Nic addiction question

[kristin]

Actually yes I have discussed it with my doctor. He feels that if it were the nic keeping it at bay it would be a far more immediate and constant problem than every couple of months or so. Also that an hour or 2 at higher nic level would not knock it out, it would take much longer term use.

If your doctor is a GP, I'd personally get a second opinion from a psychiatrist familiar with depression and chemical treatments. (Which may or may not help, since the anti-depressent benefits of nicotine is so widely ignored by the health industry. Some still believe nicotine is carcinogenic or causes smoking-related diseases.) Having lived with the condition, I know it can come in infrequent episodes and regular medication may not be necessary. Your condition may be so minor that a little bit of vaping is enough to sooth your mood.

If you think about it, nicotine only stays active in the brain for a very short time, which is why smokers get cravings throughout the day. If you've gone days and weeks without it, your body isn't needing it counter normal withdrawal symptoms from lack of nicotine anymore. It would only take a few hours for withdrawal symptoms (such as your depression) to kick in, not days or weeks. If its not minor depression or nicotine withdrawal as the cause, then the only logical explanation is the you are craving the behavior, which somehow gives you comfort. But if you were truly addicted to nicotine, your body would show signs of withdrawal within a matter of hours, not days/weeks.

 

[Tbaggerr]

I ended up watching this last night and it was very informative. It's pretty long and I mostly just listened while playing video games but for anyone wanting some statistics (both medical and sociological) this the a good watch. I think it's around an hour.

Electronic cigarettes: What we know so far - YouTube

 

[zoiDman]

One other thing that is Worthy of Mentioning.

When people Completely switch from Cigarettes to e-Cigarettes, they are substituting Nicotine intake but they are Not substituting the Other Chemicals that are Added to and Created when Tobacco is Burned.

I firmly believe that I was just as Addicted to those Other Chemicals as I was to Nicotine when I Smoked. Perhaps even More.

When a person Switches, they can go thru Withdrawal because e-Liquids do not have or create all those Wonderful Chemicals that were doing their part to Slowly Kill Me.

So New Users will may go thru a period of Chain vaping to Chase what Isn't there.

Unfortunately, this only Adds to the Mental Side of putting something in your Mouth and Taking a Hit.

 

[kristin]

One other thing that is Worthy of Mentioning.

When people Completely switch from Cigarettes to e-Cigarettes, they are substituting Nicotine intake but they are Not substituting the Other Chemicals that are Added to and Created when Tobacco is Burned.

I firmly believe that I was just as Addicted to those Other Chemicals as I was to Nicotine when I Smoked. Perhaps even More.

When a person Switches, they can go thru Withdrawal because e-Liquids do not have or create all those Wonderful Chemicals that were doing their part to Slowly Kill Me.

So New Users will may go thru a period of Chain Vaping to Chase what Isn't there.

Unfortunately, this only Adds to the Mental Side of putting something in your Mouth and Taking a Hit.

Yes, every smoker smokes for different things. My husband apparently benefitted from some of those other chemicals with anti-depressent properties (MAOIs) and no matter how high he had his nicotine (got up to 36 mg at one point), he felt "something missing" and couldn't give up those few cigarettes a week or felt anxious, stressed and his ADD/OCD worsened. When he started using snus too (which has the MSOIs but none of the "bad" chemicals found in smoke) he was able to give up the cigarettes without feeling like crap. He also had a severe reaction to Chantix. So, I'm convinced that he has a dependency on the "good" effects of tobacco MAOIs and it's not a simple "addiction." Quitting was like taking away his medication. (Big Pharma meds either are ineffective or too strong that he felt like a zombie because of the negative side effects.)

So, that is why every smoker's experience with vaping is different.

 

[B1sh0p]

Increase the nicotine and you'll probably vape less. I know I did.

It's not about the nicotine, it's the habit. I've been decreasing nicotine steadily over the last year. I plan to be nicotine free by 2015.

 

[DC2]

So, that is why every smoker's experience with vaping is different.

This.

When new people come to this forum, they bring the decades-long brainwashing with them.
Over time, on this forum, you come to learn that it isn't all about the nicotine for many people.

But only experience can teach this, given that the media isn't quite hip to disseminating this reality just quite yet.

 

[Rickajho]

Yes, every smoker smokes for different things. My husband apparently benefitted from some of those other chemicals with anti-depressent properties (MAOIs) and no matter how high he had his nicotine (got up to 36 mg at one point), he felt "something missing" and couldn't give up those few cigarettes a week or felt anxious, stressed and his ADD/OCD worsened. When he started using snus too (which has the MSOIs but none of the "bad" chemicals found in smoke) he was able to give up the cigarettes without feeling like crap. He also had a severe reaction to Chantix. So, I'm convinced that he has a dependency on the "good" effects of tobacco MAOIs and it's not a simple "addiction." Quitting was like taking away his medication. (Big Pharma meds either are ineffective or too strong that he felt like a zombie because of the negative side effects.)

So, that is why every smoker's experience with vaping is different.

The MAOI factor is why smokers with diagnosed depression or a tendency toward depression have a much harder time quitting smoking. Those same people can go into a slump when they quit with e-cigs. Said it before: when you smoke it isn't just about the nicotine. For most people the depression will pass, but it can take in the range of weeks to months for that depression to fade and to get adjusted to what you are no longer getting from the smoking experience. It would be a chronic thing that fades with time though, not something that's there one day and gone for a month, then reappears.

Smoking really sux.