Nicotine Believed Not to be Addictive

[Lloyd]

The first time I smoked an e-cig, a stream of nicotine sprayed right into my mouth. I made my tongue numb, and gave me a headache for about half an hour... Now, three days later, I am not happy unless that happens.

If that aint addiction, I don't know what is.

 

[Nestran]

A lot of us have noticed that we don't seem to be as addicted to vaping as we were smoking, another post got me thinking. The other post was about the panic reaction and how he/she would smoke more when getting low on analogs.

Maybe we are never hitting that panic reaction to the addiction. Think about it. With analogs, how many times a day were you faced with the scenario that you better smoke now because you won't be able to in x amount of time due to restrictions?

We don't experience that with vaping, we can stealth anywhere we need to thus we never have the panic situation. We may have been confusing the chemical addiction with separation anxiety. OR Anxiety makes you stress and guess what stress does? Yep, blow the nic out of your system.

So there seems to be a major mechanic removed with vaping.

Nestran

 

[Lightgeoduck]

A lot of us have noticed that we don't seem to be as addicted to vaping as we were smoking, another post got me thinking. The other post was about the panic reaction and how he/she would smoke more when getting low on analogs.

Maybe we are never hitting that panic reaction to the addiction. Think about it. With analogs, how many times a day were you faced with the scenario that you better smoke now because you won't be able to in x amount of time due to restrictions?

We don't experience that with vaping, we can stealth anywhere we need to thus we never have the panic situation. We may have been confusing the chemical addiction with separation anxiety. OR Anxiety makes you stress and guess what stress does? Yep, blow the nic out of your system.

So there seems to be a major mechanic removed with vaping.

Nestran

very interesting... I mean I know the feeling when I was on analogs I can smoke 1 cig every 30 min, but if I smoke my last one I need one 5 minutes later... and god forbid if I ran out at night when the stores are closed "ashtray digging time"

That is why I still have my last 2 analogs when I moved to vaping just incase I would panic with out them...

as for vaping I have a ready supply so I am sort of afraid of the unknown time I am completely out...... I just have to make sure that doesn't happen I don't want to be cutting up juice bottles to lick the inside

 

[scrooby]

This is a little twist in the topic here but anyway my sister had a doctors appointment yesterday and the doctor told her that she really needs to quit smoking and that when she is ready that he could write her a script to help with this, she told him that she has already taken steps to try and quit and that she had ordered a e-cigarette, she told me that this doctor became very sarcastic and told her don’t waste your money, that e-cigarettes contain nicotine and that nicotine kills so she might as well just continue smoking tobacco cigarettes. It just really eats me up when people like this push nicotine gum and patches, ect, ect, yet e-cigarettes are bad because of nicotine.

 

[dragonpuff]

This is a little twist in the topic here but anyway my sister had a doctors appointment yesterday and the doctor told her that she really needs to quit smoking and that when she is ready that he could write her a script to help with this, she told him that she has already taken steps to try and quit and that she had ordered a e-cigarette, she told me that this doctor became very sarcastic and told her don’t waste your money, that e-cigarettes contain nicotine and that nicotine kills so she might as well just continue smoking tobacco cigarettes. It just really eats me up when people like this push nicotine gum and patches, ect, ect, yet e-cigarettes are bad because of nicotine.

If this happened to my sister, i'd tell her to get a new doctor! Seriously, doctors are supposed to be sympathetic, even if they don't really understand what nicotine addiction is like.

 

[Kate51]

Scrooby, gotta agree, that seems a little weird, doesn't it...you'd think maybe he'd rather give out a prescription for ????? than to listen and understand what she was hoping to achieve.
I'm with Dragonpuff, she needs a new doctor. And she needs to tell Doc why that is!! Lessons needed, that's for sure. Pure arrogance keeps people from seeking new and enlightening knowledge. (Know-it-all)
Knowledge is Power. Knowledge is Wealth.

 

[RKayne]

I cut my blood pressure to the first acceptable level in ten years by vaping. In ONE week. My doc thinks this is great, needless to say. She needs a new doc, someone who has a homeopath or ayurvedic background.

I am not so convinced it is the nic so much as the crap that is in analogs. We had already switched to rolling our own with class L tobacco and that took some getting over...something...that was not there. Same deal with vaping. We are still smoking 1-3 cigs a day, but hey...I bought our rolling tobacco by the pound so we have that to fall back on. We were both smoking over a pack a day. I had already started mixing our own juice and have several bottles of low dose I got in a buy. I have to admit, I really have not noticed a true difference between them. I am intending on doing a nice custom around 20mg for us when I get the full kit here soon. We are using 36-38 right now but when I dumped in some 18 I did not vape more (neither did the wife, I didn't say it was lower).

I do know it is all about ritual, we were chatting about that last night. You get up, get your caffeine of choice (we had coffee today, but not often, usually tea). You go out on the balcony. Ritual. I do think these will allow us to kick it all told, once we can get over the ritual part. That is what I think our problem is.

 

[Claasy]

Nicotine addiction and the psychological connections are an interesting subject. For example, my friend only smokes when he is drinking (once or twice a week) and even then only maybe 2-4 cigarettes during a 4 hour drinking. Yet he does not seem at all interested in a cigarette any other time, nor have I ever seen him smoking one besides when he is drinking. But just a beer or two and he starts "jonesing" for a smoke. To what can this be attributed? Perhaps he has a funky pineal gland (which from what I've learned is a major brain component of addictive behavior)

I'm the same way. I enjoy having a smoke with my friends on the weekend, but when I'm drinking I REALLY enjoy smoking. Otherwise, I normally go a good long period without smoking on a regular basis. (Edit:This is after spending my latter teenage years smoking up to a pack a day. Most people would have probably been addicted after 4-5 years of smoking, but it never happened to me. I'm just lucky I guess.)

I'm enjoying vaping my 0 nic blends I've got, but it doesn't feel quite as satisfying as a real cigarette when I'm drinking.

 

[scrooby]

I agree she needs a new doctor, I think the guy is a quack in every sense of the word and just likes to push pills

 

[martha1014]

Have you ever noticed that some people drink off and on and other people drink one drink and are alcholics. They say you are born with the addiction for alcohol. I think smoking is similar to this. My husband smoked for 15 years but he never smoked on Sunday. Then one day he decided to quit and never mentioned it again. My daughter is the same way, she will go a week without smoking and them smoke for a few days and then quit again. My habit was a serious one. The first thing I did in the morning was smoke and the last thing I did at night was smoke. I could never go over a few hours without wanting a cigarette.

I don't think they really ever had a serious addiction like I did.

 

[Vocalek]

'Chippers' Challenge Concepts Of Smoking Addiction : NPR

A number of surveys show that a substantial proportion of U.S. smokers don't smoke every day. And their ranks appear to be growing. Up to 15 million U.S. smokers say they don't light up on a daily basis. Many of them say they are trying to quit.

But many light smokers — called intermittent smokers, or chippers — have no wish to quit. These are people who smoke no more than a couple of cigarettes a day, says Saul Shiffman, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Psychology.

I am not so lucky. When I smoked, I kept open packs of cigarettes along with a lighter and ashtray in stratigic locations throughout the house. I'm more like the people discussed in the following articles.

I don't care for the word "addicted" because it is judgmental. I have the will-power to do without nicotine. I have done so in the past. But when I make that choice, I sacrifice my cognitive and emotional health.

I consider myself "medically dependant" on nicotine. I could switch my dependancy to a chemical soup of anti-depressants, anti-anxety medication, an ADHD treatment such as Ritalin, and a medication for memory impairment such as Aricept. I believe that nicotine (absent the hazards found in tobacco smoke) carries a much lower risk of adverse effects than such a combination.

Here are some articles on depression, anxiety, and other conditions as they relate to nicotine. In one of these, Glassman talks about a study he conducted where 9 people had such serious relapses in their depression they were advised to go back to smoking! Five subjects were receiving the treatment (clonidine) and 4 were receiving placebo.

Nicotine Addiction and Other Psychiatric Disorders - Psychiatric Times
February 1, 2001
Psychiatric Times. Vol. 18 No. 2
"Nicotine Addiction and Other Psychiatric Disorders"

Tony P. George, M.D., and Jennifer C. Vessicchio, M.S.W.

Amering M, Bankier B, Berger P et al. (1999), Panic disorder and cigarette smoking behavior. Compr Psychiatry 40(1):35-38.

Anda RF, Williamson DF, Escobedo LG et al. (1990), Depression and the dynamics of smoking. A national perspective. JAMA 264(12):1541-1545

Glassman AH (1993), Cigarette smoking: implications for psychiatric illness. Am J Psychiatry 150(4):546-553

Glassman AH, Helzer JE, Covey LS et al. (1990), Smoking, smoking cessation, and major depression. JAMA 264(12):1546-1549

Gonzalez-Pinto A, Gutierrez M, Ezcurra J et al. (1998), Tobacco smoking and bipolar disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 59(5):225-228.

 

[kinabaloo]

Anyone who writes that nicotine is not addictive is either: (1) an elderly retired employee who spent a lifetime at Philip Morris and still believes the lies; (2) a complete idiot who can't read scientific studies; (3) a non-smoker who was born on a small island and never left and asks the questioner, "What's nicotine?"

The point is that nicotine is nowhere near as addictive on its own as the combined smoke from tobacco is.

I have read 100s of people saying how they could never give up smoking until switched to e-cigs and then, after the novelty wore off, could be much more 'take it or leave it' with e-cigs (just nic) that they ever could have with smoking.

Nic plus act of puffing seems enough to get off the analogs - for many people - and from there, for those that want to do so, easier to give up nicotine than smoking.

We are all different and levels of addiction are surly variable, but the evidence points to nicotine alone not being that addictive (there are other co-factors, including behavoural ones that make it seem so).

 

[kinabaloo]

If this happened to my sister, i'd tell her to get a new doctor! Seriously, doctors are supposed to be sympathetic, even if they don't really understand what nicotine addiction is like.

Things have changed since Hippocrates' era ... many are just drug pushers these days

 

[Zaibach333]

ridiculess article

 

[Nuck]

I agree with it. I was highly addicted to cigarettes when I quit 8 years ago and it took a long time (years) for the urgent cravings to go away. I've now vaped pretty heavy for 10 months and can go days without it without a single addictive craving. All I feel is that 'it'd be nice to vape' thing that goes along with the act as opposed to the frantic chemical dependency that I had from smoking.

I have no idea why there is no addiction with the nic (12-18mg) but there isn't.

 

[ramblingrose]

The point is that nicotine is nowhere near as addictive on its own as the combined smoke from tobacco is.

I have read 100s of people saying how they could never give up smoking until switched to e-cigs and then, after the novelty wore off, could be much more 'take it or leave it' with e-cigs (just nic) that they ever could have with smoking.

Nic plus act of puffing seems enough to get off the analogs - for many people - and from there, for those that want to do so, easier to give up nicotine than smoking.

I can only speak for myself, but I agree. I was a 4pack a day chainsmoker. Yet with ecigs I'm perfectly comfortable with a range of 0-14mg juice, depending what I'm in the mood for. My body went through some wacky discomfort when I started with ecigs... now that I see how easy it is to stay with 0 or low nic, and sometimes just not vaping at all, I have to think it was the combined chemical concoction in cigarettes that kept me so hooked, not just the nicotine.

 

[Kate51]

I cut my blood pressure to the first acceptable level in ten years by vaping. In ONE week. My doc thinks this is great, needless to say. She needs a new doc, someone who has a homeopath or ayurvedic background.

I am not so convinced it is the nic so much as the crap that is in analogs. We had already switched to rolling our own with class L tobacco and that took some getting over...something...that was not there. Same deal with vaping. We are still smoking 1-3 cigs a day, but hey...I bought our rolling tobacco by the pound so we have that to fall back on. We were both smoking over a pack a day. I had already started mixing our own juice and have several bottles of low dose I got in a buy. I have to admit, I really have not noticed a true difference between them. I am intending on doing a nice custom around 20mg for us when I get the full kit here soon. We are using 36-38 right now but when I dumped in some 18 I did not vape more (neither did the wife, I didn't say it was lower).

I do know it is all about ritual, we were chatting about that last night. You get up, get your caffeine of choice (we had coffee today, but not often, usually tea). You go out on the balcony. Ritual. I do think these will allow us to kick it all told, once we can get over the ritual part. That is what I think our problem is.

Here is maybe a surprising article reference RYO tobaccos..I was surprised! You may want to rethink RYO.
http://www.healthnz.co.nz/coynews.htm

Health New Zealand Company News, electronic cigarettes

http://www.healthnz.co.nz/coynews.htm

 

[dragonpuff]

'Chippers' Challenge Concepts Of Smoking Addiction : NPR



I am not so lucky. When I smoked, I kept open packs of cigarettes along with a lighter and ashtray in stratigic locations throughout the house. I'm more like the people discussed in the following articles.

I don't care for the word "addicted" because it is judgmental. I have the will-power to do without nicotine. I have done so in the past. But when I make that choice, I sacrifice my cognitive and emotional health.

I consider myself "medically dependant" on nicotine. I could switch my dependancy to a chemical soup of anti-depressants, anti-anxety medication, an ADHD treatment such as Ritalin, and a medication for memory impairment such as Aricept. I believe that nicotine (absent the hazards found in tobacco smoke) carries a much lower risk of adverse effects than such a combination.

Here are some articles on depression, anxiety, and other conditions as they relate to nicotine. In one of these, Glassman talks about a study he conducted where 9 people had such serious relapses in their depression they were advised to go back to smoking! Five subjects were receiving the treatment (clonidine) and 4 were receiving placebo.

Nicotine Addiction and Other Psychiatric Disorders - Psychiatric Times
February 1, 2001
Psychiatric Times. Vol. 18 No. 2
"Nicotine Addiction and Other Psychiatric Disorders"

Tony P. George, M.D., and Jennifer C. Vessicchio, M.S.W.

Amering M, Bankier B, Berger P et al. (1999), Panic disorder and cigarette smoking behavior. Compr Psychiatry 40(1):35-38.

Anda RF, Williamson DF, Escobedo LG et al. (1990), Depression and the dynamics of smoking. A national perspective. JAMA 264(12):1541-1545

Glassman AH (1993), Cigarette smoking: implications for psychiatric illness. Am J Psychiatry 150(4):546-553

Glassman AH, Helzer JE, Covey LS et al. (1990), Smoking, smoking cessation, and major depression. JAMA 264(12):1546-1549

Gonzalez-Pinto A, Gutierrez M, Ezcurra J et al. (1998), Tobacco smoking and bipolar disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 59(5):225-228.

I think these articles illustrate very clearly that everyone has different reasons for smoking and gets different effects from it.

As i stated earlier, i no longer have such intense cravings as i used to. However, i remain dependent on nicotine for medical reasons and, even without explicit "cravings," i can feel my mental function going south if i don't have nicotine in a few hours (or if i don't have enough nicotine). So for me, while other chemicals in cigarettes produce the strong addiction, my basic reasons for smoking still stand.

I agree with vocalek in that the word "addiction" is very charged and implies a lack of self-control that most of us certainly don't have. It is also, i think, the main reason why many nonsmokers believe that we smoke(d) because we don't care about ourselves or our health; after all, if it's just an addiction than why don't we all just quit?

I think the second article explains, for many of us, why we don't "just quit." Nicotine has some enormous neurological benefits and has few side effects compared to other drugs that do the same thing. With nicotine i feel clean, alert and healthy . With most of the medications i could replace it with i feel drugged and foggy .

"Unknown long-term effects" aside, the choice is clear for me.

- on a side note, my resting heart rate went down 12 beats per minute in a month -

 

[Kate51]

Agree!! I have ADD, with inhibited long and short memory recall problems...I don't think I'll ever go 0 nic! I can tell a big difference without it. Much improved since no cigarettes, by the way..my last BP on Sunday was 108/63. I'm 62. Not so bad.

 

[dragonpuff]

Agree!! I have ADD, with inhibited long and short memory recall problems...I don't think I'll ever go 0 nic! I can tell a big difference without it. Much improved since no cigarettes, by the way..my last BP on Sunday was 108/63. I'm 62. Not so bad.

Very not bad, that BP is perfect! Congratulations!