Nicotine not addictive? Yeah right!
- Thread starter cfm78910
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
- Status
I don't need to read anything about nicotine addiction. My body tells me that I'm addicted to it physically. I quit smoking to Swedish snus. It had nothing to do with a mental addiction. My brain needs this alkaloid. Just like my brain needs caffeine. If I don't get my double cafe con leche in the morning. I get a migraine headache. If I don't get my nicotine. An hour later I get dizzy, nausea, and extremely edgy. This is just me. I'm simply addicted.
Read a quit smoking back in the 70's, written by a doctor who had worked for years with alcoholics. He said his ex-drinking patients were almost all chain smokers. Even people who hadn't smoked before would take it up when they quit the booze. Like replacing one addiction with another helped them through the quitting. His response was to adapt the techniques he used with the alcoholics to the smokers. Then he put it into a book. His name was Alan King. I just googled it and couldn't find that book anywhere. It was my first try at quitting the cigs. I kept it up for almost a year. If only. I thought it would be OK if I smoked a cigar once in a while.
I'm a recovered alcoholic. I managed to quit drinking 7 years ago. I could never quit the nicotine. I've never lost a thing due to nicotine. Alcohol sure as hell did.
I quit drinking 8 years ago before it became a problem. I saw it ruin the lives of so many people I care about that I stopped as soon as I realized that I was having a couple drinks after work on a daily basis. I was able to just stop, but the social aspect of it is horrible. When I would get a seltzer, or turn down a drink offered to me, people looked at me like I was crazy. Some people came right out and said "I'm sorry...I didn't realize you had a drinking problem". I always responded with "if you think someone has to have a problem to quit, then you might want to reevaluate your drinking."
. It really made me feel bad for those that have a serious alcohol dependence. I couldn't imagine how hard it is to quit with that piled on top of the idiots who think drinking is a part of being normal.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The two times I quit vaping I went back to smoking. I don't plan on quitting again.
My Gran smoked one cig a day until she was quite old. When she got married my Grandfather smoked a pipe. They were poor and he could only afford one pipe full a day, which he smoked in the late evening. She started smoking a cig to keep him company. Later they had more money and she could have smoked more but she never did. I don't know the explanation. There are a few people who smoke one or two or three cigs a day. A lot less than there are social drinkers though.
Different folks react differently to nicotine (and whatever else is in cigs) just like they do to other addictive substances. There's a lot more going on than just a chemical reaction.
Different folks react differently to nicotine (and whatever else is in cigs) just like they do to other addictive substances. There's a lot more going on than just a chemical reaction.
That's amazing man ! Sobriety has been the greatest gift of all for me.I quit drinking 8 years ago before it became a problem. I saw it ruin the lives of so many people I care about that I stopped as soon as I realized that I was having a couple drinks after work on a daily basis. I was able to just stop, but the social aspect of it is horrible. When I would get a seltzer, or turn down a drink offered to me, people looked at me like I was crazy. Some people came right out and said "I'm sorry...I didn't realize you had a drinking problem". I always responded with "if you think someone has to have a problem to quit, then you might want to reevaluate your drinking."
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I know exactly what you mean, as I have gone through this my entire adult life. I don't drink, and never have....which I guess to many people I talk to, they think it is odd. The issue has always been that if I am someplace that serves alcohol, and I am offered a drink, as soon as I turn it down I usually get the "knowing look" as if I am a recovering alcoholic.I quit drinking 8 years ago before it became a problem. I saw it ruin the lives of so many people I care about that I stopped as soon as I realized that I was having a couple drinks after work on a daily basis. I was able to just stop, but the social aspect of it is horrible. When I would get a seltzer, or turn down a drink offered to me, people looked at me like I was crazy. Some people came right out and said "I'm sorry...I didn't realize you had a drinking problem". I always responded with "if you think someone has to have a problem to quit, then you might want to reevaluate your drinking."
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The other issue has always been when a friend or an acquaintance offers me a drink, and of course I tell them no thanks, they just keep on and on about "c'mon, have just one".
After all these years, I'm fairly used to it by now, but every now and then it bugs me.
Well for me, it's yes on A), but no on B). I smoked for 37 years and now can vape nic for a while and then get off it again with no issues.
We all like to think of ourselves as unique, but I've come to realize I am not all that different from others. Quite a few vapers on ECF have reported it being very easy to reduce nic levels too.
I did not go into lowering my nic level with the thought that it was going to be hard. I originally had a bit of bias toward nic alone not being the problem with cigarettes frmo what I had read about it. There are many variables with this stuff and this alone could make a big difference for some people.
Honestly it still did surprise me though, after all those years of smoking addiction.
Last edited:
I have both aspects, unfortunately. Not so much to the nicotine itself, I still vape below 12mg, but the other alkaloids and the MAOIs have me by the short ones; I start with total inability to focus on anything for more than 3 seconds (the nicotine and minor alkaloids), and end up with suicidal depression and unfettered rage (the MAOIs). So thank god for WTA, and my husband echoes that sentiment! But I also need the hand-to-mouth on a fairly regular basis, it's just part of me after 39 yrs. When I smoked, and had to traipse outdoors every 20-40 mins, I did a lot of gratuitous snacking, especially in bad weather, so it was hard to keep my weight down. Now I don't snack so much, because I can vape instead, and that's purely behavioral.
I did manage to get free of real coffee when I was about 20, because I was so wired I annoyed *myself* -- switched to hot tea, so I still got some caffeine, but not such a massive amount. Now I have only 2-3 cups of real tea a day, so I'm *nearly* caffeine-free, but I still gotta have it in the morning.
I don't think I'd have much in the way of physical symptoms without it, but the day just doesn't fit right, till I have a couple cups of tea.Andria
I've read scientific studies, and other stuff, blah, blah, blah. For me, when I was smoking, I would actually get stomach pains from wanting a cigarette so bad. The strange thing is that now, if I don't vape for a while, I don't get the stomach pains, but I will get that craving. Weird, I know, but then, I have the brain from hell. I'm a hard core sugar addict also. All that has gotten for me is Type II diabetes. I do fine as long as I don't put it in my mouth, but once I do, I can't seem to stop myself. It's an interesting life I lead with this brain that I have.
Both points of view above are classic examples of believing that what is true for them must be universally true. It is not, as the many varied experiences of others clearly show. To take this a bit farther, about 1/3 of current smokers are casual smokers, meaning they may smoke weekends (and smoke a lot) but never become dependent on cigarettes. Different people have very different reactions to smoking and nicotine. Different people also have very different reactions when getting off the smokes. It's a big mistake to try and make universal conclusions based on your own individual experience.
A point not yet brought up is the differences between alcohol (I could also add opiates and a few other substances ECF would censer). All of these other substances have the common denominator of degrading behavior and are generally destructive to mental functioning, and all of them are good pain killers. That is very different from nicotine and caffeine, which enhance functioning. It is night and day as to why people use tobacco, nicotine, and caffeine, and other things that may cause a dependency. Many of the ANTZ like to claim that nicotine dependency is really no different then opiates (or alcohol for those that become alcoholics), but the reality is that they are worlds apart.
i think it varies on bodytype to be honest.
i thought i was hooked hardcore, was 30 plus cigs a day smoker, and when i quit , i used 24mg nic.
figured id be there a year before dropping to 18, but its been 8 months and all i use is 6 mg and find i sill get abit overcome if i vape too much.
that being said, although i reduced my nic significantly in a somewhat quick pace, i still panic a little if i know i dont got my vaperizer with me, so take that for what its worth
i thought i was hooked hardcore, was 30 plus cigs a day smoker, and when i quit , i used 24mg nic.
figured id be there a year before dropping to 18, but its been 8 months and all i use is 6 mg and find i sill get abit overcome if i vape too much.
that being said, although i reduced my nic significantly in a somewhat quick pace, i still panic a little if i know i dont got my vaperizer with me, so take that for what its worth
Who says nicotine may not be addictive? That's hilarious. I had the same withdrawal symptoms trying to quit cold turkey a few years ago as I did when I stopped taking Fentanyl for a medical issue. And I had another prescription to help with the Fentanyl. In case you don't know, Fentanyl is an opiate 100x stronger than morphine.
Addiction can be mental or physical. In my case the nicotine addiction was both. I never had an alcohol addiction, although my father suffered from that most of his life. I was able to play in a band on the weekends and be around drinking without developing the habit. I'd have a drink here and there, mostly no more than one alcoholic drink a night if that much.
When I smoked 2PAD for about 40 years I always had to make sure I had plenty of smokes before I went home after work. Otherwise, I'd have to go back out and buy a pack just to satisfy my nicotine addiction. My job kept me in computer rooms most of the day repairing high speed electronic printers and smoking was a no-no. I'd have to head outside once every hour or two and huff a couple.
I was in Panama City with the family last summer and we decided to spend a day at a city block sized water park. When we changed into swim suits we had to leave all smoking materials in the locker. I figured I'd have to come back periodically and have a vape to satisfy my need for nic. I was vaping 24mg juice then and thought I had to have my PV with me at all times.
What happened was I didn't even think about it until lunchtime and then decided that I'd go vape later. Later turned into 3pm and 4pm and I never went back because I only thought about it fleetingly. There was never a time when I got a strong desire for nic.
That experience made me realize that I could probably taper down to a lower level. I went from 24mg to 6mg in 4 to 6 weeks time with almost no problems. I just vaped a little harder for a week at each level and found myself re-centered at the new nic level in a few days. I've been down to 6mg for about a year now and it seems just right. I've thought about going to zero, but most articles say a little nic is good for the brain.
Maybe we are all different. I thought I was severely hooked. It looks like I wasn't as dependent as I thought.
When I smoked 2PAD for about 40 years I always had to make sure I had plenty of smokes before I went home after work. Otherwise, I'd have to go back out and buy a pack just to satisfy my nicotine addiction. My job kept me in computer rooms most of the day repairing high speed electronic printers and smoking was a no-no. I'd have to head outside once every hour or two and huff a couple.
I was in Panama City with the family last summer and we decided to spend a day at a city block sized water park. When we changed into swim suits we had to leave all smoking materials in the locker. I figured I'd have to come back periodically and have a vape to satisfy my need for nic. I was vaping 24mg juice then and thought I had to have my PV with me at all times.
What happened was I didn't even think about it until lunchtime and then decided that I'd go vape later. Later turned into 3pm and 4pm and I never went back because I only thought about it fleetingly. There was never a time when I got a strong desire for nic.
That experience made me realize that I could probably taper down to a lower level. I went from 24mg to 6mg in 4 to 6 weeks time with almost no problems. I just vaped a little harder for a week at each level and found myself re-centered at the new nic level in a few days. I've been down to 6mg for about a year now and it seems just right. I've thought about going to zero, but most articles say a little nic is good for the brain.
Maybe we are all different. I thought I was severely hooked. It looks like I wasn't as dependent as I thought.
Last edited:
Tell ya what, you find me a e-juice that has everything in it that WTAs do, except for the nicotine, and I can guarantee you I won't miss the nicotine AT ALL.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
