Is nicotine by itself an anxiety reliever?

[LoveMeTender]

I'd just like everyone's thoughts.

[tarkus]

Well if you are addicted to nicotine as most of us here are then the lack of nicotine will certainly cause anxiety. We need our fix.

[LoveMeTender]

I actually meant the thread to compare smoking a cigarette and vaping a comparable amount of nicotine, not so much regarding the addiction.

[johnny bobcat]

well being that nicotine is a stimulant..... no, unless you are already addicts like we all are its not going to be relaxing, quite the opposite actually

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Nope... many others also find that like me, it can even make it worse to up the nicotine level in the niqliquid.

After 10 months of torture when I quit and started vaping, I found info on snus on ECF and decided to try snus to supplement vaping (returning some of the MAOI that isn't in nicotine e-liquid) and get rid of the anxiety from quitting smoking. Good stuff and now I'm a much happier vaping camper.

[tarkus]

My experience and from what I've read here nicotine is absorbed much slower when vaping so the quick "fix" is not there with the ecig for the same amount of nicotine.

[LoveMeTender]

So do most think that if a person who isn't addicted to nicotine will find vaping a stimulant and cause more anxiety. And as this person gets addicted to the nicotine will find vaping an anxiety reliever, but their base anxiety level before starting will have increased.

[Kate51]

Nicotine can do both, stimulate and depress.
It can raise blood pressure by it's ability to cause vascular constriction, thus thought to be a stimulant.
But it's effect in the brain is quite different, it's actually a neuro-depressant, which gives it the effect of creating a feeling of euphoria. This is the part smokers' crave, and the first hit of a just lit cigarette, deep breath, and the "aah" is the part that smokers find hard to give up, or the hand to mouth almost instant feeling all is well ~ euphoric.
This is also the part that vaping doesn't take care of quite so quickly, so most of us are vaping seemingly endlessly at first. We don't get the lung hit of combusted tobacco, we rely on the slower absorbtion of nicotine through mouth nose and throat tissues. It's been proven not to be absorbed at a great rate in the lungs, due to nicotine in vapor being a larger particle...particles are lost out of the vapor before getting into the lungs. It can take a few minutes before you feel the effect of euphoria, in other words.
It's also proven that the amount of nicotine absorbed from vaping is only about 10-13% of that absorbed by combusted tobacco. Some people use a very high density juice to try to increase nic levels, others find they need snus or even a cigarette to offset the unexpected lower nic vapor. Some of us deal with that by vaping more. Eventually, your body adjusts, it takes some time, as in weeks.

http://www.healthnz.co.nz/ecig_effect-2.pdf

Vaping from smoking will result in the more common symptoms of withdrawal, but after time has been found by many of us that cutting down nicotine levels in our liquids is much easier than cutting down on cigarettes, almost no indicators of withdrawal at all. I've cut back my starting level of 24mg/ml down to 12mg, with virtually no withdrawal effect at all.
Which has always raised the question, are we addicted to the nicotine or the substance the nicotine is in. I'd say the latter is more likely.

[Katmar]

I agree with Kate51's last sentence, for sure.

[TWISTED VICTOR]

While nicotine itself is a stimulant, the euphoric effects come from tobacco. The nic used in PV's is stripped of the alkaloids that cause the relaxed and calming feeling we get from a cigarette. For those that are addicted to nicotine only, abstinence can cause anxiety. For those that are addicted or need the maoi effects, the nic we use can cause anxiety partly from the stimulant effect. A lot of smokers have been using cigarettes to self-medicate chemical imbalances, but weren't aware of it until switching to PV's and sliding into depression and anxiety, commonly 3-6 weeks after the switch was made. Others have found it impossible to completely give up smokes, regardless of determination and PV use. That's why I'm now a user of Swedish snus.