To cu to the chase. Has anyone tried vaping (nicotine) + green tea (to get some MAOI) ?
Green tea has very little MAOI action. Otherwise I might be in the ER right now.
I am on a pharmaceutical MAOI (under doctor's prescription of course), take a green tea extract supplement (to control my caffeine intake to a precise milligram level, so as not to cause hypertension), and vaping was not enough.
Though, I wasn't able to even
consider quitting smoking until I began the MAOI (because smoking was the only antidepressant that was working).
I still feel smoking, snus and snuff have an additional action that I
do not feel otherwise.
Points:
(1) "MAOI" is a
functional term encompassing a lot of different chemicals, and there are a number of compounds that can have this broad type of activity. They can vary dramatically in:
MAO-A vs. MAO-B vs. non-selective action
Degree of inhibition
Reversible vs. irreversible inhibition
Half-life in the body and brain
Mode of delivery, influencing inhibition of peripheral vs. cerebral MAO
In other words...MAO inhibitors are not all created equal, and they're not easily substituted.
(The pharmaceutical MAOIs are the strongest, irreversible, and non-selective. Hence why I figure I cover the MAOI action with my prescription. But, lots of unknowns out there...)
(2) There are almost certainly other factors besides the MAOIs in tobacco smoke that are influencing tobacco dependence.
I tried to point this out in my summary (i.e. that it's the
whole tobacco alkaloids, but one component that is
probably doing a lot are the beta-carboline MAOIs).
But I should make it clearer to avoid the idea that "MAOIs are everything". I think it could mislead many people.
(3) Because of (1) and (2), just adding back a chemical with MAO inhibiting action is an uncertain approach. If done without caution, it may be harmful. (Many herbal supplements can have bad interactions with prescription drugs, for instance, so it's worth checking with your doctor if you're on anything else. They'll also have other botanical compounds in them with other effects. Pure MAOI action is pretty much impossible to come by, even in pharmaceuticals.)
(4) However...my anecdotal experience above is my brain only. While I'm trying to point out the uncertainties, it's possible that others could be successful with an approach that involves adding in supplement(s). See this
discussion with exogenesis - it may give you ideas.
I would be glad to get other ideas for MAOI (except snus or snuf).
If you're looking for the whole tobacco alkaloids, those are your options -- and I do suggest you give them at least a try. Dissolvables like Stonewalls could help too, though their concentration of alkaloids is probably lower.
Reading a lot of articles made me believe that nicotine in fact does not cause all this chemical addiction (ther's also the hand to mouth, smoke a.s.o) but only helps at it. Second question regarding nicotine, that seems intresting is that if this is true, although it has been discussed a lot.
I think the answer to "Is nicotine addictive by itself?" is the same as the answer to that old joke about boxers vs. briefs:
Depends.
