Does Snus TRULY have MAOI's or WTA's???

[Timberwear]

I finally picked up a thing of Camel snus. I tried it tonight, and well... I ended up smoking cigarettes. I think I'm going to keep trying with the snus though, tomorrow.

Does this thing really have MAOI's? Or do we actually need to -burn- the tobacco to release or create these things... because all the stuff I have ever read online about MAOI's was talking about how tobacco smoke itself has them...

I know some of you say snus was awesome and helped you truly quit analogs...

But are you truly happy? Do you ever want an analog? Does snus help with the MAOI's/alkaloids in terms of not feeling depressed and all that?

 

[Stubby]

Snus certainly does help with feeling depressed. It far more satisfying then e-cigs for those that are looking for.... that something missing thing in PV's.

The problem you are having is that camel (and Marlboro) snus are very bad examples of what snus is about. Just about everyone who has been using Swedish snus, and that includes myself feel the American snus is a joke compared to what the Swedes are doing. Camel snus was made to be a supplement to smoking... for those times when you can't smoke. Swedish snus is made to be a complete replacement for cigarettes. It's a good deal more potent and satisfying. I wouldn't make judgements until you give the real stuff a try.

 

[Katya]

What he said^. Stubby knows what he's talking about.

 

[Timberwear]

Thanks Guys... yeah I have used the swedish stuff about 7 years ago... tried it again while I was still smoking around 6 months ago...just didn't really keep trying it...threw it away.

I ordered 2 things of general snus tonight off northerner...

but something occurred to me tonight. i realized i was still trying to hit my ecig like the way i hit a regular cig. first draw in the smoke to humidify it, then inhale...

maybe the nicotine was just attaching to my mouth so i wasn't actually inhaling it? because its probably placebo but after reading a tip on this forum tonight about direct inhaling i started doing that... and i think its working? hard to know if its placebo

 

[Kate51]

The available nicotine in vapor is absorbed primarily in your mucosa, mouth nose and throat. Very little is drawn into the lungs or upper airways (bronchi). What you're looking for is the 'instant' satisfaction same as a cigarette....you're not going to get that. It takes a few minutes for the nicotine to absorb, and no it is not placebo, it is abosorbed into your blood stream, just a little slower. BUT once it hits a plateau, it stays even as you continue vaping. Plasma (blood) testing would tell you that, but you are absorbing about 1/10th nicotine as compared to cigarettes: that's the difference. And that's why a lot of people have some trouble with feeling satisfied, you will go through some withdrawal. IF you stop smoking right away! For a couple months you will have (out on a limb here) mild withdrawal. Nothing like cold-turkey.
I didn't see what strength of nicotine you were vaping.
I was a heavy smoker, chain smoked, and really wasn't comfortable with less than 24mg/ml juice.
16mg was ok, but it kept me puffing like a fiend. You need to find a comfort zone, so to speak, and maybe with a little help from good snus the cigarettes won't seem as necessary. I experienced savage hunger and a nervous feeling of high energy for a couple months, gradually fading, and nothing I couldn't handle pretty well. And I vaped 100% from day one, no cigarettes. In 18 months, not one!

Once the hunger cravings and high energy faded, I was easily able to cut down nicotine by 25% two times. From 24mg, down to 18mg, and again down to 12mg. With NO FURTHER WITHDRAWAL. Nicotine is not placebo, you really can manage stop smoking very effectively. Knowing what's happening I hope may help you out a little.

 

[Timberwear]

Hey Kate51 -

Well I feel I'm noticing a big difference.. really too soon to tell I have to keep trying.

I'm using the LOW cartridge, but seemingly getting something where-as before I was getting NOTHING.

I will have to disagree that most nicotine is absorbed in the mouth or similar areas, because once when I was smoking cigarettes I tried for awhile just not even inhaling, and honestly it never worked at all. For me I need it into my lungs.

Whatever is happening now, is totally fine with me. Even if it takes a few minutes. Maybe its really being absorbed in my throat and not my lungs... but at least the nicotine is not getting stuck in my mouth first.

The only other possibility here is that the HIGH AND MED cartridges I had used before this were inactive somehow... and that this LOW cartridge actually has nicotine in it. But I doubt this possibility. Or, the MAOI's from the three smoked cigarettes I smoked earlier tonight, with the snus pouch... are making this nicotine hit me harder. I'll have to experiment.

 

[Kate51]

The molecules of nicotine in vapor are too large to carry to your lungs. With cigarettes, the tobacco and everything is combusted, burned, and in that context the molecules of nicotine become part of the smoke molecules, particles very much smaller, and absorbed also in the mouth nose and throat, but carry in the smoke and tar CO2, Carcinogens, etc. all the way into your lungs where it transfers readily into your bloodstream with some loss of oxygenation! No kidding, that is part of the drawing in of smoke! Nicotine, however, doesn't kill you, unless you drink your juice, SMOKE KILLS. Slowly but surely.
Just talking about it makes me kinda sick.
But Nicotine in vapor yes it does get absorbed, just more slowly to build up to an acceptable comfortable level. You will not get much of a lung hit with vapor. Snus also is powered with nicotine, so you are getting more nicotine while using that with vaping. Snus is also a good example of absorbtion through mucosa (lining) of your mouth and throat. Along with those helpful MAOI's and Alkaloids.

BUT however it gets absorbed should be acceptable.....what's the difference, really, how it gets into your blood stream....from your lungs or mouth, absolutely no difference. It is getting there!
Another thing is to find a really good juice, flavor that fits your wishes. I finally went to DIY, have been making my favorite tobacco flavor for over a year now. Taste/aroma satisfaction is also important to pleasant vaping experience.

 

[Timberwear]

Well I wasn't using the snus at the same time I tried direct inhaling...

But snus is there for 30 minutes... and yes i do feel snus usually, specially swedish.

But I never ever felt anything from just mouth smoking a cigarette... i'm sure it does work obviously but not enough from one cigarette to truly notice it. At least for me. Even if I smoked a couple in a row that way.

I understand what your saying about smoke getting the stuff into your lungs better. So if the vapor isn't getting into my lungs, I must be absorbing it into my brochii and throat... because I swear holding it in my mouth first before inhaling... i didn't get any effects.

 

[hittman]

I am a little late getting in on this one and you have already received some very good information from the others here. I started with the camel snus too but once I started using swedish snus, there was no going back for me. I also like that the swedish snus is clearly labeled on the websites as to the nicotine strength. That has helped me to set up a better routine and deal with cravings better since I can choose a snus in the strength that I feel that I need at the time. I have read before that the vaporized molecules are too large to be absorbed in the lungs and do believe that is true but I still enjoy a strong nic content liquid that gives a good throat hit and the feeling of inhaling. I understand what you are talking about when you say you feel better when you do a direct or lung hit. For me I think it is more of a mental thing with the vaping than a physical thing. I also heard Tropical Bob say before that if you exhale thru the nose that it helps to absorb more.

 

[Kate51]

A good demonstration of particles in vapor would be to boil some water. If you have hard water you see white particles of calcium build up in and close the the pan, but not ranging out very far. Same effect with nicotine suspended in vapor. The heaviest particles can only carry so far from the atomizer, the area of highest heat. The particles of nicotine can only hang in the vapor until it reaches it's dew point, so to speak, that's not tech talk, just for illustration.
If you hang around this place very long there's a lot of things about smoking and vaping that we never thought about in depth before, this new technology is something that seems to inspire many more questions than we even thought to find out about when we smoked. In fact, maybe we didn't want to know!! Truth hurts kind of thing. Seems like now with e-cigs there's kind of a feverish drive to know everything possible regarding our safety ~ we're trying like heck to see if all the hype is justified......so far, I'm convinced, simply from a standpoint of how I feel (my health) now VS while smoking, while still being able to use nicotine to the point my brain function is enhanced by it, not hurt by it.....very much like using a patch without the nasty irritated quilt-looking red squares all over my skin reacting from the adhesive!
Maybe some day the Health experts will look at nicotine more as a necessary vitamin for some people's needed enhancement of brain function (ADD, ADHD, Alheimer's, dimentia, MS, lupus, etc), after all, it has been used for thousands of years and is a naturally occuring substance in plants. Spinach, maybe not, but tomatoes, nightshade-family plants, yeah, like tobacco!

 

[rothenbj]

Kate, will never happen-

"Maybe some day the Health experts will look at nicotine more as a necessary vitamin for some people's needed enhancement of brain function (ADD, ADHD, Alheimer's, dimentia, MS, lupus, etc), after all, it has been used for thousands of years and is a naturally occuring substance in plants. Spinach, maybe not, but tomatoes, nightshade-family plants, yeah, like tobacco! "

Because, they'll have a pill for that which is totally different than self medication and so much more profitable for those in the know.

 

[Timberwear]

Well its interesting. I think humans in general used to consume natural plant medicines on a daily basis. Animals do it also...

Then we started hybridizing herbs and plants....

for instance, lettuce. it comes from wild lettuce. which is a narcotic... even given to children. also to get people off opium. now the lettuce we have in supermarket isn't as bitter...less medicinal components.

nicotine to me is sorta like that (or whatever else in tobacco)... some of us like tobacco because, humans are pretty much meant to consume herbs for our medicine.

some of us just need nicotine as much as caffeine.

 

[Kate51]

Timberwear, That's a perfect comparison! Please, don't say too loud about caffeine being in coffee, because just like rothenbj says, the FDA will get ahold of that and start regulating coffee pots as "caffeine delivery devices"!! We'll have to get our caffeine fix via prescription.......

 

[hova]

lol that would be about par for the course... walmart would have to lock up their coffee , and overseas coffee pot sales would be clamped down so quick...

i can see it now , the modding community coming together to get that perfect way to drip water through hand ground coffee beans..

 

[AllCoExPat]

I know some of you say snus was awesome and helped you truly quit analogs...

But are you truly happy? Do you ever want an analog? Does snus help with the MAOI's/alkaloids in terms of not feeling depressed and all that?

I can't speak to the "science" of it, but I'll attest to snus doing the trick for me. My first PV got me down to about 5 cigs a day (from a 2 pack a day habit), but I couldn't quite get all the way over the hump. I picked up a tin of Camel Mellow and that helped a little more. Then I found the smokeless forum here and ordered the Swedish snus sampler from General. Other than a few slippery points in the beginning, it's been all good for me.

I haven't had a smoke since May 22nd, but there have definitely been moments where I really wanted one. Those moments are getting to be pretty rare, though. Now I can hold off the cravings with a combination of my PV, snus (a strong portion now and then), and nasal snuff when I need really quick delivery. I wish I could get my fix in an "all-in-one" solution, but that doesn't seem to be likely any time soon. After finding snus I haven't had any issues with depression or moodiness (other than my usual charming personality, of course). I'm a true believer.

 

[sanfordf]

SNUS has worked for me, in conjunction with vaping, to keep me off burning butts since 01/27/2010. I started with Camel last year 'cuz of the discount coupons made them nearly free. Got about 12 cans for about $5. Now, I like General white portion. It's quite a bit different.

 

[rothenbj]

I can't speak to the "science" of it, but I'll attest to snus doing the trick for me. My first PV got me down to about 5 cigs a day (from a 2 pack a day habit), but I couldn't quite get all the way over the hump. I picked up a tin of Camel Mellow and that helped a little more. Then I found the smokeless forum here and ordered the Swedish snus sampler from General. Other than a few slippery points in the beginning, it's been all good for me.

I haven't had a smoke since May 22nd.........

My story is almost an exact ditto other than my last day was back on Feb 15th which gets me to the 6 mo mark in five days. Just using snus and some ecig. That being said, I've had a six snus day (just now) where my normal is about four. Feeling a bit edgy, but I'm getting cabin fever with the temp at 95 and humid. Tomorrow should be better, even though it will be hotter. I volunteer in the AM and planning on washing my golden when I get home. He'll be happy..... I hope.

 

[Timberwear]

Nice to know about the snus helping... i picked up another pack of american spirit menthols... today i didn't smoke anything all day, barely even vaped... at work it was going okay but i was slower... also my thoughts started turning bad... i won't mention what type of thoughts i even had!

my ecig ran out of battery at work... so... couldn't really vape... still not sure if it even helps i just haven't been able to test it.

 

[hova]

the snus doesnt really remove my cig cravings , but since my accident , im not really worried about cigs . i smoke maybe 10 a day if its a bad day , compared to 20-30 on a normal day before my accident. this was mainly due to having to drive 12 hours minimum for work. i definitely need to get a job where i dont drive...


and as far as batteries dying , thats why i made a box mod. 3 AA batteries , and im good for 2 days of heavy (read: constant) vaping. even after 2 days its just down to 3.6v , but i start noticing i have to take longer hits , and i also start getting juice in the mouth.

rayovac has rechargeables that are supposed to work in any ni-mh battery charger , they are at wally world for 7$ for 4 of them. compared to 18$ for four energizers that i originally bought...

good luck , and like they tell me , the swedish snus is better , so you may want to give that a try.

think they said the site was "mrsnus.com" or something like that...

-hov

 

[hittman]

hova, are you using regular 1.5v batteries? I made some box mods but used the 14500 lithium rechargeables that are 3.7v.