly take Cigarettes for anxiety, sleep, focus. Based on 8 first-hand reports and 778 meta-analyses & systematic reviews in the medical literature. Ranked #1437 of 1,974 overall.

10
User score
Mixed
0% positive62% mixed38% negative0% unclear

Of reports that state an outcome, 0% are positive.

Clinical research
AStrong research base
778
meta-analyses
2,397
RCTs
40,294
papers

What Cigarettes does, according to users

Of the people who reported each effect, the share who said it got better.

What the research says

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses from PubMed, with their published conclusions.

AStrong research base

3+ meta-analyses or systematic reviews and 10+ randomized controlled trials in humans. The grade measures how much human research exists — read the conclusions below for what it found.

Br J Gen Pract · 2005 · Meta-analysis / systematic review
Motivational interviewing: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Conclusion: Motivational interviewing in a scientific setting outperforms traditional advice giving in the treatment of a broad range of behavioural problems and diseases. Large-scale studies are now needed to prove that motivational interviewing can be implemented into daily clinical work in primary and secondary health care.

PubMed 15826439 ↗
Prev Sci · 2024 · Meta-analysis / systematic review
A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of School-Based Preventive Interventions Targeting E-Cigarette Use Among Adolescents

Conclusion: It provides crucial new knowledge about the efficacy of such interventions in preventing e-cigarette use and improving other outcomes (e.g., tobacco use, knowledge, intentions, attitudes, and mental health) among adolescents and the key characteristics associated with efficacious interventions. Our findings have important practical implications, highlighting future research directions for the development and evaluation of e-cigarette preventive interventions, along with the need to provide support to schools to help them identify and adopt evidence-based programs.

PubMed 39325296 ↗
Int Dent J · 2025 · Meta-analysis / systematic review
Effects of Electronic Cigarettes on Periodontal Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Conclusion: Based on the current analysis, conventional cigarette smoking is the most detrimental to periodontal health among the groups compared in all included studies. This indicates that traditional cigarettes have a more severe impact on periodontal tissues than do e-cigarettes. The data suggest a gradient of risk where nonsmokers have the lowest risk, e-cigarette users have a moderate risk, and cigarette smokers have the highest risk for periodontal health issues.

PubMed 39863518 ↗

Dosage people report

As stated by users — not a recommendation. Follow the label or your doctor.

1-2 packsdaily
12/daydaily
1 mgas reported

Reported side effects

How often each side effect came up across all reports.

copd ×1cardiovascular damage ×1lung cancer ×1addiction ×1withdrawal anxiety ×1brain fog ×1inner tension ×1distractibility ×1

What users say

Verbatim quotes, shortened only — each links to the original discussion.

“Cigarettes are obviously bad”
Source discussion ↗
“I smoked 2 packs a day for years and after I quit I got my lungs tested and they were at 98%”
Source discussion ↗
“A week ago I decided to switch back to cigarettes as an experiment...My sleep last night was probably the best I've gotten in years.”
Source discussion ↗
“I been smoking cigs since I was 18 ... helped so much with anxiety at first ... now it doesn’t really help me with anxiety beyond stopping withdrawl anxiety.”
Source discussion ↗
“cigarettes to have a very calming effect on me”
Source discussion ↗
Top discussions (5)

Other options for anxiety

User data from public discussions; research from PubMed. Information only, not medical advice — talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. Data updated October 2, 2026. How we rate